of that same town any word but this Blandina I am a Christian and we do no evill When Decius persecuted the Church Babylas Bishop of Antioch Babylas led to the place of execution with his three sonnes desired that they should be first put to death to the end that he might exhort and confirme them which when hee had done his wife comforted him and after she had seen her husband and three children suffer death for Christs sake buried them together Much otherwise the Father and the Sonne with whom I was familiar The Father beseeched that he should die first that his Sonne who was a godly and learned Preacher might comfort him Then it was a wonderfull spectacle to Papists to see the Sonne at the foote of the gallowes preaching to his Father the merits of the death of Christ the vertue of his resurrection the vanitie of the world the unspeakable joyes of Paradise to heare him crying alowd Father ye cannot so soone knocke at the gate of heaven but Christ will open ye cannot so soone enter but I shall follow to hear and behold the old and venerable Father answering with a cheerefull countenance Sonne I see the heavens open and Iesus Christ at the right hand of God Then they were amazed to marke againe the young Minister forgetting himselfe and with a constant face preaching to other two which were also in the executioners hands the forgivenesse of sins the resurrection of the flesh and life everlasting To consider how constantly the foure died with what fervencie of celestial prayers they commended their spirits into Gods hands Then the chiefe of the Capuchin Monkes said to his companions Si coelum Huguenotis datur istis debetur If heaven bee given to Huguenots it is due to these men Then some Gentlemen cryed O happie religion which breeds in men a contempt of death which we dread most and a most sure hope of salvation who would not who should not fight manfully for the defence and suffer constantly for the confession of such a religion This day onely have we begun to know Christ Condemned men have been our Preachers We shall never hate Huguenotes any more XVIII Learne of all this discourse what difference there is betwixt the upright man and the hypocrite Iohn the Baptist calleth afflictions f Mat. 3.12 Gods fanne wherewith when he hath throughly purged his floore the chaffe flyeth away into the ayre and finally is burnt up with unquenchable fire but the wheate is gathered into the garner Hypocrites are chaffe lying in time of peace intermixt with the faithfull which are Gods wheat but g Psal 1.4 5. the wind of persecution driveth them away neyther can they stand in the congregation of the righteous for then there is nothing to be seene but Apostasies defections abjuring of the truth renouncing of the Gospell forsaking of all Communion with the Church Iesus Christ compareth tribulation and persecution h Mat 13.5 6 8 20 21 23. to the burning Sunne scorching the seede which hath no deepnesse of earth so that it withereth away but warming the seede which falls into good ground and making it to bring foorth fruite some an hundred fold some sixtie fold some thirtie fold The Hypocrite receiveth the word with joy but because hee hath not in himselfe the roote of an upright conscience when persecution ariseth because of word he is offended and starteth backe The righteous man is the good ground the sunne of persecution may blacken him but it cannot burne him In the most hot dayes of tribulation he is most plentious in good workes therefore the whole Church cryeth in the Canticles i Cant. 1.5 6. O ye daughters of Ierusalem I am blacke but comely k Bernar. in Cant. ser 25. Blacke in your judgement Comely in the judgement of God and Angels Blacke without l Vestro maleficio by your mischiefe for the Sunne of persecution hath looked upon me my mothers children were angry with me these good Catholikes have persecuted me Comely within m Dei beneficio through Gods benefit for n Psal 45.13 the Kings daughter is all glorious within As the tents of of Kedar as the curtaines of Salomon which are all blacke and dustie without but within are decked with most precious implements To conclude cast gold in water it keepeth its owne yellow shining cast it in the fire and melt it it becommeth brighter Cast earth in water it is by and by changed into mud cast hay in water it will suddenly rot cast earth in the fire it is instantly turned into dust and made a sport to the wind cast hay into the fire with a blaze it is made smoake and ashes So befalls it to the righteous man the hypocrite The hypocrit when he thriveth most and full-gorgeth himself with pleasures is like hay and a lumpe of earth in the water he is nothing but rottennesse and putrefaction when Gods hand is upon him he howles he despites God hee curseth him to his face and in the stirring of an eye is consumed he perisheth he vanisheth like earth and straw in the fire But the righteous man in his greatest prosperitie shineth in all godlinesse before men as gold in water and when hee is cast in the fierie furnace of tribulation he is like gold in the fire his workes then yeeld a more radiant lustre than before XIX The Lord in his mercy sanctifie us and make us throughly righteous that when the day of our tryall shall come we may be found to be fine metall and abiding the hammer the scissers and the fire may through faith and patience inherite the promises of grace peace and eternall life through the merits of our Lord Iesus Christ who o 1. Ioh. 5.20 is the true God and eternall life to whom is due and to whom let us render now and for evermore all praise honour and glory Amen SERMON V. Of the causes of the righteous mans Evills PSALM XXXIV XIX Many are the Evills of the Righteous 1. THe righteous man when hee suffereth for righteousnesse sake is honoured 2. It is a great glory to suffer for a good cause 3. Namely for God as many have done 4. To suffer for the Gospell is most glorious of all 5. Of those which suffer for the Gospell some are Confessors some Martyrs 6. What it is to be a Martyr 7. Three conditions required in a Martyr 8. The great glory of Martyrdome in that it makes the Martyrs resemble the Prophets Apostles and other Saints 9. Yea and Iesus Christ himselfe yet with foure differences 10. God afflicteth righteous men for other mens sake 1. That they may be converted 11.2 That they may bee instructed not to worship righteous men 12.3 That they may bee spurred to imitate their Christian vertues 13.4 That they may consider Gods wrath against sinne and feare 14. Finally God afflicteth the righteous man for his owne glory whereof there are many
salvation and my high tower His deliveries are not palliative cures easing for a while and not healing altogether nor anodins taking away for some houres all sense of paine and not the paine it selfe They are salvations and as it were resurrections from among the dead b Dan. 6.27 He delivereth and resoueth and he worketh signes and wonders in heaven and in earth Such were the deliveries of Israel out of the land of Egypt of David from Saul of Hezekiah and Iosaphat from their enemies of Shadrac Meshac and Habed-nego out of the burning furnace of Daniel from the power of the Lions of his people out of the captiuitie of Babylon such have ever beene the deliveries of the Church such was this last deliverie of the Churches of France XI Having such a Deliverer such a Redeemer such a Saviour let us neither feare men nor trust in them yea let us not feare the divell himselfe For the divell was not so hardie as to doe violence to c Iob 1.12 Iob or d Mat. 8.29 to enter into the swine without Gods leave The divels e Eph. 6.12 are principalities and powers and spirituall wickednesse in high places and yet we should not feare all their spirituall and powerfull wickednes because God who is our deliverer is stronger Shall we then feare men which are borne which live which dye in weaknes What can the mightiest of them all doe without the Lord what can they all doe against the Lord If he be with us if he be against them who shall be against us who shall be for them What fearest thou their multitude and number If thou hast received grace to say with David f Psal 3.5 6. the Lord susteined me thou hast also received grace to say with him I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me What fearest thou Their strength and great might Could g Gen. 6.4 7. the Giants which were on the earth in the dayes of Noah keepe themselves from the flood of Gods wrath h Numb 13.32 33. Num. 14 19 The people of Israel feared the people of Canaan because these were men of great stature and among them were the Giants the sonnes of Anak and they were as grashoppers compared to them Then Iosua and Caleb said to them Feare not the people of the Land for they are bread for us their defence is departed from them and the LORD is with us feare them not Conformably whereunto i Ios 11.21 Ioshuah cut off the Anakims and destroyed them utterly with their cities and there was none of them left in the land of the children of Israel When k Deut. 3.1 2 11. Og king of Bashan came against the people of Israel with all his people the people had occasion to feare for Og was of the remnant of gyants his bed-sted was of yron the length thereof was nine cubits and the breadth foure cubits after the cubit of a man But God said to Moses Feare him not for I will deliver him and all his people and his land into thy hand What did then all his â—â—gnesse and tallnesse availe him Could it hinder the children of Israel from singing to God l Psal 136.18 19 20. He slew famous kings for his mercy endureth for ever Sihon king of the Amorites for his mercy endureth for ever and Og the king of Bashan for his mercy endureth for ever m 1. Sam. 17.4 7 11 32. When the Israelites saw the great and huge monster Goliah the staffe of whose speare was like a weavers beame and the head thereof weighed sixe hundred shekels of yron they were dismayed and greatly afraid But David led with another spirit said to Saul Let no mans heart faile because of him thy servant will goe and fight with this Philistine and he went with a sling in his hand and with a stone which he flung at him he slew him according as he had said n Ver. 47. The Lord saveth not with sword and speare for the battellis the LORDS What fearest thou their prudence their wisedome their slight and shifting devices Feare not o Psal 94.11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man that they are vanitie He bloweth upon them and they vanish away with their authors For p Pro. 21.30 31. there is no wisedome nor understanding nor counsell against the LORD q Iob 12.13 17 20 21. with him is wisedome and strength he hath cousell and understanding he leadeth counsellers away spoyled and maketh the Iudges fooles he remooveth away the speech of the trustie and taketh away the understanding of the aged hee powreth contempt upon Princes and weakeneth the strength of the mightie Finally r Psal 90.3 he turneth man to destruction and saith Returne ye children of men And therefore he saith to his children when they feare the power of his enemies Å¿ Esa 51.7 8. Hearken unto me ye that know righteousnesse the people in whose heart is my law feare ye not the reproch of men neither be ye afraid of their revilings for the moth shall eate them up like a garment and the worme shall eate them like wooll but my righteousnes shall befor ever and my salvation from generation to generation Wicked and mighty men build their designes upon the hope of long life and learne not by so many examples of the mortality of the greatest among men that t Esa 40.23 24. the Lord bringeth the Princes to nothing and maketh the Iudges of the earth as vanity yea they shall not be planted yea they shall not be sowen yea their stocke shall not take roote in the earth and he shall also blow upon them and they shall wither and the whirle-wind shall take them away as stubble This was v 1. King 22.27 28. Achabs trust when he commanded to put Micaiah in prison and to feed him with bread and water of affliction untill he came backe in peace but Micaiah answered with great confidence If thou returne at all in peace the LORD hath not spoken at all by me The wicked and malicious Apostate Iulian threatned the Christians whom hee called Galileans in derision with many evills and mischiefes as soone as he should come backe from his expedition against the Persians trusting in the predictions of the Magicians and in the ambiguous oracles of his gods But the Christians feared him not knowing that he was a mortall man or as Athanasius called him Nubeculacitò transitura a cloud which is soone gone Henry II. King of France said that hee should see with his owne eyes Anne de Bourg burnt quicke That same day he received at the tilting a stroake with a speare in the eye whereof he died His sonne Francis II. erected the scaffold for the martyrizing of the Prince of Condé Prince of his owne blood That same night a paine in his eare killed him and the Prince escaped For these causes taken from Gods deliveries
shall be saith S. Augustine shut upward and open downeward where the deeper they shall sinke l Rev. 9.2 the more shall it inlargeit selfe that they may never find an end of sinking The divells themselves are afraid to go there how much more men whose bones shall cracke whose teeth shall clatter whose hearts shall quake at the onely naming of it XVI Wo wo be unto them for no heart can imagin no tongue can iutter the tortures and torments which are impossible to be endured which needs they must endure there Alas what ease shall they find where when they shall be banished from the quickening sight of the living God never to see his face againe but inflamed with fury and indignation against them when it shall bee said unto them Depart from me ye cursed when they shall shall cry n Mat. 25.11 12. Lord Lord open to us and he shall answer Verily I say unto you I know you not o Aug. ibid. Vltra nescientur à Deo qui Deum scire noluerunt Yee knew not mee in your life and I know you not in your death If God shall not know them to aide them shall any of his creatures know them If the Sunne of righteousnesse who hath healing in his wings shall refuse to embright them with the least glance of the beames of his glorious face shall he suffer the light of this visible sun moone and starres to shine upon them If he who is called p Rom. 15 5. the God of consolation shall forsake them shall the blessed Angels shall the holy men of God be more mercifull than their maker who is mercy it selfe Shall any of the creatures which are in heaven above or in the earth beneath or in the water under the earth come and comfort them As when the woman in the fearefull famine of Samaria cryed to the King q 2. King 6.26 27. Helpe my Lord O King he answered If the Lord doe not helpe thee whence shall I help thee out of the barne-floore or out of the wine-presse So when these damned wights shall cry to the creatures for helpe grim and froward faces frowning browes an universall refusall shall be their first and last answer Our Creator shall they say is your enemy shall we be your friends As hee hath commanded you to depart from him so get you hence and depart from us Yea the Lord himselfe teacheth us in the parable of r Luk. 16.24 the rich glutton that if they should aske but one drop of water to coole their tongue it shall not be given unto them Å¿ Aug. de Tempore 252. Consider I pray you saith S. Augustine if a man were cast out of the congregation of this Church for some crime with how great forrow with how many agonies would his soule be vexed though out of the Church he may eate drinke converse with men and have some hope to be received into it again Surely this pain seem'd so heavy to Cain the first murtherer of Gods Saints that he cryed through despaire and great griefe of heart t Gen. 4.13 My punishment is greater than I can beare Oh then how many terrours how great anguish of mind shall wring and wrest the spirits of those who for their crimes shall bee excommunicated for ever from the glorious Church which is in heaven from the innumerable company of Angels from the congregation of all the Saints and from all the unspeakeable joyes of the heavenly Ierusalem Divines call this punishment Poena damni The paine of losse or dammage and say that it is but the first part of the unconceiveable torments which are prepared for the divells and for the viperous brood of wicked men XVII It goeth not alone It is ioyned with that which the same Divines call Poena sensus the paine of sense or of feeling Can they lose the favour of God with the comfortable use of all his creatures and not feele the redoubled blowes of the heavy sword of his indignation When v Est er 7.7 8. the king Ahasuerus in his wrath turned his backe to Haman the Kings servants covered Hamans face and heaved him away to the gallowes So when God shall withdraw the light of his face from these thrice unhappy bodies the divells who are the executioners of his high justice shall x Mat. 22.13 bind them hands and feete and take them away and cast them into utter darkenesse that as they delighted in the inward darkenesse of their minds and y Ioh. 3.19 20. hated the light and would not come unto it because their deeds were evill and lest they should bee reprooved so they may be tormented with utter darkenesse more palpable than the fogges of Egypt and so thicke that no sunne-shine of any worldly or heavenly comfort shall be able to sparkle thorow them If ye desire to know how great is the paine of sence or of feeling which is there the Scripture calleth it a Rev. 14.19 the great wine-presse of the wrath of God which shall bee troden till blood come out of it even unto the horse bridles It calleth it also b Esa 66.15 16. a fire and flame of fire whereby the Lord will plead against his enemies fire which c ver 24. shall never be quenched because it shall never lacke either matter to kindle it or a mighty breather to blow it 'T is a d Rev. 21.8 lake which burneth with fire and brimstone 'T is e Esa 30.33 Tophet ordemed of old made deepe and large the pile whereof is fire and much wood and the breath of the Lord like a streame of brimstone doth kindle it 'T is a f Mat. 5.22 Gehenna of fire What paine so sensible as to be burnt alive and what paine so terrible and pittifull as when the Iewes g Buxtorf ex libro Ialcutam Ieâ—emiam ca. 7. tooke their young children and offering them in sacrifice to Molec gave them to one of the Priests who laid them upon the armes of the brazen Idoll after it was set on fire and glowing red the rest of the Priests in the meane while sounding with Drums Trumpets Timbrels and other loud instruments lest the parents should heare the pittifull cryes of their children and bee touched with compassion by reason of which sounding the place was called Tophet and because it was in a valley belonging to Hinnom it was called Gehinnom or Gehenna i. the valley of Hinnom a name most usuall amongst the Iewes in Christs dayes and long before to signifie the place and the paines of the damned As they were wont to call the divell Principem Gehennae The Prince of Gehenna or of hell where h Rev. 14.9 10 11. If any man worship the beast and his Image and receive his marke in his forehead or in his hand the same shall drinke of the wine of the wrath of God which is powred out without mixture into the cup of his
kingdomes prosper the people have peace when generous and worthy men who hate couetousnesse flattery and envy who respect above all worldly things the honour of the King who have no other end of their actions but the weal of the State are neerest to Kings DARIVS King of Persia holding a Pomegranet in his hand wished in stead of all treasures to have as many ZOPYRES as there were graines in that Apple shewing that there is nothing so needfull and profitable to Kings as faithfull Counsellers and servants of the chiefe of the Nobilitie such as ZOPYRVS was and yet no Iewell so rare to be found For though there be many nobles about Kings there be few upon whose fidelitie wisdome and magnanimitie Kings may relie Therefore blessed is this Realme wherein so many ZOPYRES so many of the heads of the Nobilitie are ever neere our most wise religious and righteous Kings eares Amongst whom your Honour shineth as a radiant Planet among the bright and glistering starres What are generositie wisdome faithfulnesse to the King love to the native soyle good and acceptable services to the State but gorgeous and glittering sinnes if they be severed from true godlinesse from faith in our Lord IESVS CHRIST from love to his beloved Church from holinesse of life and good workes acceptable to God What are Courtiers what are the Nobles of the Land what are Kings themselves without Christian vertues but like a certaine people of Asia which were wont to carry earthen vessels in golden Boxes What are all their riches honours dignities pleasures pastimes delights but trifles but faire vanishing bubbles which must give place to things more solid that bring to true beleevers an everlasting felicitie and ioy For as the shell of an Egge howsoever it bee white smoothe and well formed must bee broken that the Chicken may come out and that wherefore the shell was made appeare So the fashion and shew of this world must passe away that the incomprehensible estate which God hath laid up and keepeth in heaven for his deare ones may shine and bee made manifest Therefore where greatnesse and godlinesse where wordly prerogatives and celestiall priviledges where carnall and spirituall nobilitie faith in Christ and faithfulnesse to the King love to the State and charitie to the Church a vehement passion for the common-weale and true zeale to God are ioyned and maried together as they are in your Honours person every man that seeth them is bound to acknowledge to admire and to praise them and to render all honour and serviceable duties to those whom God hath so mercifully wonderfully honoured This then is the cause of the Dedication of these my Sermons to your Honour For who shall blame me if so far as in me is I honour with my Penne a Lord whom God hath sorichly honoured with his Gifts And who shall denie but that Sermons of the righteous mans evils and of the Lords deliverances may yea should bee dedicated to a Lord who though living in the midst of worldly contentments eateth the Paschall Lambe not onely with unleavened bread of sincerity truth but also with the bitter hearbes of godly sorrow ever sighing ever sobbing before God for the affliction of Ioseph ever praying ever crying to heaven for the deliverance restauration of Ierusalem lapping of the glib-sliding pleasures of this transitorie and fugitive life as GEDEONS souldiers lapped of the running waters and tasting them with thanks-giving as temporall gifts of God but drinking great draughts of teares flowing from the eyes of spirituall sadnesse ever expecting with a most firme hope the accomplishment of the Prophecies by the ruine of Babylon and deliverance of the Church ever hastening setting forward that necessary glorious worke by courageous and faithfull counsels and all other meanes lawfull and possible I cannot omit that which toucheth my selfe For being banished from France for the Gospell of Christ and for my nations sake and comming to his Maiesties Court where like unto ENDIMION after his long sleepe I saw nothing but new faces and seemed to my selfe as a man fallen out of the Cloudes your Honour embraced me with such kindnesse and humanitie and recommended me to his Maiestie with such affection that I should be iustly condemned of ingratitude if I did ever forget it Let that foule vice goe and burie it selfe in the gulfe of hell where it was bred I had rather be esteemed clownish and home-bred by rendring to your Honour in these unpolished sheetes such thankes as I can than called unthankefull by neglecting of my dutie The poore woman with her mite was as acceptable to God as the rich men with their rich gifts because shee gave what she had with a free heart And great Lords receive of their Vassals strawes and trifles for homage of great tenements I doubt not but this small and unworthy hommage shall finde in your most worthy Lordship the like acceptation as comming from one who with a true heart poures out his prayers to God for the increasing of all the blessings of this life and of the life to come upon your most honourable Person and illustrious Familie and who is Your Honours most humble most obedient and most affectionate Servant Gilbert Primerose THE RIGHTEOVS MANS EVILS AND THE LORDS DELIVERANCES THE FIRST SERMON Of Evils incident to man as he is man and of the Righteous man PSAL. 34. VER 19. Many are the evills of the righteous but the LORD delivereth him out of them all I. ALl men are subiect to many evills II. Kings Princes great men III. As well as other men IV. David ascribeth to the righteous man mo evills than to other men V. If the righteous man be examined according to the rules of the Law there is none righteous VI. If in Gods mercifull acceptation of the will for the deed all true Christians are righteous VII Description of the righteous negatively and affirmatively VIII He that is righteous and holy may call himselfe so IX Although hypocrites and wicked men claime that name to themselves X. The true characters of wicked men XI Their best workes are great sinnes XII The Church is the Congregation of righteous men and is assaulted with many evills XIII Exhortation to righteousnesse I IF wee take but a slight view of man who in his own pride and loftinesse of minde hath taken to himselfe the glorious title of the Little world if wee consider him in his person in his state wee shall finde that he is but a cage of rottennesse a sinke of filth and a world of wretchednesse The seed wherof he comes is a stinking excrement and the ground wherein he is sowen is a quagmire of dirt a sinke of uncleanenesse a strait and darke pit of loathsome and pestilent putrefaction from whence he doth not escape but is thrust out as a noisom troublesome guest who neyther can be kept longer nor set at libertie without unspeakeable torments both to the mother who hath
poenae the Evills of offence and the Evills of punishment Those are sinnes These are the paine inflicted for sinne One of the most righteous men that ever was said of himselfe and of all his fellowes m 1. Ioh. 1.8 If we say that we have no sinne wee deceive our selves and the truth is not in us Neyther was there ever any of the most holy and perfect who was ashamed to begge of God to cry to heaven for forgivenesse of his sinnes and who did not esteeme that n Aug. de Civit. Dei lib. 19. cap. 26. Ipsa iustitia nostra quaÌ„vis veâ—a sit propter veâ—i boni finem ad quam refectur tamen tanta est in hac vitâ ut potius peccatorum remis sione constet quà m perfectione virtutum his righteousnesse consisted rather in the forgivenesse of his sins than in the perfection of his vertues For all the Saints which have beene before us had all the Saints which are in the world have and all those who shall come after us shall have in themselves the evill of sinne what marvell then if all had if all have torum remissione constet quà m perfectione virtutum if all shall have also the evill of paine Where the cause is present working no wonder if the effect follow hard tread it on the heeles The evill of sinne is in all why then should not the evill of paine be in all 2 Sinne is morally evill Punishment is but naturally evill Sinne is an offence to God the punishment of sin is an hurt and griefe to man What is man but a worm what is the sonne of man but a little worm what then are all the evils which all men suffer what is death it selfe o Rom. 6.23 death which is the wages of sinne death which is the last evill wherein all the evills that are incident to man doe meet and end what is the damnation of all Angels and all men compared to the least offence given unto the infinite Majestie of Almighty God Not so much as a drop of water matched with the great and huge Ocean Sinne is the destruction of the well-being of man which consisteth in his union with God through the conformitie of his will with the will of God The punishment of his sinne is but the destruction of his being consisting in the union of his body with his soule He that heeded not his well-being he that hath refused to remaine united to his God by obedience and holinesse of life deserved he not to lose his being which he received for his well-being Or to speak more popularly He who was created to knowe and serve God he whose felicitie consisted in the knowledge and service of God he who scorned to be happy after that maner merited he not by all right and reason to be deprived of his life which he received for that end and to be miserable and unhappy for ever Let men speake as they will to speak properly the afflictions of this life are evils in our feeling onely but sinne against God who is the soveraign good is evill in it selfe and the evill of evills whether we feele it or we feele it not Who then shall be allowed to complaine if the great evill which he hath committed be rewarded with the small evil which he suffereth 3 Yet the righteous man hath fewer sinnes than other men have and if ye will permit me so to speake lesse sinfull Sin reigneth in the men of the world it is weakened and mortified in Gods children Sinne in worldlings floweth from the stinking puddle of their hardned and malicious heart To do evill they finde nothing too hote nothing too cold p Psal 10. â— 3 4 5. The wicked blesseth the covetous because they are like himselfe he puffeth at all his enemies Through the pride of his countenance hee will not seeke after God for all his thoughts are that There is no God neither will he suffer to be admonished as yee may learn by the examples of Ahaz Ahab Manasses and of daily experience The spring of sinne in a righteous man is his infirmitie and therefore it is no sooner set before his eyes but he breaketh it off by repentance as David and Peter did If then we compare men with men not with God wicked mens sinnes are like unto q Mat. 7.3 beames whereas the righteous mans sinns are but motes and light faults God registreth in the book of his rigorous judgement the sinnes of the wicked and will r Psal 50.21 reprove them and set them in order before their eyes but hee hath made a covenant with the righteous Å¿ Ier. 31.34 that he will forgive their iniquity and will remember their sinne no more and that for Iesus Christ his deare Sonnes sake t Eph. 1.7 in whom we have redemption i. the forgivenesse of sinnes through his blood according to the riches of his grace And yet a strange thing and a matter of much astonishment the v Psal 10.5 wayes of the wicked prosper alwayes and Gods iudgements are farre above out of his sight On the other side Many are the Evils of the Righteous 4 His evills or as they are called in the translation his afflictions are so many that it is uneasie to number them all They hold one another by the hand and conspire together to swallow up the righteous yet wee may reduce them to two heads for they are eyther externall in losse of honour of goods and of life or internall in great heavinesse and anguish of minde The Divels first care is to darken with calumnies the reputation of the righteous man and as David speaketh x Psal 4.2 to turne his glory into shame that they who shine in the glorious light of their owne conscience being spotted and blemished by false reports may be rendred odious to all men and unprofitable for the setting forward of Christs kingdome in their callings The first accusation is against their Religion as being the fittest to stirre up and kindle the hatred of a superstitious people against them and to stop the course of the heavenly doctrine This accusation is stuffed with manie common places of antiquitie of multitude of glorie of honours of riches of succession of union of Kings Princes people of their agreement and combination to maintaine the old doctrine of the Fathers against the new Sect of the little flocke of a few poore snakes of an handfull of forlorne fellowes men of a vile condition of no birth of lesse gifts y 1. Pet. 3.20 Noah was esteemed a madde fellow because of his lowlinesse The citizens of Sodome rejected z Gen. 19.9 Lots admonition threatned him because he was a forreiner and so journer amongst them a Gen. 31.53 Laban swearing by the gods of Abraham the gods of Nacor that is by the gods of their father Thare laid covertly in Abrahams Isaacs and Iacobs dish the reproach of
the blessed and perpetuall memory of the Church behold them destitute of meat to fill their bellies and of honest clothing to goe abroad eye them shrowding their nakednesse basely and poorely under sheepe and goat-skinnes view them now flying to the deserts and high mountaines now hiding themselves in dens and caves of the earth to save their lives Remember q 1. Kin. 18.13 the hundred Prophets which Obadiah hid by fifties in two caves feeding them with bread and water The Saints were thus put unto the pinch when their enemies and persecuters were full-gorging themselves with their goods 11 Behold the whips and scourges wherewith r Exod. 5.13 Pharaohs mercilesse taske masters teared and rent the flesh from the bones of Gods people Were not Å¿ 1. Kin. 22.27 Micaiah and t Ier. 20.2 Ier. 37.15 16. Ieremiah the Prophets of the Lord cast into a strait prison and there fed with bread and water of affliction to starve v 1. King 21.13 Naboth was he not killed with stones for his Vineyard Was not that the hyre wherewith x 2. Chro. 24.22 Ioash the Apostat payed Zachariah son of Iehoiada the high Priest for his conservation and education and requited the kindnesse which Iehoiada had done to him y Origen in Matth. cap. 23. Isaiah was cut thorow the middle with a Saw by Manasses Iesus Christ charged the Iewes and Ierusalem with z Matt. 23.34 37. scourging killing crucifying stoning persecuting of the Prophets wise men and Scribes wichwere sent unto them How manie hellish and horrible torments found out the Tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes against the Iewes who would not leave the Law of the Lord their God Yee know a 2. Macc. 7. the story of the seven brethren and of their godly mother whom hee commanded first to be maimed then the skin to be pulled off their head with the haire and finally to be brought to the fire and fryed in a hote Caldron 12 Salomon saith truely that b Eccles 7.1 a good name is better than precious oyntment Neyther is there anie honest-hearted man but he findeth comfort in his povertie in his basenesse in all his most sharpe and pricking afflictions in death it selfe so that his reputation be kept spotlesse and that in his calamitie hee may shun to be made a mocking-stock For ye shall finde few men or women who desire to out-live their own dishonour and shame and there is no righteous man who can abide the disgracing injuries wherewith God is pierced thorow his side Neverthelesse discredit infamie shame is also the righteous mans share No affliction did nip c Iob 16.10 Iob 17 6. Iob 19 18. Iob 2.9 Iob so sensibly as when he saw himselfe to be made a laughing stock to young children a by-word of the people a Tabret before all men a Butt of reproaches to his best friends and to his owne wife d Iudg. 16.21 25. Sampson suffered patiently the pulling out of his eyes the binding of his armes and feet with fetters of brasse and the vile and toylsome grinding in the prison-house But when the Lords of the Philistins sent for him that he might make them sport and when he heard them thanking Dagon their fishie god for the affliction wherwith his God the God of heaven which hath made the sea and the dry land had visited him he forgate patience and cryed to heaven for vengeance David complained of his enemies because e Psal 35.21 they opened their mouth wide against him and said Aha Aha Our eye hath seene him c But f Psal 42.10 it was a sword in his bones whilst they said daily unto him Where is thy God Then he cryes to his God g Psal 69.9 The reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me The Prophet Elisha cursed in the name of the Lord the little children who mocked him crying h 2. Kin. 2.23 24. Goe up thou bald head goe up thou bald head and called for the Beares of the wood to teare them i Lament 1.7 8. Ierusalem sighed when all that honoured her in her prosperitie despised her in her adversitie because they had seene her nakednesse and did mocke at her Sabbaths Then Ierusalem then the Church complained k Psal 79.1 2 3 4 5. O God the Heathen are come into thine inheritances thy holy Temple have they defiled they have layd Ierusalem on heapes The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meate unto the fowles of the heaven the flesh of thy Saints unto the beasts of the earth Their blood have they shed like water round about Ierusalem and there was none to bury them We are become a reproach to our neighbours a scorne and derision to them that are round about us Then they all cryed How long LORD wilt thou be angry for ever Shall thy iealousie burn like fire But that which lay heaviest upon their hearts was l Psal 74.4 5 6 7 10. to heare Gods enemies roring in the midst of his congregations to see them set up their Ensignes for signes their armes lifting up axes upon the interlaced timber of the Sanctuary breaking downe with axes and hammers the carved worke thereof and burning it into ashes with all the Synagogues of God in the land Then they could not chuse but mourn and cry O God how long shall the adversarie reproach Shall the enemy blaspheme thy Name for ever 13 All the righteous men of the Christian Church have in all times beene tryed with these three kinds of tentations The Lord Iesus our Master and head m Matt. 8.20 had not where to lay his head Neither would his persecuters n Ioh. 19.23 suffer him to dye in the garments which he had but stript him of them leaving him nothing to hide his nakednesse The blessed Apostles the Rams and ring-leaders of Christs flock o Act. 3.6 had neyther gold nor silver but did p 1. Cor. 4.11 12. hunger and thirst and were naked and had no certaine dwelling place and laboured working with their owne hands In the primitive Church whosoever had goods were made a prey to Christs enemies and the Apostle beareth them witnesse that q Heb. 10.34 they tooke ioyfully the spoyling of their goods Many of you to whom I speake have heard your fathers relate how many quarrels were maliciously pickt against them to begger them and undoe their estates and how leaving all in Babylon as Lot did in Sodom to escape the burning thereof and save their soules they came to this blessed refuge and Sanctuary of Gods people in their shirts as Iacob passed the river Iordan and came to Laban having no other provisions and helps for his journey and peregrination but his staffe alone In these last troubles of France I who now speake to you have seene townes which before were girded with Walls fortified with Bulwarkes flanked with Turrets sowen with the seed of true Christians defaced
the brethren Who would not be glad to exchange his transitorie and fraile life for the salvation and everlasting life of Gods Elect And who would not chuse to die to x Iam 5.20 convert a sinner from the errour of his way to cover a multitude of sinnes and to save a soule from death Therein is both honor and profit Honour to the Confessors and Martyrs by whose bands and death so me are converted many are confirmed Profit to Gods Elect which by such means are saved There is not in this world any honour so profitable any profit so honourable and therefore the Apostle considering the honour which commeth of this profit and the profit which floweth from this honour writ to the Colossians that y Col. 1.24 hee reioyced in his sufferings for them i. e. for their conversion to the faith and confirmation in the faith as being Christs Minister in the one in the other Let I pray you let the same mind be in us which was in such holy men Let us all bee for this end Christs Martyrs in affection and thanke the Lord our God for this libertie of his Gospel in this Realme wherein there is no Tyrant no persecuter to make us Martyrs in action XI Secondly men readily conceive extravagant opinions of those whom God hath furnished with rarest gifts and as they are inclined to superstition canonize them and send up commandement to the heavens to receive them for their gods Thus the Gentiles erected Temples dedicated Altars instituted new honors and religious worship to some odde men among their Ancestors of whom they had received some speciall benefit Thus a Act. 3.12 the Iewes held their eyes fixed on Peter and Iohn who had restored a lame man to his feete as if by their power and holinesse that miracle had beene wrought Thus b Act. 10. â—â— 25 26 Cornelius though a devout man and one that feared God with all his house fell downe at Peters feet and worshipped him as if he had beene more than a man Thus c Act. 14.10 11 12 13 the Idolaters of Lystra called Barnabas Iupiter and Paul Mercurius and would have offered sacrifice unto them because they healed a cripple who never had walked Thus the Pope and his Cardinalls canonize and register with the Saints some speciall men of whose holinesse and miracles they say they have sufficient warrant and give expresse commandement to the people to worship them God foreseeing that the divell through his malice would doe his utmost endeavour to re-establish Idolatrie againe in these same holy mens persons by whom he had banished it out of the world even when they did greatest miracles turmoyled them with greatest afflictions that those which saw them in such a miserable state might judge and say that they were men like unto themselves and that they wrought such wonders by Gods finger and not by their own power For the same cause the evills which they suffered are registred in holy Scripture that as S. Panl after hee had begun to tell how he was taken up into Paradise brake off his discourse in the middest saying d 2. Cor. 12.6 I forbeare lest any man should thinke of me above that which he seeth me to be or that he heareth of me so we may say of them that which they acknowledged themselves to be that e Act. 14.15 they were also men of like passion with us for that which they were by grace should not make us forget that which they were by nature even mortall men like our selves XII Wherupon f Chrysost Homi. 1. rd popul Antiochen Chrysostom giveth us another advertisement for when wee exhort you to imitate David Elias Paul Peter such or such a Saint your custome is to answer I am not Peter I am not Paul as if Peter and Paul had beene of some other stuffe than ye are as if they had not beene mortall feeble and sinnefull men as ye are Therefore to take from you all excuse when ye cover your carelesnesse and sloath with such vaine excuses God hath exercised with most infirmities those on whom he hath bestowed greatest graces that seeing they have beene like unto us in weaknesse diseases afflictions and passions belonging to man we despaire not of attaining to the resemblance of the heavenly and saving graces wherewith they were garnished For this end S. Iames propoundeth unto us the example of Elias of whom he saith that f I am 5.17 18. he was subiect to like passions as we are that if wee pray with fervencie as he did wee be assured that we shall speed as he did XIII To these three reasons wee may adde the fourth taken from afflictions as they are corrections chastisements of Gods deerest servants that God will have us to consider them as testimonies of his wrath against sinne and to say to our selves Hath God dealt so roughly with so holy men when they offended him and shall he beare with us or as Christ said g Luk. 23.33 If these things be done in a greene tree what shall be done in the dry This reason is so cleer that S. Peter urgeth it as an infallible demonstration saying h 1. Pet. 4.17 18. The time is come that iudgement must begin at the house of God and if it first begin at us what shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel of God Wherefore let us lay this to our hearts and learne by such manifest tokens of Gods wrath against sinne to prevent his indignation by an unfained amendment of life Esay saith that i Esa 26.9 when Gods iudgements are in the earth the inhabitants of the world will learne righteousnesse God grant that as we are of the number of these inhabitants of the world so we may be of the number of those Students which are schooled by their brethrens afflictions to learne righteousnesse to stand in awe of God and to serve him with an upright heart before his face all the dayes of our life XIV Finally God by the afflictions of his deare ones namely by those which they suffer for righteousnesse sake manifesteth the infallible truth of his promises and the excellencie of his mightie power in their deliverie from the evill day and from all the plots conspiracies secret practices malicious attempts violent invasions of theirs and his enemies which then are constrained to avouch that it is by the finger of God and not by the hand of man that the Church subsisteth upon earth and as it is said in the Psalmes that k Psal 10.2 Christ in the mids of his enemies He saith l Esa 43.2 3. When thou passest thorow the waters I will be with thee and thorow the rivers they shall not overflow thee When thou walkest thorow the fire thou shalt not be burnt neyther shall the flame kindle upon thee for I am the Lord thy God the holy One of Israel thy Saviour How he accomplisheth this
me alone and yet I am not alone because the Father is with me He is not alone who hath God with him IX Senacherib was mad when hee sent Rabshakeh to blaspheme the Lord and to say to the inhabitants of Ierusalem a Esa 36.18 19 20. Beware lest Hezekiah perswade you saying The LORD will deliver us c. Hath any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the King of Assyria Where are the gods of Hamath and Arphad where are the gods of Sepharuaim and have they delivered Samaria out of my hand Who are they amongst all the gods of these lands that have delivered their land out of my hand that the LORD should deliver Ierusalem out of my hand But the Lord answered him b Esa 37.23 29. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed and against whom hast thou exalted thy voyce and lifted up thine eyes on high even against the holy One of Israel c. Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine cares therefore will I put my hooke in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips and I will turne thee backe by the way by which thou camest Then Hezekiah might have served him in his owne dish and asked him Where is Nisroch the god of Assyria hath he delivered thee out of the hands of the Lord our God Nebuchadnezzar was so furious and besides himselfe that in his rage he asked of Shadrach Meschah and Abednego c Dan. 5.15 17 29. Who is that God that shall deliver you out of my hands They answered Our God whom wee serve is able to deliver us and hee learned ere long to spell that lesson and to say There is none other God that can deliver after this sort In France the Papists seeing our scarcitie and neediness lack of men lack of treasures which are the sinews of the warre did cast in our teeth that we had but God for all kind of pottages i. for all purposes for men God for treasures God for holds and fortresses God for all helpe for all reliefe God O Lord d Psal 74.18 remember this that the enemy hath reproached the LORD and that the foolish people hath blasphemed thy name O the good pottage O the excellent restorative wherein the principall ingredient is God wherein God is the onely ingredient e Psal 18.31 for who is God save the LORD or who is a rocke save our God The souldiers relye upon the warinesse and watchfulnesse of their Captaine The flock sleepeth in peace under the staffe of their Shepheard Passengers which faile in great waters are without feare under the protection and care of a well-experienced Pilot. Little children dread no ill when they are fast by their fathers We sight under the Standard of him who is f 1. Sam. 15 45. the LORD of hosts Antigonus king of Syria being ready to give battell by sea hard by the Isle called Andros answered to one of his men who advertifed him that his enemies had moe ships than he g Plutarch in Pelopida For how many ships reckonest thou me for the dignitie of the Generall is much to be esteemed when it is sorted with prowesse and experience Where is there prowesse where experience if it be not in God h 9.4 He is wise in heart and mighty in strength who hath hardued himselfe against him and hath prospered Therefore when our enemies threaten us with their armor armies we send them the defiance of the ancient Church i Esa 8 9 10 Associate your selves O ye people and ye shall bee broken in peeces give care all ye of farre countries gird your selves and ye shall be broken in pieces gird your selves ye shall be broken in pieces take counsell together and it shall come to nought speak the word and it shall not stand for God is with us We are his sheepe and he is the shepheard k Psal 121.4 the keeper of Israel which shall neither slumber nor sleepe of whom and to whose eternall glory we sing l Psal 23. 1 2 3 4. The LORD is my shepheard I shall not want he maketh me to lie downe in greene pastures he leadeth me beside the still waters hee restoreth my soule he leadeth me in the paths of righteousnesse for his names sake Yea though I walke through the valley of the shadow of death I will feare no evill for thou art with me thy rod and thy staffe they comfort me The skiffe wherein we sayle Psal 46. 2 3 5. is his Therefore will we not feare though the earth be remooved and though the mountaines be carryed into the middest of the sea though the waters thereof roare and be troubled though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof God is in the midst of her shee shall not be mooved God shall helpe her right early the LORD of hosts is with us the God of Iacob is our refuge Selah n Mat. 8.24 25 26. When the winds blow hard when the tempest ariseth and the waves cover her if we cry to him he will arise and rebuke the winds the sea and there shall be a great calm We are his children he is our father lying hard o Luk. 11.7 by the doore of his owne house waking when wee sleepe hearing us when we cry rising speedily to helpe us when we call upon him And therefore in our distresse wee cry unto him p Esa 63.15 16. Looke downe from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holinesse and of thy glory where is thy zeale and thy strength the sounding of thy bowells and of thy mercies towards me are they restrained Doubtlesse thou art our Father though Abraham be ignorant of us and Israel acknowledge us not Thou O LORD art our Father our Redeemer is thy name from everlasting X. Our Redeemer is his name and his onely q Psal 3.8 Salvation belongeth unto the LORD all his deliverances are either temporall salvations from the evill of affliction or eternall salvations from the evill of sinne In the one and other sense is that true which he saith r Esa 43.11 13. I even I am the Lord and beside me there is no Saviour for as none can deliver out of his hand so Å¿ Dan. 3.29 none can deliver as he can t Psal 5.12 He compasseth the righteous with favour as with a shield he v Psal 22.19 is strength to him that is weake x Psal 9.9 a refuge for the oppressed y Psal 91.2.9 a fortresse for those which are persecuted a shadow to those which are sun burnt with afflictions a most pleasant strong and well furnished habitation to those which are exiled for righteousnesse sake To him onely belongeth that which David saith a Psal 18.2 The Lord is my rocke and my fortresse and my deliverer my God my strength in whom I will trust my buckler and the horne of my
my soule for I have sinned against thee and he i Psal 107.20 will send his word and heal thee and deliver thee from the tombe Seest thou the evill dayes of warre be not discouraged but say confidently upon that which thou hast seen in France of that which thou shalt see in the Palatinat k Psal 46.7 8 9 10 11. The LORD of hosts is with us the God of Iacob is our refuge Selah Come behold the works of the LORD what desolations he hath made in the earth He maketh warres to cease unto the end of the earth He breaketh the bow and cutteth the speare in sunder he burneth the chariot in the fire Bee still saith he and know that I am God I will be exalted among the Heathen I will bee exalted in the earth The LORD of hosts is with us The God of Iacob is our refuge Is there any thing impossible to the LORD l Psal 76.12 Heshall cut off the spirit of Princes Hee is terrible to the Kings of the earth After so many deliveries we sing to the glory of his power m Psal 74.13 14. Thou didst divide the sea by thy strength thou breakest the heads of the Whales in the waters Thou breakest the heads of Leviathan in peeces and givest him to bee meat to the people inhabiting the wildernesse If there rise n Zech. 1.19 20 21. foure hornes to scatter Iudah Israel and Ierusalem there shall also arise foure smiths to fray and break them how often have we seene such things Wee shall see them againe and againe for the Lord of hosts is with us Can there any affliction so great befall us as to be deprived of Gods Word your father 's felt the pricke and smart of it in Philip the second Charles the ninth and Queene Maries dayes Now is fulfilled in France and in the Palatinat the prophecie of Esaiah o Esa 30.20 21. Though the Lord give you the bread of adversitie and the water of affliction yet shall not thy Teachers bee removed into a corner any more but thine eyes shall see thy Teachers and thine eares shall heare a voice behind thee saying This is the way walke ye in it when ye turne to the right hand and when yee turne to the left Blessed bee God who in this countrey giveth us with the bread of his Word the bread of prosperitie p Psal 110 2. He ruleth there in the midst of his enemies Here hee is like a father in the midst of his children The greatest of all our evills is sinne And we sing unto him morning and evening with heart and mouth q Psal 103.1 2 3. O my soule blesse the LORD and all that is within mee bless his holy Name Blesse the LORD ô my soule and forget not all his benefits who forgiveth ALL thine iniquities who healeth ALL thy diseases c. Hast thou any other evill which neither is in my knowledge nor in my memorie r Exod. 14.21 Exod. 15.4 6. Hee who made the sea dry land and whose right hand dashed in peeces Pharao and his hoste ſ Iosh 3.15 16. He that made the waters of Iordan rise up upon an heape and stand still even then when they overflowed all the bankes t Dan. 3.25 Hee who gave refreshing to the three Confessors in the midst of the burning furnace v Dan 6.22 He who delivered Daniel from the jawes of the Lions x Ion. 2.2 11. He who kept Ionah alive in the Whales belly and turned into a custodie that hell where he looked for present death y Ezec. 37.7 8 9 10. Hee who putteth breath into drie bones who tyeth them together with sinewes who covereth them with flesh and skin who by a marvellous resurrection setteth them upon their feete and maketh them an exceeding great armie is not like unto Isaac unto whom Esau said a Gen. 27.38 Hast thou but one blessing my father bless me even me also O my father As hee hath judgements b Deu. 32.34 laid up in store and sealed up among his treasures so hath he c Deu. 28.32 a good treasure of deliveries which cannot bee dryed up d Psal 106 2. Who can utter the mighty actes of the LORD who can shew foorth all his praise e Psal 139.17 18. How precious ô God are my thoughts of them how great is the sum of them If I should count them they are mo in number than the sand when I awake I am still with thee my spirit cannot conceive the number of thy deliveries III. I say then to you all as David said of old to his people f Psal 130.7 8. Let Israel hope in the LORD for with the LORD there is mercy much good-will to deliver your brethren which are now afflicted and to deliver you when hee shall also sit as a refiner to try and purifie you And with him is plentious redemption With him is force strength to redeeme he may doe it he can doe it he will doe it Hee shall redeem Israel from ALL his iniquities g 1. Cor. 10 13. He will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but wil with the tentation also make a way to escape that ye may be able to bear it Yea h Psal 121 7 8. the LORD shall preserve thee from ALL evill hee shall preserve thy soule The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy comming in from this time foorth and even for evermore IV. But how shall wee keepe reckoning of the LORDS deliveries seeing the maner of them goeth beyond all our wit and understanding for they are not all of one sort and the least and smallest of them is wonderfull Sometimes he worketh by meanes that we neglect them not Now and then hee giveth most miraculous deliveries besides and contrarie to all meanes that wee put not our hope and confidence in them Often hee delivereth the righteous man without all meanes to teach us to trust in him onely V. His meanes are divers and in their diversitie so many that it is almost impossible to reduce them into certaine heads In some ye see nothing but weaknesse In others might and strength In some wisedome in others follie In each of them such a varietie that neither am I able to expresse nor ye to conceive them Hee saved Moses David Elijah Iesus Christ Paul at divers times many zealous men among the Iewes under the bloody persecution of Antiochus Epiphanes many Confessors and faithfull brethren among the Christians in the primitive Church in our Fathers dayes and in ours by flight a most weake tedious and troublesome meane but yet a meane lawfull and approved of him as we shall see in the next Sermon VI. i Psal 33.16 17. There is no King saved by the multitude of any host a mighty man is not delivered by much strength An horse is a vaine thing for safety neither shall he deliver any by