spirituall weapons I end seeing the Church is like unto the Moon sometimes in a glorious splendour sometimes clouded with Schism and sometime so darkned with the shadow of heresie and superstition and persecution that the eyes of Linceus can scarce behold her Seeing that the Papists at this day cannot compare neither with the number of Christians taking the name generally for all such as professe the name of Jesus nor with the Protestant Churches if we take an account onely of such as understand the Principles of their Religion I see no reason why Bellarmine should make multitude a Note of the true Church or if it were why the Papists should challenge it themsemselves and therefore he may be well censured with a hic magister non tenetur or not a quod haec nota nihil notat it was onely to make up the number of notes that he may number one note Nam cum non prosunt singula multa juvant though they be of little force being severally considered yet if they be all joyntly taken they will prove like Seleucus his roddes or like a threefold cord which is not easily broken Indeed he had need to be stronger then Hercules that could cut oft all the heads of Hydra at one blow but a simple warricuâ— taking one by one may make an end of them before he be wearied for they are like to the tail of Sertorius his horse which a valiant Souldier taking it altogether could not pull off but a poore Skull pulling one hayre after an other had quickly made it bare Secondly doth Gods flock sometimes consist of a very small number then it behoveth thee beloved Christian with greater diligence to trie and examine thy self whether thou be comprehended in this number for as in that universall deluge of waters all were drowned that were not in Noahs Arke so in the great floud of fire which shall be at the end of the world all shall be swept away with a river of brimstone which are not of this flock it is a common saying he shall never have God for his father which hath not the Church for his mother and he shall never be a member of the Church triumphant which is not first of the Church Militant first then thou art to enquire whether thou be of the true visible Church and this thou shalt know by two marks by the true preaching of the word by the right use of the Sacraments for where these two are performed according to the prescript of Gods word there must needs be a true church this is somewhat but it is not all for what did it availe Judas to be numbred amongst the twelve he was in hell before any of the rest came at heaven all that are in the Church be not of the Church there are both good and bad fish in this net there is wheat and tares in this field Sheep and Goats in this fold thou must goe further and examine whether thou be one of that Company which God from eternity elected unto life and in time effectually calleth by his holy Spirit and makes true Members of his Sonne Jesus Christ which is the head of this body whether thou be of that flock which Christ calleth his garden his sister his spouse his love his doue his undefiled which the pillar and ground of truth 1. Tim. 3. 13. the body of Christ Eph. 1. 23. the temple of the Lord Eph. 2. 21 which the gates of hell shall never prevaile against Matth. 16. 18. Here thou must exercise thy wits this must be thy care to finde thy selfe in this little number but how may this be knowne by the cause that is the will and good pleasure of Gods which dwelleth in light that none can approach unto This is a bottomlesse depth who can sound it Never man looked into this Arke and lived busie thy braines about it and when thou hast done all thou canst thou art but like a flie about a Candle which playeth so long with the flame that at length she burnes her wings and fals downe and good reason it should be so for it is enough for wretched man to be of Gods Couâ—t and it is too much to be of his Privie Councell Thou must therefore doe as Theseus die with the Labyrinth thou must catch hold of the threeds end that hangs without the doore and so by winding steps come at length to the first cause Seeing thou canst not know it a â—riori by the cause thou must know it a posteriori by the effect one effect of Gods immutable decree and an undoubted marke to let all others passe of Gods child is Sanctification for as on the one side it is certainly true that without holinesse of life no man shall see God Heb. 12. 14. So it is as true on the other side that hee which walketh not after the flesh but after the Spirit is ingrafted into Christ and shall never be condemned So then holines of life is the true touchstone to trie whether thou be of this number but here deceive not thy selfe for there is a verball holinesse and a Pharisaical holinesse and a Herods holines and a Popish holines and an Anabaptisticall holines The verball holines is of such as draw neere unto God with their lips but with their hearts are farre from him as the Prophet speakes the Pharisaical holines is of those which devoure widowes houses under colour of long prayers and such as will not leave a mote on the outside of their cup but never care how filâ—hy it be within The Herods holinesse is of them which will quench the fire on the harth and leave it burning in the top of the Chimney will mend their least faults and let their worst bee marring The Popish holinesse is in observing humane traditions and treading under foot the law of God The Anabaptisticall holinesse is of such as are well perswaded of themselves though without all reason but can never have a charitable opinion of any others they are troubled with a Noli me tangere touch me not come not neare me for I am holier then thou but I say unto thee except thy righteous exceed the righteousnes of all these men thou shalt not enter into the Kingdome of Heaven it is another kinde of holines which thou must have if thou wilt assure thy soule that thou art one of Christs flock it is indeed in the tongue but it proceedeth from another fountaine the heart and makes a man say with David thy words have I hid within my heart that I might not sinne against thee It makes a man have a care to approve by outward actions unto men but much more to approve the cogitations of his heart unto God it strives not to breake off some branches of sin such as may be best forgon reserving the rest but it is most severe against those sinnes which are the sweetest to man because such
habitations The Lord could take your souls from you before ye depart this place if ye depart in safetie before ye come into your houses or before you goe to bed or before you rise in the morning but if you injoy to day and to morrow and the next day despise not the riches of his bountifulnesse and patience and long suffering knowing that his bountifulness leadeth you to repentance Be not like to the wicked Iob 21. which take the Tabret and Harpe and rejoyce at the sound of the Organs and spend their dayes in wea'th and then suddenly goe down into the Grave Nor like those in Eccles 9. 12. which do not know their time but like fishes which are taken in an evill net and like birds that are caught in a snare so they are snared in the evill time which falleth upon them suddenly nor like the evill servant in the Gospel which saith in his heart my Master doth deferre his coming and begins to smite his fellow-Servants and to eat and to drink with the drunken lest death come upon you in a day when ye look not for it and in an houre that you are not aware of and cut you off and ye receive your portion with Hypocrites in the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth Blessed is that man whom the Lord when he cals him from hence shall find waking but woe yea thrice woe be to that man whom the Lord when he cometh shall find sleeping verily I say unto you it had been good for that man if he had never been borne wherefore once again I say use this golden opportunitie to the honour of your God redeem the time because the dayes are few not for a day but even all your dayes which is the fourth note and which I can but touch let it be your care not how you may be rich in this world but how you may be rich unto God not rich in goods but in goodnesse let your chief study in this life be how he may be saved in the life to come Alas it was but a cold comfort to Adrian the Emperour when he was readie to dye to jest with his soul doubting what should become of it Animula vagula blandula hospes comesque corporis quae nunc abibis in loca Pallidula rigida nidula nec ut soles dabis jocos What speeches but this or worse then this can any expect will proceed from you in your sicknesse when you are ready to leave the world if in your health you have not studied to make your election sure if in your life ye offer to God nothing but dregs there is little hope you will set forth good wine at the houre of your death late repentance is oftentimes counterfeit never so accepted with God we must blossom in the spring if wee will bring forth fruit in harvest it is no commendation to offer to the world and Satan the flower of our youth and sacrifice to God the withered stubble of old age to turn to God when we can scarce turn our selves in our beds and to leave this world when it is ready to take a farewell of us wherefore have your loynes still girded about and your lights still burning and you your selves waiting and expecting nay desiring not only for that time when your souls and bodies shall be separated but much more for that great day when they shall again be united and conjoyned let these and the like be each of your meditations and prayers How long Lord how long holy and true as the heart desireth the water brook so longeth my soul after thee O God my soul is a thirst for God even for the living God when shall I come to appeare before the presence of God into thy hands I commend my spirit for thou hast redeemed me O Lord God of truth yea thou art my helper and my redeemer O my God make no long tarrying but come Lord Jesus come quickly The 5th and last thing which was observed out of these words was this That death to the Children of God is but a change to a better and more blessed state for so with Mercer and other learned Divines I take the meaning of the words to be when it is said my changing and not to be meant of the resurrection as some would have it Death is the wages of sinne saith the Apostle Rom. 6. 23. not only a temporarie death which is a separation of the body from the soul but an eternall death which is a separation both of bodie and soule from God for so it was told our Grand-father before he tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree whensoever thou shalt eate thereof thou shalt dye the death seconded after the fact with this iudiciall sentence dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt returne Gen 3. and so by the transgression of one death reigned over all unto condemnation Rom. 6. 14. But behold the abundant Ocean of the riches of the mercie and bountifullness of our God who by the balme of Christs blood hath so tempered this popson that like Treacle which is made of venemous wormes it becomes a preservative against poyson and hath broken the teeth of this Lyon that we may say with the Prophet the Lyon and the Lamb may dwell together hath taken the sting from this Scorpion that we may even now in some sense say O death where is thy sting thus by the grace of God the punishment of sin is to us turned to a freedom from sin it was said to our first Parents saith Austin thou shalt dye if thou sinne now it is said to a Martyr dye lest thou sinne then it was said if thou transgresse the commandement thou shalt dye the death now it is said if ye refuse to dye ye transgresse the commandement that which then was to be feared that they should not sin is now to be undergon lest they sin then death was gotten by sinning now justice is fulfilled by dying Behold the great difference of death in the godly and the wicked to the wicked it hath the same force which before it had to the godly it is like a sleep which resteththeir bodies and makes them more lively then before to the ungodly it brings a taile or sting with it and that is condemnation to the godly it is as it were a Bee without a sting to the godly it is terminus a quo of miserie and vexation to the wicked it is the beginning of sorrow and damnation to the ungodly it is Sathans Cart to carry them to Hell to the righteous it is like Elisha's fierie Chariot to mount them to Heaven to the wicked it is Sathans Serjeant to carrie them to Tophet which is prepared for them to the godly it is the Lords Messenger to remove them to their expected home let then the ungodly feare and tremble when they heare of death and let them
Bishoprick in respect of Christ the Bishop of our Soules 1 Pet. 2. 25. The sole oecumenicall and universall President of the whole Church So then as there are many Beames proceeding from the same Sun yet one Sun in which they are United many branches growing from one Tree yet one roote wherein they are conjoyned many Rivers yet one Sea wherein they all meet many lines in a circle but one Center wherein they all concur So the Members of Christs Church though in respect of themselves they be divers yet they have all but one beginning one Spring one roote one Head one Center and in this respect all but one as one in respect of the Head so in respect of the Spirit which animateth every Member thereof This is the soule that informs the whole Church it is that Intellectus agens of which Philosophers have so much dreamed which is Vnas numero in every Member of Christs mysticall Body So that as the integrall Members of mans Body though of themselves they be specifically distinct flesh bones nerves muscles veines arteries c. Every one of them having a peculiar essentiall and specificall form yet being informed with one humane Soule they are but integrall parts of the same man So all Christians in the World though in sex and state and degree and calling and Nation and language they be different yet being regenerated and animated with the same spirit they are but integrall Members of one and the selfe same Church 3. One in respect of Faith and Religion and profession contained in the sacred volume of the Bible the two Brests of the Church out of which Christs Lambs do suck the sincere Milke of the word that they may grow thereby The two Cherubims that with mutuall counterview do face the mercy Seate that is Christ the two great lights that inlighten the World the old like the Moon to rule the night the new like the Sun to rule the day that for the Patriarks this for us the two Pillars to leade us from Egypt to Canaan the old of a Cloud dark and obscure in figures and shadowes the other of fire bright and cleare both of them making one and absolute rule of our faith and profession she is then one because one spirit quickeneth her one because one rule directeth her that is the essentiall form this is the proper passion flowing from this form by which the Church a Posteriori may be demonstrated For they are my Sheep saith Christ which heare my voice John 10. 27. thus then briefly one Spouse one love one Dove one Body one Fleece one Arke on Spirit one Faith one Religion one Head one Shepheard one Flock Here to come to so me application give me leave to use the Apostles protestation I say the truth in Christ Jesus Ilye not my conscience bearing me witnesse in the Holy Ghost that I have great heavinesse and continuall sorrow in my heart and with the Prophet Jeremy could wish that my head were full of water and mine eyes a fountaine of teares that I might weepe day and night for the Schismes and divisions that are at this day in the Christian world There was a time there was Woe worth that unhappy Tense there was but Est bene non possum dicere dico fuit I cannot say there is I must needs speak as it is There was a time when the whole Church of God in all places of the world was of one heart and one minde of one accord and of one judgment And howsoever there was and ever will be some difference about some circumstances of no great weight yet was there not the least discrepance amongst them in any one essentiall point of our faith Vna agebat in omnibus membris divini spiritus virtus erat omnibus anima una fidei propositum idem divinitatis celebratio omnibus una Euseb lib. 10. hist Eccl. Chap. 3. in somuch that as when any member of the body is ill affected all the rest do conspire to cure it or when a house is set on fire the whole town will run to quench it So if any heresie happened to spring in any part of the World their common desire was to crush the serpents head to make it like Ionas his gourd of short continuance and to smother it in the birth and make it like the untimely fruit of a Woman which perisheth afore it see the Sun they did conspire to heale the affected member and did concu to stay the flame from further combustion Thus did they from the most parts of the world concur at Nice against Arius at Constantinople against Macedonius at Ephesus against Nestorius at Chalcedon against Entiches Thus was the head of Britaines snake as Prosper Aquitanus tells Pelagius crushed by provinciall Synods in most places of Christendome And long before these times when as yet there was not a Christian Emperour thus they dealt with Montanus in many of their Synods And at Antioch against Paulus Samosatenus they met from all Churches under Heaven as it were against a common theife that stole the Sheep out of Christs flock But now O times the one and undivided spouse of Christ is like a Traytor drawn and quattered the North and the South the Orient and the Occident each differ from other in sundry materiall and essentiall points of Faith And here in the West that Church whose faith was once famous through the whole world which was as a Beacon upon an hill a guide for all the Churches round about her a Sanctuary for orthodoxall exiles one of the four Patriarchicall Seas and that in respect of place and order the first the Empresse of the World the Glory of Kingdomes the pride and beauty of Nations the faithfull City is so estranged from the Bridegroomes Voice and hath so depraved the purity of Christian religion both by loosing of her own and the taking in of Forraine water that as one sayd of Athens we may say of Rome thou mayst seeke Rome in Rome and canst not finde it being become like unto one of the old Aegyptian Temples beautifull without and Cats and Ratts and Crocodiles adored within And whereas shee hath no more reason to be called Catholike then the old Mahometans to call themselves Saracens then the Jewes had to call Herod that was ready to be eaten with wormes a God then the Persians that were shortly afterslaine by the Romans to be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then Manes had to stile himselfe an Apostle of Jesus Christ then Celsus the Heathen Philosopher to entitle his Books written against Christian Religion the word of truth or Drunkards to be tearmed good fellowes or light housewives honest women having made the rule of her faith like Glaucus the Sea which loosing some part of his Body by beating upon Rocks and shelves hath the same repaired by rocks and sand that cleave to him yet must shee be called the only Catholike Church of
your enemies in the Gate For the better effecting of that which hath been spoken concerning righteous judgment some things are required of others who come hither to act their parts in such businesses as are to be handled at these Assizes Judges though they be styled Gods yet are they not omniscient but must heare many things with other mens eares and see with other mens eyes and as the Philosopher saith that Quicquid est in intellectu prius fuit in sensu so whatsoever comes to the Judge to be determined according to Law must first passe through the hands of witnesses and Jurors and Pleaders and others these are to the Judge as the externall senses and memory and phantasie are to the understanding now if these faile in performing their severall duties the best Judge may err in Judgement as doth the understanding in apprehending of objects when the senses being ill affected doe not rightly informe It is in matters of Judicature as in a Clock if all the Wheels and Wyers be in tune below the fault is in the Hammer or Bell if it keep not time above but the Bell may misse the hour and no fault in it but in some Wheele or Pinn or Wyer that is out of order so if any inferiour parts of this Engine be out of course if the witnesse come hither to sell or lend his freind a false oath in hope of a like courtesie from him at another time if the Jury agree upon a Verdict contrary to the evidence or if the Lawyer respect his Clyent more then the truth and study rather to shew himselfe Dicendi peritum then Virum bonum as if he were one of Protagoras his Schollers whose profession as Gellius tells us was to teach Quanam verborum industria causa infirmior fieret fortior how to make the worse Cause seem the better How can the Judge who unlesse the contrary be privately knowne unto him is to proceed Secundum allegata probata but faile in executing of Judgment and righteousnesse To these I should now have directed my speech but being prevented by the time I onely begg at Gods hands that hee would work in the heart of every man who is to be imployed in any of these businesses an holy desire and conscionable endeavour to discharge his duty Lord thou hast commanded that Judgment and Righteousnesse be executed Da quod jubes jube quod vis thou O God of truth let no man open his mouth against the truth let Witnesses sweare truth and Jurors verdict truth and Pleaders lay open the truth and Judges give sentence and judgment according to truth that equity and truth may meet together that righteousnesse and peace may kisse and imbrace each other even for Jesus Christ his sake who is the way and the life and the truth to whom with thee and the holy Spirit c. Errata Page 1. l. 6. for have r. leave p. 6. l. 7. for speciosus r. speciosae p. 133. l. 19 20. for Amus r. Ancus FINIS a Psal 78. b Jere. 3. 6. c Isa 1. 22. d Isa 5. 18. g Isa 1. 6. h Psal 5. 4. i Psal 79. 1. k Jer. 2 2. l Gen. 18. 25. m Ezech. 18. n Matth. 4. Isa 52. 1. Doctrine Tull. de natu deorum o Exod. 33. Justin l. 18. Hieron lib. 11. Comment in Ezech. p Psal 33. 6. q Job 9. r Job 40. Psal 114. Å¿ Isa 40. t Psal 33. 5. Augustin in illum locum Psal 14. 5. 9. w Job 38. 11. Exo. 20. 5 6. x Esa 28. 11. Sueton. Isa 1. 24. 1 King 16. 30 1 King 21. 19 21. Verse 29. Jonah 3. 10. Gen. 6. 6. Verse 3. Ruffin Hist Eccles lib. 2. cap. 18. Herod Lib. Plut. in Caesar Virgil. 1. Lib. Aeneid Hesiod op dies Gen. 18. 〈◊〉 Acts 27. Vse 1. Rom. 5. 20. Cicero de finibus Esay 1. Esay 38. 14. Cant. 2. 2 Sam. 12. 13. Matth. 26. John 11. Mark 10. 47. Vse 2. Gen. 19. 2 Sam. 6. 12. Plutar in Caesare Jud. 17. 13. Psa 106. 23. Vse 3. Luk. 3. 38. Gen. 49. 3. Gen. 25. 25. Eph. 4. 26. 1 Kings 3. Psal Aeneid 3. Acts 9. 5. At the Spittle Proposition Hag. 2. 8. Psal 110. Acts 7. 49. Jerem. 25. Psal 24. Heb. 1. 14. Gen. 3 2 Cor. 1. 3. Augustin Psal 100. Gal. 4. 1. Rom. 8. 17. 2 Cor. 4. Luke 12. 32. Mich. 5. 2. Gen. 8. 3. Gen. 6. 2. Nat lupus inter oves Ovid. Metam lib. 1. Rom. 4. 27. Maginus Luke 18. 8. Vse 1. * Notae debent esse propriae non communes l. 4. cap. 2. postea in eodem cap. Notae verae sunt inseparabiles à vera Ecclesia ‖ Non quidem efficiunt evidenter verum ipsam esse veram Dei Ecclesiam sed tamen efficiunt evidenter credibile De Ecclesia lib. 4. cap. 3. †Lutheranorum notae non sunt ullo modo sufficientes nam non declarant quae sit vera Ecclesia secundum haeretic nisi probabiliter lib. eod cap. 2. * Hoc orbis terrarum comprobat quota tu pars es orbis terrarum qui solus facis cum homine scelelerato pacem orbis dissolvis Theod. lib. 2. cap. 16. Athan. Epist ad solitariam vitamagentes Bellar. lib. 3. de Eccles milit cap. 16. Idem lib. 4. cap. 5. Alii flammis exusti alii ferro perempti alii flagris verberati alii cruciati patibulo c. a Haeretici sunt per tam faciem terrae alii hic alii ibi alia secta in Africa alia haeresis in oriente August de de past Cap. 8. Hieron in dialog contr Luciferianos a Durand lib. 2 * Dominus deus noster Papa Ex tran Iâ—h 22. ut citat Juel Liberius teste Aâ—han Epist ad Solitariam vitâ—m agentes â—dem patet ex â—â—eambulo Concil Nicen. Bodin 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz. in oratione contra Arrianos 2 Kin. 19. 28. Brevi occupapavit doctrina Lutheri non solum multa regna in partibus septentrionalibus sed etiam usque ad Indos excurrere ausa est Bel. lib. 3. de Pont. Ro ca. 23 Psal 19. 4. Vid. Bell. de Pontif. Rom. lib 3. cap. 21. Nostris temporibus Romana sedes magnam Germaniae partem amisit Suetiam Gothiam Norvegiam Daniam c. Act. 19. â— August in Psal 39. Chrysost hom 40. ad populum Antiochen Livius decad 1 lib. 9. Hic non tenetur nota marginalis quae nonnunquam occurrit in li. Sent. P. Lombardi Vive de Causis Corrupt Art Plut. Apoth Plut. in vita Sertorii Vse 2. Canâ— Lipsius lib. 2. de Con. Plut. in Thess Rom. 8. 1. Ioh. 29. 13. Isa 65. 5. Matth. 5. 20. Psal 119. Phil. 3. 13. Verba morientis Hadrians Ovid Meta lib. â—5 Eccl. 12. 8. 2. Proposition Josh 18. 1. Psal 132. 14. 15. Psal 132. 5. Sigon de rep Heb. lib. 6. cap. 7. Sigâ—â—ius de ep Heb. lib. 1. â—oh 4. Isa 1.
when God writeth thy sinnes in dust wilt thou write thy Brothers in Marble When he forgiveth thee ten thousand talents wilt not thou forgive thy Brother an hundreth pence If thou wilt be indeed his Sonne be like unto him be pitiful tender-hearted full of mercy and compassion if thou be angry beware that thou sin not by speedy revenge if thy wrath be conceived in the morning and perchance increase his heat with the Sunne till mid-day yet let it settle with the Sunne at afternoon and set with it at night Let not the Sunne go down upon thy wrath if its conception be in the night use it as the harlot used her child smother it in thy bed and make it like the untimely fruit of a woman which perisheth before iâ— see the Sun to this purpose remember that the Citizens of this Jerusalem are at unity amongst themselves the stones of this temple are fast coupled and linked together the members of this Body as they are united in one head with the nerves of a justifying faith So are they knit in one heart with the Arteries of love The branches of this Vine as they are united with the boale from whence they receive nutriment so have they certain tendâ—els whereby they are fastned and linked one to another Now if without compassion thou seekest thy brothers hurt thou dost as it were divide Christ thou pullest a stone out of this Temple thou breakest a branch from this Vine nay more then so thou cuttest the Vine it self Virgil tels us that when Aeneas was pulling a bough from a miâ—tle tree to shadow his sacrifice there issued drops of blood from the boale trickling down unto the ground at length he heard a voice crying unto him thus Quid miserum Aenea laceras jam parce sepulto parce pias scelerare manus the Poet tels us that it was the blood of Polydorus Priamus his sonne which cried for vengeance against Polymnester the Thracian King which had slain him in like manner whensoever thou seekest the overthrow of thy Christian Brother and hast a desire to revenge thy self of him as hee had to pull a bough from the Tree think that it is not the branches but the Vine thou seekest to cut down Think that Christ will count this indignity done to his members as it were done to himselfe Think that thou hearest him cry unto thee after this manner jam parce sepulto parce tuas scelerare manus imbrue not thy hands in my blood hand cruor hic de stipite manat it is not the branches thou fightest against Nam Polydorus ego I am Jesus whom thou persecutest I am now come near to a point which I have pressed heretofore in the other publick place of this citie therefore I proceed no further but turn aside to my second general point observed in this verse which was Jerusalems miserie The Tree is very fruitful and I am but a passenger and therefore must be contented to pull two or three clusters which I conceived to be the ripest and the readiest to part with the boughs which when I have commended to your several tastes I will commit you to God First the Paucity of true Professors if ye can finde a man or if there be any Secondly the place where In Jerusalem Thirdly that God will bring his judgements upon her because of her wickednesse not expressed but necessarily understood From these three I collect three Propositions from the first Gods flock militant may consist of a small number from the second There is no particular place so priviledged but that it may revolt and fall from God from the third No place is so strong nor city so fenced but the sins of the people will bring it to ruine Of these three in order Gods holy Spirit directing me and first of the first God made all the world and therefore it is great reason that he should have it all to himself yea and he challengeth it as his own right The gold is his and the silver is his and all the beasts of the field 〈◊〉 his and so are the cattel upon a thousand hills and the Heavens are his for they are his Throne and the earth is his for it is his footstool and the reprobate are his for Nebuchadnezzar is his servant and as Judah is his so is Moab likewise but in another kinde of service in a word The earth is the Lords and all that therein is the compasse of the world and all that dwell therein but not in that property which is now meant for that belongs only unto men and yet not unto all but to a few which are appointed to be heirs of salvation God made all men so that they are all his sons by creation but he ordained not all to life so that there is but a remnant which are his sons by adoption our first Father did eat such a sowre grape as did set all his childrens teeth on edge by transgressing Gods commandment he lost his birth-right and was shut out of Paradise by committing treason against his Lord and King his blood was stained and all his children were made uncapable of their fathers inheritance but God who is rightly termed the Father of all mercy and God of all consolation as he purposed to shew his justice in punishing the greater part of such as so grievously incurred his displeasure so on the contrary side it was his good pleasure to shew his mercy in saving of some though they deserved as great a degree of punishment as the other and therefore in a Parliment holden before all times it was enacted that the natural son of God the second person in the Trinity should in the fulnesse of time take upon him mans flesh and suffer for our transgressions and gather a certain number out of that Masse of corruption wherein all mankinde lay these be they which shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth these be his people and the sheep of his pasture these be they which have this prerogative to be called the Sons of God and the heirs of God annexed with Christ and these are they which I affirm to be often contained in a very narrow room in respect of the wicked There is much chaffe and little wheat it is the wheat that God keeps for his garner there are many stones but few pearls it is the pearl which Christ hath bought with his blood Many fowls but only the Eagles be good birds Sathan hath a Kingdom and Christ but a little flock it is like to Bethleem in the land of Judah but a little one amongst the Princes of Judah it is like to Noahs flood going and returning like the 〈◊〉 flowing and ebbing or like to the Moon filling and waining and sometimes so eclipsed and darked with the earth that thou canst not perceive that Christ the son of righteousnesse doth
hangeth over your heads like Damocles his sword for our iniquities flatter your selves no longer in your own sinnes but turn unto him by speedy and unfained repentance that he may repent him of the evill and turn away his plagues from you let the wanton leave his dallying and the drunkard his carrowsing and the Usurer his biting and the swearer his blaspheming and the oppressor his grinding and every one amend one in time before the Lords wrath be further kindled then will the Lord be mercifull unto this land he will quickly turn the sowre looks of an angry and sinne-revenging Judge into the smiling countenance of a milde and gentle Father Hee will take the rodde which he hath prepared for you and burn it in the fire These plagues which do hang over you for your iniquities he will blow away with the breath of his nostrils as he did the Egyptian Grashoppers into the red-sea hee will command his destroying Angel to put up his sword into the sheath he will open the windowes of heaven and powre down a blessing upon you without measure Then shall you be blessed in the City and blessed in the field blessed at your going out and blessed at your comming in and whatsoever you put your hands unto shall be blessed your sons shall grow up as Olive branches and your daughters shall bee as the polished corners of the Temple Your grounds shall so abound with grane that the tillers shall laugh and sing your garners shall be full and plenteous with all manner of store your presses shall abound with Oyle and wine your sheep shall bring forth thousands and tenne thousands in your fields Every thing shall prosper nothing shall stop the current of Gods blessings there shall be no decay nor leading into captivity and no complaining in your streets and which is better then all these he will give you faithfull and painfull Pastors to feed you his spirit to comfort you his word to instruct you his wisdom to direct you his Angels to watch over you his grace to assist you and in a word He will be your God and you shall be his people thus shall it be done unto all those whom the King of heaven shall honour so that all the world shall wonder at your felicity and say Blessed be the Lord which taketh pleasure in the prosperity of his servants and happy are the people that be in such a case yea blessed are all they which have the Lord for their God thus will he be with you and direct you in the desert of this world till he bring you into a faire and goodly place the promised land a land that floweth with better things then abundance of Milke and Honey the celestial Paradise the heavenly Canaan the kingdome of glory prepared for you from the beginning of the world even that kingdome where the King is verity the Lawes charity the Angels your company the Peace felicity the life eternity To this kingdom the God of all mercy bring us for his sake that bought us with his own blood to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit three persons in trinity and one God in unity be ascribed all honour and glory power and Majesty both now and for evermore Amen TO THE Right reverend father in God the Lord Bishop of CARLILE RIGHT REVEREND WHen I preached at Carlile at the last Assises I made no other account but that my sermon should like Aristotles Ephemeron have died the same day that it took breath Since which time I have been intreated by divers to make it common to whom I would not yield the least assent as doubting that their desires proceeded rather from affection towards the speaker then from a sound judgement of the things spoken But when I perceived how distastfull it was to some that beare Romish hearts in English breasts I resolved as David did when Michal mocked him for dancing before the Arke to be yet more vile by publishing that unto their eyes which before was delivered to their eares hoping that the more it displeaseth them the better acceptance it shall finde with the true Israelite Which now at length I have effected So as that before they heard it or at least heard of it so now they may read it And if I have evill spoken let them beare witnesse of the evill but if I have said well why doe they smite me It seems to them a meere calumniation to say that there is no probability that a Papist shall live peaceably with us and performe true and sincere obedience towards our Prince To whom I might returne the short answer of the Lacones to their adversary Si if it were so my speech was not to no purpose because not only rebels to the King but much more to God and his true worship and service are to be rooted out of a Christian commonwealth And if those be worthy a sharpe censure which agreeing with us in the fundamental points of Divinity cannot away with the carved worke of our Temple but cut it downe as it were with Axes and Hammers how much more those Sanballats and Tobiahs that strike at the foundation thereof and say of it as did the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem down with it down with it even to the ground But I rather say O si I wish it were so and that there were no feare of danger by their meanes and devises But this I doubt cannot be effected unlesse there be I will not say with the Oratour a wall but a sea between them and us Till then there is as great probability of peace between us as there was of old time between the Catholicks and the Donatists the Orthodoxall and the Arians the Hebrewes and the Aegyptians the Iewes and the Samaritans Immortale odium nunquam sanabile vulnus And for true loyalty and faithful obedience there is as great probability as that the two poles shall meet The King and the Pope are two contrary masters none can truly serve them both Either he must hate the one and love the other or he must leane to the one and despise the other The obedience which either of them requires is so repugnant that they cannot lodge within one breast This loyalty which our adversaries do outwardly pretend is but equivocal no more true loyalty then a dead hand is a hand it wants the very forme and soule if I may so speak of true dutifulnesse which is to perform obedience voluntarily and with a free heart for Gods cause as to Christs immediate Vicar over al persons within his dominions It is with some secret reservation till their primus motor the man of sin upon whom their obedience depends shal sway them another way rebus sic stantibus the state standing as it doth donec publica bullae executio fieri possit untill they may have power and strength to resist So that I may use the same words unto them which
have by unlawful means gotten with Zachaeus they restore it again four-fold 20. From the Locust we come to the Cankar-wormë from oppressing Ahab to bribing Gehazi of whom I may truly affirm that which Tacitus speaks of the Astrologians in Rome it is genus hominum pestilens fallax quod in hac republic â semper prohibetur semper retinetur a pestilent and froward kind of people which hath been still gain-said and yet never more common and frequent then now an off-spring not so degenerate from the loynes of Judas as is the oppressour Because the oppressour like the fat Buls of Basan closeth the poor on every side and gapes upon him with his mouth as it were a ramping and a roaring lion whereas the briber lieth closely in the thievish corners of the streets that he may ravish such as he shall get into his net The oppressour takes it perforce the briber gets all by secret compact What will ye give me None might come to the inner court of king Ahashuerosh save hee to whom the king held out his golden scepter But none may come to the bribers inner court save hee that shall hold out a golden scepter unto him Be thy cause never so light in the balance of equity it is not material if thou canst make it up in gold it shall be currant through his liberties Right and wrong truth and falshood are onely distinguished by their attendants If injustice get the overthrow it is because she is not guarded with such companies as are expected But I have not Elisha's eyes to point out Gehazi and to observe what he hath done in secret and therefore I will passe him over onely thus much I would have him to know that Judas cannot so secretly compact with the Priests but Christ knoweth it That speech of our blessed Saviour which that worthy Martyr Hugh Latimer used for his posie is an undoubted truth There is nothing so secret but it shall be revealed Thou mayest well flatter thy selfe with an outward shew of justice like that monster in the Poet Pulchra Laverna Da mihi fallere da sanctum justumque videri Noctem peccatis frandibus objice nubem O beautiful Laverna grant that I may deceive the world with a counterfeit shew of holinesse cover my sinnes with a cloud of obscurity that they may be hid Deceive the world thou mayest but thou canst not deceive God Soloculis hominem quibus aspicit omnia cernit God whose eyes are ten thousand times brighter then the sun can pierce through this cloud if it were darker then hell and behold thy doing It is no heathenish counsell which a heathen man gives neither doth it smell of Epicurisme though it was his dictate who was the father of that Swinish Sect that whatsoever thou art about to doe though never so secret thou shouldest still imagine that some doth behold thee and observe thy actions Vt sic tanquam illo spectante vivas omnia tanquam illo vidente facias saith Seneca And therefore whatsoever thou art about to doe saith the same writer imagine that Cato a severe reprehender of the least vices or if this be too much suppose that Laelius a man of a quiet disposition but such as cannot brook any notable offence doth behold thee This is good counsell of a heathen man which knew not God aright But thou which dost professe Christianitie shouldst goe a step further and fully assure thy selfe that not a sinfull man but that a sinne-revenging God doth watch thee Propè à te Deus est intùs est And Sacer in te spiritus sedet bonorum malorumque observat custos as the heathen Stoick divinely speaketh there is a holy spirit within thee which seeth whatsoever thou doest good or bad Doe not then deceive thy selfe like that Sophister in Aristotle who thought it impossible to know by demonstration the affections of a number or triangle because he kept some number or triangle in his fist which others did not know of Be it Nummus or Numerus triangle or crosse or whatsoever it bee thou canst not keepe it so closely in thy hand but God lookes into it and will one day call thee to an account for it 12. In the last place comes the Grashopper the cozening Lawyer who feeds his Client with sugered words and golden hopes but all proves in the end for a quid mihi dabitis Here as Tully said unto the Romans touching the Catilinarians Cupio me patres Conscripti esse clementem cupio non dissolutum videri I would gladly hold my peace and not be judged by any to exceed the limits of modestie But voces reipublicae imo totius regni me nequitiae inertiaeque condemnarent the voice of the whole kingdome exclaiming against the great abuses of these times would condemn me of negligence The time is protracted unnecessarie delaies are used new doubts are dayly invented insomuch that the causes are oftentimes more uncertaine in the latter end then they were at the first beginning What postings off from Court to Court what delaies and procrastinations from tearme to tearme from yeare to yeare to yeare insomuch that a man may sooner travell about the whole globe of the earth then passe through an English court The Lawes are made like a game at the cards wherein all the players are loosers and all the gaine comes to the butler which found them cards to play on And the Lawyers prove such Arbitrators as was Quintus Fabius in Tullie who being appointed a daies-man between the Nolanes and the Neopolitanes touching the borders of their grounds tooke a great part of their right from both or rather like to Philip of Macedon who being chosen a judge betweene two Brethren touching their fathers kingdome tooke it from them both and reserved it to himselfe They take from both the Parties though not the same numero which they contend for yet the same specie I meane the value of the same and gaine it to themselves The filly sheep in a tempest runs to a briar bush for a shelter when the storme is overblown he is so clapsed in the briars that before he get out he is enforced to leave some good part of his fleece behind him so that he is made unable to indure the next storme And yet better it is that he should indure with patience then by having recourse to such an Harbour have his skin riped by the bramble I will not apply I reverence the profession It is good and necessary for the commonwealth and a calling warrantable by Gods Word And I make no qustion but there are many of this profession which doe study to approve their doings in the sight of God and man And so I am perswaded of you all though I thus speake but as the Apostle saith of himselfe I know nothing of my selfe yet am I not justified so say I though I know nothing by any of you yet
the Gospel of peace his ministers the Ambassadours of peace his natural Son the Author of peace his adopted sons the children of peace if then ye will be the sons of the most highest your endeavor must be this to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Consider what I say and the Lord give you wisdome and understanding in all things Finally to speake unto all and so to make an end of all seeing that we are all Tenants at will and must be thrust out of the doors of these earthly Tabernacles whensoever it shall please our great landlord to call us hence let us have our loines girt and our lampes continually burning that whensoever the Lord shal call us hence in the evening or in the morning at noon-day or at mid-night he may find us ready Happy is the man whom his Master when he comes shall find watching Let us every day sum up our accounts with God Ita aedificemus quasi semper victuri ita vivamus quasi cras morituri let us build as if we would ever live but let us live as if wee were ever ready to dye Then may every one of us in the integrity of heart and syncerity of conscience when the time of his departing is at hand say with the blessed Apostle If have fought a good fight and have finished my course I have kept the faith from hence forth is laid up for me a crowne of righteousnesse which God the righteous Judge shall give me at that day Unto this God one eternall omnipotent and unchangeable Iehovah in essence three persons in manner of subsistence the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit be ascribed all honour and glory power might and majestie both now and forever more Amen Galathians 3. 10. As many as are of the workes of the Law are under the Cuurse for it is written cursed is every man that continueth not in all things which are written in the booke of the law to do them IN which words observe two things 1. A Doctrine 2. A Reason of the doctrine in the former part the reason in the latter I have spoken of the doctrine I purpose now to speake only of the reason for it is written c. wherein observe three things 1. It is to no purpose to begin a good course of life unlesse thou hold it out and continue till the end 2. It s not enough for a Christian to performe obedience to some of Gods precepts and to bear with himself wilfully in the breach of others Cursed is he that continueth not in all 3. That the rule of our obedience is no unwritten tradition but the written Word of God that are written in the booke of the Law But before I speak of these I gather from the connexion this conclusion That no man can in this life perfectly fulfill the Will of God it followeth thus because as it is written Cursed c. So it is written This doe and thou shalt live and the man that doth these things shall live in them So that the Apostle takes this for granted or else his argument is of no force this is evidently confirmed by many places of Scripture 1 Kings 8. 49. Eccles 7. 22. Psal 143. 2. Isa 64. 6. Acts. 15. 10. Acts. 13. 39. 1 Ioh. 1. 8. 2. It is confirmed by reason the first is drawn from the corruption of nature which is in the best Christians from which wee may thus argue he that consisteth of flesh as well as of Spirit cannoâ— fulfill the Law no not in his best actions but the best Christian that ever lived consisteth of flesh as wel as of Spirit therfore he cannot fulfill the law The minor hath been formerly proved The Major is plaine for as he is carnall he is sold under sinne The wisdome thereof is enmity against God for it is not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can be Thus it is proved from the the death of Christ for if righteousnesse be by the workes of the Law then Christ dyed without a cause Gal. 3. 21. and if they which are of the law be heires then saith is made void and the promise is made of no effect Rom. 4. 14. for he came to fulfill the law Matth. 5. 17. which was impossible to be fulfilled of us in as much as it was weake because of the flesh Therefore God sent his sonne in the similitude of sinfull flesh Rom. 8. 3. But the Romish Sophisters answer that this maketh against the Pelagians which were of opinion that a man might by the strength of nature fulfill the law not against them which hold that this abilitie comes from grace and that the good workes of a Christian proceed from Christ as the juice in the branches proceedeth from the Vine To this I answer 1. That neither the Pelagians nor these against whom the Apostle disputeth did altogether exclude grace and therefore if it be strong against them it will be of force against the Papists too 2. Their answer is grounded upon a false supposition as that the works of a Christian doe proceed wholly from Christ for they they doe in part proceed from the flesh and therefore though as they are the workes of the holy Ghost who applieth unto the faithfull the force and efficacie of Christs resurrection they be perfect yet in respect of the flesh they be stained and polluted 3. Christ died for us not by any inherent but by his imputed righteousnesse which righteousness is applyed and appropriated unto us principally by the holy Ghost instrumentally by faith whereby wee are incorporate into Christ and so partakers of his righteousnesse wee might be justified I thinke Abraham was as holy a man as Ignatius the father of Jesuits or Dominicus and Franciscus the founders of Friers in whom saith Bellarmine their very adversaries can find nothing that deserveth reprehension praeter nimiam sanctitatem save their too much holiness and yet it was not his good workes but his faith for which he was counted righteous I know that this imputative righteousnesse is counted with them a putative and imaginarie righteousness but herein the injurie is not done unto us but unto him who saith to him that worketh not but believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly his faith is imputed for righteousnesse Even as David declareth the blessednesse of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousnesse without workes saying Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth no sinne wee say that faith was imputed to Abraham for righteousnesse now it is not written for him only that it was imputed unto him for righteousness but also for us to whom it shal be imputed for righteousnesse c. A third reason to prove that no man can fulfill the Law is because all have need to say forgive us our debts who more excellent amongst the old people saith Austin then the holy Priests and yet the Lord commanded them that
is wronged make complaint rather then to his Father and to whom shall a man have recourse for redress of injuries done to him but to them who are Gods Deputies Fathers of their Countries and living Laws to give every man his owne And if every wrong should be put up with patience it would imbolden such as we speak of to multiply their abuses and with greater impudency to goe on in their lewd courses Veterem ferendo injuriam invitas novam whereupon the Ephori amongst the Lacedemonians did punish a man that had put up many injuries and never made complaint Nam si primum vel alterum accusasset vel jure vindicasset cateri abstinissent But yet it 's not fit that Fathers of great Families such as our reverend Judges should be molested with the petty complaints of every peevish Boy that is in the house In this case there is utterly a weaknesse of mind amongst men especially in these parts so remote from the chief Coures of Justice that they go to Law one with another As for the Wrangler of whom I was last speaking who makes the Law sometimes a Sword to revenge himself of his Brother sometimes a Coak to cover his theft Surely if that law of Pittacus was good that he who committed a fault when he was drunk should suffer a double punishment one for the offence the other for being drunk then this deserves a double one one for abusing the Law the other for wronging his Neighbour to whom he should perform all duties of brotherly love But I leave him and will end this branch with a generall exhortation As we all professe our selves to be children of one father so let us be affectioned to love one another with brotherly love Rom. 12. 10. Now then as the elect of God children of one father holy and beloved put on the bowels of mercie kindnesse meeknesse long-suffering forbearing one another and forgiving one another if any man have a quarrell against another even as God for Christs sake forgave you And let the peace of God rule in your hearts and the God of peace shall be with you O holy Father sanctifie them whom thou hast given unto thy Christ the sheepe of thy little flock keep them in thy name pour into their hearts the spirit of peace and unity That they may be all one as thou thy sonne are one Last of all Is Almighty God the great Judge of the World Is he a Father to his little flocke Here then Judges and Magistrates and the great ones of this World and all those whom the great God of Heaven and Earth hath set over others and stiled with his owne name are to be exhorted to imitate him whose person they beare in this relation of Paternity remembring bring that as they are called Gods so are they also named Fathers so Job a Judge or as some think a King is stiled Job 29. 16. And David speaks to his Subjects as unto children Psal 34. Come ye children Naamans servants call their Master father 2 King 5. 13. And Joseph when he was made ruler over Aegypt was called Abroch that is tender Father and the Philistims called their Kings Abimilech as who should say the King my Father So amongst the old Romans the worthiest of their Senators were called Fathers as Juvenall speaks of Tullie Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit They must then as Jer. exhorts not only abstain from violence and shedding of innocent blood but after Gods example deliver the oppressed from the hands of the Oppressor as much as in them lies shew themselves fathers and protectors of the righteous This God requires at their hands and those that purposely neglect it shall one day hold up their hands and answer for it when the Judge of the world shall sit on the Bench. And this they are the rather to look too because the more eminent their places are the more conspicuous will their faults be if they neglect their duties As a blaine on the eye beseems worse then a wart on the face and a wart on the face worse then a wenne on the back or other part that is not seen That which others may doe great men and those that are in authority may not Quibus omnia licent propter hoc ipsum multa non licent saith Seneca other men may looke out at a window and observe passengers in the streets Sophocles when he is on the bench may not Praetorem decet non manus solum sed oculos habere abstinentes another man may stoop and take up something that lies in his way Themistocles may not Others may weare Sycionian Pantophles but they become not Socrates though fit for his feet Magistrates play Gods part and a Fathers on the stage and therefore have need to remember Jehosaphats rule Take heed what ye doe They walk upon the top of a steep Rock they have need to tread warily And if their places and their names put them in mind of their duties especially of protecting the innocent after Gods example a shame befall those Courts and Magistrates and Advocates too who by the greatnesse of their places think to manage and inlaw the foulest enormities Vbi is qui sedet crimina vindicaturus admittit as Cyprian complains Or as Aeneas Sylvjus once said of the Court of Rome where Justice is made the lure Suiters the fowls Attorneyes and Solliciters the drivers Pleaders the fowlers the Law the net and he that should sit in the gate to protect the cause of the Innocent sits lurking in the theivish corners of the streets that hee may ravish the poore and such as he gets into his net It was a bold but a true Speech of Diomedes a Pirate to Alexander the Great when he was convented before him for Piracy I who robb with one poor Pinace am called a Pirate and thou that dost it with an invincible Navy art called a Monarch I because I robb one private man am called a Theife and thou because thou robbest and wastest whole Kingdomes to which thou hast no right art called an Emperour I by the misery of a few have purchased a name of disgrace and thou by the misery of a great part of the World hast got the Sirname of Magnus If I had thy Navy by Sea and thy Forces by Land to command I should be saluted Emperour if thou wert alone and a poor prisoner as I am the whole World would condemne thee for a notable Theife For in the cause we differ nothing save that he is the worse who doth more manifestly forsake Justice and more notoriously impugne the Laws those whom I flee thou persecutest whom I after a sort reverence thou scornest it was the iniquity of Fortune and want of necessaries that made me it 's intollerable pride and insatiable avarice that made thee a Theife had I more I would be better thou the more thou hast the worse
Gods name why should such a Dunghil that 's to faire a name possesse a Room and Sanctuary in the House of God me thinks those words which Caecilius Bishop of Bilta delivered in the Councel of Carthage where Cyprian was President though all of them erred in the maine point that they handled are very emphaticall and may serve as Goades and Nailes nay as Daggers to peirce into the hearts of such men Fidem dat infidelis veniam delictorum tribuit sceleratus in nomine Christi tingit Antichristus benedicit a deo maledictus vitam pollicetur mortuus pacem dat impacificus deum invocat blasphemus sacerdotium administrat profanus An Infidel preacheth the faith an ungodly Miscreant remits sinnes Antichrist baptizeth in the name of Christ he that is cursed of God blesseth he that is dead promiseth life Gods Enemy preacheth peace a Blasphemer cals upon God a prophane person ministreth about holy things all Asystataes Vnto the ungodly said God why preachest thou my Law and takest my Covenant in thy mouth whereas thou hatest to be reformed Psal 50. 16. 17. Dic quaeso Propheta tinctura coloratur Propheta stibio pingitur Propheta tabulis ac tesseris ludit Propheta foeneratur Propheta munera accipit Saith Appollonius in Eusebius of Montanus and his Disciples are these indowments of a Prophet Thou that teachest another teachest not thou thy self thou that preachest a man should not steale dost thou steale Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery dost thou commit adultery thou that abhorrest Idolls committest thou sacriledge Oh let us not hew Timber out of Gods Wood by our Doctrine and instead of bringing our Building to an excellent worke by a prophane life hew downe all the carved worke of the Temple as it were with Axes and Hammers Let us with Aaron have on our Brest-plates not only Vrim light of Doctrine but also Thummim perfection of life Let us be with John not only crying voices Matth. 3. but burning and shining Lamps Joh. 5. Let us not only be Salt to season others Matth. 5. but let us also have Salt in our selves Mark 9. 50. we are called the Light of the World let us imitate the light of the World the Sun as lumine by inlightning them that sit in darkness and guiding their Feet in the way of peace So motu too by keeping a streight course under the ecliptique line of the Law without wilfull diverting to the right hand or to the left not with the rest of the wandring Stars be sometimes stationary and sometimes retrograde and which is common to all the Planets sometimes in apogaeo and then in perigaeo or if I may so speake in apogaeo about Heaven and heavenly things by our Doctrine and then in perigaeo about Earth and earthly things in the whole course of our Lives and Conversations Seneca notes of Plato Epicurus and Zeno docebant non quemadmodum ipsi viverent sed quemadmodum vivendum esset they taught how a man should live not as they lived themselves But of all others Seneca himselfe may beare the Bell away for a notable Hypocrite in this kinde who speakes so divinely of a blessed life of Gods providence of the contempt of the World that some would have him to be one of those Converts of Nero's Family of whom the Apostle speakes Phil. 4. and in favour with this opinion some have counterfeited Epistles between him and Paul yet was he one of the most covetous earth-wormes that ever the World bred His oppressive usury spread over the whole Roman Empire this Island felt the smart of it insomuch that besides his large Possessions in the Country and stately Pallaces and pleasant Gardens in Rome he had gathered in foure yeares space three thousand times three hundred thousand Sestercies which makes of our Coine almost three Milions of pounds Let us not be like these Heathen Philosophers to teach one thing and do another as Boat-men looke one way and row another but rather as Gregory Neocaesariensis speakes of Origen when he taught Philosophy ad officia nos invitavit plus factis quam dictis And as Iehu and Iehonadab went hand in hand together for the rooting out of Baals Priests and Ahabs posterity so let our profession and our practice go hand in hand together for the rooting out of the sons of Anak spirituall wickedness amongst us And if our profession out-run our practise in the way to heaven as John out-run Peter to Christs Sepulchre which may easily fall out our tongues are swifter then our feet yet let not our practise give over but follow after though non passibus aequis and say to it as Elisha said to Elijah As the Lord liveth I will not leave thee I will follow after thee Or as Ruth said to Naomi Whither thou goest I will goe and where thou dwellest I will dwell Vnum commune periclum una salus ambobus erit and let us alwayes remember that that definition which old Cato gave of an Orator is very sutable to a Divine Vir bonus dicendi peritus and therefore as we must be dicendi periti good speakers so should we also be viri boni good livers By these two linked together we teach our Flocks how they should live but by the former without the latter wee tell God how hee shall condemne us as Chrysostome speaks Bene docendo bene vivendo populum instruis quomodo vivere debeat bene autem docendo male vivendo deum instruis quomodo condemnare te debeat For drawing us to a cheerfull performance of this duty beside the judgement denounced in the latter part of my Text I will produce a three-fold Cord which as the Wise man speaks is not easily broken First it will keep our persons and callings from just contempt every man is bound to maintain the credite of his Calling but a Minister most See that no man despise thy youth 1 Tim. 4. See that no man despise thee Tit. 2. How shall this be effected by proud looks by imperious words by a grave and majesticall countenance by gorgeous and costly attyre these may indeed dazzle the eyes of a few ignorants which look onely on the appearance as Magabizius with his majesticall looks and silken suits at the first did to the Schollers of Zeuxis and peradventure they may procure a cap or a knee to our persons but very little or no reputation to our Calling If we would keep it from just contempt we must be as John Baptist was holy and just men and then the proudest of them all if they have but Herods honestie will feare and reverence us Wee must be unto them that believe an ensample in word in conversation in love in spirit in faith and in purenesse 1 Tim. 4. 12. This will make men fall downe on their faces and worship God and say that God is in us indeed Secondly holy Doctrine without