he is God yet hauing set apart certaine places and times to religious duties seruices our comming to those places at those times doe declare testifie to the world that we are not ashamed of him befâ—re men but specially in cases of extremity we must not onely be ready our selues but stirre vp and prouoke others not onely to come but to runne vnto him for reliefe and succour And indeed whether or to whom should they come in their necessities but to him as the text speaketh For as the Psalmist saith Whom haue I in heauen but thee and I haue desired none in the earth with thee My strength faileth and my heart also But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer For loe they that withdraw themsâ—lues from thee shall perish Thou destroyest all them that goe a whoring from thee As for me it is good for me to draw neere to God therefore haue I put my trust in the Lord God As therefore when after the comfortable sermon to the Capernaites Many of his Disciples went backe and walked no more wiâ—h him And Iesus said to the twelue Will ye also goe away Peter answered Lord to whom shall we goe thou hast the words of eternall life And we beleeue and know that thou art the Christ the Sonne of the liuing God So in any extremity whosoeuer seekes for helpe of any other is deceiued Wee reade in Ionah that in that great tempest when the ship was like to be broken and the mariners were sore afraid that euery man cryed vnto his seuerall God that is either to Neptune or some of their sea-gods as they were held or else to the gods of their seuerall countreyes And in Poperie superstition hath brought in such imitation of the Heathen in this kind that as they appointed to euery seuerall countrey their seuerall Saints to be prayed vnto for helpe and so in euery sicknesse a sundry Saint So they had also their Saints for the sea Erasmus in a dialogue which hâ— intitles The Shipwracke doth pretily set down their superstitious idolatry in this kind Some praying to the Virgin Mary terming her the starre of the sea the Queene of heauen the Lady of the world the hauen of health some praying to the sea it selfe powring oyle into it and bestowing vpon it many sweet phrases therby to calme it some calling vpon Saint Nicholas Christopher Vincent Katharine Some making vowes to the Lady of Walsingham and Iames of Compostella if they might escape But the Disciples knew first that as the Prophet saith All the Gods of the Nations were either diuels or idols for the word may be interpreted either way And for the Saints departâ—d howsoeuer they knew that Noah had been preserued a whoâ—e yeere in the Arke from the danger of the Floud and Moses had his name giuen him for his being saued or drawnâ— out of the water and Ionah though he were cast into the sea yet God prouided a great fish to saue him yâ—t they seeke to none of these for helpe for to which â—f the Saints should they turne Abraham is ignorant of vs and Israel knowes vs not and therefore they take a better course here they come directly to Christ whom they find able and willing to helpe them But not content with comming the text addeth They awoke him This is the second part of their action wherein they may seeme somewhat bold and saucy with their Master to trouble and disquiet him especially seeing he reproues them in the next verse but it is not their awaking of him but their too much timerousnesse ioyned with incredulitie which hee reprehends in them as wee shall see in the handling of that place In the meane time as it was a special commendation to the Master of Ionahs ship that in a dangerous tempest he was not only watchfulâ— and carefull and painefull in his calling for the sauing of his ship himselfe his men and goods but also would suffer none in the ship to be idle no not Ionah a passenger but rouzed vp the sluggard So though it may seeme a bâ—ld part in the Disciples heere to trouble and disease their Master and in a manner to vse force and violence towards him disturbe him yet seeing in ships of all other places and in the time of tempests of all other times the safety of all doth depend especially vpon the carefull vigilancy of the Commanders who by their experience and authority are able to doe more good then many other ordinary men as this example of the Disciples doth giue warrant vnto inferiour persons if they find their superiours negligent and sleepy not onely dutifully to aduise but also to prouoke and stÃrre them vp crauing their aides and assistance in time of danger so doth it teach the best Commanders not to think scorne of good counsell from the meanest of their followers and as Naaman hâ—â—kening to the aduice of a silly girle was by that meanes freed from his leprosie so they may by the seruice of some meane person if God so see it good who wâ—râ—eth his own purpose many times by very weâ—â— meanes free themselues and ships and men from many dangers But howsoeuer the violence and force here vsed by the Disciples to their Master comming by entreaty and praier to craue his helpe is such as he cannot but well like and approue of For himselfe telleth vs that the kingdoâ—e of heauâ—n suffereth violenâ—e and the violent take it by force And if Iacob meete with an Aâ—gell or with God himsâ—lfe offering to wrastle wiâ—h him he must hold hiâ— hold fast and say with him I will not let thee goe except thou blesse me and this shal chaâ—ge his name to Israel thâ—t is a preuailer with God Our Sauiour telling his Disciples That they ought alwaies to pray and not to waxe faint doth confirme it by a parable of an vnrighteous Iudge that neither feared God nor reuerencâ—d man who by importunitie of a poore widdow was drawne to doe her iustice Whereupon he inferres Shall not God aâ—â—nge his elect which day and night crie vnto him yea though hee suffer long Wee reade how the poore Cananitish woman is commended that would receiue no repulse at our Sauiour Christs hands neither by his silence nor by his crosse answeres telling her he was not sent to her and callâ—ng her dog yet she continuing her suite had her desire granted wiâ—h this commendation O woman great is thy faith contrary to the check giuen here to the Apostles O ye of little faith Now for the manner of their awaking him whether the Disciples in comming to him touched him as the Angell did Eliah or smote him on the side as the Angell did Peter I cannot determine because the Euangelists doe not report any such thing I thinke rather it was their outcrie in their prayer occasioned
death it selfe whose sting is now taken awâ—y by Christ but as the fishes are fresh in the salt waters so are wee free from hurt in the greatest perils and as the Apostle saith bee more then conquerors And thus much of Christs reproofe of his Disciples Now followeth the miracle it selfe wherein I obserue these particulars first the time Then secondly the manner He arose Thirdly the meanes He rebuked the winds and thâ— sea Lastly the worke There was a great calme And first for the time we see that howsoeuer our Sauiour Christ hath hitherto carried himselfe like a meere man and lay still as if he neglected the danger wherein both hee and his Disciples were yet now hee will abide no longer it is time and high time that he shew himselfe to be God and giue them deliuerance To teach all men in extremity of danger as to fly to God by praâ—er and depend vpon his helpe so not to set or prescribe him a time but to wait and expect his leisure knowing that as he best vnderstands the most seasonable times so he will not ouerslip one minute when he sees it may most make for his glory and his childrens good Diuines doe impute it for a great fault vnto Ozias and the Bethulians that would limit their expectation of deliuerance at Gods hand to fiue dayes and if they had not helpe by that time then to waite on God no longer but to deliuer their City into the hand of the enemie But certainly Christians as in all their necessities they referre themselues to Gods mercies so likewise they referre the time to him when hee sees best and therfore Christ in the working of his miracles would not be aduised by his mother for when she told him at the marriage in Cana of Galile They haue no wine his answere is Woman what haue I to doe with thee Mine houre is not yet come As if he should haue said Mother I know that thou desirest that I should miraculously supply the want of wine whereof thou speakest and my purpose and meaning is so to doe but I know my time best when to doe it and I wil performe it in his due time and so it may be said of this miracle that till now his houre or or time wherein to doe it was not come but now all things being fitted and brought to an head as we see in diseases many times Vbi desinit medicus incipit Deus that is When the Physitions giue ouer their patients for desperate God will shew his power to cure them So when the Disciples were brought past all hope of life except by way of miracle Then and not till then the text saith He arose which is the second part in the miracle containing the manner Now for this arising of Christ the Prophet Dauid in the person of God may seeme to describe it Now for the oppression of the needy saith hee and for the sighes of the poore I will vp saith the Lord and set at liberty him whom the wicked hath snared And as the Psalmist saith in another place If God arise his enemies shall be scattered they also that hate him shall fly before him As the smoke vanisheth so shalt thou driue them away and as the wax melteth before the fire so shall the wicked perish at the presence of God which Psalme Athanasius called flagellum diaboli the scourge of the diuell as if the recitall of it were able to make the diuels in hell quake The Prophet Dauid doth therefore in his greatest crosses and distresses repose his chiâ—fest hope in Gods arising and to that end serue all those short eiaculations as the Fathers call them or piercing prayers O Lord arise helpe me my God and againe Arise O Lord in thy wrath and lift vp thy selfe against the rage of mine enemies and awake for me c. And in another place Vp Lord let no man preuaile And againe Vp Lord disappoint him cast him downe In all which places and the like which are very ordinary in the booke of Psalmes the Prophet doth call vpon God as if he were asleepe and had need to awake and arise Indeed Eliah doth by an holy Ironie mâ—cke the Prophets of Baal with their God It may bee saith he that he sleepeth and must bee awaked But our Prophet tels vs of our God That he that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleepe hee doth not so much as slumber much lesse sleepe but he doth seeme to be many times as carelesse of his Church suffering it to runne into extreame danger as if he were asleepe and to bee awaked and called vp by the supplication of his distressed children But here our Sauiour as wee haue shewed before was truly asleepe as hee was man though hee could not sleepe as he was God and being awakened though hee could haue wrought the miracle and laine still yet to shew his readinesse to doe his Disciples good and his authority ouer the windes and seas He arose Therby both giuing exceeding comfort to the deiected spirits of his Disciples when they see him so yare and ready to bestirre himselfe for their sakes and in shewing himselfe to the windes and the sea not onely as the commander but the creator of them daring as it were the one to blow or the other rage and swell against him any longer and thus he doth shew his power and authority ouer them which will be more fully expressed in the words following containing the meanes of the miracle by his word onely He rebuked the wind and the sea which was the third particular obserued in the miracle In which words wee obserue that Christ doth not in this miracle as in the raising of Lazarus betake himselfe to prayer to his Father nor vse any other meanes whereby to effect it but onely by his bare word commanding these insensible creatures to be quiet and Saint Marke sets downe his words Peace and be still So that herein he shewes and proues himselfe to be God according to that of the Prophet Dauid Whatsoeuer pleased the Lord that did he in heauen and in earth in the sea and in all the depths And againe Thou rulest the raging of the sea when the waues thereof arise thou stillest them And in another place The waues of the sea are marâ—ellous through the noyse of many waters yet the Lord on high is more mighty From which places and other such like I gather that the sea especially being troubled by winds and stormes is an vnruly creature not to be controlled or kept vnder but by God onely It is true that Moses by stretching out his hand on the red sea diuidâ—d the waters but the text telleth vs in the same place that Moses did it not by his owne power For the Lord caused the sea to run backe by a strong East wind all the night and made the sea dry land
death and resurrection in this life as also of that eternall rest in the life to come whereof the other is but a pledge and earnest when the godly shall be partakers of such ioyes as the eye hath not seene the eare hath not heard nor câ—n possibly enter into the heart of man to conceiue For the first the whole current of the fathers tell vs that the sea is an image of the world many waies 1. First the sea hath his name of bitternesse Proptâ—rea mare appellaâ—um quòd eius aquae sunâ— amarae The sea hath his name Mare in the Latine of the Latine word amarum which signifieth bitter because the waters thereof are bitter The sea is very bitter notwithstanding to the fishes that liue and are nourished in it it sauoureth sweetly So the world is very bitter yeâ— to worldly men delighting in the fleshly lusts thereof it seemes sweete and though at first it seeme but as a sport or play yet as Abneâ— saith to Ioab Knowest thou not that iâ— will be bitternesse in the lâ—ttâ—r eâ—d For like a subtill serpent it hath a sting in the taile and insinuates and windes it selfe into vs for to hurt vs. And though worldly men flatter themselues and say as Agag to Samuel Truly the bitternesse of death is pâ—ssed yet they are as much deceiued as Agag was as may appeare in Samuels answere in that place It is the distemperate taste of worldly men that makes the pleasures of the world seeme so sweete vnto them but if euer God effectually call them and they come to the true rellish of them they will say with Naomi the mother of Ruth Call mâ— no more Naomi or beautifull but call mee Mara that is bitter for the Almighty hath giuen me much bitternesse For the greatest pleasures of this world are like the waters of Marah wherof the Israelites Gods people could not drinke for the bitternesse thereof The waters of the sea of the world are like those waters which Saint Iohn saw by vision into which fell a great starre named wormewood and the waters became wormewood and many men died of the waters because they were bitter Let men therefore feare the curse denounced by the Prophet Woe be to them which make sowre sweet and sweet sowre which call euiâ—l good and good euill which make darknesse light and light darknesse For it were easie to shew of all the things in the world as Saint Iohn reckoneth them vp the lust of the flesh the lust of the eye and the pride of life that is the vnlawfull desire of worldly pleasure treasure honor that they be all the bitter waters of the sea of the world And it may bee said of them al as the Wise man saith of the first The lips of a strange woman drop as the hony combe and her mouth is more soft then oyle But the end of her is bitter as wormwood and sharpe as a two edged sword And that wee may see the bitternesse of these waters in this sweet sinne of vncleannesse as the world is not ashamed to call it and thereby to iudge of the rest First Salomon tels vs that it is a punishment in it selfe for such as God is angry withall The mouth saith he of strange women is as a deâ—pe pit He with whom the Lord is angry shall fall therein It is therefore a signe of Gods anger towards vs when he suffereth vs to fall into it Secondly it bringeth men to infamie reproch dishonour He shall finde a wound and dishonour and his reproch shall neuer be done away Thirdly it bringeth beggery with it for because of the whorish woman a man is brought to a morsell of bread Fourthly it bringeth filthy and loathsome diseases on a man euen rottennesâ—â— to his bones Fifthly it destroyeth not onely his vnderstanding but his soule also Sixthly it is as a fire that will pursue and follow not onely him but his encrease to â—heir vtter dâ—struction Seuenthly the Apostle maketh it as a punishment of Idolatry to be giuen ouer to these vncleane lusts Let men therefore take heede of these bitter waters and if either they bee afraid of the anger of God or their owne infamie or the wasting of their estates or of the rotting of their bodies or the destroying of their soules oâ— the vndoing of their posterity let them take heed of that which if they looke they may finde hath cost other men so deare and giuen them sharp and bitter sawce to their sweet meate knowing what a poysonfull hooke lyeth vnder that pleasing bait to betray them The same may bee said of the rest of the vices that ouerflow the world as pride couetousnesse intemperance in diet murmuring enuie hatred disobedience to authority they are all the bitter waters of the world The woâ—ld is a sea The sea is bitter Thâ— world is bitter Secondly the sea is inconstant it ebbeth and floweth sometime it is quiet sometimes troubled It followeth the Moone As the Moone changeth so the sea changeth The world is as inconstant altering and changing euery day both in priuate men and in whole states Some borne some die some in health some sicke some rising some falling some in fauour some in disgrace and as Saint Gregory obserued all the actions of our life are but remedia taedij when we are wearie of one thing we seeke for reliefe of the contrary when we are wearie of fasting we eate and being wearie of eating wee fast when wâ—e are wearie of waking we sleepe and being wearie of sleeping we wake In nothing we continue at one stay and as the day succeedes the night and the night the day so variety and contrariety must giue content in all our actions The vse whereof is to teach vs to obserue in the world and our selues liuing in the world the mutability and change of all things vnder the Sunne God only being vnchangeable The Angels in heauen and man in Paradise were subiect to change as they found by miserable experience In God onely is no change nor shadâ—w of change but the world passeth and the concupiscâ—nce thereâ—f As the sea therefore is inconstant so is the world inconstant Thirdly the sea is full of dangers sometime by contrary wiâ—ds sometime by Pyrats sometime by entising mermaids and syrens sometime by rockes somtime by quick-sands and many other waies The world is a sea of dangers yea hath more dangers theÌ„ the sea 1. It hath such coÌ„trary windes that Christs ship his Church is faine with Saint Pauls ship to cast ancor lest it bee driuen backe in her course to heauen 2. It is ful of pyâ—ats that watch their opportunitie to take and make prize of the rich commodities wherewith she is laden to rob and spoile her of that most precious faith which is much more precious then gold that perisheth yea to depriue her of those
ten persecutions raised against this ship of Christ by those wicked Tyrants Nero Domitian Traian Antoninus Verus Seuerus Maximinus Decius Valerianus Aurelianus and Dioclesian were such great stormes that as Rabanâ—s saith of the first of them Some were slaine with the sword some sâ—ourged with whips some stabd with forkes of yron Some fastned to the crosse or gibbet some drowned iâ— the sea some had their skins pluckâ— ouer their eâ—res some their tongues cut out some stoned to dâ—ath some killed with cold some starued with huâ—ger some their handâ— cut off and dismembred and left naked c. So Saint Augustine saith of the Christians to them all They were in bonds and imprisonments they were slaine thâ—y were tortured they were beaten with cudgels They were burned they were torne in pieces and yet they multiplied Saint Ierome saith that there was no day in the whole yeere vnto which the number of fiue thousand and Martyrs might not be ascribed except onely the first day of Iaâ—uary Eusebius writes of Neroes persecution of the Church that in his time a man might see Cities lie full of dead â—â—dies the old lying together with the young and the dead bodies of women cast out into the open streetes without reuerence to their sexe This may serue for a taste of the tempests raised against this ship of Christ in the times of these persecuting tyrants But the stormes raised by Arrius the heretick and his followers in good Constanâ—â—ns time were as much if not more dangerous of which Saint Ierom complaines Ingemâ—it orbis Christianus miratur se subito factum esse Arrianum That the Christian world did lament and wonder how vpon the sudden they were al becâ—me Arians And certainely hereticks haue as furiously assailed the Church as euer did Tyrants But when Heresie and Tyranny met together in the Maâ— of sinne the Pope of Rome especially when Boniface the third by the meanes of Phocas that execrable murtherer that by treason conspiracy being but a coÌ„mon souldier did betray and put to death his Lord and Master Mauritius the Emperour hauing first slaine his Empresse and his three sonnes before his face and by this traitrous villany aspired to the Empire when Boniface I say by this persidious Wretches meanes had gotten to be proclaimed The Head of the Vniâ—eâ—sall Church then and from that time Satan being let loose the poore Church or ship of Christ went to wracke which was about sixe hundred and thirteene yeeres after the birth of Christ. Since that time we may truly say his armes are a rauening wolfe his sentence burne burne burne his saying Let vs lay waite for bloud his head is blasphemy his shield tyranny his brest iniurie his eies fire his girdle fornication his breath poyson his tongue the sting of death his feete ready to shed innocent blood his sword violence his crosse persecution his pardons iniquitie his triple Crowne presumption his keyes ambition and all his doings abomination I write this the rather because that Sinagogue of Satan doe boast and brag and challenge to themselues that they are this ship of Christ and that out of their ship there is no saluation that Protestants are hereticks that raise vp stormes and tempests against this ship I confesse the time was to wit in the times of the forenamed persecuting Tyrants that the Church of Rome had her part in Christs ship many of her Bishops were holy Martyrs all those stormes raised by those tyrants might happily fill the ship with water but could not sinke it But how is the faithfull citie become an harloâ— For when Constantine the Great gaue not only peace to the Church but endowed it with worldly promotions they shutting vp their vpper-decks to heauen-ward and opening leakes beneath to the sea of the world thinking they could neuer haue enough of that bitter water except they had the whole sea and world at their command From that time Rome is no longer a ship but a sea for that proud Bishop to sit in though he falsely terme it the sea Apostolick and from that sea haue risen more tempests against Christs ship then from the persecuting tyrants that we may iustly say of Rome as the Prophet said of Niniueh O blâ—udy citie it is full of lies and robbery the prey departeth not c. for this Whore of Babylon is drunken with the bloud of Saints and with the bloud of the Martyrs of Iesus Let their owne Authors speake for them Iohn the twentie two did persecute tâ—e poore Christians of Armenia and hired the Saracens to warre vpon them bâ—cause they would not acknowledge his authoritie A strange expence of the goods of the Church as they call themselues to hire infidels to cut the throats of Christians and to inuade Christendome In the dayes of Queene Marie saith the same Author the Papists procured the slaughter of millions of Christians in France Flanders and other places in that time how many poore Christians were butchered and burned here in England Natalis a Popish Writer saith that threescore thousand Hâ—gonites were murâ—ered in the Massacre of France An. 1572. and therfore he calles that execution cruâ—ll and bitter The Pope in his charitie with his Cardinals hearing of it reioyced went a Procession sang Te Deum and gaue a Iubile Paul the second is reported by diuers torments to haue vexed diuers godly and learned men for very small causes Alexander the sixth would put men to death for euery light word spoken against him Budeus calles Iulius the second Sanguinarium cleri magistrum that is A bloody Master of his Clergy When Charles the Emperour was setting forward against the Turke the common enemy of Christians Cardinal Poole an English Popish traytor was sent to him from the Pope and in an oration extant in print did perswade him to turne his forces from the Turke against Henry the eight as worse then any Turke I need not speak of the Popes Bulles and tempestuous thunder-bolts sent out against Christian Princes to set them together by the eares and sometimes stirring vp the subiects against their Princes and sometime owne son against the father The Bull of Pius Quintus roaring thus against Queene Elizabeth of happy memory Iubemus vt contra Reginam Angliae subditi arma capessant We will and command that the Queene of Englands subiects doe rise vp in armes against her Neither need we to seeke farre to find that the Iesuites his dearest darlings are the fierbrands of all Kingdomes and States in Christendome to goe no further and that they are both contriuers and patrons of the greatest conspiracies and treasons that euer were hatched in the world The Spanish inuasion of England intended in the yere 1588 with their Inuincible Nauy as they termed it and the Gun-powder treason intended against the Parliament-house and the Estates of the land that were there to
endeuour to reduce so many of them as wee can possibly to the embracing of the same Christian faith which we professe and to that end may bee earnest with thee by our deuout prayers to giue a blessing to our endeuours by enlightning their vnderstandings and opening their hearts and inflaming their affections and desires that so thy name may be more and more knowne vpon earth and thy sauing health among all Nations And lastly O Lord we entreate thee that leauing Christendome wee may hold fast our Christian faith that we bee not Apostataes and back-sliders to make shipwrack of faith and of a good conscience but may hold the profession of our hope without waâ—ering from the beginning to the end of this voiage And thus commending our selues to thy holy protection we beg these things at thy hands and whatsoeuer else thou knowest to bee necessary or fit for vs in thy Son Iesus Christ his name and in that forme which he himselfe hath taught vs in his Gospell saying Our Father c. A Prayer for the conscionable warranting of Nauigators to vndertake long Voyages by Sea WE do not presume most gracious God and louing Father in thy Sonne Iesus Christ to aduenture vpon the great dangers which we make account to haue continually before our eyes in our trauels by Sea trusting either in our owne skill or in the meanes prepared and prouided for vs to saue vs from those dangers but in thy blessings which thou hast graciouslie promised vpon our lawfull labours and endeuours in our honest callings and professions For howsoeuer by our callings wee are drawne to leade a great part of our liues in another element then other men ordinarily doe yet seeing that element is nothing inferiour to the earth which was chiefely made subiect to thy curse for mans sinne so that though once thou didst by this element for the sinne of man drowne all the world except eight persons saued in the Arke yet thou then promisedst neuer to destroy it so againe and to that end didst set thy Raine-bow in the cloud to assure men thereof And seeing thou hast made this Element the matter of the Sacrament of Baptisme And thy Sonne Iesus Christ by vndertaking this Sacrament in this Element hath sanctified all waters vsed in this Sacrament to signifie the mysticall washing away of sinne seeing it hâ—th pleâ—sâ—d thee to reueale more in this latter age of the world concerning this art of Nauigation then to our forefathers and dost daily bring to light more certaine meanes to giue men further knowledge and experience therein seeing by thy blessing vpon Nauigation and Nauigators the greatest dangers and difficulties in the world are runne thorow and ouercome and our little Iland of England where thy Gospell is truly preached and thy name called vpon is made famous to the remotest partes of the world Seeing the knowledge of the Mathematicall sciences which for their certentie standing vpon demonstrations and for their excellency making obseruations of the heauens and celestiall bodies and their motions and influences haue the precedence before other humane learning is by this art daily more and more encreased Seeing thou thy selfe O Lord God wast the first author of this Art instructing thy seruant Noah to build an Arke for the sauing of himselfe his famely and the rest of the creatures from the waters of the great Flood Seeing thou dost daily in our trauels by sea affoord vs more meanes and helpes to deuout and heauenly meditations then to other ordinary men Seeing that by this Art which we professe and practise the commerce and trade betwixt Nation and Nation is preserued and maintained and the knowledge of thy sauing truth carried into those parts of the earth which formerly haue not knowne thee And seeing the sea through which we passe is an image of the world and the ship in which wee â—aile is an image of thy Church and the whole course of our life at sea may teach vs spiritually how to behaue our selues in thy â—eruice Lastly seeing thy Sonne our Sauiour while he liued vpon the earth did vouchsafe not only to approue and allow our profession but to honour it in his owne person by entring into a ship and therein working a great miracle at sea and thereby giue certaine â—estimony and assurance of his Diuinity and God-head Grant that we may no way in this our intended voyage dishonour this our profession which thou hast so many waies graced but may acknowledge thee to be the God of the sea as well as of the land and may depend and relie vpon thy protection and defence at all times and in all places that the beholding of the waters may put vs in minde of the solemne vow and promise and profession which was vndertaken for vs by our Sureties in this element at our first admission into thy visible Church when we receiued the Sacrament of baptisme that by thy blessing wee may daily increase in the knowledge of those things that belong vnto our profession and chearefully run â—hrough the difficulties and dangers of our voyage and may raise spirituall comforts to our hearts from all blessings and crosses that may befall vs and aboue al that we may be sure to take thy Sonne our Sauiour Christ along with vs in our ship and whole fleete and haue him alwaies present with vs not onely as he is generally as God present in all places but as he hath specially promised his mercifull and helping presence where two or three are gathered together in his name that we may not suffer him to sleepe in vs but by our deuout prayers so awake him that we may so begin continue and end this our now intended voyage that withall our soules may continually be sayling to our true port and hauen which is heauen Grant vs these things O mercifull Father and whatsoeuer else is necessary for vs in our whole voyage not for any merits of ours but for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake in whose name we call vpon thee further as hee hath taught vs in his Gospell saying Our Faâ—her c. A Morning Prayer WEE giue thee humble and hearty thankes most mercifull Father in thy Sonne Iesus Christ for thy gracious preseruation of vs this night passed from all the perils and dangers whereunto we were subiect giuing vs quiet rest and sleepe for the refreshing of our bodies before wearied and bringing vs to the comfortable ioy of the light of this day wee beseech thee that the beholding of this corporall light which was the first of thy creatures and which before rested in thy selfe and wherein thou seemedst to take such delight that thou didst adde to the light created the first day those excellent celestiall bodyes of the Sunne and Moone and Starres the fourth day may cause vs to lift vp our hearts spiritually to discearne thee that art light and in whom is no darkenesse that not onely doest as the light disperse the beames of
the sea great and wide for therein are things creeping innumerable both small beasts and great There goe the ships yea that Leuiathan which thou hast made to play therein All these waite vpon thee that thou maist giue them meate in due season Thou giuest it to them and they gather it thou openest thy hand and they are filled with good things But if thou hide thy face they are troubled if thou take away their breath they die Againe if thou send forth thy Spirit they are created and thou renuest the face of the earth The floods haue lifted vp O Lord the floods haue lifted vp their voice the floods haue lift vp their waues the waues of the sea are maruellous through the noise of many waters yet thou Lord on high art more mighty We haue seene thy workes in the sea and thy wonders in the deepe For thou didst command and raise the stormie winde and liftedst vp the waues thereof Our ship hath mounted vp toward heauen and descended againe to the deepe so that our soule melted for trouble We were tossed to and fro and staggered like drunken men and all our cunning was gone Then wee cried to thee in our trouble and thou deliueredst vs out of our distresse Thou hast turned the storme into a calme so that the waues thereof are still Thou rulest the raging of the sea when as the waues thereof arise thou stillest them Thou hast according to thy promise brought vs againe from the depth of the sea Thou appeasest the noise of the seas and the noise of the waues thereof Let heauen and earth praise thee therefore the sea and all that moueth therein Let vs reioyce from the sea yea let vs depend vpon thy might and mercy in thy time to bring vs to the hauen where wee would be Let vs confesse before thee thy louing kindnesse and thy wonderfull works before the sonnes of men Open our lips O Lord that our mouthes may speake thy praise which breakest the sea whē the waues therof rore thy name is the Lord of hosts Whatsoeuer it pleased thee thou hast done in heauen and in earth and in the sea and in all the depths Let our mouthes therefore bee filled with praise and with thy glory euery day Let thy praise be in our mouthes continually and Let vs sing vnto thee a new song and thy praise from the end of the earth Let vs neuer forget thy mercies and louing kindnesse to vs miserable sinners but seeing wee haue nothing else to render vnto thee for all thy benefits accept this our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiuing and teach vs euermore to ascribe and giue vnto thee O Father with thy Son and the holy Ghost all honour glory power might and maiesty from this time forth and for euer Amen A Prayer before a Fight at Sea O Lord God of Hostes thou art the God of peace and the God of war we confesse that without thee we can haue no true peace nor make any iust war Grant vs therefore first to be at peace with thee and at peace with our owne consciences that so we may vndertake in thy name the fight now intended against thine and our enemies O Lord we acknowledge that our sins haue separated betweene thee and vs and that in respect of our iniquities thou maist iustly make our enemies thy rod and scourge to correct vs yea euen as a fire to consume and deuoure vs. Thou hast many times suffered thine owne people when they haue sinned against thee with an high hand and not humbled themselues before thee but trusted to their owne strength to become a prey vnto wicked and vngodly men that haue risen vp against them But Lord we confesse our manifold sinnes and that thereby wee haue iustly deserued thy iudgements wee repent vs of our former liues and resolue by thy gratious assistance to liue and die in thy feare and faith And now Lord Loe thine enemies make a tumult and they that hate thee haue lift vp their head They haue taken counsell against thy people and consulted against thy secret ones They haue said Come and let vs cut them off from being a people and let the name of Israel be no more in remembrance Looke downe therfore O Lord from heauen and behold their wicked imaginations against vs. Confound their malicious and mischieuous policies giue vs courage and true Christian resolution to withstand the rage and fury of these idolaters and fight for vs as thou art wont to doe for thy children Teach our hands to warre and our fingers to fight Let thy power and might in thy mercifull preseruation of vs be knowne among the Heathen that they may confesse Doubtlesse there is a God that iudgeth the world Let not these wicked men triumph ouer vs neither deliuer vs as a prey vnto their teeth It is thy mercy O Lord that bath affoorded vs many excellent prouisions of warlike meanes to defend our selues and to make them if thou please to giue a blessing to fall into the same pit which they haue digged for vs. But our trust is not in these secondary meanes but in thy mercies Some put their trust in chariots and some in horses but wee will trust in thy name A horse is a vaine thing to saue a man and so are all other meanes without thee Let the right of our cause fighting for thee against thine and our enemies put such life and spirit and courage into vs that wee may bee resolued to liue and die thy seruants and let vs so rely vpon thy protection that wee neglect no meanes which thou hast giuen vs for our preseruation but may manfully in our greatest extremities shew our Christian resolutions not to feare bodily death which is euery day before our eies being assured of euerlasting life hereafter purchased by the death and passion of thy Son Iesus Christ So we thy people and sheepe of thy pasture shal learne daily to praise and glorifie thy holy name for all thy mercies which wee receiue at thy hands here in this life and publish them in the great Congregation if thou giue vs safe returne into our natiue Country yea wee shall declare them vnto the ages to come and desire in all places to acknowledge that greatnesse and power and glory and victory and praise are thine for euer and euer And thus submitting our selues to thy good will and pleasure and depending vpon thy gracious protection wee commit and commend our soules and bodies and endeuours in this dangerous fight to thy mercy in thy Sonne Iesus Christ praying further vnto thee as hee hath taught vs Our Father which art in heauen c. A Thanksgiuing after Victory O Lord God the strength of our saluation thou hast couered our heads in the day of battell If
rebuked the winds and the sea 3. The worke There followed a great calme Fourthly the successe in the beholders in 2. things 1. What they did The men wondred 2. What they said What man is this that both winds and sea obey him The second generall part is the mysterie For by the iudgement of the Fathers 1. The sea is an image of the world 2. The ship is an image of the true Church of Christ militant 3. The tempest an image of the rage and furie of heretickes schismatickes and persecuting tyrants against the Church 4. Christ his sleeping is an image of his death 5. His arising is an image of his resurrection 6. The Calme that followed is an image not onely of that peace of conscience ioy in the holy Ghost which the Church receiueth as the benefits of his resurrection in this life but also of that eternall rest and happinesse which they receiue thereby in the life to come Before I come to the handling of the particulars the whole history doth deliuer vnto vs the truth of a generall doctrine concerning a chiefe Article of our Christian faith of the coniunction of the two Natures the Humane and the Deuine in one person Christ to make him a compleate and absolute Mediatour and Sauiour of mankind In that he entred into a ship vsed it as a meanes to crosse the sea his ship was subiect to the violence of the tempest and himselfe so sound a sleepe all these shewed him to be perfect man and in that by his owne onely word rebuking the Windes and the Sea there presently followed a Calme this shewed him to be perfect God Which point of doctrine is the summe and ground of the whole Gospell which doth so set forth Christ vnto vs that by it wee may firmely beleeue that the Word was made Flesh that When the fulnesse of time was come God sent forth his sonne made of a woman and made vnder the Law That he might redeeme them that were vnder the Law that wee might receiue the adoptioÌ„ of sons And without controuersie great is the mysterie of godlines God manifested in the flesh To this end the Euangelists in the whole historie of his life death doe purposely intermingle such things as may shew the truth of both these Natures in one person As He was conceiued and so he was man but he was conceiued of the holy Ghost as no other man was and therfore God He was borne and so he was man but He was borne of a Virgin as no other man was and therefore God He was hungry which shewed him to be Man but he fed 5000 with fiue barly loaues and two fishes yet there remained of the broken meat twelue baskets full which proued him to be God He was thirsty which shewed him to be man but he had the water of life to giue of which whosoeuer dranke should neuer thirst and therefore he was God He was weary and so a man but he had ease to giue to all that were laden and so he was God He was Dauids sonne and so a man but he was Dauids Lord as he was God He died as he was a man but he raised himselfe from death by the power of his Godhead At his birth he was laid in a craâ—ch as a man but a starre in the heauen shewes him to be God At his death though â—e suffered on the crosse as a man yet he made a deâ—d of Paradâ—se as he was God No maruell therefore if the Apostle call it a great mysterie for The Ancient â—f daiâ—s to be borne in time for him by whom all things were created to become himselfe a creature for him whom the Heauens could not containe to bee contained in the wombe of a Virgin for him that was equall with God the Father to take vpon him the forme of a seruant to bee made like vnto men and to bee found in the shape of man yea to bee tempted in like sort as we yet without sinne This mysterie it pleased God from the begiâ—ning of the world to keepe hid in himselfe And as it was beyond the compasse of the diuels knowledge though he knew much for he would neuer haue endeuoured the fall of man if he had vnderstood the redemption of mankind by Christ to a more happy estate so it was not fully reuealed to the elect Angels no not to the chiefest of them the Principalities and Powers vntill his manifestation in the flesh when they were made the first Preachers of it And though it were in part reuealed to the Fathers in the old Testament both by the word of promise to Adam presently after his fall and after to Abraham and to Dauid as also by many types and shadowes and lastly by Euangelicall prophecies that a Virgin should conceiue and beare a sonne and they should call his name Emmanuel that is God with vs. Yet was this reuelation made but darkely and they saw and bâ—lâ—eued in Christ a farre off so that we say with the Apostle to our comfort At sundâ—ie times and in diuers mâ—nners God spake in the old time to our Fathers by the Prophets In these last daies he hath spoken vnto vs by his Sonâ—e c. Hence it comes that the diuell hath euer since laboured to stirre vp diuelish minded men to oppugne this maine article of our faith so that all heresies are reduced either to those that denie the truth of his Diuinitie or of his Humanitie or of the coniunction of both those Natures in one person to be our onely true Mediatour Some of these heretickes granted him to be God but not before hee was borne of the Virgin Marie who were confuted by that of the Euangelist In the beginning was the Word and that Word was with God and that Word was God and for confutation of them was that clause added in the Nicen Creede Begoâ—tâ—n of the Father before all worlds Some affirmed him to bee the same person with God the Father who were confuted by his owne speech There is anothâ—r that bâ—arâ—th wâ—nes of me Some thought him to be a kind of God but not of the same substance with the Father who are likewise confuted by himselfe where he saith I and my Father are one Some acknowledged the Father and him to bee of one substance but yet that there was no equalitie betweene them who were confuted by that of the Apostle He â—hought it no robberie to be equall with God These were the maine Heresies touching his Godhead Some againe denied him to be man who are confuted by that of the Apostle There is one Mediatour betweene God and man the Man Christ Iesus Some thought and taught that he had no true but a phantasticall body who are confuted by himselfe saying Behold my hands and my feete handle
himselfe intâ— a Mountaine and sometime to the Desert and sometime to a ship at sea as his places of refuge 4 But principally as I take it he entred into a ship and sailed in it that by his example he might both giue warrant to those that haue a lawfull calling to aduenture thâ—mselues and their liues at sea depending vpon Gods protection as also to shew the necessitie that his Apostles should be tied vnto to take that course afterward when they receiued commission to goe preach the Gospell to all Naâ—ions which they could not doe especially to Islanders but by passing of the sea Here then we obserue the honour of the Art of Nauigation and of the professors and practisers thereof graced in this place by the presence and practice of our Sauiour Christ and this miracle wrought by him at sea for as we account it none of the least dignities of that honorable estate of Matrimonie that Christ adorned and beautified a Marriage with his presence and first miracle that hee wrought at Cana in Galile so must we think it a great honour to Nauigation and Nauigators that Christ himselfe vouchsafed to enter into a ship and therein to worke a greateâ— miracle and certainely the honours of Nauigators by sea are very great For â—irst howsoeuer they trade and spend the best part of their liues in another â—lement then the ordinary course of other men doe yet is that element of water nothing inferiour but rather more excellent then the earth the lowest and basest of all the rest and in the opinion of a great Philosopher this is the Element of Elements or the first matter whereof al bâ—dies were made whose opinion in the iudgement of one of the best Diuines of our age is most agreeable to the truth deliuered by Moses That the Spirit of God moued vpon the waters where the word mouâ—d being a metaphor taâ—en from birds sitting vpon egges to hatch their young doth shew that God out oâ— those waters as out of the first matter did produce all bodies as well celestiall as terrestiall for the word heauens in originall being a compound doth signifie nothing else but there water answerable to that which followeth in the historie of the Creation of the waters beneath and aboue the firmament vnto which if we shall adde for the dignitie of this element That the earth was specially cursed for the sinne of man That in the generall destruction of all liuing creatures in the deluge the fishes the inhabitants of this element escaped That our Sauiour Christ did chuse fishermen for his principall Apostles That he ordained this element as the matter of the Sacrament of baptisme and that by his owne vndertaking this Sacrament in â—his element Hee sanctified the Flood Iordan and all other waters to the mysticall washing away of sinne All these doe shew the dignitie of this element aboue the earth Secondly whereas the difference of excellencie in Trades doth best appeare in their dependance vpon Gods prouidence insomuch as the greatest argument of the Fathers against Vsury is that the Vsurer will not relie or depend vpon Gods blessing and prouidence but vpon such security as their wits can find out of Bonds Statutes Morgages and Pawnes This is the second honour of Nauigators and Merchants that of all other men they most rest and trust vpon Gods blessing and protection In which respect if we will call to mind the blessings that God hath bestowed especially vpon this our Nation in this last age of the world more then euer since the beginning of the world for the perfecting of the Art of Nauigation and for the discouery of new Nations which may in comparison be called neâ— worlds so that those cold parts of the world towards the Poles and hot Zone vnder and neere the Line which by ancients were thought to be inhabitable are now as familiarly gone vnto as from Douer to Calice we cannot but admire Gods mercie and goodnesse to reserue this honour to this last and worst age of the world that we may at last learne to crie out with the Prophet What shall I render vnto the Lord for all his benefits which he hath giuen me Thirdly whereas amongst men the degrees of honour consist in the difficulty and hardnesse of the atchiuement so that the greatest honour is the hardest to be obtained is best esteemed by hardnesse in getting it this is the third honour of Nauigators especially in great and long voyages that they purchase their honour the hardest of any other they indure and ouercome more apparant difficulties and dangers then any other men in the world and therefore their honour so deare bought to be highly preferred Fourthly whereas in all professions they are most honourable which bring most knowledge and vnderstanding because reason and the true vse of it is held the specificall difference betwixt men and beasts And among all humane learning the Mathematicall sciences haue had the precedence both for certainty because they are grounded on demonstration and also because they acquaint vs with all the courses motions proportions of the celestiall and elementarie bodies This is the fourth honour of Nauigators that they haue the most and best vse of all Mathematicall discipline Arithmeticke Geometry Astronomie and as it is set downe as a commendation of Moses that he was learned in all the wisedome of the Egyptians and therefore powerfull in words and in deeds and this wisedome of the Egyptians was in the Mathematicall sciences especially in Astronomie whereby they obserued not only the distinction of the Planets from the fixed starres but their site or place their magnitudes their coniunctions and oppositions and their influences and forces vpon bodies beneath the Moone the ingendring of all meteors the cause of the ebbing flowing and saltnesse of the sea and such like so this cannot but adde to the honour of Nauigators that they not only examine the truth of former obseruations but doe daily encrease knowledge in the world concerning these most excellent speculations Fifthly antiquitie hath euer been held a true badge of honour especially in those artes and professions which were first found out by men famous renouned in their times And this is the fifth honour of Nauigators for howsoeuer prophane historians in their histories doe ascribe both the inuention of shipping and the art of Nauigation to one of themselues one Atlas a Moore whom for his skill in Astronomie the Poets faine to beare vp the heauens with his shoulders as if he were the first inuentor and in part a perfecter of this excellent Art yet we Christians as we reade in the Scripture do hold that the first vse of shipping and the Art of Nauigation came both immediately from God himselfe and were reuealed to Noah in forme of an Arke which hee was not only commanded to make but had particular directions both for the matter whereof
and â—he forme or manner the length the breadth the heighth the cabbins the window and the seuerall decks Seeing therefore Nauigation hath so honourable an author of such antiquitie it may not be despised but highly esteemed Sixthly true religion is the best marke of true honour as may appeare in that noble title giuen by the holy Ghost to the faithfull of Berea And wee see that God himselfe hath passed his promise Those that honour me I will honour This then is the sixth part of the honour of Nauigators that they haue the best meanes to bee truly religious and sincere Christians without hypocrisie For howsoeuer it is true that the ordinary meanes to beget faith is the word preached ordinarily which many of these Nauigators doe want yet God be thanked there is care had in those Fleets that are sent into the East Indies for the furnishing of them with honest Ministers to supply that want so farre as conueniently may be And as I am perswaded that Gods blessings haue been the more multiplied vpon the Merchants aduenturers for their Christian and religious care in this point So I hope that the sense and feeling of those blessings from God will cause them not only to continue still but to encrease daily in that holy care But howsoeuer the thing I aime to shew is that the men that are sent to those parts especially the Commanders being men of wit and vnderstanding and hauing such helpes and meanes as I know they haue not onely of the Bible which is the chiefe and principall but of the best bookes that are now written in our owne language to helpe daily to encrease their knowledge as they cannot in perusing the great booke of nature the fabrick of the world by God but breake out into that holy admiration with the kingly Prophet O Lord how manifold are thy workes in wisedome hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches So is the sea great and wide therein are things creeping innumerable both small beasts and great There go the ships yea that great Leâ—iathan whom thou hast made to play therein All thâ—se waite vpon thee that thou mâ—yâ—st giue them foodâ— in due season And liuing in that element from whence all riuers come and returne into it againe and yet cannot fill it how can they but meditate of him Thaâ— gaue his decree to the sea that the waters should not passe his commande ment when hee appointed the foundations of the earth That shut vp the sea wâ—th doores when it issued and came forth as out of the wombe That made the clouds as a couering thereof and darknesse as the swadling bands thereof That stablished his commandement vpon it and set barres and doores And said Hitherto shalt thou come but no further and here shall it stay thy proud waues And if these considerations worke not vpon their hearts God speakes by the Prophet Ieremy Feare ye not mee saith the Lord or will ye not bee â—fraid at my presence which haue placed the sands for the bounds of the sea by the perpeâ—uall decree that it cannot passe it and though the waues â—hereof rage yet can they not preuaile thoâ—gh they roare they cannot passe ouer it And yet besides all these meditations the Prophet Dâ—uid telleth vs that They that goe downe to the sea in ships anâ— oâ—cupie by the great waters they see the workes of the Lord and his wonders in the deepe For he commandeth and raiseth the stormie wind and it lifteth vp the waues thereof They mount vp to the heauen and dâ—scend to the deep so that their soule melâ—eth for trouble They are tossed too and fro and stagger like a drunken man and all their cunning is gone c. This teacheth vs that Nauigators cannot but see and acknowledge more then other men the omnipotencie the infinitenesse the iustice the goodnesse and mercy of God both in the variety of creatures exceeding them vpon earth and in the variety of administration of all things himselfe remaining vnchangeable and how can these men then in reâ—ding good bookes wherof they haue plentie but apply them to their hearts and so liue as they should euer bee prepared to die Seuenthly it is a great honour to men to supply the necessities and to bring profit and renoune to the state and Common wealth wherein they liue And this is the seuenth honour due to Nauigators especially amongst vs that are seated in an Iland and separated round about by the ocean sea from the continent or firme land that without the vse of Nauigation should bee depriued from all commerce and trade with other Nations whereas now by the vse thereof our land is not onely as famous as any other to the remotest parts of the world but those merchandizes wherewith wee abound and which wee can well spare are exported for the benefit of other countreyes and those things which we want and without which wee could not conueniâ—ntly liue are returned as corne in time of dearth wine oyle spices drugs siluer gold precious stones and that which must not be forgotten fish to the reliefe of many poore as we daily see with our eyes But lastly and aboue all the honour of Nauigation and Nauigators appeares in this that Christ our Sauiour liuing vpon the earth though he were borne at Bethlehem in Iurie yet had his whole education at Nazareth a towne of Galile not far from the sea and when hee began to shew himselfe to the world hee for sooke Nazareth and went and dwelt at Capernaum which is neere the sea in the borders of Zabulon and Nepthalim and not onely tooke pleasure to walk by the sea of Galile and from thence to call Apostles while they were casting their nets into the sea to catch fish and promising to make them fishers of me but likewise made choice of a ship somtime as a pulpit out of which he might best instruct and reach the people here as a passenger as a place to rest sleep in and therein to woâ—ke that great miracle that followeth in this story The vse whereof vnto all Nauigators is that this honour done vnto that profession then doth not cease now but as he was then bodily and visibly present in this ship so he is as hee is God present in euery ship in what place of the world soeuer it bee and with his children as a speciall protector in their societies assembled in his feare and name according to his promise Wheresoeuer two or three are gathered together in my name there am I in the middest of theÌ„ or as he promised to his Apostles when hee sent them to preach to all nations Behold I am with you alway to the end of the world To teach Nauigators when they enter into their ships to take Christ along with them and to be sure to keepe him
his beloueâ— wiâ—e Rachâ—l in childbed And yet more with the losse of Ioseph his eldest sonne by her And lastly with enduring two yeeres of famine No maruell therefore if he stiled his whole life the dayes of his pilgrimage And his good sonne Ioseph sped little better who was enuied by his brethren threatned to bee killed cast into a pit drawne forth and sold as a slâ—â—e to the Ishmaelites carried by them into Egypt and sold to Putaphar falsely accused by the harlot his Mistresse vniusâ—ly cast into prison whose feet they hâ—ld in â—hâ— sâ—ockes and he was laâ—d in irons And lastly the fauour he did to the Kings Butler which was cast in prison to him though he earnestly entreated to be rememâ—red was quite forgotten This then is the state and condition of Gods dearest children and not to instance in any more particulars we may obserue it to be his dealing commonly with his Church for thus hee deaâ—t with his people the children of Israel when by his mighty power and out-stretched arme hee had made the Egyptians weary of them by those ten seuerall plagues inflicted vpon them by the ministery of Moses insomuch that they forced them to goe away in hast saying we dye all And so deliuered them from that slauery and bondage which they had endured foure hundred and thirty yeeres yet let vs consider to what straights they are brought They had the Red seâ— before them the mountaines on each side and Pharaâ—h with a great Host of Horses and Chariots pâ—rsuing them So that the pâ—ople are in despaire of any escape and therefore say to Moses Hast thou broâ—ght vs to die in the wildernesse because there were no graues in Egypt Wherefore hast thou serued vs thus to carry vs out of Egypt Did we not tell thee this thing in Egypt saying Let vs be in rest that we may serue the Egyptians for it had been betâ—er fâ—r vs to serue the Egyptians then that we should dâ—e in the wildernesse Then and not till then was it time for God to shew himselfe and therefore Moses doth then answere for God Feare ye not stand still and behold the saluation of the Lord which he will shew to you this day for the Egyptians whom ye haue seene this day ye shall neuer see againe The Lord shall fight for you therefore hold you your peace And presently hee diuided the sea so that the Israelites went through the midst of it vpon the dry ground and the waters were a wall vnto them on the riâ—ht hand and on the left but Pharaoh and all his host were dâ—owned in pursuing and following them I haue been the longer in this meditation because it is of most vse for Sea-men that finding it ordinary with God to haue dealt thus with his best Saints they mâ—y neuer faint be the danger neuer so great but wait and expect Gods leasure for deliuery For God as hee knoweth the best time so he is the best obseruer of time and though the ship be couered with waues yet cast not away your confidence Say with holy Iâ—b Though he â—ill me I will trust in him resolue with the 3. children Bâ—hold our God whoÌ„ we serue is able to dâ—liâ—er vs when he please he will I would here end this first point of the danger in respect of the tempest but that by consideration of that which we find in the other Euangelists reporting this history we finde in Saint Marke that there werâ— with him other little ships and yet wee finde not that those ships or any of them were in the like danger for this ship was couered with waues and both Saint Marke and S. Luke say that it was filled with watâ—r and they both vse a word for the tempest which in the Originall signifieth A whirle-wind which is a violent and strong wind descending downe right and turning and winding round about so that when such a wind shall light vpon such a ship at sea it carryeth it instaâ—tly round about and wheeles it vnderneath the water So that this word imports that though the whole sea were troubled and so the other ships not free from danger yet this tempestuous whirle-wind did specially aime at this bottome in which our Sauiour and his Disciples were And whether this tempest was raised by Christ himselfe as he was God or whether Satan whom the Apostle calleth The prince that ruleth in the aire was permitted to raise it as hee was to raise such another tempest whereby hee smote the foure corners of the house wherein Iobs children were eating and drinking and killed them It is certaine that the end for which Christ thus suffered this tempest thus directly to seaze vpon his ship was not onely for the triall of their faith which was yet but weake but also for the confirmation and strengthening thereof by that great miracle which he then wrought To teach all men at sea and land to depend vpon Gods prouidence in their greatest dangers knowing that a sparrow câ—nâ—ot fall â—o the ground nor an haire from their heâ—ds without him and therefore submitting their wils to his will in their most extremities to say with Elâ— It is tâ—e Lord leâ— him do what â—â—emeâ—h him good And thus much for the first point of the danger 2. We come now to the second point But he was aslâ—epâ— When Christ told his Disciples concerning Lazarus Our friend Lazâ—rus sleepeth bâ—t I goe to wâ—â—e hâ—m Thâ—y answere Lord if he sleepe he shall be sâ—fâ— But Christ spake there of his death by the name of sleepe And heere in as great danger of death as flesh and blood can imagine the Disciples plainly seâ— that their mâ—sters sleeping is the greatest cause of their danger for as Marâ—â—a saith of her brother Lord if thou â—aâ—st bâ—en here my broâ—her had not bin dâ—ad so might the Disciples haue said Lord if â—hou hadst not slept wee might haue preuented all this danger Strange it is therefore that ouâ— Sauiour should be so sound asleepe when his Disciples were so watchfull It was not so with him in anoâ—her daâ—ger when indeede he was to die when withdrawing himselfe from the rest and making choyce of his â—hree pillars of the Apostles Peter Iames and Iohn to waâ—â—h with him â—he â—ight before his passion as he could not or would not sleâ—pe himselfe so he could not keepe them awake â—hoâ—gh hee warned and charged them againe and againe though he tâ—lâ— them of the danger of that right that â—he shepheard should bâ— smitten and the shâ—epe scattered yet he found that hâ—wsoeâ—er the spirit was willing yet the flesh was weake The one the spirit was like a forward dog that cannot be holden backe from his game but the flesh was like a curre in his couples that
Corah Dathan and Abiran at the prayer of Moses And in the waters at his prayer not onely the makâ—ng of bitter waters sweet but deuiding of the sea in two And in the aire at the prayer of Eliah the middle region shut vp from raine for â—hree yeeres and sixe moneths and at his prayer the fire descending to consume the Captaines and their fifties but also in the Heauens the Sunne to stand still at the prayer of Ioshuah and the strongest diuels to bee cast out by this and fasting Yea seeing this duty doth worke vpon God himself to withhold him from pouring downe his iâ—dgements All those doe not onely excuse the Disciples but commend them in comming to their Master to awake him and call vpon him for helpe and doe teach all good Christians by their example neuer to forget or neglect the performance of this dutie But we consider further here the manner of the Disciples comming vnto Christ by the extremitie of danger whereby they were driuen not onely presently and suddenly to call vpon him but with exclamation and outcrie to crie and roare to him thereby to reâ—eiue present helpe lest it come too late for in the great dangers of fier and water which two elements are said to haue no mercy there must be neither dallying nor delaying but without present helpe there is no hope As therefore if a man shall see his house on fire hee comes not coldly and faintly to entreat his neighbors help to yeeld them reasons but breakes out into exclamations Fier fier water water ladders ladders helpe helpe we are all vndone c. So in this place in this extreme perill of water it may wel be presumed that the Disciples being in great feare skreeked and made a pitifull noise to awake their Master And howsoeuer the prayers of the godly are neuer vnseasonable and are therefore to be vsed at all times and vpon all occasions as was said before yet certainely they are neuer so earnest so feruent so hearty and consequently so effectuall as in extremity of trouble This therefore is a principall reason why God doth suffer afflictions in this life to seaze vpon and euen to be ready to ouerthrow his owne dearest children For though many other reasons hereof are giuen by the Fathers as first To shew his iustice against sinne of which no man is free in this life Secondly to terrifie the wicked for If iustice begin at the house of God what shall c. Thirdly to exercise their patience of which they haue neede no patience but in afflictions Fourthly to make conformable to the image of his sonne for as Christ saith of himselfe Ought not Christ to suffer these things and so to enter into glory So Saint Paul of his children All that will liue godly in Christ must suffer persecution Fifthly to weane them from the world as the nurse annoints the teate with bitter things Sixthly to make them know that their disease is not incurable As the Physitian to a desperate patient wil giue leaue to eate what he list but to him whom he hath hope to recouer he denies many things hee must keepe diet Seuenthly to assure them that they are sons not bastards being partakers of correction Eightly to stop Satans mouth that is ready to say Doth Iob serue God for naught Ninthly to purge vs from the drosse and corruption of our natures for that which the flayle is to the Corne to bring it from the straw that which the file is to the yron to take off the rust that which the fier is to the gold to purge it from drosse that is tribulation and affliction to Gods children to do them good Tenthly but aboue all other reasons the last remaineth that they may call and crie vnto the Lord renouncing themselues and resting and relying vpon his protection This is the reason that the Prophet Dauid desireth of God that his prayer may ascend as the incense For as incense can send vp no smoke or sweete perfume till it come into the fier So the prayers of the Saints do neuer ascend so forcibly as in their fiery trials Oratio sine malis est sicut auis sine alis Prayer vntill affliction stings is like a bird without wings it cannot raise it selfe to mount and flie vp to heauen for if we examine our owne harts we shall find that euen the best men that pray vnto God ordinarily euery day either publikely with others or priuately by themselues which duty is too much neglected by too too many doe while they are free from troubles call vpon God but weakely and coldly and faintly rather for fashion and custome then with any sound and sensible feeling of their owne miseries they offer the calues of their lippes And draw neere vnto God with their mouthes but their hearts are farre from him and are therefore attended and accompanied with so many wandring imaginations and vaine and idle thoughts euen in the middest of this holy and religious duty that when they haue done praying they had neede begin to pray againe for forgiuenesse of their negligent and carelesse carriage therein But in affliction when the iudgements of God are vpon vs and wee are thereby brought either to the true sense and feeling of our sinne and of the waight burden of it pressing vs downe to hel or to be deiected by any extremitie of sickenesse or any other danger that may threaten death this cannot but worke feare and terror and howsoeuer many of the wicked that neuer had care to serue God in the daies of their peace are thereby brought either to murmur and to repine against God as the Israelites in the wildernesse or to reuile the meanes and seeke reuenge as dogs that bite at the stone that is throwne at them or fall to open blasphemy against God as Iulian the Apostata crying at his death Vicisti Galilâ—e O Galilean meaning Christ Thou hast ouercome Or lastly fall into despaire and make away themselues as Achitophel and Iudas yet if they be not past all grace and hope the iudgements of God wil work remorse in them Wee reade of hard-hearted Pharaoh that at the first would not acknowledge God and therefore said to Mâ—ses and Aaron Quis est Iehoua Who is the Lord that I should heare his voice Yet afterward though he could not for the hardnesse of his heart pray himselfe yet when the plagues of God were vpon him he entreated Moses and Aaron to pray for him And againe Goe not farre away but pray for me It is admirable to consider how the feare of Gods iudgements wrought vpon the Niniuites at Ionahs preaching for the text saith of them that though they were a Heathen people that knew not God and a great people for their Citie was of three daies iourney and there was in it
sixe skorâ— thousand that knew not their right hand from the left And they had fortie daies liberty to bethink themselues before the destruction should come yet at one dayes preaching of one Prophet one short Sermon The men of Niniueh beleeued God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest of them to the least of them for the word came to the King of Niniueh and hee arose from his throne and he laid his robe from him and put one sackcloth and sat in ashes c. No maruell therefore if our Sauiour say of the men in his time that the men of Niniueh shall rise in iudgeâ—ent with this generation and coâ—demne it for they repented at the preaching of Ionah But much more may it be said of our generation now for we are not Heathen as they were we haue heard not one onely but many Ionahs not one day but many daies and yeeres preaching and threatning Gods iudgements We haue not liberty of forty daies granted vs before we are to expect his iudgement except we repent we haue seene and felt many iudgements both vpon our neighbours and our selues and yet we are so farre from ioyning together from the greatest to the least to repent and humble our selues in prayer and fasting for the diuerting his iudgements and to turne from our euill wayes as they did that we continue in sinne and daily multiply our sinnes to prouoke him to hasten his iudgement yea many of vs I feare may bee accounted among those that the Apostle prophecied of that in the last daies should be mockers which would walke after their owne lusts and say Where is the promise of his comming for since the fathers died all things continue alike from the beginning of the Creation But to all such mockers of Gods iudgements denounced by his Prophets let that one example of the Iewes Gods owne people be sufficient of whom we reade That the Lord God of their Fathers sent vnto them by his messengers rising vp earely and sending for he had compassion on his people and on his habitation But they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his Prophets vntill the wrath of the Lord arose against his people and till there was no remedy We see how the good thiefe in the Gospel rebuked the other thiefe that suffered with him and railed vpon our Sauiour Christ Fearest thou not God saith he seeing thou art in the same condemnation The feare of which condemnation did so worke with him that in the next verse after hee had acknowledged his owne sinne and Christs innocency he entreateth of Christ Lord remember me when thou commest into thy kingdome And receiued this comfortable promise This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise Now if the feare of Gods iudgements worke so powerfully vpon the wicked to be in some of them the beginning of wisedome that is as Saint Augustine compares it as a needle to draw in the thread of the faith and loue of God wherby the rent is sowne vp betwixt God and them How is it possible but the iudgements of God vpon his owne Saints shuld make them cleaue vnto him and call and crie and roare and neuer giue ouer till they haue deliuerance and if their griefes and sorrowes bee so great that they cannot expresse them in words it being true of griefes Leâ—es loquuntur ingentes tacenâ— that light griefes may bee vttered in words but extreame griefes doe astonish and depriue men of speech yet euen in the greatest with Anna the mother of Samuel They doe in their troubled spirit poure out their soule before the Lord or with Hezekiah They chatter as a crane or a swallow and mourne as a doue And when we know not what to pray as wee ought the spirit helpeth our infirmities and maketh request for vs with sighes and grones which cannot be expressed But hee that knoweth the heart knoweth what is the meaning of the spirit for he maketh request for the Saints according to the will of God And thus wee see how the deuotions in our prayers are quickened and excited and stirred vp by the sensible feeling of Gods fatherly corrections which all his children are partakers of The vse whereof vnto sea-men nay their aduantage by occasion and necessity is that seeing they spend their liues in continuall dangers so that they may say with Saint Paul In iourâ—eying often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils of mine own nation in perils among the Gentiles in perils in the Citie in perils in the wildernesse in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren The more perils they vndergoe the oftner they should and shall repaire to God by prayer in Iesus Christ seeing hee hath made two promises the one that whosoeuer asketh shall receiue and the other that whatsoeuer ye aske the father in my name he will giue it If wee ioyne these two that whosoeuer asketh whatsoeuer hâ— aske shall bee granted that will make vs like children in all dangers to run vnto our father and call and cry to him with assured trust to be deliuered And if we cleaue fast to God and haue continuall recourse vnto him and then most especially when we are in most danger then are we sure that nothing shall separate vs from his loue neither tribulation nor anguish nor persecution nor famine nor nakednesse nor perils nor sword No neither death nor life nor Angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate vs from the loue of God which is in Christ Iesus our Lord. But heere may bee demanded and obiected Shall any man whosoeuer receiue any thing whatsoeuer he shall aske of God in Christs name To this Saint Iames makes answere Let him not aske amiâ—se to consume vpon his owne lusts And againe Let him aske in faith and not wauer for a wauering minded man is like a waue of the sea And as our Sauiour Christ saith let him know what he askes expounded by Saint â—ohn If we aske any thing according to his will he heareth vs. Not as the theese that Saint Chrysostome speakes of that going to rob prayed that he might not be taken and was taken so much the sooner For conclusion of this point we obserue two things 1. That it is no certaine signe of Gods grace and fauour to haue a request granted at Gods hand For when the Israelites would needs haue flesh the Psalmist telles vs That he rained flâ—sh vpon them as dust and feathered foules as the sands of the sea And hee made it fall in the middest of their campe round about their habitations So they did eate and were filled for he gaue them their desire They were not turned from their lusts but their meat
prouidence and therefore where the diuell doth most rage they receiue the greatest comfort As therefore the enchanters of Pharaoh striuing by their lying wonders to imitate the miracles wrought by God by the hands of Moses and Aaron were faine at the last euen in a most vile creature to wit lice constrained to confesse that it was the finger of God So much more should al Christians in the sensible feeling of any of Gods iudgements and the serious meditation of them confesse with old Ely It is the Lord let him doe what seemeth him good and with Hezekias The word of the Lord which thou hast spoken is good Farre be it therefore from them to runne with Saul in their extremities to a witch to aske counsell of the diuell against which sort of people the Law of God is plaine that they should be put to death But let them know that whatsoeuer power the diuell falsely ascribeth to himselfe as that all kingdomes of the earth and the glory of them are deliuered to him and are at his disposing or whatsoeuer power the Scriptures ascribe to him and his Angels as that the Apostle calleth them principalities powers c. yet as was said before his power is restrained and limited by God And though as a strong man armed he hath taken possession of all men by nature now corrupted yet Christ is stronger then he that takes from him the things in which he trusteth and diuideth the spoiles To which the Prophet Esay alluding saith In that day the Lord with his sore and great and mighty sword shall visit Leuiathan that piercing Serpent euen Leuiathan that crooked Serpent and he shall slay the Dragon that is in the Sea And that speech of the Prophet Zachary The Lord reproue thee Satan sheweth the power of Christ aboue his And himselfe shewing his victory ouer the diuell saith Now shall the prince of the world be cast out And he not onely expressed his power against Satan in word but in deed both casting out of diuels out of the possessed himself and giuing power and authoritie to his Apostles and Disciples to doe it also Therfore doe the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Iude tell vs that the diuels are kept in chaines as Christs captiues and cannot stirre to doe harme further then he shall giue them leaue And howsoeuer it is comfort enough to all Gods children That he 〈◊〉 giuen his holy Angels charge ouer them to keepe them to pitch their tents about them to fight for them and being stronger then the dâ—uels to ouercome them So that if they looke to God by the eye of faith they shal see as Elisha shewed his seruant that there are more with them then against them for they are compassed about with horses and chariots of fire to defend them from all hurt and to destroy their enemies Yet they haue a further coÌ„fort in God who is alwaies present with them and therfore say with the Apostle If God be with vs who can be against vs Or with the Prophet Dauid The Lord is my shepheard therefore I shall want nothing yea though I walk through the vallâ—y of the shadow of death I will feare no euill for thou art with me thy rod and thy staffe thâ—y comfort me And thus we see that God hath onely absolute power in himself to worke miracles and so that Christ in the working of this miracle by his word onely commanding the winds and the sea doth thereby shew himselfe to be God by whose word as all things at the first were created of nothing so now al things and actions not onely of men but of all other creatures yea euen of the diuels themselues are ordered and directed to teach all good Christians in their greatest crosses not to be dismaied or discouraged seeing they haue God at hand who hath promised to helpe them and to whose word all the creatures must yeeld subiection and obedience as it followeth in the next words the last thing considered in the miracle There was a great calme This is the worke it selfe containing the obedience of these vnruly Creatures to the word of Christ that as the Centurion saith to him before in this Chapter But speake the word onely and my seruant shall be healed so here the word no sooner spoken but a great Calme followed By which wee see the truth of that deliuered by the Prophet He sendeth forth his commandemâ—nt vpon the earth and his word runneth very swiftly And a game in the same Psalme He sendeth out his Ice like morsels who can abide the cold thereof He sendeth out his word and melâ—eth them he caâ—sâ—â—h the wind to blow and the waters to flow So that as his word can raise a tempest At his word the stormie wind ariseth and lifteth vp the wauâ—s of the sea Or as the Prophet Ieremiâ— speaketh He giueth by his voice the multitude of waters in the heauen and he causeth the cloudes to ascend from the earth he turâ—eth lightnings to raine and bringeth forth the windes out of his treasures So at his word as they that came to apprehend him went backwards and fell to the ground So I say all the creatures must yeeld obedience and doe his will as the sea and wind doe in this place No maruell therefore if the Apostle do call the afflictions that befall the children of God in this life light and but for a moment for we may say of them as was said of Iulian Nubecula est cito transibit It is but a little cloud that will soone be blowne ouer for Heauinesse may indure for a night but ioy commeth in the morning After the storme there will come a calme and though Leuiathan doe make the dâ—pth boyle as a pot and the sea like a pot of oyntment yet our trust is in Gods word as the Prophet speaketh He appeaseth the noise of the seaes and the noise of the wâ—ues thereof The vse whereof to all men both at sea and land is to consider the obedience of these disordered creatures to the word and command of their Lord and Master and to compare it to their owne disobedience vpon whom neither the word of God nor his promises nor his threatnings nor his blessings nor his iudgements can worke so much as his bare word did heere on these insensible things The Prophet Ieremie to draw the Iewes to obedience vnto God doth propound the example of the Rechabites by Gods commandement and applieth it thus â—he commandement of Ionadab the sonne of Rechaâ— that he commanded his sonnes that they should drinke no wine is surely kept for vnto this day they drinke none but obey their fathers commandement Notwithstanding I haue spoken vntâ— you râ—sing early and speaking but you would not obey me I haue sent also vnto you all my
house of this their tabernacle is dissolued they haue an euerlasting habitation in the heauens and therefore like to sea-men they vse the world as sea-men vse the sea as a way or place of passage to goe through neuer more ioyfull then when their voyage is ended by death and they brought into their right port or hauen that they may leaue their ship the Church Militant and goe ashore into the land of the liuing the Church Triumphant in heauen To conclude this point and not to passe it any further in the things wherein the sea is a true resemblance of the world as the vastnesse both of the one and of the other and that the sea casteth vp her dead vnto the shoare and so the world casteth vp those that are dead vnto it as the filth of the world aâ—d the off-scowring of all things to make them a gasing stock vnto the world to the Angels and to men and such like things wherein the sea and the world are alike We see that as the sea is bitter inconstant full of dangers full of monsters full of deuouring fishes and no place to settle and abide in so likewise is the world in all these respects to teach all men so to vse the world as sea-men vse the sea who in respect of the conditions and dangers before spoken of doe continually stand vpon their guard and watch day and night and specially in the night lest they should be suddenly ouertaken It is fit for all Christians to be as carefull and rather more for their soules then for their bodies the losse being much greater if they should miscary for what shall it profit a man to winne all the world and to lose his soule or what shall he giue for a recompence for his soule And the danger greater wherefore Christ chargeth vs Feare not them that can kill the body but are not able to kill the soule but feare him which is able to destroy both soule and boâ—y in hell And wee hauing so many commandements and charges in these regards to Watch and pray lest we fall iâ—to tentation to be sober and watch because the diuell goeth about like a roaring Lyon seeking whom he may deuour Let not the children of the world be wiser in their generation then we But though we bee vpon the land yet let vs thinke our selues to be at sea seeing this world is to vs as a sea and let them that are at sea compare the world and the sea together and bee as carefull and watchfull to preuent the dangers of the world as the dangers of the other sea or else there will be small comfort in making neuer so speedy prosperous and gainefull a voyage when their bodies shall returne safe home and their soules be drowned by the way in the gulfe of the worlds pleasures And thus wee see the sea is an image of the world Secondly the ship is an image of the true Church of Christ Militant here on earth So speakes Saint Chrysostome vpon this place It is not to be doubted saith he but this ship was a figure of the Church according to which exposition the holy Ghost speaketh by Salomon She is like a ship of Merchants which fetcheth her goods from farre that is the Church which the Apostles sayling in and the Lord guiding it the Spirit of God blowing on them with a fresh gale doth runne through the sea of the world by the preaching of the Gospell carrying in it the rich and inestimable iâ—well of Christs bloud the price paid by him for the redemption of all mankind In which words of Saint Chrysostome agreeing with the current of all writers we obserue another honour of Nauigation for as we account it a great honour to the holy estate of matrimony that Christ in the coniunction of the man and the woman would mystically signifie and represent the spirituall marriage and vnion betwixt himselfe and his Church so may we not idly ouerpasse the honour done here to Nauigation that our Sauiour did make the ship here as hee did Noahs Arke before a figure of his Church by which all Christians might learne of trauellers by sea how to passe through the sea of the world And certainely a ship may be the true resemblance of the Church of Christ in many respects First in the building a ship must be made in the keele toward the water and the earth very close and tight but is open aloft in the vpper part toward heauen so the Church of Christ is close and shut vp toward the world the sea but open vpwards towards God for our conuersation is in heauen from whence also we looke for the Sauiour euen the Lord Iesus Christ. Secondly in the forme a ship is made a Head and a Sterne that is before and behind very narrow but in the middle it is broad so the Church of Christ in the beginning was very narrow kept within the limits of Iudaea and in the middle when Christ came it spread abroad by the Ministery of the Apostles and their successours but in the end of the world it shall againe bee narrow for Thinke you when the Sonne of man comes that hee shall find faith in the earth Thirdly a ship that intends to make a long voyage must not onely be built but well furnisht and prouided of many necessaries she must haue her Ballast her Mast her Rigging her Sayles her Victualing her Ordinance her Lading and that neither too light nor too heauy and of such Merchandize as will best vent in the place whether she is to trade she must haue her Helme to bee guided by and her Compasse whereby to steere a right course and she must haue skilfull Commanders and seuerall Officers and painefull Saylers she must haue a Wind to carry her along and instruments to take the height of the Sunne and the Starres whereby she may be sure to steere a good course And lastly she must be prouided of an Anchor both in time of danger and being arriued in the Port or Hauen But if I should prosecute this comparison in all things belonging to a ship it would require a whole volume of it selfe and I must confesse that I am out of my element and that this taske would require the helpe and art of a skilfull Nauigator It shall suffice according to these short obseruations that the ballast of Christs ship is the feaâ—e of God to keepe it vpright That her Mast is the Crosse of Chrisâ— That her Sayles are the Faith of Christians That her Rigging consists in applâ—cation of the examples of the Saints that haue gone before vs That her victualing is the Flesh and bloud of Christ which will neuer perish buâ—â—ndure to life euerlastiâ—g That her Ordinance are the threâ—tnings of Gods Law thundring out death to all malefactors That her Lading is Good workes according to which euery man shall make his voyage That Sin is
to heauy a burden able to sinke â—he ship as in the case of Ionah and that hypocriticall and pharisaicâ—ll workes with opinion of merit must all bee heaued ouer-board That the riches of this world can neither be carried wâ—th vs to our hauen that is heauen and if they could yet there they are no currant Merchandise That the helme to guide this ship is a good conscience And the compasse whereby to direct our course is the holy Scriptures That the wind that carrieth vs along is the inspiration of the holy Ghost That Christian Magistrates and Ministers are Commanders and Officâ—rs in this ship and all true Christians are painefull saylâ—rs to be ruled and directed by them That Christ is our Suâ—ne of rightâ—ousnesse by true obseruation of whom wee shall neuer faile of a right course in our voyage And that hope is our anchor not only in all perils and dangers in the voyage but at our end and in our end bringing vs safe on land into our hauen Fourthly as no man is so foolish as to thinke hee can make a voyage and crosse the seas without the meanes except he enter into a ship and as none of all the world were preserued from the generall deluge but only Noah and his sâ—nnes and their wiues that entred into the Arke which was a figure of the Church So in the matter of the soule no man may thinke that he can passe through the sea of the world to heauen except by baptismâ— he enter into thâ—s ship of Christ and be made a membâ—r of his Church Neither doth the baptisme consist in outward water that puts away the filth of the flesh but in a confident demanding which a good conscience maketh to God Fiâ—thly as in a ship at sea if any man wilfully lep out of the ship into the sea or be throwne ouer-board without present helpe hee must needes miscarry and die so extra ecclesiam nulla salus there is no saluation to be looked for out of this ship of the Church and if any either by schisme doe forsake the Church or be throwne out by the censure of excommunication as Saint Paul saith of the incestuous person purge out the old leauen except such a one by repentance be receiued backe againe into the Church there is no hope of saluation for him Lastly as there is great danger in keeping dead bodies aboard of infecting the rest so in this ship of the Church A little leauen will sower the whole lumpe and a scabbed sheepe will infect a whole flocke And therefore all such as haue a name to liue but are dead that is that professe they know God but by workes denie him and are abominable and disobedient and vnto euery good work reprobate are not to be kept in the ship of Christ but to be cast into the sea of the world to which they belong as a prey to the deuouring fishes that are there ready to swallow them And thus wee see how this ship is an image of Christs true Church passing the sea of the world Thirdly the tempest is an image of the rage and furie of Hereticks Schismaticks persecuting Tyrants against the Church for as when the sea is neuer so calme it can not continue long so without some storme or tempest so though the world looke neuer so smoothly vpon the Church yet it will not long continue so but send forth procellas spiritualis nequitiae the stormes of spirituall wickednesse as Saint Ambrose calles them or proceâ—â—as mundi the tempests of the world as Saint Cyprian stiles them The hereticks on the one side as S. Paul speakes of Hymenaeus and Alexander hauing themseluâ—s made shipwracke of faith and of a good conscience will labour according to the example of the diuell their master to draw others into the same destruction And Schismaticks on the other side will so rent and teare the sides of the Church that it will be full of leakes and draw in so much water as may bring it in danger of drowning and Tyrants will raise such bitter persecutions that like the Dragon in the Reuelation of Saint Iohn they will bee readie to deuoure the Churches children as soone as she is deliuered And these all rore and rage and storme against the poore Church of Christ. Christ had neuer his Church vpon earth but the diuell had wicked men to raise stormes against it There was a Caine to persecute Abel from the beginning a Nimrod of the off-spring of Cam a mighty hunter and persecutor of the Church there was an Ishmael to persecute Isaac in Abrahams house though he were the father of the faithfull and an Esau that began to wrestle and spurne at Iacob in his mothers wombe and after threatens to kill him expecting onely the time of his fathers death Wee reade how Ioseph was persecuâ—ed by his owne brethren and the Israelites by Pharaoh in Egypt And afterward euen in the land of Promise the Israelites dwelt among the Canaanites the Hittites and the Ammorites and the Perizites and the Hiuites and the Iebuzites all cruell enemies and persecutors of Gods Church What should I speake of Iabin and Sisera of the Madianites and the Philistims and the rest of them for not only Herod and Pilat are ioyned in a league to persecute Christ but as the Prophet complaineth The tabernacle of Edom and the Ishmaelites Moab and the Agarims Gebal and Ammon and Amaleck the Philistims with the inhabitants of Tyrus Ashur also is ioyned vnto them they haue been an arme to the children of Lot And if we should make a catalogue of stormes and tempests raised by hereticks and schismatikes against Christ his ship in the Primatiue Church and the persecutions of it by the Roman Emperours Quis talia fando temperet à laâ—hrymis as the Poet saith they could hardly be either written or read or spoken or heard of without tearâ—s For that which the Apostle saith of the times before Christ and their crueltie against the Church to wit That they were racked and would not be deliuered that they might receiue a better resurrection and others were tried by mockings and scourgings yea moreouer by bonds and prisonment They were stoned they were hewne asunder they were tempted they were slaine with the sword they wandred vp and downe in sheepes skinnes and goates skinnes being destitute afflicted and tormented whom the world was not worthy of All these I say may seeme to be but little clouds threatning somwhat but soone blowne ouer in respect of the new deuised sauage cruelties of the Roman Emperours and the tempestuous stormes raised vp from time to time for the vtter ouerthrow and ruine of this poore ship of Christ his Church that they might set vp their pillers ob deletos Christianos as if they had vtterly rooted out all Christians and Christianitie for the
as we are not afraid the day being past and the night now come to aduenture vpon sleepe hoping to be awaked the next morning and to rise againe and goe about our labours So O Lord when the time of our dissolution shall come by any kind of death Let vs be so prepared for it certainely beleeuing the immortalitie of the soule and the resurrection of the body that wee may not bee afraid of it knowing it to bee but a longer sleepe of our bodies till they be awakened and raised by thy trumpet at the last day And whereas O Lord in our passage by ship through the sea we dare not aduenture in respect of the many dangers therein to sleepe all at once but to keepe continuall watch yet O Lord wee must needs confesse that except thou preserue and keepe vs the watchmen watch but in vaine Doe thou therfore O Lord watch ouer our watch and ouer vs while wee are asleepe and make vs as watchfull and carefull for our soules as we are for our bodies And so we commend our selues waking and sleeping into thy protection and defence crauing all things necessary for vs or for any of thy children at thy hands for thy Sonne Iesus Christ his sake in whose name we conclude our praiers as he hath taught vs saying Our Father c A Prayer for Sea-men in a Tempest MOST mighty God thou art wonderfull in all thy workes and fearefull and terrible in thy iudgements Let it not seeme strange vnto vs that the sea is thus troubled and that the stormes and tempests doe thus compasse vs and that both we and our ship are brought thereby into great danger Thou hast threatned O God to raine down vpon the vngodly snares and fire and brimstone and stormy tempest as the portion of their cup. And wee must needes confesse that wee haue many waies sinned fearefully against thee and doe daily so run on in sinne that wee iustly deserue thy fierce wrath and the greatest measure of thine indignation Besides O Lord wee reade in the Scripture not onely that the Prophet Ionah when he fled from thy presence and the place whither thou sentest him had his ship in great ieopardy by that great wind and mightie tempest which thou sentest after him into the sea But that thy holy Apostle Paul also had his ship wherein hee sayled so seazed vpon by an exceeding tempest that neither Sunne nor Starres appeared in many dayes so that there was no hope of life left him and those that sailed with him vntill thou by thy holy Angell hadst giuen him comfort But aboue all O Lord when wee reade and heare that thy Sonne our Sauiour Christ himselfe when he tooke our nature vpon him and became Man for our redemption being at sea with his Disciples was set vpon by so great a tempest at sea that his ship was couered with waues and his Disciples in great feare How can we O Lord looke to be freed from such danger but by thine onely helpe The sorrowes of death compasse vs and the floods of wickednesse make vs afraid The sorrowes of the graue doe compasse vs about and the snares of death haue ouertaken vs. Thou makest darkenesse thy secret place and thy pauillion round about euen darkenesse of waters and cloudes of the aire At the brightnesse of thy presence the clouds passe hailestones and coales of fire Thou hast thundred in the heauens and giuen out thy voice Thou sendest out thine arrows and encreasest lightnings vpon vs. The channells of thy waters are seene and the foundations of the world are discouered at thy rebuking O Lord at the blasting of the breath of thy nostrils Thou hast laid vs in the lowest pit in darkenesse and in the deepe Thine indignation lieth vpon vs and thou hast vexed vs with all thy waues All this is come vpon vs yet doe wee not forget thee nor deale falsely concerning thy couenant Our heart is not turned backe neither are our steppes gone out of thy pathes Although thou haue smitten vs downe into the place of Dragons and couered vs with the shadow of death yet thou Lord art our rocke and our fortresse â—o deliuer vs our God and our strength in thee will wee trust our shield the horne also of our saluation and our refuge Whom haue we in heauen buâ— thee and we desire nothing in the earth with thee Ouâ— flesh faileth and our heart also But thou art the strength of our hearts and our portion for euer Wee know O Lord that if thou please thou canst presently by thy word stil the rage and fury of these winds and seas and deliuer vs from all dangers but we submit our selues to thy good will and pleasure we depend vpon thy fatherly goodnesse to dispose of vs as thou pleasest Giue vs patience good Lord in these our afflictions to abide and waite both thy pleasure and leasure Giue vs faith to lay hold vpon thy promises made vnto vs in thy Sonne Iesus Christ. And grant vs that by hope we may expect the performance of them when thou seest good O Lord we know that we owe a death vnto thee and we know not how soone thou wilt require it at our hands prepare vs therfore now for it and let vs not be dismayed at any perill that may threaten it Giue vs grace to vse all good meanes and neglect no opportunitie which thou offerest vnto vs for our preseruation But let our trust be in thy blessing vpon our weake endeuours for thou art our hope and strength and helpe in troubles ready to bee found Therefore will we not feare though the earth be moued and though the mountaines fall into the middest of the sea though the waters thereof rage and be troubled and the mountaines shake at the surges of the same Into thy hands therefore wee commend our bodies and soules and whatsoeuer wee haue and desire so to liue and die in thy seruice that whensoeuer death shall come wee may be partakers of euerlasting life purchased for vs by the death of thy Son Iesus Christ. In whose name wee call further vpon thee as he hath taught vs. Our Father c. A Thankes-giuing to God after deliuerance from a Tempest GRatâ—ous God and louing Father as our necessities haue enforced vs according to thy commandement to call vpon thee in the time of our trouble so grant vs now being deliuered from it by our giuing thankes vnto thee to glorifie thy holy name O thou the hope of all the ends of the earth and of them that are farre in the sea The sea is thine and thou madest it thy hand prepared the drie land Thy way is in the sea and thy pathes in the deepe waters and thy foote-steps are not knowne O Lord how manifold are thy workes in wisdome hast thou made them all the earth is full of thy riches So is