LECTVRES VPON IONAS, …

LECTVRES VPON IONAS, DELIVERED AT YORKE In the yeare of our Lorde 1594. By JOHN KINGE: Newlie corrected and amended.

Printed at Oxford, by IOSEPH BARNES, and are to be solde in Paules Church-yarde at the signe of the Bible. 1599.

TO THE RIGHT HONOVRABLE SIR THOMAS EGERTON, KNIGHT, LORD KEEPER OF THE GREAT SEALE, MY very singular good Lord, such honor and happines in this world, as may vndoubtedly be accompa­nied with the happinesse, and honour of Saintes in the world to come.

RIGHT Honourable, in this prodigall and intemperate age of the vvorlde, wherein every man writeth more than neede is, and chooseth such patronage to his writinges, as his heart fancieth, If I haue taken the like libertie to my selfe, both of setting my labours openly in the eies of men, and your Honours eies es­pecially over my labours, I hope, because it is not my private fault, your Lordshippe will either forget to espie, or not nar­rowly examine it. The number of bookes written in these daies without number, I say not more then the worlde can holde, (for it even emptieth it selfe of reason and moderation to giue place to this bookish folly, and serveth vnder the va­nitie thereof) but more than well vse, the titles whereof but to haue red or seene, were the sufficient labour of our vn­sufficient liues, did earnestlie treate with mee,Vix totâ vi­tâ indices. Senec. O [...]erat dis­centem tur­ba, non in­struit. Jd. Eccles. Vl [...]. to giue some rest to the Reader, and not to devide him into more choice of bookes, the plentie whereof hath alreadie rather hurte then furthered him, and kept him barer of knowledge. For much reading is but a wearinesse to the flesh, and there is no [Page] ende of making or perusing many bookes. For mine owne part, I coulde haue beene wel content not to haue added more ful­nesse to the sea, nor to haue trained the credulous Reader a­long with the hope of a new seeming booke, which in name, and edition, and fashion, because the file hath a little other­wise beene drawne over it, may so bee; but touching the sub­stance, that of the Preacher was long since true, and togither with the growth of the worlde receiveth dailie more strength,Eccles. 1. Scribimus indocti do­cti (que). Pers. That that is, hath beene, and there is no new thing vnder the sunne. But as we all write, learned and vnlearned, crow-poets and py-poetesses, though but our owne follies and ignoraunces, and to purchase the credite of writers, some as madde as the sea, some out their owne shame and vncurable reproch, whose vnhonest treatises fitter for the fire then the bookes of Prota­goras, presses are daily oppressed with, the worlde burthened, and the patience of modest and religious eares implacably of­fended: so the ambitious curiositie of readers for their partes, calling forth bookes, as the hardnes of the Iewish heartes oc­casioned the libell of divorce,Poscimus indocti do­cti (que). Act. 17. and a kinde of Athenian humor both in learned and vnlearned of harkening after the Mart, & asking of the Stationers, what new thinges? thereby threat­ning as it were continually to giue over reading, if there want variety to feede and draw them on; made me the more wil­ling to goe with the streame of the time, and to set them some later taske, wherein, if their pleasure be, their idler howres may be occupied.

My end and purpose therein, if charitie interpret for mee, will be found nothing lesse than vaine ostentation. Because I haue spoken at times, and may hereafter againe, if God giue leaue and grace, the meditations of my hearte, to as manie and as chosen eares almost as these bookes can distract them vnto: and these which I nowe publish were publicke enough before, if the best day of the seven, frequent concourse of people, and the most intelligent auditory of the place vvhere­in [Page] I then lived, may gaine them that credite. So as this fur­ther promulgation of them is not much more, then (as the Gentiles besought Paule in the Actes) the preaching of the same wordes an other sabbath day;Chap. 13. and some testimonie of my desire (if the will of God so bee) to doe a double good with my single and simple labours, in that it grieveth mee not, to write and repeate the same thinges. And to adioine one rea­son more, I shall never bee vnwilling to professe, that I even owed the everlasting fruite of these vnworthie travailes to my former auditours, who, when I first sowed this seede a­mongst them, did the office of good and thankefull grounde, and received it with much gladnesse. To whom since I vvent aside for a time farre from the natiue place both of my birth and breede, as Jonas went to Niniveh to preach the prea­chinges of the Lorde, or into the bellie of the fish out of his proper and naturall element to make his song, so I to deliver these ordinarie and weekelie exercises amongest them; the providence of God not suffering mee to fasten the cordes of mine often remooved tabernacle in those North-warde partes, but sending mee home againe; let it receiue fa­vourable interpretation with all sortes of men, that I send them backe but that labour which they paied for; and there­in the presence of my spirite, pledge of mine hearte,Soles accep­tior esse ser­mo vivus quàm scrip­tus. Bernard. A mortuâ pelle ad ho­minem vi­vum recurre Gregor. Laudare se, vani; vitu. perare, stulti. Aristot. apud Valer. Max. Lib. 7. Ca. 2. and an Epistle of that deserved loue and affection vvhich I iustlye beare them. I trust no man shall take hurte heere­by, either nearer or father of, excepte my selfe, vvho haue chaunged my tongue into a penne, and whereas I spake before with the gesture and countenance of a livinge man, haue nowe buried my selfe in a dead letter of lesse effe­ctuall perswasion. But of my selfe nothing on either part. I haue taken the counsaile of the wise, neither to praise nor dis­praise mine owne doinges: The one, hee saith, is vanitie, the other folly. Thousandes will bee readie enough to ease mee of that paines, the vncerteinty of whose iudgement, I [Page] haue now put my poore estimation vpon, either to stande or fall before them. Howbeit I will not spare to acknowe­ledge,Nihil egi sine Theseis, & Nihil nostrum, & omnia. that I haue done little heerein without good guides. And, as Iustus Lipsius spake of his Politicke centons, in one sense all may bee mine, in an other not much more then no­thing. For if ever I liked the waters of other mens vvelles, I dranke of them deepely; and what I added of mine owne, either of reaching or exhortation, I commende it to the good acceptance of the worlde, with none other condition, then the Emperour commended his sonnes, sipromerebuntur, if it shall deserue it.

Nowe the reasons which mooved mee to offer these my first fruites vnto your good Lordshippe, may soone bee presu­med, 1 though I name them not. For when the eie that seeth you, blesseth you, and all tongues giue witnesse to your righteous dealing, shoulde mine bee silent? yea, blessed bee the God of heaven, that hath placed you vpon the seate of iustice to dis­place falshood and wrong. The vine of our English Church 2 spreadeth her branches with more chearefulnesse, through the care which your honour hath over her. You giue her milke without silver, and breade without mony, vvhich not ma­ny other patrons doe. In this vnprofitable generation of 3 ours, wherein learning is praised and goeth naked, men won­dering at schollers, vt pueri Iunonis avem, and schol­lers wondering more at men,Iuvenal. that they doe so little for them, learning never departeth ashamed and discontented from 4 your face. I adde with most zealous and thankefull comme­moration, in behalfe of my mother and all the children at her knees, your loue to our Vniversitie. Of whose age and nativi­ty, which others haue beene carefull to set downe, I dispute not. But whither shee bee the elder sister, it seemeth by that neglect wherein shee now standeth, that shee hath lost the honour and inheritance of her birth-right: or vvhither the younger, your Lordship hath not many companions to ioine [Page] with you in compassion, and say in these daies,Cantic. vlt. soror est no­bis parva, we haue a little sister, and shee hath no breastes, or ra­ther hath not succor to fill out her breastes, what shall vvee doe for her? How many commō respectes, to let private alone a vvhile, haue naturally borne me to the centre and pointe of your Honours onely patronage?

I deny not, when at my comming from the North, it first came into my head to divulgate these readings, my purpose was to haue made the chiefe founders and procurers thereof (my two deceased Lords) the chiefe patrones also: that as the rivers runne to the place from whence they come, so these to­kens of my gratefull minde might returne to the principall authours. Wherein the worlde might iustly haue censured me with the words of the Prophet, what? from the living to the dead? contrary to the vse and fashion of all other men? But so I meane; both to avoide the suspicion of a fault which the world laboureth of (flattering of great personages) who was and am content that all mine expectations in any respecte from them or theirs, bee laid in the same dust vvherein their bones lye; and to shew that loue is stronger then death, and that the vnexorable barres of the graue cannot forbid a man to continue that affection to the memory of the dead vvhich he carried to the living. For which cause, as others provi­ded spices and balmes, and monuments of stone or brasse to preserue their bodies, so I intended a monument of paper, and such other preservatiues as▪ I coulde, to keepe their names in life, which the violence of time cannot so quick­lye iniurye, as the fatall vngratefulnesse of these latter daies.

But your Lordshippes most vndeserved and vnlooked for bounty towards mee, hath altered that meaninge. In whose countenance & speech evermore from the first houre that I came into your honorable presence, there dwelt such plentifull comfortes and encouragements to make me hope [Page] for better times, that I never went a way, but with more fat­nesse to my bones. And now the world can witnesse vvith mee, how largely you haue opened your hand, and sealed vp that care, in freely bestowing vpon mee not Leah but Ra­hel, even the daughter of your strength, the best that your Honour had to bestow, I say not for my service of twice 7. yeares, but being yet to begin my first houres attendance. Which more then credible benignity, my right hande were vvorthye to forgette her cunninge, if shee tooke not the first occasion to write and report with the best skill shee hath.

Notwithstanding I haue bene bold thus farre, after the trees shaken and the vintage gathered to your Honours vse, to leaue as it were a berrye or two in the vtmost boughes to my former Lordes; and by making some little mention of their happy memories, both to testify mine auncient duety towards them, and to deliver them, what I might, from the night of forgetfulnesse, who were the shining lampes of the North in their life time. Such a Moses and such an Aa­ron, such a Josuah to lead the people, and such a Priest to beare the Arke, such a Zorobabel, and such a Jehozadak, such a Centurion in Capernaum to rule the country, and such a Jairus to governe the Synagogue, when the Lorde shall send togither againe, I will then saie hee hath restored his blessing amongst them. To this purpose I haue added two sermons more, to these Lectures vppon Ionas, the one preached at the funeralles of my former Lord the late Arch­bishop of Yorke; the other no way pertinent to the latter, the right noble Earle of Huntingdon, except because hee commanded it, and it was not many weekes before his death, and the subiect was so agreeable to his most faithfull and vn­steined heart. For if the sound of the tongue and applause of the handes may perswade for him, he never behelde the light of heaven within this land, that more honoured the [Page] light of England. Long may it sparkle and flame amongst vs according to his harty wishes. Let neither distempered hu­mours within quench it, nor all the waters of the sea betwixt Spaine and vs, bring rage and hostility enough to put it out, but let the light of Gods owne most blessed countenance for ever & ever shine vpon it.

It nowe remaineth, that in the humblest manner I can, I wholy resigne my selfe and the course of my life to your honourable both protection and disposition; askinge pardon for my boldnesse, and defense for these my simple en­deavours, & beseeching the God of heaven & earth, to mul­tiply his richest blessings, vpon your Honour, your Lady, and your Children whither within or without the land.

Your Lordshippes most bounden and dutifull Chaplaine JOHN KINGE.

THE FIRST LECTVRE.

Cap. 1. verse 1.2.‘The word of the Lord came also vnto Ionah the sonne of Amittai, saying, Arise and go to Niniveh, &c.’

COmparisons betwixt scripture and scripture are both odious and dangerous. In other sortes of thinges whatsoeuer is commenda­ble, may either be matched or preferred ac­cording to the worth of them. I will not make my selfe so skilful in the orders of hea­ven, as to advance angel aboue angel,Quid sin [...], dicant qui possunt, dū ­modo quod dicunt pro­bare valeāt. August. en­chirid. cap. 38. 1. Chro. 12. 1. Sam. 18. but I am sure one star differeth from another in glorie, And God hath giuen the rule of the day to the sunne, of the night to the moone, because they differ in beauty. The captaines of the sonnes of Gad, without offence might beare an vnaequall report, One of the least could resist an hundred, and the grea­test a thousand; because their prowesse and actes were not aequall. There was no wrong done in the Antheme which the women song from all the citties of Israell, Saul hath slaine his thousande, and David his tenne thousande: The vnlike desertes of these two princes mighte iustly admit an vnlike cōmēdation.Vnus Cato mihi pro cē ­tum milli­bus. Plato instar omnium. Luke 5. Aul. Gell. noct. Attic. 13.5. One Cato may be of more price then hundreth thousandes of vulgar men; and Plato may stande for all. Our Saviour in the gospell preferreth old wine before new: & A­ristotle liketh better of the wine of Lesbos, thē the wine of Rhodes; he affirmeth both to be good, but the Lesbian the more pleasant, al­luding vnder that parable to the successour of his schoole, and no­ting his choise rather of Theophrastus borne at Lesbos, then Me­nedemus at Rhodes. But the whole scripture is giuen by inspiration of God, neither in his greate house of vvritten counsels is there anie vessell more or lesse in honour then the rest are. Moses is no better then Samuel, Samuel thē David, David a king then Amos an heard­man, Iohn Baptist more then a prophet, not more then a prophet in this auctority, Peter or Andrewe the first that was chosen, not better then Paul that was borne out of due time. Revel. 4. The foure beastes in the Revelation haue eies alike, before and behinde, and the Apo­stles names are euenly placed in the writings of the holy foundati­on. Salomon the vvisest king that euer vvas in Ierusalem,Revel. 21. per­ceiued righte vvell that wheresoeuer the vncreated vvisedome of GOD spake, it spake of excellent thinges, Proverb. 8. even thinges seeme­lie for Princes. David his princelie father before him had so high [Page 2] a conceite of these ordinances of the most high, that vvhere he de­fineth any thing, he esteemeth them, for value, aboue great spoiles, and thousandes of gold and silver, Psal. 119. yea all maner of riches; and for sweetnesse, a­boue the hony, and the honycombe: & where he leaueth to define, he breaketh of with admiration, wonderfull are thy testimonies; I haue seene an ende of all perfection, but thy commandement is exceeding broade, meaning thereby, not lesse then infinite.

The Iewes acknowledge the old testament, abhorre the new; the Turkes disclaime; Iulian, atheists and skorners deride; Grecians haue stumbled at both olde and newe; Papistes enlarge the olde vvith Apocryphall vvritings; some of the ancient heretickes re­noūced some prophets, others added to the number of Evangelists: but as the disciples of Christ had but one Maister or teacher in heauen, and they were all brethren;Math. 23. so one was the authour of these holy vvrittes in heaven, and they are all sisters and companions; and, vvith an vnpartiall respect, haue the children of Christes familie from time to time receiued, reverenced, and embraced the whole and entire volume of them. They knowe that one Lorde vvas the originall fountaine of them all, vvho being supremely good, vvrought and spake perfect goodnesse. One vvorde and vvise­dome of God revealed these wordes to the sonnes of men, him­selfe the subiect and scope of them; one holie Ghost endited them,Verba innu­merabilia & vnum tantùm ver­bum omnia: Hugo de ar­ca. Noe. one bloude of the lambe sealed and confirmed the con­tentes of them, one measure of inspiration vvas given to the pen­men and actuaries that set them downe, one spowse and belo­ved of Christ, as gages of his eternall loue, hath received them all in keeping. And surely shee hath kept them as the apple of her eie; and rather then any maime or rent shoulde bee made in their sacred bodye, shee hath sent her children into heaven maimed in their owne bodies, and spoiled of their dearest bloud they had, thinking it a crowne of ioie vnto them, to lay downe their liues in the cause of trueth. And therefore as branches of the same vine that bare our predecessours, to vvhome by de­volution these sacred statutes are come, vvee esteeme them all for Gods most royall and celestiall testament, the oracles of his heavenly sanctuary, the onelie keye vnto vs of his revealed counselles, milke from his sacred breastes, the earnest and pledge of his favour to his Church, the light of our feete, ioy of our heartes, breath of our nostrels, pillar of our faith, anchor of our hope, ground of our loue, evidences and deedes of our future blessednes: pro­nouncing [Page 3] of the vvhole booke, with every schedule and skrole therein conteyned, as hee did of a booke that Sextius vvrote, but vpon farre better groundes, vivit, viget, liber est, supra hominem est:Seneca. It is a booke of life, a booke of liuelyhood, a booke in deede, sa­vouring of more then the wit of man. Notwithstanding, as the parcelles of this booke were published and delivered by divers no­taries, the instruments of Gods owne lippes, in divers ages, divers places, vpon divers occasions, and neither the argument nor the stile, nor the end and purpose the same in them all;Gregor. [...]. some recounting thinges forepassed; some foreseeing thinges to come; some singing of mercy; some of iudgement; some shallowe for the lambe to wade in, some deepe enough to beare and drowne the Elephant; some meate that must bee broken and chevved vvith painefull exposition,Gregor in moral. some drinke that at the first sighte may bee supt and swallowed dovvne; somevvhat in some or other parte that may please all humours, as the Ievves imagine of their Manna,Hieron. that it rellishte not to all alike, but to everie man seemed to taste ac­cordinglie as his hart lusted; so though they vvere all vvritten for our learning and comforte, yet some may accorde at times, and lende application vnto vs for their matter and vse, more then others. Of all the fovvles of the ayre, I meane the Prophetes of the LORDE, flying from heaven vvith the winges of divine in­spiration, I haue chosen the Doue, (for so the name of Ionah im­porteth, and Ierome so rendereth it to Paulinus) to bee the sub­iecte of my labour and travell vndertaken amongest you; vvho vnder the type of his shipwracke and escape, figuringe the passi­on and resurrection of the sonne of GOD, and comming from the sea of Tharsis, as that Doue of Noahs Arke came from the vvaters of the floude, vvith an oliue branch in his lippes in signe of peace, preacheth to Niniveh, to the Gentiles, to the vvhole vvorlde, the vndeserved goodnesse of GOD towardes repentant sinners. For if you vvill knowe in briefe, vvhat the argument of this Prophet is, it is abridged in that sentence of the Psalme,The argu­mēt of the prophecie. Psal. 145. The LORDE is mercifull and gracious, of longe suffering, and of grette goodnesse: Hee is mercifull, in the first parte of the prophecy, to the Mariners; gracious, in the seconde, to Ionas; long suffering, in the thirde, to the Ninivites; and of great goodnesse, in the fourth, in pleading the rightfulnesse of his mercie, and yeelding a rea­son of his facte to him vvhich had no reason to demaunde it. So from the foure chapters of Ionas, as from the foure windes, is sent [Page 4] a comfortable breath and gale of most aboundant mercies. And as the foure streames in paradise flowing from one heade, vvere the same water in foure divisions; so the foure chapters or sections of this treatise are but quadruple mercie, or mercie in foure parts. And so much the rather to bee harkened vnto, as an action of mercie is more gratefull vnto vs, then the contemplation, the vse then the knowledge, the example then the promise: and it is sweeter to our taste beeing experienced by proofe, then vvhen it is but taught and discoursed. You heare the principall matter of the prophecie. But if you woulde knowe besides what riches it offereth vnto you, it is a spirituall library, as Cassiodore noted of the Psalmes, of most kindes of doctrine fit for meditation; or as Isidore spake of the Lordes prayer and the Creede,Onmis lati­tudo scriptu­ra [...]um. the vvhole breadth of scripture may hither bee reduced. Here you haue Genesis in the sodaine and miraculous creation of a gourd, Moses and the lawe in denuntiation of iudgement, Chronicle in the relation of an history, Prophecy in prefiguring the resurrection of Christ, Psal­mody in the song that Ionas composed, and finally Gospel in the re­mission of sinne mightily and effectually demonstrated.

The duties of princes, pastors, people, all estates; the nature of feare, force of praier, wages of disobedience, fruit of repentance, are herein comprised. And as the finers of silver and gold make vse not onely of the wedge,Non tantùm auri massas tollunt, ve­ [...]ùm & bra­cteolas par­ [...]as. Chrys. hom. 1. ad pop. Antio. Chap. 1. Praeco mit­titur, missus contemnit, contemnens fugio. fugi [...] dormis, &c. Jsidor. lib. de patrib. ve [...]. testamen. The text. but even of the smallest foile or rayes that their mettall casteth: so in this little manuell which I haue in hand, besides the plenty and store of the deeper matters, there is not the least iote and title therein, but may minister grace to attentiue hearers.

The substance of the chapter presently to be handled and exami­ned, spendeth it selfe about two persons, Ionas and the Mariners. In the one opening his commission, transgression, apprehension, ex­ecution; in the other their feare and consequent behaviour, which I leaue to their order. The words already proposed, offer vnto vs these particulars to be discussed.

  • 1 First a warrant, charge or commission, The worde of the Lorde also came.
  • 2 Secondly the person charged, to Ionas the sonne of Amit­taie.
  • 3 Thirdly the matter or contents of his commission, Arise and goe to Niniveh that greate city.

In the commission I referre you to these fewe and short collections.

And1 The particle of connexion and or also; either it ioyneth [Page 5] Ionas with other prophets, or Niniveh with other countries, or the businesse heere related with other affaires incident to those times. It seemeth to beginne a booke without beginning, and rather to continue a course of some precedent dealings: but soothly it impli­eth vnto vs, that he who is α and ω in himselfe, is also first and last to his Church, the author and finisher of his good workes; who as he sent his word to other prophets, so also to Ionas; and as for Israell, so also for Niniveh; and as he furnished that age of the world with o­ther memorable occurrences, so with this also amongst the rest, that Ionas was sent to Niniveh, and that thus it fell out.

2 The nature of the commission; It is verbum, a worde; that is,The word. a purpose, decree, determination, edict, advised, pronounced, ratified, and not to be frustrated; according to the sentence of the Psalme, Thy word O Lord endureth for ever in heauen. Psal. 119. Of the Lorde. Luke 1.

3 The author is the Lorde, the Ocean that filled all these earthly springs; who spake by the mouth of all the prophets which haue beene since the world beganne.

4 The direction or suggestion thereof. It came: that is, it was not a phantasie or invention of Ionas,Came. but he had his motion and inspira­tion thereunto.

The first sheweth the continuance of Gods graces in his Church, how euerlasting they are, and without repentance, in that he sendeth line vpon line vnto it, and prophets after prophets, (for doe the pro­phets liue for ever? Zach. 1.) and spreadeth his saving health from the East to the West, and leaueth no generation of man empty and bare of pro­fitable examples.

The second sheweth the stability of his ordināces. For with God neither doth his worde disagree from his intention, because hee is trueth; nor his deede from his word, because he is power:Nee verbum ab intentio­ne quia ve­ritas, nec fa­ctum à ver­bo quia vir­tus est. Bern. homil. 4. su­per Missus est. 2 Pet. 1. Rom. 11. hath hee spo­ken and shall he not performe it?

The thirde sheweth the maiesty and credit of the prophecies. For no prophecie of olde time came by the will of man, but holy men of God spake as they were mooved by the holy Ghost.

The fourth declareth his ordinarie and necessarie course in disclo­sing his wil, which is too excellēt a knowledge for flesh and bloud to attaine vnto, without his revelation: for who hath knowne the minde of the Lord, or who hath beene his counsellour at any time?

The commission in generall is most requisite to be weighed,1 The com­mission. that we may discerne the Priests of the sanctuary frō Ieroboams Priests, of whom we read that whosoeuer would, might consecrate himselfe:1. King. 1 [...]. lawful [Page 6] embassadours from erraticall and wandering messengers, such as run when none hath sent them; starres in the right hand of Christ, fixed in their stations, from planets and planers of an vncertaine motion; shepheardes from hirelings, and theeues that steale in by the win­dow;Revel. 2. prophets from intruders, (for even the woman Iesabell calleth her selfe a prophetesse;) seers from seducers, enforced to confesse from a guilty conscience, as their fore-rūner sometime did, of whom Zacha­ry maketh mention,Zach. 13. I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; Aaron from Abiram: Simon Peter from Simon Magus; Paule a Doctor of the Gentiles, from Saul a persecutour of the Christians; Cephas frō Cai­aphas; Iude from Iudas; Christ from Antichrist; Apostles from Apo­stataes,Revel. 2. backsliders, revolters, who though they beare the name of Apo­stles, are found liers; and finally, faithfull dispensers from marchandisers of the word of God, and purloiners of his mysteries. Who ever intru­ded himselfe, with impunity, and without dangerous arrogancy, into this function? The proceeding of God in this case is excellently set downe in the Epist. to the Rom. wherein,Rom. 10. as the throne of Salomon was mounted vnto, by six staires; so the perfection and consummati­on of man, ariseth by six degrees. The highest and happiest staire is this: He that shall call vpon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call vpon him, on whom they haue not beleeued? Or how shall they beleeue on him, of whom they haue not heard? Or how shall they heare without a prea­cher? Or how shall they preach, except they be sent?

A singular and compendious gradation. Wherein you haue, 1. sen­ding, 2. preaching, 3. hearing, 4. beleeving, 5. invocating, 6. saving. For no man taketh this honour vnto him, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Heb. 5. The Apostles rule is vniversall, & exempteth not the lawgi­ver himselfe. For Christ tooke not this honour to himselfe, to bee made the high Priest, but he that said vnto him, Thou art my son, this day haue I begot­tē thee, gaue it him. The 1. questiō that God mooveth touching this mi­nistration is,Esai. 6. Whom shall I send? and who shall goe for vs? The Devill could easily espie the want of commission in the sons of Sceva, when they adiured him by the name of Iesus whō Paul preached: Iesus I acknow­ledge, and Paul I know; but who are ye? Actes. 19. Your warrant is not good, your counterfet charmes are not strong enough to remooue me. There are no chaines of autority, no links of yron, to binde the nobles and princes of the earth, and to restraine Devils, but in those tongues which God hath armed from aboue, and enabled to his service.

1. King. 22.What was the reason that Michaiah was so confident with Ahab king of Israel, and Zidkiiah the kings prophet, or rather his parasite, [Page 7] who taunted him with contumely, and smote him on the face, that yet notwithstanding hee neither spared the prophet, nor dissembled with the king, his finall doome? Only this: he had his commission sea­led from the Lord, Zidkiiah had none. What other reason made Eli­sha, a worme of the earth (in comparison,) so plaine with Iehoram? What haue I to doe with thee? get thee to the Prophets of thy father, 2 King. [...] and to the prophets of thy mother, &c. see his further protestation. Had he nothing to doe with the king, when the king had so much to doe with him? did hee not feare the wrath of the Lyon, who could haue said to the basest minister that ate the salte of his courte, take his head from his shoulders, and hee would haue taken it? But his commission was his brazen wall to secure him: and that Iehoshaphat the King of Iuda witnessed, saying, The word of the Lord is with him ▪

This is the fortres and rocke that Ieremy standeth vpon before the priests, prophets, and people of Iuda; If ye put me to death, Ier. 2 [...]. ye shall bring innocent bloud vpon your selues; for of a truth the Lord hath sent me vnto you to speake all these words in your eares. Yea the princes and people vpon that ground made his apologie, This man is not worthy to die, for he hath spoken vnto vs in the name of the Lord our God. To spare my paines in exam­ples; fearefull are the woes, and not milder then wormewoode, and the water of gall, (for vnder these tearmes, I finde them shadowed, & but shadowed by the prophets) which he denounceth in the course of that prophecie against false prophets, that spake the visions of their owne harts, and said, The Lord said thus and thus: that were not sent, yet ran; Ier. 23. were not spoken vnto, yet prophecied; that cryed I haue dreamed, I haue drea­med, when they were but dreames indeede. They are given to vn­derstand, that their sweete tongues will bring them a sowre recōpense, and that the Lord will come against them, for their lies, flatteries, chaffe, stealth of his worde, (as they are tearmed) and other such impieties. Their cuppe is tempered by Ezechiel with no lesse bitternesse, for follovving their ovvne spirites, playing the foxes, seeing of vanity, Ezech. 1 [...] ▪ divining of lies, building and daubing vp vvalles with vntempered morter. The heade and foote of their curse are both full of vnhappinesse. Their first entertainement is a vvoe, Vae prophetis: and their fare­vvell an Anathema, a cursed excommunication; They shall not be ac­compted in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the wri­tings of the house of Isarell. To ende this pointe; let their commis­sion bee vvell scanned that come from the Seminaries of Rome and Rhemes, to sovve seedes in this fielde of ours, vvhether, as Ionas had a vvoorde for Niniveh, so these for Englande and o­ther [Page 8] nations, yea or no? whether from the Lord (for that they pre­tend, as Ehud did to Eglon,) or from Balaak of Rome, who hath hi­red them to curse the people of God?Iud. 3. whether to cry openly against sinne, or to lay their mouthes in the dust, and to murmure rebelli­on? whether of zeale to the God of the Hebrewes, or to the greate idoll of the Romanes, as they to the greate Diana of the Ephesi­ans, to continue their crafte, as Demetrius there did, and lest their state shoulde bee subverted?Actes 19. whether to come like prophets vvith their open faces,Zeph. 1. or in disguised attire, strange apparrell (in regarde of their profession) a rough garment to deceaue with, as the false pro­phet in Zachary?Zach. 13. whether their sweete tongues haue not the ve­nime of Aspes vnder them, and in their colourable and plausible notes of peace, peace, there bee any peace, either to the vveale publike, amidst their nefarious and bloudie conspiracies, or to the private conscience of any man, in his reconciliation to their vnre­conciled church, formall and counterfeite absolution of sinnes, hearing, or rather seeing histrionicall masses, visitinge the shrines and reliques of the deade, numbering of Pater nosters, invocati­on of saintes, adoration of images, and a thousand such forgeries? whether they builde vp the walles of GODS house with the well tempered morter of his vvritten ordinances, or daube vp the vvalles of their Antichristian synagogue vvith the vntempered morter of vnvvritten traditions? vvhether they come Embas­sadours from GOD, and in steede of Christ, seeke a reconciliation bee­tweene GOD and vs, and not rather to set the marke of the beaste in our foreheades, to make vs their Proselytes, and the children of errour as deepelye as themselues? If this bee the vvoorde they bringe, a dispensation from a forreigne povver, to resiste the povvers that GOD hath ordeined, and in steede of plan­ting faith and allegiance, to sovve sedition, and not to con­vert our countrey to the trueth, but to subvert the pollycie and state heereof, to poyson our soules, and to digge graues for our bodies against their expected day, to invade the Domi­nions, alienate the crovvnes, assaulte the liues of lavvefull and naturall princes, to blovve the trumpet of Sheba in our lande, yee haue no parte in David, nor inheritance in the sonne of Ishai, no parte in Elizabeth,2. Sam. 20. nor inheritance in the daughter of Kinge Henrye, everye man to your tentes O Englande: let them reape the vvages of false Prophets even to the death,Deut. 18. as the lavve hath designed; and let that eye vvant sight that pittieth [Page 9] them, and that hart bee destitute of comfortes, that crieth at their downefall, Alas for those men. Their bloudy and peremptory pra­ctises call for greater torture then they vsually endure, and deserue that their flesh should be grated, and their bones rent asunder vvith sawes, and harrowes of yron,2. Sam. 12. (as Rabbah was dealt with) for their trai­terous and vnnaturall stratagemes. I know they iustifie their cause and calling, as if innocency it selfe came to the barre to pleade her vprightnesse: and they are vvilling to make the vvorlde beleeue, that they come amongst their ovvne people and nation, not one­lie lambes amongst vvolues, but lambes of the meekest spirite, a­mongst vvolues of the fiercest disposition, vvhose delighte is in bloudsheade; making vs odious, for more then Scythian cruel­ty, as farre as our names are hearde of, and stretching the ioyntes of our English persecutions, vppon the racke of excessiue speech, more then ever they felte in the ioyntes of their ovvne bodyes. They remember not the meane-vvhile hovve much more iust­lye they fill the mouthes of men vvith argumentes against them­selues, for raysing a farre sorer persecution then they haue cause to complaine of. They persecute the libertie of the Gospell a­mongst vs, and labour to bringe it into bondes againe: they persecute our peace and tranquillitye, vvhich by a prescription of manye yeares vvee beginne to challenge for our ovvne: they persecute the VVOMAN with the crowne vppon her head,Revel. 12. whome they haue wished and watched to destroy, and longe agoe had they vndonne her life, but that a cunning hande aboue hath bounde it vp in the boundell of life, and enclosed it in a maze of his mercyes past their finding out: vvhome because they coulde not reach vvith their hande of mischiefe, they haue soughte to overtake vvith floudes of vvaters, floudes of excommunications, floudes of intestine rebellions, forreigne invasions, practised conspiracies, imprinted defamatory libels, that one waye or o­ther they might doe her harme. So longe as there shall bee a Chronicler in the vvorlde to vvrite the legende of the French Iacobin, I shall ever haue in ielousie the comminge of these e­missaries and spies from their vnholie fraternities into Princes courtes. They persecute the infante in his mothers belly, and the childe yet vnborne, vvhome they seeke to dispossesse of their Fathers and Grand-fathers auncient inheritaunces: hovve gladlye vvoulde they see an vniversall alteration of thinges? [Page 10] Israell cast out, and the Iebusite brought in; crying in our houses, complayning in our streetes, leading into captivity throughout all quarters, themselues as it were the handes and members to this bo­dy, and yet playing the first vnnaturall part, and studying to cut the throate of it. Now what comparison is there betvvixt quenching a sparcle of vvild-fire, here and there flying vp and downe to burne our country, and quenching the light of Israell? betwixt the incision of a veine, now and then to let out rancke bloud, and choaking the breath of Israell? betwixt destroying one and one at times, and de­stroying that vnitie wherein the whole consisteth? for such is our per­secution, and such are theirs.

2. The persō charged.The person to whome the cōmission was directed, is Ionas the son of Amittai: wherein you haue 1. his name, Ionas, 2. his parentage, the son of Amittai. 3. you may adde his country from the 9. ver. An Hebrew. 4. his dwelling place,2 King. 14. from the 2. Kings, Gath Hepher (for there was another Gath of the Philistines.) 5. the time of his life & prophecy, from the same booke, Vnder the reigne of Ieroboam the second, or not far of. 6. the tribe whereof he was, namely a Zabulonite; for that Gath ap­pertaineth to the tribe of Zabulon. you haue as much of the person as is neeedefull to be knowen. The opinion of the Hebrewes is, and some of our Christian expositours following the [...]r steps affirme, that Ionas was sonne to the widdow of Sarepta, and that he is called the sonne of Amittai, not from a proper person, his father that begat h [...]m, but from an event that happened. For after Elias had restored him to life,1 King. 17. the mother brake forth into this speech; Nowe I perceiue that thou art the man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true: Therehence, they say, he was named the son of Amittai; that is; the sonne of truth, by reason of that miracle truely accomplished. Sure­ly the word of the Lorde that gaue a commission to Ionas to goe to Niniveh, giveth no commission to vs to goe to such forreine and vn­proper interpretations. So long as we heare it but in our owne coun­try, (as the Queene of the South spake,) of those that are flesh and bloud like our selues, and interpreters perhaps, not so much of the counsels of God, as their owne coniectures, we are at liberty to refuse them: where wee heare it from the mouth of Salomon, or Ionas, or one that is more then them both, wee are ready to giue credit. Our boundes are set which wee must not passe; wee may not turne to the right hande, nor to the lefte, and neither adde nor diminish, nor alter any thing of Gods testimonies. It is a zealous contention that God maketh in Ieremy,Ier. 44. They shall know whose word shall stande, mine or theirs, [Page 11] Who hath instructed the spirit of the Lorde? or was his counseller? or hath taught him? Shall we correct, or rather corrupt,Esai. 4 [...]. falsifie & depraue the wisedome of God in speaking, vvho is farre vviser then men, who made the mouth and the tongue, openeth the lips, & instilleth grace and knowledge into them? Let it suffice vs, that the spirit of truth, and the very finger of God, in setting downe his minde, hath eased vs of these fruitles and godlesse troubles; and expressed this Prophet to bee an Hebrew, not a Gentile; his dwelling place to be Gath He­pher, in the possessions of Zabulon, not Sarepta a Citie of Sidon. Luke. 4. And as it is the manner of the scr [...]pture, vvhere the Prophets are named, there to reckon withall the names of their fathers, as Esay the sonne of Amos, Ieremy of Hilkiah, Ezekiell of Buzi, &c: so there is no likelihood to the contrary, but the father of Ionas is meant, vvhen he is called the sonne of Amittai. But it is the maner of some to lan­guish about wordes, and in seeking deepely after nothing, to loose not onely their time, travell, and thankes, but their wits also. Such hath beene the sickenesse of all the Allegoristes, for the most part, both of the former and later times, (I excepte not Origen their prince, and originall patrone;) who not contenting themselues vvith the literall and genuine sense of the scripture, but making some mysterie of the plainest history that ever was delivered, and darkening the evident purpose of the holy Ghost vvith the busie fansies of their owne heades, as if one should cast cloudes and smoke vpon the sun­beames, haue left the scripture in many places no more like it selfe▪ then Michals image in the bed vpon a pillowe of goates haire, 1. Sam. 19. was like David. How forwarde haue our schoole-men beene in this ranck­nesse of wit? how haue they doted, and even died vpon superfluous questions? hovv haue they defaced the precious word of God, finer thē the gold of Ophir, with the drosse of their owne inventions? set­ting a pearle aboue value in lead, & burying the richest treasure that the world knoweth, in their affected obscurities. For, not to speake of their changing the stile of the holy Ghost, into such barbarous & de­sert terms, as that if the Apostles now lived,Jn Moriae encomio. (as Erasmus noteth) they must speake with another spirit, and in another language to encoun­ter them; how many knots haue they made in divinity (subtilties vvithout the circle and compasse of the worlde,Subtilitates plusquam Chrysippea et ultra-mū ­danae. Id. and such as Chrysip­pus never thought vpon) to as little purpose, as if they had throwne dust into the aire, or hunted their shadowes? they had done more service to the Church of God, if they had laid their handes (a great number of them) vpon their mouthes, and kept silence. Rupertus [Page 12] Gallus likeneth them to one that carrieth manchet at his backe, and feedeth vpon flint stones. For these reiecting the bread of life, the simple word of God, and the power thereof, macerate and starue themselues with frivolous sophistications.

Loc. Theol. 12.5.One of their questions (for a taste) or rather (as Melchior Cane tearmeth them) their monsters and chimers, is, vvhether an asse may drinke Baptisme? It is not vnlike another in that kinde, whether a mouse may eate the body of the Lord? More tolerable a greate d [...]ale were the questions which Albutius the mooter proposed in a controversie; why, if a cup fell downe, it brake; if a sponge, it brake not? Cestius as scornfully censured him, To morrow he wil declame, why thrushes flie, and gourdes flie not? These are the mistes of Gods iudgement vpon the heartes of such men, who having Manna from heaven, preferre a cornes before it; and leaue the breade in their fa­thers house, to eate the huskes of beanes; and cannot be satisfied with the pure and vndefiled word of God, converting their soules, but being called out of darkenesse into a marveilous light, they call themselues out of light into a marveilous darkenesse againe. What is this but to feele for a wall at noone day, Iob 5. as Iob speaketh? that is, when the clearest light of the gospell of Christ shineth in the greatest brightnesse and perfecti­on thereof, to wrap it vp in the darknes of such disputations as bring no profit. You see the occasion of my speech; the indiscretion and a­buse of those men, who take the scriptures as it were by the necke, & writhe them from the aime and intention of the holy ghost.

The substance of the commission followeth. Arise, and goe to Ni­niveh, 3 The mat­ter of the commissiō. that great citie &c. Every word in the charge is weighty and important.

Ier. 1. Ezech. 2.1 Arise. In effect, the same commaundement which was giuen to Ieremy, Trusse vp thy loines, arise, and speake to them; the same which to Ezekiel, Sonne of man, stand vpon thy feete, that is, set thy selfe in a readines for a chargeable service; sit not in thy chaire, lie not vpon thy couch, say not to thy soule, take thine ease; Arise. It craueth the preparation and forwardnes not onely of the body, but also of the minde and spirit of Ionas.

2 Goe. When thou art vp, keepe not thy tabernacle, stand not in the market place, nor in the gates of Ierusalem, nor in the courtes of the Lords house, but girde vp thy reines, put thy sandales about thy feete, take thy staffe in thine hand, thou hast a iorney and voi­adge to be vndertaken; Goe.

3 To Niniveh. Not to thine owne country where thou wast borne [Page 13] and bredde, and art familiarly acquainted, linked with thy kindred and friends, and hast often prophecied; but to a forreign nation, whose language will be ridles vnto thee; to the children of Assur, the rod and scourge of Israell; Goe to Niniveh.

4 To Niniveh a citie &c. No hamlet nor private village, but a place of frequencie and concourse, proud of her walles and bulwarkes, plentifully flowing with wealthe, her people mutiplied as the sandes of the river; and the more populous it is, the more to be feared and suspected, if thy message please them not.Genes. 4. The first that ever built a city, was Cain; and it is noted by some divines, that his purpose therein was to in viron himselfe with humane strength, the better to avoide the curse of God.

5 A greate city. Large and spacious, which had multiplied her mar­chantes aboue the starres of heaven, and her princes as grasshoppers;Nah. 3. the Emperours courte, the golden heade of the picture, the ladie of the earth, the seate of the monarch, the mother city and heade of the whole land.

6 Cry, When thou art come to Niniveh, keepe not silence, smoother not the fire within thy bones, make not thy heade a fountaine of teares to vveepe in secret for the sinnes of that nation, vvrite not the burden in tables, vvhisper not in their eares, neither speake in thy vsuall and accustomed strength of speech, but Crye; lifte vp thy voyce like a trumpet, charme the deafest adder in Niniveh, let thy voice bee heard in their streetes, and thy sounde vppon the toppes of their houses.

7 Against it. Thou mightest haue thought it sufficient to haue cri­ed vvithin the cittie of Niniveh, it vvoulde haue dravvne the vvon­der of the people vppon thee, to haue seene a matter so insolent and seldome vsed: But thou must cry against it, even denounce my vengeance, and preach fire and brimstone vppon their heades if they repent not.

8 For their wickednesse &c. But the reason shal be handled in the pro­per place thereof.

For brevities sake, I will reduce the whole vnto three heades.

  • 1 The place which the prophet is sent vnto. Arise and goe to Niniveh.
  • 2 What he is to doe in Niniveh. Cry against it.
  • 3 For what cause. For their wickednesse is come vp before me.

These two former words differing sōwhat in degree,Arise and goe. the one calling [Page 14] vp Ionas, as it were from sleepe, Arise, the other setting him forward in his way, Go; and the one happily belonging to the inward, the o­ther to the outward man, as they import a dulnes and security in vs, without Gods instigation and furtherance: so they require a for­wardnes and sedulity of every seruant he hath, in his severall calling. Our life is a warfare vppon the earth, Iob. 7. saith Iob, the condition whereof is still to be exercised. Iacob the patriarch, after his long experience of an hundred and thirty wearisome winters,Gen. 47. called it a pilgrimage of fewe and evill daies; therefore no rest to be taken in it. They that ac­counte it a pastime, Wisd. 15. shewe that their heart is ashes, & their hope more vile then the earth we walke vpon. We must awake from sleepe, & stande vp from the dead, (for idlenes is a very graue vnto vs) that Christ may giue vs light: we are called into a vineyard, some one or other voca­tion of life (and christianity the vniversall vineyard common to vs all,) Shall wee stand to see and to bee seene, as in a market place, and doe nothing?Mat. 20. Are wee now to learne, that the penny of eternall blisse is reserved for workemen? and the difference betweene the hiring of God and the divell is, that God requireth the labour before hee payeth the wages,Vulgo dictū: precio ac pe­cuniis datis, brachiae ef­fracta sunt. Zach. 1. the divell paieth the wages before hand, that so he may dull our edge vnto labour, and nurse vs in idlenesse, for paines to come? VVhen wee heare the messengers of God returne with these vnwelcome tidings vnto him, wee haue gone through the whole world, & beholde, it sitteth still, and is at rest, can wee bee ignorant what echo re­soundes vnto it? for when they shall say, peace and safetie, then shall come vpon them sodaine destruction, 1 Thes. 5. as travell vpon a woman with childe; and they shall not escape. Haue wee not red, that idlenesse and security was one of the sinnes that overthrewe Sodome and her daughters? that all­though themselues slept and snorted in pleasure, yet their damnati­on slept not? And what els is an idle man, but a citie vvithout de­fence? which when the enemy of the soule hath destroyed, he saith, as that other enemy in Ezechiel, I will go vp to the land that hath no wal­led towers, I will go to them that are at rest, and dwell in safety, which dwell all without walles, and haue neither barres nor gates. The fodder, the whip, and the burthen belong to the asse; Ezech. 38. meate, correction, and worke vnto thy ser­vant: Send him to labour that hee grow not idle, for idlenes bringeth much e­vill;Eccle. 33. it is the counsell of the sonne of Syrach: happy is that man that ordereth his servant according to that counsaile, I meane, that saith vnto his flesh, arise, and it ariseth, goe, and it goeth, As the Centuri­on in the gospell said to his souldiour, do this, and he did it.

Augustus the emperour hearing that a gentleman of Rome, not­withstanding [Page 15] a great burthen of debt vvherewith he was oppressed, slept quietly, and tooke his ease, desired to buy the pallet that hee lodged vpon; his servants marve [...]ling thereat, he gaue them this answere, that it seemed vnto him some wonderfull bed, and worth the buying, whereon a man could sleepe, that was so deepely indeb­ted. Surely if we consider with our selues the duety and debt vve owe to God and man, to our country, to our family, to homeborne, to strangers, that is, both to Israell, and to Niniveh, and most especi­ally to those of the houshold of faith; that as it was the lawe of God before the law, that we shoulde eate our bread in the sweat of our face;Gen. 3. 2. Thes. 3. so it is the law of the gospell also, that hee that laboureth not, should not eate; that the blessed sonne of God ate his bread, not onely in the sweate, but in the bloud of his browes; rather he ate not, but it was his meate to doe his fathers will, and to finish his worke;Ioh. 4. that even in the state of in­nocency, Adam was put into the garden to dresse it;Gen. 2. that albeit all la­bourers are not chosen, yet none are chosen but labourers; that the figge tree was blasted by the breath of Gods owne lippes with an e­verlasting curse, because it bare but leaues; and the axe of heavy dis­pleasure is laide vnto the roote of every tree that is barren of good fruites; and if it be once dead in naturall vegetation, it shall bee twise deade in spirituall malediction, and pluckt vp by the roote: It would make vs vow vvith our selues, I will not suffer mine eie-liddes to slumber, nor the temples of my head to take any rest, vntill I haue finished that charge vvhereun­to I am appointed. Iacobs apologie to Laban, may be a mirrour to vs all, not to neglect our accountes to a higher maister then ever La­ban vvas: These twentie yeares haue I beene in thy house; Gen. 3 [...]. I was in the daie consumed with heate, and with frost in the night, and the sleepe departed from mine eies. So industrious vvas Iacob, to discharge the dueties of his place, and carefull to make his reckoning straight vvith his maister vpon the earth. But I speake of an heavier reckoning, to an heavier Lord, that will aske an account of everie idle worde, much more of an idle habite: and therefore let them foresee that heate, and that frost to come, those restlesse eies, the hire of their forepassed drowsinesse, for daies, for nightes, for everlasting generations, that are ever fra­ming an excuse, It is either hotte or cold that I cannot worke;Prou. 26. there is a Lyon in the streete, or a Beare in the way, that I dare not goe forth; that being called to an office, and having their taskes laide forth vn­to them, say not vvith Samuell at the call of the Lorde, Speake Lord, thy servant heareth; but in a stubborne and perverse veine,1. Sam. 3. speake and command Lord, and appoint my order wherein I shall vvalke, [Page 16] but I neither heare thy voice, neither shall my heart goe after thy commaundements.Prov. 24. I passed by the field of the sloathfull, saith Salo­mon, and by the vineyard of the man destitute of vnderstanding, and loe it was all growen over with thornes, and nettles had covered the face thereof. Peruse the rest of that scripture. The wise king behelde, and considered it well, and received instruction by it, that a litle sleepe brought a greate deale of poverty, and a little slumber, a greate deale of necessity. And sure­ly as the field of the slouthfull is covered with nettles and thornes, so shall his body be overgrowen vvith infirmities, his minde vvith vices, his conscience shall want a good testimony to it selfe, and his soule shalbe empty of that hope hereafter which might haue re­ioiced it. I ende this point.

Ionas his arise and go to Niniveh, giueth a warning to vs all: for wee haue all a Niniveh to go vnto. Magistrates, arise and go to the gate, to execute Gods iudgementes; Ministers, arise and go to the gospel, to do the workes of Evangelists; people, arise and go to your trades, to eate the labours of your handes; eye, to thy seeing, foote, to thy walking, Peter, to thy nettes, Paul, to thy tents, Marchant, to thy shipping, Smith, to thy anvile, Potter, to thy wheele, vvomen, to your whernes and spindles, let not your candle go out, that your workes may praise you in the gates. Your vocations of life are Gods sanctions; he ordeined them to mankinde, he blesseth them pre­sently, at his audite, hee will crowne them; if, when he calleth for an account of your forepassed stewardships, you be able to say in the vprightnes of your soule, I haue runne my race; and as the maister of the house assigned me, so by his grace and assistance, I haue ful­filled my office.

To Nini­veh.But why to Niniveh? Niniveh of the Gentiles, vncircumcised Niniveh, Niniveh of the Assyrians, imperious, insolent, intolera­ble Niniveh, Niniveh swollen with pride, and her eies standing out of her heade with fatnesse,Gualter in Ion. 2. King. 19. Niniveh setled vpon her lees not lesse then a thousand three hundred yeares, Niniveh infamous for ido­latrie with Nisroch her abhomination. Niniveh with idlenes so vn­naturallie effeminated,Ar. Mont. and her iointes dissolued vnder Sardanapa­lus, as some conceiue their 38. Monarch, who sate and spanne a­mongst women; that as it was the wonder and by-word of the earth, so the heavens aboue could not but abhorre it.

1. Reason.Foure reasons are alleadged, why Ionas was sent to Niniveh. First God will not smite a citye or towne without warning; according to the rule of his owne lawe, that no city bee destroyed, before peace [Page 17] hath beene offered vnto it. Deut. 20. The woman of Abell in her wisedome obie­cted this law vnto Ioab, when he had cast vp a mounte against Abel, where shee dwelt, They spake in olde time and said, 2. Sam. 20. They should aske of A­bell, and thus haue they continued: that is, first they should call a parle and open their griefes, before they vsed hostility against it. The sword of the Lord assuredly is ever drawne and burnished, his bow bent, his arrowes prepared, his instrumentes of death made ready, his cuppe mingled; yet hee seldome powreth dovvne his plagues, but there is a showre of mercie before them, to make his people take heede. Pax domui huic, peace be vnto this house,Luke. 10▪ was sounded to everie doore vvhere the Apostles entered; but if that house vvere not vvorthy of peace and benediction, it returned backe vnto them. Vertues were vvroughte in Chorazin, and Bethsaida, before the vvoe tooke holde vpon them. Noah vvas sent to the olde world, Lot to Sodom, Moses and Aaron to the Aegyptians, Prophets from time to time to the children of Israell, Iohn Baptist and Christ and the Apostles, togither vvith signes in the host of hea­uen, tokens in the elementes, to Ierusalem, before it was destroi­ed. Chrysostome vpon the first to Timothie,Homil 15. Nisi gehen­na intentata esset, omnes in gehennā laberemur. Non ergo minus, quod semper dico, dei providē ­tiam gehen­na commen­dat, quàm promissio regni. Homil. 5. ad pop. Anti­och. giueth the reason hereof; that God by threatning plagues, sheweth vs howe to avoide plagues, and feareth vs with hell before hande, that we may learne to eschew it. And it was his vsuall speech (as hee there confesseth) that the commina­tion of hell fire doeth no lesse commende the providence of God towardes man, then the promise of his kingdome: the terrour of the one, and sweete­nesse of the other, working togither like oile and wine, to make man vvise to his salvation. Niniveh had not stood a longer time, if Io­nas had not said before, Niniveh shalbe overthrowne. The message of their overthrow overthrew the message: the prophecie fell, and the citie fell not, be­cause her fall was prophecied. O new and admirable thing! saith he in a ho­mily to the people of Antioch: The denunciation of death hath brought forth life, the sentence of destruction hath made a nullitie in the sentence, &c. It was a snare, it became their fortresse; it was their gulfe, it became their tower of defence; they heard that their houses should fall, and they forsooke not their houses, but themselues, and their ancient wicked waies.

Secondly he sendeth him to Niniveh,2. Reason. to make the cōversiō ther­of, as it were of his first fruits, a figure & type of the cōversion of other the Gentiles; and to shew to the people a far off (far from the seat of Iu­dea, & farther frō the covenant) that the daies drew on, wherein they should be called by the names of sons & daughters, though they vvere now strangers: And as ten men in Niniveh tooke holde of the skirt of one [Page 18] Ionas an Hebrew, and said, wee will goe with thee, for we nowe heare that God is with you: Zach. 8. so tenne and tenne millions of men, out of all langua­ges, should ioine themselues to the Iewes in the worshippe of that Lord whom they adored. A glimpse of this overspreading light had now and then opened it selfe in some singular persons, aliens from the common wealth of Israel; as in Melchizedech king of Salē, Naa­man the Syrian,Math. 1. Iob in the land of Vz, in Thamar, Rahab, and Ruth inserted into the pedegree of Christ: to shew, amongst other rea­sons, that as he came of the Gentiles, so for the Gentiles to; and that the waters of life (as Zachary tearmeth them) shoulde flowe from Ieru­salem, Zach. 14. (farther then to the river of Tigris, vvhereon Niniveh stoode) halfe of them towardes the East sea, and halfe of them towards the vttermost sea, that both endes of the earth might bee watered therewith.

3. Reason.Thirdly, he sendeth him to Niniveh, as he sent Ioseph into Egypt, to provide a remedy against a mischiefe not farre of: Ioseph to pre­pare bread for his fathers house, in the famine; Ionas to prepare a place for the Lords exiles in the captivity. This carefulnes of their weldoing herein, appeareth vnto vs, in a charge giuen to Moab in the prophesie of Esay;Esai. 16. Hide them that are chased out, bewray not him that is fled, let my banished dwell with thee, Moab, be thou their covert from the face of the destroier. The time vvas to come when the sonnes of Iacob should go captiues into Assyria, righteous and vnrighteous, cleane and vncleane, those vvhom hee tendered as the apple of his owne eie, vvith their vngratefull and vngracious brethren: yet such was his provident fore-sight tovvardes his little remnante, grovving as thinne among the rest, as oliue berries vpon the tree after the vintage, a berrie heere and there in the outmost boughes, that though they bare their parte of thraldome in a straunge lande, yet they shoulde meete with some of milde and tractable spirits, whose hearts had beene mollified before by the preaching of Ionas.

Lastlie, hee sendeth him to Niniveh, (vvhich I rather fasten vpon) to provoke his people of the Ievves,4 Reason. with those that were not a people, to vpbraide their contempte, defie their frovvard­nesse, and to shevve that his soule loatheth, abhorreth, abho­minateth their incorrigible rebellions. Whom he had girt to him­selfe, as a girdle to ones raines, and married in everlasting kindnesse; to vvhome hee had risen earlie and stretched out his hande all the daie long, and cryed vpon them all, Harken O Israell, and I vvill protest vn­to [Page 19] thee, Thou shalt bee my people, and I will bee thy God; whome hee had chidden, and not chidden, vvith so fatherlie a spirite, and such obtesting protestations, that they seeme to bee angrie without anger, As I liue I woulde not your deathes; VVhy will yee die O house of Israell? wilt thou not bee made cleane? VVhen shall it once bee? last­lie, to whome hee had appealed, though men of vnaequall iudge­mentes, yet not so farre from aequalitie as to condemne his vvaies; wherein haue I grieved thee? testifie against mee: these hee giveth to vnderstande, that, at the preaching of one prophet, when they had precept vpon precept; a stranger amongst strangers, a man of an vnknovvne tongue, the whole people of Niniveh, though heathenish and idolatrous, shoulde bee wonne to repen­taunce. Arise Ionas, goe to Niniveh: Sanctifie a people vnto mee, vvhere I had no people, fetch mee sonnes and daughters from farre, let the barren beare children, and let the married bee barren. I haue beene served vvith the sinnes of Israell a longe time, I am wearie of their back-sliding, let them henceforth lie and rotte in their iniquity, Goe thou to Niniveh. Manie the like angrie and opprobrious comparisons, hath the mouth of the LORD vtte­red with much indignitie in other places: in the eighteenth of Ie­remy, Aske nowe amongst the heathen, who hath hearde such thinges? The Virgin of Israell hath done verie filthilie. Strumpets and bro­thels had done but their kinde; but in the virgin of Israell vvho woulde haue thought it? In the first of Hosea, Goe, take thee a vvife of fornication: the meaning of the type is this; I vvill finde more faithfulnesse in a lande inured to whoredomes, then one vvhich I tenderly loved, as mine owne vvife. Christ in the gospell iusti­fieth this collection against the evill and adulterous generation of that time;Math. 12. The men of Niniveh shall rise in iudgement with this ge­neration and condemne it: For they repented at the preaching of Ionas, and beholde a greater then Ionas is heere. And in the same Evange­list, hee rateth them in parables, for despising the doctrine of Iohn, Publicanes and harlottes, Math. 21. shall goe before you into the kingdome of GOD: For they beleeved him; and yee, thoughe yee sawe it, vvere not mooved to repentance. The argumente brieflie thus stan­deth: The people of Niniveh shall condemne the people of Israell: For they vvill repente at the preaching of one Ionas; the others repent not at the preaching of manie hundreds of Pro­phets.

It is a curse of all curses, the verie bottome of the viall,Conclusiō and [Page 20] dregges of the vengeaunce of God, vvhen prophetes are vvilled to relinquish their accustomed flockes, and their message is transla­ted to forrainers and straungers; the dust of vvhose feete but shaken against a citie or towne, or the lappe of their garment emp­tied, the least remembrance, I meane, and vvatchvvorde in the vvorlde, betvveene GOD and his servauntes, that heere or there they haue beene, delivered their errande in his name, and vvere not accepted, shall vvitnesse (vvith a vvitnesse) their dis­obedience in the day of his visitation. So the disciples of CHRIST vvere vvilled to proclaime in everye citye of the earth, vvhere they vvere not received, even in the streetes and thorough-fares thereof,Luke. 10. The verie dust of your citye vvhih cleaveth vnto vs, wee vvipe of against you: Notwithstanding knowe this, that the kingdome of GOD was come neare vnto you. You see the scourge of those places from vvhich the Disciples are enforced to goe, for want of entertayne­ment; the kingdome of GOD goeth vvith them: And if that kingdome bee once gone, their ioye goeth vvith it; all the Em­pires and dominions in the worlde subdued,Act. 13. all scepters and crownes heaped togither, cannot blesse them. Paul and Barnabas observed the direction of their maister to the Ievves at Antioch, both in ge­sture and speech; for they first shooke of the dust of their feete against those that dispised them, and then vvent to Iconium, but they had tolde them before their going (vvhich, if they had anie sense, was as the wounding of penkniues and rasours vnto their harts) It was neces­sarie that the worde of God shoulde first haue beene spoken vnto you, (because the lawe must come out of Sion, and the gospell beginne at Ierusalem) but see­ing you put it from you, and iudge your selues vnworthy everlasting life, beholde, wee turne to the Gentiles. Gospell, and everlasting life, you heare, are ioyned together. And therefore the iudgement of God was sharper against them there pronounced, then if they had brought them tydinges, Beholde, the Romanes are come to take away your kingdome, to fire your townes, ruinate your hou­ses, ravish your wiues and daughters, to dashe your infantes a­gainst the stones in the streetes, to pull your eyes from out your heades, and your bovvelles from out your bodies. Beholde, vvee turne to the Gentiles, vvilde, vnnaturall, and neglected branches: and herein beeholde the full measure of your miseries, beeholde the dispersion and dissipation of your persons vpon the face of the earth, beholde the desolation and wast of your country, behold the detestation of your names, the hissing and clapping at your downfal [Page 21] amongst all nations. The losse of the word of God hath lost you credite, libertie, peace, prosperity, salvation both in your owne daies, and in the daies of your childrens children. In the eighteenth of the Actes, when the Iewes at Corinth resisted and blasphemed the doctrine of Paul, testifying vnto them, that Iesus was that Christ, he shooke his rayment as before, and loosed his tongue with much boldnes against them, your bloud be vpon your owne heades, I am cleane, frō hence-forth I will goe to the Gentiles. As if he had said; I found you the children of death, and so I leaue you; growe in your filthinesse and vnrighteousnesse, till you haue fulfilled the measure of your fore­fathers: for mine owne part, I wash my hands in innocency, I can free my soule in the sight of God, I was carefull to apply my cure to the hurtes of Corinthe, but you were not healed.

Lastly at Rome, in the last of the Actes, he made an open procla­mation to the vnbeleeuing Iewes, Bee it knowne vnto you that the sal­vation of God is sent to the Gentiles, and they shall heare it. And so be it knowne vnto vs (my brethren) that the meaning of the holy Ghost in these tearmes of promulgation, knowe and bee it knowne, [...]. Luc. 10. [...]. Act. 20. was to make these despisers of Antioch, Corinthe, and Rome, examples to all po­steritie, especially to vs, on vvhome the endes of the vvorlde are come, and vvith the ende of the vvorlde, an ende of all good­nesse, that if vvee take not vvarninge heereby, as vvee plough the like disobedience, so vve shall reape the like vvretched­nesse.

If ever the like transgression be founde in this lande of ours, (I will sooner wish it a wildernesse for serpentes and dragons to dvvell in) that as Iordan went backe and turned his course, so the gospel go backe and turne his passage; and as it was saide to a prophet in Isra­ell, Arise and goe to Niniveh, so it be saide to the prophets in Eng­lande, Arise and goe into India, Turckie, or Barbarie, and there pro­phecie, and there eate your bread: I will then say that iudgement hath both begunne, and made an ende with vs, and that our case is more desperate, then if the grounde of this ilande had opened her [...]awes, and in one common graue buried all her inhabitantes. If ever the like transgression bee founde in this citie of yours (I vvill sooner vvish it pooles of vvater, and all the stones of your buil­ding throwne downe into emptinesse) that as the brutish peo­ple of the Gadarenes esteemed of their svvine, so you of the pleasure of sinne for a season, more then Christ Iesus, and even hunte him from your coastes, as they did; and as it vvas saide vnto [Page 22] a prophet in Israel, Arise, and go to Niniveh, so to the prophets amōgst you, Arise, and go to the borders, where theft and reuenge are helde for currant law, and all the streames of bloud vvhich Christ shed vp­on the tree, cannot begge redemption for one iniury done vnto thē; goe carry your tidings of peace to those vnpeaceable, vncivill, lavv­les, & gracelesse persons: then were your honor gone. And though the gravell of your river that bringeth in marchādise vnto you, were turned into pearles, & every showre of raine from the clouds aboue, were a showre of siluer and golde into your houses, yet then vvere you cast from the favour of God, your sonnes and your daughters accursed, the sinne of their fathers not to be forgotten, nor the ini­quity of the mothers to be done away, whilst your name and memo­ry should continue. The prophets are yet in Israell, long may they prophecie in Israell; the pearle is yet in our fielde, forraine Marchants haue not bought it from vs; the gospell is yet amongst vs, O alwaies may it florish, and spread like a palme tree, amidst our tabernacles; the kingdome of God is now not farre off, neither in heauen aboue, that we neede climbe vp, neither in the earth beneath, that we need digge low, neither beyond the sea, that we neede go over for it, nei­ther in those mists and obscurities, wherein former ages had invol­ved it; we haue the sounde thereof daily in our eares, the bookes in our houses and handes, the letter walking through our lippes, O that we wanted not the power of the gospell in our consciences, the life and manifestation of it in our liues. The Lord make an happy and an inseparable coniunction betweene all these, and graunt that his law and our obedience may alwaies meete togither, his gospell and our fruites kisse each other, his trueth and our righteousnes, his bles­sings and our thankefulnes neuer be founde a sunder. Let him say of England even for ever and ever, as Sometimes he saide of Sion, Here will I dwell, I haue chosen Englande for my habitation: let him confirme that blessing of the Psalme vpon vs,Psal. 68. The Lord gaue the word, great was the company of the preachers: And let him make those preachers and hearers, hearers and doers, doers and perseverers, good teachers, good learners, good liuers, everlasting companions within our bor­ders. So shall our land be blessed with all both heauenly and earthly encrease, and God, even our owne God shall never repent that hee bestowed such blessing vpon vs, Amen.

THE SECOND LECTVRE.

Cap. 1. vers. 2.‘Arise, and goe to Niniveh that great citie, crie against it: for their wickednesse is come vp before mee.’

NOT to trouble you with longer repetition, wee enquired in the former exercise of these three pointes. 1. The place which Ionas was sent vnto, 2. his busines there, 3. the cause. Touching the place, we proposed foure rea­sons, why God sent him to Niniveh. 1. To keepe his manner and vse of foretelling the plague before hee inflicteth it. 2. to set vp a standard of hope to the rest of the Gentiles, that they also should pertake the goodnes of God. 3. to prevent his people with mercy, and to take vp favour in Assyria for them before hand, against the time of their banishmente. 4. to shame and con­found the house of Israell, with the singular repentance of a strange people. Niniveh is further beautified in my text, by two epithets or additions; the one describing the nature or kind of the place, A citie:That great city. the other the quantity or amplenes thereof, A great citie. The infe­rence from both these must needes be this, that because it was a city, and a great city, it was therefore stately for wealthines, glorious for buildings, well peopled, tedious to be gone through; perillous to bee threatned, where the prophet was likely to finde in all states of men, Princes, Counsellors, Courtiers, Marchants, Communers, mightie contradiction. The greatnesse of Niniveh is more plentifullie set downe in the thirde of this prophecie, vvhere it is tearmed a greate and an excellent citie, of three dayes iourney. It had an aun­cient testimony long before in the booke of Genesis: for thus Mo­ses vvriteth, that Asshur came from the lande of Shinar, Chap. 1 [...]. and builte Niniveh and Rehoboth, and Calah and Resin betweene Niniveh and Calah: at length he singleth out Niniveh from the rest, and setteth a speciall marke of preheminence vpon it, This is a greate citie. VVhich honour, by the iudgement of the most learned, though standing in the last place, belongeth to the first of the foure cities, namelie to Niniveh. Others imagined,Anius vpō Berosus. (but their coniecture is without grounde) that the vvhole foure cities vvere closed vp vvithin the same vvalles and made but one of an vnusuall bignesse. Some ascribe the building of Niniveh,Raph. Vol [...]ter. to Ninus the sonne of Be­lus, of vvhome it tooke the name, to bee called either Ninus, as [Page 24] we reade in Plinie;6. Natur. hist 13. or, after the manner of the Hebrewes, Niniveh. They conceiue it thus, that, when Nimrod had builte Babylon, Ninus, disdaining his governement, went into the fieldes of A­shur, and there erected a citie after his owne name, betweene the rivers Lycus, and Tybris. Others suppose, that the affinitye be­twixt these names, Ninus and Niniveh, deceaved prophane wri­ters touching the authour thereof, and that it tooke to name Ni­niveh,Ar. Mont. because it was beautifull or pleasant. Others holde opini­on, that Ashur and Ninus, are but one and the same person. And lastly, to conclude, the iudgement of some learned is, that neither Ashur,Iun. & Trii. nor Ninus, but Nimrod himselfe, was the founder of it. But by the confession of all, both sacred and Gentile historyes, the cit [...]e vvas verie spacious, having foure hundred and eighty fur­longes in circuite,Diodor. Si [...]. Strabo. Paulus de Palatio vpō Ionas. vvhen Babylon had fewer almost by an hun­dred: and as afterwardes it grew in wealth and magnificence, so (they write) is was much more enlarged. Raphaël Volateranus affirmeth, that it was eight yeares in building, and not by fewer at once then ten thousand workemen. There was no citie since by the estimation of Diodorus Siculus, that had like compasse of grounde, or statelines of walles, the height whereof was not lesse thē an 100 feete, the breadth sufficiently capable to haue received 3. cartes on a row, & they were furnished and adorned besides with a 1500 turrets. The holy Ghost, no doubt, had a double purpose, in giving this glorious title of distin­ction vnto Niniveh;Two reasōs why Nini­veh is so commen [...]ded. the one in respect of Ionas, the other of Niniveh it selfe.

1 In respect of Ionas it was the meaning of God to trie and arme his prophet before hand, with commemoration of the greatest diffi­culties; that by naming the worst at the first vnto him, hee might prooue his obedience, whether hee felt himselfe disposed to holde out, and so settle his thoughts in some sort, in declaring the costes of the building before hee vndertooke it, least afterwardes, when hee came and founde the danger of the place beyond his expectation, hee might complaine of God,Chap. 20. as we read that Ieremy did; I am decei­ved O Lord, and thou hast deceived mee. Thus hee dealt with Abraham his servant in the 22. of Genesis,Affectum in­quirit non factum exi­git. Ambros. de patri­arch. about the offering of his son, whose faith and obedience hee sounded before, by aggravating in his eares everye circumstance of the action, that Abraham might forecast with himselfe whether the infirmity of his nature were able to brook it: for it is written there, that God did prooue Abraham. The proofe was thus; Abraham, take 1 thy sonne, 2 thine onely sonne, 3 Isaac thy son, 4 whome [Page 25] thou lovest; take him 5 thy selfe, take him 6 nowe presently; 7 get thee into the lande of Moriah; 8 there offer him, offer him 9 for a burnt offeringe vpon one of the mountaines which I shall shew thee. The weight of every worde is enough to bruise him in pieces, and make him since downe vnder the burthen of that charge: 1. Take thy sonne, not thy bondman, nor beast, nor any common thing, that belongeth vnto thee: 2. thine onelie sonne, the onely begotten of the free woman: 3. not Ismaell, but I­saac thy sonne, to vvhome thy promises are established: 4. Isaac whome thou lovest, as tender and deare vnto thee, as the bowelles of thine owne breast: 5. take him in thine owne person, even thou, the father of the childe, turne not over the execution to any other man: 6. take him without delay, I giue thee no time to deliberate, nor day nor houre to conferre vvith thy selfe. and to comfort thy broken harte a­bout the losse of thy beloved: 7. Get thee into the land of Moriah, which will aske the travell of three daies, so long vvill I holde and suspend thy soule in bitternes: 8. leaue not thy sonne in Moriah as an Orphan without his father, to soiourne in a straunge country, offer him in sacrifice, commit slaughter vpon his flesh: 9. lastly, vvhen thou hast slaine him, thou shalt burne him in the fire, and consume him to ashes; thou shalt not spare thy sonne for my sake, neyther, quicke nor deade. So likewise vvhen he sent Ezechiel to the rebels of Israell, hee gaue him this provision: Sonne of man, I sende thee to the children of Israell. What are they? I will not dissemble with thee,Chap. 2. they are a rebellious nation, they and their fathers before them vnto this daie, chil­dren harde of face and stiffe harted: Thou shalt say vnto them, thus saith the Lorde God; but surely they will not heare, neither will they cease, for they are rebels and thornes and scorpions: I haue now vnfoulded the conditions of thy charge; If thou findest thy courage sufficient: to endure the gain-saying of rebels, the pricking and rending of thornes, tearinge the eares with contumely, and the name of thy maker with blasphe­mous speech, the hissing and stinging of pestilent scorpions; then go to the children of Israell: if not, thou art vnmeete for this busines. As if a prophet of our daies should be sent to Constantinople, and haue his instruction given him at his setting forth, that it is a portlye and insolent city, the seate of the greate Turke, the hart of the Empire, a cage of all vncleanenes, an enemy to the name of Christians, vvar­ring continually against the saints, a scorner of our crucified Redee­mer, a worshipper of the false prophet Mahomet, vvith other such like colde encouragements, feeling his pulses as it were, and exami­ning his spirit, whether it hath a power to fight with these daungers. [Page 26] It was some comfort no doubt, amongst the discomfortes to come, that our saviour lessonned his Disciples before their goinge abroade, Beholde I send you as lambes among Wolues. Math. 12. They will deliver you vp to the Councelles, and scourge you in their synagogues, and you shall bee brought to the governours and Kings for my sake, in witnes to them and to the Gentiles. In the 16. of Iohn hee plainely professeth his meaning, in these kinds of predictions: these thinges haue I saide vnto you, that yee should not bee offended; They shall xcommunicate you, yea the time shall come, that who­soever killeth you shall thinke that hee doth God service. But these thinges haue I told you, that when the houre shall come, you may remember that I told you of them. The foreknowledge of dangers ensuing, gaue invincible constancy and resolution to Paul, as appeareth in his excellent orati­on made at Miletum:Act. 12. behold I go bounde in the spirit to Ierusalem, & know not what things shall come vnto mee there, saue that the holie Ghost witnes­seth in everie citie, saying that bandes and afflictions staie for mee. Here­vpon he composeth his heart to patience, and calleth all his forces home to himselfe, to resist those afflictions: But I passe not at all, nei­ther is my life deare vnto me, &c. And when Agabus at Caesarea had taken the girdle of Paul,Act. 21. and bounde his owne hands and feete, say­ing from the mouth of the holy Ghost, So shall the Iewes at Ierusalem bind the man, that oweth this girdle; when his friends would haue held him backe from going to Ierusalem, he aunswered boldly and saide, what doe ye weeping and breaking mine heart? For I am ready not to be bounde onely, but also to die at Ierusalem for the name of the Lorde Iesus. Peter perswadeth the dispersed saints dwelling here and there to patience in troubles, by an argument drawen from the knowledge and experi­ence thereof before had. Dearlie beloved (saith he) thinke it not strange concerning the fierie triall, 1. Pet. 4. which is amongst you to proue you, as though some new thing were come vnto you: as if he had saide, this fire is auncient and well knowen, you haue long seene the smoke thereof, and therefore the breaking forth of the flames should not so greatly astonish you. His owne practise was not inferiour to his advise. For vpon that prae­sage which his maister gaue in the last of Iohn, when thou art olde, thou shalt stretch forth thine handes, and an other shall girde thee &c. hee tooke his occasion to vse more diligence in his calling, knowing (as him­selfe speaketh) that the time was at hand, whē he must lay downe his taber­nacle even as the Lord Iesus Christ had shewed him. Thus much on the behalfe of Ionas;2. Pet. 1. that if the greatnes of the citie were anie terrour vnto him, hee might not complaine that he was taken at vnawares, sodainely called, and improvidently thrust forth, but with alacri­tie [Page 27] of minde set his shoulder to the vvorke, and settle his confi­dence in the greatnesse of that God, from whom he was commaun­ded. It is a direction to vs all, whatsoever our service be, wherein God shall employ vs, whether in Church, or in common vvealth, vvhether vve sit vpon the thrones of David for execution of iudg­ment, or in the chaire of Moses for exposition of the lavve, vvhich are the combersomst charges vpon the earth, the very heate and burthen of the day (if I may so tearme them,) not to remit our la­bours, and vvith the sonnes of Ephraim, being armed and bearing bowes to turne our backes in the day of battell; but though vvee be cros­sed vvith a thousande afflictions, and haue iust cause to crie out, as Moses in his government, why hast thou vexed thy servant?Num. 1 [...]. yet to per­sist and go forward in our paines, addressing our soules to content­ment and quietnes; this was I called vnto, I cannot pleade ignorāce, neither had I reason to expect lesse: travell, vexation, anguish of spirit, were giuen me for my lot and my portion to drinke, when I first entered into these affaires.

2 Touching the place, vvhen vvee heare it commended for a great citie, shall vve inferre heerevpon, Therefore priviledged to carelesnesse, hautinesse, oppression, wickednesse, vvhich are the wormes and mothes for the most part, that breede of greatnesse? therefore may Niniveh sin with impunity, and say I am the Queene of the earth, who shall controll me? therefore must sinnes set vp a monarchie also in Niniveh? must Prophets go to Bethel, and pro­phecie in out-corners, because Niniveh is the Kings Court and can­not beare the words of Prophets? can the mightines of her state, sin­gularity of her government, climing of her walles, aspiring of her to­wres, multitude of her people make her secure against the vvrath of the Lorde of hostes? or can the barres of her gates keepe out his iudgementes? Alas, vvhat is the greatnes of Niniveh compared with the greatnes of the Lord? The landes of Alcibiades in the mappe of the vvhole vvorlde, vvere lesse then a center, and small title, they could not be espied; all the islandes of the sea are as a little dust, in the sight of the almighty, and the nations as the droppe of a wel bucket, Esai. 40. vvhat is the number and the heigth of thy proude turrets? though they hold the earth in awe, they cannot threaten heaven, and the closer they presse to the seate of God, the nearer they lie to his light­ning. The challenge of God to the selfe same citie, is notablie set dovvne in the prophecy of Nahum: Art thou better then No, Chap. 3. which was full of people, that lay in the rivers and had the waters rounde about it, [Page 28] whose ditch was the sea, and her wall was from the sea? Aethiopia, and Aegypt were her strength, and there was no ende. Put, and Lubim were her helpers, yet was shee carried awaie, and vvent into captivitie; her young children were broken in pieces at the heade of all the streetes; and they cast lots for her noble men, and all her mightie men were bounde in chaines. The rea­son holdeth by equality: the strength and puissance of No was aba­sed, and thy mighte shalbe cast downe. It was afterward accompli­shed vpon Niniveh,Ibid. because shee was full of bloud, full of lies and robbery, a maistres of witchcraftes, her multitude vvas slaine, and the deade bodies were manie, there was no ende of her carkases, and they euen stumbled as they went, vpon her corpses. Mercurius Trismegistus sometime spake to Ascle­pius of Aegypt after this sort;August. 8. d [...] civi dei, 23. Art thou ignorant, O Asclepius, that Aegypt is the image of heaven? &c. And if vvee shall speake more truely, our land is the temple of the whole vvorlde; and yet the time shall come, when Aegypt shall be forsaken, and that land which was the seate of the Godhead, shalbe deprived of religion, and left desti­tute of the presence of the Gods.

It is written of Tyrus in the three and twentith of Esay that shee was rich with the seede of Nilus that brought her abundance, the harvest of the river were her revenewes, and shee was a mart of the nations &c. Yet the Lord triumpheth and maketh disport at her overthrowe; Is this that glorious citie of yours, vvhose antiquitie is of auncient daies? &c: who hath decreede this against Tyrus? shee that crowned men, whose marchants are princes, and her chapmen the nobles of the worlde? the Lord of hostes hath decreede it, to staine the pride of all glory, and to bring to contempte all the ho­norable in the earth. It is fallen, it is fallen (saith the Angell in the Re­velation) Babilon the great citie (having the same title of greatnes that Niniveh hath in this place) and is become the habitation of divelles, Chap. 18. and the hole of all fowle spirites, and a cage of every vncleane and hatefull birde, though shee had saide in her heart, I sit as a Queene, I am no widovv, and shall see no mourning. Vrb [...] aeterna. That everlasting citie of Rome, (as Am­mianus Marcellinus called her) shall see the day vvhen the eternity of her name, and the immortalitie of her soule vvherewith shee is quickned, I meane the supremacie of her prelates aboue Emperours and princes, shalbe taken from her; and as Babilon before mencioned, hath left her the inheritaunce of her name, so it shall leaue her the inheritaunce of her destruction also, and she shal become as other presumptuous cities, a dwelling for hedghogs, an habi­tation for owles and vultures; thornes shall growe in her palaces, and nettles in her strong holdes. The lamentations of Ieremie touching the ruine [Page 29] of Ierusalem, sometimes the perfection of beauty, Lament. 2. and the ioy of the whole earth, as neare vnto God as the signet vpon his right hand, yet after­wardes destroyed as a lodge in a garden, that is made but for one night, if they can passe by the eares of any man and leaue not lamen­tation and passion behinde them, I will say that his harte is harder then the nether milstone. How were her gates sunck to the ground, her barres broken, the stones of her sanctuary scattered in the cor­ners of every streete, her mountaine of Syon so desolate, that the very foxes runne vpon it, whose strength was such before, that the Kinges of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the worlde woulde never haue beleeved that the enemy shoulde haue entered into the gates of Ierusalem?Ibid. 4. I now conclude: Greatenesse of sinnes will shake the foundations of the greatest cities vpon the earth; if their heades stoode amongst the stars, iniquitie woulde bring them downe into dust and rubble. Multitude of offences vvill minish and consume multitudes of men, that although the streets were sowen with the seede of man, yet they shal be so scarse that a child may tel them: yea the desolation shalbe so great, that none shall remaine to say to his friend,Ierem. 49. leaue thy fatherlesse children behind thee, and I will preserue them aliue, and let thy widdowes trust in me.

The daies can speake, and the multitude of yeares can teach vvis­dome: aske your fathers and they can reporte vnto you,In their greate plague. that grasse hath growen in the streetes of your cities for want of passengers, and a man hath beene as precious as the gold of Ophir, as rare almost to bee found, as if the grounde of your city had beene the moores and wasts where no man dwelleth. One would haue wished a friend more then the treasures of the East, to haue kept him company, releeved his necessity, to haue taken some paines with his vviddowe and Or­phanes, to haue closed his eies at the time of his death, to haue seene him laide forth for buriall, and his bones but brought to the graue in peace. The arme of the Lorde is not shortned, hee that smote you once, can smite you the second time; hee can visit the sonnes as well as the fathers; he is a God, both in the mountaines and in the val­lies, in the former & later ages; he is able againe to measure the groūd of your citie with a line of vanity, pull downe your houses into the dust of the earth, and turne the glory of your dwellings into plough­ed feilds: onely the feare of his name is your safest refuge, righteous­nes shalbe a strōger bulwarke vnto you, then if you were walled with bras, mercy, and iudgment, and truth, and sobriety, and sanctimony of life shall stand with your enemies in the gate, & repell the vengāce of God in the highest strēgth therof. And so I come to the 2▪ generall [Page 30] part, wherein we are to consider what Ionas was to doe at Niniveh: it is manifested in the wordes following, Cr [...]e against it: Laye not thine hande vpon thy mouth,2 What Io­nas is to do at Niniveh neither drawe in thy breath to thy selfe, vvhen the cause of thy maister must bee dealt in. Silence can ne­ver breake the dead sleepe of Niniveh: Softnesse of voice cannot pearce her heavy eares: Ordinary speaking hath no proportion with extraordinary transgression: Speake, and speake to bee heard, that when shee heareth of her fall, shee may bee wounded with it. It was not nowe convenient that Ionas should goe to Niniveh,1 King. 19. as God came to Elias, in a still and softe voyce, but rather as a mightie strong winde rending the mountaines, and breaking the rockes, abasing the high­est lookes in Niniveh, and tearing the hardest hearte in peeces; as an earthquake and fire, consuming all her drosse, and making her quake with the feare of the iudgementes of God, as the trees of the forrest. Iericho must bee overthrowne with trumpets and a shout; and Nini­veh will not yeeld, but to a vehement outcry. A prophet must arme himselfe, I say not, with the speare, but with the zeale of Phinees, when sinne is impudent and cannot blush: God cannot endure dal­lying and trifling in weighty matters. The gentle spirit of Eli, is not sufficient to amend children past grace; & a prophet like Mitio, doth but bolster a sinner in his froward waies.

Hee chargeth his messenger otherwise in the prohecie of Esay; Cry aloude, spare not, lifte vp thy voice like a trumpet, shew my people their transgressions and to the house of Iacob their sinnes. Chap. 58. Much lesse can hee abide flattery and guilefullnes in his busines:Ier. 48 for cursed be he that doth the worke of the Lorde negligently, or rather. as the word importeth, with deceit. Ezech. 13. Woe vnto them that sowe pillowes vnder mens arme-holes, when it is more time to pricke them vp with goades, that sell the cause of the Lorde for handfulles of barley, and peeces of bread, for favour, for feare, for lucre, or any the like worldly respects; and vvhen the people commit­ted vnto them, shall say vnto their seers see not, and to their pro­phets,Esay. 30. prophecie not right things, loquimini placentia, speake pleasinges and leasinges vnto vs, prophecie errours, are easilie drawen to betray the will of their Lord and to satisfie their humours. God hath disclosed his mind in this trechery; Behold, I wil come against the prophets that steale my word from their neighbours: Ier. 23. beholde, I will come against the prophets that haue sweete tongues, that cause my people to erre by their lies and flatteries. For then is the word of the Lord stollen and purloined from our bre­thren, when we iustifie the wicked, and giue life to the soules that shoulde not liue; when we heale the hurtes of Israell with sweete wordes; when wee [Page 31] annoint the heads of sinners with precious baulmes, vvhose harts we should rather breake with sharpe corrosiues; when wee put hony into the sacrifice in steede of salte; when vve should frame our song of iudg­ment, and we turne it into a song of mercy; when we should mourne to make men lament, and vve pipe to make them daunce, putting the evill day farre from them, and hunting for their praise and accep­tation of vs vvith pleasing discourses, affected eloquence, histrio­nicall iests, rather then graue and divine sentences.Lachrymae auditorum, laudes tuae sint. Toleramus illas & tre­mimus inter illas. Hierome gaue an other exhortation to Nepotian; Let the teares of thy auditours bee thy prayses. And Augustine had a stranger opinion of these applau­ses and acclamations of men; These praises of yours (saith he to his hearers) do rather offend and endaunger me; we suffer them indeed, but we tremble when we heare them. We cannot promise you such deceitfull handling and battering of the word of God: for whether you heare or heare not the prophecie that is brought vnto you, yet you shall know that there haue beene prophets amongst you: we will not suffer your sinnes to sleepe quietly in your bosomes, as Ionas slept in the sides of the shippe, but we will rouse them vp; if we see your pride, your vsury, your adulteries, your oppressions, we wil not only cry them, but cry against them, lest they cry against vs; we will set vp a banner in the name of the Lorde of Hostes, and proclaime them in your hearing: and if our cry will not helpe, we wil leaue you to that cry at midnight, vvhen your bodies that sleepe in the dust of the earth, and your sinnes that sleepe with your bodies, both shall be awaked, and receiue their meede at Gods hands: we will charme your deafenes vvith the greatest cunning we haue; if our charming cannot mooue you, wee will sende you to the iudgement seate of God with this writing vpō your foreheads, Noluerunt incantari, They would not be charmed.

The reason of his crying against Niniveh, is this,The 3. ge­nerall part. For their wickednes is come vp before me.

They that are skilfull in the originall, obserue that the name of vvickednesse heere vsed, importeth the greatest extremity that can be, and is not restrained to this, or that sinne, one of a thousande, but is a most absolute and all-sufficient tearme, for three transgressi­ons, and for fowre, (as it is in Amos,) tha [...] is, for seuen, that is, for infinite corruption. Whatsoeuer exceedeth modesty, and is most contrary to the will of God, beyonde all right or reason, setled in­to dregges, frozen like y [...]e, given over, solde to the will of Satan, is heere meant; vvhere every person in the common wealth is de­generated: [Page 32] There is none good, no, not one: and every part in the body & soule of man doth his part to lift vp the head of sinne,Psal. 14. the throate an o­pen sepulchre, the tongue vsed to deceit, the poison of Aspes vnder the lips, the mouth full of cursing and bitternes, the feete swift to shed bloud, destructiō & calamity in all their waies, no knowledge of the way of peace, no feare of God before their eies. And whether the word hath that power yea or no, it skilleth not much to dispute: for the words adioined in the text make it plaine without further amplification. First it is wickedmesse; Second­ly it ascendeth; Thirdly into the presence of God himselfe. Whereby you may perceiue, that the wickednesse of Niniveh was not base and shamefast, fearefull to advance it selfe, but an high kinde of vvicked­nesse, swelling like Iordan aboue his banckes. It lay not close in the bottome of the sea, nor in the holes of rockes, nor in the covert and secrecie of private chambers; it had an whorish forhead, and could not bee ashamed; they declared their sinnes as Sodom, they hid them not, and as a fountaine casteth out waters, so they their malice.

1 The phrase heere vsed noteth a greate aggravation of the thing intended. So in the sixt of Genesis it is saide, that the earth was cor­rupt before the Lorde: and in the tenth of that booke, Nimrod was a mightie hunter before the Lord, that is, the corruptions of the world, and the violence of Nimrod vvere so grosse, that the Lord coulde not choose but take knowledge of them. So it is here said, Their vvicked­nesse is come vp before me; It knoweth no end, it climbeth like the sun in the morning, and passeth the boundes of all moderation: it is not enough that the bruite and fame thereof is blowen into the eares of men, but it hath filled the earth, possesseth the aire, lifteth it selfe aboue the stars amongst the angelles of God, offereth her filthines and impurity before the throne of his maiesty, and if there vvere far­ther to go (such is her boldnesse and shamelesnesse) shee would for­beare no place.A doubt aunswered. What? are there seasons and times when the Lord beholdeth sinne, and wickednesse, and when hee beholdeth it not? hee that made the eie doth hee not see? doth Hee slumber or sleepe that keepeth Israell? or hath he not torches and cresset light at all times to descrie the deedes of Babylon? or is he subiect to that scoffe which Elias gaue Baal, It maie bee he sleepeth, and must bee awaked? or what els is the meaning of that phrase,1. King. 18. Their vvickednesse is come vp before mee? As if there vvere some vvickednesse vvhich came not to his notice. Surely, besides the increase and propagation of their wickednesse (for there is difference betwixt creeping and climbing) it noteth some order in the actions of God. He sawe their sinnes in [Page 33] the booke of eternitie, before their hearts did ever conceiue them: he saw them in their breasts, before their hands committed them: he saw their infancy and their full strength, their thirst and drunkennes, their beginning and proceeding. But then hee sawe them indeed and to purpose; when hee sawe them perfected and fulfilled▪ and havinge vvincked as it were before, and in patience forborne them, nowe behelde them with fiery eyes, and his hearte vnremoueably bent to take vengeance. The wilde asse vsed to the wildernesse, snuffeth vp winde at her pleasure. who can turne her backe? they that seeke after her, Ier. 2. will not wearie themselues, but will finde her in her moneth, GOD seeth and observeth at all times, the vntamed madnesse of the vvicked, wearying themselues like the wilde asse, or the dromedarye, in a race of abhominations: but hee will take them in their moneth, and turne them backe when their sinnes are ripe and his wrath throughly incensed.

2 Their wickednesse is come vp before mee. The phrase doth minister a further instruction vnto vs. Sinne, in the eyes of some man seemeth not sin. Lactantius writeth of those who were not ashamed of their faultes, but rather sought out patronage and defence for them, that at the least they might seeme to sinne honestly.Vt hones [...] peccare vi­deantur. Chap. 6. Ieremy speaketh of the Iewes in the same manner: were they ashamed when they had commit­ted abhomination? nay they were not ashamed, neither coulde they haue shame. He smiteth them afterward in the 11. of his Prophecy, with a shar­per reproofe, that when they did evill, they reioyced at it. And it is the fa­shion of vs all, to bolster and beare out the vices of our friendes, changing sower into sweet, and evill into good, even for their friend­ships sake. Alceus tooke a mole in the body, for a grace; yet was it a blemmish? One mule rubbeth another;Naevus in articulo pu [...] ­ri. an hypocrite liketh an hypo­crite because hee is like vnto him; a drunkarde, a drunkarde; an vsu­rer, him that is practised in the same trade; he that transformed him­selfe into an Angell of light, being a fiende of darkenes, hath taught an harlot to cloath her selfe like an honest matrone, and vices to dis­guise themselues vnder the habite of vertues. But howsoever the the eyes of men are blinded with partiality, yet the eye-liddes of the Lorde shall trie the children of men; his righteous and flaming coun­tenaunce shall soundelie examine their actions, vncover the faces of their iniquities, and call them rightly and truely by their proper names.

3 But whatsoever we find else in the riches & store of these words, this wee may gather from the nature of them, that there are some [Page 34] sinnes winged, of an high elevation, ascending aboue the toppe of Carmel, aspiring & pressing before the maiesty of Gods owne thrōe. The speech is but altered in other scriptures, the substance and sig­nification all one, where it is said that some sinnes cry in the eares of God: that which is the winges or chariot vnto them in this place, to make them mount so high, is their cry in those others, I meane, their outrage and enormity. Cains sin cried vnto the Lord. Gen. 4. And in the 18. of Gen. Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, (which is expoūded in the next words) & because their sin is exceeding grievous, I will now goe downe, saith the Lord, and see whether they haue done altogither according to that crie which is come vp vnto mee. Beholde the hire of the labourers, which haue reaped the fieldes which is of you kept backe by fraude, cryeth, and the cries of them which haue reaped, are entered into the eares of the Lorde of hostes, Iam. 5. in the Epistle of Iames. Aunswerable to that part of Iob his Apology, which he presenteth vnto his iudge, in the 31. of his booke, If my lande cry against mee, or if the furrowes of my fielde com­plaine, &c. Let thistles growe in steede of wheate, and cockle in steede of bar­ley. Oppression is threatned by the like tearmes, in the seconde of Abacuck, The stone shall crye out of the wall, and the beame out of the timber shall answere it, woe vnto him that buildeth a towne with bloude, and erecteth a citie with iniquitie. All which sentences of scripture, ex­pressing the loudnesse and vocality of sinne, are of the same force, as before I saide, with those that declare the sublimity and reach of it. God speaketh to Senacharib in an other manner of speech, but the matter and purpose is not different from this; Because thou ragest against mee, 2. King. 19. and thy tumult is come vp to mine eares, I will put my hooke in thy nostrels, &c. Likewise the prophet telleth the children of Israell in the seconde of Chronicles,2. Chro. 28. that because the Lorde God was wroth with Iudah, he had delivered thē into the Israelits hands, and they had slaine them in a rage, that reached vp to heaven. By these and the like conferences, a man may determine the nature, and set downe a catalogue in some sorte of crying sinnes. Bloude­shedde is a crying sinne, (I say not all kinde of bloudshedde,) for the speech of God to Cain, hath bloudes, not bloud; which noteth an vnsatiable appetite wherewith hee was so dry, that if his brother had possessed a 1000. times as much bloud, he would haue spilt it all: and though he tooke away his life, yet he tooke not leaue of his own ma­litious thirst of bloud. Blasphemy and rage against God, is a crying sin, oppression, extortion, fraud, against poore labourers, against right owners is a crying sin; and sin with outragiousnesse and impudencie [Page 35] any vvay, publicke, infamovs, enormous sin,Voluptatum monstra non species Cypr. in prolog. de Cardin. ope. Christi. contemning the iudge­ment of GOD and censures of men, committed with greedinesse drawn, with cart-ropes, gloried in, where men even sel themselues to vvorke vvickednesse, is a crying sinne. VVhich immoderate and proud humour of viciousnesse, is notably expressed in the sixt of Ge­nesis, where it is alleadged, that when the Lord saw the wickednesse of man was greate vpon the earth, and all the imaginations of the thoughts of his hart were onely evill continually, then it repented the Lord, that he had made man and hee was sorrie in his heart. 1. It vvas vvickednesse; 2. greate; 3. evi­dent, for the Lorde sawe it; 4. their hearts were evill; 5. every thought of their heart; 6. every imagination of thought; 7. onely evill; 8. conti­nually, or day by day, there was no hope of amendmente. Equall herevnto is that generall and vnbridled corruption, vvhich David setteth downe in the 14. Psalme, vvhere they beginne vvith a most damnable principle of Atheisme, the gate and highway into all ini­quity, The foole saith in his hearte, there is no God; Then is the sincke or channell opened to all dissolution of life, They are corrupted and doe abhominably, there is none that doth good. The Lorde looked downe from heaven vpon the children of men, to see if there were anye that woulde vnderstand & seeke after God, but they are all gone out of the way, &c. When this canker of impiety hath so overspred and eaten into the manners of people, then is fulfilled that which Esay pu [...]teth dovvne for a sounde position, Let mercie bee shewed to the wicked, yet hee vvill not learne rigtheousnesse:Chap. 26.in the lande of vprightenesse will hee doe wicked­ly, and will not beholde the maiesty of the Lorde. If neither the mercy nor the maiesty of God, nor the company of the righteous can reforme him, then is his bettering despaired and past hope. I neede no farther examine this part.

The cause why Ionas cryed against Niniveh, vvas the cry of their sinnes, their regions vvere vvhite to harvest, their ini­quities ripe, and looked for a sickle from heauen to cutte them dovvne. The sufficiencie of vvhich cause to deriue the iudge­mentes of GOD vpon vs, Ieremy layeth downe in his prophecy; Manye nations shall passe by the citye, Ier. 22. (meaning of Ierusalem) and shall saye everye man to his neighbour; vvherefore hath the LORDE done this to this greate citie? then shall they answere. Be­cause they haue forsaken the covenant of the Lorde their GOD, &c. For the iudgement of the Lorde, pronounced by David, shall stande longer then the stars in the firmament, Him that loveth iniquitye, Psal. 2 [...]. doth his soule hate. Vpon the wicked hee shall raine snares, fire, and brim­stone, [Page 36] and stormie tempestes, this is the portion of their cuppe. And in the first Psalme, it is a singular opposition that is made betvveene the iust and the wicked;Vt immobi­liter credas, firmitatem negatimis iterando mō ­strat. Cassiod. Non sic impij, non sic; the wicked are not so: that thou mayest vnmoueably beleeue, how vnmoueably God is bent to deny the wicked his grace, hee strengtheneth the negatiue by doubling it. Therefore the wicked shall not stand in iudgement, for they are fallen before their iudgment commeth. What? shall they not rise againe? Surely yes; but not in iudgement, saith Ierome, for they are already iudged.

The wickednesse of our land, what it is, and in what elevation of height, vvhether modest or impudent, private or publique, vvhether it speaketh or cryeth, standeth or goeth, lyeth like an aspe in her hole, or flyeth lyke a fiery serpent into the presence of God, your selues bee iudges: vvrite my vvordes in tables, that they may bee monumentes for latter daies; for when your chil­drens children shall heare them hereafter, they will skarselye bee­leeue them.The yeare of the Lord 1593. and 1594. The moneths of the year haue not yet gone about, wher­in the Lorde hath bowed the heavens, and come downe amongst vs with more tokens and earnests of his wrath intended, then the a­gedst man of our lande is able to recount of so small a time. For say, if ever the windes, since they blew one against the other, haue beene more common, and more tempestuous, as if the foure ends of heaven had conspired to turne the foundations of the earth vpside downe; thunders and lightnings neither seasonable for the time, and with­all most terrible, with such effectes brought forth, that the childe vn­borne shall speake of it. The anger of the clouds hath beene powred downe vpon our heades, both with abundance and (saving to those that felt it) vvith incredible violence; the aire threatned our miseries with a blazing starre; the pillers of the earth tottered in many vvhole countries and tractes of our Ilande; the arrowes of a woefull pesti­lence haue beene caste abroade at large in all the quarters of our realme, even to the emptying and dispeopling of some partes there­of; treasons against our Queene and countrey wee haue knovvne many and mighty, monstrous to bee imagined, from a number of Lyons whelpes, lurking in their dennes and vvatching their houre, to vndoe vs; our expectation and comfort so fayled vs in Fraunce, as if our right armes had beene pulled from our shoulders. VVee haue not altered the colour of the hayre of our heades, nor ad­ded one inch to our stature since all these thinges haue beene accom­plished amongst vs. Consider then vvell, and thinke it the highest [Page 37] time to forsake your highest wickednes, I call it highest wickednes: for if wee knew how to adde any thing in our severall veines and dis­positions, to those idols of sinne which we serue, some to our cove­tousnesse, some to our pride, some to our vnchastnes, some to our ma­lice, and such like, wee would breake our sleepe, nay we would com­passe sea and lande to encrease it. Yet howsoever it fareth with the multitude, let there bee a seede and remnaunt among vs left to en­treate for peace. Ten righteous persons would haue saved Sodom; & it may so stand with the goodnes of God, that a few innocent fooles,Iob. 22. shall pre­serue: the island, as Iob speaketh. Let vs thankfully embrace the long sufferance of our God forepast, leading vs as by a hande of friendship to repentance. and let vs redeeme with newnesse of life, our dayes and yeares formerly mispent; least by impenitent transgressing a­gainst the law of our maker, we fall vpon his sentence of wrath, irre­vocably past, and resolved by him, I haue thought it and will not repent, Ierem. 4. neither will I turne backe from it.

THE THIRD LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 3.‘But Ionas arose vp to flie vnto Tharsish from the presence of the Lord: and he went downe to Iapho, &c.’

THe commission given to Ionas, we haue already weighed: it followeth that wee handle his recusancy & disobedience therein cōmitted. This verse now in hād delivereth the whole body therof,1 He arose. 2 To flie. 3 Vnto Tharsis. 4 From the presēce, &c 5 He went downe, &c. The disob [...] dience of Ionas. [...]. 2. Thes. 3. Non agit sed satagis. with every member belonging vnto it 1. his preparatiō is set downe in that he arose. 2. his speede, to fly. 3. the end and period of his iourney, to Tharsis. 4. his end and pur­pose why to Tharsis, to escape the presēce of the Lord. 5. the opportunities, helpes and furtherances to his travel, are exactly put downe. 1. he went downe to Iapho an haven-towne. 2. hee found a ship going to Tharsis. 3. he paid the fare thereof. 4. he went downe into it. 5. lastly his reason of flying to Tharsis, is againe specified, with a regression in the end of the verse, that he might goe from the presence of the Lord. A notable patterne of mans disposition. 1. the Lord biddeth him arise, & he ariseth; who if he had sitten still, till his flesh had clovē to the pauement, or if he had streched himselfe vpon his bed, and fol­ded his armes to sleepe he had done a service more acceptable to God 2. he is bidden to go, but not cōtent with going, he doth more thē so, [Page 38] hee flieth, hee hath the feete of an hinde, and the wings of a doue to do that hee should not, who had reapt more thankes, if he had crept but like a snaile in his right course. 3. He is bidden to go to Niniveh, he goeth to Iapho and Tharsis:Non nihil agit, sed ma­le, sed aliud. he is not idle, but he doth ill, he doth that which he was not charged with: & like one of those Lords in Ie­remy,Ier. 2, who told God to his face, we are Lords, we wil no more come at thee, so doth he flatly crosse & overthwart that directiō which God had set him. 4. He heareth of a great city, of a wearisome perābulation, asking the travell of 3. whole daies; but he saveth the labor of his feete, goeth into a litle vessel, & travelleth by sea, a far easier iourney 5. He is bid­den to cry, but he is so far from making any noise, that al the clamour and noise of the marriners could not awake him & stir him vp. 6. He heareth, that the wickednesse of Niniveh is come vp before the pre­sence of the Lorde; notwithstanding hee feareth not to mocke and abuse the presence of the same Lord, neither despaireth he to avoide it. There is nothing in all these, but stubbornes and rebellion, which is as kindly to man, as the flesh and bones that he beareth about him. Amongst the other plants in the garden of Edē, not far frō the good­liest trees of life & knowledge, grew the bitter roote of disobedience, which our forfathers no sooner had tasted, but it infected their bloud, and the corrupt nutriment thereof converted it selfe into the whole body of their succeding linage. The breasts of Eue gaue no other milke then perversnesse to her children, and Adam left it for a patri­mony and inheritance vnto all his posterity. Though God had pre­cisely said, Of the tree of knowledge of good and evill thou shalt not eate, for in the daye that t [...]ou eatest thereof thou shalt die the death;Genes. 2. though there were no comparison betweene their maker and a murtherer frō the beginning, the father of truth, and the father of lies, a God and a di­vell, and the one had forbidden but one tree, and fenced it as it were with a double hedge, of a two-fold death: yet when the serpēt came to the woman with a meere contradiction to the voice of God, yee shall not die the death, how credulous and forwarde was shee to enter­taine his suggestion?Genes. 3. Moses proved to the children of Israel in the 9. of Deuteronomy by a perfect induction, that there was nothing but rebellion in them; Remember and forget not, saith he, how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to anger in the wildernesse, also in Horeb, afterwardes in Taberah and in Massah, and at the graues of lust; likewise when the Lord sent you from Cadesh Barnea, &c. At length hee concludeth, yee yaue beene rebellious vnto the Lorde since the day that I knevve you. And God pronounceth of the same people in the fourth of [Page 39] Num. that though they had seene his glory, and the miracles which he did in Aegypt, and in the wildernesse, yet they had tempted him ten times, and had not obeyed his voice. In the 17. of the same booke, the Lord gaue com­mādemēt vnto Moses that Aarons rod, which budded for the house of Levi when the other rods budded not, should be kept in the arke for a monumēt of their murmurings & rebellions forepassed. To forbeare in­finite other testimonies, the whole world may bee the arke to keepe the monumentes of their and our disobedience; it is so common to vs both, when we are willed to aske for the old way, which is the good way, to answere, wee will not walke therein; when the watchmen cry vnto vs, take heede to the sounde of the trumpet, to answere, wee will not take heede;Ierem. 6. when wisedome crieth abroade and vttereth her voice in the streetes, O yee foolish, how long will yee learne foolishnesse, &c. to despise her counsell, Prou. 1. and to make a Skorne of her correction. What worke of our handes bewrayeth not this malice? vvhat word of our mouthes speaketh not perverse thinges? almost, what thought of our heartes kicketh not against the prickes of Gods sacred commaundementes, and desperatelye adventureth her selfe vpon the point of his sharpe curse? O that our waies were made so direct, that wee might keepe his statutes! then shoulde wee never bee confounded, whilst wee had respect vnto all his commaunde­mentes. It is a question made by some, (though I make no que­stion of it) vvhether this detraction and refusall of Ionas vvere a faulte, yea or no? Dionysius Carthusianus vpon this place, doeth partly excuse it. I thinke it farre from excuse: fot doubtlesse, the voice of GOD is the first ru [...]e and rudimentes of all Christian instruction, the first stone to bee laide in the whole building, that cloud by day, that piller of fire by night, vvhereby all our actions are to bee guided. Paule in his marveilous conversion desired no other lighte, and load-starre to bee governed by, but the vvill and vvorde of his Saviour, Lorde what wilt thou haue mee doe? The verie Prophet of Moab vvoulde not departe from this standarde:Acts. 9. for vvhen Balaac by his messengers sent him worde that hee woulde promote him, and God did but keepe him backe from honour, hee made this answere vnto him, If Balaac woulde giue mee this house full of silver and golde, I cannot passe the commaundement of the LORD, to doe either good or badde of mine owne minde; Numb. 25. what the Lorde shall com­maunde, that same will I speake. Hee had saide before to the king in person, Loe i am come vnto thee, and can I nowe saye anye thinge at all? the worde that GOD putteth in my mouth, that shall I speake. Numb. 2 [...]. The vvordes of Samuel to Saule determine the doubt, and make [Page 40] it as plaine as the light at noone day, that the fact of Ionas here com­mitted was an vnexcusable offence: Beholde, saith hee, to obey is better then sacrifice; and to harken is better then the fat of rammes. For rebellion is as the sinne of witchcraft, and transgression is wickednes and idolatrie. It fol­loweth in the next wordes, Because thou hast cast away the worde of the Lord▪ therefore he hath cast away thee from being King. You heare the na­ture of these two contraries, Obedience, and Disobedience kindly disciphered? the one to be better then sacrifice, for he that offereth a sacrifice, offereth the flesh of a beast, but he that obeyeth, offereth his owne will as a quicke and a reasonable sacrifice (which is all in all) the other to be as witchcraft and idolatrie; for what is disobedience, but when the Lord hath imposed some duety vpon vs, wee conferre with our owne hearts, as Saul consulted with the woman of Endor, or Ahaziah Kinge of Samaria with the God of Eckron Belzebub,1. Sam. 15. 1. Sam. 28. whether the word of the Lord shalbe harkened to, yea or no? Thus we set vp an idol within our own breasts against the God of heavē, & forsaking his testimonies, we follow the voice and perswasion of our owne devises. Bernard alluding to this place before recited, writeth thus; The children of disobedience make their will their Idoll. Hee addeth for further explication,Filij [...] inobe­dientiae sua voluptas ido lum est, &c. tract. de prae­cept. & dis­pens. that it is one thing not to obey, an o­ther thing to purpose and prepense disobedience. Neither is it the simple transgression of Gods commandement, but the proud wilfull contempt of his will, which is reputed the sin of idolatry. And surely I see no reason they haue to conceale the infirmity of Ionas herein, when Ionas himselfe (if I mistake not the meaning of the whole sen­tence) doth amply disclose it.

1. But Ionas. Ionas was the author & writer of this history, yet Ionas reporteth the fault in himselfe, as if some stranger & person without his skin, had committed it. He forgetteth as it were his owne people and his fathers house, and setting affection aside to his owne credite, maketh a simple and plaine declaration namely & singularly of the transgression of Ionas. A wise man, by the rule of Salomon, in the be­ginning of his speech will accuse himselfe:Prov. 18. in the vul­gar. so doth Ionas, not shrow­ding his head, nor running into a bush, as Adam did, but vvriting his fault in his brow, and pointing with his finger at the very transgressor vnder his proper and individual name, hee bringeth the accusation; Then Ionas arose; the party not long since mentioned, even the son of Amittai, he that immediatly before received the word of the Lord to go to Niniveh, let his name be registred, and his fault be published to the whole world: Ionas arose.

[Page 41]2. Arose. Will you now see his readines in an evill cause? no soo­ner called but he arose forthwith. Hee might haue excused himselfe, as Moses did in the 3. and 4. chapters of Exodus, when he was called to his burthensome office, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh & bring the children of Israell out of Aegypt? againe, O Lord send by the hands of him whome thou shouldest send. It hath bene the vse of Gods seruants vvhen they haue found their ability vnmeete to vndergo the duties of their provinces allotted them, in modesty & humility to withdraw them­selues: So did Gedeon in the 6. of Iudges; For when the Lorde had encouraged him, Goe in thy might, thou shalt saue Israell out of the handes of the Midianites, he aunswered againe, Ah my my Lord, whereby shall I saue Israell? Behold, my father is poore in Manasses, and I the least in my fathers house. Likewise when Samuel asked Saul, On whome is all the desire of Israell set? Is it not vpon thee, 1. Sam. [...]. and all thy fathers house? he returned this answere vnto him, Am not I the son of Iemini, of the smallest tribe of Israell, &c. wherefore then speakest thou so to me? But Ionas hath no such excuse, nor that he is the son of Amittai, nor of the least tribe, nor of the poorest family, nor himselfe the vnfittest of all the rest to be sent to Niniveh, but at the first call and summons of the Lord he ariseth vp.

3. To flie, When he is vp, he flieth; his driving is as the driving of Iehu the sonne of Nimshi (saith the watch-man in the seconde booke of the Kings and the ninth chap.) for he driveth as if hee were madde; So driveth Ionas as if he had received that postinge commis­sion which the Apostles received, Salute no man by the way: or rather as if he had vowed a fast with himselfe neither to eate nor drinke till he had frustrated Gods commandement. Cyprian wrote to Cornelius of fiue Schismatickes that had taken shipping and sailed to Rome with their mart of lies,Li. 1. epist 3 Quasi veri­tas post eos navigare non posse [...]. as if the Lord of heaven who rideth vpon the Che­rubins could not overtake them.

4. To Tharsis. If he had fled to the right place, the hast he made, had added much to the commendation of his painefulnes. God loveth cheerefulnes & alacrity in his worke; excuses dislike him much. The delay that Elizeus made, let mee goe kisse my father; and those shiftes in the gospel, let mee go bury my father, or take my leaue of my friends, are not admitted in his businesse. Paul witnesseth of himselfe in the 1. to the Galathians, that when hee was called by the grace of God to preach his sonne amongst the Gentiles, immediatly hee communed not with flesh and bloud, neither came he againe to Ierusalem, but went into A­rabia, and so forwardes, for the execution of that message. That vvhich [Page 42] hee did: hee did presently, and his hast is praise worthy, because hee followed the will of the Lorde, [...]. rather then the motions of fleshe and bloud. In this sense it is true that the kingdome of heaven suffe­reth violence, Psalm. 119. and the violente catch it away. A man can never runne too fast that runneth in these waies; I will run the waies of thy commāde­mentes, Augustine. saith David, when thou hast set my hart at liberty: Otherwise to run the way of our owne devises, is cursus celerrimus praeter viam, a swift race besides the way.1. Cor. 9. So run, saith the Apostle, that ye may ob­taine: run wisely, run aright, run by the levell and rule of Gods sta­tutes. Philosophers hold, that if the inferiour spheres were not go­verned and stayed by the highest, the swiftnesse of their motion would quickly fire the world: And if the affections of men were not moderated by the guidance of Gods holy spirit, it could not be cho­sen, but this litle image of the world would soone be overthrovvne. Hast in Ionas was not amisse, [...]. but there was more hast then good speede in his travell, because hee went to the wrong place. This is to go, I graunt, but not with a right foote, as the Apostle speaketh in the second to the Galathians. The wicked haue their waies, but they are crooked and circular endlesse waies, as it is noted of them in the 12. Psalme, Impij in circuitu ambulant, they walke by compasse, they walke not towards the marke, the price that is set before them, and therefore loose both their paines and their recompence; they fol­lowe their father the Divell in these walkes, who testifieth of himselfe in the first of Iob, that he had compassed the whole earth. These crooked waies are ever applied by the iudgment of Cassiodore to evill man­ners.Tortuosae viae malis semper mori bus applicā ­tur. [...]. They shall never come to the rest of the eight day, that thus goe wheeling about, to no purpo [...]e; like the turning of Sampsons mill, which when it hath laboured the whole day long, is founde at night in the selfe same place, where it first began. Thus the wicked haue their compassing waies, & the devil hath his outwaies and by­waies; but happy is that man that ordereth his feete in the pathes of Gods commandements.

What Tharsis.Now, whether the place here mentioned signifie the sea, as the Chaldaik paraphrast, and Ierome, and others, according to the He­brew name so importing, expounde it; (whose reason is not much a­misse, that being amazed, and at his wits ende, more confused in his minde then the windes and waues that draue him, he cared not whether hee went, so hee walked not with God, as Henoch did; ta­king his marke at large, and putting him selfe vnto the sea to fall by adventure vpon any country:) or whether Tharsis were that famous [Page 43] haven-towne of Africke, of which wee reade Ezech. 27. They of Tharsis were thy marchantes, for the multitude of all riches, for silver, i­ron, tinne, and lead which they brought to the faires; the riches wherof may bee esteemed by that report which is made in the 2. of the Chroni­cles, that silver was nothing accounted of in the dayes of Salomon; Chap. 9. for the kings shippes went to Tharsis, with the servants of Hiram, every three yeares once came the shippes of Tharsis, and brought golde and silver, yvorye, apes, and peacockes: or vvhether it signifie Carthage which Dido sometime built, and is now called Tunes, which is the opinion of Theodoret, and others: or vvhether Tartessus a towne in Spaine: or vvhether that city in Cilicia nearer to Syria, vvhence Paul reporteth himselfe to haue beene, in the 21. of the Actes, I am a citizen in Tharsis a famous city in Cilicia: or vvhether the whole countrey of Cilicia, be­cause in auncient times (if Iosephus deceiue vs not) all Cilicia vvas called Tharsis, by the name of the chiefe city: or whether it name vnto vs any other place not yet agreed vpon, partly by curious, part­ly by industrious authors, it skilleth not greatly to discourse; I leaue you for your satisfactiō therin, to more ample cōmentaries. But cer­teine I am, vvhether his minde beare him to lande or to sea, to Asia, or Africk, cuntry or city, nearer or farther of; at Niniveh he commeth not, which was the place of Gods apointment.

Many dispute many things, vvhy Ionas forsooke Niniveh,Why to Tharsis. and fled to Tharsis. 1. The infirmity of the flesh, some say, was the cause, pusillanimity of minde, vvant of courage, beeing terrified vvith 1 the greatnesse of the citye. 2. Or there was no hope (say others) of 2 the dry, when the greene was so barren. The children of Israell had so hardened his heart with the hardnesse of theirs, that he coulde not imagine the children of Ashur would ever haue fallen to repentāce, 3. Or the strangenesse of the charge dismaide him; for vvhen all o­ther Prophets were sent to Israell, he reasoneth vvith himselfe, vvhy 3 should I bee sent to Niniveh?Act. 10. it was as vncoth vnto him as when Pe­ter was willed to arise, kill and eate vncleane beastes, and hee answered in plaine termes, not so Lorde. 4. Or it might bee zeale to his countrey,4 because the conversion of the Gentiles, hee sawe, woulde bee the e­version of the Iewes. And surely this is a greate tentation to the minde of man, the disadvantage and hinderance of brethren. For this cause Moses interposed himselfe in the quarrell betvveene the Hebrew and the AEgyptian, and slew the AEgyptian:Exod. 2. and in the behalfe of all Israell he afterwardes prayed vnto the Lord against his owne soule, If thou wilt pardon their sinne, thy mercie shall appeare; Exod. 3. but [Page 44] if thou wilt not, I pray thee raze mee out of the booke of life which thou hast written: 5. Or it might bee hee was afraide to be accounted a false prophet, if the sequele of his prophecy fell not out, which rea­son is afterward expressed by him in the fourth chapter, I pray thee Lorde, was not this my saying when I was in mine owne countrey? &c. As I saide of the place before, so of the reasons that mooved him (for this present, till fitter occasions bee offered;) vvhatsoever it vvere that drewe him awaie, vvhether weakenesse of spirite, or despayre of successe, or insolency of charge, or ielousie over the Israelites, or feare of discredite, sure I am that hee commeth not to Niniveh, but resolveth in his heart to reiect a manifest comman­dement.

I make no quaestion but in every circumstance forehandled he vn­covereth his owne nakednes, and laieth himselfe open to the censure and crimination of all men. As who would say; will you know the person without dissembling his name? It was Ionas: his readines with­out deliberation? he ariseth: his hast without intermission? he flyeth: the place farre distant from the which God had appointed? Tharsis. And if all these will not serue to prooue the disobedience of Ionas a a fault by his owne confession, then harken vnto the next word; if o­ther were but candels to discover it, this is a blazing lampe to lay it forth to all mens sight.

5 From the presence of the Lord. He flyeth into Tharsis, from the presence of the Lorde: how can that bee, if it bee true which David wisheth in the 27. Psalme, Blessed bee his glorious name for ever, and let all the earth bee filled with his glorie? But in the hundreth thirty and eighth Psalme, wonderfull are the testimonies that the prophet there brin­geth, to amplifie Gods illimited presence, O Lord thou hast tried mee, and knowne mee, thou knowest my sitting and my rising, thou vnderstandest my thoughtes a farre of, &c. For not to stay your eares with commemo­ration of all those argumentes; this I gather in summe, that there is neither heaven nor hell, nor the outtermost part of the sea, neither day nor night, light nor darkenesse, that can hide vs from his face. Our sitting, rising, lying downe, the thoughtes of our heartes, wordes of our tongues, waies of our feete, nay our raines, our bones, our mothers wombes, wherein wee laye in our first informitye and imperfection, are so well knowne vnto him. If this vvere his purpose, to thinke that the presence of God might bee avoided, who sitteth vpon the circle of heaven, and beholdeth the inhabitantes of the earth as grasse-hoppers, whose throne is the heaven of heavens, and the earth [Page 45] his footestoole; and his waies are in the greate deepe: I must then needes say vvith Ieremie, doubtlesse every man is a beast by his owne knowledge:Ierem. 10. Prophet or no prophet, If the spirit of God instruct him not, hee is a beast; worse then Melitides that naturall foole, of vvhome Hi­stories speake, that hee coulde not define, whether his father or his mother brought him forth. But I cannot suppose such palpable and grosse ignorance in a prophet, who knowing that God was well know­en in Iurie, and his name greate in Israell, coulde not be ignorant, that God was the same God, and the presence of his Godhead no lesse in Tharsis, and all other countries. What then is the meaning of this phrase, He fled from the presence of the Lord? 1. Some expounde it thus:1 He left the whole border and grounde of Israell, where the presence of the Lord though it were not more then in other places, yet it was more evident, by the manifestations of his favours & graces towards them. There was the Arke of the covenant, and the sanctuary, and the Lord gaue them answere by dreames & oracles, and other more speciall arguments of his abode there. Moses spake truth in the 4. of Deut. of this priviledge of Israel, what nation is so great, vnto whom their Gods come so neare vnto them as the Lord is neare vnto vs in all that wee call vpon him for? Davids acclamation Psalm. 147. goeth hande in hand with it, He hath not dealt so with other nations, neither haue the heathen knowledge of his iudgments.

But I rather conceiue it thus, (which maketh much for the con­firmation 2 of my matter now in hand) He fled from the presēce of the Lord, when hee turned his backe vpon him, shooke of his yoke, and willfully renounced his commaundement. It is a signe of obedience that servantes beare vnto their Lords and maisters, when they stand before their face, attending their pleasure, and ready to receiue and execute their imposed hests. You haue the phrase in the first of Iob: On a day, when the children of God came and stoode before the Lorde, Sa­tan came also and stoode amongst them. And Psal. 123. Beholde, as the eyes of servantes looke vnto the handes of their maisters, and as the eyes of a mayden vnto the handes of her mistresse; So our eyes waite vpon the LORDE our GOD, vntill hee haue mercy vpon vs. In the 18. of Mathew, our Saviour adviseth his disciples not to despise one of those little ones: the reason is this, For I say vnto you, that in hea­ven, there Angelles alwaies beholde the face of my father which is in hea­ven. The like manner of speech did Elizaeus vse to Naaman the Syriā when he offered him a reward: As the Lord liveth before whome I stande, 2. King. 3. a witnes to my actiōs, the searcher of my hart, whose honor & service [Page 46] I tender more then my game, I will not receiue it. By these may we see what the phrase intendeth, of fleeing from the presence of the Lord. It letteth vs vnderstand, that Ionas, as a fugitiue and refractary servant, ranne from the Lord, as Onesimus from his maister Philemō breaking his bonds of duty, and making no conscience or care to do service vnto him.

Some haue presumed by coniecture vpon his goinge to Tharsis, and fleeing from the face of the Lorde, that not onely he reneged his obedience in this particular action, but changed the vvhole trade of his life, and leaving the office of a Prophet, became a Marchante adventurer. A worldly dangerous profession, not only for the hazard of life, and for vvracke of goods, but for vvracke of conscience also, which is the worst shipwracke: which wrackes notwithstandinge are taken not onely in your ships abroad, but in your shoppes and ware­houses at home, when you fall either vpon the Syrtes and quicke­sandes of lying, which is a present and quicke kinde of sinne, allwaies at the tongues end; or vpon the rockes of periury which is a more obstinate and indurate transgression. I wil not be so strict in this point as Chrysostome was, who councelled Christiās to avoide marketting, that neither they suffered nor offered guilefull dealing:Tu qui Christianus et, fu­ge forum, vt ne (que) patia­ris ne (que) faci­at fraudem. I know they are lawfull and profitable callinges in common vvealth, if lawfully handled. The state of the worlde cannot stand without buying, sel­ling, traffique, transportation. Non omnis fert omnia tellus, No country yeeldeth all kind of commodity. There must be a path frō Aegypt to As­sur, and from Assur to Aegypt againe to make a mutuall supplye of their severall wants. Mesech the king of Moab was a Lord of sheepe; Hiram had store of timber and vvorkemen; Ophir vvas famous for golde; Chittim for yvorie; Basan for oakes; Lebanon for cedars; Saba for frankincense &c. But this I must tell you that liue vpon buying and selling, you vvalke vpon coales and cary fire in your bo­somes: gaine is a busie tentation, and there is neither stone nor E­phah, measure nor ballaunce you vse, but Satan is at hande to doe some office. It is naught, it is naught, saith the buyer, in the tvventith of the Proverbes, and when hee is gone aparte, hee boasteth. Now on the other side, It is good and very good, saith that seller, and when hee hath solde his wares, hee boasteth indeede, because hee hath given drosse for silver, and water for wine, Esay. 1. I say no more; but take heede that the treasures of wickednesse be not found in your houses, neither a scante measure, Mich. 6. which is an abhomination vnto the Lord. Shall I iustify, saith God, the wicked balances, and the bag of deceitfull weightes? His mea­ning [Page 47] is, that they shall never be iustified; much lesse a wicked and deceitfull conscience. I will not enforce this collection vpon you, be­cause is is not plainely expressed in the text, and without such for­raine and vnnecessary helps, if I may so tearme them, the bare letter of the words doth notoriously evict the disobedience of Ionas, wher­in he was so fixed and confirmed, that neither respite of time, neither danger of voiage, nor expence of money coulde change his purpose. Examine the particulars.

1. He goeth downe to Iapho, or Ioppe, (Iaffa, at this day) a city of Pa­lestine, an haven towne and rode for shipping; it spent some travell and time, no doubt, before he came to Iapho.

2. He findeth a ship going to Tharsis: I am sure he was not presently ac­quainted with the keye, neither did hee find that ship without some enquirie.

3. He paieth the fare: what? incontinently? it is not vnlikely but they staide one tide at the least.

4. And it standeth with the order of the text, that he paide the fare aforehand, and in hast, before he needed.

5 Some of the Rabbines adde, that he paide the fare of the whole ship for the rest of the passengers that were bound for Tharsis.

6. Lastly when he had paid, hee goeth downe into the ship, not remem­bering the daunger hee entered into,Quanta spi­ssitudo navi­um? 4 digi­torū. Anach. Neptunum procul à ter­ra. to put his life within 4. inches of death; and what safety it is, in comparison, to see the raging of the waters form the sea banckes. Is vvas one of the three thinges that Cato repented; travel by sea, vvhen by lande he might haue gone: and a charge that antigonus gaue his sonnes, when they were tossed with a tempest; Remember, my sonnes, and warne your posteritye of it, that they never hazard themselues vpon such adventures. What needed the recitall of these particular, and (one vvoulde thinke) trifling circumstances, as that hee went to the haven, founde a shippe, paide the fare, descended into it, vvhich might haue beene spoken at once, Hee went to Tharsis? But to expresse thus much; that though there were many occurrences, that met and stopt him in the vvaie of disobedience, as the Angell met Balaam; manye messengers, as it were sent from God to call him backe againe; manie spaces of ground, manie interruptions of time, manie occasions of better ad­vise and consultation: yet, as Agrippa came into the world with his heeles forward, so Ionas holdeth on his vntoward course, whether his feete woulde beare him, having little reason, and lesse grace to direct him.

[Page 48] The con­clusion.The summe of all that hath beene spoken hitherto, (for I vvill leaue a remnant behinde at the least to make a connexion betweene this and the next sentence) is, stronge and incredible disobedience, I say not conceived alone, but brought forth, perfited, persisted in, without remorse; not against father, mother, magistrate, any superiour, but against God himselfe; not in the taile of the people (to vse the wordes of a Prophet) but in the cheifest and honourablest part.Esa. 42. The complaint of God is now revived againe, who so blinde as my servant? or so deafe, as hee whome I haue sent? Ionas a ser­vant in the highest roome, a vessell of the greatest honour in the greate house, a Prophet, one of a principall spirit, and (as their vsuall name was, for vnvsuall giftes) a man of GOD, having received a mandate from his Lorde, is blinde, deafe, senslesse to performe it; or rather hee goeth, hastneth, flieth, saileth with the winges of the wind from the execution thereof. Paul vpbraideth the Iewe Rom. 2. on this wise: Thou art called a Iewe, and restest in the lawe, and gloryest in God, and knowest his will, and allowest the thinges that are excellent, in that thou art instructed in the lawe, and persuadest thy selfe that thou art a guide to the blinde, a light to them which are in darkenesse, an instructor of them which lacke discretion &c. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thy selfe? thou that preachest a man shoulde not steale, dooest thou steale? thou that sayest, a man shoulde not commit adulterie, dooest thou com­mit adulterie? thou that abhorrest idolles, committest thou sacrilege? thou that gloriest in the lawe, through breaking the lawe dishonourest thou God? The coales of this scripture may bee heaped vpon Ionas his heade. Thou art a Prophet, a familiar friend with God, thou hast seene visions and dreamed dreames, and alwaies standest in the presence of the Lord to know his counsells; thou art a seer to the blinde, a teacher of the ignorant, a watchman over those that are a sleepe; thou therefore that teachest Israell, teachest thou not thy selfe? thou that prea­chest obedience to Ieroboam, art thou disobedient? thou that be­ginnest thy message, Heare the worde of the Lorde, doest thou reiect it? What shall wee say then, but that which Daniel yeeldeth vnto in the 9. of his Prophecy? O Lorde, righteousnesse belongeth vnto thee, but vnto vs appertayneth open shame, to our Kinges, to our Princes, to our Fathers, (wee may further say) to our Prophets, to our Priests, because wee haue all sinned against thee. Rom. 3. There is no difference, saith the Apo­stle (he meaneth neither of Iew nor Gentile) for all haue sinned, and are deprived of the glory of God, and are iustified freely by his grace, thorough the redemption that is in Christ Iesus. Galat. 3. And the scripture hath concluded all [Page 49] vnder sinne, that the promise by faith in Christ Iesus, Galat. 5. shoulde bee given to those that beleeue. I shew you your sinne and the propitiation, your sicknes and the remedy to cure it; thinke not of the other remedies. If you deeme, that either Tharsis, or any other region beyond seas; that a cabbin in a ship, or a couch in a chamber; that the cloudes of the day, or darkenes of the night; the top of the mountaines, or the bottome of the sea; a secret friend, or more secret conscience; hea­ven or hel, or any the like evasion, can hide it from the eies of God: you are deceived. His seaven eies goe through the whole world. Zach. 4. Augustine. You may interpret them 7. thousand, thousand of eies, for hee is totus oculus: altogither eie. Therefore let vs not flatter our selues, with those that plucke out the eies of knowledge it selfe in the tenth Psalme, Tush, who seeth vs? God hath forgotten, hee hideth away his face and vvill never see; but rather, let vs acknowledge with Iacob, all places to be filled with the maiesty of God, The Lord was in this place, Genes. 2 [...]. and I vvas not aware of it: how fearefull is this place? This is the house of God, and the gate of heaven; this, and that, and the other within the compasse of the round worlde, all are alike. Let vs reclaime our selues in time from sinning, (which Ionas could not doe) and in a serious cogitati­on, before wee goe too farre, aske one the other, what haue vvee done? If wee forget it in Israell, let vs remember it in Iapho. Let either house or field, land or sea, youth or full strength, put vs in minde of our duety neglected. Let vs not followe our sensuality too far, nor buy voluptuousnes with a price, but rather say wirh the Athe­nian Oratour, when we heare how chargeable pleasure is, Non ema [...] tanti poenitere, I will not buy my repentance at so high a rare. Or if wee haue paide the fare of pleasure, let vs withdrawe our feete, be­fore wee descend into the bottome and sinke of it; let not the sides and entrals of the ship bury vs, nor a carelesse profounde sleepe be­reaue vs of all sense; Let not the waters goe over our heades; nor a floude of iniquitie overwhelme vs, least, (that which is the wages of sinne, and presently overtooke Ionas in his transgression,) wee en­danger both body and soule to the iustice of God.

THE FOVRTH LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 4.‘But the Lord sent out a great wind into the sea &c.’

THe recusancie of Ionas was the abridgment of the whole third verse; whereof 1. he accu­seth himselfe by name; 2. he noteth his rea­dines in arising; 3. his speede in flying; 4. his perversnes, because to Tharsis; 5. open rebel­liō in going from the face of the Lord to re­nounce his service; 6. his confirmation there­in, that having such stops & remembrances laide in his way, as namely, 1. to reach the haven not neare at hand; 2. to finde a shippe not without en­quiry, and to stay the leasure thereof; 3. to be at charge; 4. therein to be more liberall or more hasty then cause was; 5. to commit him­selfe to so manifest a danger, as the travell by the sea bringeth with it: yet he swalloweth and digesteth all these hookes, and is not re­voked by any meanes to performe his obedience. For all this he did: to what end? That he might goe to Tharsis from the presence of the Lorde. Once againe hee repeateth the cause, and by a retire to his former speech, maketh the publication of his crime both α and ω, the first and the last of the sentence: thus he beginneth, and thus he endeth, That hee might flee &c.

With them. To this you may adde, as the conclusion of all the rest, the company he made choice of, that he might goe with them. Who were they? by accord of all opinions, men of sundry nations, languages, conditions, and, as is evident in the fift verse, idolatours. Thus he mingleth himselfe in the exstasie of his wilfulnes, as fire and water, Hyena with dogges, an Israelite with gentiles, the circum­cised with the vncircumcised, a prophet with prophaners of sound religion, and one that feareth the God of the Hebrewes with those that worship stran he Gods. The parable in Matthew maketh men­tion of a man that had 2. sonnes; Chap. 21. the one he biddeth go to his vineyarde, and he answered, I will not; yet afterwardes repented himselfe, and went: the other saide, I will go, yet went not. The one is the image of the penitent, the other of the hypocrire: the one a deede without shew, the other a shew without deede. Ionas may stand in a third branche, who nei­ther saith that he will not and doth, nor that he will and doth not; neither in trueth, nor in colour obedient, but having cleared and dissolved all obiections of travell, charge, perill, company, is ship­ped, as you see, and vnder saile to goe to Tharsis.

[Page 51] But the Lord sent out a great wind, &c. Fugiebat fugam, & Dei iram non sa­giebat. Chry­sost. homil. 5. ad pop. Periclitatur navis quae periclitātem exceperat. 2. Sam. 14. Behold a pursivant dispatched from heaven to attach him, vengeance is shipped in a whirle-wind, and saileth alofte in the aire, to overtake him. There is no coun­saile (as Ierome here noteth) against the Lord. In a calme commeth a tempest; the ship is endangered, which harboureth a daungerfull passenger; there is nothing peaceable, where the Lord is an ene­my. Whome the voice of the Lord could not moue, a storme sol­liciteth him, (as when Absolom could not drawe Ioab vnto him by entreatie, and faire meanes, he fi [...]eth his barley fieldes to make him come;) and whome a still spirit could not charme, the turbulent spirit of a raging wind, Severior Magister, a rougher instructour to deale withal, enforceth to harkē.Eccle. 39. There be spirits (saith the son of Syrach) that are created for vengeance, which in their rigour lay on sure strokes: In the time of destruction they shew forth their power, and accomplish the wrath of him that made them. Fire, and haile, and famine, and death, all these are created for vengeance: the teeth of wild beasts, and the scorpions, & the serpents, and the sword execute iudgement for the destruction of the wicked: Nay the principall things for the whole vse of mans life, as water, fire, and iron, and salt, and meale, wheat and hony, and milke, and the bloud of the grape, & oile, & clothing, all these thinges are for good to the godly, but to the sinners they are turned to evill. To these you may adde the wind,Anima [...]. which being a meteor wherby we liue in some sort, (for our life is a breath) a fanne in the hands of God to purge the aire that it be not corrup­ted, as the lunges lie by the heart to doe it good, is heere converted to bee a plague vnto them: that as David was afflicted by the sonne of his owne bowelles, who should haue beene the staffe of his age; Sampson by the wife of his bosome who should haue bene his hel­per; the children of Israell by Manna stinking and full of wormes, and by quailes comming out of their nostrelles; and the children of the prophets by a bitter hearbe in the pottage, which were ap­pointed for their sustenance and foode: so these marriners for the sinne of Ionas, are scourged with a winde, a principall furtherance and benefit at other times required to sailing.

Obedience hath her praise both with God and men: the of-spring of the righteous is obedience & loue. The Rechabites shall never want a testimony of their obedience, vnles the booke of Ieremy the Pro­phet be againe cut with a penknife, & burnt vpon an hearth, as in the daies of Zedekias. Ionadab their father commaunded them to drinke no wine, and they would not drinke it for that commaundement sake, they, nor their wiues, their sonnes, nor their daughters. Christ prophecieth of him­selfe, [Page 52] Esay. 50. The Lord hath opened mine eare, and it was not rebellious; nei­ther turned I backe. Psal. 40. It was written of him in the booke, that he should doe the will of his father, he was ready to do it. The law was in the midst of his bowels, and without protracting the time,Phil. 2. he offered himselfe, Loe I come. He was obediēt vnto death, even the death of the crosse. And though he were the sonne, Heb. 5. Bernard. yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered: qui ne perderet obe­dientiam, perdidit vitam: though he slept a wofull and heavy sleepe to flesh and bloud, yet he slept in peace.

Disobedience, on the other side, hath never escaped the hands of almighty God. It cast Ionas out of the ship; and the angels, before Ionas, out of heaven; Adam and Eue out of paradise; Lots wife out of her life and nature to; Saule out of his kingdome; the children of Israell out of their natiue soile, and further, their naturall roote that bare them. For no other reason is given but this, Ieremy. 35. I spake, & they would not heare; I cried, & they would not answer. To leaue forraine exāples, the iustice of God now presently manifesting it selfe against disobedience cōmeth in a storme, the vehemency and fury whereof ap­pea­reth,

  • 1. By the author, God sent it. Who although he be the author of all windes & weathers, and bringeth them out of his treasures, yet when it is singularly noted of God that he was the cause, it carrieth a likelyhood not of his general providence alone, but of some speciall and extraordinary purpose.
  • 2. By the instrument which is a winde, and neither thunders nor raines to helpe it.
  • 3. By the epithet & appositiō of the instrument, a great winde.
  • 4. By the nature of the word here vsed: it was sent; nay rather throwne & sent headlōg, as the lightning is shot from heavē. It was cast frō God as the marriners cast their ladings into the sea, for the same word is originally vsed in both places. A wind so sodain & furious, that they could gesse at other tēpests be­fore they fel, they had no signes wherby to prognosticate this.
  • 5. By the place that receiveth it, the sea; a champian & plaine channel, an open flore where there was neither hill, nor for­rest, nor any other impediment to breake the force of it.
  • 6. By the explication added, there was a tempest vpon it, evē a mightie tempest.
  • 7. By the effects that ensued in 4. & 5. verses, marveilouslie described.

1. The breaking of the ship, a strōg & an able ship, by cōiecture, because so lately set forth to sea: & the danger is the more to be considered, that it fel not vpon rockes or shelues, but by the power of the onely [Page 53] winde was almost splitted. the Hebrew phrase is very significant, the ship thought to be broken, as if it had soule and sense to feele the hazard it was in.

2 The feare that followed vpon the whole companye of the pas­sengers.

3 The feare of the marriners, men accustomed & inured to the like adventures; of whome it is truely spoken, [...]llis robur & aes triplex, Horat. &c. their harts are of brasse and oke to encounter dangers.

4 Their praiers, nay their vociferations & outcries vpon their Gods, as the priests of Baal cried vpon their idoll.

5 The casting out of their ladings, the necessary instruments & vten­siles for their intended voiage.

Al which, & whatsoever besides is set down to the end of the 5. ver. may be reduced to 3. persons, with their actions & administratiōs be­longing vnto them: the 1. is the Lord; the 2. the marriners; the 3. Ionas.

Of the first it is said, that he sent out a great winde.

It was the error of the Paynims,1 The Lord to devide the world amongst sun­dry Gods, with every severall region, city, family, & almost chamber, & chimney therin; with heaven & hell, land & sea, woodes & rivers, wine & corne, fruits of the ground, al things whatsoever. Amōgst the rest, the winds in the aire they ascribed to Aeolus, whōe they imagi­ned to haue them closely mued vp & housed in a lodge, and to haue sent thē abroad either for calmes or tēpests at his discretion. Horace commended Virgil his friend going towards Athens, to the mighty goddesse of Cyprus, & the two brethrē of Helen, & the father of the winds, that is, to Venus, & the two twins Castor & Pollux,Obstrictis a­lijs praeter Japyga. & Aeo­lus; wishing for his better speed, that all the windes might be bounde vp, besides Iapyx a quiet westerne winde; with many the like fables not vnknowne to grammer schooles. The blowing of the windes more or lesse wee impute not to Aeolus, nor any the like devised God of the gentiles: we honour the Lord of hosts alone, in the pow­er of this creature, who sitteth vpon the circle of heaven, and causeth both the sunne to shine, and the raines to fall, and the winds to blow in their seasons, and at this time appointed this winde to a singular service. It is he that flieth vpon the winges of the wind. Psal. 18. The channels of the waters haue beene seene, and the foundations of the earth discovered at his re­buking, and at the blasting of the breath of his nostrels. Chap. 37. You see it is called the breath of the Lord, as also in the booke of Iob, not that substanti­all breath of his, wherof we read in the 1. of Gen. the spirit of God moved vpon the waters; but a created breath, extracted, and engendred out of other creatures. The winde that came from the wildernes and over­threw [Page 54] the corners of the house wherin the children of Iob were fea­sting, that saint acknowledgeth to haue come from heavenly dispo­sition;Iob. 1. The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Wind & fire & bands of robbers, he assigneth not to any idol of the heathē, nor to the ma­lice of men, nor to the hazard of fortune, which others made a god­des; but to the almightines & soverainty of him who ruleth al things. And as his dominion is vndoubted in the aire, so doth the sea submit it selfe likewise to his governance, who sitteth vpon the water-flouds, and is a king for evermore, Iob. 38. as the Psalme speaketh. For who but he hath shut vp the sea with doores, when it issued and came forth as out of the wombe? who established his commandement vpon it, when he set bars & gates, & said, hi­therto shalt thou cōe and no further; here will I stay the proud waues? Who els devided the red sea into two parts, that the children of Israell passed through on dry foote? But as for Pharaoh and his host, the horse and the rider, they were overthrown therin. Who els turned the streame of Iordan the contrary way, whereof the Prophet demandeth with admiratiō, what aileth thee O Iordā that thou wentest backe? who els turned the waters into bloud? and drieth vp the rivers, that the fishes rotte for wante of moisture. Tell mee his name, (to vse the words of Iob) if thou knowest it; and what is his sonnes name? It is he and his son, who in the gospell of Marke,Chap, 4. rebuked the windes, and saide vnto the sea, peace and bee still; and the winde ceased, and there was a great calme, and they could not be sa­tisfied about it, but asked who it was that both the winds & the sea should thus obey him? All kindes of vveather by lande or sea, thunders and lightning, even the coales of fire that were never blowne haile-stones & stormy tempestes, they come by his assignement, who cleaveth the rockes asunder with his voice, and shooteth forth his thunder­bolts,Iob. 38. as arrowes at a marke; who biddeth his lightnings walke, and they say, loe here we are, and devideth the spouts in the aire, to yeeld their moysture to the ground, more or lesse, at the will of their maker. And we vtterly renounce herein, not onely the palpable idolatrie of the Gentiles, vvho gaue the glory of the most highe to [...]heir base and inglorious abominations, but the foolish ignorance of others nearer home, vvho in the vvorking of these creatures, never looke vp to the seate of maiesty, that ordereth all thinges; but whatsoe­ver befalleth them by fall of fire, blast of wind, inundation of waters, or the like, they tearme it chance. Alas, chance is nothing; for nothing is done in the whole world, without an order from aboue: and it vvas wisely noted by a learned man [...], nature bringeth forth that,Iul. Scal. Exerc. 188. which we wrōgfully cal chāce, because it commeth vnexpected

[Page 55]I read of a certaine people in Africke, who being troubled with the North-wind, driving heapes of sandes vpon their fieldes & dwelling places, they gathered an army of men to fight against it; but with so evill successe, that themselues were also buried vnder hilles of sandes. Xerxes the Persian Monarke,Herodo [...]. having received a losse by the rage of Hellespontus, himselfe more mad then the sea, caused fetters and ma­nacles to be cast into the waters thereof, as if he would make it his pri­soner, & binde it with linkes of iron at his pleasure. Some say. Cyrus. Darius did the like vpon the river Gynde, who, because it had drowned him a white horse, threatned the river to devide it into so many streames, & so to weaken the strength of it, that a woman great with child should goe over it dry-shod. It is not vnlike the madnes of our daies, who must not be crossed either with wet or dry, winds or raines, faire or fowle, but we fall to repining, murmuring, banning, blaspheming, & al kind of cursed either speaking or wishing at least. But as God asketh Se­nacherib, whome hast thou railed vpon, or whome hast thou blasphemed?2. King. 19. so I aske these mē, whome are you angry with? who hath displeased you? are you angry with the saw, or with him that lifteth it? do the winds and seas mooue your impatience? they are but servantes vnto that Lord, who saith vnto them, smite, and they do it; favor, & they are o­bedient. Rabsakeh speaketh to the nobles of Ierusalem, Esay. 36. Am I come hither without the Lord? The Lord said vnto me, Go vp against this land to destroy it. So it is in the force of these creatures, whē either they drowne, or blast, or parch to much, it is not done without the Lorde; the Lord saith vnto them, doe thus or otherwise.

Besides the impieties aboue named, it is an error of our times hea­thenish enough, to giue the honor of God in these and the like acci­dents, to witches & cōiurers. For if ever tempest arise, more thē cō ­mon experience hath inured vs vnto, especially with the havock and losse either of life or limme in our selus, or of our cattel, or howsings, forthwith the iudgmēt is given (as if the God of heavē & earth were fallen a sleepe, & minded nothing) there is some coniuring. Be it so.August. 2. de doct. Christ. What is coniuring? a pestilent commistion, convētiō, stipulation, be­twixt men & divels. Mē & divels? what are they? looke vpō the sor­cerers of Aegypt for the one;3 de Trin. 7. Magorum potestas (saith Augustine) de­fecit in muscis, they cried in the smallest plague that was sent, and past their cunning to remoue, this is the figure of the Lord;Exod. 8. their power is li­mited therfore. Looke vpon the martyrings of Iob for the other: for though the circuit of Sathan be very large (even to the cōpassing of the whole earth to & fro,Iob. 1.) yet he hath his daies assigned him to stād [Page 56] before the presence of the Lord for the renewing of his commission: And besides, Oviculam vnam auferre non potuit &c. he could not take one poore sheepe from Iob, till the Lorde had given him leaue, put forth thine hande; nor enter into the heard of swine, Mat. 8. without Christs permission. And so, to conclude; whether men or devilles be ministerial workers in these actions, all cōmeth from him, as from the higher supreme cause, whose iudgments executed thereby, no man can either fully comprehend, or reprehend iustly. God professeth no lesse of himselfe, Esay. 45. I forme the light, and create darkenesse, I make peace, and create evill, I the Lord do all these thinges. And in the 54. of the same prophecie, Beholde I haue created the smith that [...]loweth the coales in the fire, and him that bringeth fo [...]th an instrument for his worke, & I haue created the destroyer to destroy: destruction commeth from the instrument, the instrument from the smith, the smith and all from God. In the 10▪ of the same booke, Asshur is called the rod of his wrath, and the staffe in his hands was the Lords indignation. And the prophet praieth in the 17. Psalme to the same effect, vp Lord, disapoint him, cast him downe, deliver my soule from the wicked, which is a sword of thine. We neede not farther instructiōs in this point, but whatsoever it is that outward­ly troubleth vs, let vs larne to feare him therin, frō whose secret disposition it procedeth: who hath a voice to alay the winds & the seas; a fin­ger to confound sorcerers & cōiurers; an hooke for the nostrels of Se­nacharib; & a chain for the divell himselfe, the prince of darkenes.

In the 2. person, which were the marriners, we are directed by the hand of the scripture,2 The Marriners. to consider three effects, which the horrour of the tempest wrought vpon them. For 1. they were afraid; 2. they cried vp on their Gods; 3. they cast out their wares: the 1. an affection of nature; the 2. an action of religion; the 3. a worke of necessity. Some of the Rab­bines held, that the marriners in this ship had more cause to be asto­nished and perplexed, then all that travailed in these seas besides: for when other ships were safe and had a prosperous voiage, theirs only, as the marke wherat the vengance of God aimed, was endaungered. But because it appeareth not in the booke, I let this passe, with many other vnwrittē collections; as namely, that they were nere the shore, & laboured with all their force to tough their ships to land, but could not do it: which happily may be true, and as likely otherwise, & ther­fore I leaue it indifferēt, & am contēt to see no more thē the eie of my text hath descried for me. But this I am sure of: Affliction beginneth to schoole thē,August. de correctione Donatis. & driue thē to a better haven then they erst found. It evet worketh good for the most part; and although the better sort of [Page 57] men are corrected by loue, yet the greater are directed by feare. As the wind the seas, so the feare of the wrath of God, in this imminent danger of shipwrack appearing, shaketh & perturbeth their heartes, though they had hardened them by vse against all casualties by sea, like the hardest adamantes. All the works of the Lord to a cōsiderate mind are very wonderful: his mercy reacheth to the heavens, and his faithfulnes is aboue the cloudes; his wisdome goeth from end to end; his righteousnes is as the highest mountaines, & his iudgmentes like a great deepe, & whatsoever proceedeth from him,Habet iust [...] venerationē quicquid ex­cellit. Tull. August. de Trin l. 3. c. 2▪ epist. ad Vo­lus. Tull. Psal. 139· because that ar­tificer excelleth, is must needes be excellent. But it is as true a positi­on; perseverantia consuetudinis amisit admirationē; the assiduity & continuance of things bringeth thē into cōtempt. Quā multa vsitata calcā tur, quae cōsiderata stupētur? how many things doth custome make vile which consideratiō would make admirable? because the nature of mā is such, to be carried away rather with new thē with great things. The creatiō of man, who maketh accompt of, because it is cōmon? But would we ponder in our harts, as David did, that we are wonderfully & fearful­ly made, & that our bones were not hid from the Lord, though they were sha­ped in a secret place, and fashioned beneath in the earth; that he possessed our raines in our generation, & covered vs in our mothers wombes; that his eies did see vs when we were yet vnperfect, & all things were written in his booke, when before they were not; it would enforce vs to giue acclamation to the workemanship of our maker, as the sweet singer of Israell there did, marveilous are thy workes, o Lord, & that my soule knoweth right well. A tempest to marriners is nothing, because they haue seene, and felt, and overlived so many tempestes. As David, because he had killed a lion, and a beare at his folde, perswaded himselfe that he also could kill Golias; So these having past already so many dreadefull occur­rents, begin to entertaine a credulous perswasion of security, no evill shall approach vs. They make their harts as fat as brawne, to withstand mishaps. It fareth with thē as with souldiers beaten to the field: they haue seene hundreds fall at their right hand, and thousands at their left, and therefore are not moved; and though they beare their liues in their hands, they feare not death: wherevpon grew that iudgmēt of the world vpon them; Armatis, divum nullus pudor, Sil. Ita [...]. souldiers (the greater part) feare not God himselfe.

Vndoubtedly our sea-men drinke downe & digest their dangers with as much facility & felicity to, as some their wine in bowles; yet notwithstāding the marriners here spokē of, even the maister of the ship with the vulgar sort, having such iron sinews in their brests, giāts [Page 58] by sea, and (if I may tearme them so) [...], men that fight with God, being in their proper element, the region and grounde where their arte lieth, having fought with the waues and windes a thou­sand times before, they are all striken with feare, and their heartes fall asunder within them, like drops of water. David Psal. 107. set­teth downe foure kindes of men, vvhich are most indebted to God, for deliveraunce from perilles: the first of those that haue escaped a dearth; the second, prisoners enlarged; the third, such as are freed from a mortall sicknes; the last, sea-faring men, of whome hee wri­teth thus; They that go downe into the sea in shippes, and occupie their mar­chandize by greate waters, they see the worke of the Lorde, and his wonders in the deepe. For hee commaundeth and raiseth vp the stormie winde, and it lifteth vp the waues thereof, they mount vp to the heaven, and descende a­gaine to the deepe, so that their soule melteth for trouble. They are tossed too and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and all their cunning is gone. A liuely image of their vncertaine and variable liues; and, if you hear­ken to the comparison, it is next to famine, imprisonment, a dead­ly disease to be a sea-man. Sailers & adventurors are neither amongst the living,Navigantes ne (que) inter vivos, neque inter mortu­o [...]. Pittac. nor amongst the dead: they hang betweene both, readie to offer vp their soules to every flawe of winde, and billow of water where with they are assaulted. Yet these are the men, and such the instrumentes and meanes whereby your wealth commeth in, that liue by Marchandize; you eate, and drinke, and vveare vpon your backes, you traffique and spend the bloude of your sonnes and ser­vantes. So David called the water of the well of Bethlehem, bloud, because it vvas brought through the armie of the Philistines vvith the hazard of mens liues.1. Chro. 11. You owe much vnto God for the preser­vation of their liues, your shippes and commodities; & are bounde to rehearse vnto your soules day and night that verse of thankesgiving which David repeateth in the Psalme before named, as the burthen and amoeb [...]um to those songes of deliverance. Let vs therefore confesse before the Lord his loving kindnesse, and his wonderfull workes before the sons of men: let vs exalt him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders. And as you feare his maiesty your selues, who turneth the flouds into a wildernes, and a wildernes into springes of water, who breaketh the shippes of the sea with an East-wind;Psalm. 48. so see that your factors beyond the seas, with all the officers and ministers belonging to your company, bee men of the like affection. It is not the tallenes of your shippes, nor their swiftnesse, manning, and munition, that can protect them against Gods vengeance. You call them Lyons, Leo­pards, [Page 59] Beares, and skorning the names of beasts, you tearme thē An­gelles, Archangelles: but remember when all is done, that as Themi­stocles called the Navy of Athens wooddē walles, so yours are but wood­den Beasts, and woodden Angelles; And woe be to him that saith to a stone, thou art my father; and to a peece of wood, thou art my helper. They haue good fortune written vpon their beakes, saith Plutarke, but many misfortunes in the successe of their labors. Horace spake to as prowd a ship (it should seeme) as any those times knew;

Though Pontus pines thy frame,
1. Car. od▪ 14 Quamvis pōtica pinu [...] Syluae filia nobilis &c.
A forrest faire thy dame,
Prowde be thy stocke,
And worthlesse name:
The windes will mocke,
To see thy shame. Take heede.

The navy of Tyrus (if the prophet describe it aright) was the noblest navie that ever the seas vvere furrowed vvith; the builders thereof made it of perfect beautie, the boordes of the firre trers of Shenir, Ezech. 27. the mastes of the cedars of Lebanon, the oares of the Okes of Basan, the bankes of the yvory of Chittim, the sailes of the fine embrodered linnen of AEgypt, the coveringes blew silke and purple of the Iles of Elisha; They of Sidon and Arvad, were her marriners, the wisest in Tyre her pilottes, the auncients of Gebal her calkers, they of Persia, and Lud, and Phut, her souldiours, the Gammadins were in her towers, and hung their shieldes vpon the walles round about, and the King of Tyre saide in the hautines of his heart, I am a God, I sit in the seate of God in the midst of the sea: yet see the ende in the same place; her rowers brought her into greate waters, and the east­winde brake her in the midst of the sea; her riches together with marriners, pilottes, and calkers, marchantes, and men of warre, all were overthrowen, and came to a fearefull ruine. The feare of the Lorde will be in steede of all these provisions; feare him, and both floudes and rockes shall feare you, and all windes shall blow you happines, and ship-wrackes shall avoide the place where your foote treadeth, and as the apples of Gods owne eies, so shall they reverence you, and not dare to approch the channell where your way lieth: hilles shall fall downe, and moun­taines shal be cast into the sea, but those that feare the Lord shall ne­ver miscary: the feare of the Lord shall both lād your ships in an hap­py haven, and after your travels vpon the earth, harbour your soules in his everlasting kingdome.

They were afraid. I will not examine what kinde of feare it vvas vvhich surprised these marriners. There is a feare that accompani­eth [Page 60] the nature of man, and the son of God himselfe was not free from it: Marc. 14. It is written of him that he began to be afraid; which feare of his, and other the like vnpleasant affections, he tooke vpon him (our Divines say) as he tooke our flesh,Non huma­nae conditio­nis necessita t [...], sed mise­rationis vo­lūtare. Sen­tē. 3 dist. 15. [...]. & vndertooke death rather in pitty, then of necessity. And Ierome vpon the place of the Evange­list before cited noteth, that the feare of our blessed saviour was not a passion which overbare his mind, but a propassion, which he seemeth to collect from the word it selfe; He began to be afraid.

2 There is besides a fond and superstitious feare, when men are a­fraid of their shadowes, as Pisander was afraide of meeting his owne soule; and Antenor would never go forth of the doores, but either in a coach closed vpon al sides, or with a target borne over his head, fea­ring (I gesse) least the sky should fal down vpon it, according to that in the Psalme,Psal. 13. Vulg. They feare where no feare is. The disciples were abasht at the sight of their maister after his resurrection, supposing they had seene a spirite, when neither had they seene a spirite at any time to moue that conceit, neither is it possible that a spirituall substance cā sensibly be perceived. We may easily acquite this cōpany from such foolish feare; it hath so apparant a reason to be grounded vpon.

3 There is an other feare, the obiect wherof is only God; which, by the praier and cry that followeth in the next wordes, seemeth to be the feare meant (though ignorantly misplaced:) and this in some is a servile feare, ful of hatred, malice, contumely, reproch, if they durst bewray it,Epist. 87. ad Oger. tristis, invtilis, crudelis, qui quia veniā non quaerit, nō consequitur, saith Bernard; it flieth & abhorreth the Lord, because he is Deus per­cutiens, a God of vengance: in other it is filiall, such as the childe ho­noureth his father with, perfitly good, wherein there is nothing but loue,Psal. 51. reverence, puritie, ingenuitie, borne of a free spirite; the spirite of bondage & slavery wholy abandoned; so near in affinity to loue, that you can hardly discerne them:Gillibert. in Cant. 3. ser. 19. Pene illa est, & pene non est; It is al­most loue, and almost not loue; so little difference is: it never behol­deth God, but in the gracious light of his countenance; There is mer­cy with thee O Lord, therefore shalt thou be feared, howsoever the cloudes of displeasure seeme sometimes to hide that grace away. The feare of these men I cannot decide, whether it were mixte with hope, or al­together desperate, and it skilleth not greately to enquire, because they applie it not to the true and living GOD. But let this be ob­served as a matter, (saith the Psalme) of deepe vnderstanding, and one of the secrets within the sanctuarie of the Lorde, that sea-bea­ten Marriners, barbarians by countrey, and men as barberous [Page 61] for the most parte for their conditions, fearing neither God nor man, of sundry nations some, and most of sundry religions, it may be Epicures, but, as my text bewraieth them, idolatours; they all know that there is a God, whome they knowe not; they feare a supreme maiesty, which they cannot comprehend; they reverence, invocate, and cry vpon a nature aboue the nature of man and all in­feriour things; potent, benevolent, apt to helpe, whereof they ne­ver attained vnto any speciall revelation. This man adoreth the God of his countrey, that man some other God, and Ionas is raised vp to call vpon his God; but all haue some one God or other, to whome they make supplication, and bemone their daunger.

If Ionas had preached the living and immortall God vnto them, the God of the Hebrewes, the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Iacob, the holy one of Israel, I would haue imputed their devotion to the prea­ching of Ionas. Or had there bene any other soule in the ship, belon­ging to the covenāt, & born within the house (as the prophet speaketh) that might haue informed thē in this behalfe. Ther was not one: who thē instructeth thē? Nature.Hieron. Nautae intellexèrūt aliquid esse venerandū sub errore religionis; the marriners vnderstood even in the falshod of that religiō which they held, that somthing was to be worshiped.

It is not denied by any sort of divines, auncient or recent, but that by nature it selfe, a man may conceiue there is a God.Nulla est gens tam fe­ra. &c. Tul. Actes 17. There is no nation so wild and barbarous, which is not seasoned with some o­pinion touching God. The Athenians set vp an alter Ignoto Deo, to an vnknowne God. Act. 17. The Gentiles not having the lawe, doe by nature the things conteined in the lawe, and are a lawe vnto themselues, and shewe the effect of the lawe written in their heartes, their conscience bea­ring witnesse, and their thoughtes accusing one another or excusing; the second to the Romanes. For the invisible things of him that is, his eternall power and Godhead, are seene by the creation of the world, being conside­red in his workes, to the intent that they should be without excuse. Rom. 1. These are common impressions and notions sealed vp in the mind of every man, a remnant of integrity after the fall of Adam, [...]. a sub­stance or blessing in the dead Elme, sparkles of fire raked vp vnder the ashes, which cannot die whilest the soule liveth. Nature with­in man, and nature without man, which Ierome calleth Naturam & facturam, nature and the creature; our invisible consentes, and Gods visible workes; an inward motion in the one, and an outward motion of the other; if there were no further helps, shew, that there is a God, & leaue vs without excuse. Protagoras Abderites,Tul. Acadē. quaest. because he began [Page 62] his booke with doubt, de dijs, ne (que) vt sint, ne (que) vt non sint, habeo dicere, I haue nothing to say of the Gods, either that they be, or that they be not; by the commandement of the Athenians was banished their ci­ty & countrey, & his bookes publiquely & solemnly burnt to ashes. I may call it a light that shineth in darknes, (though the purity and beames therof be mightely defaced,) which some corrupt & abuse, & so become superstitious & vanish away in their vaine cogitations; & others extinguish, & so become meere Atheists. For so it is, as if we tooke the lights in the house, and put them out, to haue the more li­berty in the works of darknes. Thus do the Atheists of our time: the light of the scripture principally, & the light of the creature, and the light of nature they exinguish within the chābers of their harts, & with resolute, dissolute perswasiōs, threape vpon their soules against reason & cōscience, that there is no God, least by the sight of his iu­stice, their race of impiety should bee stopped. I trust I may safely speake it, There are no Atheists amongst you, though many happily such as Ag [...]ippa was, but almost christiās; I would to God you were not only almost,Acts. [...].6. but altogither such as you seeme to professe. But there are in our land that trouble vs, with virulent, pest [...]lent, miscreant po­sitiōs; I would they were cut of, the childrē of hel, by as proper right, as the divel himselfe; the savour of whose madnes stinketh, from the center of the earth to the highest heavens. Let thē be confuted with arguments drawne from out the skabberds of Magistrates, argumēts without reply, that may bo [...]h stop the mouth, & choke the breath of this execrable impiety: & as the angel cursed Meroz. 5. Iudg. so cur­sed be the man (& let the curse cleaue to his children) that cometh not forth to helpe the Lord in this cause. It is fit to dispute by reasō, whether there be a God or no? which heavē, earth, angels, men & divels, al a­ges of the world, all languages; & in the atheist himselfe (who bin­deth a napkin to the eies of his knowledge,) shame, feare, and 1000. witnesses like gnawing wormes within his breast, did ever hereto­fore, & to the end of the world shal acknowledge? Let vs leaue such questiōs, [...], incredible, inglorious, infamous questions to the tribunal & trial of the highest iudge,Aul. Gel. if there be no throne vpon the earth that wil determine them; & for our own safe­ty, & the freeing of our souls, let vs hate the very aire that the Athe­ist draweth as Iohn eschewed the bath wherin Cerinthus was▪ & let their damned spitits having received damnation in themselues, [...]. ripen and bee rotten to perdition: let them sleepe their everlasting sleepe in filthines not to be revoked: & when death hath gnawne vpon them [Page 63] like sheepe for a taste before hand, let them rise againe from the sides of the pit, maugre their stout gaine saying, at the iudgement of the great day to receiue a deeper portion.

As for our selues (my brethren) which knowe and professe that one and only God for ever to be blessed, let vs be zealous of good workes, according to the measure of our knowledge which we haue received. Let vs feare him (without feare) as his adopted sonnes, and serue him without the spirit of bondage in righteousnesse, all the daies of our liues; that at the comming of the sonne of God to iudge the endes of the eatth, we may be found faithfull fervants; and as we haue dealt truely in a little, we may be made rulers over much through the riches of his grace, who hath freely and formerly belo­ved vs not for our owne sakes, but because himselfe is loue,Amat quia amat. Bern. and ta­keth delight in his owne goodnes.

THE FIFT LECTVRE.

Cap. 1. ver. 5.‘And cried every man vpon his God, and cast the wares in the shippe into the sea to lighten it of them.’

I shewed before, that by the instinct of nature it selfe, the marriners might conceiue there was a God. Heere it appeareth by the multi­tude they worship, every man his God, that na­ture alone sufficeth not without further re­velation. Nature may teach that there is a God; but what in substance & propriety, & how to be worshiped, must elsewhere bee learned. Nature without grace is,Iudg. 16. as Sampson without his guide, whē his eies were out, without whose direction he could not finde the pillars of the house; nor the natural man any pil­ler or principle of faith without the spirite of God guiding his steps vnto it: or as Barach without Deborah, who would not go against Si­sera, vnlesse the prophetesse went with him.Iud. 4. Such is the faintnesse of nature, except it be strēgthned with a better aide. Vae soli: if nature be single, woe to it, she falleth downe, & there is not another to helpe her vp. Therefore our Saviour maketh a plaine distinction betwixt these two: Blessed art thou Simon the sonne of Ionas, for flesh and bloud hath not revealed this vnto thee; the affirmatiue part followeth,Mat. 16. but my father which is in heaven: when he made that notable & fundamentall con­fession. [Page 64] Afterwards,Ibid. when he had dehorted his maister, with carnall perswasions, sir, pitty thy selfe, he biddith him avant, not by the name of Peter, nor the sonne of Ionas, nor Cephas, but of Satan himselfe. Nature was then alone, and the heavenly light had withdrawne her influence from him. No man living had ever greater endovv­ments, and blessings of nature, then the Apostle Saint Paul. First he was a man that was a Iew (as great a comfort vnto him,Act. 22. no doubt, as it was to Plato to be borne at Athens, rather then in Barbary;) and although borne at Tarsus in Cilicia, yet brought vp in the city of Ieru­salem at the feete of Gamaliell, and instructed according to the perfit man­ner of the lawe of the fathers, and zealous towards God. You haue his birth, education, maister, learning, and devotion already set downe: we may adde his sect and profession, out of the same history; For after the strictest sect of the Iewish religion, hee lived a Pharisee. In his epistle to the Philippians, he concludeth from the whole heape of his prerogatiues,Chap. 26. Chap. 3. If any other man thinketh that hee hath whereof to trust in the flesh, much more I: circumcised the 8. day, of the kinred of Israell, of the tribe of Beniamin, an Hebrewe of the Hebrewes, by profession a Pha­risee. Concerning zeale, I persecute the church, touching rightuousnesse in the law, I was vnrebukeable; so he persecuted the church, you see out of that place: and he verily thought in himselfe, that he ought to doe ma­ny things contrary to the name of Iesus of Nazareth, Act. 26. which thing he also did in Ierusalem. Thus notwithstanding hee had received the signe of the covenant circumcision, not as the manner of proselytes was at the time of their conversion, sometimes old, sometimes young; but 2. according to the law, the eight day; and 3. his kinred and des­cent were from Israell, not from Esau vvhich lost the inheritaunce; 4. his tribe, such as never fell to idolatry, but continued in the ser­vice of God; and 5. his antiquity in that line not inferiour to the auncientest, being as able to shew his greate, and greate grandfa­thers, from the first roote of the Hebrewes, as any man; besides those personall advantages of profession, emulation, conversation; yet till there shined a clearer light from heaven, not only vpon his face, but vpon his heart, and he was throwne to the ground, both from his horse, and from his confidence in the flesh, and hearde a voice speaking vnto him,Act. 9. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? and was instructed who it was that spake vnto him, I am Iesus of Nazareth &c. and received direction for his life to come, Arise and go to Da­mascus;Qualem nō repperit unū &c. all the knowledge hee had before, was but dunge, and losse, and not worth the rekoning. Socrates was a man excellent for hu­mane [Page 65] wisedome the like to whom could not be found among many thousandes of men: of whome notwithstanding Lactantius writeth thus; vt aliorum argueret inscientiam, qui se aliquid tenere arbitrabantur, De ira Dei▪ ait se nihil scire, nisi vnum quòd nihil sciret: to convince the ignorance of others, who thought they knewe something, he professed to knowe nothing but this one, that he knewe nothing. He further testified o­penly, and in a place of iudgement, that there was no wisedome of man; and the learning, whereof the philosophers then gloried, he so contēned, scorned, renounced,Contempsit. derisit, abi [...] ­cit. Lact. de ori­gine erroris. 2. that he professed it his greatest lear­ning, to haue learned nothing. It is not vnknowne what Cicero said: Vtinam tam facilè vera inven [...]re possem, quam falsa convincere: I would I were as able to find out trueth, as to refute falshood: the most re­nowmed oratour that ever Rome, or the earth bare. Daniell sawe more in the secrets and counsels of God, than all the wisards of Ba­bylon besides. The enchanters and the Astrologians, and the sor­cerers and Chaldeans, as they are numbred in the second of Dani­ell, they confesse plainely before the king, concerning his dreame, there is none other that can declare it before the king, except God, whose dwelling is not with flesh; yet they are called in the same prophecy, the kinges wise men. But by the iudgment of the Queene,Cap. 5. wife of Bal­thazar, Daniell exceedeth them all in wisedome; there is a man in the kingdome, saith shee, in whome is the spirit of the holy Gods, and in the daies of thy father, light, and vnderstanding, and wisedome like the wisedome of the Gods, was founde in him. Pharaoh made no lesse report of Io­seph in the eares of all his servauntes, Genesis the one and for­tieth: Can wee finde such a man as this, in whome is the spirit of God? It was wisedome in them, that they vvere able in some sorte to discerne such spirites, and to giue them their proper names, though secretly condemning themselues thereby, to haue but the spirites of men or beastes, vvhen Daniell and Ioseph were inspired farre otherwise. (The litle flocke of Christ exempted on­ly, to whome it is given to knowe misteries,) vvee may seeke the whole vvorld besides with cresset light, and enquire as the Apostle did, Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this worlde? Hath not GOD made the wisedome of this worlde foolishnesse? 1. Cor. 1. To what other ende is that confession or thankesgiving of our Saviour in the eleventh of Matthew? I giue thee thankes O Father, Math. 1 [...]. Lorde of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise, and men of vnderstanding, and hast opened them vnto babes: wise, and yet fooles, men of vnderstanding, yet they vnderstande nothing? [Page 66] How are wisdome and folly bound vp togither in one hart? or what agreement betweene light & darknes in one eie? No marvaile if vve aske of it, for the Lord himselfe calleth it a marvelous worke, Even a marveilous worke, Esa. 19. & a wonder. For the wisdome of the wise men shal perish, & the vnderstanding of the prudent men shall be hid. Before, he bad them stay themselues & wonder, that men should be drunken but not with wine; & stag­ger, but not with strong drinke: The cause followeth, the Lord had covered them with a spirit of slumber, and shut their eies.

There are many and mighty nations at this day; their soile most happy, their aire sweetly disposed; people, for flesh and bloud, as to­wardly as the ground carrieth, most provident to forecast most inge­nious to invent, most able & actiue to performe, of whōe you would say, if you tried them, Surely this is a wise people, and of great vnderstan­ding. To whome notwithstanding if Christ shoulde speake in person, as he spake to Saule before his illumination, why persecutest thou mee? why do you stumble at my gospell, and are offended at my name, and account the preaching of my crosse foolishnesse? they woulde aske as hee did, who art thou? or what is thy gospell, name, and crosse, that thou tellest vs of? So blind they are to beholde our day-spring, so ignorant and vntaught touching Iesus of Nazareth. Or if we should aske them of the holy ghost,Act. 19. haue you received the holy ghost since you beleeved? nay doe you beleeue that there is an holy ghost? they would answere as the Ephesians did to Paul, we haue not so much as heard whether there be an holy ghost, What new doctrine is this? they seeme to bee setters forth of new Gods, and though they acknovv­ledge some God, which nature it selfe obtrudeth vnto their thoughts, yet they know not the God of Sydrach, Misach, & Abednego, whom Na­buchodonosor with that difference confessed,Dan. 3. after his vnderstāding was restored vnto him;Dan. 6. nor the God of Daniell, whome Darius by that name magnified, after he saw the deliverāce of his prophet from the lions den; nor the God of Abraham, Isaac, & Iacob, to whom the pro­mises were made; nor the Lord God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land here specified.

Is it not a wonder, thinke you, that the people of the Turkes, the hammer of the world, (as sometimes Babylon) the rod of christen­dome, able to say (as the Psalme spake of Gilead and Manasses, &c.) A­sia is mine, Africke is mine, over Europe haue I cast my shooe, a warlike, politicke, stately, magnificent nation, shoulde more bee carried avvaie by the enchantmentes of their lewde Prophet Mahomet, then by the celestiall doctrine of the everlasting sonne [Page 67] of GOD, who shed his bloud, and gaue his soule a ransome for the sinne of mankinde? what is the reason heereof? vvant they na­ture? or an arme of flesh? are they not cutte from the same rocke? are they not tempered of the same moulde? are not th [...]ir heades vp­warde towarde heaven, as the heades of other men? haue they not reasonable soules, capable and iudicious? VVhat wante they then? It is rectus spiritus, a right spirite, whereof they are destitute:Psal. 51. they haue a spirite (I graunte) to enliue their bodies, but not recti­fied, sanctified, regenerated, renewed, to quicken their soules. They haue an hearte to conceiue, but it is a frowarde hearte, a slowe hearte, a stonie hearte, a vaine and foolish hearte, a skornefull, con­temptuous, insolent, incredulous heart, against him that framed it. Now if AEgypt bee so darke that the darkenesse thereof may be felt, and it is a wonder in our eies, to see such mistes in other pla­ces; yet let Goshen reioyce that it standeth illightned still. And those that haue seene an happye starre in the East to leade them to Christ, which Herode and his princes, the Turke and his Bassaws never sawe, let them come and worship, and bring presentes vnto the king of glory: not of golde, mirrhe, and frankincense, but of the finest mettall, purest odours, frankest offering of thankfull harts: And let them not thinke, but where more is received, more vvill bee required; and that they must answere to the Lorde of these ta­lentes, not onelye for nature, but for a speciall inspiration besides, wherewith they are endued. And so to ende this point; Blessed are your eies, for they see, and your eares▪ for they heare, (I will not say) that which many Prophets and righteous men haue desi­red; but to change the speech a little, that which many mighty Em­pires and large Continentes, and not small cantons or corners, but vvhole quarters of the world, never attained vnto, and will bit­terly rue the time, and wish to redeeme vvith the losse of both their eies, that they haue not heard and seene as much as you haue done.

To come now to my purpose; these marriners feare,2. They cri­ed every man vpon God. but where no feare is; they feare nothing, because they feare but idols and fansies, the suppositiōs of their owne braines. And as they feare, so they pray, which was the second action; and (their errour therein being pardo­ned) a naturall, necessary service belonging to every mortall man: & their praier is consequent to their feare. For vpon the reverence they carried towards their imaginary Gods, they betooke themselues to this submissiue and suppliant service. ‘[Page 68] Statius.Primus in orbe Deos fecit timor:’ Vnles we feared, we could not thinke that there were a God. But this actiō of theirs, hath something good in it, something to be reproved.

1 In that they pray, it sheweth the debility and weaknes of the na­ture of man, if it be not holpen: and commendeth the necessity and vse of prayer in all sorts of men.

2 In that they pray with crying & vehemency, it noteth that their harts were fixed & earnestly lōged for that which their lips craved.

3 In that they cry to their Gods, it proveth it a tribute due vnto God alone by the practise of heathen men.

4 In that they pray every man, as if in a common cause, (though they had not a common religion) yet they had one soule, hart, and tongue common to them all, it noteth the communion and fellow­ship of mankinde. Thus far the observations hold good. Their pray­ing sheweth the misery of mortall men: crying in praier, their ear­nest desire to obtaine: praying to Gods, the maiesty of the immortal power: praying togither, that bond of humanity and brotherhood, wherewith we are coupled.

5 Their errour is a part of their obiect, in the number of the Gods which they invocate, that every person in the ship hath a proper and peculiar God whome he calleth vpon.

The Gods of the nations haue beene multiplied as the sandes of the sea;Every man vpon his God. Exigua thuris impe [...]sa. Curt. Rom. 1. what haue they not deified? it cost but a little frankincense, to giue the godhead vvhere it pleased them: they haue turned the glorye of the immortall God into the similitude of the image of corruptible man, and of birdes, and foure footed beastes, and of creeping thinges. Be­sides the sunne and moone, and the whole hoast of heaven, they haue consecrated for Gods, the sonnes of men, vvhose breath is a vapour in their nostrels, vvho shall be consumed before the vn­profitable mothes; of which foolish idolatry, one of their owne sophists sometime spake in derision,Theocri [...]u [...] in Cle. Alex protrep. Bono estote animo, quando Dij mo­riuntur ante homines, Be of good courage, since Gods die before men. And not only men haue they thus hallowed, but their qualities and ver­tues, Iustice, Prudence, & the like: yea their affections & perturbatiōs, Feare, Hope, Loue, with the rest, wherof Lactantius writeth, Audax con­silium Graeciae, De fall relig lib. 1. cap. 10 quòd Cupidinem & Amorem consecrant, Greece was very bold in making Loue a God. Shal I adde moreover, the defects & infirmities of men?Dea Muta, Ibid. they had their dumbe Goddesse; by Lactātius a thing most ridiculously taxed in them: Quid praestare colenti potest, quae loqui non potest? what good can shee do to her suitors, that cannot speake? [Page 69] They are not yet filthy enough, vnlesse they erect altars and shrines to theis vices, to Impudencie, and Contumelye, Clem. Ale [...] in protrep [...] as Epimenides did at Athens; and to those plagues which their sinnes deserved, as to Fu­ries, and Fiends, Revenge, and the like mischiefes. Tullus Hostilius put Feare & Palenes in the number of his Gods; It is pitty (saith Lactanti­us) that ever his Gods should go from him.Pavorem, pallorem (que) ▪ And the people of Rome helde Rust, and the Ague in no lesse account. The fruites of the grounde as Corne and Wine, the very land markes in the fields,Terminus. Stercutiu [...]. rude & unshapen stones, were not debarred of this honor. They had their God for dunging their lande, and (the basest thing that coulde bee imagined) a goddesse for their draught-houses. Cloacina, Bacchus. Venus. Lavern [...]. And not to disquiet any longer Christian eares with their hethnish absurdities; drunkards harlots and the eues, were not lefte without their patrons. A Poet of their owne inveighed against their multitude of Gods in a Satyre long since,

Nec turba deorum
Talis vt est hodie, contentá (que) sydera paucis
Numinibus,
Iuvenal▪
miserum vrgebant Atlanta minore
Pondere.

There were not wont to be so many Gods as now a daies, the hea­vens were content with a smaller number of them, & laid lesse bur­then vpon the shoulders of poore Atlas. We read in the history of the sacred booke, that Astaroth was the idoll of Zidon, Melchon of Am­mon, Chemosh of Moab, Beelzebub of Ekron; & for every natiō that came out of Asshur to inhabit Samaria, who were therfore destroyed by lyons,2. King. 1 [...] (because they knew not that maner of worship which the God of the country required,) a several God was found out; for the men of Babel, Succoth-Benoth; for the men of Cuth, Nergal; for Hamath, Ashima; Nibhaz & Tirtak for the Avims; for Shepharvaim, Adramelech & A­nammelech, to which they burnt their children in the fire.

Tantum religio potuit suadere malorum,

So much mischiefe coulde their verie religion persvvade vnto them. Lactantius setteth dovvne the cause of this vainenes,Jnstitut. [...]. 3. cap. 10. in the thoughtes, and darkenes in the harts of men, that wherein they professe themselues to bee most wise, therein they become most fooles. Men are therefore deceived, because eyther they take vpon them religion vvithout vvisedome, or studie vvisedome without religion; so they fall to many religions, but therefore false, because they haue forsaken vvisedome, vvhich coulde teach them that there cannot be many Gods: or they bestow their paines in wisedome, but [Page 70] therefore false, because they haue let slip the religion of the highest God, which might instruct them in the knowledge of truth. To shew the absurdities, wherwith this opiniō floweth, of devising many Gods Cyprian proveth that the maiesty and sublimity of the godhead can­not admit an equal.De vanītate idolorum. tract 4. Quando vn. quam aut cum fide cae­pi [...], aut sine [...]ruore des [...]? Sic [...]heba­norum gor­manitas ru­p [...]a. Let vs borrow an example from the earth, saith he: when did you ever know society & communion in a kingdome, either begin with fidelity, or end without bloudshed? Thus was ger­manity and brotherhood broken betwixt the Thebans, (Eteocles and Polynices.) One kingdome could not hold those brethren of Rome (Romulus & Remus) though the harbor of one wōbe contained thē. Pompey & Cesar, though so nearly allied, yet they could not endure,

Caesarvé priorem.
Pompeiusvé parem—

either Caesar his better, or Pom­pey his peere. Neither mervaile (sath he) to see it thus in man, when all nature doth consent therein. The bees haue but one king; flocks and heards but one leader;Rex unus est apibus &c. much more hath the world but one go­vernour. That which was spoken to this effect in general, [...] ▪ That the kingdome of many governours is not good; Caesar applied to his owne name [...], in exception to the multitude of Caesars or Emperours. The colledge of Bishops in Rome answered Marcellus, when he would haue built but one tem­ple both to Honour and vertue,Vna cella du obus diis non rectè dic [...]da Val Max▪ One chappel or chancel cannot wel be dedicated to two Gods. I often alleadge Lactantius in these mat­ters, a man that hath notably deserved of the gospell of Christ, a­gainst the vanities of Gentilitie, who being as it were a streame issu­ing from the eloquence of Tully (as Ierome commanded him) con­verted all the force o [...] his eloquence to assault,Quasi qui dam fluvius eloquentiae Tullianae. beate downe, van­quish, triumph over the enemies of true religion. Thomas Beacon a countrey man of ours in an epistle to D. Nowell (Cherubin to Che­rubin,) giveth him this commendation to close vp his appetite a­mongst many others before vttered;Caelius La­ctantius Firmianus. I cannot but cry out. O Celius, a man truely celestiall and divine: O Lactantius, an authour sweeter then any milke, and hony: O Firmianus, a champion in defending Christian veritie, most firme, faithfull and constant: Behold the man, &c. alluding to his happy names which he rightly fitted by answera­ble good conditions. This Lactantius presseth his arguments nearer to the marke:De fals [...]elig lib. 1. cap. 3 Minut habebunt singuli [...]er [...] ▪ If there bee more Gods then one, then singlelie and apart they must needes haue lesse strength; for so much shall bee wanting to every one, as the rest h [...]ue gleaned from him: and the nature of goodnesse cannot bee perfitte and absolute, but vvhere [Page 71] the whole, not where a litle portion of the whole is. It they shall say, that as there are sundry offices to bee looked vnto,Virtutis per­fecta naturae &c At officia multi parti. ta sunt. so they are divi­ded amongst many officers, all commeth to the same ende. For their severall iurisdictions cannot exceede their bounds, because they are crossed & kept in by others, as two contrary windes cannot blow to­gither in one place. For if they haue equall force, one hindereth the other; if vnequall, the vveaker of the two must perforce yeelde. Againe, if offices be shared amongst them, besides that the care of every God will goe no farther then his owne charge and province, they must of necessitie often fall out, as they did in Homer, where the cou [...]t is devided into two fact [...]ons, some alleadging for Troy, that it should be defended; otheir against it, that it should be sacked. If in an army of men, there should be as many generals, as there are regimentes, bandes and companies, neither coulde they well aray, nor easilie governe and holde in their souldiers. And to say that the worlde is ruled by the disposition of many Gods, is such a kinde of speech, as if a man shoulde affirme, there were many mindes in one body, because the members thereof haue divers ministeries, every sense to haue a peculiar minde set over it; which who so saith, Ne ipsam quidem quae una est habe­re videatur. pro­veth himselfe destitute of that which is but one in every man. But a­mongst the rest there is some one principall supereminent, as Anti­sthenes sometime said that there were many Multi dit populares▪ u­nus natura­lis. [...]. Nec opus est proprio vo­cabulo, nisi cum nomen exigit mul­titudo. S [...]om. 5. Non vt no­mē eius pro­ferentes di­cimus▪ sed propter rei in [...]ffa [...]ilis ampli [...]udinē Exod 3. Ego sum ex­istens, se ip­sum non ex­istentibus opponem. popular Gods, having tuition of the div [...]rs nations and people of the world (perhappes hee meant vulgar and triviall Gods;) and but one naturall, by vvhome the vvhole creature was formed; then are the rest not Gods, (La­ctantius inferreth) but servantes and attendantes. He addeth to his former conf [...]tations, the testimony of the Sibelles, that there is but one only God; and the reason which Mercurius Trismegistus brin­geth why God is without name, is because hee is but one, and one hath no neede of any name: for there is no vse of a proper name for distinction from the rest, but where there are more of the same kind to enforce it. Clemens Alexandrinus frameth the like discourse; that which is one, is not subiect to division: vvherefore it is infinite and wanteth both difference and name. For though we call him vnpro­perly sometimes, either one, or good, or that that is, or father, or God, or maker, or Lorde, wee do not this to declare his name, but to shew the amplenesse of an vnexplicable substance. To conclude; God ter­meth himselfe, Iam [...], opposing his being and existence to thinges that are not, as Iustine Martyr collecteth in his oration to the Greekes: and as it appeareth by the same father, there vvas no [Page 72] difference in describing the nature of the godhead betwixt Moses (if I may so speake) a Plato amongst the Hebrewes, and Plato a Moses amongst the Athenians, but a little varying the article; for where the one writeth hee that is, the other writeth that that is, both ten­ding to the same scope, [...]. that the everlasting being of one only God, might be averred. Hee furthermore witnesseth, that Plato tooke de­light, and spent much contemplation in the brevity of that speech, consisting but of one participle (we may say, particle) as one percei­ving therein, that, when God had a purpose to reveale his eternitye to Moses, hee chose to do it by a word; which being but one sylla­ble amongst the Greekes, doth notwithstanding signifie and con­taine 3. times, that which is past, that which is present, & that which is to come: all which are indistincte in God, because hee is not chan­ged, but is yesterday, today, and the same for evermore. I haue shewed you the errour of the Gentiles, together with the vnprobabilitye and absurdity thereof, in forging to themselues, and consequently fearing, adoring, honouring many Gods. In regard of our selues, I grant, an impertinent speech; (for though there be that are called Gods, whether in heaven or in in earth, as there be Gods manie, and Lords many, yet to vs there is but one God; and we know, that an idoll is nothing in the world;) but because everye man hath not knowledge (as the Apostle continu­eth his speech,) and some men haue not conscience; the infidell through ignorance, on the one side, mistakinge; and the Athe­ist through malitiousnesse, on the other side, denying and defying; and the papist in a thirde crewe, through heresie, in manner devi­ding that one onely God, by giving his glory as greate as himselfe, to angelles and Saintes, the vvorkes of his fingers; it is not a­misse to bee stored vvith all kinde of proofes on this behalfe, that some may bee instructed, others convinced, silenced, vtterly con­founded.

3 And cast forth their wares.The third action specified in these marriners, is the casting forth of their wares to lighten their shippe: which some ascribe in parte to religi­on, as if their intent were to make some satisfaction, and to paci­fie their Gods, if by piracye, or other vnlawfull meanes they had taken ought before. Others impute it to necessitie alone, and, mee thinketh, the text speaketh for them, To lighten it. For it is no vnusuall practise in perill of shipwracke, to disburthen the shippe. So did Paule and his companye in the 17. of the Actes, by reason of that ieopardye vvherein they stoode: one daye they cast out vvares, the next daye vvith their ovvne handes, they cast awaie [Page 73] their tacklings: for in such extremities they must conclude as the Philosopher once did, I had perished if I had not perished, Perier [...]m nisi periissē wee loose our liues, vnlesse wee loose our goods.

The order and proceeding they hold, is very good, and which the children of the light neede not scorne to imitate. First they try their Gods by supplication; then they consult of their meanes, and likelyhoods, for the preservation of themselues. Which order o­thers pervert, vsing God but for a shifte, and at second hand, if hap­pily by other devise wee are not able to withstand a mischiefe: Ne [...] Deus oratur, nisi dignus vindice nodus Inciderit; wee never vse the aide of God, but when the knotte is so hard, that our selues cannot vn­dooe it. Wee are all reasonable creatures, and God will vse vs for the most parte in matters apperteyning to our good, as living and reasonable instruments. What else was the reason that Naaman the Syrian Lorde, was willed to goe and wash himselfe seaven times in Iordan, when there was a God in Israell,2. King. 5. that could haue restored his flesh, as hee first formed it, with a word of his mouth, as the Centurion spake in the gospell, Say but the word Lord?Esa. 3 [...] and that they were bidden to take a lumpe of drie figges, and laie vp­on the boile of Ezekias, and hee shoulde recover his sickenesse, when the Lorde had before tolde him, I haue heard thy prayer, and seene thy teares; beholde, I will adde vnto thy daies 15. yeares?Iohn. 9. and that the blinde man in the gospell, was sent to wash his eies in Siloam, and hee went, and returned seeing, when our saviour had made a play­ster of spittle and clay, and applied to the parte affected? what els is the meaning hereof, but that wee must not eschewe such ordina­ry and honest helpes as God hath designed? The sluggard lusteth, Chap. 13. as it is in the Proverbs, but his soule hath nothing; Doubtlesse, because he doth but lust and will not follow it;Ibid. 19. For hee hideth his hande in his bo­some, and it grieveth him to put it to his mouth. Hee that will feede such slowe bellies, and slacke handes, deserveth to vvante himselfe. The desires of the slothfull slaie him, for his handes refuse to worke: Ibid. 21. you heare the right properties of a sluggarde; hee is vvholye made of desires, lustes, appetites, wishings, longings, but it is death vnto him to thrust forth a finger, for the atchieuement of anye thinge. They had an evasion to the like effect, to colour their idlenesse withall, in auncient times, which the Philosophers called the idle reason. For thus they disputed: [...]. Ignavara­tio. If it bee thy destinye to recover of such a sicknesse, vvhether thou shalt vse a Physition or not vse him, thou shalt recover &c. I would haue such patrons of [Page 74] idlenes vsed, as Zeno vsed his servant, who being taken with thefte and alleadging for himselfe that it was his destiny to steale, his mai­ster aunswered,Eruson. And thy destiny to be beaten; and accordingly re­warded him. If these marriners had so disputed, or sitten vpon the hatches of their ship, their armes folden togither, and their heartes onely desiring to escape, their sorrows had there presently bene en­ded; but neither their hearts nor hands were vnoccupied. And ther­fore, as in the curing of bodilie diseases, though of the most highe commeth healing,Eccle. 38. yet the phisition must be honoured with that ho­nour that belongeth vnto him, and the apothecary maketh the con­fection: as in the warres of Israell against M [...]dia, the sworde of the Lorde and of Gedeon went together,Iud. 7. and the cry of the people was not left out; and, as in preventing this ship-wracke, spirites and bo­dies, praier and labour, heaven and earth (If I may so say,) vvere conioyned: so in all the affaires and appertenaunces of our liues, we must beware of tempting God. We must not lie in a ditch sullen, and negligent of our selues, and looke to be drawne out by others; nor thinke to bee fed as the young ravens, without sowing; neyther to bee clothed as lillies of the fielde, without spinning and labouring: health commeth not from the cloudes without seeking, nor wealth from the cloddes without digging. Wee must cast our care vpon God, that yet wee bee not carelesse, and dissolute in our owne sal­vation: O di homines ignavâ operâ, philosophâ sententiâ; I hate men that happily haue good and provident thoughtes,Pacuvius. but they will take no paines. That which Metellus sometime spake by number, I holde a trueth in him that is without number,Vnus & (si dici debet,) vnissimu [...]. Ber. ad Eu­gen. Our one and one-most God: ijs­dem deos propitios esse aequum est, qui sibi adversarij non sunt: It is meete that God favour them, who are not enimies and hinderers to them­selues.

But to leaue this point, there is a time, I perceiue, when the ri­ches of this world are not worth the keeping, especially compared with the life of man. Their wares, adventures and commodities, and not onely the ballast of the ship, but the necessary implements, furniture, (for the original word, though signifying a vessell in parti­cular, is a generall name for all such requisite provision,) their victu­all, munitions, and whatsoever was of burthen besides, are they con­veied & landed by boat, or any way thought vpon to be saved? nay, they are throwne into the sea, to lighten their ship, vvithout ever hope of recovery. It [...]s a proverbe iustified by trueth, though the father of lies spake it,Iob. 2. Skin for skin, and all that a man hath, will hee giue [Page 75] for his life. And it is a rule in nature allowed,Ephes. 5. No man ever hated his owne flesh, nay rather hee will nourish and cherish his life, as the Lorde his Church. Is not the life more worth then meate, and thy body then rayment? Math. 6. Prover. 16. Tam vita vivit quam angelus. will not a man giue his riches for the ransome of his life? The poorest worme in the earth, which hath a life, (saith Austin) as vvell as the Angell in heaven, will not forgoe that life without resisting. If either hornes or hoofes, or tuskes, or talentes, or beakes, or stinges of beasts, birds, flies, vnreasonable creatures may withstand, they will not spare to vse their armour and weapons of nature to defende themselues with­all.

Is the life of the bodye (my beloved brethren) so deare, and is not the life of the soule more precious? is the life present so tender, and the life to come so much inferiour? will you vnlode a shippe to saue it? vvill you burthen and surcharge a soule to destroy it? shall the necessary instrumentes of the one be throwne out, and shall not the accessary ornamentes, superfluous, sumptuous, riotous delightes of the other bee departed with? or, are not soules better then bodies? and incorruptible liues hereafter, better then these present, subiecte to corruption? or, are not riches a burthen to your soules? Ho, hee that encreaseth that which is not his owne, Abbac. 2. and hee that ladeth himselfe with thicke clay: how long? Are not riches a loade? or what doubt you of? I know your aunswere, wee encrease but our owne. Your owne? who intiteled you thereto? Is not the earth the Lords, and the ful­nesse thereof? are you Coloni or Domini; Lordes of the earth, or til­lers, manurers, dressers, dispensers? Ierome vvriteth of Abraham,Senec. and other rich patriarches of former age, that they vvere rather to bee tearmed the bayliues of the Lorde, then riche men.Dispensa [...] ­res magi [...] Dei quam divites ap­pellandi. But vvere it your owne; hath the sea barres or doores to keepe it in, and is your appetite without all moderation? How long? is there no ende of en­creasing? The widdow in the 2. of the Kings, that had her liberty gi­ven to borrow as many vessels for oile to pay her debts, as her neigh­bours could spare her, had as large a scope, I am sure, and with better authority then ever was proposed to you: yet there was a time when she said to her son, giue me yet a vessel, & hee answered, there are no more vessels; and the oile ceased▪ and I doubt not, but with the oile, her de­sire ceased to. It may be, you haue filled your vesselles with oile, your owne and your neighbours, your garners, your coffers, your bagges, your warehouses, your fieldes, your farms, your children are ful. I aske againe with the prophet; How long? do you ever thinke to fill your hearts? The barren wombe, vnmercifull graue, vnsatiable death [Page] will sooner bee satisfied. It is a bottomlesse purse: the more it hath the more it coveteth. See an image hereof. Alcmaeon being willed by Croesus to go into his treasure-house, & take as much gold as he could carry away with him, provided for that busines a long hanging gar­ment, downe to his ankles, and great bootes, and filled them both; nay he stuffed his mouth, and tyed wedges of gold to the locks of his head; I thinke, but for hurting his braine, hee woulde haue ferst the skull of his head, and the bowels within his breast, if hee coulde haue spared thē. Here is an hart set vpon riches, & riches set vpon an hart; heapes of wealth like the hils that wants cast vp: Cumuli, tumuli, eve­ry hill is a graue, every heape a tombe to bury himselfe in. Is this to dispence? Is this to exercise bayliwickes? Is this to shewe fidelity in your maisters house? In fewe wordes I exhorte you, if the ship bee too full, vnlade it; cast your goods into the sea, least they cast your selues; cast your bread vpon the waters, distribute your mercies to the needy, where you looke for no recompence. It is not certaine, it is not likely, and so it may fall out, that it is not possible for those that are rich, to enter into the kingdome of heaven. You can dissolue that rid­dle, I know: our saviour, you say, meant of such as trust in riches: & do not you trust in them? Do you not say to the wedge of golde, in the applause that your selues giue to it, Thou art my confidence? Do you not plant, build, purchase, adde house to house, ioine fielde to field, put to vse, grinde, eate, teare, racke, extort to the outtermost? what meaneth such costlines in your houses, delicacy at your tables, stately habiliments vpon your wiues and daughters, insolent neigh­bourhood against your brethren, like the malignant aspect of vnluc­kie planets vpon them, discountenancinges, disturbings, disposses­sings of them, but that you trust in riches? Where is your trust in the living God meane time, richnes in good workes, readines to distribute and communicate, [...] Tim. 6. which the Apostle preached to Timothy, and willed him to giue in charge, (because such hard doctrine must bee driven in with hard hammers) to those that are rich in this present worlde, least they be deprived of those incorruptible riches which God hath sto­red vp? where are your morsels of bread to feede the hungry, your fleeces of woll to warme the loynes of the naked, hospitality in your halles, bounty at your gates, liberality in your hands? I thinke, you keepe the rule of the gospell, that the right hand knoweth not vvhat the left doth, because neither right nor left doth any thing. I like the advise of an heathen well:Concin [...] [...], magis p [...]obo quam l [...]ngā. Vse thy wealth, as thou wouldest vse thy coate; let it bee rather fit then too long. A little may bee a bur­then, [Page 77] but in too much there is no question, In the land of Havilah there is good gold; In the land of the living, in the land of promise, in the land of heavenly Ierusalem, there is good golde indeede, golde tried in the fire, in the third of the revelation, where neither moth nor rust can corrupt, nor theefe purloine it: gold of more worth, than all the mines of the earth can send vp. O thirst after this gold, if you must needes thirst; be covetous after durable riches: Lay vp trea­sures for your selues in heauen, and of your vnrighteous Mammon, (neither well gained perhaps, and ill kept, and worse laide out) make friends in time, that they may receiue you into the heavenly taber­nacles: saue your shippes, if it may be, and saue your liues; but saue your soules, though you lose your wares, your shippes, and your lives to.

THE SIXT LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 5.‘But Ionas was gonne downe into the sides of the shippe, and he lay downe, and was fast a sleepe.’

THE marriners had throwen out their wares,The third person Io­nas. but the greatest burthen was behinde, the sinne of Ionas; for wickednes is as a talent of lead, Zach. 5. the weight whereof cannot be expressed. Salt and sande, Eccle. 32. and a lumpe of iron is easier to beare, then an vnwise, foolish, & vn­godly man. We see by the proofe of this ex­ample, that the sinne of one private person is likely to sinke a shippe in the middest of the sea; and Peter thought it of force to overturne more then one, Luke 5. For when the two shippes were so fraught with fish, that they were ready to sinke, he fell downe at the knees of Iesus, and said, goe from me Lorde, for I am a sinfull man; thinking that his sinne had so endaungered them. They say,Elementum in loco suo non pōderat. no element is ponderous in the proper place of the element; wee feele not the weight of the aire, though we liue in the circle of it; the water of the sea, as much as the whole chānel holdeth, if we lay in the nethermost bottome ther­of, would not offend vs with burthen, though annoy vs otherwise: so is it in the estimatiō of sin; it seemeth not a burthē in the wil of man, [Page 78] wherein the region and elemente of sinne is, because of that lust and appetite the will hath to commit sinne: but bring it from the house and home where it dwelleth, convent it before reason, exa­mine it with iudgment and vnderstanding, consider what an infinit maiesty it offendeth, and what infinit plagues it bringeth forth, then shall wee know the weight of sinne. No sooner had Ionas entered the ship, but the sea, which was at rest before, feeling a burthen more then common, came forth like a bride-groome out of his chamber and channell, to ease it selfe, and to shake his bones with an ague that troubled the quiet therof:Homil. 5. ad pop. that we may learne, (saith Chrysost.) vbi peccatum, ibi procella, where sinne is, there will also bee a storme; and if wee will saue our selues, wee must drowne sinne as they drow­ned▪ Ionas. The sleepe of Ionas is as strange, prodigious, and bru­tis [...] kind of sleepe, as ever I hearde of. The windes rage, the sea roareth, the ship tottereth and groaneth, the marriners feare, and pray, and cry, euery soule in the ship, so many persons vpon so many Gods, (it was as the howling of Baals Priestes, or as the yelling of wolues) they runne to and fro, they ransacke all the corners of the ship, vnbowell her in most celles, throwe out commodities, rende and rape downe tackles, sailes, all implementes; Ionas in the meane time, as a man possest with the deafe Divell, Marke 7. or as one that had lost his soule, as they write of Hermotimus, that his soule would depart from the body at times and come home againe, sleepeth. If a theefe should come to robbe, woulde hee not steale till hee had enough? If grape-gatherers should come to a vine, would they not leaue some grapes? O­badiah 5. Beholde, the customer of the life of man, who taxeth halfe our daies to his owne vse,A [...]rocissi­mus vitae humanae publicanus, somnus. commeth vpon Ionas, and is not content with ordinary, moderate fees, but bereaveth him of all sense. And no oratour in the world, could better haue described this drowsines, to the disgrace of Ionas, than Ionas himse [...]fe.

Ionas was gonne downe.1 He descended. Hee staid not vpon the hatches, to visite the light of heaven, to behold the waues of the sea, his persecutours, but re­moved as far from God and his anger, as his heart could devise; she­wing that his workes were evill, because he buried himselfe in darke­nesse. A sinner ever descendeth till hee commeth to the lowest that may bee; his affections are down-wardes, and, I am sure, his inheri­tance and hope is not aboue; but as wee bury dead flesh vnder the ground, so it is not vnlikely of deade soules; and as the heaviest bo­dies draw to the center of the earth, so the saddest and heaviest spi­rites, which the mercy of God hath forsaken.

[Page 79]2 He descended not into the bosome & through fare of the ship,Into the sides or thighes. where the passage of the marriners vp and downe might haue distur­bed him, but into the sides or thighes of it.

3 He descended into the sides of the keele, Of the keele, cati­nae. the veriest bottome that the vessell had. I thinke, if there had beene a vault in the shippe as deepe as hell and destruction it selfe, hee woulde haue entered there­into.

4 Hee descended into the shippe,He lay downe. not to bestow time in any ser­viceable imployment, for the furtherance of the voiage, but to lye downe.

5 Not for the ease of his body alone to giue it some short repose,And slept. but to sleepe.

6 Nay he slept and slept, Endimions sleepe, Somno sopitus est, Was fast a sleepe. it vvas an heavy, stupide, deadly sleepe.

The best inducement to sleepe, you know, where the body is apt­ly framed vnto it, is stillnesse and quietnes;Ovid. 11. Metamor. and therefore the Poet describeth the place of sleepe to bee in a vault of the earth, where the light of the sunne never commeth; a long gallery or porch lea­ding vnto it to remoue it from the assembly of people; no doore to the house, least the turning of the hinges should disquiet his ease; and neither dog, nor cocke, nor goose, nor any wakefull creature, to breake silence, nor tree to make a noise: thus is he lodged vpon a bed of downe, in a bedsteede of ebony, free from the annoiance of any thing.

This was the reason that the Sybarites, a sleepie, lascivious, rio­tous nation of men (who would lodge themselues for pleasure, in beddes of violettes,) the better to take their ease, banished cockes from their citties, and all kindes of trades, wherein hammeringes or noise might be vsed. Ionas hath nothing in the world, neither with­out nor within to invite sleepe: clamours, and commotions, and cur­sitations one way; vexation and trouble of heart an other way; these were his helpes. Admitt he were weary with travell from the citty to the haven, as Iacob was weary when he went to Haram, and lay downe by the way, and slept vpon a pillow of stone: what? so vvea­ry that neither the voice of men, nor God, nor conscience, nor the voice of the shippe, which as before I noted, yearned in her inward spirit, and thought to be rent, could awake him?Gen. 2. The sleepe of Adam was an heavy sleepe, so the text tearmeth it, when God tooke a rib from his side, and closed vp the flesh againe, and hee felt it not: But the reason is there given, God cast him into it; it was a matter de­vised [Page 80] and composed before hand. The sleepe of Sisera Iudg. 4. was an heavy sleepe, when a naile was driven into the temples of his head: But he had runne one foote from the battaile, and was wearied with hotte pursuit. The sleepe of Isboseth 2. Sam. 4. an heavy sleepe, when his two captaines slew him at noone, vpon his bed: But the heate of the day procured that sleepe. The sleepe of Sampson Iudg. 16. an heavy sleepe, when the 7. locks of his head were shaven off: But the charmes and enticements of Delilah caused him to sleepe vpon her knees. The sleepe of Eutyches, Act. 20, an heavy sleepe, when he fell from the third lofte, and was taken vp dead: But the night, which was the time of rest, was far spent; that reason Scipio giveth, and it holdeth in nature, Quia ad multam noctem vigilassem, arctior me somnus complexus est: Because I had watched long til a great part of the night was spēt, I fell into a deeper sleepe. It was a marveilous sleepe which Lot was surprised with, when his two daughters abused themselues with him, and he neither perceived when they lay downe, nor when they rose vp: But the text noteth their shamelesse pollicy, They gaue him wine to make him sleepe. The seaven sleepers in the time of Decius the Emperour, (if the history deceiue vs not) slept in an hill, by a mi­racle; Epimenides the Cretian slept fourescore yeares in a caue, (they that say fewer, say enough,) beyond a miracle, and I nothing doubt but beyond the trueth. Surely the sleepe of Ionas, though neither so fabulous as some, nor so miraculous as others, and more vnproba­ble then the most, is, for the time, not inferior to any before mentio­ned, and no right cause can be rendred of it.

1 For what can we say? was it because he was vexed, and troubled in his spirit? as the disciples of Christ, Matthew the 26. and in the num­ber of the disciples, the choice, Peter, Iohn, and Iames, to whome our Saviour came and saide; could ye not watch with me one houre? and a second time in the same manner? But they are there excused in parte by the weakenesse of nature, For their eies were heavy: and sure­ly the heavinesse of their eies came from the heavinesse of their spi­rits. 2 Or was it not rather the hardnesse and resolution of his heart, the dregges of sinne frozen and congealed within him, sin beyond measure sinfull, and beyond measure dull, that so oppressed him? Vndoubtedly there is a time and state in sinne (let it be heard at­tentiuely, that the enchantments thereof get not to deepe a posses­sion,) there is a time and state in sinne, when the heart is as fat as grease, the conscience feared as with hott irons: and, as they write of Dionysius Heracleote, though they thrust needles into his belly [Page 81] to let out his fat, by reason of his grossenesse hee felte them not; so vvounde, and extimulate, and grieue this head-strong iniquity ne­ver so much, it careth not, stoutly bearing it selfe against God and man; and as it hath no hope, so having in a manner no desperati­on. Such vvas the case of Catiline, vvhen hee had fired the cit­tye of Rome vvith his conspiracies, hee had no better comforte then this, Incendium meum ruina extinguam:Salust. I will quench the fire I haue kindled with a finall ruine; I vvill adde vvorse to evill, thirst to drunkennesse, and leaue the successe of my mischievous and vngratious actions, to the extreamest adventures,Lib. ep. 22 [...]. Nazian. Et malit meis velutē iam propriis & vernacu­lis adfave­bam. Lib. 1. Cyprian vvriteth of himselfe, who had sometime beene a great persecutour, and after­wardes proved a glorious Martyr, that being entangled in the errors of his former life, past hope of getting out, hee even gaue over him­selfe to his adherent vices, and favoured his sinnes as nowe become proper vnto him, borne as it were in his owne home, and incorpo­rate into his flesh and bones, by long acquaintance. And Bernard in his bookes of consideration to Eugenius, doth notablye describe an hard heart: what it is? (saith he) It is that which is not cut with compunctiō, (a rasour will sooner cut a whetstone) not softned with loue, not moved with intreaty, yeeldeth not to threatnings, with scourges is hardened, vnthankefull for benefits, vnfaithfull in counsels, vnmer­cifull in iudgments, shamelesse in dishonesty, rechlesse in daungers, in things appertaining to men, voide of humanity; in matters con­cerning God, full of temerity; vnmindfull of what is past, negligent of vvhat is present, improvident of vvhat to come. This mighte bee the cogitation of Ionas: I haue runne too farre in rebellion to returne, I know the worst that can befall me; but be it as it may, from henceforth sleepe my soule, and take thy ease, bury thy selfe in se­curity, and digest thy sorrow with carelesnesse. Or was it a spirite of slumber sent from God? was hee brought into this drowsinesse for 3 some ende vnknovvne vnto him? vvere his eyes helde of pur­pose (as the eyes of the two Disciples that vvent to Emaus) his sen­ses bounde vp that some extraordinary vvorke of GOD might aftervvardes bee manifested? There is a conflict and repugnancy heerein, which I know not howe to reconcile, a man so troubled in conscience, that hee descendeth into the sides of the ship, fly­ing the face of God, the face of men, the face of his owne person, the face of the light of heaven, not able to endure the face of the winds and seas, that were vp in armes against him, yet sleepeth. It is a­gainst all reason. For sleepe departeth from the eies of fearefull men, [Page 82] If they lay them downe, Iob. 7. they saie, vvhen shall I rise? they measure the houres of the night, they are full of tossing to and fro, vntill the dawning of the daie. When they saie, my couch shall relieue mee, and my bedde shall bringe comforte in my meditation, then are they feared vvith dreames, and astonished with visions. Ovid. Therefore the Poet called one of the sonnes of sleepe, Phobetor, a terrifier of men, presenting himselfe vn­to their phantasie in the likenes of beastes,Fit fera, fit volucris, sit toto corpere serpens. of birdes, of serpentes, of any thing that may affright the wicked. I neuer would haue thought that conscience could haue slept till this time: shee is so marked and observed by her owne eie, though no other eie perceiue her; so fol­lowed and chased by her owne foote, though nothing els in heaven or earth pursue her. Shee flieth when no man followeth; and hath a thousande vvitnesses within her owne breast, vvhen shee is free from the vvhole vvorlde besides. The worme that euer gnaweth, the fire that euer burneth, is the remembrance of her forepassed ini­quities. And though wee escape the handes of the living God, we shall finde it fearefull enough to fall into the handes of a living and yet dying conscience. But nothing in the world, I thinke, saue either a dulnesse of sinne incredible, and the next degree to a repro­bate sense, or els a purpose of God, to shewe the perfection of his power in the imperfection and weaknes of his prophet, could haue wrought this effect.

The ende of all is this. He neither slumbereth nor sleepeth that keepeth Israell, he waketh in heauen that hath an eie and care of Io­nas in his profound sleeping. Though smitten into the place of Dragons, or whales, and covered with the shaddow of death, he commeth to light againe;Psal. 68. though hee lieth amongst the pots, as an other Psalme spea­keth, in a filthy, fuliginous corner, as one forgotten, forsaken, for­lorne; he becommeth as a Doue, whose wings are of siluer, and her fea­thers of yellow golde, purified as it vvere by the finer of his soule, and re­stored to that beauty and perfection wherewith before he shone. Though he dwelleth in the land of forgetfulnes, Psal. 88. and is laid in the lowest pit, & in the deepe of displeasure, as a man without strength, free among the dead, and exiled from the living, and as the slaine in the graue, vvhome God re­membreth no more, (for such was the cabbin of security vvhich Ionas was entred into,) yet he is quickned vvith life, and broughte vp to heauen, to bee an example of mercy to those that vvere then vn­borne. Of iudgement and mercie may bee our songe; iudgement in the revenge, mercie in the deliveraunce of Ionas; iudgement in his flight and running from God, mercy in his retreate; iudgment [Page 83] in his sleeping, mercy in his rising vp. If God had not watched to preserue Ionas, (as when vvee all sleepe,Omnium somnos illiu [...] vigilanti [...] defendit. Psal. 76. Ier. 51. hee vvaketh for vs all.) Ionas might haue slept his sleepe, (to vse the phrase of the Psalme) and (as Ieremy expoundeth it) his everlasting sleepe; not that sweete sleepe of the body, vvherewith nature is refreshed, but of the soule in sinne, and of the body and soule in immortall perdition. If God shoulde haue saide vnto him touching the spirite of slumber now fallen vpon the spirite of Ionas, as our saviour saide to his disci­ples, touching the sleepe of their bodies, from henceforth sleepe and take thy rest, till thy eies sinke into the holes of thy heade, I will nei­ther come nor send to call thee vp againe; the night had compassed him in with darkenesse, and the pit had shut her mouth vpon him for ever.

Looke not my brethren for favour at the handes of God, so singu­lar as Ionas found; make not the watchfulnes of God an occasion to your sluggishnesse, neither sleepe you in sinne, because he sleepeth not in his providence and protection. Looke not that the sunne shall stand still any more, as it did to Iosuah; or go backe againe, as to Ezechias; or that Iordan shall flee from his place, the sea devide it selfe, and stande vp like vvalles, as to the children of Israell; nor that a voice shall bee hearde from heauen, or a light seene, be­sides the ordinary light of the firmament, as when Paule was con­verted. Do yee complaine that the arme of the Lorde is shortened in your daies, because yee see not the like signes? or will ye not be sa­ved without miracles? are your eies evill, because God hath a larger hande towardes other men? or is not his hande full enoughe to­vvarde vs, if vve knew our happinesse? vnlesse the course of the vvorlde be altered for our sakes, the pillars of the earth mooved, the channels of the vvaters discovered, vnlesse we see tokens in the sunne and the moone, and one rise from the deade, to giue vs warning, vvill wee not bee vvarned? The Iewes require a signe, and the Greekes seeke after wisedome, we preach Christ crucified:1. Cor. 1. and vvoe to the world, if the open face of the Gospell cannot mooue vs vvith­out a signe, nor the simplicitie of Christ Iesus persvvade vs vvith­out other vvisedome. Ionas vvas suffered to runne his race of disobedience, and vvhen hee had vvearied and spente himselfe in perverse vvaies, mightily brought backe: thou sayest, vvhy not I? I dispute not. God will measure his graces at his pleasure; and though they runne over to some, they are plentifull enoughe to vs all, as it is in the tenth to the Romanes. Hee that is Lorde o­over [Page 84] all, is rich vnto all that call vnto him. That answere which he gaue to Paule in an other case,Rom. 10. 2. Cor. 12. Sufficit tibi gratia mea, my grace sufficeth thee, may suffice all sutours. But if they will not returne to God, till they haue tempted his iustice, as farre as Ionas did; and bee cast into a bedde of sinne, as Iesabell into a bedde of fornication; and rocked a sleepe in the deepest security that can bee imagined, till they haue lyen like brandes in the fire wasted to the stumpe; Zach. 3. Amos. 3. or as a sheepe in the mouth of the Lyon, consumed to an eare or a legge, as the prophetes spake: in this case, if God giue them over al­so, and leaue them to perish in the fire, and in the lyons mouth, and in that bedde of rest vvhich their heartes haue coveted, their destruction is of themselues, for putting backe that accepted time, were it more or lesse, which God had offered them. But Io­nas findeth more favour with God, as appeareth by a message sent vnto him.

So the ship-maister came vnto him, & said vnto him, what meanest thou O sleeper? &c.

Verse 6. Text.The ship-master, or the master of the cable, the cordage, and tac­kle, commeth vnto Ionas, and biddeth him arise. I will not say what a shame it is to Ionas, that he which was apointed a watch-man vn­to others,Maior est poena à dam­nato damna­ri. Cypr. de sing. cler. should himselfe be awaked; nor how much the greater reproch to be condemned by an heathen, who himselfe was condem­ned by the sentence of the Hebrewes, for an vncircumcised com­mon and vncleane person. But me thinketh I see an image in the ship-master of a good governour, who is not content alone himselfe to take paines,Chap. 3. (which was the complainte of Nehemias, that the greate men of the Tekoites put not their necke to the vvorke) but so ordereth the rest of his company, (as the head and hart copartners in the kingdome, or one the king, the other the vice-roy, the mem­bers of the body) that there is not a man amongst them suffered to sit at rest, and do nothing.

The care of a governour over his charge is no way better expres­sed, then by the phrases which the scripture hath vsed. For there­fore is he said to go in and out before the people, to note not onely the pri­ority of his place, but the prudency of vertue every way, & to lead them as a shepheard his sheepe, on whome their dependance standeth, both for the safegard of their liues, and estate, and their provision other­wise. To forbeare other proofes herein; Moses nameth both at once in that serious request of his, which, after the knowledge of his death given,Num. 27. hee made to the Lorde for substitution of some other in his [Page 85] roume: Let the Lorde God of the spirites of all fleshe, apointe a man o­ver the congregation, who maie goe in and out before them: and both leade them forth, and bring them home againe, and that the congregation of the Lorde bee not as sheepe without a shephearde. It appeareth by a former speech by him vttered, that hee vvas not onelye charged vvith them as a leader with his follovvers, or a shephearde vvith his sheepe, but as a father, mother, or nurse vvith his children and sucking babes. Else, vvhy did hee aske his maker in tearmes of most naturall reference, haue I conceaved all this people? Num. 11. or haue I begot­ten them? that thou shouldest say vnto mee, carrie them in thy bosome, as a nurse beareth her sucking childe? Let masters and magistrates learne by this speech, that when they are put in authoritye, they re­ceiue as it vvere a role from the Lorde, like the role of Ezechiell, vvherein their duties are abridged, and summed vp in this shorte sentence, carrie them in thy bosome. For as a writing received imme­diately from the mouth of God, so doth Moses set it downe, or as if there had past some interlocution betwixte God and him; as much as to say; let them bee tender and deare vnto thine affection, let them bee vnder thine eye, and neare thine hearte, that they pe­rish not; pittie their miseries, redresse their wrongs, releiue their wants, reforme their errors, prevent their mishaps, procure their wel­fare and peace by all good meanes. It is an art of artes, and science of sciences, to rule man;Ar [...] artium, disciplina disciplinarū regere homi­nem. Nazi­anz. Superiores sunt, qui su­periores esse sciunt. Ber. ser. 23. in cant. Civium non servitus trae dita sed [...] tela. Nec resp. tu [...] sed tu reip. Senec. de [...]le, Strom. 5.2. de consid, ad Eugen. and they are magistrates indeed which haue the knowledge and skill that belongeth to magistrates; which haue ocu­lum cum sceptro, by which Embleme the AEgyptians figured their go­vernments, a scepter for iurisdiction and power, an eie for watchful­nes, and discretion. For if they interpret their callings aright, they haue not the bondage & service of the people, so much as the tutage of them. Neither is the common wealth theirs to vse as they list, but they the common wealths. What meant Clem. Alexandrinus in his fiction that he citeth out of Plato, that the former of all things, hath mingled gold with the complexion and temperature of princes; of their subordinate helpers and assessors, silver; but in the constitutions of husbandmen and artificers, brasse and yron; but that the excellen­test roumes should be furnished with the excellentest giftes, and as for meaner callings, they were sufficiently sped, if they had common and ordinary qualities? Sedes prima & vita ima, saith Bernard, the high­est place, and basest life agree not: and the ancient proverbe agreeth here vnto, Rex fatuus in solio, simia in tecto, a foolish king in a throne, is an ape vpon the house top, highly pearched, but absurdly conditioned. [Page 86] The example of good governors (we know) is of great force to draw the harts of the people after them;Nec si [...] in­flectere sen­sus &c. their proclamations and edicts are not so availeable to perswade, as their māners. Confessor papa, Confessor populus, saith Cypriā to Cornelius Bishop of Rome: where the prelate or pastour is confessour of the name of Christ, his people will con­fesse it also. When Shemaiah councelled Nehemias to flie into the temple, and shut the doores, because his enemies would that night come to slay him, he drew an argument of courage and magnanimity from the preheminence of his office, and withstood his perswasion; Should such a man as I slee? Nehem. 6. who is he, that being as I am, woulde goe into the temple to liue? I will not goe in. Where an harte leadeth the armye, though it consist wholy of lyons, hee maketh them all h [...]artes: but vvhere a lyon is captaine over hartes, hee turneth them all into ly­ons. The feare of Nehemias▪ beeing their prince and commaun­der, had beene enough to haue weakened the handes and heartes of all his flocke: for thus they vvoulde haue reasoned against themselues: Our leader is discomforted, vnder vvhose shaddow vvee saide, wee shall be safe. VVhat a mischiefe it is to a common vvealth,Lam. 4. to bee encumbred with a foolish, vntemperate ruler, the wisest preacher of the earth next the sonne of God, hath soundly defined in these wordes,Eccle. 10. Woe to thee O land, where thy king is a childe, and thy princes eate in the morning; vvhen they haue not wisedome to governe, and rather follow those pleasures which accompanye the honour and royalty of Princes, then the paines which their magi­stracy requireth. Whereas on the other side, the governement of an honourable and temperate magistrate bringeth singular blessinges with it;Ibid. Blessed art thou O land, when thy king is the sonne of Nobles, and thy princes eate in time, for strength, and not for drunkennes. What are the stayes and strengthes of Ierusalem and Iudah, cities and nations, all publique and politique bodies?Esay. 3 Are not the strong man and the man of warre, the Iudge and the prophet, the prudent and the aged, the captaine o­ver fiftie, the honourable and the counsellour, and so forth? And are not their ioyntes loosed, and their sinewes taken away, when that iudge­ment of God is fulfilled vpon them, I will apointe children to bee their princes, Ibid. and babes shall rule over them? Amongst those dreadfull cur­ses which the prophet calleth from heaven, against his malicious, vnthankefull adversaries, leaving no part vnexamined, but run­ning like oyle into every ioynte, and bone of them, smitinge themselues, vviues, children, posteritie, goods, good names, and memories that they leaue behinde them, the first that lea­deth [Page 87] them all the race, as Iudas led that cursed band of souldiours, is this, set thou a wicked man to be ruler over him. Psal. 100.

I haue hitherto commended the person of the shipmaster, &, vn­der this patterne or sampler, shewed the duety of all magistrates, who in the proportion and extent of their governement, bee it more or lesse, must care for the whole body of their subiectes, and shew a part of their diligence herein, that none of their company neglect the du­ties which to them appertaine.

Now for the nature and vse of government both by land and sea,The neces­sitie of go­vernment. De legib. 3. in houses and citties, in regions, in all mankinde, vvhole nature, and the vniversall world (as the oratour writeth,) how necessary and re­quisite it is, I also obserue in this, that the Maister of the shippe, hauing authority in his handes, rather then any of the inferiours, commeth vnto him to raise him vp, what meanest thou sleeper? Others might haue asked him, Quid tibi est? what meanest thou? and he haue made aun­swere againe, Quid vobis est? what meane you to trouble me? as they asked Moses, who made thee a man of authority and a Iudge over vs?Exod. 1. There must be a maistery and dominion in every order of men spe­cially designed, besides private perswasion or reproofe, to say vnto sleepers, why sleepe you? and to other offensiue and disordered per­sons either in Church, or in common wealth, why do ye thus?

Hoc puto non iustum est, illud male, rectius istud:

Persius [...]. 4.

Spiritu [...] vi­talis.

This is not right, that is evill, and the other is better. This is the band wherby the common wealth hangeth togither, the life-breath which these many thousande creatures draw, likely of themselues to prooue nothing, saue a burthen to themselues,Si mens illa imperii sub­trahatur. Senec. Arist. 1. Pol. and a booty to their enemies, if the spirite and soule of gouernment bee taken from them. For to rule and to be ruled, is not onely in number of thinges neces­sary, but convenient and commodious also. I will invert it: besides the commodiousnes it bringeth, it is of necessity; and cannot be mis­sed. In the beginning, when heaven and earth were first made, God established a superiority and rule both in other creatures before, af­ter their kindes, and afterwardes in man, Genesis 1. He made two greate lightes, the greater light to rule the daie, and the lesser light to rule the night. Not long after when he had created man, he invested him presently into imperiall authority, to subdue the earth, and to rule over the fishes of the sea, and over the fowles of heaven, and over everie beast that mooveth vpon the earth: and vvhy is it called the hoast of heaven, in the 2. of Genesis, but because there are orders and degrees therein, which being withdrawne from an army, it hath no good cōposition? [Page 88] And howsoever it may be true, that the government of man over man came from sinne, (for God gaue soveraignty to Adam over fi­shes and birdes &c. not over reasonable creatures, made to his owne likenesse: and the first righteous men we reade of, were rather shep­heardes and heard-men over beastes,Pastore [...] pe­corum, ma [...]gis quàm re­ges gētium. Genes. 9. Li. 9. de civ. Dei. cap. 9. then kings over nations: and the name of servant was never imposed in scripture, till Noah be­stowed it vpon his accursed sonne; Cursed be Canaan, servant of ser­vants shall he be vnto his brethren; wherevpon Augustine gathereth, Nomen ita (que) illud culpa meruit, & non natura, That name was purcha­sed by transgression not by nature:) yet the nature of mandind stan­ding as it doth, corrupted so farre, that without the head of autho­rity we could not liue and converse togither, God hath devised the meanes for the repressing of our mutuall violencies and iniuries, which before we were subiect vnto. Irenee in his fift booke against Heresies, giveth the reason why God apointed kingdomes; Because man forsaking God, was waxen so fierce, that he thought those of his kinde and bloud to be his enimies, and in all restlesnesse, mur­ther, and covetousnesse, bare himselfe without feare; God put vpon him the feare of man, (for he knew not the feare of the Lord) that fearing humane Lawes they should not devoure and consume one the other,Cuius iussu homines nas [...], eius & iussu re­ges▪ constitu­untur. Rex institu­itur à Deo, constituitur à populo. Datur illi regn [...] à Deo, traditur à populo. Regnat rex à Deo. per et propter po­pulum. Eligitur rex à Deo, con [...]firmatur ele­ctus â populo. Vindic. tyran. qu. 3. as the manner of fishes is. He addeth; by whose com­mandement men are created, by his commandement kings also are ordeined, some for the profit and amendment of their subiects, and the preservation of iustice, some for feare, and punishmēt, & reprofe, some for illusion, contumely, insolency, as those that rather disgrace authority, despight their people, and shame themselues, then other­wise. By this that hath beene alleadged, we may easily confute the maisterles and lawles Anabaptist, who striketh at the head of govern­ment in generall, and would frame a body of men, like the body of Polyphemus without his eie; or like the confused Chaos of old time, when height and depth, light and darkenes were mingled togither: As also those turbulent, either people or states, who [...]evell at magi­strates in particular; allowing authority, I grant, but such as pleaseth themselues; whose nice distinctions, like so many paring-kniues, if we shall admit, that the king hath his institution from God, constitution from the people; and that his kingdome is given him from God, deli­vered from the people; that he reigneth from God through and for the people; is elected of God, but his election confirmed by the peo­ple: by this liberty which they take vnto thēselues, in the instalment of princes into their states, you shall see them oftentimes, not only [Page 89] pruning away the superfluous boughes of misgovernmēt & tyrānie in their superiors, but cutting vp the very roote of lawfull and profi­table government. Let them be coupled with the Anabaptists & re­belles before named, who taking the power of two swordes vnto them before it be giuen, and bearing more crownes by three vpon their heades then they ought to doe, crie in the church of Rome a­gainst the Gods and Christes of the earth, as they did sometimes a­mongst the heathen, against Gods anointed sonne,Psal. 2▪ Let vs breake their bandes a sunder, and cast their cordes from vs. For assuming this to themselues, that Schismatical and erroneous princes may bee depo­sed by the Church, they will interprete eares to be hornes, depar­ture from a church extremely corrupted, and corrupting others, schisme the service of the true God, and in a true manner, here­sie lawfull and lineall suceession in the throne, both by bloud and assent, without authorizement and confirmation from them, vniusti­fiable intrusion. Of all these we may say, that as they are very loose, luxate,Nullus est horum qui non conscen­sa iurri, se­met in mar [...] precipitatu­rus sit, s [...] ius­sero. Plu [...]ar▪ Ios. 1. and palsey-shaking members in the bodye that vvill not mooue by the apointment and direction of the head, so the vnru­liest and disorderliest people, that will not submit their neckes and soules to the yoke of their naturall soveraignes: whome I vvill not [...]ende to learne obedience and subiection of the souldiers of Scip [...]o, who had neuer a man in his army (by his owne reporte) that woulde not for a worde of his mouth haue gone vp vnto a tower, and cast himselefe headlong into the sea; but to the children of Israell ten­dring their seruice to Iosuah vvith more moderation; All that thou hast commaunded vs, vvee will doe; and whethersoeuer thou sendest vs vvee vvill goe: as wee obeyed Moses in all thinges, so will vvee o­bey thee; And those that rebell against thy commaundement, let them die the death. The volume of the vvhole booke, I am sure, both the precepts and practises of all the seruauntes of God, harpeth vpon this stringe. Yea the Maister of the house by his owne example, taughte those of his housholde hovve to behaue themselues in this case. For as hee obeyed his father euen vnto the death of the crosse, his parents in the flesh in follow­ing their instructions, the lawe in following all righteousnesse; so the Emperour of Rome to, though hee a straunger, and him­selfe free-borne, in paying tribute vnto him.Mat. 17. Though vvee are defamed and slaundered, concerning the Emperours maiestie, yet Christians could neuer be found to be either Albinians, or Ni­grians, or Cassians, that is, rebelles to their liege Lordes and maisters, [Page 90] as Tertullian, in the name and cause of all christianitie, wrote to Scapula; The Christian is no mans enemie, much lesse the Em­perours.Rom. 13. But the matter is safe enough. There is no power but of God, & he that resisteth the powers, that bee, resisteth Gods ordinaunces. And the Lorde is king, bee the earth neuer so impatient. Promotion commeth neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south, but frō the Lord of hostes. By him are kingdomes disposed, princes inaugurated, crownes of gold set vpon their heads, scepters & states established, people mol­lified, and subdued; & by him were Corah & his confederates swal­lowed quicke into the earth, Zimry burnt in his pallace, Absalon hā ­ged by his hairy scalpe, Achitophell in a halter, for denying their feaulty to Gods lieutenants.

Conclusiō.As the maister of the ship came to Ionas, and called him vp, what meanest thou sleeper? &c. So let maisters and governours within this place, who sit at the sternes of an other kinde of shipping, and haue rudders of citie and countrey in their handes, let them awake them­selues, that they may awake and rowze vp other sleepers, all care­lesse, dissolute, indisposed persons, who loue the thresholdes of their private doores vpon the sabbathes of the Lord, and their ben­ches in ale-boothes, better then the courtes of the Lordes house; and neither in calmes nor stormes, when the shippe groneth, the vvhole land mourneth, all the creatures sighe and lamente, will either fast, or pray, or sorrowe, or do any thing with the rest of their bre­thren. Awake these drowsie christians, awake them vvith eager reprehension, what meane you? If reprehension vvill not serue, pricke them with the sworde, and raise them vp with severe punish­ment. How long shall the drunkard sleepe within your gates in the puddle and sinke of his bowzing, and lose both honesty and vvit, without controlment? the adulterer in chambering and wantonnes vpon his lascivious bed of pleasure, deckt vvith the laces and car­pets of Egypt? the idolatour and superstitious, vpon the knees, and in the bosome of the whore of Babylon? prophaners of our sancti­fied sabbathes, in the sabbath, and rest, and Iubilee of their lewde pastimes? the vsurer and oppressour of others, whose iawes are as kniues, and his teeth of iron, in his bed of mischiefe, as the Psalme calleth it,At mihi plaudo ipse domi, Horat. and in the contemplation and solace of his ill gottē goods? the swearer, in the habite and custome of abhominable othes (for these be the faultes of your citty, as common as the stones in your streetes?) how long shall they sleepe and snort herein vvithout re­prehension? it is your part to reforme it, vvho are the ministers of [Page 91] God, not onely for wealth, but for wrath also, vnlesse you beare the sword in vaine: you are the vocall lawes of the land, and iustice in life to punish with rigour, where it is convenient.Leges loquē ­tes. [...]. Wee also of the mi­nistery, haue a place of preferment in the shippe, and owe a duty to God, though in an other kind. We haue a sword in our mouthes too, as you in your handes, whose edge is of more then steele, and cut­teth deeper then into flesh and bloud: yet such are the earthly spi­rits of men, fallen a sleepe amongst vs, that the sword of the spirit, without the sword of the magistrate, cannot stirre them vp. Hovv long haue we called, and lifted vp our voices on high, to those that sleepe in drunkennesse, and lie in their vomit worse then dogges; A­wake drunkards, weepe and howle, your wine shall be pulled from your mouths; and they awoke not, but to follow drunkennes againe, and to ioyne the morning and the eveninge togither, till the wine haue enflamed them? How long to those that sleepe in fornication; Awake adul­terers and vncleane persons, els God shall throw you into a bedde of shame, and vncover your nakednes, and make you a reproch and scorne so farre as your name is spread; yet they open not their eyes but to awaite for the twilight, and to lie at their neighbours doore for wife or daughter? to those that are at rest, and nestled in idola­try in the service of strange Gods; Awake idolatours, you that say to the wood and stone, awake, helpe vs; awake and rise vp your selues, els God is a ielous God, and will visite your sinnes vvith roddes, and your offences with scourges? to all other sleepers in sinne, sabbath breakers, swearers, lyers, extortioners, vsurers, what meane you sleepers? It is now time that you shoulde arise from sleepe, yea the time is almost past, Ephes. 5▪ Now is salvation nearer then when you first beleeved, and now is damnation nearer then when you were first threatned. The night is past of blindnesse and ignorance forepassed, the bright morning starre hath risen,Rom. 13. and hid himselfe againe with­in the cloudes of heaven. The glorious sunne of righteousnesse hath illuminated the whole sphere of the vvorlde, from the east to the west; and though his body be aboue, the light of his beames is still amongst vs, and wee may truely say, the day is come, yea the day is well nigh spent. The naturall sunne of the firmament run­neth his race with speede, like a Giant refresht with wine, to make an end of his course; and to finish all times. You are novv brought to the eleventh houre of the day; there is but a twelfth, a fewe mi­nutes of time betweene you and iudgment: what meane you slee­pers? VVill you go away in a sleepe, and shall your life passe from [Page 92] you like a dreame? Came you naked of goodnes from your mothers wombe, and will you backe naked? brought you nothing into the world with you of the best and blessedst riches, and vvill you cary no­thing out? Or do you tarry to be started with the shrillest trumpet that ever blew, & the fearefullest voice to sleepers that ever sounded, arise yee dead? what meane you sleepers? The night is comming wherein no man can worke: yea the day is comming wherein none shal worke Acceptable to God, profitable to man, behoofefull to himselfe, hee neither can nor shall worke any thing. That working that is, shall be the everlasting throbbings and throwes of his hart for his endlesse miseri [...]s, the eies labouring for teares which shall ever run downe, and the teeth grinding one the other without ceasing.

THE SEVENTH LECTVRE.

Chap. 1, vers. 6.‘Arise, call vpon thy God, &c.’

BEfore, I haue shewed and cōmended the di­ligence of the ship-master, and prooved that there must be some power and superiority, to restraine inferiours by feare, to reprooue slee­pers and all kindes of offenders. The praise of this governour farther appeareth, that he doth not only reprehend Ionas, what meanest thou sleeper? but vrgeth and prosecuteth him, Arise; and instructeth him what he ought to do, Call vpon thy God; and openeth the vncertainty and hazard wher­into they were fallē, If so be that God will thinke of vs; & that the immi­nent dāger toucheth not their goods alone, but their liues also, as ap­peareth by the end of his speech, That we perish not. Thus he is not cō ­tent to pul him as it were by the eare, with checking him, but he sha­keth him by the arme to, to set him on his feete; hee entreth into his cōsciēce, with wise and godly advise, & pricketh the inwardest veine of his heart, with commemoration of their danger, if God stay it not. He hath laid his hand vpon a plough, & his eie goeth not from it; he sticketh not in the beginnings of his calling, but groweth onward by degrees, till hee commeth to the full stature of a good magistrate. Giue mee a shepheard thus zealous of his flocke, and I will say he is better then seven other shepheards, & a man of principallity so careful of [Page 93] this duty, more then eight principall men that neglect theirs.1. Sam. 2. It vvas not enough for Eli, you knowe, to chide his sonnes, why doe you such thinges, for of all this people I heare evill reports of you, Do no more so, It is not a good report that I heare of you; because he did no more but so, and proceeded not in the chastisement and reformation of them, God chargeth him in plaine tearmes, that hee honored his children a­boue him and threatneth to cut of his arme, and the arme of his fathers house. Chap. 3. Afterwardes hee telleth Samuell that hee will doe a thing in Israell, that whosoever hearde of, his two eares should tingle. Hee would iudge the house of Eli for ever, because his sonnes ranne into slander, and hee stayed them not; And the wickednesse of his house should not bee pur­ged with sacrifice, and with offering whiles the world stoode. And if you harken for the sequel of all this, his two sonnes Hophni and Phinees died both in one day; and himselfe receiving a tydinges worse then death, brake his necke. All this vvee heare of, fa­thers, and maisters, and magistrates, and ministers, and yet our eares tingle not; we suffer our sonnes, our servantes, our people, our [...]ocks, to runne into slander themselues, to redouble that slaunder vpon our ovvne heades, to multiplie it against God, his gospell, his church, and we stay them not. The rest of our tongues within their walles and wardes, and the rust of the sword within the skab­bard, the admonition of the one winking with both the eies, and the correction of the other fast a sleepe, shew, how vnworthy we are to be trusted in our places, and how vnlike the maister of the shippe heere spoken of. Beholde I haue sought one by one, to match this example of gentility, and I haue found one man of a thousand that may contend with him.

The government of Nehemias throughout the whole booke, is a singular president to all rulers.

1 In the building of the wals of Ierusalem, he would not bee chec­ked by Sanballat and his mates, when they dispightfully asked him, what doe you? will you rebell against the king? He then answered,Nehem. [...] ▪ The God of heaven will prosper vs, and we will rise vp and build: but as for you, ye haue no portion, nor right, nor memoriall in Hierusalem.

2 When they determined by conspiracy to fight against Hierusa­lem and slaie the builders of the walles, he placed them with speares and bowes, and gaue them this encouragement, Be not afraid of thē, Chap. 4▪ but remember the great Lord and fearefull, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wiues, & your houses. So they did the worke of the Lorde with one hand, and held the sword with the other, wroughte by daie, [Page 94] and watched by night, yea they were so carefull in their watch, hee, and his servantes, and his brethren, and the men of the warde which followed him, that no man put of his cloathes, saue that they put them of for wa­shing.

3 When the people were oppressed by their brethren, their landes, houses, vineyards, gaged for corne, their sons and daughters brought to subiection,Chap. 5. he rebuked the princes and rulers; Yee lay burthens eve­ry one vpon his brethren, wee haue redeemed them from the heathen, and yee will sell them againe; that which yee doo, is not good, restore them their lands, oliues, vineyards, houses, remit the hundreth part of the silver, corne, wine, oile, that yee exact of them. Yea hee called the Priestes, and caused them to sweare to doe it. Moreover he shooke his lap, and said, Thus let the Lord shake out every man that performeth not his promise, even thus let him be sha­ken out and emptied.

4 When the sabbath was prophaned amongst them, (for some in Iudaea trode wine-presses, and brought in sheaues, and laded asses with wine, grapes, and figges, and other of Tyre brought fish, and all wares,Chap. 13. and sold them on the sabbathes in Ierusalem) he not on­ly rebuked their rulers, what evell is this that yee doe? and shewed them the daunger, This did our fathers, and God plagued the cittie; but hee caused the gates of the cittie to bee shutt before the sabbath, and set servants of his at the gates, and the chapmen remained without the walles at night, and he protested vnto them, that if they tarried againe about the wall, he would lay handes vpon them.

5 When some of the Iewes married their wiues, from Asdod, Am­mon, and Moab, and their children spake halfe in the speech of As­dod, and coulde not speake in the Iewes language, first hee repro­ved them;Ibid: secondly, cursed them; thirdly, smote certaine of them; fourthly, pulled of their haire, for a further reproch vnto them; and lastly, tooke an othe of them by God, yee shall not giue your daughters unto their sonnes, neither shall yee take of their daughters for yours sonnes nor for your selues.

6 Eliashib the Priest, kinsman to Tobiah in the absence of Nehe­mie from Ierusalem, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of the Lorde, (where the offering and incense, vesselles and tithes, for the provision of Levites, singers, and porters, and the of­ferings of Priests were wont to be laide) hee made a chamber there­of for his kinsman, Tobias the Horonite. The order that Nehemi­as tooke for the amendment of this abuse, is throughly persued: 1. it grieved him sore: 2. he cast out the vesselles of Tobiah out of the [Page 95] chamber, and then caused the chambers to be clensed, and the ves­selles of the house of God to be brought thither againe: 3. because the portions of the Levites and singers had not beene giuen to them, and everie one was fled to his lande, hee reprooued the rulers, Why is the house of God forsaken? 4. he caused the tithes to be restored, brought the Levites togither to their place againe, and apointed faithfull offi­cers and treasurers to distribute vnto them. The petition that hee maketh vnto the righteous Lord, who will not forget our labours, at the foote of every of those services, is framed to this effect; Remem­ber me, O my God, in goodnesse, and wipe not out my kindnesse concerning this, and pardon me according to thy great mercies. Thus Nehemias, you see▪ was not vnmindefull of the Lord, that the Lorde might be mindefull of him againe, Neither in the building, nor in the warding of the wals of Ierusalem, nor in releeving the burthens of his brethren, nor in sanctifying the sabbath, nor in purging the people from commixti­on with strangers, nor in replenishing the chambers of Gods house, vvith maintenaunce for his ministers. All which he zealously vn­dertooke, and constantly followed to the end, fastening his reproofes like nailes that are driuen in a sure place, and shewing himselfe a care­full Magistrate both in warre and peace, in civill & religious affaires, towardes the children of the lande, and towardes strangers that traf­fiqued within the borders thereof.

Vndoubtedly your charge is greate whome the Lorde hath mar­ked out to places of gouernment; and if euer you hope, as Nehemi­as wished, that God shall remember you concerning this or that kindenesse shewed in his businesse, remember you whose image you carry, whose person you present, whose cause you vndertake, whose iudgmentes you execute vpon earth. And though yee are not trou­bled vvith building and warding the wals of your countrey, because peace is the walles, and the strength of God our bulwarkes and fortresses; and mine eies would faile with expectation of that day, vvhen the cham­bers of the Lordes house, vvhich Tobiah the Horonite hath seized into his handes, should be restored to their auncient institution for the maintenaunce of Levites and singers: yet in the oppressions of your brethren, vvhose vineyardes, fieldes, houses, libertie, living are wrung from them, and their sonnes and daughters vndoone, if you doe not in all respects, as Nehemias did, lend them money & corne, Chap. 5▪ hee and his servauntes of their owne, and bestowe the fees of your places, tovvardes their reliefe, (for hee ate not the breade of the gover­nour in twelue yeares, and an hundred and fiftie hee mainetained dailie at his [Page 96] boarde with sufficient allowance) yet such as oppresse too much, exhort' reprooue, cause them to respight, cause them to remit, tie them by promise to do it, binde them by oath, and if that will not serue, (vnlesse you be loath to throw a stone against an adulterer, or to shake your lap against an oppressour, because you are guilty in your heartes of the like trespasses) shake the lappes of your garments against them, and with an vnfeigned spirit beseech the iust iudge, that such as will not restore, may so be shaken out and emptied from all his mercies. Likewise for the sabbath of the Lord, the sanctified day of his reste, helpe to bringe it to reste, it is shamefully troubled and disquieted; the common daies in the weeke are happier in their seasons, then the Lords sabbaths. Then are the manuary craftes exercised, every man in his shop applying his honest and lawfull businesse; the sabbath is reserved as the vnprofitablest day of the seven▪ for idlenesse, slee­ping, vvalking, rioting, tipling, bowling, daunsing, and what not? I speake what I know; vpon a principall sabbath (for if the resurre­ction of Christ deserue to alter the sabboth from day to day, I see no cause but the cōming downe of the holy ghost should adde honour and ornament vnto it) I say, vpon a principall sabbath, not onelye those of Ierusalem and Iudah solde their wares, but those of Tyre also vvhich came from abroade, brought in their commodities, and neither your gates shut, nor forreiners kept out, nor citizens re­prooved, nor any thing donne, wherby Gods name and day might be honoured. Go now and aske if you can for blushing, as Nehemi­as did, O Lord remember vs concerning this kindnesse.

It is not enough for you to beare the place of preeminence in the shippe, but you must reprooue, as the maister here did; nor e­nough barelie to reprooue, but you must goe forwardes in hunting securitie from her couche, by vrging how hard it is to appease the anger of God, if it bee throughly enflamed, how dangerous against the life and soule, if it be not prevented. It is the fervency of the spi­rite, even of a double spirit, as Elizeus sometime wished, the spirite of magistrates, which are more then single persons, perfit hatred to sin, crushing both the egge & the cockatrice, courage in the cause of the Lord, zeale to his house both kindling and consuming your heartes, a good beginning, and a good ending, which the Lorde requireth. Will you saue-gard the ship in the Ocean sea, and breake her vvith­in a league of the haven? will you put your hande to the plough of the best husbandry, and thriving in the world, and then looke backe? vvill you lay the foundation of the house, rere vp the vvalles, and [Page 97] not seeke to couer it? you know the parable, This man beganne to builde. It had beene better not to haue knowne the way of trueth, then not to persist in it, nor to haue set your shoulders to the worke of the Lorde, vnlesse yee hold out. The leafe of a righteous man neuer fadeth: vvherevpon the glosse noteth, that the fall of the leaues,Psal 1. Lapsus folio­rum, mortifi­catio arbo­rum. is the dying and decaying of the trees. When it repenteth a man to haue begunne well, it is a sinnefull repentaunce, and much to bee re­pented of. The fire vpon the altar of the Lord must alwaies burne, never go out, and the sedulitie of Gods lieutenantes vpon the earth must euer bee working, neuer wearied. All vertues runne in the race, one onely receiveth the garland, the image of most happy eternitie, happy continuance.

I tolde you before that nature directed the Marriners to the ac­knowledgement of a God: it is heere further ratified,Call vpon thy God. with manie o­ther principles of nature, if they vvere needefull to bee examined; as 1. that God only is to be invocated and called vpon;1 Call vpon thy God. 2 If so bee God &c. 3 Wil shine vpon vs. 4 That wee perish not. Call vpon thy God 2. the vnity of the godhead is avowed. For the shipmaster forgetting the multitude of Gods, nameth one singlie without other associates; If so be God. 3. That the felicity of mankinde, dependeth vpon the se­renity, gracious & favorable aspect of God, as I gather by the phrase here vsed; if God will shine vpon vs. 4. It is implied that our life & death are in Gods hands; That we perish not. But let those passe a while. The matter we are now to examine, is the liberty and freedome vvhich the shipmaister gaue vnto Ionas, to call vpon his proper God, not ty­ing him to that which himselfe adored.

We say, Rel [...]gio religat, Religion tieth euery man to some one God, whom either by heavenly revelation, or by their phantasie & cōceit they haue made choice of. And therefore the Lord asketh with ad­miratiō, Ier. 2. Hath any nation changed their Gods? which yet are no Gods. And Mal. 3. Wil a mā spoile his gods? nay they are so fond & doting in af­fectiō vpon thē, that they wil spare no cost to honor thē. If they wor­ship but a golden calfe, they will strippe their wiues and daughters of their richest iewels, to shew their devotion. When Phidias tolde the Athenians, that it was better to make Minerva of marble then ivo­rie, because the beauty thereof woulde longer continue,Valer. Ma [...]. li. 1. thus farre they endured him; but when he added, And it is better cheape, they enioyned him silence. Alexander was so franke in bestowing frākin­cēse vpō his Gods, that his officers blamed him for it. Micheas, Iudg. 18. accoūted the losse of his Gods, which the children of Dan tooke frō him, aboue all losses; What had I more to loose? Iud. 18. How did Senacherib [Page 98] and Rabsakeh deride all the Gods of the nations in emulation to their owne Gods, as appeareth by their insolent speeches? where is the God of Hamath,Es [...] 3 [...]. and 37. & of Arphad? where is the God of Sepharvaim? who is he amongst all the Gods of these landes, that hath deliuered their countries out of my handes? Nay they forbeare not to speake blasphemy against the Lord of hostes, the God of Israel, which dwel­leth betweene the Cherubins, and is very God alone over all the kingdomes of the earth: Go say to Ezechias, let not thy God deceiue thee whom thou trustest. Therefore when Darius had conceiued an opinion of the God of heauen, he made a decree, that in all the dominions of his kingdome, men should tremble and feare before the God of Daniel, for he is the liuing God, Dan. 6. and remaineth for euer, and his kingdome shal not perish, and his dominion shall be everlasting. Nabuchodonosor made the like decree before, when he saw the deliveraunce of the three children, that who­soeuer spake any blasphemie against their God, Dan. 3. shoulde bee drawne in pieces, and his house made a iakes, because there was no God that coulde deliuer after that sorte. Hence came it, that David so much disgraced and dis­countenaunced the Gods of the heathen;Psal. 135. I knowe that the Lorde is great, and that our Lorde is aboue all Gods, &c. As for the idols of the hea­then, they are but siluer and gold even the worke of mens handes: they haue a mouth and speake not, they haue eies and see not, they haue eares and heare not, neither is there any breath in their mouthes. And for the same cause did Elias scoffe at Baal,1. King. 18. vvhen he cried vnto his prophets, crie alowde, for hee is a God▪ either he talketh, or pursueth his enemies, or is in his iour­ney, or perhappes sleepeth, and must bee awaked. When Ahaziah sent for helpe of his sickenesse to Beelzebub the God of Eckron, an angell of the Lorde met his messengers,2. King. 1. and saide vnto them, Is it not because there is no God in Israell, that yee go to enquire of Beelzebub the God of Eckron? Thus all the servauntes of God, Angels & men, are zea­lously and vnmoueably bent for the advauncement of his name a­boue all other Gods, which idolatours hang vpon. Which maketh me the more to marvell, that the maister of the ship can permit Ionas to call vpon his owne God.

Diversitie of religiōs.It hath beene a question sometimes disputed, whether divers re­ligions at once may be borne with, in one kingdome. Which whe­ther the remedilesse condition of the time and place haue enforced, or the negligence of the magistrate dissembled, or the indifferent, lukewarme affectiō of a pollicy over-politique suffered to steale in, I know not; but sure I am, that some countries & common-weales of christendome, stand vpon feete partly of yron, partly of clay, that is, [Page 99] there are both Iewes & Christians, Arrians & Anabaptists, Papists & Protestants, and such a confusion of religions, as there was in Babel of languages. To giue you my iudgement in few words, I wholy mislike it. For if in our private houses, we would not endure a man that had his affection alienated and estranged from our selues, our wiues, our children, or any friend of ours; shall we admit them in the common wealth, which beare a forraine and vnnaturall conceipt, touching the God we serue, the Prince we obey, the countrey we are nursed in? The first of those ten wordes which God spake in Sinai, standing at the entrance of all his morall preceptes, like the Cherubins at the gates of paradise, crieth vnto the house of Israell, and all other people, thou shalt haue none other Gods besides mee. Those other prohibitions in the law, Thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed, Thou shalt not plough with an Oxe and an Asse togither; Levit. 19. Deuter. 22. A garment of divers stuffes as of linnen and wollen, shall not come vpon thee; what doe they intende? I may aske as the Apostle did of another sentence in the lawe, Hath God care of Oxen & Asses, garments, and graines?Haec ad lite­ram viden­tur esse ridi­cula. And the Ordinary glosse vpon Leviticus, saith, that these things taken after the letter, seeme ridicu­lous. The abuses they strike at, is an heart, and an heart, doubling in the worship of God, blending of Iudaisme, and christianity; gospell, and ceremonies; sound, and hereticall doctrines; truth, and falshoode in our church. Such mes [...]en seede light vpon that ground which I wish no prosperity vnto, and such medly garments sit vpon the backes of our enemies. As for this realme of ours,Rev. 2. & 3. be it farre and farre from such corruption. For he that threatened Loadicaea, because shee was nei­ther hote nor colde, to spewe her out of his mouth, commended Ephesus for hating the Nicolaitans, reprooved Smyrna for maintaining them, and the doctrine of Baalam, blamed Thyatira for suffering Iesabel to teach and deceiue his servantes, to make them commit fornication, and to eate meate sacrificed to idolles; hovve can vvee thinke, that hee vvill not as strictly examine and search out the complexions of other landes, vvhether they bee hotte or colde, zealous or remisse in his ser­vice? The gospell of Christ,Gal. 4. being planted in the Church of Ga­latia, might not abide, you know, the copartnershippe of Iewish ceremonies, not their observation of daies and monethes; which being nothing in comparison of an adversary, shouldering religion, are tearmed by one, who thought he had the spirit of God, impotent and beggerly elements; yet they had beene elements in their time, and God had vsed them before as the first letters of the booke, to schoole his people with. But their office was ended. That fulnes of time, which [Page 100] brought Christ into the world, & fulnes of knowledge & grace which Christ brought with him, was their diminution. Therefore besides an Anathema againe & againe ingeminated to those that preached o­therwise, & foolishnes heaped vpon their heads like burning coales, that were bewitched with such preachings, he protesteth vnto them not hiding his face, nor dissembling his name, Behold, I Paul say vnto you, that if yee be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. If he coulde not sustaine a little leaven in the lumpe, (as there hee calleth it) what would he haue said of poyson? I meane of an impious, blasphe­mous, sacrilegious manner of worship, when this was rather curious, frivolous, and ceremonious? When Moses and Christ togither, were so offensiue vnto him, he would never haue heard of a reconciliation, betweene Christ and Belial, light & darknes, righteousnes & vnrigh­teousnes, beleevers & infidels, the temple of God & idols, the cup of the Lord and the cup of Devils, the table of the Lord & the table of Devils; in the cōmunion wherof he noteth an impossibility, in both his epistles to the Corinthians. I will not stand to dispute how vnpos­sible it is for any, either person or state, to serue two maisters, the one not subordinate to the other, but flatly repugnant; say for example, God and Mammon, or Melchom, or Baal, or any the like abomination. Must they not vse a ballance & a ballāce, a conscience & a cōscience, that do so? & go after two waies? But what danger ensueth vpon such confected religions, & halting consciences (as Elias named thē,) they may best learne both by word and deed, from that zealous God, who hath taken expresse order against strange Gods, & executed his fierce wrath vpon those that haue offered but strange fire, and ordayned his law strictly to be kept, without declining to the right hand or to the lefte, and himselfe will be served alone without corrivals of his glory, with al our heart, Ephes. 4. soule, and strength, as he hath often enioyned. There is but one Lord, one mediatour, one spirit, one baptisme, one supper, one faith: al in vnity. The body and state is then strongest, when the multitude of belee­vers haue but one hart, Acts. 4. & one soule, amongst them all: & shall one people within the same land, and vnder the same government, sunder & di­stract themselues into many religions?In Monodia. Quos circa pl [...]res obser­vant populi, vi centrum circulus cir­cumscriptus Or can the Lord bee at vnitie with that people, where immunity is given, to deale in the manner or matter of his service, otherwise then he hath prescribed? Nazianzen writeth, that many people lying roūd about thē, as a circle about the cēter, did much obserue & marvel at the Cappadocians, not only for their sound faith, but for the gift of cōcord, which God bestowed vp­on thē. For because they thought aright of the Trinity, & defended it [Page 101] iointly (against the Arrians) they were defended by the Trinity thē ­selues.Multa bona eveniant Scytharum regi &c. J [...] p [...]otreps. Clemens Alexandrinus wisheth much happines to the king of the Scythians, vvhosoever that Anachatsis were, vvho tooke a ci­tizen of his, & for imitating some Greekish effoeminate sacrifices of­fered to the mother of the Gods, hung him vp by the necke, & shot him through with arrowes, because he had both corrupted himselfe amongst the Grecians, & infected others with the like disease. The counsaile which Mecoenas gaue to Augustus the Emperour,In Dion. Cas. is very sage, & the reasons by him alleaged, such, as touch the quickest v [...]ine of the question in hand. Put his words into the mouth of some other man, whose lips an Angell hath touched with a cole from the altar of the Lord, & the holy ghost sanctified, they are then right worthy to be accounted of. Thus he exhorteth. The divine godhead see that thou reverence thy selfe, according to the lawes of thy countrey, [...] &c. [...] &c. & cause others to do the like. And those that change any thing in mat­ters appertaining thereunto, hate, & correct, not only in behalfe of the Gods, whom whosoeuer neglecteth, he will never regard oughte els; but because such as bring in new Gods, draw others also to alte­ration & change. And hence come conspiracies, seditions, conventi­cles, things not expedient to a government. Religion is the truest band betwixt man and man, the knot of al cōmunion & cōsociation. Now what coniunction of mindes can there be? [...]. Plutar. ad­vers. Colot. what attonement of iudgements, what inward peace, syncere charity, harty god-speed, in that disparity of religions, where one house hath Iewes, an other Sa­maritans, some calling vpon God, some vpon Angels & Saints, cree­ping to crosses, bowing to images; so burning in emulation for their severall services, as fire and water shall sooner agree, then their iudg­ments & affections? Let our laws be grounded vpon the law of God, & it wil be the greatest safety of our land, to enact, as the Athenians sometimes did, that whosoeuer should speak one word of their God,Ioseph. cont. Ap. 2. [...]. beside their lawes, should be punished vnmercifully for it.

It hath beene a favourable compromission of men more partiall then wise, that the questions betwixt Rome and the reformed chur­ches, might easily be accorded. I finde it not. And I will be bolde to say, as Tully somtimes of the Stoickes & Academickes, That the cōtentiō between vs, is not for boūds,Non de ter­minis sed do tota possessi­one conten­tio. Academ. quaest▪ but for the whole possession & inheritāce, whether God, or mā; grace, or nature; the bloud of Christ, or the merits of saints; written verity, or vnwritten vanities; the ordi­nāce of the most high in authorizing princes, or the Buls of Popes in deposing them, shall take place. We haue altar against altar, liturgie [Page 102] against liturgy, praiers against praiers, doctrine against doctrine, po­tentate against potentate, Pope against Prince, Religion against Religion, subiection against subiection, faith against faith, so dia­metrally opposed, as the Northerne and Southerne poles shall soo­ner meet togither, then our opinions (standing as they do) can be re­conciled. Looke vpon Fraunce, and nether Germany, for the proofe hereof; The effusion of so much Christian bloud, the eversion & dis­sipation of so many noble houses, the commotions and tumults of so many yeares, whence haue they sprung? The reason or pretence at least of those murthers, massacres, wasts, tragedies, hath beene contra­ry religions. If this be the fruit then, shall every subiect in a realme be priviledged in his house, to haue a God to himselfe? a priest to him­selfe? a worship to himselfe, as Micah had in Ephraim? shall hee be­leeue, and pray, and obey, shall he both feare God, & honor his king, as himselfe listeth? But what will yee doe in this case? Their mindes are as free as the Emperours. Every man is a king in his own house, as Te­lemachus said,Nihil tam voluntariū quàm reli­gio. L [...]ctant. Cala [...]us an Indian Philoso­pher to A­lexander. Mon [...]do ma­gis quam minando, Aug. [...]p. 65. Fides sua­denda non impo [...]enda Bern ser. 66. in cant. Ad Vincen­ [...]ium. Numquid i­deo negligē ­da est medi­cina quia nonnullorū est insanabi­lis pestilen­ [...]ia. Lib. 9. cont. Crescou. c. 51 his conscience is his castle, and fortresse; nothing is so volun­tarie as religion, wherein if the minde be averse, it is now no religion. We maie shifte the bodies of men from place to place, wee cannot change their mindes. Wee shall sooner enforce stockes and stones to speake vnto vs. Advise will doe more then threatning, and faith commeth rather by perswasion, then by compulsion, I graunt it. Therefore first speake to the consci­ence by good counsell; but if the eare of the conscience bee stopt with wax, shake the whole house about her, and raise her vp, speak to the eares of the body, inheritance, liberty; let the body tel the consci­ence, I am afflicted; the inheritāce, I am diminished; liberty, I am re­strained for thy sake. These are arguments & perswasions that haue done good, as Augustine affirmeth of the Donatistes and Circum­cellions in Affricke, that being terrified by paines, they began to en­ter into consideration with themselues, whether they suffered for iu­stice, or for obstinacie and presumption. But you will say that some men are not bettered hereby. Shall wee therefore, saith Augustine reiect the phisicke, because the sicknesse of some is incurable? For of such it is written, I haue smitten your children in vaine, they receiue no correction. And for the better managing of the whole cause, he ad­deth this iudgement; If they were terrified, and not taught, it would seeme tyrannie; againe if taught & not terrified, it would harden them in an invete­rate custome, & make thē more sluggish to rec [...]iue their saluatiō. As for that obiectiō of liberty of conscience, he answereth it in an other place. It is in vaine that thou saiest, leaue me to my free will; for why proclaimest thou [Page 103] not liberty in homicides, and whordomes aswell? GOD hath given indeede free will vnto man (free from coaction) but it vvas not his will, meane time, Sed ne (que) bo­nam esse v [...] luit infru­ctuosā, ne (que) malam im­punitam. Adver. Gno­stic. that either the good will of man shoulde bee without fruite, or his evill will without punishment. Tertullian is of the same minde with Augustine, that it is meete, that heretickes shoulde bee compelled to doe their duetie, not allured: I say, compelled, if allure­ment will not serue, for they must not alway bee prayed and entrea­ted. Hee that hath a phrensie, must be bound; [...]nd he that hath a lethargy, must be prickt vp; and he that hath strengthned himselfe in heresie, whether he keepe it privately to himselfe, or diffuse it a­mongst others, must violently be pulled from it. These persons hath Augustine distinguished;Turbulent [...] audacia. Vetusta so­cordia, seu veternosa consuetudo. Ad Vincent. Conditores. Assectatores­de bapt. cont▪ Donat: l. 6. c. 44. Haeretici, haeresiarchae. disseminato­res. Erasmu [...] declar. ad cēs. Paris. tit. 23 Suffundere malis sangu­i [...]em, quam effunder [...] Tertul. in apolog. Iud. 9. For there are some heretickes troublesome­ly audacious, others anciently sluggish, and taken with a sleepy dis­ease, neither of these may in wisedome be forborne. There are some makers, others but followers, proselytes, disciples in heresies, & these are either weake, or indurate. So then first counsell, and afterwardes compell them, if that will not serue to bring them to the service of God, according to that forme, which the lawes of our countrey haue set downe (though I wish not one haire of their heades diminished, but vvhen they strike at our heade; and had rather powre bloude into their veines, then let it out, but when the atrocity of their actes can no longer bee tolerated;) yet were I worthy to giue advise, I would haue a writer go with his inckhorne from man to man, and marke them in the foreheades that mourne for the vvelfare of our realme, and as bond-men to their brethren they should hew woode and draw water to the hoast of Israel, as Iosuah vsed the Gibeonites for their guile. Who will pitty the charmer that is stung by the ser­pent? because it was the folly of the charmer to go to neare; or who will favour that man that nourisheth a gangrene within his body, and seeketh not helpe to remooue it? We nurse vp lions whelps for our owne overthrow, as Amilcar brought vp his sonnes for the ruine of Rome; we play too boldly at the holes of aspes; we embolden the faces, encourage the harts, strengthen the handes of them that keepe an [...], a daily recorde of all our actions, and haue taken to vse whatsoever hath beene spoken or done against them these many Halcyon yeares of ours, meaning to exchange it, ten for one, if ever they see the day of their long expected alteration. But the cause is the Lords. Whatsoever they looke for, let vs vindicate his dishonor, who hath made this countrey of ours a sanctuary for true religion, a refuge and shade in the heate of the day, for persecuted professors, [Page 104] who haue beene chased like bees from their owne hiues, a temple for himselfe to dwell in. Let vs not make that temple a stewes, a cōmon receit for all cōmers; that both Atheists, Papists, Anabaptists, and all sortes of sectaries may hold what conscience they will, and serue such God as like themseles.

THE EIGHT LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. vers, 6.‘Call vpon thy God, if so bee that God will thinke vpon vs, that wee perish not.’

I Haue noted before out of these words, both the carefulnesse of the Ship-master continued towardes his charge, and the liberty, or rather license hee gaue vnto Ionas, to serue his pe­culiar God. Touching which indulgence of his, I shewed my opinion, whether it bee ex­pedient; that a governour shoulde tolerate a distraction of his subiectes into divers religi­ons. Mee thinketh, there are two thinges more implyed in this member, Call vpon thy God, carying the reasons why hee called vpon Ionas after this sort.Two reasōs moved the shipmaster to call vpō Ionas. For either he affected the person of Ionas, supposing perhappes that some merit and grace in the man might more prevaile by prayer, then the rest; or els he affi­anced the God of Ionas, and as one weary or distrustfull of his owne, hoped there might be an other God more able to deliver them. I will not enter into coniectures too farre;1 Reason. but surely it is likely enoughe, that either by the lookes, or speech, or attire, or behaviour, or some forepassed devotion, or other the like notice, the maister conceaved a good opinion of Ionas. The forehead sometime sheweth the man, as the widow of Shunem by the very vsage, countenance, & speech of Elizeus, was able to tell her husband, Beholde, I know now that this is an holy man of God, 2 King 4. that passeth by vs continually. If this were his reason, it was not greatly amisse, because there is great difference betweene man and man. For neither the priority of birth, which Esau had of Iacob; Gen. 25. nor the heigth of stature, which Eliab had of Da­vid; 1. Sam, 16. nor the pompe and honour of the world, which Ha­man had of Mardochai; Esther 3. nor all the wisedome of Chaldea, which the Astrologers had of Daniel; nor the antiquity of daies, which many daughters of Sion had of the blessed Virgin; nor the preroga­tiue [Page 105] of calling, which the Scribes and Pharises had of poore fisher­men; nor the countrey, which Annas and Caiaphas had of Corne­lius; nor eloquence of speech, which Tertullus had of Paule; nor any the like respect, is able to commende a man in such sort, but that his inferiours in that kinde, for more vertuous conditions may be magnified aboue him. It may be, the maister of the shippe vvas so perswaded of Ionas, that though he were but one to a multitude, a stranger amongst strangers, a scholler and puny amongst marchants, and souldiours, whose state and carriage was every way beyond his; yet he might haue a spirit, blessing, and wisedome beyond all theirs, and therefore repaireth vnto him, Arise, call vpon thy God. How one­lye and incomparable vvas the favour vvhich Abraham the great fa­ther of many people found in the eyes of God,Gen. 18. who being but dust and ashes, as himselfe confessed, pleaded vvith his maker as one would reason with his neighbour in the behalfe of Sodom, with six sundry replies, from fifty to ten righteous persons, vvhich number if it had beene founde, Sodom had escaped?Gen. 19. How deare was the soule of Lot, in that fearefull destruction, on vvhome the Lorde bestow­ed his life, and the life of his wife and children, & the safety of Zoar a litle city not far of, because he had entreated for it? the Angell pluckt him into the house from the fury of the Sodomites, and not lesse thē pluckt him out of the city, (who made but slowe hast) bidding him flee to Zoar to saue his life,Gen. 6. for hee coulde doe nothing till hee was come thither. Noah and his little familye, the remnant of the earth, as the sonne of Syrach tearmeth them, the onelye buddes of the worlde that were to seede seede for a new generation of men, at the time of the floud were more precious vnto the Lorde, then all the peo­ple vnder heaven besides, vvhich had the breath of l [...]fe vvithin them. Howe often did hee gratifie Moses, the beloved of God and men, with the liues of the children of Israell, vvhen his anger vvas so hote, that he entreated his servant to let him alone, Exod. 32. that hee might consume them: yet contented in the ende, to be entreated by him, and to pleasure him with their pardon,Numb. 14▪ I haue forgiven it accor­dinge to thy requeste? O vvhat a let is a righteous man to the iustice of GOD, and even as manacles vpon his handes, that hee can­not smite, vvhen hee is driven to crye vnto one, Let mee alone; and to another, till thou art gone, I can doe nothing? And did he not grace the person of Iob more then his three friendes, vvhen hee bad Eliphaz with the other two, to goe and offer a burnt offe­ring for themselues, and his servant Iob shoulde praie for them, Iob. 4 [...] ▪ and [Page 106] hee woulde accept him? And is it not an argument past gaine-saying, that Moses and Samuell were according to his owne hart, when he revi­veth their names, as from their ashes, and blesseth their memorye to Ieremy his prophet,Ier. 15. with so favourable accounte? Though Mo­ses and Samuell stoode before mee, yet coulde not my affection bee toward this people? The like whereof we finde in Ezechiel, Though these three men Noah, Ezech. 14. Daniell, and Iob; were amongst them, they should saue neither sons nor daughters, but deliver their owne soules by their righteousnesse. Eden was chosen to be the garden of the Lord, when all the ground of the earth besides, was paled out; Noahs arke floted vpon the vvaters, when all other shippes and boates of the sea were overwhelmed; Aa­rons rod budded, and brought forth almondes, when all the rods for the other tribes remained dry and withered. One sheafe hath stoode vpright, and one starre hath sparkled, when eleuen others haue lien vpon the ground, and beene obscured.

The apple of the eye is dearer vnto a man then the vvhole frame and circle of the eye about it; the signet vpon the right hand in more regard, either for the matter, or for the forme, or for the vse wher­to it serveth, then all his other ornaments; a writing in the palmes of his handes, more carefully preserved then all his other papers and records. Doubtlesse there are some amongst the rest of their bre­then, whome God doth tender as the apple of his eye, weare as a signet vpon his finger, engraue as a vvriting in the palmes of his handes, and with whome is the secret of the Lorde, and his hidden trea­sures, though his open and ordinary blessinges bee vpon all fleshe. Moses hath asked meate in a famine, and water in a drought, for the children of Israell, when their bowelles might haue piped vvith­in them like shalmes, and their tongues cloven to the roofe of their mouthes, if hee had not spoken. Elias hath called for raine, vvhen the earth might haue gasped for thirst, and discovered her lovvest foundations, if he had beene silent. Phinees hath stayed a plague, which would not haue ceased, till it had devoured man and beaste, if such a man had not stoode vp. Paul, in the 27. of the Actes, obtei­ned by the mercy of God, the liues of all his companions that sai­led vvith him tovvardes Rome,Eccle. 50. in that desperate voyage. As a morning starre in the midst of the cloude, and as the moone vvhen it is full; as the flower of the roses in the spring of the yeare, and as lillies by the springes of waters, and as the branches of the franc­kincense in the time of sommer; as a vessell of massie gold, set vvith all manner of precious stones, and as the fatte that is taken from the [Page 107] peace offerings: so is one Henoch that walketh with God, vvhen o­thers walke from him; one Rahab in Iericho; one Elias that bow­eth not his knees to Baal; one David in Mesek; one Hester in Shu­shan; one Iudith in Bethulia; one Ioseph in the councell of the Iews; one Gamaliell in the councell of the Pharisies; one innocent and righteous man in the midst of a frowarde and crooked generation. The praier of the righteous availeth much, if it bee fervent, Iac. 5. the prayer of faith shall saue the sicke, for the Lorde shall raise him vp: and if hee hath com­mitted sin, it shalbe forgiuen him. It may minister occasion to the vvick­ed, to reuerence and embrace the righteous, euen for policies sake; For the innocent shall deliver the islande, Iob. 22. and it shall be preserued by the pure­nes of his handes. Many a time there may bee, vvhen as stoute a king, and as obstinate a sinner, as ever Pharaoh was, shall call for Moses and Aaron, and beseech them, pray to the Lorde for me. In pestilen­ces, dearthes and droughtes, warres, sicknesses, and ship-wrackes, or any other calamities, it lieth in the holines of some few, the friends and favourites of God, to stande in the gappe betwixt him and their brethren, to entreate his maiesty for the rest, and to turne a curse in­to a blessing, as Ioseph brought a blessing to al that Putiphar had, Ge­nesis 39. This then may be a reason of the speech here vsed, Call vpon thy God; a likelihoode presumed by the gouernour, that they mighte speede the better for Ionas his sake.

Another reason I take it, was, that hee distrusted his owne God,2. Reason. and the Gods of his whole society, and might be induced to hope better of that God which Ionas serued. For what taste is there in the white of an egge? or what pleasure to a man, that commeth to a river of water to quench his thirst, and findeth the channell dried vp? What stay is there in a staffe of reede, or in a broken staffe, the splinters vvhereof to recompence his hope, runne into the handes of a man and wounde him? What trust in broken cesternes vvhich can holde no water? This comparison God himselfe maketh vvith greate indignity, in the second of Ieremie, My people hath committed two evilles: they haue forsaken me the fountaine of liuing waters, and haue digged them pittes even broken pittes that can holde no water. The change is very vnequall, worse then the change of Glaucus, who gaue his armour of golde for armour of brasse; and the losse vnsupportable. For what aequalitie betweene a naturall fountaine, vvhich ever flow­eth, because it is euer fedde in the chambers of the earth, and artifi­ciall cesternes, or pittes fashioned by the handes of man? cesternes that are broken and cannot holde, I saie not, water of life and pe­rennity, [Page 108] but no water at all? But when they saw their folly herein, as a thiefe is ashamed (saith God) when he is founde, so was the house of Israell ashamed, they and their kings, their Princes, their Priestes, and their Pro­phets, because they had said to a tree, Thou art my father, and to a stone, Thou hast begotten me. He yet proceedeth against thē, They haue turned their backe to me, and not their face, but in their time of trouble they will say, Arise, and helpe vs. You see the fits and pangs of idolatours. First they digge broken pits, afterward they are ashamed; first they flie to the tree & stone for succour, but when they are vexed, they seeke after the help of the true God. Clemens Alexandrinus marvelleth why Diagoras and Nicanor with others, should be sir-named Atheists, vvho had a sharper sight in discerning the false Gods, thē their fellows. Amōgst whom,Jn protrept Qus errorē hu [...] de diis falsi▪ acriù ceteris per­spe [...]erunt. Adora quod inceadisti. incēde quod adorasti. Chap. 10. Diagoras hauing something to boile, tooke his Hercules car­ved of wood, & thus spake vnto him, It is now time O Hercules, that as thou hast serued Euristheus in twelue labors, so thou shouldest serue mee in the thirteenth, & so threw him into the fire as a piece of wood. A practise not vn­like the counsell, which I haue read giuen to Clodoveus the French king. Worship that which thou hast burnt incense vnto, & burne that vvhich thou hast worshipped. The childrē of Israel in the book of Iudges, finding their error & folly in idolatry, made a recātation of it; for whilst they served the Lord, he deliuered them from the Aegyptians, and Am­morites, & children of Ammō, & Philistines, Sidonians, Malachites, Mahonites; they cried vnto the Lord, & he saued them out of their handes. But whē they worshipped strange Gods, they were no more delive­red, nay they were vexed, oppressed, & sore tormēted? thē the Lord vpbraided them, Go & crie vnto your Gods which you haue chosen, let them saue you in the time of your tribulation. And to that exprobatiō they yeel­ded, saying, we haue sinned against thee, because wee haue forsaken our owne God, & haue serued Baalam: doe thou vnto vs whatsoever pleaseth thee, onely deliuer vs this day. The like irrision he vsed before in Ieremy, to those that honored stockes and stones; but where are thy Gods which thou hast made thee? let thē arise, if they cā helpe thee in the time of thy misery. A forci­ble admonition to those, whom a truth cannot draw from a doctrine of lies, from the worke of their own hands, & worship of their own phā ­tasies: whom Clemens Alexandrinus not vnfitly matcht with those Barbarian tyrants, who bound the bodies of the living to the bodies of the dead, till they rotted togither; so these being living soules, are coupled and ioined with dead images vanishing in the blindnesse of their minds, & perishing in the inventions of their own braines. And as the naturall pigeons, were beguiled by the counterfet, and flewe [Page 109] vnto pigeōs that were shaped in the painters shop; so stones, saith he, flocke vnto stones, stocks vnto stocks, men vnto pictures, as sensles of hart, as stocks & stones that are carved. But whē they haue tired thē ­selues in their supposed imaginary Gods, whō do they worship? Pra­xiteles made Venus to the likenes of Cratina, whom he loved. Al the Painters of Thebes painted her after the image of Phrine, a beautiful, but a notorious harlot. Al the carvers in Athens cut Mercury to the i­mitation of their Alcibiades. It may be, the pictures of Christ, & the blessed Virgin, & the saints which they haue placed in their windows & vpon the walles of their houses, & fastned to their beds, and carrie privily in their bosomes, as Rahel hid her fathers idols in the camels straw, are but Pigmalions pictures, workes of their owne devising, or draughts of their lovers & friēds, as vnlike the originals, as Alcibiades was to Mercury, Phrine & Cratina to Venus. Lactātius scattereth the obiections made for images in his times, & reneued in ours, like fome.Lib. 2. de [...] ­rig. error i [...] adver. Gen [...], For whē it was alleaged that they worshiped not the images thēselus, but those to whose likenes & similitude they were formed; I am sure, saith he, your reason is, because you thinke thē to be in heavē, els they were not Gods. Why then cast you not your eies into heauē? why for­getting the feature of your bodies which are made vpright, that your minds may imitate them, & not answering the reason of your name, [...]. pore ye downe vpon the earth, & bow your selues to inferiour things as if it repeted you, Non quadrupedes esse natos, that you were not borne foure footed beasts? Againe, images were devised to be the memorials & represētatiōs, either of the absent, or of the dead. Whether of these two do you think your Gods? if dead, who so folish as to worship thē? if absent, as litle they deserue such honor, because they neither se our actiōs, nor heare the praiers which we powre before thē. When they further replied, that they afforded their presēce no where so sone, (or not at al) as at their images, he answereth; it is iust as the cōmō people deemeth, that the spirits & ghosts of the dead walk at their graues & reliques, & are most cōversant in churchyards. I passe his further in­fectatiō, how senseles a thing it is, to feare that which it selfe feareth falling, firing, stealing away, which being in timber, was in the power of a contemptible artificer to bee made some thinge or nothinge; vvhen no man feareth the workeman himselfe, which must of force be greater then his worke; when the birdes of the aire are not afraid of them, because they roust and build, and leaue their filthines vpon them; and the figments themselues, if they had any sense or motion, would run to thāke & worship the carver, who, when they were rude [Page 110] and vnpolished stones, gaue them their being. When Saint Augu­stine heard them say in his dayes, that they tooke not the idoll for a God, [...]er. 6. de ver [...] ▪ apud. [...]ath. he asketh them, what doth the altar there, and the bowing of the knee, and holding vp the hands, and such like gesticulations? They seemed in their owne conceiptes, to bee of a finer [...] religion, (such are the pruners and purifiers of popery, the cleanely Iesuites of these times, which were able to distinguish, I worship not the cor­porall image, onely I beholde the portraiture of that which I ought to worship,) but he stoppeth their mouthes with the Apostles sen­tence, and sheweth what damnation will light vpon them, which turne the truth of God into a lie, and worship the creature more then the crea­tor, which is to be blessed for ever.

For, to returne where I first began; besides the folly of the thinge, the mischiefe is behinde: Go cry vnto your Gods which you haue chosen, and let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation. What a wofull dis­charge and dismission were this, to be lefte vnto such Gods, whose heads the hands of a carver hath polished, and if their eies be full of dust, and their clothes eaten vpon their backes with mothes, Ba [...]. 6. they cannot helpe it? the beastes are in better case then they, for they can ge [...] them vnder a covert, or shadow, to do themselues good. Then they may cry as the Apostles did vpon the motion of the like departure, Lorde? whether shall I goe? for as Christ there had the words, so hath the blessed Trinitie alone the power and donation of eternall life.Ioh. 6. When Senacherib and Rabsa­keh bragged that both the kings, and the Gods of the nations vvere destroied by them, Ez [...]chias aunswered the obiection, Trueth it is, Lorde, that the kings of Assur haue destoyed their nations, and their lands, and haue set fire on their Gods, for they were no Gods, but the worke of mens handes, even wood and stone; therefore they destroyed them: now therefore O Lorde our God, 2. King. 19. saue thou vs out of his hand, that all the kingdomes of the earth may know, that thou O Lord art onely God. This argument Moses tried vpon the golden calfe, whereof Israell had said, Behold thy Gods O Israell;Exod. 32. to shew that it was no God, hee burnt it in the fire, grounde it to powder; strawed it vpon the water, and then caused the people to drinke it. To conclude the pointe▪ It is most true which the Prophet resteth vpon, Psalme 86. Amongst the Gods there is none like vnto thee, O Lord, and there is none that can doe like thy workes. And as there is but one trueth, encountered with as many falshods, as there were gobbets and shreddes of dismembred Pentheus: so is there but one true God, opposed by as many false, as happily there are falshoods.

It may be the maister of the ship finding a defect, & miscariage of [Page 111] their former labours, that there was no succour to bee had vvhere they sought comfort, that though they had all prayed, they are not released, standeth in a wavering touching the Gods which they cal­led vpon, and thinketh there may be a God of more might vvhome they knowe not: so as in effect, vvhen hee thus spake vnto Ionas, he set vp an altar, and tendered honour vnto an vnknowne God. As if he had said; I am ignorant whom thou seruest, but such a one he may be, as is pronest to do vs good, and best able to saue our shippe. For as an idoll is nothing in the worlde, and there is no time in the worlde, wherein that nothing can do good: so there are many times, vvhen idolaters, that most dote vpon them, as Ieremy speaketh, are brought to perceiue it. Esay, in the second of his prophecie, speaketh of a day, vvhen men shall not onely relinquish, but cast away their idols of siluer and golde, vvhich they haue made to themselues to worship, vnto the mowles and battes, children of darkenesse, fitter for those that are ei­ther bleare eied, or that haue no eies to see withall, then for men of vnderstanding; & go into the holes of the earth, and toppes of cragged rocks, from the feare of the Lorde, and glorie of his maiestie, when he shal arise to iudge the earth. You see the fruit of idolaters, that as they haue lo­ved darkenesse more then the light, so they leaue their Gods to the darkenesse, and themselues enter into darkenesse, a taste and as­say before hand of that everlasting and vtter darknes that is provi­ded for them.

If so bee God will thinke vpon vs. Texte. Now that this was the minde of the maister of the shippe, to distrust his Gods, I gather by this vvhich followeth, vvherein the vncertaintie of his faith is bewraied, and his hope hangeth (as the crowe on the arke betwixt heauen and earth, finding no rest) without resolution of any comforte. Si forte, if so be, is not a phrase fitte to proceede from the mouth of faith,Si fortè. it is meeter to come from Babylon, whereof the Prophet writeth, Bring baulme for her sore, si fortè sanetur, if happilie shee maie bee healed;Ier. 51. her wounds were so desperate and vnlikely to be cured. It is meeter to be applied to the sores of Simon Magus, whome Peter counselled to repent him of his wickednesse, and pray vnto God,Actes 8. Si forte remit­tatur, if so bee the thoughte of his hearte mighte bee forgiuen him. The na­ture and language of faith is much different; it nesteth it selfe in the woundes of Christ, as Doues in the cleftes of rockes that cannot bee assaulted; it standeth as firme and stedfast as mount Sion that cannot be removed; it casteth an anchor in the knowledge of the true God; and because he is a true God, it doubteth not of mighte [Page 112] and mercy, or rather mercie and might (as the heathens call their Iupiter, Optimus maximus, first by the name of his goodnesse, and then of his greatnesse.) His mercies it doubteth not of, because they are passed by promise, indenture, covenaunt, othe, before vnmouea­ble vvitnesses, the best in heaven, and the best in earth. His pro­mises are no lesse assertained, because they are signed with the sin­ger of the holy Ghost, and sealed with the bloud of his anointed and beloved. By faith yee stande, saith the Apostle to the Corinthians: it is the roote that beareth vs,2. Cor. 1. the legges, and supporters, and stronge men that holde vs vp. If we listen to the prophet Abacuk, we may yet say more,Abba [...]. 2. For by faith wee liue: it is the soule and spirite of the new man; wee haue a name that we liue, but indeede are dead to God­warde, if wee beleeue not. For if any withdrawe himselfe therehence, the soule of God will take no pleasure in him. Woe vnto him that hath a double hearte, and to the vvicked lippes, and faint handes, and to the sin­ner that goeth two manner of waies; Eccle. 2. woe vnto him that is faint hearted, for he beleeueth not, therefore shall hee not bee defended. It is not the manner of faith to be shaken, and waver like a reede to and fro, nor of a faith­full man, to bee tost of every winde, as a waue of the sea that is ever row­ling. [...]. Heb. 4. [...]. Heb. 10. Ibid. [...]. [...]am. 1. [...]. 1. Pet. 1. Iob. 7. Ephes. 6. And therefore we are willed to come to the throne of grace, with boldnesse; and to drawe neare with a true hearte, in assurance of faith; and not to cast awaie that confidence, vvhich hath greate recompence of rewarde; and when we aske, to aske in faith, without reasoning, or doubting; and to trust perfectlie in that grace which is brought vnto vs by the revelation of Iesus Christ. Our life is a warfare vpon earth; a tried and expert warriour, one that bare in his body the skars of his faithful service, keeping the tearmes of his owne art, so named it: and wee are not to wrastle against flesh and bloude, but against principalities, and powers, and vvorldly gover­nours, the princes of the darkenesse of this worlde, against spirituall vvicked­nesses which are in high places. Our enimies, you see, are furnished as e­nimies should be, with strength in their handes, and malice in their heartes, besides all other gainefull advantages; as that they are spirit against flesh privie and secret, against that, that is open high a­gainst that, that is lowe, and farre beneath them. Now in this com­bate of our soules, our faith is not onely our prize, exercise, and ma­steries which vvee are to prooue, (as it is called) the good fighte▪ of faith, but a part of our armour which vvee are to weare,1. Tim. 6. our target to de­fend the place where the heart lieth, Ephe. 6. our brest-plate, 1. Thes. 5. and more then so;1. Ioh. 5. For it is our victorie and conquest against the worlde of enimies. So faith is all in all vnto vs. Blessed bee the Lorde, for hee [Page 113] hath shewed his marveilous kindnes towards vs, in a strong citty. He hath set vs in a fortresse and bulwarke of faith, so impregnable for strength, that neither heighth, nor depth, life nor death, thinges present nor things to come, nor al the gates, & devils of hel, nor the whole king­dome of darknesse can prevaile against it.

I grant there are many times, whē this bulwarke is assaulted,Occupati­on. & dri­ven at with the fiery darts of the devill, vvhen the conscience of our own infirmity, is greater then the view of Gods mercy, when the eie of faith is dim, & the eie of flesh and bloud too much open, when the Lord seemeth to stand far of, & to hide himselfe in the needful time of trou­ble, To be deafe and not to answere a word, To hold his hād in his bosome, & not to pul it out: whē this may be the bitter mone that we make vnto him; My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? and this our dolefull song which we sing to our souls in the night season; will the Lord absent him­selfe for ever? & wil he shew no more favor? is his mercy cleane gone for euer? doth his promise faile for euermore? hath God forgottē to be gracious? doth hee shut vp his mercies in displeasure? Lord, how long wilt thou hide thy selfe? Psal. 89. for ever? and shall thy wrath burne like fire? These be the dāgerous conflicts, which the captaines of the Lordes armies, and the most chosen chil­dren of his right hand sometimes endure. The lyons themselues sometimes roare with such passions, how shall the lambes but trem­ble? if the soules of the perfite, which haue beene fedde with the marrowe of fatnesse, and drunke of the fulnesse of the cuppe, haue sometimes fainted in themselues for want of such reliefe, much more vnperfite and weake consciences, which haue tasted but in part how gracious the Lord is. I aunswere in a word. The faithfull feare for 1 a time, but they gather their spirites againe, and recover warmth at the sunne-shine of Gods mercies; their feete are almost gone, and their steppes well neere slipt, but not altogither; they finde in the sanctua­ry of the Lorde, a proppe to keepe them vp; at length they con­fesse against themselues, This is my infirmity; they curbe and reproue themselues for their diffidence, and vvhatsoeuer they say in their haste, that all men are lyars, and perhappes God himselfe not true, yet by leasure they repent it.2. Cor. 4. Haesitantes, sed non pr [...] ­sus haerēte [...] Ar. M [...]nt. The Apostle doth pithily expresse my meaning, [...], staggering, but not vvho­ly sticking. Againe, they feare the particular, they distrust not the generall; it may bee victorie on their sides, it may be overthrowe; it may be shipwracke, it may be escape; it may be life, it may be death, whether of these two, they know not, & for both they are somewhat 2 indifferent. As when Shemei cursed David, the speech that the king [Page 114] vsed for his comfort,2. Sam. 16. was this, It may be the Lord will looke vpon my teares, and doe mee good for his cursing this day: As who would say, if otherwise, the care is taken, I referre it to his wisedome. Amos hath the like speech, It may bee the Lorde God of Israell will bee mercifull to the rem­nante of Ioseph;Amos 5. Si f [...]rtè. he meaneth in preventing their captivity: But whe­ther captivity or deliveraunce, they are at peace, as perswading themselues, that if the mercy of God faile them in one thing, it maie embrace them otherwise; for they know that all thinges worke togither for the best, Rom. 8. to them that loue God, as the Apostle writeth. Though such be the hope of sonnes and daughters, yet the case of straungers is o­therwise. For they are secure neither in particular, nor in generall; they measure all things by their sense, and as the manner of brute beasts is, consider but that which is before their feete, and having not faith, they want the evidence and demonstration of thinges that are not. And therefore the master of the ship, as I conceiue it, knowing that life alone which belongeth to the earthly man, & perhaps not ken­ning the immortality of the soule, or if hee thought it immortall by the light of reason, in some sorte, (as the blinde man recovered, savve men like trees, vvith a shadowed and mistie light) yet not knowing the state of the blessed, setteth all the adventure vpon this one successe, and maketh it the scope of all their praiers and paines, Ne percamus, That we perish not.

That we perish not.For such is the condition of heathen men; they knowe not what death the righteous die, as Balaam plainly distinguished it; they are not translated like other men, nor dissolved, nor taken away, nor gathered to their fathers and people, nor fallen a sleepe, which are the milde phrases of scripture, whereby the rigour of death is tempered; their life is not hid for a time, to be founde out againe, but vvhen they are deade in body, they are deade in bodie and soule too; their death is a perishing indeede, they are lost and miscarried, they come to nothinge,Donati vitae non commo­dati. Senec. Jnte [...]igeres illum non e­mori sed e­migrare. Ad Heliod 3. Prof [...]ctic est quam putas mortem. De patien. their life, their thoughtes, their hope, all is gone: and vvhen others departe this life in peace, as Simeon did, and go as ripe­ly, and readily from this vale of miserye, as apples fall from the tree, with good contentation of heart, and no way disquieted; these, as if they vvere giuen, not lent to their liues, must bee dravven and pulled away from them, as beastes from their dennes vvith violence. Hierome reporteth of Nepotians quiet and peaceable departure from his life, Thou wouldest thinke that hee did not die, but walke forth. And Tertullian hath the like sentence; It is but the taking of a iourney which thou deemest to be death. Whereas the Emperour of [Page 115] Rome for want of better learning, ignorant of the life to come, sang a lamentable farewell to his best beloved,Aelius Adr [...] ­anus. nor long before they were sundred:

My fleeting fonde poore darling,
Bodies ghest and equall,
Anïmula vagula bla [...] dula▪ &c.
Where now must be thy lodging?
Pale and starke and stript of all,
And put from wonted sporting

Compare with these wretched creatures, some plainely denying the immortality of their soules, others disputing, doubting, & know­ing nothing to purpose, til their knowledge commeth to late, others obiecting themselues to death rather in a vaineglorious ostentation, then vpon sound reason; I say, compare with them one the other side christian consciences, neither loving their liues more than a good cause, and yet without good cause not leaving them, and aske them what they thinke of this temporall life: they will answere both by speech and action, that they regard not how long or how short it is, but how well conditioned, (I borrow his words;Non quanta sed qualis, Senec. of whome I may say concerning his precepts and iudgements for morall life, that he was a Gentile-christian, or as Paul to Agrippa, almost a christian) as in the acting of a comedy it skilleth not what length it had,Non quam diu sed quā bene sit acta, refert. id. Esth. 4. but how well it was plaide. Consider their magnanimous, but withall wise re­solutions, such I meane as should turne them to greater advantage. Esther knew, that her service in hand, was honourable before God and man, and her hope not vaine, therefore maketh her rekoning of the cost, before the worke begun; If I perish I perish: her meaning as­suredly was, If I perish, I perish not; though I loose my life, yet I shall saue it. If there were not hope after death,Iob. 13. Iob would never haue said▪ lo, though he kill me, yet will I trust in him. And what availeth it him to know that his redeemer lived, Iob. 19. but that hee consequently knewe the meanes wherby his life should be redeemed? If the presence of God did not illighten darknes, and his life quicken death it selfe, David woulde never haue taken such hart vnto him, Though I shoulde walke through the valley of the shadowe of death, I woulde feare no evill, Psal. 23. for thou art with mee, and thy rodde, and thy staffe comforte mee. If his shep­heardes staffe had fayled him against the Lyon and the Beare which hee slevve at the sheepe-foulde, or his sling against Golias, that he had fallen into their handes; yet this staffe and strength of the Lord could haue restored his losses. The sentence that all these bare in their mouthes and harts, and kept as their watch-worde, was this; [Page 116] Death is mine advantage. Phil. 1. 2. Cor. 4. The Apostle taketh their persons vpon him and speaketh for them all, Therefore we faint not, because we know, that if our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renued daily: God buildeth as fast as nature and violence can destroy.2. Cor. 5. Wee know againe, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle bee destroyed, wee haue a building given of God, that is, an house not made with handes, but eternall in the heavens. Vpon the assurance of this house, not made of lime and sande, nor yet of flesh and bloude, but of glorie and immortalitie, hee desireth to bee dissolved, and to bee with Christ, and by his reioycing that hee hath, bee dyeth dayly, though not in the passion of his body, yet in the forwardnesse and propension of his minde; and and he received the sentence of death in himselfe, as a man that cast the worst, before the iudge pronounced it. I may say for conclusion in some sort, as Socra­tes did; Non vivit, cui nihil est in mente nisi vt vivat, He liveth not, who mindeth nothing but this life: or as the Romane orator well interpre­teth it, cui nihil est in vitâ iucundius vitâ, who holdeth nothing in his life dearer then life it selfe. For is this a life? where the house is but clay the breath a vapour or smoake, the body a body of death, our gar­ment corruption, the moth and the worme our portion, that as the wombe of the earth bred vs, so the wombe of the earth must againe receiue vs; and as the Lorde of our spirites said vnto vs, receiue the breath of life for a time, so he will say hereafter, returne yee sonnes of A­dam, and go to destruction?

By this time you may make the connexion of my text. The ma­ster of the shippe and his company, 1. worshippe and pray vnto false 1 Gods, that is, builde the house of the spider for their refuge: 2. Be­cause 2 they are false, they haue them in ielousie, and suspicion, call vpon thy God: 3. because in suspicion, they make question of their 3 assistaunce, if so bee: 4. because question of better thinges to come, 4 they are content to holde that which already they haue in possessi­on, and therefore say, that wee perish not. With vs it fareth othervvise. Because our faith is stedfast, and cannot deceiue vs, in the corrupti­on of our bodies, vexation of our spirites, orbity of our vviues and children, casualty of goods, wracke of ships and liues, wee are not re­moved from our patience, we leaue it to the wisedome of God, to a­mend all our mishappes, we conclude with Ioab to Abishai, The Lorde doe that which is good in his eies; 2. Sam. 10. honour and dishonour, good re­porte and evill reporte, in one sense are alike vnto vs: and though wee bee vnknowne, 2. Cor. 6. yet wee are knowne; though sorrowing, yet wee reioyce; though having nothing, yet wee possesse all thinges; though wee bee [Page 117] chastened, yet are we not killed; nay, though we die, yet we liue, and are not dead; we gather by scattering, we win by losing, we liue by dying, & we perish not by that which men call perishing.

In this heauenly meditation, let me leaue you for this time, of that blessed inheritance in your fathers house, the peny, nay the poundes, the invaluable weight and masse; of golde?2. Cor. 4. nay of glory after your la­bours ended in the vineyard, meate & drinke at the table of the Lord, sight of his excellēt goodnes face to face, pleasures at his right hand, and fulnes of ioy in his presence for euermore. Let vs then say with the Psalmist, my soule is a thirst for the living God: oh whē shall I come to ap­peare in the presence of our God? For what is a prison to a pallace, tents & boothes to an abiding citty, the region of death to the land of the li­ving, the life of men to the life of angels, a bodie of humility to a bo­dy of glory, the valley of teares to that holy and heauenly mounte Sion whereon the lambe standeth, gathering his saints about him to the participation of those ioies which himselfe enioieth, and by his holy intescession purchaseth for his members?

THE NINTH LECTVRE.

Cap. 1. ver. 7.‘And they saide euery one to his fellowe, Come, and let vs cast lottes, &c.’

AS the māner of sick men is in an hote ague or the like disease, to pant within themselues, and by groning to testifie their pangs to o­thers, to throw of their clothes, and to tosse from side to side in the bed, for mitigation of their paines; which whether they doe, or do not, their sicknes still remaineth, till the nature thereof bee more neerely examined; and albeit they chaunge their place, they change not their weaknes: so do these Marriners, sicke of the anger of God, as the other of a feuer, disquieted in al their affectiōs & fearing, as the other pant; praying, as the other groane; casting out their wares, as the other of their clothes; and removing from action to a­ctiō, from feare to praier, from praier to eiection of their wares, from thence to the excitation of Ionas; in all which they finde no successe, till they enquire more narrowely into the cause of their miseries, [Page 118] and therefore they betake themselues to a new devise of casting lottes. For when there is no other remedie in all their fore passed meanes, they begin to suspect some higher point of sacrilege against the ma­iestie of the godhead, vvhich cannot be expiated & purged by their goods alone, but by some mans life amongst them. Wherein you haue another principle of nature to consider of, that sinnes are the causes of our calamities, in that the tempest heere raised, is imputed to the vvickednesse of some in the shippe, not to bee quieted and stilled againe, vnlesse the mouth of the waues may be stopped with that impious person that hath committed it. Goe then and say with the Priests in Malachie,Mal. 2. Everie one that doth evill, is good in the sighte of the Lorde, and he delighteth in him: whereas nature it selfe, lying more close to a man, than the marrow to his bones, informeth the hartes of these marriners, that the mother and original of al their woe, is some notorious wickednes. Let the censure of an heathen philosopher bee added herevnto;Hoc ipso pri­mùm scele­ratus est. What wicked mā soever thinketh he pleaseth God in his wickednes, he is chiefly & notoriously vvicked for that very o­pinion, because he esteemeth the Gods either to bee foolish, or vn­righteous. The verse now in hād, openeth their meanes vsed for the detection of the transgressour, & laieth before our eies in order these foure pointes.

  • 1 Their consultation, They saide every man to his fellow, Come.
  • 2 Their resolution, Let vs cast lots.
  • 3 The reason of their counsell held and resolved, That wee mai [...] know for whose cause this evill is done.
  • 4 The issue or successe which their deliberation tooke, The lot fell vpon Ionas.

1 Consul­tation.In the consultation, by occasion of the phrase, Every one to his fellow, I obserue the vnity & consent that was amongst them▪ for they pro­ceed to their busines,Vir ad colle­gam. 1. Chron. 1. In corde non duplici. In corde per­fecto. In corde v▪ no. Lib. 8. as the tribes of Israel brought David to Hebrō, with a single hart, with a perfite hart, with one hart; yea they are ioined & cōposed togither as Ierusalē was built; not like the foxes of Sampson▪ back to back, every mā fancying a course to himselfe; nor as the mā ­ner of a disordered army is, which Curtius describeth thus, Alius iun­gere ac [...]em, alius dividere, stare quidā; et nonnulli circūvehi, Some wil haue the army ioined, others disioined, some wil stand, others ride about; but with such coniunction of souls, as if they grew togither vpon one stocke, they cōsult, resolue, execute the best means to help thēselues. One cōmon cause, one cōmō fear (which for the most part is the ma­ster of disorder & disturbance) hath so cōcorporated & linked these [Page 119] men togither, though they are not the sons of one nation, that as the angels of the mercy seate did turne face to face, so they applied & fit­ted invention to invention, opinion to opinion, verdite to verdite, as if the blssing of God, Ezec. 37. had lighted vpon thē, the wood of Iudah, & the wood of Ioseph shalbe ioyned in one tree, & they shalbe no more 2. peoples, nor devided henceforth into 2 kingdomes. Applicatiō These being strangers & forrai­ners one to the other, can hold agreement. We in a common danger (say for example, A Spanish invasion) though we be threatned before hand, as Benadad threatned Ahab, thy silver & thy gold is mine; 1. King. [...]0. also thy women, & thy faire children are mine, &c. though our land, our substance, our sons & daughters, our crowne & kingdome, were to be forfaited, alienated, passed vnto strangers; though whips provided for our tor­ture, and kniues for our slaughter; how do we consult? Vir ad amicum suū? or vir ad collegā? A man with his friend or companion? with mutuall aspect in our faces? or mutual assent in our harts? Not so; But rather as if the curse of the almighty were fallen amongst vs, Zac. 11. I will breake my staffe of bands, & dissolve brotherhood, a man with his rivall, evil-willer, enemy, one iealous & suspicious of the other, one seeking the peace of the land, another wishing in his hart that it might be overrun. In such distraction and variāce of minds, if our state were as strong as the kingdome of Sathan, as it is but a kingdome of flesh & bloud, and of mortal men, it would fall to ruine. Our Saviour, you know, giveth the rule in the gospell, & the devils keepe it, as the surest principle and maxime in their policie, not to sever their forces. Seven coulde a­gree togither in Mary Magdalene, a whole legion in an other man; wheras amongst vs, in one people, & in one family, there is not con­sent betweene seven persons. There is a day, when Herod & Pilate are made friends, and cleaue togither in their devises against Christ, as the skales of Leviathan; (perhaps they feare the dissolution of their auto­rities & dominions, if Christ be not overthrown.) Curtius writeth in his history, of certaine barbarous people,Quo [...] aliàs bellare inter se solitos, tūc periculi so­cietas iunx [...] erat. lib 9. that though they were ever banding in armes before, & one provoking the other, yet when Alex­ander the great came vpon them, the equality of the danger, wherin they were ioined, ioined also their harts and forces togither. If there were nothing els to moue our country men to the ensuing of peace; yet the equality, me thinks, of the dāger, cōmon to both parts, should invite them therunto. For howsoever they discontent thēselues vvith the government which God hath apointed, & cry with the children of Israel, Giue vs a king, Giue vs a king; & not Samuel, nor all the Samu­els in the vvorlde, can disswade them vvith the tyranny which the [Page 120] king shall practise vpon them, their wiues and children, vineyards, fieldes, servantes, asses, sheepe, but they still cry, Nay, but there shall bee a king over vs; yet it may be, when they haue their wish, the fable wilbe moralized, and verified vpon them; A storke was given thē and then they would see in how much better case they lived before, than now vnder the king of the Persians,Quanto mi­tiore sorte, quàm sub rege Persa­rum. Curt. 8. 2. King. 10. as Alexander told his soul­diour. And though we are now devided into two companies, like La­bans sheepe and goates, some blacke, and some speckled, some Pa­pistes, some Protestantes; it may be their goods wilbe taken for Pro­testants, their houses and inheritance for Protestants, their heads for Protestants, and both theirs and ours laide, as the heades of the sons of Ahab by Iehu, vpon two heapes.

Come, let vs cast lottes. As many other thinges, so this facte of theirs doth expresse the force of a most vnusuall tēpest:2. Resoluti­on. for there had bene tempests vpon the sea, when there were no ships; & both tem­pests & ships, when there were no lotts cast, a thousand times; & ma­ny a ship perhaps vpon the sea at this present, that felt the wrath of the storme, & yet entred not into any the like cōsultation. But God, the disposer of all things, having his fugitiue Prophet in chase, put­teth it into the harts of the marriners, 1. that there is some man whose iniquity hath brought their liues in question, 2. that there must bee some meanes for his deprehension. Now what should they doe in a matter of fact? there were no witnesses to detect, & neither the con­science of the offender, nor happily his countenance, nor anie the like presumption to disclose it; and if an othe had beene ministred, which is the ende of controversie, perchance it might haue beene fal­sified,Pu [...]ri talis, viri sacra­mentis. as Lysander sometimes spake; Children must bee deceaved by dice and blanckes, men by othes: therefore they put it to lottes, as indifferent vmpires and arbitratours for all partes; as who would say, Because art faileth, we will go by chance, and in a matter of secrecie,Sort iri nihil est aliud quàm spe­ctare temeri­tatem & ca­sum, &c. 2. de divin. Li. 1. cap. 1▪ let God be iudge, and giue sentence. For so doth Tully define Sortition, that it is nothing els but hap-hazard, where neither reason, nor counsel can take place. It was a custome amōgst the Gen­tiles to do many things by lottes. Valerius Maximus writeth of the Romanes, that, by an auncient ordinance amongst them, if they commended any thing to their Gods, it was by praier; if they desired or craved, it was by vowe; if they rendered or repayed, by thanks­giving; if they enquired, by the inwarde part of beasts, or lottes; if they did any thinge solemnly, by sacrifice. He further reporteth, that it befell Lucius Paulus their Consull, by lotte to fight against [Page 121] Perses, king of Macedon; and that going from the court to his owne house, and finding Tertia his young [...] very sad,Cap. 5. he kissed her, and asked her what shee ailed; she [...] au [...]swered, that Persa (her litle whelpe,) was deade: which saying of [...]ers, hee tooke as a to­ken of good lucke, (for the affinity of the names) to encourage him the rather against Perses. The Greekes at the siege of Troye, cast lottes who should [...]ight with Hector, and the lotte fell vpon Aiax,Sortemque meam ve­vistis. as appeareth by a part of his own oration vnto them. In the third of Io­el, the Lord complaineth against the nations, that they had cast lots vpon his people: in the prophecie of Obadiah, against Esau, that when strangers entered in the gates, and cast lottes vpon Ierusalem, hee was as one of them: in the Evangelist S. Mathew, the souldiers devide the garmentes of Christ by lo [...]s. But without further testimony, it is here ap­parant, that it was in vse amongst most nations, because the vvhole company of the ship, being of divers languages, all agree vpon the same course; Come, let vs cast lots. 22. qu. 95. ar. 3. Schedulae scriptae, vel non scriptae. Festucae in­aequales. Taxillorum proiectio. Libri aper­tio. [...]. Glebulae, fa­bae, globuli Aquinas setteth down some forms of lots vsed amongst them; that either they had tickets of paper, (some of which were written, some blancke,) wherein they considered who had the one, who the other; or els festawes & cuts, wherein they ob­served, who drew the greater, who the lesser; or they threw dice & hucklebones, wherin he that threw most, was victorer; or els they opened a booke, & by that which a man first lighted vpon, they decided the strife; answerable wherunto are the tables & books of fortune, in our times. Others alleage more sorts of thē; as litle stones, scores, & tales o [...] wood, signed with letters & characters, stāps of clay, beanes, pellets, & many the like varieties. In the vsing of all which instruments, their māner was, first to hide thē out of sight; as in Homer, they hid their lots in Agamemnons helmet; then to shake them togither confusedly, & afterwards to draw them forth, & to receiue as their lottes specified. The Hebrewes write, that when the land of Canaan was devided a­mongst the children of Israell, they had 12. skroles of paper, signed with the names of 12. tribes, & 12. other signed with 12. portions of land: all which being put into a pitcher, & mingled togither, the Prin­ces for their severall tribes, drew two a piece, and together with their names received their inheritances. It is a question amongst Divines, whether it be lawfull in christianity to vse lottes, yea or no?Whither lawefull to vse lottes. For the solution whereof, wee must both distinguish the kindes, and set li­mittes & bounds, which must not be exceeded. Touching the kinds, most of the Schoolemen, Summistes, and other Divines doe thus number them; that eyther they are of consultation,The kindes of lottery. vvherein [Page 122] they enquire of somewhat that must be donne; or of division, wher­in the question is,Consultoria, quaeri [...] quid agendum. Divisoria, quid cui (que) dividendū. Divinato­ [...]ia. quid fu­ [...]urum. Levit. 16. Numb. 33. Ios. 7. 1. Sam. 10. Actes 1. Comment. in act. Epist. 180. what shalbe shared to every man; or of divinati­on, and prediction, wherein they are curious to search out future accidentes. Of the former two they make no great scruple, because they are iustified and approoved to vs by many examples of scrip­tures; as in choosing one goate for the sacrifice, the other for the scape goate; in deviding the land of promise; in finding out Achan vvith the accursed thinge; in taking Saul to the kingdome; in pre­ferring Matthias to the Apostleship, (though Beda seemēth to mi­slike the like imitation in our times, because the election then helde, was before Pentecost, when they had not receaved such full measure of the holy ghost; which afterwards obteined, they chose the s [...]ven deacons not by lot, but by common consent of all the Disciples.) August. in an epistle to Honoratus, putteth this case; that if in a time of persecution, the ministers of the gospell shoulde varie amongst them, who should abide the heate of the fire, that all fled not; and who should flie, least if the whole brotherhood vvere made avvay, the church might be forsaken: if otherwise they could not ende their variance, he holdeth it the best course to try by lot, who shoulde re­maine behinde,Quantum mi [...]i vide­tur, qui ma­ne [...]t & qui fugiant, sor­te legendi sunt. who depart; and he addeth for the proofe of his o­pinion, the iudgement of Salomon, Prov. 18. The lotte causeth conten­tions to cease: affirming moreover, that in such doubts, God is able to iudge better then men, whether it be his pleasure, to call the bet­ter able vnto their martyrdome, and to spare the weaker; or to ena­ble these weaker, for the endurance of troubles, and to withdravve them from this life, vvho cannot by their liues bee so profitable to the Church of God, as the others. He proposeth the like case in his bookes of Christian learning, the question standing betweene two needy persons, whether of the two shalbe relieved, when both can­not.Lib. 1. c. 28· I finde many other cases, both observed by antiquitye, and some by the civill lawes allowed, wherein the vse of lottes hath bene admitted;See Wolph vpon the 9. of Nehem. comment. lib. 3. As in creation of magistrates, in contracting mariages, in vndertaking provinces and lieutenantships, in leading colonies, that is, new inhabitants to replenish forreine partes; in entring vpon inheritances; and if in a suite of lawe it cannot bee agreed vpon be­tweene the parties contending, who the plaintife, vvho the defen­dant is,Thence [...]. Vlpi [...]n. both seeking for iudgement; in the manumission & freeing of some few in a multitude, when all craue the benefit; in singling out one of many heyres that cannot agree for the keeping of the deeds and conveiances. But to bridle our licentiousnes herein, who [Page 123] must liue by lawes, not by examples, and ought not to turne par­ticular factes into generall practises, it shall not be amisse, (as God set markes about the mount,) to propose a few conditions carefully to be observed. First, we must never fall to lotterie,6. Cōditiōs in lottery. but when necessi­ty enforceth vs; all other lawfull meanes first assaied, and the wise­dome of man vnable to proceede, vnles a more excellent wisedome 1 from heauen, helpe the defect of it. For he that is taken by lot,Qui sorte eligitur, hu­man [...] iudi­cio non com­prehenditur. [...]. Cyprian. must bee past the comprehension of humane iudgement, as Ambrose noteth vpon the first of Luke, touching the ministerie of Zachary in his course to burne incense. Secondly, we must vse greate reverence and religiousnesse in the action: Sancta sanctè, holy things must be doone in an holy manner. Beda calleth for this in his commentaries vpon the first of the Actes, handling the election of Matthias. If a­ny 2 thinke that in a time of necessitie (els not) the minde of God must be knowne by lots, according to the example of the Apostles,Non nisi col­lecto frairū coetu, & pre­cibu [...]a [...] Deum [...]usi [...]. let them remember that the Apostles medled not therewith, but the brethren being first assembled, and their praiers powred forth vnto God. Thirdly, wee must avoide impiety and idolatrie therein,3 ascribing the event of our wishes, neither to the starres, nor to anie other celestiall body, vvhich cannot wante the ingestion and intermedlinge of divelles; neither to fortune, which is vanitie at the least, (though Aquinas make that the most) neither to di­velles, nor to any other the like spirituall cause, vvhich savoureth of mere idolatry, but onely vnto him, of whome Salomon testify­eth, The lot is cast into the lappe, Prov. 16. but the whole disposition thereof is of the Lorde. Fourthly, wee must not apply the oracles of God in his sacred 4 scriptures, to our earthly, temporall, transitorie losses;Ad negoti [...] saecularia & vitae huius vanitatem▪ divina ora­cula conver­tere. Aug. ad inquisit. Ian. Epist. 119. cap. 20. see more there Scriptū est. Paule wee knowe. wherin they intolerably offende, that for euery trifle stollen from them, or casu­ally gone, are stronglie conceited, by reciting the verse of the Psalme, when thou saweth a theefe, thou rannest with him, and vsing an hollow key, or by vsing a [...]i [...]e and a paire of sheares, not without blasphemous invocation of the names of some saintes, to make themselues savers againe. Doubtlesse the divell, whome they grati­fie in this sorcery, who also produced scriptures, and the names of Saintes to as good purpose as they doe, hath sifted these men to the bran, and left not a graine of good Christianity in them. Augu­stins iudgement (mee seemeth) is over favourable vnto them, vvho though hee rather wished they shoulde take their lottes from the leaues of the gospell, then runne to enquire of divelles, yet he mis­liked that custome, that the oracles of God should bee converted [Page 124] to secular affaires,Tamen ista mihi displi­cet consue­tudo. and the vanities of this life. We may iustly con­trole them from the same Psalme, What hast thou to doe, to take my co­venant within thy mouth, seeing thou hatest to be directed by it? thou givest thy minde to evill, and with thy tongue thou forgest deceite: thou sittest and i­maginest against thy brother, and slaunderest thy mothers sonne. Thus in­deede they doe: for hee is the theefe whome e [...]ther they in their iea­lousie thinke vpon, or the devill and father of lies in his malignitie 5 offereth vnto them. 5. The endes of our lottes must be respected: the honour of God, as the moderatour of all such ambiguities; the furnishing of his Church, if two or more be fit, with the fitter; the preserving of iustice; the avoydance of greater mischiefes, other­wise in the reason of man vnevitable, as envies, suspicions, tumultes, factions, seditions, arising vvithout such competent and equall iud­ges. Lastly, wee must eschew all fraude and deceite, in permitting 6 our causes to heavenly arbitrement; least wee procure at least the reproofe that Ananias bare, Howe hath Sathan filled your heartes, that you shoulde lie vnto the holy Ghost? Actes 5. You haue not lied vnto men, but vnto God: vndoubtedly hee hath a girdle of trueth aboute his reines, that will heavily repay it.In Messeni­cis. Therefore the facte of Temon the Priest recorded by Pausanias, can never be pardoned amongst religious eares, who in a controversie for lande betweene Cresphon, and the issue of Aristodemus, to be tryed by lottery, in favour of Cresphon, vvho had bribed him, beguiled the right heires. The lottes were of claye, to be cast into a pot of water, wherein as they sooner or later resolved, so the matter should be ended. But Cresphons being hardned in the fire, the other but against the sun, it is not hard to say whether longer endured. Within these borders must our lottes be held:Sors non est aliqùid ma­li, sed res in humana du­bitatione di­vinam indi­cans volun­tatem. Glos. in Psal. 30: [...] August. Te facimus fortuna D [...] ­am, &c. and then there is little question, but as in nature they are thinges indifferent, so being bettered by such conditions, they may rightfully be borne with. Concerning cardes and dice, as vsuall pastimes to some, as the fieldes to walke in, deviding to men the wager or stake pawned downe betwixt them, if any haue pro­nounced with so much severity as to comprise them within the num­ber and traine of vnlawfull lots, & vtterly to abandon thē, for mine owne part I hinder them not, let them proceede to their iudgments. Yet amongst sober and discreete companions, who vse them to no bad end, and neither are so grosse on the one side to make fortune their goddesse, in assigning good or evill lucke vnto hir, nor so sawcy on the other, to call the maiesty of God frō heavē to determine their doubtes, (for they looke not so high in such frivolous & gamesome [Page 125] quarrelles, but as they carelesly vndertake them, so they further them as lightly, and as merily end them, vvith no other purpose of heart, saue onely to passe the time, if not so well as they might, which scarcely any recreation is so happy to challenge, yet not so ill as the most do, to exercise wit, to cherish society, to refresh the mind for a space frō serious occupations) I thinke it, vnder correction, no great offence. Which temperate excuse of mine notvvithstanding far be it of, that it should be rackt to the patronaging of Temo's cosenage; 1 those studied fraudes, & fallacies, I meane, which the world vseth in packing of cardes, shifting and helping of dice (they te [...]rme it) to the hurting of others estate, and their owne consciences. Neither doe I 2 allow them for a trade or vocation of life. To erect dicing and car­ding houses, or commonly to haunt such, as places to thriue by, is to set vp temples to fortune a new, rather to devilles, & to lay a foun­dation which deserveth no milder a curse then the reedifying of Ieri­cho. A yong man reprooved by Plato for playing at dice,Parvum est alea ludere. A [...] nō paruū ossuescere. aunswered him, it is a small thing to play at dice; but the Philosopher replied, it is no small fault to make it an habite.

The last thing that I mislike in them, is that, that Alexander the greate, both blamed and amerced in his friends▪ that when they plai­ed 3 at dice, they played not but riotously wasted and consumed their whole ability. In vvhich profusion of substance, when the matter engaged ieopardeth the stocke and state of a man, his passions must needes be stirred, and a troupe of wretched sinnes commonly ensueth; swearinge, forswearinge, banninge, defying, hart-bur­ning, fighting, spilling of bloud, vnsupportable sorrovves of hart, cursed desperation, weedes able to disgrace the lawfullest re­creation wheresoever they are found, as the Harpyes defiled the clea­nest meates.

The third sort of lottes serving to diuination,Divinatory lottes. the law of God in a thousand expresse prohibitions & comminatiōs, & the lawes of men both civill & canon mainly impugne, as by their edicts, penances, a­nathemas hath bene puplished to the world. They had many sorts of predictions, presensions, foreseeings, & none of thē all, but either with the manifest invocatiō of devils, or with their secret insinuation at the least. In cōiuring, & witchery, it is too open; but in their necromācy, & such like prophecyings by signes & characters in the fire; are, vvater, ground, entrales of beasts, flying, crying, feeding of birds,See. Aret. in probl. loc. 6 [...]. lineaments of the hand, proper names, numbers, verses, lead, waxe, ashes, sage-leaues, and the rest, it is somewhat more secret, but no lesse certaine. [Page 126] The artificers and maisters of which faculty, are most to be excused, that vsed least earnest;Cato. at whome a wise man marveiled, that they laughed not one vpon the other when they met, as being privie to themselues of enriching the eares of the worlde with fables,Aures divi­cant alienas, sua [...] ut auro locupletent domos. to enrich their owne houses with treasure. But how scrupulous and fearefull o­thers were, how deepely enthralled to the collusions of Sathan, is most ridiculous to consider: as that Pub. Claudius should be condē ­ned by full parliament, because, in the first Carthaginian warre, being in sight by sea, and asking how the birdes fared, to take his good speede there hence, vpon knowledge given him that they would not come out of their coope to feede, hee answered so irreligiouslye as it was taken,Quia esse nolūt, bibāt & in malum abeant. Val. lib. 1. cap. 4. Beholde, they will no [...] eate, let them drinke, and go with a mischiefe, and so cast them all into the sea. VVho woulde ever haue thought that C. Marius being condemned by the Senate of Rome, seeing an asse to forsake his provendour, and go to the water to drinke, should take occasion thereby, to forgoe the land, and betake himselfe to sea for safety of his life?Cap. 5. Yet was the accident imputed both to the pro­vidence of his Gods that directed him, and to the skill that him­selfe had in interpreting religion. Augustin writeth, that one came to Cato,2. De do [...]t▪ Christ. 19. and told him in great sooth, that a ratte had gnawen his hose: Cato answered him, it was no marve [...]le; but much more, if his hose had gnawen the rat. Fabius Maximus refused his dictatorship, because he heard a ratte but squeake. If a man should forsake but his meate, or bed for the squeaking of many rattes, or a scholler his bookes, because a ratte had eaten the leaues thereof in our times, who would not laugh at their folly? This was their misery and serui­lity, who went from the living to the dead, from the mouth of the Lorde, to the mouthes of enchanters, birdes, beasts, devilles, from the lawe and the testimony to those lawles, curious, idolatrous, pernicious, magi­call devises.

The manner of our charmers is not much behinde these in impuri­ty & prophanenes. Wherein what reason can be given of applying holy writte to vnholy actions, of vttering vnsignificant words which carry no sense, of drawing vnproportionate figures, of tying to fo­lish and vnnecessary conditions, but a very secret operation, wher­by the devill doth infuse himselfe into such workings? For curinge the tooth-ach, or the like disease, a writinge must bee red or kept, but greate regard to be had, vvhether it be written in paper or parch­ment, in sheepe or in goate skin, with the right or the lefte hande vvhether by a Virgin or common person. Sometimes Christ him­selfe [Page 127] is abused and his sacred word, with apocryphall, imaginarye, false allegations; as that Iesus spake to his wife, when he was never married, and such like blasphemies. You vvill say, they vse good prayers in their chambers. I aunswere with Augustine,Si magicae, non vult ta­les; si licitae, non vult per tales. li. 8. de civ. Dei. c. 19 Miracula nō sacitis, quae si faceretis, tamen in vobis cave­remus. li. 13. they are ei­ther magicall or lawfull: If magicall, God vvil none of such praiers; if lawfull, yet not by such oratours. I denye not but a good event hath sometimes ensued, thy losse recovered, thy teeth cured: what then? doest thou not know the power of Sathan, that he transfor­meth himselfe into an Angell of lighte, worketh by strong delusions, lyinge wonders, that, if it were possible, the very elect should be seduced? Augustin wrote to Faustus the Manichee; you worke no miracles, vvhich if you did, yet in you wee would beware your very miracles. It is the deserved iudgement of God vpon those that haue recourse to these vnlawfull helpes (vvherein though they vnderstand not themselues sometimes, what they write or speake, the Devill vnderstandeth well enough) to leaue them to the God of this worlde, the prince of darkenesse, who ruleth in the children of disobedience, because they flie from the revealed will of God, to prestigiatorie and fraudulent im­pieties. The Lord demaundeth in the 1. of Kinges, who shall entice, Chap. 22. that is, perswade & deceaue Ahab, that hee maie goe and fal at Ramoth in Gilead? one saide thus, an other thus: Then there came forth a spirit and said, I will entice him: wherewith? I will go & be a false spirite in the mouth of all his Prophets. Then the L. said, thou shalt entice him, & shalt prevaile▪ go forth and doe so. Such is the counsell that the Lorde holdeth in heaven, to bring to confusion al those whome the load-star of his written word cannot leade, but they will take to themselues croked and perverse vvaies, vvhich go downe to the chambers of death. I now conclude all these with that memorable saying of Augustin,Talibus sa­cris mortem quaerat aeter­na [...]. That wee may know for whose cause. Texte. He that desireth neither to liue happily hereafter, nor godly in this present vvorld, let him purchase eternall death by such rites. Thus much of the course resolued vpon, Come let vs cast lottes.

The reason why they resolved vpon lottery, was, that they mighte know for whose sake the evill was vpō thē. Who are they that enquire this? vir ad amicū suū, every one in the ship; no doubte Ionas amongst the rest, as quicke to dissemble his faulte, as hee that was most innocent. Looke frō the crowne of the head to the soule of the foote, from the maister of the ship to the ship-boy, they had all deserved this tem­pest; full of idolatry, impurity of life, fitter, for their vvickednesse, whome the iawes of hell then the waues of the sea should swallowe vp. Yet as if they were free from staine, they will try by lottes, for [Page 128] whose cause the evill is vpon them. So is the nature of man wedded to it selfe, leauing her eies at home in a boxe, in discerning her own infirmities,Pupula du­plex fulmi­n [...]t, Ovid. but in the faultes of others, as quicke sighted as eagles. Then every eie hath a double ball to see with, and they stand with­out the head (vvhich is the worst kinde of eie) neerer to other men then to themselues. Ionas, I graunt, was the man, vvhom the anger of God, as an arrowe from a bowe, levelled at; yet did not the others know so much, and therefore had litle reason to thinke, that there was not matter enough eche man in himselfe to deserue the punish­ment. This translation of faults from our selues to others, was a les­son learned in paradise, when the first rudimentes and catechisme of all rebellions was delivered to the children of men. For Adam be­ing charged with the crime of disobedience, hee put it to the vvo­man, the woman to the serpent, as if both the former had not beene touched.1. Sam. 14. When Saul caused lottes to be cast betweene him and Io­nathan on the one side, and all Israell on the other, to finde out the man who, contrarie to their vowe, had eaten any thinge before night, he saith not vnto God, declare the offender, which he shoulde haue done; but by an arrogant speech in favour of his owne inte­gritie, Cedo integrum, shew me the innocent person. Ionathan, I confesse,2. Sam. 16. was guiltie in this one offence, if it vvere an offence; yet was the innocencie of Saul discredited in many others. Shemei a dead dogge, as Abishai tearmed him, forgetteth his owne people, I meane, the sinnes of his owne bosome, and raileth at David with a tongue as virulent as aspes, Come forth, Come forth, thou man of bloud, thou man of Beliall; thou art taken in thy wickednesse, because thou art a murtherer. How did the frendes of Iob breake a bruised reede, and adde affliction to the afflicted, making their whole conference with him an invectiue against his wickednesse, and conveying in vvith­all a secret apologie & purgation of their owne iustice?Luke 13. It appeareth by our Saviours aunswere, in the gospell of Luke, that there vvere some amongst the people, vvhich supposed those Galilaeans, whose bloud Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices, greater sinners then the rest; and those eighteene, vpon vvhome the tower of Siloam fell, and slevv them, sinners aboue all men that dvvelt in Ierusalem. Our Saviour answereth them by occupation, I tell you, Nay; but ex­cept you amende your liues, you shall likewise perish. When the Barbari­ans of Malta sawe the viper hanging vpon Pauls hande, they infer­red presently, (men more viperous and pestilent themselues) this man surely is a murtherer, Actes 28. vvhome, though hee hath escaped the sea, yet [Page 129] vengeance doth not suffer to liue. It was the vsuall maner of the Scribes and Pharisees, to sow pillowes of selfe-liking vnder their owne arme­holes, and to take no knowledge of beames in their owne eies, but evermore to except against their brethren▪ as men not vvorthy the earth they trode vpon: Why eateth your master with Publicanes and sinners? This man is a friende to sinners. Againe, if this man vvere a Prophet, hee woulde surelie haue knowne, who, and what vvoman this is that toucheth him; for shee is a sinner: (when the woman with a boxe of spike-nard annointed his feete.) Such doctrine preached the Pha­risee that went into the temple to iustifie himselfe, (a lying prophet against his owne soule,) I thanke God I am not as other men, Luke 1 [...]. nor as this Publicane. Hee spake like Caiaphas, truer then hee was avvare of: hee vvas not as the Publicane, in confession of his misdeedes; nor the Publicane as hee, in arrogation of iustice. Thus Diogenes treadeth downe the pride of Plato, but vvith greater pride; and the Pharisee reproveth the sinne of a Publicane, but vvith grea­ter sinne. Mala mens, malus animus; An evill minde in it selfe is an evill minde towardes all others. You see the disease of mankinde, vvorthy to bee searched and seared vvith severe reprehension, how strange wee are to our owne, how domesticall and inwarde to other mens offences; how blinde in our selues, how censorius and lynce-eied against our brethren; how willing to smooth our owne pates with the balme of assentation & selfe-pleasing, how loth to acknow­ledge that which we brought from the wombe, I am a sinfull man;1. Tim. 1. but to go further with Paule, Ego primus, I am chiefe, to be greatest in the kingdome of heaven, we will scarsly do it. Wel, it is a sentence of eter­nity, hanging as in a table over the iudgement seate of God, and his eies are never removed frō it, He that commendeth himselfe is not allowed, 2. Cor. 10. but he whom the Lord commendeth: and this other is not vnlike vnto it. He that condemneth another man, is not his iudge, but God hath apointed a iudge both for small and great. Who art thou, saith Iames,Iacob. 4▪ that iudgest ano­ther? If he be, alter, vnto thee, an other from thy selfe, and vvithout thy skinne, iudge him not. He that iudgeth his brother, iudgeth the law, (whose office it is to iudge) and offereth iniury to the law-giuer him­selfe. For there is one law-giuer which is able to saue, and to destroy. Rom. 14. Who art thou that iudgest another mans servant? he standeth or falleth vnto his owne master (not vnto thee,) yea contrary to thy thought & will, hee shalbe established, for God is able to make him stande. But why dost thou iudge thy brother? he is not thy servant, but thy brother; your condition is a­like. Wee shall all appeare before the iudgement seate of Christ▪ Iudge nothing [Page 130] therefore before the time, 1. Cor. 4. vntill the Lorde come, vvho vvill lighten things that are hid in darknes, & make the counsels of the hart manifest, & then shal every man haue praise of God. First then, because he is another, 2. because he serveth his own Lord, 3. because he is thy brother, 4. because the law-giver hath power of life & death in his handes, & his law must iudge, 5. because the time of iudgement is not yet come; for al these reasons and perswasions, Iudge not another man. Iudge him by law, if thou be a magistrate; iudge him by charitie and discretion, if a private chri­stian; and be not only an eie to obserue, and a tongue to condemne, but an hande to support him: yet rather, if I may counsell thee, iudge thy selfe, J [...]r. 24. Vol [...] vul [...] ­ [...]rae iudica­ [...]us praesen­tari, non iu­dicandus. 1. Cor. 11. that thou bee not iudged with the worlde. Say with Bernarde vpon the Canticles, I will present my selfe before the countenaunce of Gods wrath already iudged, not to be iudged. For if we woulde iudge our selues, (the Apostle telleth vs) we might escape iudgment. Call thy soule to daily account of thine own misdeeds, Thus did Sex­tius, when the day was ended and the night come, wherein he should take his rest, he woulde aske his minde, vvhat evill hast thou healed this day?Quod malū hodie sana­sti [...] Senec. de ira lib. 3. Ioh. 21. 1. Chr. 17. Luke 18. what vice hast thou stood against? in what part art thou bet­tered? Say not, as Peter did of Iohn, Hic autem quid? what shall hee doe? as one carefull of other mens estates; but, Domine, quis ego sum? Lord, who am I, that thou shouldest regarde mee with such favour? Domine, miserere mei peccatoris, O Lord, be mercifull vnto me a sinner. Thus knocke at the brest of thine owne conscience, breake vp those iron and heavy gates, which barre vp thine owne sinnes. Looke not in­to the coffers and corners of other mens infirmities. Otherwise thy dissembled sinnes which thou hordest vp vvithin thy bones, and arte afraide to set before thine eies, shall be written in the brow of thy face, brought to light, and blowne abroad with the sounde of trumpets, that all the world may say, Lo, this is the man that iustified himselfe in his life time, and would not confesse his sinne.

THE TENTH LECTVRE.

Cap. 1. ver. 7.‘And the lot fell vpon Ionas.’

OF the foure parts before specified & collected out of this verse, the last onlie remaineth to be examined, to wit, the successe of the lottes;The suc­cesse of the lottes. which the last member thereof doth plainelie open vnto vs. Let me once againe remember the proverbe vnto you: The lots are cast into the lap, but the whole disposition thereof is of the Lord. In a matter merely casuall, for ought the wise­dome of man can iudge, (as Tullie sometimes said to a man who spake rashly and vnadvisedly,2. Acad. qu. Hoc non est conside­rare, sed quasi sortiri quid loquare, this is not to speake with discretion, but as it were by lot, and hap-hazard,) the triall standing herevpon, who threw more, who lesse; who drew blacke, who white; & so forth; the choice of the whole bunch lying before him, & his own hands, his carvers & ministers in the action, each man faining that hope to him selfe for his evasion, which the son of Sirach mentioneth:Eccle. 16. In populo mag­no non agnoscar; quae est anima mea in tā immensâ creaturâ? I cannot be known in so greate a multitude; & what is my one soule amongst a 100? yet doth the finger of the lot directly & faithfully point him out, for whose cause the storme was sent. The strong perswasion that these men had, that their lot would not erre in the verdit thereof,Voluntati [...] propositum operatur omnia. 1. de nat. De. giveth a singular testi­mony & approbation to the providence of the godheade, as being an vniversall, imperiall art, which all the affaires in the worlde are subiect vnto, that in the greatest & smallest thinges, in matters of both choice & chance, as they seeme to vs, the wisdome & knowledge of God is at hand to manage them, according to the Apostles speech, Ephe. 1. He worketh all things after the counsell & purpose of his will: so first, he hath a will; secondly, a counsell to go before his will; thirdly, an effect & ac­complishment to succeede it; lastly, as generall & patent a subiect, as the world hath. There are Philosophers, & haue beene, which thought that the Gods had no regard of humane affaires: whose opinion (saith Tullie) if it be true, what piety can there be, what sanctity, what reli­gion? Others, though they went not so far as to exempt al thinges, yet they withdrew the smaller from the heauenly providence. For it was thought most iniurious to bring down the maiesty of God so lowe, as Vs (que) ad a­piū formica­rū (que) perfe­ctionē. 2. Acad. qu. Minutorum operum fabricator. He made a chariot, that was covered vnder the winge of a gnatte, and a shippe vnder a bees wing. to the husbāding of bees & pismires, as if in the nūber of Gods there were sōe Myrmecides to carue & procure the smaller works. Elswhere he also reciteth their improvident speeches to the same purpose: as, [Page 132] for the smaller things,Ne (que) agelios singulorum, nec viticu­las perse­quuntur. 3. De nat. De. Ea cura qui­etor solicitas? that Gods neglect them; they go not so far as to take view of euery parcell of ground, and litle vine that every one hath, neither if blasting or haile hath endamaged any man, doth Iu­piter obserue it; nay they make a scorne, that those who are quiet & at ease in heaven, should trouble themselues about petty occasions. The Peripatetickes, an other sect & colledge of philosophers, housed that providence aboue the moone, and thought it had no descent be­neath the circle thereof, to intend inferiour businesses. What doe the Epicures in Iob say lesse,Iob. 22. (Eliphas at least in their names?) How shoulde God know? can he iudge through the darke cloudes? the cloudes hide him that he cannot see, and he walketh in the circle of heaven. A verroës sirnamed the Commenter, a Spanish physitian, that he may seeme to be mad with reason, by reason fortifieth the former iudgements. For he thinketh that the knowledge and vnderstanding of God would become vile,Vilesceret Dei intelle­ctus. if it vvere abased to these inferiour and infirmer obiectes. As if a glasse vvere deformed, because it presenteth deformities; or the beames of the sunne defiled, because they fall vpon muddie pla­ces; or the providence of God vilified, who though hee hath his dwel­ling on high, Psal. 113. yet he abaseth himselfe to beholde thinges in heaven and in earth. As he spake the worde and all things were created; so he sustaineth and beareth vp all thinges by the power of his worde. Hebr. 1. His creation was as the mo­ther to bring them forth, his providence the nurse to bring them vp; his creation a short providence, his providence a perpetuall crea­tion; the one setting vp the frame of the house, the other loo­king to the standing and reparation thereof. I cannot determine this pointe in tearmes more graue and significant, then Tully hath vsed a­gainst the Atheists and Epicures of that age.1. De na. De He is, Curiosus & plenus ne­go [...]ij Deus; a curious God, exquisite in all things, full of busines. He is not a rechles, careles, improvident God, or a God to halfes, & in part, aboue & not beneath the moone, or, as the Syrians deemed, vpon the mountaines, and not in the vallies, in the greater and not in the lesser emploimēts; he is very precise, & inquisitiue, having a thousand eies, and as many handes, yea all eie, all hand, both to obserue, and to dis­patch withal; examining the least moments & titles in the world that can be imagined, to an handfull of meale, and a cruse of oile in a poore wid­dowes house; the calving of hindes, the feeding of [...]ong Lions and ravens, the f [...]lling of sparrowes to the grounde, cloathing of lillies, and grasse of the fielde, numbring of haires, and (to returne to that from which I first digressed) the successe of lottes. I cannot conceiue how the land of Canaan coulde bee devided,Numb. 26. and 33. as it was, betweene many and few, [Page 133] (for so was the order by God set, that many shoulde haue the more, & few the lesser inheritance) vnlesse the hand of the Lord had beene in the lap to reach vnto every tribe & familie, what was convenient & propor­tionate: otherwise, the fewer might haue had the more, and the more the lesse inheritāce. And was it not much (thinke you) that vvhen Sa­muell had annointed Saul king over Israel, he woulde afterwards goe from his right, leaue a certainty, & put it to the hazard of lottes, whe­ther Saul should be king or no, but that hee assured himselfe,1. Sam. 10▪ the pro­vidence of the Lord would never forsake his intendement? There­fore of all the tribes of Israell, Beniamin; of all the families of Ben­iamin, Matri; of all the kindred of Matri, the house of Cis; and of all the house of Cis, Saul was chosen to the kingdome. In the booke of Esther, the day and the moneth were by lot appointed, when all the people of the Iewes, olde and young, women and children,Chap. 3. within the citty of Shusan, & throughout all the provinces of the kingdome, should be destroied. But did the Almighty sleepe at this wicked and bloudy designemēt? or was his eie held & blind-folded that he could not see it? No: that powerfull and dreadfull God, who holdeth the bal of the world in his hand, and keepeth a perfite kalender of all times & seasons, had so inverted the course of thinges for his chosens sake, that the moneth & day before prefined, became most dismal to those that intended mischiefe. Without further allegations, this may suffice as touching the successe of the lots, and consequently, the providence of God in the moderation thereof.

It is now a questiō meete to be discussed, the offender being found,A multi­tude puni­shed for one mans offence. Prov 30. whether it stande with the iustice of God to scourge a multitude, be­cause one in the cōpany hath transgressed? For though I condemned their arrogancy before, in that, not knowing who the offender was, they wiped their mouthes (each man in the ship) with the harlot in the Proverbs, & asked in their harts, Is it I? yet when the oracle of God hath now dissolved the doubt, and set as it were his marke vpon the trouble & plague of the whole ship, they had some reason to thinke, that it was not a righteous parte to lay the faults of the guilty vpon the harmelesse & innocent. This was the cause that they complained of old, that the whole fleete of the Argiues was overthrowne, ‘Vnius ob noxam & furias Aiacis Oilei,’ for one mans offence. Nay they were not content there to rest, but they charged the iustice of God with an accusation of more vveight,

Plerun (que) nocen [...]es
Praeterit, examinat (que) indignos, in (que) nocentes,
Lucr [...].

[Page 134] as though oftentimes hee freed the nocent, and laide the burthen of woes vpon such as deserved them not. It appeareth in Ezechiell, that the children of Israell had taken vp as vngratious a by-word a­mongst them,Ezech. 18. Ier. 31. the fathers haue eaten the sower grape, and the childrens teeth are set on edge: and they conclude therehence; the waies of God are not equall. It was an exception that Bion tooke against the Gods, that the fathers smarte was devolved to their posterity; and thus hee scornefully matched it,Plut. de serâ num. vin. as if a physitian, for the grandfathers or fathers disease, shoulde minister physicke to their sonnes or ne­phewes. They spake evill of Alexander the greate, for razing the city of the Branchides, because their auncestoures had pul­led downe the temple of Miletum. They mocked the Thracians for beating their wiues at that day, because their forerūners had killed Orpheus. And Agathocles escaped not blame for wasting the island Corcyra, because in ancienter times it gaue entertainment to Vlysses. Nay Abraham himselfe the father of the faithfull, heire of the promi­ses, friend of God, disputeth with the Lord about Sodome, to the like effect:Gen. 18. Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? Againe, Be it far from thee for doing this thing, to slay the righteous with the vnrighteous, and that the iust should be as the vniust, this be far from thee: shal not the iudge of al the world do right?Numb. 16. In the booke of Numbers, when God willed Moses & Aaron to seperate themselues frō the congregation that he mighte at once destroy them, they fel vpon their faces, & said, O God, the God of the spirits of every creature, hath not one man only sinned, & wilte thou bee wroth with all the congregation? [...]. Chr. 21. In the first of Chronicles, when for the offence of David in numbring his people, the plague fell vpon them, & slew seventy thousand of them, the king with the elders fell downe, & cried vnto the Lord, Is it not I, that commanded to number the people? It is even I that haue sinned and committed this evill: but these sheepe what haue they done? O Lord my God, I beseech thee, let thine hand bee vpon me, and vpon my fathers house, and not on thy people for their destruction.

I answere this hainous crimination & grievance against the righte­ousnes of God, in few words, frō the authorities of Ezechiel, & Ieremy, before alleaged: Behold, all soules are mine (saith the Lord) both the soule of the father, & also of the sonne are mine: the soule that sinneth, it shall die. O yee house of Israel, is not my way equal? or are not your waies vnequall? If it vvere a truth which the poet sang to his friend, ‘Hora [...].Delicta maiorum immeritus lues, Romane.’ thou shalt beare the faultes of thy forefathers vvithout thine owne deservings, the question vvere more difficult. But who is able to say, [Page 135] my heart is cleane, though I came from an vncleane seede? though I were borne of a Morian, I haue not his skinne; though an Ammo­rite were my father, and my mother an Hittite, I haue not their na­ture; I haue touched pitch, & am not defiled; I can wash mine handes in innocency, & say with a cleare conscience, I haue not sinned? But if this be the case of vs all, that there is not a soule in the whole cluster of mankind, that hath not offended, though not as principal touching the fact presently enquired of, as Achan in taking the accursed thing, Corah in rebelling, David in numbring the people, yet an accessary in consenting & cōcealing; if neither principal nor accessary in that one sin, yet culpable in a thousand others, cōmitted in our life time, (per­haps not open to the world, but in the eies of God as bright as the sun in the firmament, for the scorpion hath a stinge, though hee hath not thrust it forth to wounde vs, & man hath malice, though he hath not outwardly shewed it;) it may be, some sins to come, which God fore­seeth, & some already past, which he recoūteth: shall we stand in argu­ment with God, as man would plead with man, & charge the iudge of the quicke & dead with iniurious exactions, I haue paide the thinges that I neuer tooke, I haue borne the price of sinne which I neuer committed? You heare the ground of mine answere. We haue al sinned, father and son, rush & branch, & deservedly are to expect that wages, from the hands of God, which to our sin appertaineth: & touching this present company, I nothing doubt but they might particularly bee touched for their proper & private iniquities, though they had missed of Ionas. Bias to a like fare of passengers, shakē with an horrible tempest as these were, and crying to their Gods for succor, answered not without some iest in that earnest, hold your peace,Silete, nevo [...] hac illi na­vigare sen­tiant. Bri [...] ­son. least the Gods hap to heare that you passe this way: noting their lewdnesse to be such, as might iustly draw downe a greater vengeance.

Besides, it cānot be denied, but those things which we seyer & part in our conceits, by reason that distance of time & place hath sundred thē, some being done of old, some of late, some in one quarter of the world, some in an other; those doth the God of knowledge vnite, and veweth them at once, as if they were done togither. Say, that being young thou wert riotous, gluttonous, libidinous, given to drinking & surfetting, giving thy strēgth to harlots; shal not thine olde age rue it? art thou not one & the sāe person both in thy yonger & older years? in the waxing & in the waning of thy daies? shall the difference and change of times exempt thee frō the gout, dropsie, & the like distem­perature? Thy grandfather, & 2. or 3. degrees beyond, thy father, and [Page 136] thy selfe, ‘Et natinatorum, & qui nascentur ab illis,’ thy childrens children, & nephews to come, you are all but one house, (Aeacidae frō Aeacus) springing frō one roote, the head of the family, in his sight & account, who esteemeth a 1000. generations but as one day. Plutarch himselfe was wise enough to answere the argument. There is not the like comparison betwixt father & son, as betwixte a workeman & his worke, neither can they alike be separated: for that which is borne or begotten,Cùmex ipso, non ab ipso genitum est, velut pars quaedam. De ser. num. [...]ind. is not only from the father, but of him, as a part belonging vnto him. The Castilions bloud in France spilt at the massacre, may rightfully be required of the Guisian race, in the 4. or 5. generation to come. This is the cause that David curseth the wicked on both sides; both in their descent, let their children bee vagabondes & begge their breade; and in their ascent, let the iniquity of his father be had in remembrance, & let not the sinne of his mother be done away. The like is dai­ly practised in the community and felowship of diverse partes within the same body; as in a matter of felonie, the hand only hath taken and borne away, but the feete are clapt in iron, the belly pinched with pe­nury, the bones lie hard, & the best iointe is endangered for it. Sundry partes, though distinguished both in place and office, feele the punish­ment, which, they may fondly say, the hand only deserved. Yea, the eie may bee sore, and a veine prickt in the arme to cure it; the hoofe tender and weake, and the top of the ho [...]ne annointed for remedie thereof; evē so, in the body of a city, the body of an army, the body of a church, the bodie of a ship, though happily few offend, yet their ini­quity is brought vpon the head of a whole multitude. The kinges are mad, the Greekes are plagued; ‘Hesiod. [...],’ the vvhole citie oftentimes reapeth the fruite of one vvicked man a­mongst them. What iniury is done therein? is it more then one citie? & is not that citizen a member of their body? Is not Socrates one and the same man at the head, & at the foote? is not Englande one and the same land, at Barwicke, and at the Mount? is not London one and the same city, at Ludgate, & at Aldgate? These may be the reasons, why the whole number of passengers is plagued both in the losse of their wares, & in the hazard of their liues, for the principall transgression of Ionas. 1. they were wicked themselues, because they were idolatrous, & what other corruptions they had, the Lord knoweth: 2. they were all but one body, vnder the same discipline and government, tied to­gither by orders & lawes for sea, as by iointes, by reason they had en­tertained, and consorted themselues with disobedient Ionas. Other [Page 137] causes there may be secret vnto God, which I dare not search out. Why should I climbe into paradise, or p [...]ie into the arke, to behold his coun­sels? whē he hath set darknes & clouds about his paviliō, why should I labor to remoue thē? We know not the reasons of many a thing belō ­ging to our cōmō life, how it cōmeth that our clothes are warme about our backs, when the earth is quiet through the south-winde;Iob. 37. & shal we reach after hiddē knowledge? A plague begā in Aethiopia, filled Athēs,Plutar. killed Pe­ricles, vexed Thucy dides: or to match the example; a plague beginneth in Frāce, taketh shipping at Newhavē, lādeth in Englād with English­men, harboureth it selfe in Londō, & never departeth therehence a­gaine. Wil you know the reason hereof? It may be, that the works of God may be made manifest, as Christ spake of the blind mā; Ioh. 9. or to shew his power that he hath over his clay; to exercise his iustice; to practise & proue our patience, whether we wil curse him to his face, as (it may be) the divel hath informed against vs; or to apply the cōtinual physick of afflictiō & chastisemēt vnto vs, that we rū not into desperate maladies. For there are 4. kinds of mē which by 4. kinds of means come to hea­vē: 1. some buy it at a price, which bestow al their tēporal goods for the better cōpassing therof: 2. sōe catch it by violēce, they forsake fathers, mothers, land, living, life, al that they haue, for that kingdomes sake:Mercantur▪ Rapiunt. [...]urantur. Compellun­tur. Bona­vent▪ in Luc 3. some steale it, they do their good deeds secretly, & they are opēly re­warded: 4. others are enforced to take it, & by cōtinual afflictiōs made to fal into the liking therof. Or whatsoever els be the cause, which the sanctuary of heaven hath reserved to it selfe, & buried in light that may not be approached vnto, this I am sure of, that the challēge of the Apostle shal stand like a wal of brasse against al the obiectiōs in the world, Nū ­quid iniquitas apud Deū? Is there any vnrighteousnes with God? And so farre was it of, that these marriners receiued losse by their losse,Rom 9. that it vvas their occasion to bring them to the knowledge and feare of the true God, as hereafter shall appeare vnto you in the tendering of their vowes, and other the like religious dueties.

Then saide they vnto him, tell vs for whose cause this evill is vpon vs, &c. Having presumed that the lots could not lie,The eight verse. Then saide they vnto him, tell vs for &c. being governed and gui­ded by the wisdōe of God, they gather thēselues togither like bees, & al make a cōmon incursion vpon Ionas. For, by likelihood of their de­mands, (because they are many in nūber, & many to the same effect, as some supposed) it is not vnprobable, that their whole troupe assaulted him, & each one had a pul after his fashiō; & as they had sundry heads & mouthes, so they had sundry speeches to expresse one & the same thing: & therfore one asked, vnde venis? whēce cōmest thou? another, quae [Page 138] terra tua? what is thy coūtry? a third, ex quo populo? of what people art thou? when his people, coūtry, & dwelling place differ not in substāce. And certainely I cannot blame them, if in such peril of their liues, when the first borne of death, the next & immediatest death to sight, was vpō thē, they al make an head, & open their mouthes without order or course, against the worker of their woes. When Achan was brought to the valley of Achor to be executed, he, his sons, daughters, asses, sheepe, the silver, garment, wedge of golde, his tent, all that hee had, there produ­ced,Ios. 7. it is said, that all Israell threw stones at him, and burnt them with fire, and stoned them with stones, as being the very cause that Israel could not stand against their enimies. In the conspiracy at Rome, against Iulius Caesar, there were not fewer (by reporte) then 24. daggers stabbed into his bodie, because he was taken by the nobility of Rome to be the per­turber of their common wealth, and an enemie to the common liber­ty. An othe of association was taken in many places of this lande (I know not if in the whole) within these few yeares, for the pursuite and extirpation of those persons, togither vvith their confederates and, as I remember, their families, who by trecherous machination shoulde violate the life and crowne of our gracious Soveraigne. Was it not grounded vpon this presumption, that the authours of com­mon calamities, and subverters of states, can never bee persecuted with too much violence? Traitours executed at Tyborne, of late, were sent,D. Lopu [...] and his fel­lowes. I say not to their graues, but to their endes, such as they were, too too mercifull for traitors, with such a showte of the people, to s [...]ale their affections and assentes, as if they had gained an harvest, or were deviding a spoile; and I doubt not, but the Angelles in heaven reio [...]ce, when they see such deliverances.

Others distinguish the questions, and make them implie severall thinges;Fiue de­maundes. as if they enquired of fiue sundrie matters. 1. his fact; Indi­ca 1 cuius causâ, tell vs, not for whome, but for what, this evill is vpon vs? 2 2. his calling and course of life, his arte, profession; quae opera tua? 3 3. his travell and iourney, and the company and society hee last 4 came from; vnde venis? 4. his region; quae terra tua? 5. his dwel­ling 5 cittie; ex quo populo? which last may be referred to the notifying of his service and religion, whereof it was easie to gesse by the citie he came from.

In the generall course of all which particulars, wee haue a singu­lar document and instruction of iustice,Iust iudge­ment. from barbarous nations. Io­nas had beene detected by the suffrage of God himselfe, speakinge in the lotte, and doubtlesse by these men, helde and reputed the [Page 139] principall malefactour in the ship. The lotte fell vpon Ionas; vvhat nee­deth more conuiction? how shoulde their eies nowe spare, or their handes longer forbeare him? mee thinketh, they should now cry out against him, as the men of Iobs tabernacle,Iob. 31. Ier. 37. vvho vvill giue vs his flesh to eate? or as the Priests and false prophets against Ieremy, the iudgemente of death belongeth to this man: Awaie with him, away with him from the earth, he is not worthy to liue. They doe not thus; but in the extreamest perill of their liues, having no time to bethinke them­selues, driven to take counsell vvithout counsell,Consilium in arenâ. as fensers in the sand, who defende themselues but as the blowe falleth out: yet they deliberate in the cause, they evolue all circumstances for the mani­festation of his fact, and by a most exquisite inquisition they pro­ceede in iudgement, what is thy fact? thy trade? thy travell? thy coun­trey? thy people? Tullie affirmeth, that a kinde of iustice there is a­mongst robbers and pirates in deviding their booties, and maintei­ning their fraternities: such a iustice, as Ananias the high priest was a iudge, vvho sate to iudge Paul according to the lawe, Actes 23▪ and caused him to bee smitten contrarie to the lawe: a painted iudge, and a painted iustice. But it serveth mee thus farre to collect, that even in the tents of Me­sech, in the societies of the most wicked, there is a counterfeite iu­stice, an image and imitation of that vertue, without the which, Iu­piter himselfe (saith Plutarch) cannot reigne in heaven; much lesse can amitie be maintained betwixt man and man. The empresse wiselie admonished her husbande, when sitting at play, and minding his game more then the prisoners, hee pronounced sentence vpon them; The life of man is not as a game at tables, where a woodden man is ta­ken vp by a blotte, and throwne aside, and the losse is not greate.Non est ho­minum vitae ludus talo­rum. Aelia­nu [...]. And whether it be life or lande, there is no greate difference in the account of God: for the bread of the poore man is his life, and hee that oppresseth the poore, eateth him like breade. Whether therefore it be in the life or in the living of man, the office of iustice is not to wade to the anckles, but vp to the chinne, to sound the bottome and depth of the cause, carefully to conferre all presumptions and inducements, prudently to deliberate, to enucleate all difficulties, and though the case bee daungerous, as this was, and greate preiudices against the examinate, yet by a curious indagation to haue the proofe of the fact clearely laide forth. We haue a president heereof in God himselfe: Who though he bee nearer to offenders, then the barke to the tree, by the presence of his godhead, which filleth heaven and earth, yet when the cry of Sodome and Gomorre was greate, [Page 140] (to leaue an example of iustice to the sons of men,Gen. 18.) I will now go downe ▪ (saith he) & see, whether they haue done altogither according to that crie; & if not, that I may know. This descension of God to see and to know, what is it els, but the delivery of his iustice by rule, by number, and by ballance, that first he will weigh and ponder the cause, afterwardes measure out his iudgementes? Now to the particulars.

1. Cuius cau­sâ.In the first of these demaundes which is of the fact, (the other but coniectures tending to the proofe of it,) they are not content with the sentence of the lot, but they require further the confession of his owne mouth, Indica nobis, Tell vs for what cause. The like did Iosuah to A­chan. My sonne giue the glory to God, & tell me what thou hast done, hide it not. It is a part of the glory of God, to iustifie him & his iudgmentes, to yeeld to the victory of trueth, when he hath put a spirit as it were into lottes and lawes, to gesse aright, not to dissemble the force thereof. Now if any shall inferre herevpon, that, by the examples of Iosuah proceeding against Achan, the marriners against Ionas, the tr [...]all of life, landes, good name should be brought from the lawes of the country, and put to the decision of lottes: besides the rule of Ie­rome vpon this place, ‘Privilegia singulorum non faciunt legem communem,’ that the priviledges of singular men make not a common law; and the generall rule in all examples, that none is further to be followed thē the lawe abetteth and maketh it good,Exempla conveniant cum lege communi. Cùm signa flagitantur, non ad salu­tem, sed ad experienti­ [...]m desidera­ta, Deus tē ­tatur. Aug. otherwise they are to be ad­mired rather then imitated; & it is the tēpting of God to seeke signes when they are not for profit, but onely for experience; & we ought to be very circumspect in executing iudgment, and to leaue no lawfull meanes vnattempted, least we iustifie the wicked, and condemne the innocent; I say, besides al these reasons it appeareth from both the ex­amples before specified, that neither Iosuah, nor the marriners rested in the designation of the lottes, but desired further to be asserteined from their owne confessions, Tell vs. Whereunto we may adde, that the lottery against Achan was both occasioned by an vnexpected o­verthrow taken at Ai, & by the direction of God himselfe in the whole maner thereof prescribed; and as for Ionas, he was a figure of Christ, whose vesture was to be parted by lots, and therefore the deprehen­sion of his offence not to be brought into ordinary practise.

2. Quae ope­ra tua? What is thine occupation? If Ionas had confessed and opened his fact, other likelihoodes & helpes to finde it out, had beene needlesse; but it seemeth that before he could shape his answere to the 1. questiō, they thrust an other vpō him, & without intermission a third, & yet more▪ [Page 141] like a peale of ordinance thundring about his eares, that by the vni­ted strength of so many probabilities, wound togither like a foure-folde corde, Ionas may be entangled.

This first of the foure probabilities is of great moment to skan the life of man. What is thine occupation? thy art? thy calling? for 1. some 1 haue no art or trade at all; 2. some wicked & vnlawful arts; 3. others 2 such artes as haue an easie provocation to iniustice and vngodlinesse.3

Those that haue no arte, are errand, vagabond, wandring persons, as the planets in the Zodiacke, never keeping a fixed place,1. No art [...] & rather vsing their feete then their hands; or whether they slitt abroad or gad at home, their calling & art is idlenes: for Otium negotium, Idlenes is a busines. They are more troubled, I doubt not, how to spend the day, then these that haue a trade wherin to be exercised: they liue by the sweat of other mens browes, & will not disquiet the temples of their owne heades. Let me freely speake without the offence of gover­nours; there are a number in this citty, numerus tantū, a number onelie, very artificial in this idle art (those that can pleade their age, impoten­cie, & necessary necessities, I am their advocate. I speake of pure and voluntary beggers,) who if they would worke & haue it not, it is pit­ty that you haue your wealth, that your talent is not taken frō you, & givē to others who would better vse it to Gods behoofe: (they should be Ditis examen domu [...], the bees that swarm in rich mens houses, much more in opulent and wealthy cities;Horat. many inferiour townes are supe­riour vnto you in the provision thereof:) but if they haue worke, and wil not vndergoe it, why are they suffered? spontanea lassitudo, a willing & profered lazines in the body of a man, is an introduction and argu­ment of greater diseases; & these willing or wilfull rogues are not vn­apt, if ever occasiō be ministred, to pilfer your goods, cut your throtes, & fire your citty, for their better advantage of maintenaunce. When Iephtah was cast out of the house by his brethren, because he was the sonne of a strange woman, hee fled and dwelte in the lande of Tob: and there gathered idle fellowes vnto him, & they went out with him.Ind. 11. Actes 17. [...]. The vnbeleeving Iewes, in the Actes, tooke vnto thē a cōpany of wādring companions, such as stand idle in the market place, wicked men, and gathered a multitude, & made an vprore in the whole citie, and came to the house of Iason to fetch out Paul and Silas. You see, how readie they are to serue such turne, to raise a tumult, to make a conspiracie or rebelliō, to associate thēselues to any that will but leade them. It were your wisest part to deale with such lewde and vnordinate vval­kers, standers, sitters in the vvaies of idlenesse, as Philippe of [Page 142] Macedon dealt with 2. of his subiects,Alterum è Macedoniâ fugere, alte­rū perse [...] [...] iussit. in whome there was litle hope of grace: he made one of them runne out of the countrey, and the o­ther driue him. So his people was ridde of both.

Now there be other artes vtterly vnlawfull to be followed; the ve­ry naming whereof doth condemne them,2. Vnlaw­full artes. Mendici, mi mae. &c. as Coniurers, charmers, moone-prophets, tellers of fortune, (our english Aegyptians) rob­bers by lande, pirates by sea, cosenours, harlottes, bawdes, vsurers, which presently censure a man, as soone as they are but hearde of, to be wickedly disposed.

3. Slippery artes.There are many besides, vvhich though they haue vse lawfull e­nough in a common wealth, yet there is but a narrow path betwixt fire and water, as Esdras speaketh, and one may easilie misse to do his duety there. You looke perhappes, that I shoulde rehearse them. Though some are become more odious by reason of grosser abuses in them, yet I will cover their face, and keepe them from the light (as they covered the face of Haman to keepe him from the eies of men) because there is too much abuse to be espied in all our artes. Monye hath marred them all: they are all set to sale, as Iugurthe spake of Rome, and want but a chap-man. Divines sell the liberty of a good conscience, for favour and preferment: Lawiers sell not onely their labours, but the lawes and iustice it selfe: Physitians sell ignoraunce, vnskilfulnesse, wordes, vnsufficient drugges: All men of all kindes of trades for the most part, sell honesty, trueth, consci­ence, othes, soules for mony. Our artes are artes indeede, that is, cosenages, impostures, fraudes, circumventions. Our English tongue doth well expresse the nature of the word: vvee call them craftes, and those that professe them craftes-men; vvee may as well tearme them foxes, as Christ tearmed Herode; they are so bent to deceipt. Others not content with so vulgar a name, call them myste­ries: indeede the mysterie of iniquitie is in them: misty, obscure, darke handling, which God shall bring to light in due time. Call we these callings? sure they are such, whereof the sentence shalbe verified, Many are called vnto them, but few elected, to partake the mercies of God. O harken to the counsell which the Apostle giveth, that ye may iustifie and warrant your vocations before God and man. Let everie one abide in the same calling, wherein hee was called; and to make it significant,1. Cor. 7. let every one, wherein he was called, therein abide with God. Let him not stay l [...]ke a passenger for a night, but continue and hold himselfe not onely in the name, but in the nature and vse of his cal­ling, that is, let him walke worthy of it, as in the sight of God, who is a [Page 143] witnesse and iudge to all his proceedinges. Let him not adde vn­to the challinges and constitutions of God, the callinges of the De­vill, as simony, bribery, forgery, hypocrisie, periuries, (for these are the Devilles challinges;) and let not those artes and professions, which were given for the ornamentes and helpes of our life, bee tur­ned into snares and ginnes to entrappe our brethren. In the au­dite of our Lorde and maister, so farre shall wee bee from giving the accountes of faithfull servauntes, Lorde, thy piece hath gained other ten, Luke 19. M [...]na tua, &c. (which we haue so falsified and defaced with the sleights of Sathan;) that wee cannot discharge our selues as the vnfaithfull reprobate ser­vant did, Beholde, thou hast thine owne:Mat. 25. Our lawfull and honest voca­tions, wherein wee were first placed, wee haue so disguised with our owne corrupt additions.

THE XI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. verse 8.‘Whence commest thou? which is thy country, and of vvhat people art thou?’

THese three questions now rehearsed, though in seeming not much different, yet I distin­guished a parte; making the first to enquire of his iourney and travaile, (for confirmati­on whereof, some a little change the stile, quo vadis? whither goest thou? askinge not the place from which hee set forth, but to which hee was bounde,) or of the society wherewith hee had combined himselfe; the seconde of his natiue countrey; the thirde of his dwelling place. For the coun­trey and citty may differre; in the one wee may bee borne, and liue in the other; as for example, a man may be borne in Scotlande, dwell in England, or borne at Bristow, dwell at Yorke.Vnam natu­rae, alteram civitatis. Alteram loci patriam, al­teram iuris. Whence commest thou? Whither goest thou. Wherein that of Tully in his bookes of lawes taketh place, I verily thinke that both Cato and all free denisens haue two countreyes, the one of nativi­ty, the other of habitation: as Cato being borne at Tusculum, was receaved into the people of the citty of Rome. Therefore bee­ing a Tusculan by birth, by citty a Romane, hee had one countrey by place, another by law. For we tearme that our country, where wee were borne, and whereinto wee are admitted. So there is some oddes betweene the two latter questions. There was greate reason [Page 144] to demaunde both from whence hee came, and whither hee would▪ because the travelles of men are not alwaies to good endes. For the Scribes and Pharises travaile farre, if not by their bodilie pases, yet by the affections of their heartes they compasse sea and land; to an evill purpose, to make proselytes, children of death worse then themselues. As the Pope and the king of Spaine send into India, (they pretende to saue soules) indeede to destroy the breede of that people, as Phara­oh the males of the Hebrewes, and to wast their countries. They walke that walke in the counsell of the vngodlie, and in the waies of sinners; but de­struction and vnhappinesse is in all their waies. They walke that walke in the waies of an harlot, Prov. 2. but her house tendeth to death, and her pathes to the deade; they that goe vnto her, returne not againe, neither take holde of the waies of life. Theeues haue their ranges and walkes: ‘Surgunt de nocte latrones,’ they rise in the nighte time, they goe or ride farre from home, that they may bee farre from sus­picion, but their feete are swifte to shed bloude, and they bestowe their paines to worke a mischiefe. Alexander iournied so farre in the conquest of the worlde, that a Caenu [...] in Curt. 9. souldier tolde him, we haue doone as much as mortalitie was capable of: thou preparest to goe into an o­ther worlde, and thou seekest for an India, vnknowne to the Indi­ans themselues, that thou mayest illustrate more regions by thy conquest, then the sunne ever saw. To what other ende I knowe not, but to feede his ambition, to enlarge his desire as hell, and to adde more titles to his tombe.Titulum se­pulchr [...]. They haue their travailes and pe­regrinations, that walke on their bare feete, with a staffe in their hand, and a scrip about their necke, to Saint Iames of Compostella, our Lady of Loretto, the dust of the holy land. What to doe? the dead to visit the deade; to honour stockes, and to come home stockes; to chaunge the aire, and to retaine their former behaviour; to doe penaunce for sinne, and to returne laden with a greater sinne of most irreligious superstition, meeter to bee repented, if they knew their sinne. Of such I may say, as Socrates sometime aunswered one, who marveiled that hee reaped so litle profit by his trauell: Thou art well enough served, saith he, because thou didest travell by thy selfe; for it is not mountaines and seas, but the conference of wise­men that giveth vvisedome: neither can monumentes and graues, but the spirit of the Lord, vvhich goeth not with those gadders, put holinesse into them. They haue their walkes and excursions which go from their natiue countrey to Rome, (the first time to see naught, the second to be naught, the third to die naught; was the olde pro­verbe.) [Page 145] The first & last now a daies are not much different: they go to learne naught, they drinke vp poison there like a restoratiue, vvhich they keepe in their stomacks along Italy, France, other nations, not minding to disgordge it, till they come to their mothers house, where they seek to vnlade it in her bosome, & to end her happy daies. Ionas, for ought these knew, might haue come from his countrey, a robber, murtherer, traitor, or any the like transgressor, & therfore haue ran frō thence, as Onesimus from his master Philemō, to escape iustice; where­vpon they aske him, whence commest thou? that they may learne both the occasion & scope of his iourney. And if you obserue it well, there is not one question here moued, (though questions only cōiecturall) but setteth his conscience vpon the racke, and woundeth him at the hart by every circumstance, whereby his crime might be aggravated. Such is the wisdome that God inspireth into the harts of men, for the triall of his truth, & in the honor of iustice, to fit their demands to the conscience of the transgressours in such sort, that they shall even feele themselues to be touched, and so closely rounded in the eare, as they cannot deny their offence. There are diverse administrations yet but one spirit: Warriours haue a spirit of courage to fight, counsellors to direct & prevent, magistrates to governe, iudges to discerne, examine, con­vince, and to do right vnto all people. For the questions here propoū ­ded, were in effect as if they had told him, thou dishonourest thy cal­ling, thou breakest thy commission, thou shamest thy country, thou condemnest thy people, in that thou hast committed this evill.

They aske him first, What is thine art? that bethinking himselfe to 1 be a prophet, & not a marriner, as these were, not a master in the ship, but a master in Israell, set over kingdomes & Empires, to builde & pull downe, plant & roote vp, he might remember himselfe, and call his soule to ac­count, Wretched man that I am, how ingloriously haue I neglected my vocation? They aske him next, whēce cōmest thou? that it mighte bee 2 as goades & prickles at his breasts, to recount in his minde, I was cal­led on lande, I am escaped to sea; I was sent to Assyria, I am going to Cilicia; I was directed to Niniveh, I am bending my face towardes Tharsis, that is, I am flying frō the presence of my Lord, & following mine own crooked waies. Thirdly they aske him of his coūtry; that hee 3 might say to himselfe, What? are the deeds of Babylō better then the deeds of Sion? was I borne & brought vp, instructed & an instructor in the lande of Iurie, in the garden of the worlde, the roiallest, peculia­rest nation that the Lord hath, and haue I not grace to keepe his com­maundemente? Lastly they enquire of his people; a people that 4 [Page 146] had al things but flexible & fleshy harts; the law, promises, covenant, service of God, temple of Salomon, chaire of Moses, thrones of Da­vid, Patriarks, Prophets, Messias yet one of this people, in the midst of such prerogatiues, as a cedar-tree amidst her branches, hath liued so long amongst them, that a barbarous tongue is set to accuse him.

What is thy coūtry, & of vvhat people art thou? Terra bona, gens mala. Ar. Mont.These two questiōs following, (that I may ioine thē both togither,) seeme to enquire, the one more generally, the other more in particu­lar; the one of the place, the other of the people & inhabitantes. There may be a good country & an evill people, or cōtrariwise, an evil coun­trey & a good people. Touching the place I will not dispute, whe­ther they thought that the anger of their Gods, as they reputed them, did principally persecute and infest some certaine countries; that al­beit he committed no harme for his owne part, yet he should suffer for the cuntries sake, and beare the smart of that inveterate hatred, wher­with the place it selfe was maligned. This I knowe, that both in the dwelling place where a man reposeth himselfe, in regarde of the in­fluence of heaven; and in the inhabitants, for the disposition of their mindes, there is as great diversitie', as betwixte North and South for change of weathers. Erasmus in the preface to S. Augustines epistles, giveth this iudgement of that learned father; that if it had beene his lot to haue beene borne,Rudis era [...] Africa, vo­luptatum a­vida, studio­rum inimi­ca, &c. or but to haue lived in Italy, or France, that wit woulde haue yeelded more aboundant fruites vnto vs. But A­fricke was rude, greedy of pleasure, an enemy to study, desirous of cu­rious devises. Plato reioiced that he was borne at Athens, rather than in another place. Themistocles was vpbraided by one of Seriphus, that the commendation and fame he gate, was for his countries sake, be­cause he was borne an Athenian: though Themistocles aunswered, that neither had himselfe beene worse, if hee had beene borne in Seri­phus,Quis tumi­dum guttur &c. nor the other better, if hee at Athens. Who marveileth to see swellings in the throate, in colde places where the snow continually lieth? It is the nature and site of the place that bringeth them. They made small reckoning heretofore to lie in Crete, to forsweare in Car­thage, to gormandize and surfet in Capua or Semiplacentia, to lust vn­naturally in Sodome, and to be prowd at this day in Spaine, to poison in Italy, to over-drinke in Germany; it is, they say, the custome & fa­shiō of those coūtries: & thē is easily verified that which Seneca wrote; we thrust one another into vices,Epist. 82. Esse inter nocentes in­noxium cri­men est. Cypr. epist. 2. and how then can they be reclaimed to good, whom no man staieth, and the whole people driveth for­warde? In such places it is a faulte to be innocent and honest amongst offenders. Seneca giueth the reasō, Necesse est aut imiteris, aut oderis; one [Page 147] of the 2▪ must needes be done, either thou must imitate or hate;Epist. 7. both which are to be avoided, least either thou become like the evill, be­cause they are many; or an enemy to many, because they are vnlike thee. Canst thou walke vpon coles, or take fire in thy bosome & not burne? canst thou be a brother to dragons, and a companion to ostriges, without savouring of their wildnes? liue with the froward, & not learne frowardnesse? dwell amongst theeues, & not run with thē? converse with idolatours, & not eat of such things as please thē? The daughters of mē marred the sons of God: & the daughters of Heth brought much woe to Rebecca, no doubt, for the lewdnesse of their behavior. Whē the disciple in the gospell asked leaue of his ma­ster to go & bury his father, it was denied him: some giue the reason, least his vnbeleeving kinred, which were likely enough to bee at the funeral, as eagles flocke to the carkas, should contaminate him againe; therfore he was answered, let the dead bury the dead, do thou follow me, be­cause I am life, tarry & liue with me, & let the dead alone, least happi­lie thou die with thē. Though there were many wicked kings in Isra­ell, yet there was none like Ahab,1. King. 21. who did sell himselfe to worke wickednes in the sight of the Lord. Why? the reason is there givē. Iezebel his wife provo­ked him. For it was a light thing for him to walke in the sins of Ieroboam, ex­cept he tooke Iezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of Zidon to wife, 1. King. 16. by whome he was brought to idolatry. No marvel if Iehoram king of Iudah did after­wards evill in the sight of the Lord; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife:2. King. 8. Ibid. & Ahaziah after him no better; for he was the sonne in law of the house of Ahab. All these were in an error: they looked to gather grapes of thornes, and figges of thistles, whereas on the other side, Amicitiae pares aut faciunt aut quaerunt, Friendship either maketh or seeketh like in conditions. And so is the nature of things, that whē a good mā is ioined with a bad,Rerum na­tura sic est, vt quoties bonus mal [...] coniungitur, non ex bono malus meli­oretur, sed ex malo bo­nus contam [...] netur. Chry­sost. Texte. Verse 9. the evill is not bettered by the good, but the good corrupted by the evill.

Thus farre of the demaundes: the answere is annexed in the ninth verse, I am an Hebrew, and I feare the Lord God of heaven, which hath made the sea & the drie land. What is this to the matter? was it a fault to be an Hebrew, & to feare the Lord God of heaven? Not so. but it appeareth in the next verse by a clause thereof, that hee confessed the whole crime, because he had tolde them. He might yet haue concealed his fault, & covered his iniquity with some defence, as Adā his nakednes with fig-leaues, & amongst bushes, by pleading the vnlawfulnes of his ac­cusers, the vncertainty of lots, as governed rather by chance then by divine providence: he doth it not; but maketh an immediate confes­siō of his sin, so inexcusably against himselfe, that if malice it selfe had spoken against him, it could not haue added much to the accusation. [Page 148] For it was the least part of his ingenuity, simply to relate the rebelli­on, (which is but named in the verse following, as it were at the se­cond hand, and brought in by a parenthesis;) but his art to be obser­ved indeed, are those ornaments and garnishes of speech, which hee bringeth against himselfe, to discipher his disobedience.

1 I am an Hebrew: if a Cilician, or of any country in the earth besides, 2 my fault were the lesse: 2. And I do not only know & acknowledge (which is wanting in others) but I feare, reverence, stand in awe of, 3. 3 not an idoll, nor a devill, nor the worke of mans hands, but the Lorde 4 of hostes: 4. who though he sitteth in heavē, as in his pallace of greatest state, where he is best glorified by his creatures, and his best creatures shall bee glorified by him; yet is he not housed within the circles of heaven: For the sea and the land also are his by creation; the sea wherein 5 I am tossed, and the drie land from whence I flitted.

I am an Hebrewe. I feare. Of heaven.1 My country is not heathnish, rude, & barbarous, I am an Hebrew. 2. My religion not loose and dissolute, I feare, and beare a reverent e­stimation: 3. I am not carried away to dumbe idols, I feare the Lorde God: 4. who is not a God in heaven alone, as your Iupiter; nor in the sea alone, as your Neptune; nor alone in the earth, as your Pluto; but a­lone is the God of heaven: Who hath made. and doth not hold by tenure, but 5. himselfe hath made the sea and the dry land; not only the land of Israel, wherin he principally dwelleth, and which I relinquished, but the land of Tharsis also, & the continent, & dry ground belonging to the whole world: & not the land alone,The drie land. The sea. but all the waters of the maine sea, which I tooke for my refuge and sanctuary.

I am an Hebrew. From the beginning of the worlde to the time of Christ,Hebraeus sum. are numbred fowre propagations or generations: the first from Adam to Noe; the second from Noe to Abraham; the third from A­braham to David;Carol. Sigon. de rep. Hebr. the fourth from David to Christ. In the second generation was the name of the Hebrewes received: in the third, of the Israelites, from Iacob, sirnamed Israel, whose grandfather Abra­ham was: in the fourth, of the Iewes, after that Iuda and Beniamin (which for the vnity of mindes were as it were one tribe, following Rehoboam the son of Salomon of the tribe of Iuda) made the king­dome of Iuda; the other ten betaking them to Ieroboam of the tribe of Ephraim, set vp the kingdome of the Ephraimites, or of Israel. One and the same people thrice changed their names.

Touching the first of these names, there are sundry opiniōs brought, whēce it arose.Aug. l. 1. qu. super Gen. 1. Some thinke they were called Hebrews of Abrahā, with the alteration of a fewe letters; Hebraei quasi Abrahaei: 2. some [Page 149] deriue them from Heber,Hieron. in Genes. & Aug. 2. re­tract. & 16. de civ. De. 3. Aret. in ep. ad Hebr. who was the fourth frō Noah. 3. the grāmari­ans fetch thē frō an Hebrew word which signifieth over or beyonde, be­cause the posterity of Sē went over the river Tigris, & abode in Caldaea. This sirname you shall first finde given to Abrahā, Gen. 14. where it is said, that he which brought news that Lot was carried out of Sodome with the rest of the booty, tolde it to Abraham the Hebrew; because forsaking Vr of the Chaldees, and passing over Euphrates, he came in­to the land of Canaan, therefore was he named of that coūtry people Ibreus, that is, one that past over. So there is no doubt made but of Abraham they are called Hebrews, because he harkned to the word of the Lorde, and went beyond Euphrates. Some haue gathered here-hence, that in calling himselfe an Hebrew, he maketh cōfession of his fault: that as the children of Sem, & Abraham past over rivers, so (by a borrowed speech) he had past over the commandement of the Lord. For what is sinne but transgression? transitio linearum, Tull. the going beyond those lines & limits that are prefined vs? Other obserue that he impli­eth the condition of mans life heerein, as having no abiding citie, but a travaile vpon the face of the earth to passe from place to place, as it is written of Israell in the Psalme, they went from nation to nation, Psal. 105. & from one kingdome to an other people: and David confesseth no lesse; I am a stran­ger and soiourner vpon the earth, as all my fathers were. Non dixit, Iudaeus, no­men ex di­cissione reg­ni factum; sed Hebraeus i. [...], transitor. Hierome vvoulde haue vs note, that he tearmeth not himselfe a Iew, which name came from the rēding of the kingdome: but an Hebrew, that is, a passenger. I take the letter of the text without deeper constructions, that his pur­pose simply was to answere their last question, which was yet fresh in his eares, touching the people from whence he came; and by naming his nation, to make an argument against himselfe of higher amplifi­cation; that lying in that corner of the worlde, which was the dia­mond of the ring, and as it were the apple of the eie, heart of the bo­dy; being sprung of that roote whereof it was saide,Deut. 4. Onely this people is wise, and of vnderstanding, and a greate nation; (for vvhat nation is so great to vvhome the Gods come so neere, as the Lorde is neere vnto vs in all that wee call vnto him for? or what nation so greate that hath ordinaunces and lawes so righteous as wee haue?) it might bee his greater offence, to bee sovven good and come vp evill, to bee richly planted in the goodlyest vine, and baselie degenerated into a sower grape. As it were a greater shame not to bee knit indissolublie to the worshippe of God in Englande, than any other countrey almost, it lying in Europe, as Gedeons fleece in the flore, exempted from the plagues of her neighbours, and speciallye signed vvith the favour of GOD: [Page 150] Hungary and Boheme busied with the Turkes, Italy poisoned vvith the local seat of Antichrist, Spaine held in awe with a bloudy Inquisi­tion, nether Germany disquieted with a forraine foe, France molested with an intestine enemy, Ireland troubled with the incivility of the place, Scotland with her fatal infelicity, England amongst all the rest having peaceable daies and nightes, and not knowing any other bane but too much quietnes, which shee hath taken from God with the left hand, and vsed as the fountaine of all her licentiousnes.

I feare.After his country he placeth his religion. I feare the Lord God of hea­ven, which is here put for the generall worship and service that belon­geth to God. For that which God saith, Esay 29. their feare is taughte by the precepts of men; Christ interpreteth, Math▪ 15. by the name of vvor­ship, In vaine doe they worship me, teaching for doctrines the precepts of men ▪ Feare and worshippe in these scriptures are both one. Come children, (saith the Psalmist) hearken vnto mee, I will teach you the feare of the Lord. And it is a notable phrase that the Hebrewes vse to this purpose; as in the speech of Iacob to Laban, Gen. 31. Except the God of my father, the God of Abr [...]ham, and the [...]eare of Isaac had beene with mee, surelie thou hadst sent mee avvay emptie:Abstractum pro concreto & subiecto. where it is further to be marked, that when Laban sware by the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, Iacob sware by the feare of his father Isaac, that is, by that God which his fa­ther feared, that is, worshipped and served. It implieth thus much; that the strength of Israell is a dreadfull God, clothed with vnspeake­able maiesty as with a garment, & the glory of his face shining brigh­ter than al the lights of heaven in their beauty, yea the beholding of his countenance to a mortall man present death; the Angels tremble, the heavens melt, the mountaines smoake, the sea slieth backe, the ri­vers are dried vp, the fish rot, the earth fainteth at the sight thereof: & therfore we ought not approach his groūd with our shooes on our feet, with sensual & base cogitations; nor sit at his feast, when the breade of his fearful word is broken, without our wedding garment; nor enter his house of praier with the sacrifice of fooles; nor come to his holy mysteries with vnwasht handes or harts, not discerning the body & bloud of the Lord; nor offer the calues of our lippes with lips vnsanctified; nor tender any duty vnto him, without falling low vpon our faces, and bowing the knees of our hartes, in token of our reverence.

It is a question moved, how Ionas could truely say, I feare the Lorde; being so stubborne and refractary against his expresse cōmandement.How Ionas feared God. For answere whereof, we must flie to that citty of refuge which David had recourse vnto, I meane, the riches of Gods mercy: If thou shalt [Page 151] marke, Lord, what is done amisse, Lorde, who shall stande? Psal. 130▪ but there is pardon with thee that thou maiest be feared. If the abundant goodnesse of God did not gloriously interpret our service, and fit by his iustice, as the stewarde in the gospell sate at his accountes, when the debt is an hun­dreth, to set downe but fiftie, to cancell a thousande billes of our tres­passes, to remoue our sinnes, in multitude as the sande vpon the sea shore, from the presence of our maker, as farre as the east is from the west, to drowne thē by heapes & bundels in the bottome of the sea, to die purple & skarlet into white, that is, to turne sin into no sin, & even to iustifie the wicked, &, in a word, to draw the bookes, & blot out our offēces as if they were not: if al the life of Ionas vnto this day had been as free frō sin as the first fruits of Adā; yet this were enough, this onelie one transgression, to haue stained his former innocency, to haue razed out the memory of all his forepassed feare towards God, & made him guilty of the whole law. It fareth with a faithfull man oftentimes, as it did with Eurychus. Act. 20. of whom Paul said, Trouble not your selues, for his life is in him, though hee seemed deade: there is a substance in an elme or in an oake, when they haue cast their leaues, Esay 6. when we woulde thinke by the barenesse of the boughes, & drines of the barke, they are quite withered. There is wine found in an vnlikely cluster, & one saith, de­stroy it not, for there is a blessing in it, Esay 65. such are the trances & sow­nings of faith at some times, drawing the breath of life so inwardlie to it selfe, that no man can perceiue it; & vnlesse the goodnes of God did embrace it, as Paul embraced Eutychus, it could never recover strēgth againe. David lay in such a trance of adultery, Salomon in the trance of idolatry, Peter in the trance of apostasie, & Ionas in the trāce of re­cusancie for the season, when they past over their transgressions as in a sleepe, & never felt thē. Doubtles God hath a purpose herein, pro­fitable both to those, who are taken with such spiritual apoplexies, & to others also. As August▪ wrote of Cyprian, erring in the doctrine of rebaptisation; There was something which he saw not,Proptere [...] non vidit a. liquid, vt a. liquid super▪ eminentius videret. 1. de bapt. con. Donat. 18. Iren. lib 4. cap. 45. that he mighte see somewhat more excellent. But in respect of vs there are 3. reasons given by Irenee, why the infirmities of the saints are chronicled in the booke of God. 1. To let vs vnderstand that both they & we haue one God, who was ever offended with sin, how greate & glorious soever the person were that wrought it. 2. To teach vs to abstain from sin: for if the ancient Patriarks who went before vs both in time & in the gra­ces of God, & for whō the son of God had not yet suffered, bare such reproach among their posterity, by reason their corruptions are regi­stred,1 what shall they sustaine, who liue in the later & brighter▪ ages of 2 [Page 152] the world, & haue cōtinued beyond the comming of the Lord Iesus? 3. To giue vs warning & instruction, that for thē there was a cure be­hinde, the sacrifice of the Lābe which was not thē slaine; but for such as now shall sin, Christ dieth no more, but his next cōming shalbee in the glory of his father. Aug. vpon the 51. Psal. handling the fal of Da­vid, maketh this enarration vpon it; Cōmissū at (que) conscriptū est, It is done & writtē: for thine imitatiō? no: that were an argument of too much vi­olence, to draw on sin with the cart-ropes of examples, & to take ad­vantage at the ruins of Gods saints: David cōmitted murther & adul­tery, I may do the like; it were a marke of a far more vnrighteous soule, thē that which thou seekest to imitate: Inde anima iniquior, quae cùm prop­terea fecerit, quia David fecit, ideo peius quā David fecit, Thence becom­meth the soule more vnrighteous, which taking occasion to do evill, because David did so, doth therefore worse then David did: but to en­forme thee thus much, that if thou takest the wings of the morning, & sliest from one end of the earth to the other, thou cāst not find a soule so pure, which hath not sinned; & if thou wilt make thē thy presidēts, thou must follow the steps not of their falling downe, but of their ri­sing againe by repentance.

Iehovah.Whom did Ionas feare? Iehovah; the honourablest title that hee coulde bestowe vpon him, to make a difference betwixte him and idolles: Nomen [...], a name but of foure letters, in the Hebrew tongue, but some of the Iewes were so superstitious ther­in, that they called it [...], a name which might not be pronoū ­ced, neither durst they assume it into their mouthes. And howsoever the word bee articulate enough, and every syllable and letter therein easie to be sounded, yet the nature which it conteineth, is beyond all cōprehension.Quod ad e­lectionem spectat, sa­lus; quod ad se, ipse no­vit. lib▪ 5. Psal. 11. What is God? (saith Bernard in his bookes of cōsidera­tion to Eugenius:) concerning his electiō, he is saving health; but con­cerning himselfe, he best knoweth. The Rabbines obserue, that al the letters in the name, are literae quiescentes, letters of rest; and they gather ther-out a mystery, that the rest, repose, & trāquillity of al the creatures in the world, is in God alone. The prophet signifieth as much; In the Lord put I my trust, how say yee then vnto my soule, that shee should flie as a bird &c? having built her nest & habitation in the bosome of rest it selfe. I wil not much cōtend for this inventiō of theirs; but sure there is some secret in this name, which many haue eagerly spent their labor vpon, as is plaine in Exod. 6. where God himselfe saith, that hee appeared vnto Abrahaam, Isaac, and Iacob, by the name of a stronge God, omni­potent: but by his name Iehovah, hee vvas not knowne vnto them. It impor­teth, [Page 153] first the eternity of Gods essence in himselfe, that he is yester­daie, to day, and the same for evermore; which was, vvhich is, and which is to come: and next, the existence and perfection of all thinges in him, as from whom all other creatures in the world, haue their life, motion, & being. I may say, that God is the being of all other creatures, Sanè esse om­nium dixe­rim deum [...] non quòd illae sunt quod est i [...]e, sed quia ex ipso &c. Bern. in cā [...]. ser. 4. not that they are the same that hee is, but because, of him, and by him, and in him are all thinges. Vndoubtedly it was the purpose of Ionas to weigh his words, & to powder the whole speech delivered, vvith as much honour to­wards the Lord, as his heart could devise. I feare, 1. Iehovah, a God in essence & being; yours in supposition: 2. the God of heaven; yours not the Gods of the poorest hālets in the earth: 3. which hath made the sea & the dry land, as a litle monument of his surpassing art and strength; yours not the garments of their owne backs. The prophet keepeth the order of nature; placing 1. the heavē, then the sea, afterwards the dry land, as the principal parts whereof the whole consisteth: for heaven is in nature & positiō aboue the sea, the sea aboue the dry land, heaven as the roofe of that beautiful house wherein mā was placed, the sea & the dry land as the two floores or foundations vnto it. But did not God make the heavens aswell as the sea, & the dry land? doubtles yes. It is plainly expressed Gen. 2. In the beginning God made heaven & earth. The beginning of the world is frō the beginning of al things:Principium à principio rerum omni­um. Basil. Nomen au­thoris & si­gillum im­ponitur. whereto the name of the authour is first set as the seale, God; and vnder the names of the two extremities & borders, heaven & earth, all the rest is comprised, quicquid mediū, cum ipsis finibus exortum est, whatsoeuer lieth midle betwixte the endes, with the endes themselues. Neither did the Lord only cause & ordeine these creatures to bee formed, but as the potter shapeth his vesselles, so he fashioned and wrought them with his owne hands: Totum coelum, totam (que) tellurem, ipsam (inquam) essentiam, materiā simul cū forma: non enim figurarū inventor est Deus▪ sed ipsius naturae creator; the whole heaven & the whole earth, I say, the matter vvith the forme: for God is not the deviser of shapes and features alone, but the maker of nature it selfe. And that God that hath made the heaven, can fold it vp like a booke again, & role it togither like a skin of parch­ment: he that hath made the sea, & at this time set the waues thereof in a rage, & caused it to boile like a pot of ointment, can say to the flouds, be yee dried vp: hee that made the dry lande, can cover it with waters as with a brest-plate, or rocke it to & fro vpō her foūdations, as a drunkē man reeleth from place to place. He can clothe the sun & the moone in sackcloth, and commaund the starres to fall downe to the earth, and the mountaines of the land to remoue into the sea, and it shalbe [Page 154] fulfilled. They all shall perish, but the Lord their maker shall endure: they all shall waxe olde as doth a garment, Psal 102. as a vesture shall hee change them, and they shalbe changed; but he is the same God for ever and ever, and his yeares shall not faile.

The scope of the whole confession is briefly this, the more to dilate his fall,Conclusiō. by how much the lesse he was able to plead ignorance; as ha­ving the helpe of religion, the knowledge of the true subsistent God, & able to giue a reckoning of every parcell of his creation.Excusatio omnis tolli­tur vbi mā ­datum non ignoratur. Actes 3. Al excuse is taken away, where the commandement is not vnknowne. Peter lent the buckler of ignorance to the Iewes, therewith in part to defende themselues against the weapons of Gods wrath, even in the bloudiest fact that ever the sunne saw attempted: I know that through ignoraunce you did it, (that is killed the Lord of life) as did also your governours. But least they should leane vpon the staffe of ignorance too much, he bid­deth them repent and reverte, that their sinnes might bee done away. This vvas the cloake that Paul cast over his blasphemies, his tyrannies▪ his vnmercifull persequutions of the Church;1. Tim. 1. I vvas received to mercy, be­cause I did it ignorantly through vnbeliefe: So as ignorance in that place, you see, hath neede of mercie to forgiue it. And if ignorance haue a tongue to pleade her owne innocencie, why did the bloud of Christ cry to the father vpon the crosse, father, forgiue them, they know not what they doe. Luke 23. Is ignorance of the will of God sure to be beaten vvith rods? & shall not contempt of his will, a carelesse vnprofitable knowledge of his hestes & ordinances, be scourged with scorpions? Shal Tyre and Syd on burne like stubble in hell fire, and the smoke of their tormente ascend for evermore, wherein there was never vertue done that might haue reclaimed them? & shall Corazin & Bethsaida go quit, and not drinke down the dregs of destructiō it selfe, whose streets haue beene sowen with the miracles of Christ, and fatted vvith his doctrine? Barbary shal wring her hands, that she hath known so litle; & Christē ­dome rend her heart, that she hath knowne so much to no better pur­pose. It is no marvaile to see the wildernes lie wast & deserte: but if a ground wel husbāded & manured yeeld not profit, it deserveth cur­sing. Lactantius saith, that al the learning of philosophers, vvas vvith­out an heade, because they knew not God: therefore when they see, they are blind;De vero cul­tu. Omnis do­ctrina philo­sophorum sine capite &c. & when they heare, they are deafe; & whē they speak, they are speechles; the sensens are in the head, the eies, eares, & tōgue. We want not an heade for senses because when we see, we perceaue; & when we heare, we vnderstand; and when we speake, we can giue a reason; wee want a heart onely for obedience. And as our Saviour [Page 155] spake of the Scribes and Pharisees;; dicunt & non faciunt, they saie and doe not: so it is true in vs, wee see, and heare, and say, and knowe, but doe not; as idle and idol Christians, as those idol Gods in the Psalme, to our greater both shame and condemnation. So the Apostle enforceth it against the Galathians; Nowe seeing you know God, or rather are knowne of God, Galat. 4. howe turne you againe to impotente and beggerlie rudimentes? To the like effect hee schooleth the Ephesi­ans, yee haue not so learned Christ. Ephes. 4. The nurture and discipline of this schoole is not like the institution of Gentility, vvith whome it is vsu­all to vvalke in the vanity of their mindes, and in darke cogitations, to bee strangers from the life of God through the ignoraunce that is in them, and be­ing past feeling, to giue over themselues vnto vvantonnesse to worke all vn­cleanenesse, even with greedinesse. But if yee haue hearde Christ, and if yee haue beene taught by him, as the trueth is in Iesus, (not corrupting the text with cursed glosses, nor perverting the scriptures to your owne overthrow) then with your new learning you must leaue your olde conversation, as the eagle casteth her bill; and know, that the king­dome of God commeth not by observation, but by practise; nor that pra­ctise is availeable vvith ease, but vvith violence, and that the hottest and most laborious spirite is fittest to catch it away.2 Peter. 2. It had beene bet­ter for vs, never to haue knowne the vvay of righteousnesse, then after wee haue knowne it, to turne from the holie commaundement given vnto vs. For where as the ende is the perfection of every thing, the ende of the relapsed Christians is vvorse then their beginning. There is scientia contristans, a sorrowfull and wofull knowledge,Bern. ser. 36, in Cantic. as Bernarde gathered out of the first of Ecclesiastes, Hee that encreaseth knowledge, encreaseth sorrow. It is truest in this sense, when wee are able and willing to say vvith the Pharisee, are vvee also blinde? and yet with our eies open vve runne into destruction. The time shall come, vvhen many shall say (that you may knowe it is the case of a multitude to bee svvallovved into this gulfe,) Lorde, vvee haue hearde thee in our streetes &c. and yet their knowledge of Christ shall not gaine his knowledge of them, but as straungers and reprobates they shalbee sent from him. Our knowledge shall then bee vveighed to the smallest graine; but if our holinesse of life, put in the other plate of the ballance, bee founde to lighte, and vnanswerable vnto it, our sorrowes shall make it vp. Therefore vnlesse vve be still sicke of Adames disease, that vvee had rather eate of the tree of knowledge, then of the tree of life, let vs be carefull of knowledge, not only to sobriety, but with profitte also, that the fruit of a good life, bringing eternity of daies to come, may [Page 156] waite vpon it. Blessed are those soules, wherein the tree of syncere knowledge is rooted, and the worme of security or contempt hath not eaten vp the fruit; the Lord shall water them with the dew of heaven in this life, and translate them hereafter, as glorious renowned plantes into his heavenly garden.

THE XII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 10.‘Then were the men exceedinglie afraide, and said vnto him, why hast thou done this? (For the men knew, that hee had fled from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them)’

BEcause the confession in the ninth verse, is not so absolute, as to aunswere all the questions which were propounded, therefore the sup­ply and perfection thereof must bee brought from this tenth: wherein we vnderstande, that the whole order & summe of his disobedience was related, albeit not described at large; that being a prophet, and sent vvith a message to Niniveh, hee fled from the presence of the Lord, that is, cast his commaundementes behinde his backe.

The connexion then betwixt these two verses, is this; I am an He­brew, of the happiest people and country vnder heaven; I am not ig­norant of true religion, For I feare the Lorde &c. All which is by way of preface, for amplifications sake, the more to extende the fault menti­oned in the words following; yet am I fled from the presence of the Lorde, I haue taken a froward and vnadvised course to frustrate his businesse. With this addition you may shape an answere directly to every que­stion, 1. What is thine office? shunning the face of God, running from his presence, contēpt of his voice; 2. What is thine occupation? not manua­ry and illiberall, not fraudulent & deceitfull, but a calling immediate from God; I stand in his sight as the Angels of heaven doe, to heare my charge, and when he giveth mee an errande, my office is to per­forme it; 3. Whence commest thou? from the presence of the Lord, from whose lips I received my late commission; 4. What is thy country? I am an Hebrew;Ingeniosa simplicitas [...]ille tergi­versationi­bus cautior. 5. Of what people? the most scient & skilfull in the service of God. Thus haue you his whole confession. Now he beginneth to be wise, and with a prudent simplicity more worth then a thousande ter­giversations, to returne vnto him, by confessing his fault, from whome [Page 157] hee was fled by disobedience; to recover his lost iustice, by accu­sing himselfe; to cast forth the impostumated matter of a dissem­bling conscience, vvhich being concealed, had beene presente death; to honour the righteous Lorde, whom hee had grossely dis­honoured; and by opening his lippes into an humble confession, to shut the mouth of hell, which began to open vpon him. My sonne, Ios. 7▪ (saith Iosuah to Achan) I beseech thee giue glory to the Lorde God of Isra­ell, and make confession vnto him, and shewe mee nowe what thou hast done, hide it not from mee. It is a part of the glory of God, to shame our selues, I meane, to confesse our sinnes, (which in modesty and shamefastnes we striue to keepe close,) not onely vnto God, against whom onely vvee haue sinned, and to whom onlie it appertaineth to saie, I haue pardoned, Iob 34. I will not destroy; but vnto men also: either to the magistrate, vvho hath authority to examine; either to the minister, who hath power to binde and loose; either to our brethren generallie, that the common rule of charity, one in supporting the others infirmities, may be kept in practise. And it is, on the other side, an iniurie to God, not to iu­stifie his iudgementes, nor to acknowledge the conquest of his trueth, when it hath prevailed, but in a fullen and melancholy passion to strangle it vvithin our bones, and never to yeelde the victorie there­vnto, till, as the sunne from out the cloudes, so trueth hath made her a way by maine force from out our dissimulations. The first de­gree of felicitie is, not to offend; the seconde,Cyprian. Somnium narrare, vi­gilantis est▪ & vitia con­fiteri, sanita­tis indicit [...]. Senec. Vulnera clausa plus cruciant. Gregor. Si non con­fessus lates, inconfessus damnaberis, August. Texte. For the mē knewe. to knowe and acknow­ledge offences. And as men dreame in their sleepe, but tell their dreames waking: so howsoever wee may sin by carelesnes, yet it is an argument of health and recovery, to confesse our sinnes. For vvhat shal we gaine by dissembling them? Wounds, the closer they are kept, the greater torture they bring; & sinnes, not confessed, will bring con­demnation vpon vs without confession.

What followeth? When Ionas had confessed his fault,

  • 1. They knewe it, for his owne mouth hath condemned him. They had a presumptuous knowledge before, by the eviction of the lottes, but now they are out of doubte by his owne declaration. So the texte speaketh; The men knew, that hee had fled from the presence of the Lord, because hee had tolde them.
  • 2. Their knowledge wrought a feare in them; Then were the men exceedingly afraide.
  • 3. Their feare brake forth, either into an increpation, or a wonder at the least, They saide, why hast thou done this?

[Page 158]Their knowledge was consequent (of force) to his confession, they could not but be privie therevnto, because hee powred not his speech into the aire, but into their eares, that they might apprehend it. But this knowledge of theirs was not a curious and idle knowledge, such as those men haue,Quidam scire volunt vt sciant. Bern. who know onely to know; but a pragmati­call knowledge, full of labour and businesse: it went from their eares to their heartes, and made as greate a tempest in their consciences, as the winde in the seas; it mingled and confounded all their cogita­tions, it kindled a feare within them, that sundered their soules and spirites. And though their feare before was vehement enough in the fifth verse, when neither their tongues were at rest for crying, nor their wares had peace from being cast out, yet this was a feare beyond that,Reasons of their feare. as may appeare by the epithet, Timnerunt timore magno, They were exceedingly afraide.

1 Nowe why they feared, I cannot so vvell explicate: It may be in regarde they bare to the person of Ionas,Jntelligunt sanctum & sanctae gen­tis virum· Non audent [...]radere, coe­lare non pos­sunt. Magnus est qui fugit, sed maior qui quaerit. knowing what hee was, not knowing how to release him. They vnderstande him to be an holy man, and of an holie nation, therefore vvere they brought into streightes; they haue not hearte to deliver him, they haue not meanes to conceale him: hee is greate that flyeth, he is greater that seeketh after him. That is Hieromes coniecture vpon their feare. It may bee in regarde of their sinnes. For if a prophet of God, and a righteous soule (to theirs) were so persecuted; they could not for their owne partes but feare a much sorer punishment. For if iudgement be­ganne at the house of God, what shalbe the ende of them which obey not the gos­pell 2 of God? And if the righteous shall skarse bee saved, where shall the vngodlie and sinner appeare? 1. Pet. 4. The Apostle maketh the comparison, but it is as sensible and easie to the eie of nature to see so much, as the high way is ready to the passenger. God speaketh to the heathen nati­ons with a zealous and disdainfull contention betwixte them and his people,Ier. 25. Lo, I beginne to plague the citie, vvherein my name was called vpon: 3 and shall you goe free? It maie bee the maiestie of Gods name did asto­nish them, and bruise them as a maule of iron, having beene vsed but to puppets and skar-crowes before,Grandes pu­pae. in comparison. They were not acquainted with Gods of that nature and power till this time; they never had dreamed that there was a Lorde, whose name was Ieho­vah, whose throne was the heaven of heavens, and the sea his floore to walke in, and the earth his foote-stoole to treade vpon, who hath a chaire in the conscience, and sitteth in the heart of man, posses­sing his secret reines, dividing betwixt his skinne and his flesh, and [Page 159] shaking his inmost powers, as the thunder shaketh the wildernes of Cades. It is a testimony to that which I say, that when the Arke was brought into the campe of Israell, and the people gaue a shoute, the Philistines were afraide at it, and saide, God is come into the hoste; therefore they cried, wo, wo vnto vs, for it hath not bene so heretofore, 1. Sam. 4. wo be vn­to vs: who shall deliver vs out of the handes of these mighty Gods? These are the Gods which smote the Aegyptians with all the plagues in the wildernes. Wherein it is a wōderful thing to consider, that the sight of the tēpest drinking vp their substance before their eies, and opening as it were a throate to swallow their liues vp, did not so much astonishe them, as to heare but the Maiesty of God delivered by relation. Alas, what did they heare to that which he is indeede? It was the least parte of his waies, to heare of his creation of heaven, and the sea, and the dry land; he is infinite, and incomprehensible besides;Quid est Deus? totum hoc quod vi­des, & totū hoc quod non vides. Senec. all that thou seest, and all that thou seest not, that, in some sort, God is. And it is not a thing to bee omitted, that the speech of the prophet made a deeper penetration and entrance into them, than if a number be­sides, not having the tongue of the learned, had spent their wordes. For consider the case. The windes were murmuring about their eares,4 the waters roaring, the soule of their ship sobbing, their commodi­ties floating, the hope of their liues hanging vpon a small twine; yet though their feare were greate, it was not so greate as when a prophet preached & declared vnto them the almightinesse of the sacred god­head. They haue not onely wordes, but swordes, even two edged swordes in their mouthes, whome God hath armed to his service; they are able to cut an hearte as hard as adamant, they rest not in the iointes of the bodie, nor in the marrow of the bones, but pearce the very soule and the spirite, and part the very thoughtes and intentions of the heart, that are most secret.2. Cor. 10. The weapons of their warfare where­with they fight, are not carnall, but mighty through God, to cast downe holdes and munitions, and destroying imaginations, disceptations, reasonings, and every sublimity that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and capti­vating every thought to the obedience of Christ. So there is neither mu­nition for strength, nor disputation for subtility, nor heighth for superiority, nor thought in the minde for secrecy, that can holde their estate against the armour of Gods prophets. Haue they not chaines in their tongues for the kinges of the earth? and fetters of yron for their nobles? did not Pharaoh often entreate Moses and Aaron, to pray to the Lord for him? did not the charme of Elias so sinke into the eares of Ahab, that hee rent his clothes, and put sacke-cloth [Page 160] vpon his flesh, fasted, and lay in sacke-cloath, and went softlie? Did not Iohn Baptist so hew the eares of the Iewes, vvith the axe of Gods iudge­ments, that they asked him, as the physitian of their diseased soules, by severall companies, and in their severall callings; the people, though as brutish for the most part as the beastes of the fielde, What shall wee doe then?Luke 3. Publicani, publici pec­catores. the publicanes, though the hatred of the world, and publique notorious sinners, And vvhat shall wee doe? the souldiours, though they had the law in their swordes pointes, And what shall wee doe? Hath not Peter preached at Ierusalem, to an audience of eve­ry nation vnder heauen, (of what number, you may gesse in part, when those that were gained to the Church of Christ, were not few­er then three thousande soules,) and was not the pointe of his sworde so deepely impressed into them, that they were pricked in their harts, and asked (as Iohn Baptists auditours before) Viri fratres, quid faci­emus? Actes 2. men and brethren, what shall wee doe? It is not a word alone, the vehemency and sounde whereof commeth from the loines and sides, that is able to do this; but a puissant and powerfull worde, strengthe­ned with the arme of God, a vvord vvith authoritie, as they witnes­sed of Christ, a vvorde vvith evidence and demonstration of the Spirit, smiting vpon the conscience, more then the hammers of the smith vpon his stithie, a word that draue a feare into Herodes heart, (for he feared Iohn Baptist both aliue & deade,) that bet the breath of Ananias and Saphira from out their bodies, stroke Elymas' the sor­cerer into a blindnes, and sent an extraordinary terrour into the hartes of these marriners. So then, the reason of their feare, as I suppose, was a narration of the maiesty of God, so much the more encreased, because it was handled by the tongue of a prophet, vvho hath a speciall grace to quicken and enliue his speech, whose soule was as a well of vnderstā ­ding; and every sentence that sprang from thence, as a quicke streame to beate them downe.

And that this was the reason of their feare, I rather perswade my selfe, because it is saide for the further confirmation of this iudge­ment,The men feared. that the men feared, and the men knewe that he fled from the pre­sence of the Lorde, who in the whole course of the scripture vnto this place, were not tearmed by the name of men, but Marriners. For when is a better time for man to be laide forth in the colours of his in­firmity and frailtie, thē when God hath beene declared in the bright­nesse of his glorie? whether it be viri or homines, the sexe or the gene­ration, men, as they are distinguished from vvomen, or men, as they are distinguished from other creatures, wee neede not curious­lie [Page 161] enquire. The original word lieth to both.Viri. The former of these two names, wherby the male kinde is notified, Lactantius thus deduceth: Vir ita (que) nominatus est, quòd maior in eo vis est, quàm in foemina: & hinc vir­tus nomen accepit, The man is called Vir in the Latine, because there is greater strength in him, than in the woman: and herehence vertue or virilitie tooke the name. Whereas the woman on the other side, by Varroes interpretation, is called Mulier quasi mollier, à mollitie. of nice­nesse and tendernesse, one letter being changed, another taken a­way. But what is the stoutest courage of man, mascula virtus, the man­liest prowesse vpon the earth, when it hath girded vp her loynes with strēgth, and deckt it selfe with greatest glory, where the fortitude of God is set against it? How is it possible, that pitchers should not breake and fall asunder, being fashioned of clay, if ever they come to encounter the brasse of his vnspeakeable maiesty?Amos. 3. The lyon hath roared; (saith the Prophet) shall not the beastes of the forrest be afraide? The Lorde hath thundred in the heighth, the fame of his vvon­derfull workes hath sounded abroade, shall not man hide him­selfe? if the latter name be ment by the worde, the whole kinde and generation including male and female both;Hominis. then is the glory of man much more stained, and his aspiring affections brought downe to the dust of the earth. For as the same Lactantius deriveth it, Ho­mo nuncupatus est, quod sit factus ex humo; he is therefore called man with the Latines, because the grounde vnder his feete, was his foundation: Accor­ding to the sentence of the Psalme, He knoweth whereof we be made, he remembreth that we are but dust. The scriptures, acquainted with the pride and hautines of mandinde, hange even talents of lead at the heeles thereof, to holde it downe, least it should climbe into the sides of the North, and set a throne by the most high God. In the eighth Psalme (which is a circular Psalme, ending as it did beginne, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the worlde? that whithersoever we turne our eies, vpwardes, or downewardes, we may see our selues beset with his glory rounde about) how doth the prophet abase, and discountenance the nature and whole race of man; As may appeare by his disdeignefull, and derogatory interrogation, what is man that thou art mindefull of him, and the sonne of man that thou regardest him? In the ninth Psalme, Rise Lord, let not man haue the vpper hand, let the na­tions be iudged in thy sight, put them in feare O Lord, that the heathen may knowe themselues to be but men. Further in the tenth Psalme, Thou iudg­est the fatherlesse, and the poore, that the man of the earth doe no more vio­lence.

[Page 162]The Psalmes as they go in order, so, me thinkes, they grow in strēgth, & each hath a weightier force, to throw downe our presumption: 1. we are men, & the sons of men, to shew our descent & propagation; 2. men in our owne knowledge, to shew, that conscience & experience of in­firmity doth convict vs; 3. men of the earth, to shew our original matter, wherof we are framed in the 22. Psal. he addeth more disgrace: for ei­ther in his owne name, regarding the misery and contempt wherin he was held; or in the person of Christ, whose figure he was, as if it were a robbery for him, to take vpon him the nature of man, he falleth he fal­leth to a lower stile, At [...]go sum vermis, & non vir▪ But I am a worme, and no man. For as corruption is the father of all flesh, so are the wormes his brethren and sisters; according to the olde verse,

Post hominē vermis &c. Petr. de soto
First man, next wormes, then stinch and lothsomnes:
Thus man, to no man alter's by chandges.

Abraham the father of the faithfull, Gen. 18. sifteth himselfe into the coursest branne that can bee, and resolveth his nature into the ele­mentes, whereof it first rose; Beholde, I haue begunne to speake to my Lord, being dust and ashes. And if any of the children of Abraham, vvho succeede him in the faith, or any of the children of Adam, who suc­ceede him in the flesh, thinketh otherwise; let him know, that there is a three-folde corde, twisted by the finger of God, that shall tie him to his first originall, though he contend till his heart breake. O earth, Ier. 2 2. earth, earth, heare the vvorde of the Lord; that is, earth by creation, earth by continuance, earth by resolution. Thou camest earth, thou remaynest earth, and to earth thou must returne. Thus they are rightly matched (I meane not for equality, but for opposition,) the eternity of God, and the mutabilitie of man; the terrour of God, and the fearefulnesse of man; the name of God, and the name of man; having at no other time so iust an occasion to remember himselfe to be but man, as when the honour of the most high is laide before him. The warning serveth for vs all, to consider vvhat vve are both by name and nature; vnable to resist God; For who wil set the briers and the thornes in contention against him? Who ever hardened himselfe against the Lord, and hath prospered? Bernard in his bookes of consideration to Eugenius, adviseth him to consider no lesse; A­vvay vvith thy mantles and coverings,Tolle peri­zomata &c. & nudum nudè consi­deres &c. [...]ib. 2. pull of thy apron of fig­leaues, wipe out the parget of thy flitting honours, and take a naked view of thy naked selfe, howe naked thou camest from thy mothers wombe. Which was in effect that vvhich Simonides sang to Pausa­nias, and a page every morning to Philip of Macedon [...] [Page 163] [...], remember that thou art a man; For in remembring this, thou remembrest all wretchednes.

And they saide vnto him, why hast thou done this? Texte. Ierome thinketh it no increpation, but a simple interrogation, of men desirous to knowe,1. Non incre­pant sed in­terrogā [...] &c. why a servant woulde attempt to runne from his Lorde, a man from God. What is the mysterie of this dealing? vvhat sense hadst thou to forsake thine owne country, and seeke forraine nations? Others take it to bee rather an admiration, than an interrogation,2. Admirant [...] oratio mag [...]s quàm inter­rogāti [...]. that such a man as Ionas, knowing that God is omnipotent, all eie to beholde him, all foote to follow him, all hand to smite him in all places, should offer notwithstanding to flie from his presence. Others are out of doubte, that it is a reproofe and reprehension; Why hast thou transgressed, and not obeyed the voice of the Lorde whome thou acknowledgest? A recompense worthy of his disobedience, that as hee ploughed con­tumacie, and sowed rebellion, so hee might reape shame. As if God had set the marke of Cain vpon him, the marke of a fugitiue and va­gabond, and written his fault in his browes, that the basest persons of the earth might controle him, why hast thou done this? Thus iustice pro­claimeth from aboue, Art thou not subiect to God? thou shalt be sub­iect to men. Dost thou contemne the Lord? servantes shal contemne thee; their eies shal obserue thy waies, and their tongues shall vvalke through thy actions; children in the streete shall crie after thee, There, there; passengers shal wag their heads and say, Fie vpon thee, fie vpon thee, Et declamatio fies, and thou shalt be made the by-word of as many as meete thee.

Reprehension of men, for their offences committed, is of 2. sortes.2. kindes of reprehen­sion. The former hath no other end, but to reprehende, to fasten a tooth vpon every occasion that is offered; borne of the cursed seed of Chā, delighting in nothinge so much as to vncover the nakednesse of fa­thers,1 brethren, all sorts; or rather borne of the Devill himselfe, whose name is Diabolus, an accuser, because hee accuseth the brethren daie and night. Hee that reprooveth in this sorte, and he that approveth and fo­stereth such reproofes, the one hath the Devill in his tongue, the o­ther in his eares.Non corre­ctor sed tra [...] ­ditor. Aug. de ver. dom. in Math. 8. Non correp­tores sed cor­rosores. Ber▪ epist▪ 78▪ Augustine and Bernarde fit them with their proper names, that such are not correctors, but traitors, willing to lay open the offences of other men; not reprovers, but gnawers, because they had rather bite, than amend ought amisse. There is no mercie, nor com­passion in this kinde of reprehenders. If the flaxe smoake, they vvill quench it; if the reede be bruised, they will break it quite; if a soule be falling, they will thrust at it, & if it be fallen, they will treade vpon it. [Page 170] The mercie and kindnesse of their lippes, is, as if aspes should vomite, That which perisheth let it perish. Plautus. Istic thesaurus stultis est in lingua situs, this is all the treasure and goodnes, that they beare in their tongues; contumelies, slanders, defamations, opprobrious detractions, vn­courteous vpbraidings, supercilious, in [...]olent, vncharitable accusa­tions rather to verit their malice, which would burst their harts within them, then to reforme the defectes of their brethren. Such an one was Philocles, who had to name, choller & brine; and Diogenes, cal­led the dogge,Bilis & sal­sugo. Canis & tu­ba convitio­rum. Flagellum AEneidos. Inter Divos nullos non carpit Mo­ [...]us &c. and the trumpet of reproches; Carpilius Pictor, who put forth a libell tearmed the scourge of Virgils workes; Herennius who collected togither his faultes, Faustinus his theftes. The epigramme doth well beseeme them, which Cornelius Agrippa wrote of himselfe, (I thinke not seriously purposing to vndertake it) Momus, amongest the Gods, carpeth all thinges; amongst the worthies, Hercules plagueth all monsters; amongst the devils of hell, Pluto is angrie with all the ghostes; a­mongst Philosophers, Democritus laugheth at all; Heraclitus contrari­wise vveepeth for all; Pirrhias is ignorant of all; Aristotle thinketh he know­eth all; and Diogenes contemneth all: Agrippa in this booke, spareth not any, be contemneth, knoweth, knoweth not, bewaileth, laugheth at, is offended vvith, pursueth, carpeth al things, himselfe a Philosopher, a devil, a worthy, a God, & al things. The best is, we may answer al such vncharitable reprehēders, as S. August. answered Petili [...]n, who had accused him to bee a Manichee, speaking from the conscience and information of other men: I saie (saith Augustine) I am no Manichee, speaking of mine owne knovv­ledge,Li. 3. de bapt cont. Donat. cap. 10. eligite cu [...] credatis, choose whether of the two ye wil beleeue. He addeth afterwards, I am a mā appertaining to the floore of Christ, if evill, then am I chaffe; [...]f good, good corne; Petilians tongue is not the fanne of this floore;Non est hu­ [...]u [...] areae vē ­ [...]ilabrum lingua Peti liani. ca. 12. the more he accuseth my fault (doe it vvith vvhat minde he wil) the more I commend my physition that hath healed it. There is an other kinde of reprehension, that handleth the sores of other men, as if they were their owne, with christian and [...]postolicke compassion, (such as we read of, who is weake and I burne not?) bringing 2 pittie in their eies & harts, when they chance to beholde their infirmi­ties. It is a duty that we owe in cōmunity, one to haue feeling & care of an others offences. Rabanus noteth vpon the 18. of Matt. that it is as great an offence,S [...]imu [...] quia similis paena facientes manet & consentientes. ser. in nata­ [...]al. lo. Bapt. not to reproue our brother falling into trespasse, as not to forgiue him, whē he asketh forgiuenesse▪ for hee that saide vnto thee, if thy brother trespasse against thee, forgiue him; said before, if he trespasse against thee, reproue him. We know, saith Bernard, that the same punishment abideth both the cōmitters of sin, & cōsenters vnto [Page 165] it: therefore let no mā smooth sins, let no mā dissēble offences, let no man say of his brother, what? am I his keeper? The wordes of the vvise, are called goads, & nailes. Greg. in his homilies vpon the gospels giveth this reason, For that they neglect not the faultes of transgressours, but pricke thē. All which agreeth with that wise & wary distinctiō, which Bernard maketh in the handling of offences: There must be the oile of admonition, & the wine of cōpunction; the oile of meekenes, Quiaculpas delinquenti­um nesciunt calcare sed pungere. Oleum mo­nitorum, vi­num compū ­ctionis. Oleum man­suetudinis, vinum Zel [...]. ser. 44 in Cantic. Galat. 6. & the wine of zeale & earnestnes: And with the Apostles rule, Brethrē, if a man be preoccupate with a fault, (that is, first taken & snared, when your selues are not,) you that are spirituall, instruct him in the spirit of gentlenes, considering thy selfe, least thou also be tēpted: 1. the very insinuation he doth vse, were enough to perswade them, because we are all brethren: 2. there is no difference betweene thē & vs, but in time; they may prevent vs offending, but we shal follow thē: 3. because flesh & bloud is hauty & insolent, therfore the Apostle distinctly maketh choise of the persons exhorted; you that are spirituall, that haue beene softned with the vnctiō of the spirite of God: 4. the medicine is set downe, which we must apply; Instruct him, shew him the nature & measure of his fault, & how to amend it: 5. the ingredients of the reeeite are prescribed; instruct him with the spirite of meekenes: 6. we are boūd therevnto by equality of condition; cōsidering 1 thy selfe: 7. it is worth the noting, that where he spake before to a mul­titude 2 [...], now, by a kinde of solecisme, he maketh it the case of each 3 man a part; considering thy selfe, lest thou also be tempted. Such a con­struction 4 made a holy father of the fall of his brother, For he wept bit­terly,5 vsing these words, Ille hodie, & ego cras, He hath fallen this day, and I 6 not vnlikely to fall to morrow. Thus much of the kindes of reprehension,7 occasioned by the person of the marriners, their speech to Ionas.Bern. de re­surrect. dom. serm. 2.

Now touching the person of Ionas himselfe, what a discredit was it vnto him, that babarous men should reproue an Hebrew; idolaters, one that feared God; those that worshipped the host of heavē, & crea­tures both in the sea, & in the lād, a mā that ascribed the creation of all these to the true substantial God; infidels, a child of Abrahā; bondmen & strangers, one that was borne in the free womans house? But this is a part of the iudgments of God, the meane time, to cloath vs with our shame as with a garment, whē we commit such follies, as the barbarous themselues are ashamed of. For what greater confusion before men, than that an infidell shoulde say to an Israelite, a Turke or a Moore to a Christian, a babe to an aged man, an idiot to a prophet, the ignorant to him that shoulde instructe him, Why hast thou done this? That vvhich our Saviour spake of the Centurion in the Gospell, [Page 166] is much to the praise of the captaine, [...]. and no lesse to the shame of Is­raell, I haue not found so great faith, no not in Israell. And what ment he in the tenth of Luke, by the parable of the man wounded, betwixte Hiericho and Ierusalem, but, vnder the person of a Samaritane, to condemne a priest and a Levite, men of more knowledge then the other had? yet though they served and lived at the altar, they had not an offering of mercy to bestowe vpon the poore man, when there was nothing but mercy founde in the Samaritane. Why are the dogges mentioned at the gates of the rich man, but that, for licking the sores of Lazarus, and giving an almes in their kinde, they are made to condemne the vnmercifull bowelles of their maister, vvho extended no compassion?Luke 16. Our Saviour wondereth in the se­vententh of the same Evangelist, that, when ten lepers vvere clensed, one onely returned to giue him thankes, and hee was a stran­ger. So he had but the tithe, and that from a person of whom he least expected it. Balaam was reprooved by his asse, as the rich man be­fore by his dogges,Numb. 22. and as he proceeded in frowardnesse, so the asse proceeded in reprehensions: 1. shee went aside, 2. dashed his foote, 3. laie downe with him, 4. opened her mouth, and asked him, why he [...] smitten her? Israell, in the first of Esay, a reasonable and royal peo­ple, is more ignoraunt of their Lord, than the Oxe of his owner, the Asse of his maisters cribbe. The complaint is afterwardes renued a­gaine, though the tearmes somewhat varied: Even the storke in the aire knoweth her apointed time, and the turtle, and the crane, and the swallowe obserue the season of their comming; Ier. 8. but my people knowe not the iudgement of the Lorde. The confession of Saint Augustine, vnlesse wee bee shamelesse and senselesse, cannot bee denied of our vnpro­ficient daies:Surgūt indocti & rapi­unt coelū &c 8. Confess. The vnlearned arise and catch heaven, and wee with our learning, behold we wallowe in flesh and bloud. We are made to [...]udge the Angels, but Angels and men, infidels, barbarians publi­canes, harlots, nay beastes, and stones shall bee our iudges; because when wee aske in our daily praiers, that the will of God may be done in earth, as it is in heaven, we are so farre off from matching that pro­portion, that there is not the poorest creature in the aire, in the earth, in the deepe, but in their kindes and generations goe beyond vs. Of beastes and vnreasonable creatures,Ser. 35. in Cantic. Quādo quae priùs bestiis aequabatur, nunc & postponitur. Bernard giveth a sage admoniti­on. Let the reasonable soule know, that though it hath the beastes her companions in enioying the fruites of the earth, they shall not ac­company her in suffering the torments of hell: therefore her ende shall be worse then her first beginning, because, wherein shee mat­ched [Page 167] them before, shee now commeth behinde them. To this pur­pose, vvith some little inversion of the wordes, he bringeth the sen­tence which Christ pronounced of Iudas, Id had beene good for that m [...]n, if hee had never beene borne: Not if he had not beene borne at al,Non vtì (que) si natus non fuisset omn [...] ­no, sed si nae. tui non fu­isset homo, sed aut pe­cu [...] &c. but if hee had not beene borne a man, but either a beast, or some meaner creature, which, because they haue not iudgement, come not to iudgement, and therefore not to punishment. But amongst reasonable soules there must be a difference kept. As the grounde is mo [...]e, or lesse manured, so it must yeelde in fruite accordingly, some an hundred, some thirtie, some sixtie folde. Fiue talentes must gaine other fiue, two must returne two, and one shall satisfie vvith a lesse proportion. A childe may thinke, and doe, and speake as befitteth a childe; a man must thinke, and doe, and speake as becommeth a man; an Hebrew must liue as an Hebrew, not as an Aegyptian; a prophet as a prophet, not as an husbandman; a beleever as a belee­ver, not as an infidell; a professor of the gospell of Christ, as a profes­sour, not as an atheist, Epicure, Libertine, Anabaptist, Papist, or any the like, either hell-hounde, or hereticke; least we fall, and be brui­sed to pieces at that fearefull sentence, The first shall be last, that whom we went before in knowledge and other graces, those we are brought behinde in the hope of our recompense. It shall little availe vs at the retribution of iust men, to pleade with our Iudge, as it is exem­plified vnto vs in the seventh of Matthew, Lorde Lorde, haue wee not prophecied by thy name? vnlesse wee haue prophecied to our selues, and lived like Prophets: or that by the name wee haue cast out devils out of o­thers; if we haue kept and retained Devils within our owne breastes: or that we haue eaten and drunken in thy presence, & thou hast taught in our streetes; when neither the example of his life, nor the doctrine of his lippes hath any way amended vs.

THE XIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 11.‘Then saide they vnto him, what shall wee doe vnto thee, that the sea may be calme vnto vs? (For the sea wroughte, and was troublous.)’

YOu haue before hearde, first the conviction of Ionas by lotte, vvhich vvas in effect by the o­racle and aunswere of God himselfe: there­with they are not content, but they vvill se­condly know his fault, vvhat hast thou done? & his trade,Clavis sa­pientiae, fre­quens inter­rogati [...]. vvhat is thine occupation? &c. Wher­in I observed their iustice and vprightnes in iudiciall proceeding against him. They haue thirdly, con [...]itentem reum, the confession of his owne lippes against himselfe, so as there needed no more to do; as David spake to the young men that brought newes of the death of Saul, Os tuum contra te loquutum est, thine owne mouth hath spoken a­gainst thee; and the rulers, of the sonne of God, What neede we any more witnesses? for vvee haue hearde it of his owne moutb. They are not yet satisfied, but fourthly, insteede of resolution, they are excee­dingly afraide, they punish and afflict themselues more than they pu­nish Ionas, and in steede of execution they beginne to expostulate vvith him, vvhy hast thou done this? and though they haue not time to breath almost, yet they finde a time to heare a longe narration and tale of all his diobedience. Is there yet an ende? No: but fiftlie, in a matter alreadie iudged, they goe to deliberate, nay, against the or­der and course of all iustice, hee that is iudged must iudge, and the transgressour determine, vvhat shall bee done vnto him. Put it to a murtherer, a theefe, or any the like malefactour, when the fact is notorious, convicted, and confessed, to make choise for him­selfe, what shall wee doe vnto thee? what were hee likely to answere, but to this effect, let me liue?

I haue a further coniecture of their meaning at this time. For Ionas presented vnto them a double person: a sinner, a fugitiue servaunt, a rebell against the Lorde; but vvithall, a prophet, one that is seene and skilled in the counsailes of the Almightie. They knowe themselues ignoraunt and barbarous men: for howsoever they might bee otherwise learned in the wisedome of Egypt and o­ther [Page 169] Gentile knowledge, yet they wanted that knowledge vvhereof the prophet speaketh, they shall all be taught of God: and they plainely perceaved by that vnaccustomed narration that Ionas delivered, of a most soveraigne and dreadfull Lorde, that there was some more excellent way, vvhich they were not acquainted vvith. Vpon the perswasion heereof, they referre themselues to the vvisedome and integritie of Ionas. Much like as the captaines of the host dealte vvith Ieremie: The Lorde bee a vvitnesse of trueth and faithfulnesse be­twixte vs, if wee doe not accordinglie to all thinges, Ier. 42. for which the Lord thy GOD shall sende thee vnto vs: whether it bee good or evill, we will obey thy voice.

What shall wee doe vnto thee? Exposuisti causam morbi, indica sanitatis;Hiero [...] Interfici [...] ­mus? Culto [...] Dei es. Ser­vabimus [...] Deum fugi [...] Id. thou hast shewed the cause of thy maladie, shew the meanes to cure it: what shall vve doe vnto thee? shall we kill thee? thou fearest God; shall wee saue thee? thou flyest from God; shall wee set thee to land againe? shall wee make supplications? shall wee offer sacrifice? wee apoint thee our leader and guide in the whole disposition of this businesse. And surely it is an admirable moderation of minde in a people so immoderate, whom neither their country could soften, be­cause they were barbarous; & the seas could not choose but harden, because they were marriners; and the imminent daunger had reason to indurate & congeale more than both these: yet notwithstanding in an actiō so perplexe, &, howsoever it fall out, likely to proue peri­lous, they like to doe nothinge with tumulte, vvith popular confusi­on, vvith raging and heady affections, swelling in choller, and boiling in rancour against the authour of their miseries, but they will know from the mouth of the prophet, vvhat the minde and pleasure of the Lorde is. In auncient times God gaue his aunswere for deci­sion of doubtes, and difficulties, after diverse manners. Hee an­swered Moses face to face, others by aungelles, some by lottes, some by VRIM and THVMMIM, others by visions and dreames, & the event of their matters hath beene happy & prosperous, where the mouth of the Lorde was harkened vnto. What vvas the reason that they erred so much in receaving the Gibeonites to mercie, pre­tending a farre countrey, olde bottles, olde brea [...]e, olde garments, old shoes? but because they accepted their tale concerning their vittailes, Ios. 9. and coun­selled not with the mouth of the Lorde. In the prophecie of Esaie, God pronounceth a peremptorie vvoe against his rebellious, stubborne children, that take counsell, but not at him; and seeke the protection and de­fence, but not of his spirite; Es. 30▪ and make hast to goe into Egypt to strengthen [Page 170] themselues with the strength of Pharaoh, but haue not asked at his mouth. It is noted of the religion of the Turkes, that it is a false, but a vvell or­dered religion.Falsa sed or­dinata Tur­carum reli­gio &c. A professour of their law proclaimeth, before they attempt any thing, that nothing bee done against religion. All the law-givers of the nations, famous in their liues and generations, bare their people in hand, that they received their instructions from some Godhead. Numa in Rome alleadged conference vvith AEgeria, So­lon in Athens with Minerva, Lycurgus in Lacedaemon with Apollo, Minos in Crete with Iupiter, Charondas in Carthage with Saturne, Osiris in AEgypt with Mercury, Zamolxis in Scythia with Vesta: their vvisedome and pollicie therein vvas this, that they knew their people woulde sooner yeelde to the voice of God than man. Moses in trueth and verity received tables of ordinaunces vpon the Mount, written with the finger of God, and he presumed therevpon that all the people about them woulde thinke, surely this is a great nation &c. Wee are taught here-hence, that in our weightiest affaires, either of warre or peace, religion or pollicie, vvhether wee take to mercie, as Iosua did; or enter league with forreiners, as the Iewes with the AE­gyptians; either of life or death, as is specified in that question tou­ching Ionas; wee decree nothing without the mouth of the Lord, or at the least without the mouthes that speake from that mouth, such as Moses had, I vvill bee with thy mouth; and the disciples of Christ, It is not you that speake, but the spirite of my father within you: these must enforme vs by the lanterne and light of his holy worde, what way is best to be followed. It is a testimony, without any exception to bee made vnto it, and a confident assurance to our soules, vvhen we are able to saie Adlegem & testimonium ivimus, Wee vvent to the lavve and testimonie of Almightye GOD, and these vvee chose to con­duct vs.

There is yet a further matter to bee considered, vvhich both the order of thinges precedent, and the circumstaunces of the text now in hand, mooue me to obserue. For there are distinct persons heere named. First the person of Ionas, what shall wee doe veto thee? secondly of the marriners, that the sea may bee calme vnto vs; thirdly of the sea, for the sea vvent, and was troublous. 1. Ionas is guilty, 2. the marriners are in ieopardy, 3. the sea is angry. And both the anger of the sea, and their owne instant daungers, are mightie and impulsiue argumentes to incense them against Ionas. A proverbe they haue in friendship, that the thigh is nearer to a man than his knee: no man dearer to a­ny man than himselfe; or, at the most, [...], friendshippe is no [Page 171] more than an equalitie; and if a friende be alter idem, a seconde selfe, it is as much as in reason hee can looke for. Wee are not bound either by the lawe of nature, written in the hearte, or by the lawe of God, written in tables, to loue an other more than our selues. Bernarde maketh a note vpon the order of our Saviours wordes to the women of Ierusalē, weepe not for mee, but for your selues and your children: 1. for your selues; 2. for your children. And though in friendship they set a lawe of community, [...], al things must be parted amōgst friends, yet to depart from the life, is no common thing.Rom. 5. A man will skarcely die for the righteous; but for a good man, and one that is profitable, [...]: See how warilie the Apostle treadeth in this sentēce, peradventure some man dareth die; so it may bee, when it is not; and he da­reth, though hee will not doe it; and but some one perhappes amongst a thousande. Life to a naturall man, who thinketh he liveth but whilst hee liveth, is sweete vpon any conditions, as may appeare in the example of the Gibeonites before produced, who did that they did, for feare of their liues. And though they were cursed for their wilie dealinge, and none of them ever aftervvardes freed from being a bondman, but made hewers of woode, and drawers of water for the congregation of the Lorde for ever, yet they were content to escape vvith their liues, and to endure any thing, so the people might not slay them; Beholde, wee are now in thine handes, doe as it seemeth good in thine eies to doe vnto vs. So true it is,De falsa sa­pien. 12. which Lactantius writeth of this transitory life, that although it bee full of vexations, yet is it desired and wished for, of all men: Olde and Younge▪ Kinges and meane persons, wise and foolish desire it alike. Hee addeth the sen­tence of Anaxagoras, Tanti est contemplatio coeli ac lucis ipsius, vt quas­cun (que) miserias libeat sustinere, The very beholding of heaven and the light it selfe, is so much worth, that vvee are contente to endure anie wretchednesse for it. Nowe these marriners having an eie to their private estates, to pacifie the anger of God,Hoc nempe ab homine exigitur, vt prosit homi­nibus, si fieri p [...]test, mul­tis; si minùs, paucis; si mi­nùs, proxi­mis; si minùs sibi. Senec. de vitâ Beat [...] ▪ and quiet the sea for their owne deliverie, standing vpon the losse and miscariage, not now of their substance, which was already gone, and might in time be supplied, but of their liues, which never could be raunsomed, I marvell that they make delaies, and take not the speediest way for the ridding of Ionas, and safegarding of their endaungered liues. There is no more required of man but this, to doe good to men, if it may be, to many; if not, to few; if not, to those that are nearest him, if not, to himselfe: and therefore, the sa [...]ing of Ionas being plain­ly despaired, mee thinketh the care of their owne welfare shoulde [Page 172] presently and eagerly haue beene intended.

The other argument to spur them forwardes, was the impatience 2 of the sea; the sea wrought, nay the sea went, & was tempestuous, An excel­lent phrase of speech. The sea went, it had a charge for Ionas, as Ionas had for Niniveh;The sea went. for as God said to the one, Arise, go to Niniveh, so to the other, Arise, goe after Ionas. Doth the sea sit still (as Elias sate vn­der the Iuniper tree, and cried, it is enough?) or settle her waters vpon her slime and gravell, and not fulfill the commandement of him that made it? No: but as a Gyant refresht with wine, so it renueth and re­doubleth her wonted force, feeleth not the labour imposed, but doth the worke of the Lord with all possible diligence. The Lord saith, go, and it goeth, and it goeth with a witnes, as Iehu marched, of whom the watchman gaue warning, he marcheth like a mad man: so doth the sea go furiously, with an vnquiet, hasty, turbulent spirit, full of impa­tience and zeale, till God haue avenged himselfe against his diso­bedient servaunt. Thus all the creatures in the worlde haue armes and legges as it were, and all the members of living thinges, and a spirite of life in some sorte to quicken them, and activitie to vse them, and courage with wisedome to direct them aright, and con­vert them to the overthrow of those, that with contemptuous secu­rity depart from Gods waies. Do we then thinke that the will of God can ever be frustrated? The Lorde of hostes hath (worne; surely as I haue purposed, so shall it come to passe; and as I haue consulted, so shall it stand, Who can make streight that which he hath made crooked? Es. 14. Eccle. 7. Prov. 21. There is no wisedome, no vnderstanding, no counsell against the Lord. He hath determined; who shall disanull it? his hand is stretched out, and who shall turne it away? See an experiment hereof. Whilest the marriners were knitting and devising a chaine of delaies, adding protraction to protraction, wherewith to spend the time, desirous either to saue or to reprieue the guilty per­son, and with a number of shiftes labouring to evade that counsell which God had enacted, howe vaine and vnprofitable are all their consultations? If all the Senates and sessions in the world had ioy­ned their wisedome togither, to acquit the offend our, it had beene as bootelesse, as to haue runne their heades against a wall of brasse to cast it down. Vnlesse they cā see & corrupt the heavēs with all that there­in is, the earth with al that therein is, the sea with all that therein is, to keepe silence, to winke at the faultes of men, and to favour their devi­ses, it cannot be. For whilest these men are in counsell & conference, the sea is in action; they are backewarde to punish, the sea goeth for­ward with his service; they loose time, & the sea will admit no dilatiō: [Page 173] and to teach them more wit and obedience, the sea is in armes a­gainst the marriners themselues, and persecuteth them, as consenters and abetters to the sin, because the Lord had elected them ministers of his iudgments, and they neglect their office. The will of God must either be done by vs, or vpon vs; as it befell Ierusalem,Aut à nobis aut de nobis. How of­ten would I &c. thou wouldest not: Because it was not done by Ierusalem, It was done vpon Ierusalem. They would haue said afterwardes in Ierusalem, when the blessings were all gonne, and whole rivers of teares could not haue regained them,Vae oppositi [...] voluntati­bus &c. Quid tam poenale quā semper vell [...] quod nun­quam erit, & semper nolle quod nunquam non erit [...] in aeternum nō obtinebi [...] quod vult, & quod non vu [...]t in aeternum s [...]sti­nebit. Deut. 32. Blessed is he that commeth in the name of the Lord. And therefore I conclude with Bernard; Wo to all crossing and thwarting willes, gaining nothing but punishment for their gaine­saying. What is so miserable, as ever to intende that which never shall bee, and ever to be against that, which shall never but be? they shall never attaine what they would, and evermore sustaine what they would not.

And take this for a further warning out of this phrase, the sea went, and was troublous, wherby is declared the travell & paines it tooke to take vengeance; that when the anger of the Lorde is once throughly fired, all the waters in the South cannot quench it. It lieth happely in a smother and smoke a long time before it breaketh out, but when it is once ascended, & hath gotten height, incādescit eundo, it encreaseth by going, & gathereth more strength. It burneth to the bottome of hell, before it giveth over, consuming the earth with her encrease, & setting on fire the foundations of the mountaines. It followeth in the same scripture, I lift vp mine hand to heaven, & say, I liue for ever: (a solemne & venerable protestation:) If I whet my glittering sword, & my hand take holde on ven­geance, I will execute my iudgment vpon mine enimies, & reward them thae hate me. Mine arrowes shalbe drunke with their bloud, & my sword shall eate their flesh. There is a time, I perceiue, when his sword is dull, & rusteth in the skabberd of his long sufferance, & his hands are so fraught with mercy, that iudgment is laide aside, & hath not roome to be spāned in them. But if he once whet his glittering sword, & his hand take hold of iudgment, then will he doe it. The iustice of God goeth slowlye and orderly, [...]. Tarditatem supplicij gravitate com­pensat· but for the most parte it recompenceth the slacknesse of iudgment, with the heavines therof. It is long before he cōmeth, but but whē he cōmeth, he commeth indeede, he cōmeth in the cloudes, he commeth in a chariot of whirle-wind, swifter then the flight of an eagle, he commeth to begin and to make an ende, he commeth not to giue a second wound, for he will fasten the first so sure, that there shall bee no neede of a latter punishment. There never lived vn­righteous man vpon the face of the vvhole earth, that had a sinne [Page 174] in his breast, but hee had vengeance attending at his backe, waiting perhappes by leasure, and following vvith wollen feete, but smiting with an arme of iron, when the sinne was ripe. It was not enough for God to bring Ionas into reproch with straungers, and to make him subiect to the checke of vncircumcised lippes, wondering and howting at him, as at a birde of diverse colours, but his iustice yet cryeth, giue, giue, and will not be satisfied with the morsel before thrown▪ but Ionas himselfe must also be cast out. The Lorde woulde never haue saide in the booke of Leviticus, that the lande should spew out her inha­bitantes, but that the wicked, are as it were the oppression of nature, the surcharge and surfet of the stomacke; vvithout the avoidaunce of whome, shee shall never be eased. I come now to the purpose of my speech.

The daunger was imminent, and called vpon the marriners, Yelde Ionas, or yeeld your selues; the sea importunate, and woulde not be answered. Two irrefragable argumentes: the one fighting against the nature and beeing of man, vvith whom it is no easie thing to for­goe his interest of life, before hee needes must; the other expressing the iustice aboue to be vnexorable, vnlesse it be satisfied. They haue these argumentes before their eies, they ponder and peruse them in their heartes; yet beholde their compassion, their tender regarde to the life of man: they are not so hasty as the sea, but put it to his conscience, What shall vvee doe with thee? it standeth not vvith nature and humanity, to make thee away. Their commendation briefly is; that the life of a straunger to them all, a straunger of that land which vvas most hatefull vnto them, the life of an open and convicted ma­lefactour, the onely matter of their woe, is so precious vnto them. Surely man was made vnto man, as Moses was to Aaron, in some sense, a God (for succour and comforte) according to the auncient ex­iled proverbe, Homo homini Deus, Man vnto man is, or should bee a God. It is now varied, Homo homini lupus, Man vnto man is a wolfe. The first that was created after Adam (which was the woman) vvas given him for his helper, because the life and welfare of man cannot consist vvithout association;Epist. 52. Homo sum, humani ni­hil à m [...] ali­enum puto. Ita omnium affectum na­turaliter at­tigit. but the next that ever was borne by na­turall and kindely generation, both of father and mother became a destroyer. Saint Augustin reporteth of that sentence in the comoe­die, I am a man, I thinke no parte of humanitie impertinent vnto mee, that the whole theatre being full of idiotes, and vulgar persons, gaue applause vnto it, it did so naturally touch the affections of them all. When Vedius Pollio a Romane, at a supper provided for Augustus [Page 175] the Emperour, would haue throwne his servant into his fish-ponde where he kept his lampryes, because hee had broken a cuppe of christall, the Emperour withhelde, and controlled him with these wordes▪ A man of what condition soever hee bee,Homo [...]uius­ [...]un (que) condi­tionis. Plut. if for no other cause, yet because hee is a man, is more to bee valued than all the cuppes and fish-pooles in the worlde. How is mankinde become so degenerate and wilde, in that which nature shaped it vnto? howe is our golde become so dimme, our bloud so stained? for now we may rightly complaine, with that noble and vertuous Frenchman,Phil. Mo [...] ▪ de ver. ch [...]. reli [...]. cap. 16 whome double honour waiteth vpon, What is more rare amongst men, than to finde a man? that is, as he interpreteth it, amongst men, how ma­ny beastes are there, for want of vsing reason; and for not vsing it well, how many Devilles? Lyons fight not against lyons: serpents bite not serpents:Plinie. but soothly the most mischiefe that man sustai­neth, commeth from man. Thou art deceaved, saith Seneca, if thou givest credit to the lookes of those that meete thee: they haue the faces of men, the mindes of wilde beastes. Surely we haue iustified the madnesse of the most savage and vntractable beastes, and stee­led our affections with more cruelty and barbarity, than ever lyons and serpents could learne in the wildernesse. And therfore I blame not David, who having his choice of plagues presented vnto him, made a present exception to his owne nature and kinde, let mee not fall into the handes of man. 1. Chr. 2 [...]. Barbarous and vncivill Christendome (we may say) in comparison of these barbarous men, (many whole regi­ons and tractes thereof, but singular persons in her best composed partes, without number) whose harts are so bound & confirmed with sinewes of yron, that they are no more moved with the life of a man, than if a dogge had fallen before them. Why should they thinke that the life of an other as fearefull made, as ever their owne was, as dearely redeemed, as tenderlye cherished by the providence of God, as serviceably framed for Church or common wealth, as care­fully nursed in the mothers wombe, and by father and mother as painefully brought vp and maintained many yeares togither, now to be spilt and ruinated in a minute of time; why should they thinke that it beareth not as high a price both with God and man, as their owne liues? Yet such is the nature of some, so fallen from their kind, as if rocks had fathered them, and they had sucked the dragons in the desert, rather than the daughters of men; their delight is in nothing so much, as in the slaughter of their brethren, and the stile of that auncient murtherer, whose children they shew themselues to bee, [Page 176] is ever in their mouthes, Vre, seca, occîde, burne, cut, kill, poison, crucifie, take no pitty; straungers, knowne persons, olde, young, men, woemen, brethren, sisters, whosoever doth but crosse them with a mistaken worde, or wrye countenaunce, non in compendium, sed occidendi causà occîdunt, Senec. 2. de clem. they will murther vpon every occasion, and though they gaine not by their death, yet they will kill, because they take pleasure in killing: whereas the care and charge, I saye not of Christian, but of civill and well natured people shoulde be, parce [...]ivium sanguini, spare the bloud of citizens, or rather spare the bloud of men, because they are all kinsmen & brethren in the flesh. I am amazed to thinke how wanton and luxurious wee are in de­stroying the life one of an other, not content alone to wishe the death of an enimy, as they cried in the Psalme, When shall he die, and his name perish? but wee will be actours with our owne handes, and approovers with our owne eies and heartes, deserving therby a more bloud-red commendation,Valer. Max. lib. 9. cap. 11 than he in the history, bis parricida, con­silio priùs, iterum spectaculo, twice a murtherer, first in counselling, afterwardes in beholding the fact: for wee are thrice murtherers, 1. for invention and devise, afterwardes for act, lastly for taking plea­sure either to view or to recorde the same. Murther with the favo­rablest tearmes (vnlesse it be plentifully washt away with a floude of teares, from a bleeding and broken heart, and died into an other colour, by the bloud of Christ) is likely to haue ruth inough. There is not a drop of bloud spilt vpon the earth, from the daies of righte­ous Abell to this present houre, but swelling as bigge as the Ocean sea in the eies of God: and neither heate of the sunne, nor drought of the grounde shall ever drinke it vp, till it be revenged. But mur­ther with pride, delight, triumph, with affectation of glory thereby, as if it were manhoode and credite to haue beene in the fielde and slaine a man, to make it an occupation as some doe, when they haue once committed it, to be so farre from remorse, that they are the readier to commit it againe, till bloud toucheth bloud; Woe worth it: it is the vnnaturalest nature vnder the heavens, I would tearme it by a name, if there were any to expresse it. Caligula the Romane Emperour, whome for his filthy and sanguinary conditions, I may tearme as they tearmed his predecessour,Lutum san­guine maceratum. dirt soken with bloude, vvi­shed, that the people of Rome had all but one neck, that at one blow he might cut them of. Who would ever imagine, that a man of one hearte, shoulde so much multiply his cruelties by conceipt against a multitude? Seneca writeth, that Messala Proconsull of Asia bee­headed [Page 177] three hundred in one day, and when he had made an end of his tyranny, as if hee had done some noble exploite, walked with his armes behinde him, & cried, O royall act. Lucius Sylla, at one p [...]oscrip­tion having slaine 4700. men, caused it bee entered of recorde, ne memoria tam praeclarae rei dilueretur, Lib. 9. cap. [...] ▪ least the memory of so honorable a thing should be worne away. Valerius setting downe the rest of his truculent murthers, confesseth against himselfe, I am scarsely perswaded that I vvrite probably: hee killed a gentleman of Rome without stirring of his foote, for not induring the sight of one murthered before his face: Novus punitor misericordiae, never was it seene before, that pitty it selfe should be punished; and that it should be helde as capitall an of­fence, to beholde a murther with griefe, as if himselfe had done it. Notvvithstanding, saith hee, the envie of Marius did mitigate the cruelties of Sylla: whose name shall bee striked with the blackest cole of infamie in all the ages of the vvorlde, vvhen they shall but heare that an innocent citizē dranke a draught of burning coales, to escape his tyrannous tortures. Sabellicus thinketh,Lib 9▪ cap. [...] ▪ that the factious cit­ties of Italie, in his and his forefathers daies, vvere stored vvith more pregnant examples of crueltie than all these. When the prin­ces of the factions falling into the handes of their enemies, some were burnte aliue, their children killed in their crad [...]lles, the mothers vvith childe their bellies ript vp, themselues and their fruite both destroyed, some throwne downe headlong, some had their garbish pulled out, their heartes to their further disgrace hung vp and bea­ten vvith stripes. You may easilie ghesse (sayeth hee) vvhat but­cherie there vvas, vvhen hanging and beheading vvere accounted clemency. Endlesse are the histories vvhich reporte the cruelties that haue beene committed by man vpon man. But of all that ever I red or hearde, the most vncredible to mine eares, are those that vvere practised by the Spanish nation vpon the West Indians: of whome it fs thought, they haue slaine at times, more millions of men, than all the countreis of the East are able to furnish againe. You may iudge of the Lyon by his clawes. In one of their Islandes cal­led Hispaniola, of tvventye hundreth thousandes, when the peo­ple stoode vntoucht,Benzo in his Indi [...] storie. the authour did not thinke at the penning of his historie, that there vvere an hundred and fiftie soules lefte. Hee had reason to exclame as hee did, O quot Nerones, quot Domitiani, quot Commod [...], quot Bassiani, quot immites Dyonisij eas terras p [...]ragra­vêre? O howe many Neroes, how many Domitians, with other the like egregious, infamous tyrauntes, haue harrowed those countries? [Page 178] Iustus Lipsius iustifieth the complainte:Lib. 2. de cō ­stant. ca. 22. The margi­nal note is, Indorum strages, imò excidium. that no age in the worlde coulde match some examples by him alleaged, but onely our owne, howbeit in an other world. A few Spanish (saith he) about fourescore yeares since, sayling into these west and new founde landes, (good God) what murthers and slaughters committed they? I reason not of the causes or righte of their vvarre, but onely of the eventes. I see that huge space of grounde, vvhich to haue seene, (I say not to haue vanquished) had beene a greate matter, overrunne by twen­ty or thirtie souldiours and those naked flockes every vvhere laide alonge, as corne by a sickle. What is become of thee, O Cuba, the greatest of Islandes? of thee, Hayti? of you, the Iukatans? which some­times stored and environed with fiue or sixe hundreth thousandes of men, haue scarcely retayned fifteene in some places, to raise vp issue againe? Stande forth thou region of Peru, a little shew thy selfe; and thou of Mexico. O vvonderfull and lamentable face of things. That vnmeasurable tracte, and in trueth, another vvorlde, is wa­sted and vvorne avvay, as if it had perished by fire from heaven. One of their kinges in the province of Iukatan spake to Montegius the Lieuetenaunt governour,Benzo. after this manner. I remember, when I vvas younge, wee had a plague or mortalitie amongst vs, so sore and vnaccustomed, that infinite numbers of vvormes issued out of our bodies. Moreover vvee had tvvo battailes vvith the inhabi­tauntes of Mexico, vvherein were slaine an hundreth and fiftye thousande men. But these thinges are trifles, in comparison of those intolerable examples of crueltye and oppression, which thou and thy company haue vsed amongst vs. They had named themselues for credite and authoritie, the sonnes of God: but when the peo­ple sawe their vile behaviour, they gaue this iudgement vpon them; Qualis, malum, Deus iste est, qu [...] tam impuros ex se filios & sce­leratos genuit? si pater filiorum similis, minimè profectò bonum esse oportet; VVhat kinde of GOD, with a mischiefe, is this, that hath begotten such impure and vvicked sonnes? if the fathers bee like the children, there can be no goodnesse in him. Extremities of tyrannie practised in such measure, that nothinge coulde bee ad­ded thereunto by the witte of man, vvrunge out greate liberty and and a citye of speech from them. For vvhen Didacus the deputye tolde the Cacique of Veragua, that, if hee broughte not in golde enough, hee woulde cast his flesh to the dogges, the infidell made h [...]m this aunswere; I marvaile howe the earth canne foster and su­staine such savage beastes. Indeede their impotente outrages were [Page 179] such, as the wretched soules vvoulde sooner die, than endure them. Therefore they chose rather to sterue, and drowne, and hang them­selues, if they vvanted halters, by the haires of the heade, and one to swinge the other vpon a tree, till their breath were expelled; they cutte and mangled their owne flesh, for want of kniues, with sharpe flint-stones; the vvomen with childe, destroyed their babes in their wombes, because they vvoulde not beare slaues to the Spaniardes▪ many times they vvoulde fire their houses, and kill their children, vsing this perswasion vnto themselues, that it vvere better to die once, than miserablie to spende their daies vnder tyrauntes. The carrying of their sillie vassalles by companies, linked and fettered togither, like heardes of beastes, from the continent land where­in they dwelte, to the mines in the Islandes, togither vvith bran­ding a letter of slaverye in their armes and faces, are not cruelties but mercies in them; for thus longe they liued, though they deare­lye boughte their liues. They had not their fill of bloude, vnlesse they slewe them in sporte, to exercise their armes, and to trie vva­gers, and threwe their carkasses to their dogges; vnlesse they put them to drawe their carriages from place to place; and if they fayled by the vvay, (which howe coulde they hinder, excepte their strength had beene as the strength of stones?) pulled out their eies, cutte of their noses, strake of their heades; vnlesse they lodged them like bruite beastes vnder the plankes of their shippes, where all the filth and ordure was bestowed, till their flesh rotted from their backes. The poore Nigrite their slaue, after his toyle the whole daie vnder­gone, in steede of his meale at nighte, if hee came shorte in anye parcell of his taske enioyned, they stripte of all his cloathing, bound him hande and foote, tyed him crosse to a post, bet him with wyre and whippe corde, till his body distilled vvith gore bloude, they powred either molten pitch or scalding oyle into his sores to supple them, washed him with pepper and salte, and so left him vpon a board till he might recover himselfe againe: this, they saide, was their lavve of Baion. If tygers should make lawes, could they exceede these men in savagenesse? I nowe wonder the lesse of the people of Cari­bana, & others thereabout, being accustomed to eate the flesh of man, would notwithstanding refraine the flesh of a Spaniard, when they had caught one, fearing least such pestilent nutriment would breede some contagion within thē. If I doe them iniury by repetition of their furiousnes against the life of man, let them blame the history, not me. I was very well content to note thus much vnto you, vnder the war­rant [Page 180] and protection of mine authour, both the matter of my texte leading mee to a commendation of humanity, even towardes a stran­ger, (the praise vvhereof these are as farre from, as a shee-beare rob­bed of her whelpes) and because they are the men, whome some of our ovvne nation haue desired to bee Lordes and rulers over them. But if ever they make triall of their temperate governement, they vvill finde the least finger of their handes heavier vnto them, than an others loynes, vvhome they vvould cast off: and how much happier it had beene for them still to haue felt the sweetnes of the o­liue, or figge tree, vnder which they haue sitten, and shaddovved themselues, than that the prickles of a bryer shoulde haue torne them. For, least they should erre in their grounde of such a change, the cause of religion pretended, is the least thing regarded by them: and that, these barbarous people right vvel perceived, having bought their knowledge vvith a long and lasting experience, of many their houses, cities, count [...]ies, sacked, ransacked, turned vpside downe, and the dust of all their grounde most narrowly sifted and searched; that a vvedge of golde vvas Deus Christianorum, the God of the Chri­stians; and this they woulde holde alofte, and make proclamation a­mongst themselues, En Deus Christianorum, Beholde the God of the Christians; propter hoc è Castella in terras nostras venêre, for this they came from Castile into our land, (not to convert infidels;) for this they spoile vs, and are at warre within themselues; this is the cause of their dicing, cursing, blaspheming, [...]avishing one the others wiues, and committing all kinde of abominations. Insomuch that a king of Nicaragua asked Benzo himselfe, the penner of this storie, Christiane, quid enim sunt Christians? Christian, vvhat are Christians? and thus he an­swered himselfe by defining them; They desire spice, hony, silke, a Spanishe Cape, an Indian vvoman to lye with, golde and silver they seeke for: Christians vvill not vvorke, they are scoffers, di­cers, blasphemers, slaunderers, fighters, and finally, to conclude, Omnes mali sunt, they are all naught. Thus was the honour of God, th [...] name of Christianitie by their levvde behaviour derided, defa­med, reproched, by those that vvere without, infidelles and Pay­nims. I say no more for determining this vnsavory discourse tou­ching that vncivill, vngentle nation, but, Happie are wee, if other mens harmes can make vs beware, if, when vvee haue seene the firing of their houses, by these incendiaries and robbers, we looke carefully to our owne, and make our fortunate examples of their vnfortunate and vnrecoverable subversions.

[Page 181]When some smart, (saith Cyprian) all are admonished,Magna pro­videntiae cō penaia. de s [...]ng. cl [...]ri [...] ▪ The Assi­ses. and God in his providence hath taken an easie course, by the terrour of a few, to deliver a multitude from the like mischiefe.

What shall we doe vnto thee? The time is neare at hande when inqui­sition must be made for bloud. You that are magistrates, and sit in the seate of God, let not your eies or heartes pitty that man that hath spilt bloude. Quanto non nasci melius fuit, Seneca. quàm numerari inter publico malo natos? howe much better were it not to be borne, than to bee borne to doe hurte? vvee cannot prevent the birth of such, but it is not amisse to hinder and shorten their life, that they vvorke not more mischiefes. If you beare once, you must beare perhappes a second time. GOD hath pronounced against Mount Se [...] long since, I will prepare thee to bloud, Ezech. [...] ▪ and bloud shall pur­sue thee; vnlesse thou doe hate bloude, bloude shall pursue thee: and although Mount Seir bee long since desolated, yet the iudge­ment of that righteous iudge shall stande like Mount Sion, and never bee altered. They that commit,Qui n [...] ve­tat peccatū &c. Tot occidi­mus quot ad mortem ire quotidie te­pi [...]i & ta­cente [...] vide­mus. Gre [...]. super Ezech Clementia & miseri­cordia Sen. Misericor­dia & mise­ratio. Lips. and they that conceale murther, they that loue to shedde bloude, and they that hate it not, principals, accessaries, abettours, favourers, patrons of bloud­shedde, they are all in fearefull case. You will say, I am cruell my selfe, and forgette to applie my texte, whilst I speake against crueltie. Nothing lesse. I would not that iustice shoulde thrust mercy out of place; but mercy and pitty differ as much, as religion and superstition: the one honoureth, the other dishonoureth God; the one is an ornament to man, the other reprocheth him. Be com­passionate to the life of man, and spare it, as discretion shall require, but rather be compassionate to the life of the common wealth: for bee yee assured, that the punishment of bloud-shedde is, not to shed but to saue more bloude. Melius est vt pereat vnus quam vnitas, It is better that one should die by lawe, then numbers without law. The dogge that liveth in the shambles, hath commonly a bloudy mouth▪ and he that hath beene flesht vpon the bloud of man, will not easily leaue it.

I leaue the answere of Ionas to the next place. [...]et v [...] beseech our mercifull God, the preserver of m [...]n, as Iob calleth him, that hee would vouchsafe to preserue vnto vs, this vertue of humanity, without which we are not men; putting softnes and tendernes in them that are cruell, iustice into those that must bridle the rage of cruelty, kindnesse and compassion into vs all, that, whatsoever wee are to deale in with any sorte of men, wee may carefully cast before [...]ande, as these [Page 182] marriners did, what we should doe vnto them; setting their rule of friendship and brotherhood before our eies, not to doe wrong or vio­lence, in oppressing the state or life, either of brethren or strangers, but to measure vnto them all such duties of nature and charity, as wee wish should be measured againe to our owne soules.

THE XIIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. verse 12.‘And he saide vnto them, Take mee, and cast mee into the sea, so shall the sea bee calme vnto you: For I knowe that for my sake &c.’

THE order I kept in the verse going before, was this. Three persons were proposed vnto you▪ 1. the person of Ionas, standing vpon his delivery; 2. the person of the marriners, being in ieopardy; 3. the person of the sea, continu­ing troublesome and vnquiet vnto them. The two latter whereof, the furiousnes of the vva­ters, and their owne perill, were mighty argu­ments to incense them against Ionas. In this verse he answereth their whole demaunde: 1. touching my selfe, you aske, what you shall doe vnto me? Take me, cast me into the sea. By this meanes, 2. the sea shall be quieted, 3. towardes you, against whome it is now enraged. This for the order and coherence. Now for the mat­ter it selfe, it is devided into three branches: 1. the resolution, decree and sentence of Ionas vpon himselfe, Take me, cast me into the sea; 2. the end, and it may be, the motiue to harten them, So shall the sea be quiet vnto you; 3. the reason, warrant, or iustification of their fact, For I knowe that for my sake &c. The verse riseth by degrees. You aske, what you shall doe with me? Cast me into the sea. What is that for our safety? Yes, the sea shall be quiet vnto you. But howe may we purchase our peace with so vniustifieable an action? Right well: For I know that for my sake the tempest is vpon you.

1. The de­cree.Rabbi [...]zra, and some of our later expositors following his opi­nion, thinke, that he maketh this offer vnto them, vpon an obstinate, obfirmed minde against the commaundement of God, that rather than he would be helde in life to goe to Niniveh, to gaine a forreine vncircūcised nation, he would die the death. And they ghesse more­over, [Page 183] that he would never haue given that liberty vnto them against his life, but that he heard them say, vnlesse he went to Niniveh, they would cast him forth. There is not a syllable in the text, to iustifie this iudgement. For Ionas had made a reverent confession of God; a sin­gular testimony of a minde recalling it selfe. And as for the marri­ners, what kindnes they shewed him, both before, and after, the letter of the scripture plainly demonstrateth. I rather take it to be a doome of most propheticall and resolute magnanimity, wrestling with the terrors of death, as Israell with God, and prevailing against them. As if he had saide, you shall not lose an haire of your heades for mine of­fence, I will not adde murther to rebellion, and the wracke of so ma­ny soules to my former disobedience, Take mee. Take mee. Not as if you feared to touch me; [...]ollite me, take me on high▪ take me with force and vali­ditie of armes, take me with violence, lift and hoise me vp: when you haue so done, vse no gentlenes towardes me, let me not downe with ropes, neither suffer mee to [...]ake my choise, howe, or where I may pitch, Cast me, at adventures, as you threw forth your wares.Cast mee. And though the sea hath no mercy at all, threatning both heaven and hell with the billowes thereof at this ti [...]e, and bearing a countenance of nothing but destruction, and it had beene a blessing vnto me, to haue died one the land in some better sort, or to haue gained the favour of a more mercifull death, yet cast me into the sea, In to the sea. and let the barbarous creature glut it selfe. Ionas might haue stood longer vpon tearmes. I haue committed a fault, I am descried by the lots, I confesse my mis­deed, the sea is in wrath, your liues in hazard, what then? will it worke your peace to destroy me? Say, I were gone, and perished; is your de­liverance nearer than before it was? But without cunctation and stay, possessing his soule in patience, and as quiet in the midst of the sea, as if he beheld it on firme grounde, making no difference betweene life and death, animated with a valiant and invincible spirite, trium­phing over dread and daunger, charitable towardes his companions, faithfull and bold as a Lion within himselfe, and yeelding to nothing in the world, saue God alone; he giveth not only leaue and permissi­on vnto them, doe what you will, I can not resist a multitude, you may trie a conclusion by the losse of a man; but with a confident intenti­on, as willing to leaue his life, as ever hee was to keepe it, and as ready to goe from the presence of men, as before hee went from the presence of GOD, First hee putteth them in right and possession of his person, Take mee; Secondly hee prescribeth them the ma­ner and forme of handling him, Cast mee into the sea; Thirdly driveth [Page 184] them by agreements therevnto, not of coniecture and probability, It may bee thus, and thus, but of certaine event, the sea shall bee calme vnto you; and of vndoubted perswasion, I knowne that for my sake &c.

Whether a man may offer vio­lence to himselfe?It is a question not vnmeete to be considered in this place, (which many haue handled from the first age of the world, not onely with their tongues, but with their handes, and insteede of sharpenesse of wit, haue vsed the sharpnes of kniues, and other bloudy instru­mentes to decide it) whether a man may vse violence in anye case against himselfe?Noluit De­us vt sese proijceret, sed id nau­ [...]arum mini­sterio fieri voluit. Hier 2. Sam. 1. I finde it noted vpon these wordes; God vvoulde not let Ionas caste foorth himselfe, but woulde haue it doone by the ministerie of the marriners. But the oddes is not greate in ef­fecte, if you obserue vvhat is mentioned. For Ionas setteth on the marriners, and not onely counselleth, but in a sorte compel­leth them to caste him foorth. Saul was not deade by the woundes which hee gaue himselfe, till an An alekite came and dispatched him: yet was Saul an homicide against his owne person, and the o­ther that made an ende of him, filius mortis, the childe of death. Surelye GOD hath given a commaundement in expresse tearmes against this horrible practise,August. 1. de civ▪ Dei, 20. Non occîdes, Thou shalt not kill; praeser­tim, quia non addidit, Proximum tuum, especiallye, because he added not, Thy neighbour, thou maiest the rarher vnderstand thy selfe: as in the other commaundement, vvhen hee forb [...]d false witnesse, hee saide, Thou shalt not beare false witnesse against thy neigh­bour. Althoughe if the lawe had spoken more fullye, Thou shalt not kill thy neighbour, thou haddest not beene freed thereby, quo­mam regulam diligendi proximum à semetipso delector accipit, because hee that loveth,Ibid. taketh the rule of loving his neighbour, first from himselfe. And the conclusion holdeth good: Non occîdes; non al­terum, ergo nec te: Nec enim qui se occîdit, altum quàm hominem occî­dit, Thou shalt not kill; no other man, therefore not thy selfe: for he that killeth himselfe, killeth no other but a man. I will require your bloud (saith the Lord,) at the handes of beastes, at the handes of man him­selfe, Genes. 9. at the handes of every brother will I require it. Will hee require bloud at the handes of beastes, in whome there is no vnderstanding, and at the handes of every brother (which coniunction of brother­hood is the effectuall cause why we should spare one the others life,) and will hee be slacke to require it at thine owne handes, vvho art nearer to thy selfe than thy brother is? Tho. Aquinas giveth three reasons to condemne the vnlawfulnes of these bloudy designments: [Page 185] 1. They are evill in nature, because repugnant to that charity, wherewith a man should loue himselfe. And death, wee all know, is an enemy in natu [...]e, and life is a blessing of God, in the fifth commaundement. 2. Each man is a part of the communion and fellowship of mankinde, and therfore he doth iniury to the common wealth, that taketh away a subiect and member thereof. 3. Life is the gift of God, and to his onely power subdued, who hath saide, I kill and I giue life. Therefore Ierome writing to Marcell of Blesil­laes death, in the person of God abandoneth such soules, Non reci­pio tales animas, quae, me nolente, exierunt è corpore, I receiue not such soules, which, against my will, haue gone out of their bodies. And he calleth the Philosophers that so dyed, Martyres stultae philosophiae, Martyrs of foo­lish philosophy.

There were two vile kindes of deathes, wherewith of olde (it seemeth) they were wont to finish their vnhappy daies, Laqueus & praecipitium: either they hung themselues, August. cō [...] ­liter. Petili. ani, l. 2. c. 49 or brake their neckes from some steepe place. Petilian, an enemy to the catholicke church, had thus reproachfully spoken against the sound belevers, The traitour Iudas di­ed by an halter, and the halter he bequeathed to such as himselfe was (mea­ning the orthodoxe Christians) No, saith Augustine, this belongeth not to vs, for we doe not honour those by the name of Martyres, who halter their ovvne neckes. Howe much more doe we say against you, Quid enim [...] nisi inimici Christi, ami­ci Diaboli▪ discipuli se­ductoris, [...]ō ­discipuli traditoris? spontaneas enim mor [...]e [...] ab vno ma­gistro utri (que) didicerunt▪ ille laqueū, isti praecipi­tium. Lib. 1. de ciu Dei cap. 17. Licèt prop­ter scelu [...] suum, alio scelere suo occisus es [...]. that the Devill the mai­ster of that traitour, woulde haue perswaded Christ to haue fallen dovvne from the pinnacle of the temple, and tooke repulse? then what are they to be tearmed, whome hee hath both counsailed so to doe, and prevailed with? truely what else, but the enemies of Christ, the friendes of the Devill, the disciples of the seducer, fellowe disciples with the traitour? for both from one maister haue learned voluntary deathes, the one by strangling himselfe, the other by falling downe headlong. The same father bringeth these murtherers into streightes, and holdeth them in so closely on both sides, that there is no escapinge from them: When thou killest thy selfe, either thou killest an innocente, whereby thou becommest guil­tye of innocente bloud; or an offendour, which is as vnlawefull to doe, be­cause thou art neither thine owne Iudge, and thou cuttest of space of re­pentance. Iudas vvhen hee slewe himselfe, hee slewe a vvicked man; not­vvithstanding hee is culpable, both for the bloude of Christ, and for his owne bloude, because though for his wickednesse, yet was hee slaine by an other wickednesse.

Some haue offered themselues vnto these voluntarie deathes, to leaue a testimony of courage and vndaunted resolution behinde [Page 186] them:Animi magnitudine for [...]asse mirādi, non sapien tiae sanitate laudandi sunt. lib 1. cap. 22. Qui vitam aerumnosam magis potest ferre quàm fugere. of whome Saint Augustine speaketh; Perhappes they are to bee admired for stoutnesse of minde, but not to bee commended for soundnesse of wisedome. Albeit, if reason may be iudge, wee cannot rightly call it magnanimity, for it is a far greater minde, which can rather endure than eschew a miserable life. I am sure the Patriarchs, the Prophets, the A­postles never did thus: and though they were p [...]nched in their reines, and their soules heavy vnto the death, as Christes was, insomuch that they cried out, take my life from mee, my soule chooseth to be stran­gled, oh that my spirit were stifled within my bones, and wretch that I am, who shall deliver me? yet they never paide their debte of nature, till their creditour called vpon them: which time they would never haue staied, if, in a moment of an houre, the service of their owne handes 2 might iustly haue released them. Cleombrotus Ambraciote, having red Plato his bookes of the immortality of the soule, threw himselfe headlong from a wall, and brake his necke, that he might the soo­ner attaine to immortality. He had another reason than the former; It was rather a great then a good act. Magnè potiù [...] factum quàm bene. Plato woulde haue done so him­selfe, or at least haue advised it, but that in that learning, wherwith hee sawe the immortality of the soule, hee also sawe such meanes to attaine it, vtterly vnlawfull. Some, to avoide a mischiefe to come, 3 haue fallen into the greatest mischiefe. As virgins and honest ma­trones in a time of warre, to avoide the rapes and constuprations of enemies. In two wordes; doe they consent to that filthines, or doe they not consent? if they consent not, let them liue, because they are innocent. Non inquinatur corpus, nisi de consensu mentis, The body is not defiled, Aquin. 2a. 2ae. quae. 64. ar. 5. Nonné sati­us est incer­tum de fu­turo adulte­rium, quàm certum de praesenti ho­micidium [...] l. 1. de civ. De cap. 25▪ 2. Mac. 14. but when the minde agreeth ▪ If they consent, yet let them liue too, that they may repent it. Whether is better, adultery to come, yet not certaine; or a certaine murther, presently wrought? Is it not better to commit an offence, which may be healed by repentaunce, than such a sin, wherein no place is lefte for contrition? O rather let them liue, who sinne, that they may recover themselues before they go [...] hence, and bee no more seene. It is a reason sufficient to raze the histo­ry of the Machabees out of the canon of the scriptures, that the au­thor therof commendeth the fact of Razis; who being beset by Nica­nor [...]ounde aboute; and having no meanes to escape, fell on his owne sword, and missing his stroke, ranne to a wall to breake his necke; and yet his life being whole within him, ranne through the people, and gate to the top of a rocke, and when his bloud was spent, (gushing out from him like a foun­teine) hee tooke out his bowels with both his handes, and threw them vpon the people, calling vpon the Lord of life and spirit, that hee woulde restore them [Page 187] againe vnto him, and so he died. This the story commendeth for a man­full and valiant act. Aquinas thinketh otherwise. There are some, saith he, that haue killed themselues to avoide troubles and vexations;Mala poe­nalia. Estiman­tes se forti­ter agere. Quaedam mollities animi. (of which number was Razis) thinking they doe manfully; which notwith­standing is not true fortitude, but rather a certaine effo [...]minatenesse of minde not able to endure their crosses. I will pronounce nothing rash­lye. The mercy of God may come, inter pontem & fontem, as the proverbe is, betweene the bridge and the brooke, inter gladium & iugulum, betweene the sworde and a mans throate; and the laste wordes of Razis testifie his petion to the father of life and spirit, that his bowelles might be restored him. But, excepting that conclusion, what diffe­rence, I pray you, betweene him and Cato?Lib. 3. ep. 24 of whome Seneca writeth at large, that the last night hee lived, hee red Plato his bookes, (as Cleombrotus did,) and taking his sworde in his hand, said; for­tune, thou hast done nothing in withstanding all my endevours, I haue not hi­therto fought for mine owne liberty, but for the liberty of my countrey, nei­ther haue I dealt so vnmoueably, to liue free my selfe, Non vt li­ber sed inter Liberos. but that I might liue a­mongst free men; now, because the affaires of man-kinde are irrecoverable, let Cato bee horne to rest; so he stabbed his body, and when his wound was bounde vp by the physitians, having lesse bloud,Minus san­guinis idem animi. lesse strength than before, yet the same courage, and novve not angry againste Caesar alone, but against his owne person, hee tumbleth his handes in his wound, and sendeth not forth by leasure so properly, as by vi­olence eiecteth his generous spirit, skorning and disdeigning that any higher power should commaunde him. Both these, you heare, betake themselues to a desperate refuge, the pointe of the sworde; Razis to avoide Nicanor, Cato Caesar: both alleadge the good of their countrey, not their private estates; both are impatient of the misery to come, the reproach and disgrace that captivity might bring vpon them; both misse their fatall strokes; both are implacably bent to proceede in their voluntary homicides; both tosse and em­brue their handes in their owne bowelles; and as the one reposeth himselfe vpon Gods goodnesse, so the other was not without hope of rest, when hee cried, Cato deducatur in tutum, let Cato goe to a quiet place; both are commended for their valiant death. But it is certaine that Cato died through impatience of minde, Occîdit enim se, ne diceretur, Caesar me servavit, For hee killed himselfe, that it might not bee said, Caesar hath saved me and Seneca affirmeth as much, that it might not bee happy to any other man, either to kill or to preserue Cato. Valerius Maximus reporteth the wordes of Caesar when hee [Page 188] found him dead; Cato, I envie thy glory, for thou enviedst mine. It was a candle before the deade, and as messes of meate set vpon a graue, but a trueth, which an other told him, thou shouldest haue red and vnderstoode Plato otherwise. Scripta Platonis, Nō ita erāt animo perci pienda tuo. Maiori sup­plicio affici­endus deser­tor vitae, quàm deser­tor militiae. Ludov. Viv. in lib. 1. de civ. Dei, cap. 22. If thou haddest well considered what Plato vvrote, thou mightest haue founde reasons sufficient to haue staied so vn­naturall a fact, 1. that God is angry with such, as a Lorde with his bond­men that slay themselues; 2. that the relinquisher of his owne life is more to be punished, then a reneger of his service in warre. And therefore there is no doubt, but the fact of Razis also must haue very favourable in­terpretation, if it bee any way excused. Albeit Seneca in the place before alleadged, commended the dying of Cato in some sorte, yet it is not amisse to consider, with what golden sentences hee endeth that Epistle; It is a ridiculous thing, through wearisomenesse of life, to runne to death, when by the kinde of life thou hast so handled the matter, that thou art driven to runne vnto it. Againe, so greate is the folly, or rather the madnesse of men, that some, for the feare of death, are enforced to death. Hee addeth singular preceptes; A wise and a valiant man must not flie, Timore mortis coguntur ad mortem. Non fugere debet è vitâ sed exire. Libido mori endi. Non cum procursu ca­piendus est impetus. but goe from life; and aboue all thinges that affection must bee shunned, vvhich hath taken holde vpon ma­ny, a longing and lustfulnesse of dying. Hee vvoulde haue vs pre­pared both waies, neither to loue, nor to hate this life too much, and some times to finish it, when reason calleth vs foorth, but not with a fease, and impotent forwardnesse. His counsell certainelye agreeth vvith divinitie. For our Saviour exhorted his disciples, If they persecute you in one citie, flie into another. Notvvithstanding hee had vvar­ned them; vvhosoever will finde his life, and not forsake it vvhen the time and cause require him to laye it dovvne, that man should lose it.

Which lawe and precept of Christ, by the iudgement of Gre­gory Nazianzene,In Monod. compelleth no man to offer himselfe vvilful­lye to death, or to yeelde his throate to him that seeketh it, least through a desire vvee haue to please GOD, in povvring foorth our bloude, vvee either compell our neighbour to breake that commaundement, Thou shalt not kill; or seeke to purchase and procure our owne deathes: but vvhen the time calleth vs to the combate, then vvee must cheerefully stande foorth, So sai­eth Ierome vpon these woordes of Ionas: Non est nostrûm mor­tem arripere, sed illatam ab alijs libenter excipere, It is not for vs to catch after death, but, when it is offered by others, then willingly to receiue it.

[Page 189]Seneca in his eighth booke of controversies, setteth downe a lawe against fellones of themselues, and debateth it both waies. The lawe is, vvhosoever murthereth himselfe, Homicida in se, insepul­tus abiicia­tur. The like was in A­thens, for­bidding buriall in agr [...] Attic [...] Irascere in­terfectori, miserere in­terfecti. Non vt glo­riosum, sed vt tutum sit mori. let him bee cast forth without buriall. The declaration on the one side, in defence of the felon, is made to say somthing for fashion sake; Be angry with the murtherer, but pittie him that is murthered: I aske not that it may be honour for him thus to die, but that no daunger. They are as cruell, that hinder those that are wil­ling to die, as others that kill them, when they are willing to liue. But on the other parte, vvhat vehemency and eagernesse doth hee vse? It is a shamefull parte that any handes shoulde bee founde to burie him, whome his owne handes haue slaine. Hee vvoulde haue attempted any thinge, that coulde finde in his hearte to kill himselfe. No doubte hee had greate crimes in his conscience, that draue him so speedilie to his ende: and this amongest the rest is one, that vvee cannot proceede against him (as against other ma­lefactours) by course of iudgemente. But order is taken against such offenders, that, because they feare not death, they should feare somethinge after death. So saide the Poet, who saw no further into these things, than the glasse of nature gaue him light,

They that haue wrought themselues a causeles death,
Qui sibi le­thum Jnsonter pe­perere man [...] &c.
And hating light aboue, throwne out their breath;
How would they ioy to be aliue againe,
Though put to penury and bitter'st paine?

And mee thinketh the reason of that law, to debarre them from honest buriall, can never be disproved. Qui sibijpsi non parcit, quo­modo parcet alijs? Hee that spareth not his owne person, h [...]vve will hee spare other men? There is but one example in the whole booke of God, wherein there is any colour of patronage for this prodigious and treacherour sinne against their owne bodies:Spiritus la­tenter hoc iusserat. The example of Samp­son burying himselfe, and the Philistines vvith the fall of an house, vvhich is not otherwise excused by [...]ustine, but that a secret spirit vvilled him so to doe. For it appeareth in the booke of Iudges, where the history is written, that his strength vvas renewed, and hee called vp­on the Lorde at the instante of his death. And in the eleventh to the He­brewes, hee is well reported of, in that cloude of righteous men, by the spirite of God.

I haue helde you longe in disputing this question, vvhich ma­nye a one hath disputed to himselfe vvithout replie, vvhen the malignaunt spirite hath once but vvhispered it into his cares, ea­silie drawne to make a conclusion againste bodye and soule, vvithout longer deliberation. Such haue beene the direfull [Page 190] tragoedies which ofte haue beene presented vpon the face of the [...]arth, carrying alwaies a note of a most distrustfull minde, either sus­pecting it selfe, that it is vnable to beare the burthens of calamitye imminent, or hating and abhorring it selfe for some iniquity commit­ted. Now what shall wee thinke the affection of Ionas was in this case, giving, and not lesse then thrusting vpon them, full power of his person? Take mee, and cast mee into the sea. Iudas, we knowe, vpon the stinge of his guilty conscience, hunge himselfe vpon an al­der-tree, and burst in the middest. Achitophell did the like, because his counselles were defeated. Saul fell vpon his sworde, that hee might not come into the handes of the Philistines. Domitius Ne­ro, fearing the approch of Galba, and hearing that a sentence of the Senate was passed against him, to stande in the pillorie, and to be bea­ten with roddes to death, for his outragious both tyrannies and im­purities of life, finding no man to strike him, and exclaming a­gainst them all; vvhat? haue I neither friende nor foe? I haue li­ved dishonourably, let mee dye shamefullye; strake himselfe through with his owne sworde, his trembling hand directed thereunto by a beastlye Eunuch. Others through other impatience, angry with heauen and earth, GOD and man, haue desperately departed, with Aiax in the tragoedie, It doeth mee good to haue vanquished heaven, the GODS, the lightening, Iuv [...] vi­ [...]isse coelum &c. the sea, all oppositions. Thus in effecte did Cato tri­umph, Nihil egist [...], fortuna, fortune, thou haste not sped. Thus mighte Ionas cast with himselfe: Is there a God in heaven? windes in the aire? and waues in the sea that crosse my intent? I wil haue my will, though I die for it; ‘Sic, sic iuvat ire sub vmbras,’ So, even so it easeth my stomacke to take my leaue of this life. But ne­ver shall it enter into my heart, thus to conceiue of a righteous and re­pentaunt prophet, who rat [...] [...]umbleth his soule vnder the handes of GOD, framinge these, of the like perswasions to himselfe: I see the purpose of the most High cannot bee chaunged, I kicke against the prickes, heauen hath proclaimed mee a traitour, the windes and the seas haue hearde it, and whiles there is breath in the one, and wa­ter in the other, I shall not goe vnpunished: the worde of the Lorde is good that hee hath spoken, the wisedome of the Lorde is vviser than the foolishnesse of men, and the strength of the Lord stronger than the weakenesse of man; the Lorde doe that that is good in his sight. Cast mee therefore into the sea; throw mee into the mouth of iustice, let the hunger and thirst of it bee satisfied, for I haue de­served [Page 191] no lesse. Surelye there is not a vvoorde in this vvhole speech, but full of vertuous, charitable, and mysticall obedi­ence.

Wee are nowe come to the ende of his resolution. VVherein wee haue two thinges to beare away:2. The end. So shall the sea bee calme. first his charity to his compani­ons, vvherewith hee tendered the safegarde of their liues; secondly the figure hee bare: For hee vvas a type of that vndefiled Lambe, by whome the nations of the worlde shoulde be redeemed. His chari­ty appeareth in plaine tearmes, that the sea may bee calme vnto you. His chari [...] It is no pleasure vnto him, to haue the liues of others brought in questi­on for his sake, hee is not of the nature of some men, neither profitable in their life time, and, at their deathes, of most vngratious, desolatory, hatefull affections, who make it their ease and comforte in some sorte, to haue their miseries accompanied; and, so they bee not alone in de­struction, they are lesse grieved. The Poets expresse the vncompas­sionate style of these Catilinarie dispositions; [...]. Vt specimen Troiae ardē ­tis videret. When I am deade (saieth one of them) let the earth bee mixed with fire. Medaea cryeth in the tragoedy; It were the onely felicitie to see all thinges ruinated, when I goe my selfe. Domitius Nero, of whome I spake before, caused Rome to bee fired in twelue places togitheir, that hee mighte see a patterne howe Troye burnte, himselfe the meane while singing verses out of Homer.

VVhat were their prizes and combates in the theatre of Rome,Pium prin­cipem opor­tet non tan­tum regnare sed etiam spectare cle­menter. but the slaughteringes of men, to mooue pleasure and delight? When the people desired Theodosius the Emperour to graunt them those sportes, hee aunswered them; A milde prince must temper himselfe both from cruell governemente, and from cruell spectacles. The same matter falling into debate at Athens, Demonax gaue iudgemente, that if they vvill publickely receaue so greate atroci [...]ye, and cruelty amongest them, they should first overthrowe the altar of mercy: His meaning was, that mercy hath no place, vvhere there is admission of such heathenish cruelties. Cyprian in his seconde booke of Epistles, making mention of this custome, sheweth their manner thereof,Epist. 2. Cariùs. Clariùs. Chariùs. Peritia est, vsus est, ars est. Scelu [...] non tantùm ge­ritt [...]r, sed do­cetur. that their bodyes were fedde before hande, and dieted with stronge meates to fill them with iuice and bloude, that beeing fatted to punishment, they mighte dye vvith more coste, (it may bee, glorie) but with lesse contentation. Hee much inveigheth against it, that man shoulde bee killed to delighte man, and that an arte, science, or skill thereof, shoulde bee practised; & not onelye vvickednesse vvroughte, but taughte by precept. They had a custome besides, to enter combate vvith wilde beastes; men of a sound age, [Page 192] lustie, able, vvell-favoured persons, vvell apparelled, wente to a voluntary death, and fought with the beastes, not for any offence committed,Nō crimine, sed furore. Id. ibid. but in a mad moode. And as the actours themselues gloried in their miseries, so their parentes were well pleased to be­holde their sonnes: the brother vvas vvithin the railes or barres, the sister neare at hand, the mother present at her sorrowes; and though beholding such vngodly sportes, they never thought, that at the least for looking on, Oculis pari­ [...]idae. they vvere paricides. You see the humours and affecti­ons that some men haue, how lightly they are conceipted of the life of their brethren, vvhereas brother-hoode indeede requireth at their handes,Vtinam pos­sem multos ab inferis excitare. that they should rather wish vvith Marcus Antonius, to raise vp many from the dead, than to destroy more; or with Moses in the sacred volume, rather himselfe to bee razed from the booke of life, than that his peo­ple should perish ▪

2. The fi­gure.This former reason is expressed in my texte; the latter is implyed and conceaved, that hee made this poffer vnto them, as being the figure and type of the most loving sonne of God. The explication whereof, though it stande chiefly in the article of his resurrection, vvhereof himselfe speaketh in the gospell, they seeke a signe, but there shall no signe be given them, but the signe of the prophet Ionas; yet there 1 are many comparisons besides, vvherein they are resembled. Ionas was a prophet; and Christ that person, of vvhome Moses spake, Pro­phetam 2 excitabit Deus, God shall raise vp a prophet vnto you. Ionas vvas sent vpon a message vnto Niniveh; and Christ vvas Angelus magni consilij, The angell of the greate counsell of God, Legatus foederis, The em­bassadour 3 of the covenaunt. Much enquiry was made of Ionas; whence art thou? vvhat is thy calling, countrey, people? why hast thou done thus? Much questioning vvith, and about Christ; Art thou the king of the Iewes? Arte thou the sonne of the living God? Who is this that the winds and the seas obey him? Is not this the Carpenters sonne? Whence hath hee this vvisedome? Ionas vvas taunted and checked by the ma­ster 4 of the shippe, What meanest thou sleeper? Christ by the maisters of Israell, the rulers of the people and synagogues, as a Samaritane, as one that had a Devill, and by the finger of Beelzebub cast out Devilles, a glutton, a vvine-bibber, a blasphemer of the lavv of Moses. Both came 5 vnder the triall of lottes; the one for his life, the other for his vesture▪ 6 Both had a favourable deliberation passed vpon them; Ionas that hee might be saved. Christ that hee might bee delivered, and Bar­rabas 7 executed. Both had a care of their brethren, more than of themselues: Ionas cryeth, the sea shall bee quiet vnto you; Christ answe­reth [Page 193] him, If yee seeke mee, let these departe: and of those that thou ga­vest vnto mee, haue I not lost one. The one saith, Tollite me, Take 8 mee and cast mee into the sea. The other saith, vvhen the sonne of man is lifte vppe, hee shall drawe all thinges to himselfe. Finally both are sa­crificed, the one in the water, the other in the aire; both are buryed,9 10 the one in the bowelles of the whale, the other of the earth; both 11 alay a tempest, the one of the anger of GOD present, and par­ticular, the other of that vvrath, vvhich from the beginning to the ende of the worlde, all flesh had incurred. The difference be­tvvixte them is this: that Ionas dyed for his owne offence, Christ for the sinnes of others. Ionas mighte haue saide vnto them; Though I see the goodnesse of your natures, yet who amongst you is able to acquite mee from my sinne? Christ made a challenge to malice it selfe, hee mighte haue iustified it at the tribunall of highest iustice, vvho is able to reprooue mee of anie sinne? Ionas made no doubte, but for that his latest misdeede of flying from the presence of the Lord, hee vvas cast out. Christ had done many good vvorkes amongest them, and none but good; and therefore asked vpon confidence of his in­nocencie, For vvhich of these vvorkes doe yee stone mee? Our innocent Abell persecuted by cruell Cain; (I am deceived, for as his bloude speaketh better thinges than the bloude of Abell, so it is bloude of better and purer substaunce:) our innocente Iacob hunted by vnmerciful Laban, although hee might truely say, Genesis the one and twen­tith. What haue I trespassed? Gen. 31. hovve haue I offended that thou hast pursued after mee? I mighte adde, our innocente Ioseph, solde and be­trayed by his despightfull brethren, and litle lesse than murthered, though hee vvente from his father, and vvandered the fieldes glad­ly to seeke and see howe they did; our innocente David chased by vnrighteous Saul, though by Ionathans iust apologie, vvherefore shoulde hee die? vvhat had hee done? or vvho so faithfull amongest all the servauntes of Saule, as David was? or if from the state of innocencye to this presente houre, I shoulde reckon all the innocentes of the earth, and put in Angelles of heaven, yet all not innocente and ho­lye enough to bee weighed with him; and therefore to call him by his owne names, our sunne of righteousnesse, braunch of righteousnesse, the LORDE our righteousnesse; hee that was borne of a Virgin, that holy thinge, Luke 1. the vndefiled lambe, our holy, harmelesse, blamelesse high-priest, separate from sinners, our Iesus the iust; hee that had the shape of a serpent in the vvildernesse, but not the poison, the similitude of sinne­full flesh in the worlde, but not the corruption; hee that knewe no sinne, [Page 194] (and much lesse was borne sinne:) yet was made sinne for vs, that wee might bee made the righteousnesse of God in him; he had the wages of sinne, though he never deserved it,Esay 53. and made his graue with the vvicked, though hee had done no vvickednesse, neither was their any deceite in his mouth: hee vvas vvounded for our transgressions, and broken for our iniquities, and the chastisemente of our peace vvas vpon his shoulders: all vvee, like sheepe, had gone astray, and the LORDE his father hath laide vpon him the iniquities of vs all. But vvas hee compelled thereunto? that vvere to goe from the figure, and to shewe lesse humanity to mankinde, than Ionas to his companions. For vvhat hand could cut this stone from those heauenly mountaines? The Apostle telleth vs otherwise, Phi­lippians the second, [...], hee emptied himselfe, and tooke the forme of a seruaunte: [...], hee humbled himselfe, and bec [...]me obe­dient vnto death, euen the death of the crosse: Hebrewes the ninth, hee offe­red himselfe to purge our consciences from deade workes: [...]. Esay. 53. Galatians the se­conde. Hee gaue himselfe. The Prophet telleth vs otherwise, Ob­latus est, quia ipse voluit, Hee vvas offered, because hee vvoulde himselfe; and hee hath povvred out his soule vnto death, which noteth a liberall and voluntary dispensation. VVhen sacrifice and oblation God would not haue, and some-what must bee had, what sayeth the scripture of him?Hugo Card. Jd. Then saide I: Dixi facto, quod annunciaveram per prophetas, I saide it indeede, for I had past my vvorde before in the prophetes, Be­holde I come: venio voluntariè, non coactus adducor, I come of mine owne accorde, I am not broughte by coaction. It is vvritten in the booke that I shoulde doe thy vvill: I am content to doe it, O my God▪ it is as deepelye vvritten in mine own wil, and thy lavve is in the middest, not in a corner of my hearte. Non in an­gulo, sed in medio cordis. You see his willingnesse: being called, he aunswered; beeing sent, wente; with as cheerefull a spirite, as every any servaunt the Centurion kepte: his eare vvas opened vvith attention, as it were vvith the avvle of the lavve; his desires accommodated no other way; and not an angle, but the hearte of his hearte, and the inmost con­cavity,Exod. 21. vvhich, they say, is made to containe vitall breath, was filled vp vvith subiection to his fathers pleasure. Incredulous souldiours, if yee beleeue not this, open his side with a speare, and pearce his hearte to the center of it, and tell mee, if he vvrote not vvith streames of bloude, as sometimes hee vvrote in the dust, perfitte obedience towarde his father, vncredible loving kindnesse towards our vngrate­full generation. Looke into the Arke, yee curious Bethshemites, ex­amine the secrets of it, and tell me what yee finde. Bring hither your fingers, and thrust your nailes into the printes of his woundes, and [Page 195] sounde the bottome, if you canne, of his vvilling and hearty dispo­sition. VVas hee not dumbe before the shearer? or did hee ever (a­buse?) nay, open his mouth before the slaughterer? though they tooke both fleece and flesh from him, his cloake and his coate to, did hee e­ver repine? vvas his voice hearde in the streetes, though the verye stones in the streetes coulde haue founde in their heartes to haue spo­ken and cryed in his cause? Augustine applyeth to his passion, the vvordes of the Psalme, I vvill lay mee dovvne in peace, and take my rest. Ego, cum pondere pronunciandum est, Psalme 4. wee must pronounce (I) vvith vveighte; to shevve that hee suffered death vvith his free assent. And Bernarde noteth vpon the seconde of the Canticles, Beholde, hec commeth leaping by the mountaines, and skipping over the hilles;Ser. 54. that be­ing nimble of spirite, fervent in loue, zealous in pietie, he overcame all others, in the alacrity of his ministration, as hee vvhome GOD had annointed vvith the oile of gladnesse aboue all his fellovves; hee out­leapte Gabriell the Archangell, sayeth hee, and came to the Virgine before him, by the testimony of the Angell himselfe, Haile Marie full of grace, Dominus tecum, The Lorde is vvith thee. Beholde thou leftest him in heaven, and findest him in the vvombe. Hovve can this be? volavit, & praevolavit, super pennas ventorum, Hee flevve and overflevve thee vpon the vvinges of the vvinde, and hee that sent thee before, is come before thee. If you vvill knovve his other leapes, Gregory setteth them downe, that as he leapte from heaven into the vvombe, so from the wombe into the manger, from the manger to the crosse, from the crosse to the graue, from the graue into heauen againe, and thence wee looke for his se­conde comming.

I knovve, that for my sake this greate tempest is vpon you. 3. The war­rant. Ionas knew the cause of their daunger, partly by propheticall revelation, (which manner of knowledge was private to Ionas with but few other men;) partely by touch of conscience, vvhich, he liueth not vpon the earth, that can escape. Tempestes you haue had in your dayes, vvith­out number: but first, grandis tempest as haec, This greate and vnvvoonted tempest, which is not onely come vpon mee, but secondly, super vos, 1. This great tem­pest. 2. Vpon you. 3. I know. 4. Is for my sake. vpon you also; thirdly, I knovve, and am without doubte, that it is rai­sed, fourthly, for my sake. Though it mingle the nocent and inno­cent, vnrighteous and righteous togither, as the nettes in the gos­pell mingle the good and badde fish, yet am I the springe of it, and thereof I am as certaine, as that I knovve my righte hande. I knovve that for my sake. Ionas vvas very forvvarde before, in Confes­sion; hee tolde them the vvhole progresse of his disobedience, but [Page 196] never proceeded thus farre. For yet hee mighte haue pleaded; I graunt I am a sinner, it may be, you as deepely as my selfe; but vvhen he seeth the siege of the anger of God lie so hote & close to the wals of his conscience, that it will not be remooved, then, Novi quia propter me, I know that it is for my sake.

Many are straungers to themselues for a space, and vvill seeme to bee ignoraunte of their owne doinges: charge them vvith sinne, they vvill say, and sweare, and binde it with cursing, I knowe it not; in the same tearmes that Peter denied his master, Non novi hominem, I knowe not the man. But when Christ looketh backe, I meane, when they finde themselues narrowly eied, and remembred, then I knowe that for my sake it is, that hee looketh backe. VVhen our saviour toulde his people as hee sate at supper with them, One of you shall betray mee, doe you thinke the traitour would bewray himselfe? no, though they vvere all sorrowfull, Math. 26. and asked one after one, Is it I? yet is hee as forwarde as the rest to aske that question also, Is it I, master? albeit he knewe it as perfitly as his owne name. Being but one amongst twelue, and eleven more in company to beare a part of the burthen, hee thoughte he was safe enough. Seneca by his owne confession and preface to his tale,Rem incre­dibilem nar­ro, sed v [...]rā. reporteth a strange but a true thing, of Harpastes a foole, and, and, vvith age, a blinde beldame. Shee knoweth not that shee is blinde, and often entreateth her guide to goe foorth of dores, because the house is darke: Neither is there any, saieth hee, amongst vs, that knoweth his faultes. Every man flattereth himselfe, Non ego ambitiosus sum, I am not ambi­tious, 2. Sam. 12. nor covetous, nor luxurious, nor given to this or that vice. Da­vid knewe not the man, that Nathan spake of; hee pronounced of a person vnknowne vnto him, The man that hath done this, is the childe of death. This is but mufling of the conscience for a time (as Tha­mar mufled her face to take a short pleasure:) but Thamar shall bee discovered, and all heartes shall bee opened; the cockatrice, that hath lien in her hole, will come to warme her selfe against the heate of the sunne; Adam will be brought from his bushes, and Sarah from be­hinde the doore, and a man shall say to his consci [...]nce, as Ahab said to Elias,Plutar. de ser. num. vindict. Haste thou founde mee, O mine enemie? The Delphians made no scruple, to murther Aesope amongst them; but when they were pla­gued with death and mortality therevpon, they walked vp and downe in all the publicke assemblies of Greece, and caused it to bee proclai­med by noise of criers, that whosoever would, should bee avenged vp­on them for the death of Aesope; they knewe that for their sakes the plagues came. The accusers of the adulteresse in the Gospell, hovve [Page 197] skilfull and busie were they, in detecting and following her fact? 1. they had taken her; 2. in the acte; 3. they set her in the midst; 4. they vrged the law, Moses commaunded that shee shoulde bee stoned. Ioh. 8. Hovve ignoraunt were they, and forgetfull of themselues, till Christ adver­tised them? Then they went out (saith the gospell) one by one, from the el­dest to the last, being accused by their owne conscience; then there was none left to giue evidence against her, but our Sauiour asked, woman, where bee thy accusers? or rather, their owne accusers? they knew that for their sakes Christ spake, and they found that writing which he drewe in the dust, engrauen so deepe in their owne heartes with a penne of iron, that it could not be dissembled. This is the case of al those that couer their sinnes, Quorum si mentes recludantur, Tacitu [...]. possint adspici lani­atus & ictus, Whose mindes, if they coulde bee opened, wee should see their rentes and stripes within. Sinnes may bee without daunger for a time,Tuta esse scelera, secu­ra non pos­sunt. Fructus & vtilitas sci­endi in mod [...] sciendi. Ber▪ but neuer without feare. Happy are they that know as they should know: (for this Novi, vvhereof I speake, belongeth to vs all) vvhose knowledge is not contristans scientia, a sadde, vnpeaceable, sorrowing knowledge, (the knowledge of devils, who know there is an hell for them, and albeit they know much, yet they know not the way to sal­vation:) but fruitful, comfortable, ioyful knowledge, who knowe to a­mendment of life, who know to runne to the remedy of their sinnes, to lay a plaster of the bloude and woundes of Christ to the woundes and hurtes of their soule, who knovve that their Redeemer liueth, as Iob did, knowe Christ crucified not only for the worlde, but for them­selues also,Philip. 3. 1. Cor. 1. 1. Cor. 13. and account all thinges but losse and dunge in comparison of that excellent knowledge. This is to bee rich in knowledge, as the Apo­stle speaketh, and without this, if wee knewe all sortes, and all knowledge besides, wee might be poore, beggerly, miserable, ignoraunte, repro­bate, as bad as devilles.

THE XV. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 13.‘Neverthelesse the men rovved to bringe it to lande, but coulde not, &c.’

IN the former verse there are pregnant causes laide downe, why the Marriners should haue eased themselues of Ionas: 1. the liberty and leaue he gaue them to cast him foorth: 2. the good that shoulde ensue by the pacification of the sea: 3. their warrāt; 1. the tēpest was vpon them, 2. a tempest for his sake, 3. himselfe vpon knowledge avowed it.

Neverthelesse, though they see the danger, & the causes of the danger, & the remedy thereof plainely & assuredlie demonstrated, they row to bring it to land. It seemeth very straunge vnto me, that they take not the first occasion & offer, to vnwinde thēselues from the perill they were in: & that neither the master of the ship in his wisedome, nor the multitude of the marriners in their tumultuous & heady violence, nor any one person amongst them, forward for the common cause, taketh the benefite of al these opportunities, to saue themselues. It giueth vs a memorable instruction, that in singular and extraordinary facts,Sibi solu [...] pereat. Sufficit malo malitia ipsi­us. which either the law of God, or the law of nature repugneth, & is plainely against, we be not too eager & quicke in ex­pedition thereof, vntill it be out of doubt by some speciall warrant frō heaven, that they may be attēpted. Touching this present enterprise, there is no question, but though they had not learned the letter of the law of God. Thou shalt not kill, yet the law of nature tied them by secret bondes to deale with Ionas, as they wished to be dealt with, thēselues. Then why should they drowne him? because the lots had convinced him? the lottes might erre at a time: or, if they spake a truth, must these men be his iudges? or if iudges, of his life and death? there mighte some lesser punishment be devised. Againe, what though he offered him­selfe to bee throwen into the sea, for their safety? must they take him at his first worde? Can not their hurtes be cured, but by so despe­rate a medicine, as nature cannot brooke? When Constantine the Emperour (if the history bee true) hearde that there was no meanes to cure his leprosie, but by bathing his body in the bloud of infantes, his hearte abhorred it, Malo semper aegrotare, quàm tali remedio convales­ce [...]e. I had rather bee sicke whilst I haue my being, than recover by such a me­dicine. Againe, the warrant he gaue them, I know that for my sake, mighte [Page 199] perhappes be without warrant. A man might speake in the bitternes of his soule, what else he would not; wearie of his life, not able to beare his crosses, and therefore, as the manner of many distressed is, seeking for death more than for treasures. Whatsoever they did or might con­ceiue, this I am sure of, they had great reason to bee very circumspect and scrupulous, to beare their hearte in their handes, to walke with advise and charinesse, before they did any thinge in an action so vnu­suall, and that which nature it selfe forbad them.Cap. 2 [...]. Augustine in the first booke of the cittie of God, handling Abrahams paricide inten­ded vpon his owne sonne, (a fact both against nature, for no man ever hated his owne flesh, and against the written precepte,Sed non ide [...] sin [...] sceler [...] facit &c. I vvill require the bloude of man,) speaketh thus; It doeth not excuse another from impie­tie, that shall purpose to offer his sonne, because Abraham did so, even with commendation. For a souldiour also, vvhen, for obedience sake to that pow­er vnder vvhich hee is lawfully ordained hee shall kill a man, Jmò nisi fe­ce [...]it, reus est imperij de­serti. Ita (que) und [...] punitur si fe­cerit inius­sus, inde pu­nitur nisi fe­cerit iussus. hee is not charge­able with murther by any law of the citty, nay, hee shall be guiltie of contempte to his governour, if hee doe it not; which had hee committed by his owne accorde and authority, hee had fallen into question of spilling mans bloude: therefore by what reason hee is punished, if hee shall doe it without commaundemente, by the same hee is punished, if beeing commaunded, hee doe it not. Quod si ita est, iubente imperatore, quanto magis iubente creatore? If it bee thus for the bidding of the Emperour, much rather for the bidding of the creatour. He adioyneth the example of certaine virgins (Pelagia with her mo­ther and sisters) vvho threw themselues into a riuer, rather than they woulde bee defiled by a villainous souldiour. In excuse of vvhom hee demaundeth: vvhat if they did it, not deceiued by humane perswasion, but commaunded by GOD? not of errour, but through obedience? as in Sampsons departure from his life, it is not lawfull for vs to thinke otherwise. Onely let him beware that killeth himselfe, or his childe, and fullie bee satisfied, Tantummo­do videat v­trùm divinae iussio nullo nu [...]et incer­to. that the commandement of God hath no vncertainetie in it. It is the iudgmēt of sounde diuinitie, that some factes vvhich the scripture recor­deth, are singular, and dyed with the persons that did them, enforcing no imitation at our handes, vvithout the like speciall direction and dispensation from almightie GOD that hee gaue to them, as namely Abrahams obedience in offering his sonne, Phinees his zeale in killing the adulterers, Sampsons magnanimity in destroying him­selfe, and the Philistines with the fall of the house, the Israelites pol­licy in spoyling the Aegyptians of their iewelles and ornamentes. All which and the like singularities, Cum Deus iubet, se (que) iubere sine vl­lis ambagibus intimat, quis obedientiam in crimen vocet? Aug. ibid▪ When God com­maundeth [Page 200] them, and maketh it a cleare case, without any perplexities, that so his pleasure is, vvho can accuse thy obedience? But before be assured in thy conscience, that God hath commaunded them; tie and vntie a thousand knottes, and both make and remooue as many obiections as thy hart can devise.Ioh. Sleidan. in comment. The Anabaptistes in Germany framed and fained an imagination to themselues, that by the will of God, the auncient magistracie must bee quite rooted from the earth; they saide (and happily beleeued) that they had speech with God, and that he enioyned them to kill all the wicked in the lande, and to constitute a new world, consisting only of the innocent. VVho perswaded them? he that spake vvith GOD, concerning Ahab, I wilbe a lying spirite in the mouthes of all his Prophetes, to deceaue Ahab; a spirite of errour and falshoode, a spirite borne and bread within their owne braine. The conceipte was extraordinarye, that private men by violence and force of armes shoulde not onelye displace, but destroye their rulers and magistrates. VVhat slaughter and havocke it caused, vvhat profusion of bloude betweene the nobles and the commons, Germa­ny then felt and smarted for; histories and monuments of time will re­late to all posterity, and the president thereof, may make the worlde take heede, how they be drawne by fanaticall spirits into these or such like vnaccustomed and vnprobable courses. What disputing & skan­ning vvas there of late within this realme of ours, by conference in private, by broakers and coursers vp and downe, by bookes and bal­le [...]s in print, whether there were not in these daies extraordinarye callings? Vpon the perswasion hereof, what hasty, headlong, hea­thenish endevours to reforme a church, to dissolue gouernement, to vniointe order, to compell a prince, and not to tarry her leasure, if shee presently agreed not? each man hauing a forge in his owne hande, to make & marre, to turne square into round, white into blacke, church into no church, ministery into no ministery, sacramentes into no sa­cramentes, this man coyning himselfe a prophet, that man a Christ, others they knew not vvhat? thus travailing and toyling themselues in the fire of their owne fansies, till they lost themselues, their wittes, their grace, and some their liues? VVhat shall we say heereof? but that it was a singular enterprise, proceeding from the singular spirits of singular persons, and, if GOD had not vvrought for vs in mercy, the sequele must needes haue beene singular vnhappinesse. My con­clusion is, that by the example of these marriners, fearefull and nice to deale in so daungerous a matter, wee follow the common rule (as the kinges beaten vvay) which the lavve of nature engraffed, and of the [Page 201] will of God revealed, hath prescribed vnto vs: and if euer vvee meete with actions, which haue not agreement with these two, to examine al ambiguities therein, and to be certaine of the will of God, before vve enterprise any thing.

That this was the purpose of the marriners,They row­ed. is plainelye to bee ga­thered both by the vvhole contexte and body of the history hitherto continued, (when, though they had many provocations to free themselues and their shippe, they with-helde their handes,) and by a phrase of their further paines most effectually significant, where­in, as they contended with their ores to bring their shippe to lande, so writers haue contended with their wittes, howe to expresse their labours. Our English hath simplie, and in a vvorde, the men row­ed, truely, but not sufficiently. The latin saieth no more but remi­gabant, vvhich is as much as our English. The 70. Interpretours [...], they offered violence to the sea: and Ierome with an ex­cellent circumlocution, rerum naturam vincere cupiebant, they de­sired to exceede nature, and to doe more than they coulde doe. The ori­ginall tongue saith, they digged, and delved, Foderun [...] remis. and furrowed the sea vvith their ores, as a man the grounde with culters and shares, & a­quae fundum investigabant, they searched and sounded the bottome of the vvaters, as men that would turne them vpside downe, rather then misse the successe of their charitable intention. Solon coulde doe no more for Athens than hee did, when Pisistratus had taken it: he aftervvardes hunge vp his speare and target at the courte gates, vvith this protestation; O my countrey, O patria tibi & dictis & factis opitu­latus sum, Quic quid mortalitas capere pote­rat, implevi­mus. I haue ayded thee both with vvord and deede; so betaking himselfe to his owne house to take his rest. Alex­anders souldiers tolde him, when (as they thought) hee prepared to goe into an other worlde, and to seeke an India, vnknowne to the Indians themselues, vvee haue done as much as men mighte vnder­goe. These men heere mentioned, to their vttermost power stood and fought for Ionas, against the rage of the tempest. Qui amat, aut non laborat, aut ipsum amat laborem; Hee that loveth, either la­boureth not, or at least hee loveth and taketh pleasure in his labours, (As the paines of hunters, hawkers, and fishers seeme not grieuous vnto them:) and it is the property of loue, to transforme and alter a man into that he loueth. Amor trans­animat in rē amatam. These men thinke of Ionas (I take it) as of them­selues, make it their owne case, thus speaking in themselues; why should we cast away a man, if there bee any meanes to deliuer him? See what a bonde they plotte of reciprocall kindnesse one to the o­ther: Ionas to the marriners in the former verse, willing to forgo his life [Page 202] for preservation of theirs, Take mee and cast mee into the sea, that it may bee quiet to you; and these as earnestly labouring vvith hazard of themselues, if it be possible, to saue Ionas. It is such an image (me thinketh) of that sociable and mutuall amity, that turning and win­ding, and retaling of curtesie, which ought to passe betweene man and man, as is worthy to leaue behinde it an heedefull observation. For what were the life of man, vvithout this harmony and consente of friendshippe? where there is not date & dabitur, Givinge and ta­king, lending and borrowing, gratifying and regratifying, (as it were light for light) changing of offices and good turnes, what were it, but the life of beastes, vvhich as they are sundry in kindes, so there is no communion betwixt them in fellow-like dueties?Nolo nunc in hominis inhumani­ [...]atem decla­mare. Id v­num quod omnes sciant non tam di­cam quàm mihi habe­am &c. Jul. Scalig. [...]xerc. 33. I vvill not novve declame against the inhumanitye of men: that one thinge vvhich all men knovve, I vvill not so much vtter to others, as holde to my selfe; that by the biting of a serpent vvee loose our liues, but by the biting, barking, brea­thing of a man, togither with life, all that wee haue, perisheth. The Prophet once cryed, O yee heauens droppe downe righteousnesse, when righteous­nesse was taken vp into the cloudes, and the earth voide of it: we may cry for lacke of loue amongst vs, O yee heauens droppe downe kind­nesse and charity into our times, that the vncurteous and churlish Nabals of this present generation, vvhich are not vvilling to re­deeme the liues of their brethren (shall I say vvith the hazarde of their owne liues?) no, nor with the losse of their shoe-latchets, with the hazarde I meane of transitory and fading commodities, vvhich never are touched with the afflictions of Ioseph, and, though a num­ber be greeued and pinched, as if they belonged to a forreine bodie, neuer vouchsafe to partake the smart with them, vvith whome it is a common speech,Zach. 11. that, that dieth, let it die; that they may knovve at length, they were not borne to singe or say, laugh or ioy to them­selues, not to eate and drinke, thriue or liue to their priuate families, but that others, which stand in neede, by very prerogatiue of man­kinde, haue also an interest in their succour and seruice. I noted the hu­manity of the marriners by occasion of some circūstances before past, and I woulde now haue spared you in the repetition of the same ar­gument, but that my texte spareth you not. I vvere vvorthy of much blame, if, when my guide shewed mee the way, I would purpo­sedly forsake it; neither cā I iustly make mine excuse, if, when the scrip­ture taketh me by the hand, & biddeth me commend humanity once againe, I then neglect it.

You may perceiue hovve vvell they affected Ionas, both by the [Page 203] continuance, and by the excesse of their paines. I make it a fur­ther proofe, that it is saide in the text, The men rovved:The men rowed. as if hee had saide; they vvere meere straungers vnto mee; I cannot say, they are Grecians, or Cilicians, I knowe not their countries or dwelling places, I knowe not their private generations and kindreds, much lesse their proper names and conditions. I know them no more then to be men, after the name commonly belonging to all mankinde. It is an vsu­all manner amongst vs, when we know not men by their other dif­ferences and proprieties, to tearme them by that generall appellati­on which apperteineth equally to vs all. When Paul was disposed to conceale his person, as touching the visions and revelations which were sent vnto him, I knovve, saith he, a man in Christ, 2▪ Cor. 12▪ whether in the bodie or out of the body &c. I say not, that he was an Hebrewe, I name no A­postle, I name not Paul, I knovve a man, of such a man I vvill reioice, of my selfe I vvill not, excepte it bee of mine infirmities. They asked the young man vvhose sight vvas restored, Iohn 6. Hovve his eies were opened? who because hee knew not Christ in the propriety either of his nature or office, to be the sonne of God, or the Messias that shoulde come, he answered thus for himselfe; The man that is called Iesus, made clay, and anointed mine eies. Concerning whom he afterwardes bevvraieth his ig­noraunce; whether a sinner or no, I cannot tel; but one thing I know, that I was blinde, and now I see.

Is it not, thinke you, a vvonderfull blemish and maime to Chri­stianity, that those vvho were but men, even straungers vnto Ionas, aliens in countrey, aliens in religion, (but that they beganne a litle to bee seasoned with the knowledge of the true God) shoulde thus bee minded vnto him: vvee that are ioyned and builte togither, not onely in the frame of our common kinde, but in a new building that came from heauen, vvee that are men, and more than men, men of an other birth than vvee tooke from Adam, men of a better family than our fathers house, regenerate, sanctified, sealed by the spirite of God against the day of redemption, men that are concorporate vnder one heade Iesus Christ, knitte and vnited by nature, grace, by fleshe, faith, humanity, Christianitie, shoulde be estranged in affection, Chri­stians towards Christians, protestantes towards protestants, more than ever were Iewes and Samaritanes, of whom we read in the gospel, that they might not converse?

Doubtlesse there are many thinges that haue an attractiue ver­tue to winne and gaine the opinions of men vnto them. The vne­stimable vvisedome of Salomon, drevve a vvoman, a Queene, from [Page 204] a farre countrey, that shee might but heare, and question with him. The admirable learning of Origen caused vngracious and wicked Por­phyrie to go frō his natiue land [...]o the citty of Alexandria, to see him, and Mammaea the Empresse to send for him into her presence.Vinc [...]. Lirin. It ne­ver wanteth honor, that is excellent. The voice of friendship, where it is firmely plight,Offic. 3. is this, as Ambrose observeth in his offices, Tuus sum totus, I am wholy thine. What difference was there betwixte Alexander & Hephestion? Marriage, by the ordināce of God, knoweth no other methode but composition: of two it maketh one, as God of one before made two by resolution. The first day of marriage solēnized amongst the heathens, the bride challenged of the bridegrome, Vbi tu Caius, ego Caia, Plutarc. where you are master, I will be mistresse. But the onely load-stone & attractiue vpon the earth, to draw heauen and earth, men & angels, East & West, Iewes & Barbarians, sea and lande, landes and Islandes togither, and to make one of two, of thousands, of all, is religion: by which they are coupled and compacted vnder the government of one Lord, tied and conglutinate by the sinewes of one faith, washed from their sinnes by the same la [...]er of new birth, nourished by the milke of the same word, feasted at the supper of the same Lambe, and assumed by the same spirit of adoption, to the vndoubted inheritance of one and the same kingdome. And I cannot mislike their iudgement, who thinke that the little knowledge of God, & but elementary learning which Ionas preached, when he made his graue confession of the true God, laide the foundation of all this kindnes, which proceeded from these marriners.

How hath religion bin a band vnto Christendome? the discordes & dissensions whereof, (like a fire in the midst of the house, consuming both timber & stones) haue laide more countries to the dition of the Turke, than ever his bow & shield could haue purchased. Wee maie truely say, as they in Athens sometimes, we of Athens our selues haue am­plified & strengthned Philip our enimy. Auximu [...] Philippum nos ipsi A­thenienses. It was prudētly espied by Cortugal one of the Turkish princes, in his oration perswasiue to his Lord to be­siege Rhodes; Christianus occasus discordijs intestinis corroboratur, the fal of Christendome is set forward by civil disagreemēt. In the daies of Mahomet the second, they had gleaned out of Christendome (I mean those pol­luted Saracens) like scattered eares of corne neglected by the owners, 200. cities, 12. kingdomes, & 2. empires. What an harvest they haue reaped since that time, or rather wee reaped for them, who knoweth not? & yet the canker runneth on, fretting and eating into Christen­dome, because the whole neglecteth the partes, & seeketh not to pre­serue [Page 205] them. VVho is not mooved with that lamentable description which AEneas Silvius maketh of Greece, in his oration against the Turkes, for the composing and attoneing of Christened kingdomes? O noble Greece, beholde nowe thine ende, thou art deade and buried. If vvee seeke for thy walles, wee finde but rubbell; nay wee finde not the grounde where­in thy walles haue stoode, wee looke for Greece in Greece: wee search for her ci­ties, and finde nothing saue their carkasses, and ruinated fragmentes. It is a paradoxe in common reason, hardly to bee prooved, but that experi­ence findeth it true; Brethren, kinsmen, or friendes, when they fall to enmity, their hatred is greater than betwixte mortall foes; ac­cording to the prophecie of Christ, Inimici viri domestici eius, a mans enimies indeede, and to purpose, to worke him most harme, shall bee they of his owne house. Of all the vialles of the wrath of God powred dovvne vpon sinners, it is one of the sorest,Es. 49. vvhen a man is fed with his ovvne flesh, and drunken with his owne bloude, as with sweete wine, that is, taketh pleasure in nothing more than in the overthrow and extirpation of his owne seede:

Non nisi quaesitum cognatâ caede cruorem,
Illicitum (que) bibit;

careth not for any bloude, Annal. [...]. but that which is drawne from the sides of his brethren and kinsmen. Taci­tus noteth no lesse than I speake of, betweene Segestes and Arimini­us; the one the father, the other the sonne in law, both hatefully and hostilely bent. That which bounde them togither in loue, Quae apud concordes vincula cha­ritatis, inci­tamenta ira­rum apud infēso [...] sunt. vvhilst they vvere at concorde, put them further at variance, being once enimies. VVhat more eager and bitter contention hath euer beene betweene Christian and Saracen, than betweene Christian and Christian? we are brethren, I confesse, one to the other, fratres vterini, brethren from the wombe, [...], having one father in heavē, and one mother vpon earth: but it is fallen out vpon vs, vvhich Iacob pronounced vpon Simeon and Levi, vvee are brethren in evill: they in their wrath slewe a man, and in their selfe-will digged downe a wall, and therefore their rage was accursed. Can we escape a curse, that haue slaine a man and a man, digged downe a wall and a wal, betraied a kingdome & a kingdome, laid opē the vineyard for the wild boar, givē the soule of the turtle to the beast, resigned vp many sanctified dominions, wherein the scepter of Christ was acknowledged, to capital and deadly enimies, by our mutual inte­stine seditions? I can better shewe you the malignity of the disease, than prescribe the remedy. But vvhere brethren, kinsmen, confe­derates contende togither, what parte gayneth?Victi victo­rés (que) in la­chrymas [...]usi▪ the vanquished and the victorers maie both beshrewe themselues. They may fighte, and embrue [Page 206] their handes in bloude, Bella geri placuit, nul­ [...]os habitura triumphos. Cadmaea vi­ctoria. Frangenda [...]alma est. and get the honour of the daie, but they vvill haue little list to triumph at night. Iocasta tolde her two sons (rather her firebrands, as Hecuba foresaw of Paris) agreeing togither like fire & water, that whosoeuer conquered the other, he would neither make shew, nor beare signe of the conquest. O pray for the peace of Ierusalē: they shall pros­per, and speede right happilie, that wish her prosperity. Pray not for the peace of Edom, whilst it is Edom; pray not for the peace of Babylon, whilst it continueth Babylon; so long as they cry against Sion, dovvne vvith it, downe with it, euen to the grounde, the Lord returne it seven-folde into their bosome. But pray to the prince of peace, whose blessing and gift peace is, that, if ever we fight by moving either hand or pen, vvee may fight against Edom, & Babylon, Ammon, & Aram, (as Ioab and Abisai did) those that are without, but evermore desire, procure, & en­sue the peace of Ierusalem. Thus far of the kindnes shewed by the mar­riners vnto Ionas; who though they were but men, strange & vnknown vnto him, yet vpon that knowledge of God, which he had instilled in­to their mindes by his preaching, they endevoured what they could, to saue his life. How sped their labours?

They could not. But they could not, for the sea wrought &c. I remit you for instructiō her-hence, to the 11. ver. where you haue most of these very words. It shall stand more durable than the firmament of heauen, which the king of Babylon testified of God, Daniel 4. According to his will hee vvorketh in the army of heauen, & in the inhabitantes of the earth, & no man can staye his hand, or say vnto him, what doest thou? he pronoūceth as much of himselfe, Esay 46. My counsell shall stand, & I will do whatsoeuer I will. The earnest­nes, & improbity of mans labor, nothing availeth, if God be against it. It is but the labour of Sisyphus, labouring in the fire, & ploughing vpon the rockes, (as the mouth of God speaketh) according to his word in Mala­chy, They shall build, but I will pull downe. The vigour of the wordes once againe giueth this counsel vnto vs, [...], not to contēd or wra­stle with the power of God, which is, as if a flie should oppose her force against a bulwarke. They preach doctrine of sufferance & patience at the will of God; Quod ferendū est, feras, that which thou must beare of necessity,Malus est miles qui imperatorē gemens se­quitur. Sene. beare with good contentment of minde. Hee is an vnmeete souldiour that followeth his generall with groning. Thou canst not striue vvith thy maker, thou canst not adde to the stature of thy body, nor chaunge one haire of thy head from the colour which God gaue it. It is not thy rising early, that can make thee rich; nor barring the gates of thy citty, that can make thee safe: much lesse canst thou ransome thy life, nor the life of thy brother from the hand of God, thou must perforce let that alone for e­ver. [Page 207] A league with all the elementes of the world, with the beastes of the field, stones in the streete, with death & hell themselues, is vnable to secure thee. Therefore whatsoever befall thee in thy body, goods, children, or beasts, enter into thy chamber, bee secret & still, & let the right hand of the Lord of hostes haue the preheminence.

This was the reason, I conceiue, that after those last words, cast me in­to the sea, though the men stroue with their ores, & cried to the Lord in the next verse, yet there is no mention made either of deed, or word, added by Ionas. For what shoulde he doe, when the countenance of the Lord was against him, but run the race set before his eies with patience, & fal to another meditatiō, than before he had, that, although he were throwen into the sea, yet God was the Lord both of the lād & the wa­ters, & whether he sunke or swam, lived or died, he was that Lords? Im­patientiae natales in ipso diabolo deprehendo, I finde that impatience was borne of the devil, saith Tertullian: to him let vs leaue this plant, which the hand of the Lord never planted, & to his mal-contented impes, with whōe there is nothing so rife, as banning, blaspheming, bitter and swelling speech against the highest power of heauen, if ever they bee crost or wrung with the least tribulation. They never learned how the linkes of that heauēly chaine are fastened one to the other: that tribulation brin­geth patience, patience experience, experience hope, and hope will neuer suffer them to be ashamed or dismaide. They breake the chaine at the first linke; troubled they are against their wils, but, that which is voluntarie, as pa­tience, experience, hope, they wil not adde, that both in body & soule they may be confoūded. We on the other side hang vpon the chaine, & trust to climbe to heauen by it (through the merits of Christs death and passion) whereof the last linke consisteth; and wee suffer none of those comfortable perswasions to fall to the ground, without vse, that if we suffer with him, we shall also raigne with him; and through many tribula­tions we must enter into the kingdome of heauen: wee regarde not so much,Non quam poenam in flagello, sed quem locum in testamen­to. August. what part we haue in the whip, but what place in the testament: wee knowe, who hath sequestred for vs, (to vse the word of Tertullian) Idoneus pa­tientiae sequester Deus, God will truely account for all our sufferings: If wee commit our wrongs vnto him, he will reuenge them; our losses, hee will restore them; our liues, he will raise them vp againe.

THE XV. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 14.‘Then they cried vnto the Lorde, and saide, we beseech thee O Lord, we beseech thee.’

THE sea is angrie, you haue hearde, for the Lorde of hostes sake, and will haue a sacri­fice. They gaue it space and respite enough to see if time coulde make it forgette the iniu­rie that vvas offered: they entered consulta­tion vvith Ionas himselfe of some milder handlinge him: they spared not their pain­fullest contention of armes and ores, to re­duce him to land againe. But when delay wrought no better successe, and neither the prophet himselfe coulde by advise prescribe, nor they effect by labour and strength, the re­lease of GODS vengeance, what shoulde they doe, but make rea­dy the sacrifice, and binde it to the hornes of the altar, bestovvinge a fevve vvordes of blessing and dedication (if I speake rightly) be­fore the offering thereof? Ionas is sacrificed in the nexte verse, So they tooke vp Ionas; But the consecration and hallowing of the sacri­fice goeth before in these wordes, vvherefore they cryed &c. It is the ca­tastrophe of the vvhole acte, novve it draweth to an issue and accom­plishment; their feare, praier, proiection of their vvares, sortilege, ex­amination of Ionas, consultation, and other machinations and assaies whatsoever, were but prefaces and introductions to this that followeth. The sea hath made a vowe, and will surely performe it; I will not giue my waters any rest, nor lye downe vpon my couch, till Ionas be cast forth.

Wherefore or then. It implyeth an illation from the former spee­ches. When neither head nor handes, counsaile nor force coulde provide a remedie, they make it their last refuge to commende both themselues and Ionas to God, by supplication t Ionas, by a touch, and in secret, in that they call his bloud innocent bloude, as who woulde saie, hee never did vs hurte; themselues, of purpose, and by pro­fession, that having to deale in a matter so ambiguous, the mercy and pardon of God might be their surest fortresse. The substance and soule of the vvhole sentence is prayer: a late, but a safe experiment, and if the worst shoulde fall out, that there vvere imperfection or blame in their action nowe intended, praier the soveraignest resto­ratiue vnder heauen to make it sound againe. For thus in effecte [Page 209] they thinke. It may be wee shall be guilty of the life of a Prophet, wee addresse our selues to the effusion of harme lesse bloude, we must ad­venture the fact, and whether we be right or wrong, we knowe not; but whatsoever betide, we begge remission at thine hands, be gracious and merciful vnto our ignorances, require not soule for soule, bloud for bloud, neither lay our iniquities vnto our charge. Praier hath asked pardon, & praier (I doubt not) hath obteined pardon for some of that bloudy generation which slew the very son & heire of the kingdome; which offered an vnrighteous sacrifice of a more righteous soule, than ever Ionas was. Else, why did he open his mouth at his death, & powre forth his gronings for those that opened his side and powred forth his blood, father forgiue them?

Before, they had handled the ores of their trade and occupation, but prevailed not; (for bodily exercise profiteth nothing:) novve they be­take them to the ores of the spirite, invocations, intercessions to the ever-liuing God, that, if the bankes of the land, vvhich they hoped to recover, should faile them, they might be receiued to an harbour and rode of the mercies of God. These are the ores (my brethren) which shall rowe the shippe through all the stormes and insurrections of the waues of the seas, I meane the Arke of Gods Church vniuersal, and these vessels of ours, our bodies & soules in particular, through all the dangers of the world, and land them in the hauen of eternal redemp­tion. This worlde is a sea, as I finde it compared, swelling with pride; & vaineglory the winde to heaue it vp; blew & livide with envy, boi­ling with wrath, deepe with covetousnes, foming with luxuriousnesse, swallowing & drinking in all by oppression, dangerfull for the rockes of presumption and desperation, rising with the waues of passions & perturbations, ebbing & flowing with inconstancy, brinish and salte with iniquity, and finally Mare amarum, a bitter and vnsavory sea with all kinde of misery. What shoulde wee doe then in such a sea of tēptations, where the arme of flesh is too weake to beare vs out, & if our strength were brasse, it coulde not helpe vs; where we haue rea­son to carry a suspition of all our waies, and he that is most righteous in the cluster of mankinde, falleth in his happiest day seven times, and though we were privie to nothinge in our selues, yet were wee not iusti­fied thereby, but had need to craue, Clense vs, O Lord, frō our secret faults; where we are taught to say, father forgiue our debts: and if the summe of our sins at our liues end be ten thousand talents, then whether we speake or thinke, wake or sleepe, or whatsoever we do, we adde a debt; when all offend in many thinges, & many in all, and he that offendeth in one iote of [Page 210] the law, breaketh the vvhole: vvhat should we doe, I say, but as the Apostles exhortation is pray continually, 1. Thes. 5. and thinke neither place, nor time, nor businesse vnmeete to so holy and necessary an exercise? that whether we beginne the day, we may say with Abrahams servaunt, O Lorde sende mee good speede this day:Genes. 24. or vvhither wee be covered with the shaddowes of the night, we may begge with that sweete singer of Israell,Psal. 13. Lighten mine eies that I sleepe not in death: or whatsoeuer vvee attempt in either of these two seasons, vve may prevent it vvith the blessing of that other Psalme,Psal. 90. Hieron. Prosper the vvorke of our handes vpon vs, oh prosper thou our handy vvorkes. Egredientes de hospitio armet o­ratio, regredientibus de plataea occurrat oratio, vvhen thou goest out of thine house, let prayer arme thee; vvhen thou commest home to thine house, let prayer meete thee. Receaue not thy meate with­out thankes-giuing, take not thy cuppe without blessing, pray for the sinne of thine owne soule, and offer a sacrifice for thy sonnes and daughters: vvhen thou lyest downe, couch thy selfe in the mercies of GOD; when thou arisest vp, walke with the staffe of his provi­dence.1. They. In this prayer of the Marriners, there are many notable specialities: First, it is common; the vvorke of the whole multi­tude. In the fifte verse there was mention of praiers, I graunt, but there it is saide, Invocârunt quisque Deum suum, though all praied, yet all aparte,2. Cried. to their proper Gods. Secondly, feruent; they cryed in their praier. It is not a formall seruice; the sound of their lippes, and the sighes of their soules are se [...]t with an earnest message to the eares of God.3. Vnto the Lorde. Thirdly, discreete; they pray not to their idols, as before, but to the Lorde of hostes. Fourthly, vocall and publique; there vvas a forme and tenour of supplication which their lips pronounced,4. And said. they saide. 5. Wee be­seech thee. Fiftly▪ humble; they come with the tearme & phrase of obse­cration, we beseech thee O Lord. Sixtly, importunate; as appeareth by their ingemination,6. Wee be­seech thee, we beseech thee. vve beseech thee, we beseech thee. Seventhly, seasona­ble and pertinent; applyed to the thing then in hand to be executed, bring not vpon vs innocent bloud. Eightly reasonable and iust, standing vp­on a good ground,7. Let vs not perish. fitted to the will and pleasure of the Almighty, for thou Lord hast done as it pleased thee.

8. For thou hast done &c.We are vvilled Matthew the sixt, to enter into our chambers, and shutte the doores, and praie to our father in secret; and our father that seeth in secret, shall openly revvarde it; because it was the fashion of hypocrites, to stand and pray in the synagogues,1. Commō. and in the corners of the streetes, to be seene of men. Our Saviour neuer meant therby to cōdemne pray­ers in synagogues, either standing or kneeling, or praiers in the corners [Page 211] of the streets, or in the height of the market places, or vpon the house toppes, in the sight both of men and Angels, but only to exclude the affected ostentation of men-pleasing hypocrites, vvho prayed to a wicked ende, not to obtaine, but only to bee seene of men. Enter into thy chamber and pray, go into the temple and pray, commune with thine owne heart, commune with the multitude, both are good. And that we may know that we are not stinted in our praiers, onlie to our selues and our private families (as the Athenians woulde offer sa­crifice but only for their owne citty and the [...]r neighbours of Chios) our Saviour hath taught vs the contrary, in that absolute forme of his, vvilling vs to say, Our father vvhich art in heaeuen: as if we al came from one wombe, and vvhosoeuer spake, pleaded the cause of the rest of his brethren. Not that we may not say a sunder and in private, My father, as Thomas saide, my God and my Lorde; but as there is a time for the one, so we must not omit the other in due season. It is a prin­ciple both of nature and pollicie, Vis vnita fo [...]tior, Strength vnited re­ceiueth more strength: it holdeth likewise in divinity. If the prayer of one righteous person availeth much, the praier of many righteous shall availe more. If the Syrophoenician obtained for her daughter the sute shee made, much more shall the Church and congregation of Christ obtaine for her children. If, vvhere two or three bee gathered to­gither in his name, he is in the midst of them, much rather in the midst of a people, in the midst of thousandes, in whom there is anima vna, cor v­num, one soule, one hart, one tongue, as if they were all but one man. Lorde heale the sores of our lande in this point: and as it is thy worke alone, that those who dwell togither in one house, shall be of one minde, so mag­nifie this worke amongst vs, that the children of this Realme which flie from our Churches and oratories, as Iohn from the bathe where­in Cerinthus was, rending and tearing the soule of this countrey in­to two peeces, dividing the voice and language thereof in their prai­ers to GOD, Elias and his companye praying in one place, and vvith one stile, O Lorde GOD of Abraham, and they in an other O Baal heare vs, (for so they doe in effect, when they pray to such as heare them not;) some calling for fire to consume the sacrifice, and some for water to consume the fire; some praying for the life of Debo­rah the Queene of this land, and some for the life of Iabin the king of Spaine; thus mingling and confounding the eares of the Lorde vvith opposite petitions, from crossing & contrary affections; that at length they may consider from whence they are fallen and severed, both from the vnitie of this publique body of ours, wherein they haue their [Page 212] maintenance, and, if they take not heed, of that mystical body of their Lord and Redeemer, Christ Iesus.

2. Fervent.2. They cryed. It is a condition which Iames requireth, the praier of the iust, if it be fervent. Else even the praiers of the iust, if they be per­functory and colde, rather of custome than of devotion and piety, they profit not, but to condemnation. Cursed bee hee that doeth the worke of the Lorde negligentlie: praier is a vvorke of his. The LORD is neare vnto all them that call vpon him faithfully, not formally. He gi­veth both aquam & sitim, the benefite, and the grace to desire & thirste after it.Gregor. VVee heare not our ovvne praiers (I meane not for wante of sounde, and much babbling, but for vvante of invvarde desire,) the voice of our spirite is softe and submisse, Chrysost. and dyeth in the aire before it as­cendeth into the presence of GOD; and shall vvee thinke that GOD will heare vs? Our bodies happily in the Church, our mindes vvith­out; our tongue vttereth praiers, our hearte thinketh on vsuries: wee bowe the knees of our flesh, but not the knees of our heartes. Hee that knewe in his soule, that praier from feinedlippes and a fase heart vvoulde returne emptie into his bosome that sent it vp, but a broken and contrite spirite the Lorde vvoulde not despise, neuer preassed into the courtes of his GOD, but the inwardest and deepest affections of his minde vvere giuen in sacrifice. Every nighte vvasht hee his bed, and watered his couch vvith teares: hee in the night time, when others slepte and tooke their naturall recreation; yea there was not a night that es­caped without taske; and it washt not his plantes alone, but the very p [...]llet and couch which he lodged vpon. So richly was his soule wate­red with the dewe of heauen, that it ministred continually both foun­taines to his eies, and a fluent expedition to his tongue to commende his praiers. We may learne to be zealous in our praiers, euen of those woodden priestes, 1. King. 18. of whome it is written that they called vpon the name of Baal from morning till noone, and when they had no an­swere, they cried lowde, nay, they cut themselues with kniues and launcers, till the bloude flowed out: so they prayed not only in teares, but in bloud, that they might be heard. I would the children of the lighte vvere as zealous in their generations. But rather let them receiue their lighte and directions for the framing of this holie exercise, from the sunne of righteousnesse, of vvhome the Apostle vvitnesseth, that in the daies of his flesh, hee offered vp praiers and supplications with strong crying and teares, Heb. 5. vnto him that vvas able to helpe him. And the gospel further declareth, not only that he kneeled (at the naming of whose name all knees haue bowed, both in heauen and earth, and vnder the earth) but that [Page 213] hee fell vpon the grounde, the foote-stoole of his owne maiesty, and laie vpon his face, which never Angell behelde without reverence, and when he had praied before, he praied more earnestly (as the scrip­ture recordeth,) hee once praied, and departed; and a second time, & departed; and yet a third time, and departed; evermore vsing the same petition: his praier ascended by degrees, like incense and per­fume, and not only his lips went, but his agony and contention within was so vehement, that an angell was sent from heaven to comfort him: and whereas the Priestes of Baal vsed art to make them bleede, cutting their flesh with launcers and kniues to that purpose, he with the trou­ble of his soule swet a naturall or rather vnnaturall sweat, like d [...]oppes of bloude trickling downe to the earth. Wee, when wee goe to praier, as if our soules and tongues were straungers, the one not weeting what the other doth, the lippes babbling without, and the hearte not pricked with any inwarde compunction, honouring GOD with our mouthes, and our spirites farre from him, deserue to bee answered as hee answered the Iewes, Esay 1. When you stretch foorth your handes, I will hide mine eies from you, and though you make many praiers, I will not heare you. The reason is there, your h [...]ndes are full of bloud: the reason to vs may be, your heartes bleede not: you call me Lord Lord, but meane it not: the alter is without fire, praier without heate, wordes without intention, gesture of the body without the con­sent of the inwarde man.

They cried vnto the Lord. It is not lesse then a miracle,3. Discree [...] that men so newely endued with the knowledge of God, can so presently re­nounce their ancient idolles which they had ever served, and with­in but few minutes of time most religiously adored: they call vpon Iehovah; that hidden and fearefull name, which earst they had not knowne: and neither the accustomed maner of their countries, nor co­lour of antiquity, nor want of experience in another Lorde, nor the simple narration of one singular prophet, nor any the like motions can holde them in awe of their former imaginary GODS, and keepe them from invocation of the Lorde of hostes. No reason can bee yeelded but this, The winde bloweth where it lifteth, and the spi­rite breatheth where it will, and the mercy of God softneth vvhere his pleasure is. It is a gifte from him alone, who giveth the new hart, and putteth the new spirit within a man;Ezech. 3▪ who taketh the stony hart from him, and giveth him an hearte of flesh in steede thereof; who of the stones by the bankes of Iordan (saith Iohn Baptist) is able to raise vp chil­dren to Abraham, & daily doth raise vp children to himselfe, to do him [Page 214] worship and service, of those that were hardned in idolatry before, like flintes in the streetes. Turne vs, O Lord, and we shall be turned; wash vs with cleane water, and we shall be cleansed; renue vs (as the eagle her daies) and we shall be renued; gather thy chosen flocke from the mountaines and desertes whe [...]n they stray, to fulfill thy fold, and we shall be gathered; say, thou wilt sweepe thy house, and finde thy groat, and we shall be found. Nature cannot make a newe birth: en­tring into our mothers wombe againe, is vnable to worke it: the gold of Sheba and Seba cannot purchase it. No man commeth to the sonne, vnlesse the father drawe him, and if the father haue once given him into his handes, all the devils in hell cannot pull him out againe. I make it the wisedome of him that praieth, to levell his heart and affections at the very right center and marke of praier, which is God alone; hee is the sanctuary, to whome we must flie; the periode and scope in whome our requestes must end. Praier and faith (if the Apostle de­ceiue vs not) must kisse each other;Rom. 10. Psal. 116. howe shall they call on him, in whome they haue not beleeved? faith is the ground of praier: First we beleeue, and then speake; so was the order of David. Doe wee (my brethren) be­leeue in Angels? for that is the Apostles phrase, howe shall they call on him, [...], in whome, or vpon whome they haue not beleeved? We beleeue that there are Angels,Angelos. which the Sadduces denied. And if an Angell should come from heaven vnto vs with a message from God,Angelis. In Angelos. as he came to Mary and others, we would beleeue Angels, that is, giue credence vnto them, as they did. But if we beleeue in Angels, we forget their place of ministration which they are apointed vnto▪ and make them our Gods. Much lesse beleeue we in the sonnes of men, which are lesse than Angels. Therefore the gleaning of these Marriners is more worth than the whole vintage of Rome, who in a moment of time haue gathered more knowledge howe to informe their praiers aright, than they in the decourse of many continued ge­nerations. These pray to Iehovah, the true subsisting God; they not only to God, but to Angels, and men, and stockes, and stones, and metalles, and papers, and I knowe not what.

It may be a challenge sufficient vnto them all (to say no more) that in so many praiers of both auncient and righteous patriarkes, prophets, Iudges, kings, registred in the booke of GOD, and in an hundreth and fiftie Psalmes, an hundreth whereof at least are praiers and supplications, and in all the devout requestes that the Apostles of Christ, and other his disciples sent into heaven, (if they take the pen of a writer, and note from the beginning of Genesis to the end of the [Page 215] Revelation) they cannot finde one directed to Cherub or Seraphin, Gabriel or Raphael, Abraham or Moses, or Iohn Baptist after his death, or any other creature in heaven or earth▪ saue only to the Lord and his annointed. Haue these all erred? Even so will we; and more sweete shall our errour be vnto vs, with these, of whome we make no question, but that they are bounde vp in the bundell of life with the congregation of first-borne, than a newe and recent devise of praier, obtruded vnto vs by those, who falsly suppose themselues to bee the pillers and staies of Gods militant church. The 86. Psal. (to giue you a little portion of foode to ruminate vpon) as some conceiue, was not a Psalme composed for any particular vse, but lefte to the church of God, as a generall rule and prescription to fit the condition of every man. Wherin there are first some reasons in our owne behalfe, wher­with we insinuate our selves into the favour of God, that he may heare vs. 1. Bow downe thine [...]are vnto me, O Lord. Why? I am poore and nee­dy: the exigence of my distressfull affaires requireth thy helpe. 2. Pre­serue thou my soule. Why? I am mercifull: I aske not mercy at thy throne, but as I shewe mercy againe to my brethren. 3. Saue thou thy servant, my God. Why? because he putteth his trust in thee; he hath no other rocke to cleave vnto. 4. Be mercifull vnto me, O Lord. Why? I crie vpon thee continually: I haue constantly decreed with my selfe not to give over the hope of thy comfort. 5. Reioice the soule of thy servant. Why? for to thee, O Lord, doe I lift vp my soule: the best and chosenest member I haue, shall doe thee service. His misery, mercy, faithfulnesse, con­stancy, syncerity, speake for audience. Now on behalfe of God there are other inducementes recited from the 5. verse, why wee resort to the winges of his favour, when we are distressed. 1. from his mercy and kindnes to all that call vpon him; for thou, Lord, art good and gracious, and of great compassion: therefore giue eare to my praier, and harken vn­to the voice of my supplication. 2. from experience and triall; In the day of my trouble will I call vpon thee, for thou hearest me. 3. from compa­rison and greatnes of his workes; Amongest the Gods there is none like vnto thee, and who can doe like thy workes? 4. from consent of the worlde; All nations whome thou hast made, shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorifie thy name. 5. from the solenesse and singularitie of his godheade, which is the chiefe; for thou art greate and doest wonde­rous thinges, and art God alone. 1. His generall exhibition of mercy to all, 2. particular and personall application to some, 3. the rarenesse and maiesty of his workes, 4. the consent of nature and nations, 5. the singularity of godheade, these are motions and perswasions to [Page 216] call forth our prayers; and these, if they can be verified either of An­gels or men, I refuse not to giue them a part with God in this our sa­cred oblation.

4▪ Vocall. They cried and said. Their praiers were also vocal & expressed. The gronings of the spirit vndoubtedly, though Z [...]chary be dumbe and cannot speake a worde, shall never bee re [...]used. Hee made the heart and the tongue, that vnderstandeth the language of both a­like, he is as neare to our reines, as to our lippes; and the voice of the one is not more audible to him that heareth without eares, than the others intention.Bernard. In Dei auribus desiderium vehemens clamor magnus est; remissa intentio, vox submissa, In the eares of God a vehement desire is a great crie, a remisse and carelesse intention is a submisse and still voice. An­na, [...]. Sam. 1. a type of the church, spake in her hearte, her lippes did onely mooue, and her voice was not hearde. Yea the gestures of her body through the griefe of her soule were such, that [...]li reprooved her of drunkennesse. Indeede shee was drunke, not with the wine of grapes, but vvith the wine of devotion, which ranne from the wine-presse of a trou­bled spirit, and the Lord remembred her petition, though shee prai­ed with her hart alone, and her tongue stirred not. What then? hath the tongue immunity therby from doing that homage vnto the Lord which he hath enioyned it? shal not the calues of our lippes bee requi­red, because we haue tendered the calues of our heartes? must not both the heart beleeue, and the mouth make confession? and as the one is the cistetne within thy selfe to conteine the honour of God, so must not the other be the pipe to convey it to thy brethren? surely yes. Aske both body and soule, and every part of them both, vvhose image and inscription they beare? they will tell thee, Gods: then pay the tribute of both, and glorifie God with thy bodie and spirit, for both are his. And as thou liftest vp thy soule with David in the 86. Psal. so lift vp thy handes also with Moses, lift vp thine eies with Ste­ven, lift vp thy voice with Deborah, and with all the children of God, whose pleasure and ioy it is to heare God praised in the great congre­gation. If there be priestes to pray for the people, which must weepe betweene the porch and the altar, even in the body and navell of the church, vvhere the sounde of his voice may best bee hearde, and saye, Ioel. 2. spare thy people O Lorde &c. if there bee temples and churches which the prophet hath tearmed, and Christ ratified to bee the hou­ses of praier; if there be seldome and set times apointed for these du­ties to bee done in; if there bee formes and patternes devised even from the sonne of God, how our praiers should be conceived; then is [Page 217] there no question, but we must open our lippes in the service of God, and our mouthes must be willing to shew forth his praise.

Wee beseech thee O Lord. 5. Humble. They vse the properest tearmes of sub­mission that may be. They come not to bragge, wee are worthy O Lord, whome thou shouldest do for, (as the princes of the people spake for the Centurion in the gospell;) they come not to indent and bargaine If thou wilt be our God &c. they knowe they stand vpon grace, not de­sert, and that the Lord must be entreated, or they cannot liue. Humi­lity is both a grace it selfe, and a vessell to comprehend other graces; and this is the nature of it, the more it receaveth of the blessinges of God, the more it may. For it ever emptieth it selfe, by a modest esti­mation of her owne giftes, that God may alwaies fill it; it wrastle [...]h and striveth with God, according to the pollicy of Iacob, that is, win­neth by yeelding; and the lower it stoupeth towardes the ground, the more advantage it getteth to obtaine the blessing.August in confess. O quàm excelsus es, domine, & humiles corde sunt domus tuae; O Lord, how high and soveraigne art thou, and the humble of heart are thine houses to dwell in? where is that house that yee will build vnto mee, and where is that place of my rest? Esay. 6 [...]. To him will I looke, even to him that is poore and of a contri [...]e spirit, and trembleth at my wordes. Plutarke writeth of some who sailed to Athens for philo­sophy sake, that first they were called sophistae, wise men; afterwardes, Philosophi, but lovers of wisedome; nexte; rhetores, onely reasoners and dis­coursers; last of all, idiotae, simple, vnlettered men. The more they pro­fited in learning, the lesse they acknowledged it. Thus in spirituall graces vvee should study to bee greate, but not knowe it; as the starres in the firmament, though they be bigger than the earth, yet they seeme much lesse. In alto non altum sapere ▪ not to bee high­minded in high desertes, is the way to preferment. Dav [...]d asketh, Quis ego sum, domine, O Lord who am I? He was taken from that lowli­nes of conceipt to be the king of Israell. Iacob protesteth, Minor sum, I am lesse than the least of thy mercies; hee was preferred before his elder brother, and made the father of the twelue tribes. Peter cri­eth, exi à me domine, homo peccator sum, Goe out from mee, Lorde, I am a sinfull man; he heard, feare not, I will henceforth make thee a fisher of men ▪ Iohn Baptist soundeth, Non sum diguus, I am not worthy to loose the lat­chet of his shoe; hee was founde worthye to laye his handes vpon the head of Christ. The Centurion treadeth in the same footesteps Non sum dignus, I am not worthye, vnder the roofe of whose house thou shouldest come; his commendation was rare, I haue not founde so great faith, no not in Israell. Paul departeth not from the same wordes, Non sum dignus, [Page 218] I am not worthy to bee called an apostle; he obtained mercy to the example of those that were afterwardes to come. The blessed Virgin in her aun­swere to the Angell sheweth, that the salutation no way lifted vp her hearte, ecce ancilla Domini, beholde the hande-maide of the LORD; shee obtaineth that, for which all the generations of the vvorlde shoulde call her blessed. This base and inglorious style of the most glorious Saintes of God, Non sum dignus, and the like, shall get vs the ho­nour of Saintes, shall raise vs from the dust, and set vs vpon thrones, take vs from amongst beastes, and place vs with Angels. What was it in the blessed Virgin, the mother of Gods first-borne, the glo­ry and flowre of women-kinde, that God regarded so much? She telleth you in her songe of thanksgiving, Hee hath regarded the low­linesse of his hand-maide; yea the bloude and iuice of that whole song is in praise of humility: Hee hath scattered the proude in the imaginati­ons of their hearte, hee hath put downe the mighty from their seate, and hath exalted the humble and meeke. O that the women of our age could singe Magnificat with that humblenesse of spirite, that Marye did, My soule doth magnifie the Lorde: that recompence woulde bee theirs which followeth; hee that is mighty hath magnified mee againe, and ho­lie is his name. But they magnifie themselues too much with pedlers ware (what shall I tearme it?) vnprofitable garments, which the moth shall fret, and time it selfe rotte vpon their backes, but they never thinke in their hartes, how God may bee magnified. It is not with­out some mystery, that the Angels tolde the shepheards, Luke 2. this shall be a signe vnto you, you shall finde the infant wrapt in swadling clo­thes. Bern ser. de verb. Angel. In signum positi sunt panni tui, O bone Iesu, sed in signum [...], A signe that is spoken against, a signe that is done against; we cannot abide thy clowtes, thy ragges (O Lorde Iesu) nor any part of thy humility. His nativity was by his ordinance first preached to shep­heardes; hee contended with his fore-runner, who shoulde bee the lowlier of the two; hee tooke fisher-men to bee his disciples, embra­ced young children, paide tribute to his inferiours, fled away that hee might not be made a king, washed the feete of his apostles, char­ged the leper not to tell any man, rode vpon an asse, sought his fa­thers glory, not his owne, to whome he was obedient to the death, e­ven to the death of the crosse. In all which hee doth not lesse than pro­claime vnto vs, learne of mee to be humble and meeke, and you shall finde rest for your soules. I say but this. The maister is worthy your hearing, the lesson your learning, the recompence your receaving. In this be [...] of humility let mee rest your soules for this time, and let vs be­seech [Page 219] the God of maiesty, who is higher than the highest in the earth, who will resiste the proude, and giue his graces to the humble and meeke; that whether wee aske, wee may aske in humility; or whether wee haue receaved, we may vse it without vaineglory; that all our wordes and workes may be powdered with that salt in the Psalme, which shall eate out all ostentation, Not vnto vs, O Lord, not vnto vs, but vnto thy name giue the honour and praise. Amen.

THE XVII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 14.‘Wee beseech thee, O Lord, wee beseech thee, let vs not perish for this mans life.’

THe praier of the marriners beginneth not, till you come to these wordes: the other were the wordes of the history, reporting vvhat they did; these now propounded, are their owne, or at least the summe and effecte of them. Wee may reduce them to two heads: first a Petition; and therein a preface, Wee be­seech thee, O Lorde, wee beseech thee, compri­sing the manner and forme of praying; and the matter or substance of the petition, let vs not perish for this mans life &c. 2. the reason, For thou, Lorde, hast done as it pleased thee. So as in the wordes of the history, signifying howe they behaved them­selues, togither with the pitition, and the reason of the same, wee finde eight conditions requisite to the nature of praier. Fiue wher­of wee haue already dealt in: the sixte vvee are to proceede vnto▪ The Importunity they vse, implied in the doubling and iterating of their suppliant tearmes, Wee beseech thee, O Lorde, 6. Importunate. wee beseech thee. Woe bee to him that is alone, who when he hath spoken once, speaketh no more, as if he were weary of wel-doing, and repēted him­selfe that he had begun. If his former request be weake and infirme, fainting in the way to the mercy of God, hee hath not a friende to helpe it, nor a brother to say vnto it, Be stronge. This double sup­plication of theirs, falleth as the showres of the first and latter raine: if the one faileth of watering the earth sufficiently, the other fulfilleth the appetite and thirst thereof. So should our praiers bee be [...]t; that as the kine of the Philistines, which bare the Arke, though they were milche, and had calues at home, 1. Sam. [...]. yet they kept the straight way to [...]eth­shemesh, [Page 220] and held one path, and lowed as they went, and turned neither to the right hand nor the left, neither ever stoode still, till they came into the field of Iosuah, where he was reaping his harvest: so the affection of our soules bearing the Arke and coffer of our suites, though it hath worldly al­lurements to draw it backe, as the kine had calues, yet keepeth on the way to the house of God, as they to Bethshemesh, holding one path of perseverance, lowing with zeale, turning neither to the right nor to the left hand with wandring cogitations, till it commeth into the field and garden of God, where her harvest groweth.

We beseech thee, we beseech thee. This ingemination of speech noteth an vnmooueable and constant affection to the thing we affect, as if the tongue and hearte were willing to dwell therevpon. O Absalon, O my sonne Absalon, O Absalon my sonne, my sonne, was the mourning of David, when hee heard of the death of Absalon, as if his soule had beene tied to the name and memory of his sonne, and his tongue had forgotten all other speech saue only to pronounce Absalon. It shew­eth what loue our Saviour bare to the holy city, in that he repeated his sorrowes over it, O Ierusalem, Ierusalem, as if hee had made a vowe with David, If I forget Ierusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning, or rather my tongue her moving. I cānot leaue thee at the first naming, thou art deeper in my hart, therefore I say, Ierusalem, and againe Ie­rusalem, I ever regarded thy welfare with vndoubted compassion. The mar [...]iners import no lesse, in repeating their request, we beseech thee O Lord, and once againe, we beseech thee, pardon our importunate out-cries, our heartes are fixed, yea our heartes are fixed, our soules are a­thirst for thy loving kindnes, wee will giue thee no rest, till thou receivest our praiers. The longer Abrahā talked with God, Gen. 18. the more he gained. Hee brought him from the whole number to fiftie, and from fiftie to ten, before he lefte him. Behold I haue begunne to speake vnto my Lorde, and am but dust and ashes; let not my Lorde be angry, and I will speake againe: and once more, I haue begun to speake; and once more, let not my Lord be offended. Once more, and againe, you see, are able to send away cloudes of fire and brimstone. And so far was it of, that God was angry with his instant request, that he gaue him both a pati­ent eare, and a gracious answere, If ten be found there, I will not destroy it. It pleaseth the eares of his maiesty right well, to bee long intreated, his nature is never so truely aimed at, as when vvee persvvade our selues, that our impatience in praier can never offende his patience He that hath twise and ten times togither ingeminated the riches of his mercy, as Exod. 34. The Lord, the Lord, is mercifull, gracious, slowe to [Page 221] anger, abundant in goodnes, & truth, reseruing mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, & sin, & transgressiō; What did he meane therby, but that twise and ten times togither we should cry for his mercy?

Wee beseech thee, O Lorde, vvee beseech thee. A woman of Canaan in the gospell, calleth vpon our Saviour, Have mercie vpon mee, O Lord, Math. 15. thou sonne of David, my daughter is miserably vexed with a devill; hee an­swered her not one worde. It appeareth that shee called still, because his disciples said, Sende her away, for shee crieth after vs: Then, hee vvas not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israell: yet shee came and vvor­shipped him, saying, Lorde helpe mee: hee aunswereth, It is not meete to take the childrens breade and cast it to vvhelpes: Shee replyed vpon him, Truth, Lorde, but the vvhelpes eate of the crummes, that fall from their masters table. Then Iesus answered and said vnto her, O woman, great is thy faith. Shee fastened vpon Christ with her praiers, as the vvoman of Shunem vpon Elisha with her handes. Shee caught him by the feete, and saide vnto him, As the Lorde liueth, and as thy soule liueth, 2. King 4. I vvill not leaue thee. Consider what discouragements her poore soule digested, 1. shee was not aunswered by Christ, 2. shee had backe-friends of his disciples, 3. she was none of the lost sheepe, 4. shee was a whelpe; yet in the ende shee obtained both a cure for her daughters infirmity, and a commendation for her owne faith. Shee wrought a miracle by the force of her praiers, shee made both the deafe to heare, and the dumbe to speake, she cried to the eares and tongue of her redeemer, Ephata, Bee yee opened, heare and aunswere my petition, fullfill my request.August. de verb. Apost. Non importunus nec impudenses▪ &c. It is not a sawcie nor shamelesse part in thee, to aske remission of thy sinnes at Gods handes, without cea­sing; thou giuest him occasion to doe a memorable acte, conveniente to his nature, glorious to his holy name. That which man giueth, hee looseth, and dispossesseth himselfe of, it is not so with God; thou art not the better, God the worse, thou the richer, God the poorer, for his giftes: Open thy mouth wide, and he will fill it, enlarge thy belly,Non tu ac­cipiendo pro­ficis, & De­us in dando deficit. and he will satisfie thee. Fons vincit Sitientem, The fountaine and source of his goodnes is aboue the desire and thirst of thy necessities. If you observed it in the last historie, The disciples of [...]hrist thought it an impudent parte, that the Syrophoenissian cryed after them, Sende her avvaye. Did Christe so accounte it, or woulde he dismisse her? Doubtlesse it ioyed his hearte, to suspende her des [...]res in expectation, and con­sequentlye to extende them, to holde her long in his companye; hee saide to himselfe, I am vvell pleased that shee cryeth after mee, it delighted his eares to heare her redoubled obsecrations, more than [Page 222] the instrumentes of David coulde haue done, it gaue him matter to vvorke vpon, it tried a faith, it vvanne a soule, it occasioned a mira­cle. Bernard to this purpose noteth of the spouse in the Canticles, be­ginning her suite, and woing of Christ so rudely as shee doeth, let him kisse mee with the kisses of his mouth;Ser [...] 7. in Cantic. though to entreate a greate fauour of a greate Lorde, shee vseth no flattery vnto him, shee seeketh no meanes, shee goeth not about by driftes and circumlocutions, shee maketh no preamble, shee worketh no benevolence, but from the a­bundance of her heart sodainely breaketh forth, Nudè frontes (que) satis, Barelie, and boldelie enough, let him kisse mee vvith a kisse of his lippes. The parables in Sainte Luke,Luke 11. and 18. the one of a friende called vp at mid­night, the other of a wicked iudge, instruct vs thus much, that vn­lesse vvee holde a meaner opinion of God, than of a common, vulgar friend, which were too base to conceiue, or a more vnrighteous iudg­ment of him, than of the most vnrighteous iudge, (than which, what can bee thought more blasphemous?) vvee shoulde not distrust the successe of our praiers, [...]. but that improbitie and importunitie at the least would draw him to audience. It was midnight with these marriners▪ when they called at the gates of God, (the friende and louer of the soules of men) the vnseasonablest and deadest time, in the iudgement of hu­mane reason: They called for more than loaues, the reliefe and suc­cour of their liues, more deare vnto them than any sustenaunce: Their friende? Nay their enemy vvas at hande, and the last enemie of mankinde: The gates seemed to be shut, all hope of deliverance wel nigh past; the children were in bedde a sleepe, vaine was the helpe of man, their arme was weake, and their ores vnprofitable, Angels and Saintes could not helpe them: yet they knocked at the gates of their friend once, We beseech thee O Lord; and, because he denied them the first time, they knocked againe, We beseech thee O Lord, and I doubt not but they continued knocking, till in the ende he arose, and gran­ted them their hartes requests.

The nexte condition of their praier, was, that it was properly and pertinentlie applyed to their present feare;7. Cōveni­ent▪ seaso­nable. Let vs not perish for this mans life &c. It was written in their heartes, which others might haue red in the Psalmes of David. Touch not mine anointed, and doe my pro­phets no harme. They thought that Prophets were iewelles and pearles vnto God, and that the marring of one such, woulde severely bee re­quired. Hence come their teares, this is the thorne that pricketh them, feare to offende in hurting an harmelesse man, togither with that stinge and venime, which sinne leaueth behinde it; they knowe it [Page 223] will call for vengeaunce, and though it passe the hande, and the eye, speeding it selfe in the seeming of him that doeth it, into the lande of forgetfulnesse, as it shoulde neuer bee thought vpon, yet the Lorde will fetch it backe againe, and set it before the face of the sinner, and lay it as freshly to his charge,Let not v [...] Perish. Lay not to our charge. as if hee vvere then in the act and perpetration thereof. These bee the sores wherevvith they smarte, daunger of their owne liues, if they assaulte the life of Ionas; and watchfulnesse of the iustice of GOD, in taking account of forepas­sed sinnes. To these they applie the medicines. VVe know the order of thy Courte and iudgement seate, to exacte life for life, there­fore let not vs perish for this mans life: wee knowe that no sinne can es­cape thy dreadfull hande, therefore if we happe to offende in spilling innocente bloude, laie not our iniquitie vpon vs, blotte it out of thy booke, let it passe as a morning dewe before the sunne, and not be imputed. In disposing our praiers to God, vve must, as the Scribe in the gospell, bringe forth of our treasures, thinges olde and nevve. For the blessings of God in generall, there may bee generall thankes-gi­vings; for sinnes in generall, generall confessions; auncient and vsuall formes of prayer, for auncient and vsuall occurrences. Wee may take vnto vs wordes, (as the Prophet speaketh) and say vnto the Lorde (at all times) Take away all iniquitie, and receaue vs graciously, Hosee 14. so vvill wee render the calues of our lippes. But as the matter of Gods iudgments, and our dangers, is varied, so must we accordingly vary our praiers. In the time of a plague, wee must make of our praiers a particular M [...]thridate a­gainst the plague, acknowledging the hand of God, that inflicted it, knowing that the cause and originall thereof is not so much infection in the aire, as rottenesse and corruption within our owne bones, be­seeching his maiestie, as Phinees did, that the plague may cease, and that hee vvill visite no longer with that kinde of iudgement. If the lande bee smitten with leanenesse, and skarcity, so that the children thereof cry for breade, and sowne as they goe in the streetes, for vvant of foode, wee must pray in another stile, that the LORD vvill vouchsafe to heare the heauens againe, Hosee 2. the heavens may heare the earth, the earth the corne, the vine, and the oyle, and these Israell, or o­ther his distressed people, and that hee vvill visite no longer vvith this kinde of iudgement. If the enemy shall saie against vs, Come, vvee will devour, vvee will devoure, the name of Sion shall bee no more had in remembraunce, wee must turne vnto the Lord with another forme of supplication; Spare thy people O Lorde, and giue not thine heritage into reproache, that the heathen shoulde rule over them: Ioel [...] ▪ vvherefore shoulde [Page 224] they say amongest the people, vvhere is novve their God? O cease to visite thy servants with this kinde of iudgemente. If the heavens be brasse aboue vs, and droppe no moisture vpon our fruites, or if the spoutes, which God hath devided in the aire, powre downe too much vpon our heads, (sometime hee roareth so fearefully with his voice of thun­ders, as who may abide it? his lightnings giue shine to the earth, and our eies are daseled thereat, hee raineth dovvne tempestes and stormes vpon vs, haile-stones and coles of fire, this is our portion sometimes to drinke:) still as his plagues are newe, so let vs come be­fore him vvith newe songes, new intercessions, meekely kneeling be­fore the Lorde our maker, and falling lowe at his foote-stoole, that his hand may be turned backe in these kindes of iudgements. Thus did Salomon dedicate and blesse the temple,2. Chro. 6. beseeching the Lorde, that vvhen the people shoulde pray vnto him, accordinge to their sundry needes, whether they were troubled vvith the assault of their enimy, or vvith wante of raine, with famine, or mildewe, or vvith captivity, he would then heare them in heauen, and be mercifull vn­to them. The sickenesse which these marriners suspecte, is an issue of bloude, which being once opened, vvill euer runne, and keepe a course, if it be not stanched vvith the mercy of God, and therefore they call vpon him, as that present occasion enforceth them, O let vs not perish for this mans life, and bring not vpon vs innocent bloud. Be­sides which purpose of theirs, in laying their finger vpon the sore, that is, in suiting of their prayer with the present daunger, for the fuller explication of the wordes themselues, it may please you to take knowledge of two thinges. 1. The proceeding of God in the case of bloudshead, life for life, deliuered in the former clause; Let vs not pe­rish for the soule of this man. 2. How the bloud of Ionas in the latter may be called innocent bloud.

The lawe is generall touching the former, Exod. 21. life for life, eye for eye, 1. Bloud for bloud. tooth for tooth, hande for hande, foote for foote, burning for burning, wounde for wounde, stripe for stripe. It is added Leviticus 24. Breath for breath, blemish for blemish. Gen. 9. I will require your bould wherein your liues are; (that is one reason:) in the nexte wordes, vvho so sheadeth mans bloude, by man shall his bloude bee shed, for in the image of God hath hee made man; That is an other reason. Our Saviour reciteth the lavve in the gospell Math. 26. vvho so taketh the svvorde, shall perish vvith the sworde, And that wee may knowe this lavve was neuer repealed, wee finde it in the last booke, Reuelation. 13. If anie leade into captivitie, hee shall goe into captivitie; if any man kill with a sworde, hee must be killed with a [Page 225] a sworde. Heere is the patience and the faith of Saintes, that is, this they beleeue, and this they verilie expect to bee perfourmed vpon their enimies. So the ordinary rule, without question, is this; He that taketh away the life of man, himselfe shall likewise perish. Notvvith­standing the maker of the law may, and doeth sometimes, dispense with his owne lawe. Many a one, I confesse, hath killed his neigh­bour, himselfe not ending his daies in the like manner. Be it so; yet 1 first he is slaine with a sword of his owne, as Golias was, he dieth daiely with the stabbing and launcing of his owne hearte; and, as in that first plague wherewith Pharaoh was smitten, all the waters of Aegypt in their rivers, their streames, their pondes, their pooles, their vessels of woode▪ and their vessels of stone, were changed into blood: so in the minde and conscience of a murtherer, there shall alwaies remaine a plague of bloud, his eies shall behold no other colour but sanguine, as if the aire were died into it, the visions of his head in the night time shal cast a boule of bloud in his face, Plutarke. all the cogitations and thoughtes of his heart shall overflow with the remembrance of that bloud which hee hath effused. Againe, if he that hath killed a man, dieth in his bed, or o­therwise 2 by the handes of God, without the irrogation of this iudge­ment vpon him, to be killed or executed by the hands of men; yet let him know, that he is dead by the law already, the sworde of the spirit of God hath fallen vpon him, the word and sentence of the law hath condemned him, and that hee is reserved to the iudgemente of the greate daie, where the sworde of eternall damnation, the double and triple edge whereof can neuer be rebated, shall feede vpon his flesh, and be drunken with his bloude without ceasing. Or lastly, if 3 he escape the dint of all these swordes, temporall in this life, internal in the conscience, eternall in the worlde to come, let him thanke his crucified redeemer, whose stripes haue healed him, the wounding and bleeding of whose precious body, hath made intercession with his father in heauen, that the wounds and bloudshed which he was wor­ker of, are not thought vpon.

Secondly, we enquired, how the bloud of Ionas,Innocent bloud. might be tearmed innocente; a man that fled from the face of God, whom the winds and the sea hated with a perfite hatred, euen vnto death, an an vvhome the Marriners themselues rebuked, and novve by the instant voice of God are ready to cast forth, how is he innocent? I answere, In part, not wholy; with respect, not absolutely; innocent towards these men, whome hee neuer iniuried, not vvith relation to God, whom he had hainouslye offended. The Pelagians of our time, magnifying [Page 226] the arme of flesh, and the nature of mankinde, more than reason admitteth, by a sophisticall and deceitfull conclusion, haue sought to obscure the trueth, and to over [...]reach the world in this pointe▪ For, because they finde in the scriptures often mention of the inno­cencie, iustice, perfection of the children of God, they dissembling, or not wiselie weighing the drifte of the place, simplie inferre thereup­on, that the law of GOD may be kept and fulfilled in this life. Their paralogisme is easily discovered and disprooued by the rule of Augu­stine;Cùm dicitur cuius (que) per­fectio, quâin re dicatur videndū est. 2. de pe. mer. & rem. 15. Perfectus [...]a pientiae audi [...]or, non perf. doctor &c. When the perfection of any man is named, vvee must consider where­in it is named. A man may bee a perfite hearer of vvisedome, not a per­fite teacher: (Thus is hee perfite and vnperfite) a perfite knovver of righteousnesse, not a perfite doer, perfite in this that hee loueth all men, and yet vnperfite in the loue it selfe. It were absurdly concluded, Ionas was innocent towards the Marriners, therefore innocent towardes the Is­raelites; innocent towardes man, therefore innocent towards God; in­nocent in this present behaviour, therfore innocent in the whole con­versation of his life. As it hath no iust consecution, David was inno­cent towardes Saul, therefore innocent towardes Vrias. A man may be righteous,Optimus ille est. Qui mini. mis vrgetur. Horat. Quâ maior pars vitae at (que) iugenii stetit. Asin. Pollio. Secundū in. [...]entionē non secundū per. ventionem. In Psal. 38. Aliter hîc non po [...]es es­se perfectus, nisi scias hic te non esse posse perfe­ctum. Secundum istius vitae modum [...]ōt. epist. Parm. both in comparison of others, for hee is the best, which hath the fewest faultes; and in comparison of himselfe, for wee must iudge of a man by that, whereto the greater part of his life and disposition hath beene in­clined. And because there was no father in the church, who had grea­ter reason to ventilate this argument vnto the bottome, than Augu­stine had, himselfe in that ambitious age being sifted and proued by so many adversaries to the grace and righteousnes of God, I will giue you a short taste of his aunswers and satisfactions to the question, as I finde them in his writings.

Touching perfection, hee vvriteth thus by occasion of the Apo­stles wordes, Philippians the thirde: Let vs, as manye as bee perfi [...]e, bee thus minded. Yet in the twelfth verse before it is contraried, Not as though I had alreadie attained it, or that I were alreadie perfite. How may these stande togither? Perfite, and vnperfite. If vve take perfe­ction in intention and purpose, not in pervention, and obtaining the pur­pose, in contention, endevour, inchoation, that is, in imperfecti­on, and not otherwise; thou canst not otherwise bee perfite in this life, vn­lesse thou knovve, that in this life thou canst not bee perfite. There is a cer­taine perfection according to the measure and proportion of this life, and to that perfection this is also deputed, If a man knowe that yet hee is not perfite. So as it is not the least parte of our perfection, to knovve and con­fesse our imperfections. Bernarde vpon the former wordes to [Page 227] the Philippians,Serm. 49. in Cant. Perfecti vi­atores. perfe­cti possesso­res. 2. de pec. mer. & re­mis. 13. Per prolep­sin. Quid est hoc, sumus & non su­mus? nisi quia sumu [...] inspe, & eri­m [...]s in re. Pro consor­tio societati [...] humanae. Pro huius. vitae capaci­tate. Pro sta [...] viatoris. Pro huius vitae modulo. Ad Boni l. 3. Omnium in carne iu­storum im­perfecta per­fectio. [...] Epist. 95. Heb. 5. De grat. chr. cont. Pelag. & Coelest. 1▪48. Secundum quandam inter homi­nes probabi­lem conver­sationem. atque lau­dabilem. Absoluta sententia, expositore non indiget. (that I may inserte his iudgement also by the way) beateth downe the arrogancie of all high minded flesh; Mag­num electionis vas, profectum abnuit, perfectum fatetur. The greate vessell of election denyeth perfection to himselfe, confes­seth his profection and goinge forwarde; I endevour my selfe to that vvhich is before. I proceede vvith Augustine: VVee maye be per­fite travellers in righteousnesse before, heereafter vvee shall [...]ee perfite ow­ners and possessours of righteousnesse; vvee may bee perfite by anticipa­tion, carrying the name of the thinge, before vvee haue attayned vnto it, as vvee are saide alreadie to bee glorified, though our glo­rification shall bee consummate in time to come. We are the sonnes of God, saith the Apostle, and yet it appeareth not what wee shall bee. What meaneth this, vvee are and vvee shall bee? but that vvee are in hope, and shall be indeede? Finally, hee alloweth a certaine perfection sufficient to converse and holde societie vvith mankinde, a perfection for the modell and capacitie of this life, for the state of passengers and way faring men, and what­soeuer hee allovveth more in this kinde, I am sure he concludeth, that the perfection of all righteous men, vvhile they are in the flesh, is imper­fect. This of perfection.

Of righteousnesse and iustice thus hee affirmeth in other places. The Evangelist Sainte Luke reporteth of Zacharie and Elizabeth his vvife, that they vvere both righteous before God, that is, without hy­pocrisie, vvalking in the commaundementes of God, (Now because they vvalked, it is an argument, that they were not yet come to the marke) [...], in all the commauddementes and iustifications of the Lorde. The testimonie is alreadie verye large, but yet hee addeth more, They vvalked in them all vvithout reproofe. Howe without reproofe? Au­gustine interpreteth it to Innocentius; Sine querelâ, non sine peccato, Not vvithout sinne, but vvithout grievance, quarrell, iust com­plainte, or exception to bee made against them. Nay, hee pro­veth out of the same scripture, that because Zacharie was a Priest, therefore a sinner, for hee was bounde to offer for sinnes, aswell for his own parte, as for the peoples. In another place speaking of their righteous­nesse, he limiteth it thus; They were righteous after a probable and lau­dable conversation amongest men. He often distinguisheth betweene these two, Peccatum, & querela, Peccatum & cri [...]en; the one, sinne in generall, which no man is freed from, (for it is an absolute sentence, and needeth no exposition, if we say that we haue no sinne, wee deceiue our selues, wee are but blowne bladders;) the other, some great offences, (as Da­vid [Page 228] calleth it) malicious vvickednesse, Sanctorum hominū vi­tam inueni­ri posse dici­mu [...] sine cri­mine. ca. 13. Non quali­ [...]c [...] (que) vox [...]lla sed verè sanctorum. l. 14. cap. 9. [...]. S [...]tis benè vivitur, si sine crimine· Non id agit [...] pecatum non habeat, sed ut veniā nō acespiat. Fo [...]asse se­cundū quod­dam peccatū dixit, non se­cundum om­ne peccatū. Cert [...] ̄ quod­dam pecca­tum. trac. 5. Quāvis in­quantum ex Deonati su­mus nō pec­cemus, in est [...]amē adhuc etiam quod ex Adānati sumus. lib. 2. cap. 7. Ceneratio coelestis ser­vat eum, id est, eterna praedestina­tio. Pulchrèqui­dem pulchrā non omnimodè, sed inter mulieres dicit. Bern. ser. 38. Inter mulieres, id est, animas carnales, non an­gelicas perfectiones. Ibid. some hainous, notorious, scandalous sinne, culpable in the eies of men, and vvorthy of cen­sure and crimination. Wee saie, (in his Enchiridion to Laurentius) that the life of holie men may bee founde, though not vvithout faulte, yet vvithout an offensiue faulte. Againe in his bookes of the city of God, It is not the speech of vulgar and common men, but of those that are rightly Saintes, If vvee say that vvee sinne not, &c. then shall this liberty and immunity from passions bee, vvhen there shall bee no sinne in men; nowe vvee liue vvell enough, if vvithout scandall; but hee that thinketh hee liueth vvithout sinne, hee doeth not thereby free himselfe from sinninge, but from receiving remission of sinnes. In the first epistle of Iohn, the thirde chapter, the Apostle seemeth to favour the opini­on of absolute righteousnesse in man; Hee that is borne of GOD, sin­neth not. Peradventure, saieth Augustine, hee meaneth some cer­taine sinne, not all sinne. Vnderstande heereby a definite speciall sinne, which he that is borne of GOD, cannot commit. It maye bee the vvante of loue, Dilectionis carentia, It may bee the greate sinne of infidelitie, vvhich our Saviour noteth in the Iewes, Iohn the fifteenth; If I had not come and spoken vnto them, they shoulde not haue had sinne. the sinne vvherein all other sinnes are helde, the sinne vn­to death, the sinne not to bee repented of, and therefore not to bee pardo­ned. Against Parmenian he aunswereth it thus; Although we sinne not so farre foorth as vvee are borne of GOD, yet there remaineth in vs some parte of our birth from Adam. Bernarde vpon the Canticles, giueth the reason why hee sinneth not; The heauenly generation pre­serveth him, that is, the euerlasting predestination. VVhich rea­son the Apostle himselfe seemeth to accorde vnto; for his [...]eede remai­neth in him. Surely there is no man that sinneth not; Salomon precise­lie affirmeth it, in the dedication of the temple. GOD hath conclu­ded all vnder sinne; Omnes odit qui malos odit, Hee that hateth evill men, hateth all men; because there is none that doeth good, no not one. Noah may be a righteous man in his time and generation, compared vvith tho [...]e amongst whom he liued; Thamar may bee more righteous than Iud [...]h, yet Thamar sinnefull enough; the Publican may goe to his house more iustified than the Pharisee, yet not simply iustified thereby; The spouse in the Canticles, may bee faire amongest women, yet her beau­tye not such, but that shee iustlye complaineth of her blackenesse. Though she exceedeth the soules of men, whilst they liue in the body, [Page 229] yet shee is shorte of angelicall perfection.Jnter nato [...]mulierum, non autem inter choros caelestium spirit [...]m. Ibid. En [...]hir. cap. 71. De sanct. virgini [...] ca. 50. Jn Ps. 12 [...]. Mendici iu­stitiae. Iustitia in hàc vità tā ­ta est, ut po­tiús consict remissione peccatorum, quā perfecti­one virtutū. Li. 19. de ci [...] Dei, cap. 26. 1 Cor 6. Rom. 10 Iohn Baptist had not a greater amongest the sonnes of vvomen, but vvhosoever vvas least in the kingdome of GOD, and all the coelestiall spirites are farre beyonde him. The best that liue vpon the earth, have brevia, leviaque pec­cata, shorte and lighte sinnes, yet sinnes; quamvis pauca, quamvis parva, non tamen nulla, Though fevve in number, small in measure, yet sinnes in nature. Therefore vve may conclude with the same father, whose shielde I haue hitherto vsed against the enemies to the grace of God, Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousnesse. VVee must knovve our povertie, and become su [...]ters and b [...]ggers for iustice, if vve meane to speede. Our righteousnesse in this life is such, as [...]ather consi­steth in the remission of our sinnes, than in the perfection of our vertues. And to speake the trueth, in the vvhole question of iustification betwixte the Papistes and vs, our iustice is not iustice in proper and direct tearmes, but mercy. For that righteousnesse that we haue, is meerely of mercy, not actiue, but passiue, not that which wee worke our selues, but GOD worketh it for vs. Abluta estis, iu­stificati estis, you haue washed or iustified your selues? No, you are vvashed and iustified. And therefore it is called the righteousnesse of GOD, because it commeth from abroad, not inherent in our selues, but from God deriued, and by him imputed. And 1. Corinthians 1. Christ is made vnto vs of God, vvisedome, and righteousnesse, and sanctifica­tion, and redemption. First, wisedome in preaching and instruction; Secondly, righteousnesse in the forgiuenesse of our sinnes; Third­ly, sanctification in the holinesse of our liues; Fourthly, redemption in his mighty deliueraunce from all our enemies; that as it is vvrit­ten, hee that reioyceth may reioyce in the Lorde, and knovve, that neither of all these is of himselfe. God obiected to the king of Tyrus, in derisi­on, Ezechiell the twenty eighth, Thou arte vviser then Daniell; I aske of the children of Babylon, what they thinke of themselues; whe­ther they goe beyonde Daniell, in holinesse and integrity of life. He in the ninth of his prophecie confesseth sinne and iniquitie, and rebellion in all the men of Iudah, and inhabitantes of Ierusalem, and the vvhole people of Israell, farre, or neere, kinges, princes, fathers, and that righteousnesse is vvith GOD alone, and vvith them confusion of face; hee vtterly dis­claimeth their owne iustice, we come not to pray before thee for any righ­teousnesse in our selues; and appealeth vnto the righteousnesse of the Lorde, O Lorde according vnto all thy righteousnes, let thine anger bee tur­ned away, ver. 16. For the Lords sake, that is, thy Christ, thine annointed, verse 17. For thy greate tender mercies, verse 18. Finallie, for thine owne [Page 230] sake, ver. 19. This was the spirit of Daniell; and they that come in the confidence of their owne pure spirites, neither shall their owne prai­ers availe, and the praiers of Daniel, and Noah, and all the righteous saintes in heaven, which they hang vpon shall not helpe them. You see our innocency, iustice and perfection; not that our sins are not, but that they are remitted, but that they are covered by the mercie of God, but that they are not imputed, which is the chiefe blessednes of man, as wee reade in the 32. Psalme. I coulde haue noted so much vnto you by a phrase, which my text affordeth. Lay not vpon vs inno­cent bloud. For then are we cleere in the sight of God, when the sins, whereof we are guilty, are not laide to our charges, nor remembred. Blessed are all those vvho are thus discharged of their vnsupportable soules burden, that though they have many sinnes, they are bound vp in a bundle, and drawne into a narrowe roome; though insolent, clim­bing, aspiring sinnes, yet they are cast into the bottome of the sea; though they are as red as crimson and scarlet, yet their hue is changed, they are made as white as wooll, or snowe, by the bloud of Christ; though they fill all the corners of heaven, from the rising of the sun to the going downe thereof, yet they are driven from the face of God, as far as the East & West are sundred; lastly, though they are libelled and entred into his court, by the accusation of the devill, and by his most righteous iu­stice registred, yet the bookes are defaced, and all those writinges a­gainst vs, na [...]e [...] to the crosse of Christ, by whome we are redeemed.

THE XVIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 14.‘Lay not vnto our charge innocent bloud, for thou Lorde hast done as it pleased thee.’

THe praier of the Marriners, vvithout longer repetition, vvas common, fervent, discreet, vocall, humble, importunate, pertinent to the time & occasion, wel grounded. [...]n the 7th. of these, wherein I obserued hovve rightly they applyed thēselues to the deprecation of their present daungers, I examined, besides their general intēt in asking pardō for bloudshed, 2. particulars arising naturally frō the words: 1. the proceeding of God in case of murther, life for life: 2. in vvhat re­spect the bloud of Ionas might be tearmed innocent; not that the life of [Page 231] Ionas could no way be toucht with sinne, but that it was freed in his present and particular behaviour towards this cōpany with whome he sailed. I would further haue demaūded, but that the time intercepted me, how Ionas could be held innocent towards the Marriners, whom hee had actually wronged in the losse of their temporall commodi­ties, (for he onely was the cause of that generall detriment,) and the hazard was as great, that hee might haue eased them of their better treasure, I meane their lives, if God had not staied it: these, though ha­ving sense of the one, feare of the other, yet call his bloud innocēt bloud. The answere briefly is. They wrote that in the waters, which others vvrite in marble, Iniuries. Though their voiage vvere lost by this meanes, their busines disapointed, the season of their marte diverted, their marchandize wrackt, their provision wasted, (it may be) to some, their wiues and children vndone, their estate sunke by it, yet they for­giue and forget the damages, and with a mantel of charity cover al his wrongs. The perswasiō holdeth by cōparison, that if nature so newly reformed, having tasted but the milke of the knowledge of God, haue so quicke a digestiō of forepassed wrongs, much more is requi­red of vs, who have bene dieted with the strongest meat, & to whom the precepts of charity have in most ample manner beene revealed. The commendatiō shall ever live which Ambrose giveth to Theodo­sius the Emperor being dead; Theodosius of happy memory, thought he re­ceived a benefite, as often as hee was intreated to forgive: Beneficium se p [...]abat accepisse au­gustae memo­riae Theodo­sius▪ quoti [...] rogabat, ig­nosce opta­batur in eo, quod time­batur in ali­is [...]ut iras. ceretur. De obitu Theo. Serm. 6 in vigil. natal. Dom. Phil. 3· Math. 18. De verb. Dom ser. 15. that was wished in him, which in others was feared, that hee would bee angry. Tully reporteth the like of a far vnlike Emperour, that Caesar forgat nothing but iniuries. There is a learned, skilfull, & vertuous kinde of forgetfulnes. It is good to forget some things. All Manasses went not over [...]ordē, part staied be­hind. Now Manasses had his name of forgetfulnes, and Bernard illu­ding thereunto saith, It is good to forget Babylon, to remember Ierusalem; to forget the flesh-pots and [...] of Aegypt, to remember the milke and honie of Canaan; to forget our owne [...] and our fathers house, and to remember heaven & heavenly thinges. So Paul forgat that which was behinde; his for­mer defects & delinquishments: and it shall be happy for vs all to doe the like, not in the mercies either of God, or man, but in the crosses and grievances which wee have sustained. Peter asked his maister in the gospel, how of the should forgive his brother offending against him, whe­ther to 7. times? It is added, Luke 17. how often in a day? our Saviour tel­leth him, vnto 70. times 7. times, that is, as Ierome accounteth it, 490. times; so often in a day, as is not possible for thy brother oftner to trespasse a­gainst thee. Augustine in effect hath the same note; Why doth our Sa­viour [Page 232] saye seventie times seven times, and not an hundreth times eight times? hee aunsvvereth; from Adam to Christ vvere seuenty generations; there­fore as Christe forgaue all the transgressions of vvhole mankinde, parted and diffused into so manye generations; so also vvee shoulde re [...]itte as ma­nye offences, as in the tearme and compasse of our life are committed a­gainst vs.

Examine (shall I say, one day?) nay all the dayes of our life, if all might goe for one, haue wee forgiuen? haue wee forborne? that were one degree lesse: haue we not persecuted? Turkes, Infidelles, vessels of dishonour? nay, our owne brethren: 7. yea, and 70. times 7. times, vvithout number or measure, the sunne rising and the sunne going downe vpon our wrath, our waies being the waies of destructi­on, our beddes the beddes of mischiefe, as the Psalme calleth them, daies & nights, openly, privately, meditating, talking, practising howe to avenge our selues of the least discontentmentes. It were as [...]are a matter in our age, as to see the sun go backe, to heare of any amongst vs patient of iniuries, as that patriarke sometimes of Ierusalem was, of whome the proverbe of those times vvente, Nihil vtilius quàm A­lexandro malefacere, Nothinge can more profite a man, than to hurte A­lexander. Yet hee kepte but that rule, which they that kepte not, are no parte of the Israell of God, Not to resist euill, To giue cheeke after cheeke, cloake after coate, to take all that was offered, whether vpon or without the body, as that precept implyeth: nay rather to returne good for euill, Veterem fe­rendo iniu­riam invi­tas novam Multis minatur qui uni sacit in­iuriam. Rom. 12, loue for enmity, blessing for cursing, good deedes for hatred, praiers for persecutions, Math. 5. VVe rather imbrace the instigations of gentilitye, and such as the nature of man easilye propendeth vnto, beare one iniurye and beare more; hee that wrongeth one, threatneth all; and such like pro [...]ocations▪ I will end with the exhortation of our Lorde, Luke 6. so giue a [...]d you shalbe [...] forgiuen Or rather with that which Mat. 6. is more peremptory, If you forgiue him not you shall not bee forgiuen. He indenteth for that by mercye▪ vvhich hee mighte exacte of duetye and equ [...]tie▪ and hee that shall bee our iudge▪ almost against the na­ture and righte of his office, sheweth vs the vvay to escape his iudge­mentes. The conditions betwixte God and man in this exchange are very vnequall▪ 1. thine enemy was created by God, as thy selfe wert; God hath an enemy of thee, whom he hath created 2. thou pardonest thy fellow servant; God, merely his servant. 3 thou pardonest & stan­dest in neede of pardon againe; God hath no neede to be pardoned. 4. thou forgiuest a definite summe; God an infinit debt, requiring the proscription of thy selfe, wife, and children, and al that thou hast, body [Page 233] & soule, if thou shouldest defray it.Chrysost. Incredibili me sericordia nos ad certam veniam vocat, By vncredible compassion he draweth vs to a limited & bounded pitty: the extention wherof maketh vs the children of our father which is in heauen; but the streightning of our bowels of compassion, as it taketh from vs the name and priviledge of sons, so it marketh vs for servantes of the worst condition, naughty & vngracious seruants, for whom is iust­ly reserued the vvages of Balaam, I meane, the repayment & stipende of everlasting destruction.

The last commendation in the praier of the marriners is,8. Reasona­ble, rightly grounded. their groū ­ding therof vpon the pleasure of God, for thou Lord hast done as it pleased thee; which soundeth thus. We aske thy favour in this respect, that we haue not departed frō the rule of thy wil, but followed as neare as wee could, the verdit & answere of thy heauēly oracle. The lot hath enfor­med vs, the mouth of the prophet himselfe confirmed vnto vs, the cō ­stant indignation of the sea maketh it past question, that thou in thy counsell hast decreed, that Ionas shalbe cast forth. It was a sanctified iudgment in thē, both to acknowledge the finger of God in so casuall an accident, thou Lord hast done it; & withal to assent in secret, that the wil & pleasure of God is the exactest rule of equity that can be imagi­ned, as it pleased thee. They gather thus in effect; we doe but the will of the Lord, therefore more iustly to be pardoned. The wisdome of God it selfe, in whō the deity dwelt bodily, was content to forsake his wisdome & to be ordered & rectified by this squire of his fathers wil, father, not my wil, but thine be fulfilled. I know the measure of thy wil is straight; shal I be croked & perverse in my waies? I wil not. Bernard demādeth vpō that submission of Christ. O Lord, the wil whereof thou speakest▪ (Not my wil be done) if it were not a good wil, how was it thine? if good, why relinquished & forsakē? he answereth, Non oportebat propria prae [...]d [...]care communibus, Priuate affaires must not hinder publique: 't was both the will of Christ, & it was a good wil, wherby he said If it be possible let this cuppe passe; but that whereby hee spake otherwise, thy will [...]e do [...]e ▪ was better, because it was common not only to the father which gaue his sonne, Communis erat non so­lùm patris, sed & Chri­sti & nostrae. Ser. 3. de res. Dom. but to the sonne himselfe, who was offered because hee would ▪ and to vs who har­tily desired it. The will of a righteous man may misse o [...] the wil of God sometimes, and yet be iustified & approued before God. A child may wish the life of his father, whom God hath visited with sicknesse [...] ▪ and mindeth not to spare▪ Here haue you the wil of a man against the will of God in some sort. Doth he offend herein? nay rather should he not offend, if, nature and duty forgotten, he wisht otherwise? for whatso­ever the secret wil of God hath decreed, yet by his open and revealed [Page 234] will, parentes must bee honoured, and their life and vvell-doinge by prayer commended to the goodnesse of God. It is the vvill of GOD permanent and vnchaungeable, that Ionas bee cast forth; It is the vvill of the marriners to saue Ionas, if it may bee. Doe they displease God heereby? rather they shoulde displease, if layinge a­parte humanity, they bare not compassion to the life of Ionas. For howsoeuer his secret will hath determined, yet by his open and re­vealed will, the life of man must bee tendered. VVho hath ascended into heauen to knowe the counselles of the Lord? Therefore it is ever safe, to cast the ankers of all our purposes, and to staie our vvilles vpon the vvill of God, before wee see the event of things, to say as our Sa­viour willed vs, Thy will bee done; and when it is clearely decided what his pleasure was, to ioine with these marriners, thou Lorde haste done as it pleased thee: vvee acknowledge thy supreme authoritie, thou sittest vpon the circles of heauen, thou holdest the scepter and ball of the worlde in thy right hande, thou art the king and commander of the ear [...]h bee it neuer so vnquiet, the heartes of kings and subiectes are in thine hand. Thou vvoundest, healest, killest, quickenest, where thou thinkest good, and vvhatsoeuer man purposeth, thou disposest as thy pleasure is.

Others confesse no lesse of the will of GOD, than these mar­riners doe, Thou Lorde haste done as it hath pleased thee; but vvith a­nother construction. For as they confesse the efficacie and power thereof, so they deny the equity; as if hee helde a tyrannye, and governed the worlde not by law but by lust, drawing it to obedience not by reason and iustice, but by the violent chaine of his vnchange­able purpose, so making his will in the moderating of the worlde, as immoderate, as the vvilles of inordinate princes, who having the raines of dominion giuen into their handes, if they proclaime not out-right with Nero, My authoritye giveth me license to doe all things; Hee is a foole that knovveth not vvhat hee may doe;Fortuna no­sira cuncta permitti [...] mihi. Iner [...]is est nescire quid licea [...] sibi. Dan. 3. yet they say to them­selues, I am a king, vvho dareth call mee to accounte, and aske me, vvhat doest thou? yea vvhat is that God that can deliver out of my handes? This kinde of impetuous and maisterlesse vvill, the servantes of the servauntes of God (mistearmed) haue challenged to their chaire at Rome. For howsoever they behaved themselues, no man might say vnto them, Cur ita facis? vvhy doest thou so? vvhatsoever they enacted, Sic volo sic iubeo, their will and commaundement was warrant e­nough. Franciscus Zabarella complaineth of those that drewe them into such arrogant errour; They haue perswaded the Popes that they can [Page 235] doe all thinges, even vvhatsoever pleased them, thinges vnlawfull too, and that they are more than God. Silvester the first,Plus quam Deus. Quia scrip­tum est, non est [...] &c. Lib. 2. de bapt. cont. Dona [...]. c. 10▪ in the first councell of Rome prooved it by scripture; The highest bishoppe is not iudged of any, because it vvritten, the disciple is not aboue his maister. And shall the sawe boast it selfe against him that mooveth it? Esay the tenth. There­fore let no man iudge the Po [...]e. So was the speech of the Donatistes (as Augustine remembreth it,) vvhen they had nothing to answere, sic volumus. VVhy? For vvho are thou that iudgest another mans seruaunt? The Pope giveth another re [...]son. Thou art a servaunt, a disciple, who art thou that iudgest thy Lord? Saint Augustines answere shal fit them both, both the Donatistes of Africke, and the greate Donatist of Rome; what else doe all flagitious and lewde men, riotous, drunkards, adul­terers, shamelesse and dishonest persons, theeues, extortioners, murtherers, robbers, sorcerers, idolaters, vvhat else doe they answere the word of truth and rig [...]teousnesse, vvhen it reprooveth them, but this, hoc volo, hoc me dele­ctat, thus I will doe, this delighteth me? Now it is most true that the will of God is an absolute, praedominant, soveraigne vvill: vvhere hee vvill hee taketh mercie, and vvhere he vvill, he hardeneth. The ground of their complainte is good, though they miss-applie it,Rom. 9. vvho hath re­sisted his will? and if we go to farre to enquire and examine, wee are mette in the way, and willed as it were to stande backe, O homo, tu quis es qui disputas? O man, vvho art thou that disputest? and preassest so bold­lie into the secretes of God? But it is as true which the Apostle deman­deth on the behalfe of the Lord, Is there any iniquity with God? far bee it. Therefore they sinne a sinne, which the darkest darkenesse in hell is too easie to requite, who, when they haue spilte the bloud of the in­nocent, like water vpon the grounde, defiled their neighbours bed, troubled the earth, and provoked heauen, vvith many pernitious, infamous mischiefes, rapes, robberies, proditions, burninges, spoy­lings, depopulations &c. spewe out a blasphemy against righteous­nesse it selfe, countenauncing their sinnes by authoritie of him who hateth sinne, and pleading that they haue done but the will of God in doing such outrages. I knovv that the vvill of God, though they had staves of yron in their handes, and heartes to resist, shall be done. Vngracious, vnwillinge, and vnbeleevinge instrumentes shall doe that service to God which they dreame not of. When God saith, kill not, and they contradict, wee will kill, even then, though they vio­late the law of God, yet is his will accomplished. He hath hookes for the nostrelles, and bridles for the chawes of the vvicked, which they suppose not. I will adde more; Iudge yee vvhat I saie, and the Lord [Page 236] giue you vnderstanding in all thinges. He hath spurres for their flankes and sides, which they neuer imagined. Senacharib founde a bridle to stay him, and an hooke to turne him backe; Pharaoh had a spurre to driue him forwarde, I vvill harden the heart of Pharaoh, Exod. 4. and in many other places. Let him alone, let him take his pleasure and pastime,Exod. 8. but when he hath hardened his ovvne heart by malice, then will I also harden it by iustice.

Thus the will of God is one way renounced, and as sure as hee li­veth and raigneth in heauen, shall at the same time, and in the same action some other way be perfourmed. And yet are the men wic­ked, though they do that which God would, & God most holy & iust, though he would that which the wicked do. They beguile thēselues heerein by a fallacy, they are taken in their owne nets, which they lay for an other purpose. For thus they presume. Hee that doth the will of God sinneth not; true: keepe the commandements, honour God, o­bey the Prince, loue thy neighbour as thy selfe, this is voluntas signi, his will recorded in holy writ, published abroade, signified to all flesh, and as it were proclaimed at a standard, by precept, threatnings, pro­mises, terrour, reward, earnestly and openly required. Novv the mur­therer assumeth vpon the former grounde, I doe the will of God; For had it not stood with his vvill, my power had fayled, my hart had not beene able to conceiue a thought within me, and my hande had vvi­thered and shrunke togither, before I had giuen the stroke; true like­wise. But this i [...] an other will, a secret will of God, his will at the second hand, if I may so call is, and by an accident, a vvill against a wil, that because hee did not that which God had publiquely enioyned, hee should doe another thing which he had privately deter [...]ined.De corrept & grat. cap. 14. Miro & in­effabili modo nō fit praeter [...]ius volun­tatem, quod etiam fit cō ­ [...]ra eius vo­luntatem. Enchirid. ca. 109. Caetera qui­dem nescio illud sci [...], quod odere curiosos. Au­gustine deliuereth it in wise and pithy tearmes; De hijs qui faciunt quae non vult, facit ipse quae vult, Of those vvhich doe vvhat God would not, hee doeth what hee would: and by a marveilous vneffable meanes it commeth to passe, that it is not done without (or besides) his vvill, which is euen done against his wil. Euclide to one that neuer rested to enquire of the Gods, aunswered deseruedly: Other thinges I knovve not, this I know, that they hate curious and busie inquisitours, Adam was driuen out of paradise, for affecting too much knowledge. Israell had died the death Exod. 19. if they had past their bounds, to climbe vp vnto the mounte, and to gaze vpon the Lorde. The men of Bethshemesh vvere slaine to the number of fiftie thousande, for prying into the Arke, 1. Sam. 6. The question is as high as the highest heauens, & dwelleth in light as vnsearchable as God himselfe, couered vvith a curtaine of sacred secresie, vvhich [Page 237] shall neuer bee dravvne aside till that day come, vvherein wee shall knovve as wee are knovvne, and then but in measure and proportion. VVho is able to decide, that dwelleth vvith mortall flesh, how farre the counsell of the Lord goeth in ordering and disposing sinfull acti­ons? This I am bolde to say, because I am loath to leade you farther into a bottomeles sea, than where the lambe may wade without dan­ger of miscarying, and if there be ought behinde which is not ope­ned vnto you, let this bee your comforte, Deus revelabit, GOD will one daie reveale it; but in this present question, there is an er­rour (I suppose) in two extremities, either to thinke that God is the authour of sinne, which sensuall and phantasticke Libertines, rubbing their filthinesse vpon his puritie, haue imputed vnto him; or that GOD doeth only but suffer and permitte sinne, sitting in hea­ven to beholde the stratagemes of the vvicked, vvithout intermed­ling, as if his Godhead were bounde like Sampsons armes, halfe of his power and liberty restrained, a greater parte of the world and the manners thereof running vpon wheeles, and the cursed children of Beliall hasting like dromedaries to fullfill the lustes of their owne god­lesse heartes, vvithout the gouernment and moderation of the high­est Lorde. Either of these opinions (mee thinkes) denyeth the Godhead. For howsoever in wordes both may admitte it, they de­ny it in opinion. They receaue it at the gates, and exclude it at the posterne. The one destroyeth the iustice & goodnesse of the dei­ty, in that they charge GOD to bee the authour of sinne; the o­ther his omnipotency and providence, in that they bereave him of a greate part of his businesse. The latter of these two positions (that God doeth permit sinne,) is sounde and catholike enough, if more bee added vnto it, (for God doeth more than permit;) the former is filled to the brimme, with most monstrous impiety.God not the author of sinne. If the devilles in hell may bee hearde to speake for themselues and against God, what coulde they say to deprave him more than this, Indeede wee haue sinned and forsaken our faith, but God caused vs? It is a most damna­ble and reprobate thought,Plat. in Th▪ Quae causa diis benefa­ciendi? Na­tura. Nec accipere in­iu riam que­unt nec fac [...] ­re. Hii nec habent nec dāt malu [...] ▪ that any vessell of clay shoulde so con­ceaue of his former, who in the creation of all thinges made al things good, and past not a vvorke from his fingers, without the approbation of his most prudent iudgment, Beholde it was good, very good, & God saw it. Aske but the maisters of humane wisedome, they will enforme you in this behalfe; [...]; God by no meanes is vniust, but as righteous as possible maybe. Seneca asketh the cause, why the Gods doe good? hee aunswereth, their nature is the cause. [Page 238] They can neither take nor doe wronge, they neither giue nor haue mischiefe in them. You haue the same doctrine, Iames 1. Let no man when he is temp­ted, say that he is tempted by God: for God is not tempted with evill, and he him­selfe tempteth no man.

Therefore I blame not Edmunde Campian, if hee holde it in his eighth reason of his pamphlet cast foorth, a paradoxe, that is, an insolent, vnwonted, vncredible position, to make God the author of sinne. But to charge our reformed churches with the conception and birth of so vile a monster, is as vnrighteous a calumniation a­gainst vs, as God, vvhose iustice vvee mainetaine, is most righte­ous.Duo maledi­ci essemus. Lib. 3. cap. 1. If I should answere slaunder by slaunder, we should proue two slan­derers; as Augustine sometimes aunswered Petilian. These are Con­victa convicia, auncient reproches, deade and rotten long since. We never saide it. Our church hath beene iustified by her children a thousand times in this point. This wee haue saide, that in a sinne­full action there are two thinges; the acte, and the defecte; essence and privation; the materiall and the formall parte; the substaunce and the quality. The latter vvhereof, is that deformity or irregu­larity, as they call it, vnlawfulnesse, transgression, pravity, that in every such action is contained.1, 2ae. quae. 71. art. 6. conclus. Lib. 2. c. 27. Vnum ad substantiam actus, alterii ad rationem mali. Quaest. 79. artic. 2. cōcl. Aquinas obserueth it in the defini­tion of sinne, which Augustine gaue against Faustus the Manichee; Sinne is any thinge spoken, coveted, or done against the everlasting lawe. One thing (saith hee) in this defin [...]oion belongeth to the substance of the acte, the o­ther to the nature of the evill that is therein. God is the authour of the act, be­cause all motion commeth from him, but not of the acte as it hath defect in it. Hee bringeth the example of a lame legge, wherein are two quali­ties, abilitie to goe, but vnabilitie to goe vprighte. The going and stir­ring it hath, is from the vertue that mooueth it, (as vvhen a rider driueth his horse;) the lamenesse and debility belongeth to an other cause, distortion, or crookednesse, or some other impotency in the legge it selfe. The like is, in the striking of a iarring and vntuned harpe,Just. Lips. d [...] Con▪ l 1. c. 20. the fingeringe is thine, the iarringe and discorde is in the in­strument. The earth giveth fatnesse and iuice to all kinde of plants; some of those plantes yeelde pestilent and noysome fruites: vvhere is the faulte? in the nourishment of the grounde, or in the nature of the hearbes, vvhich by their natiue corruption, decoct the good­nesse of the grounde into venime and poyson? The goodnesse and moysture is from the earth, the venime from the hearbe; the soun­dinge from the hande, the iarring from the instrumente; the motion from the rider, the lamenesse from the legge; so the action or mo­tion [Page 239] is from God, the evill in the action, from the impure fountaine of thine owne heart. Howe coulde the minde of Caine ever haue thought of the death of Abell, his eies haue seene any offensiue thing in his accepted sacrifice, his hearte haue prosecuted vvith desire, and his hand executed with power, so vnnaturall a fact, more than a stone in the wall, which if it be not stirred, forsaketh not his place, if God had not giuen him strength and activity, to haue vsed the service of al these faculties? To thinke, to see, to desire, to mooue the partes of the body, were the good creatures of God, (therein consisteth the action:) but to turne these giftes of God to so vile a purpose, was the sinne of Cain, the fault of the action, proper and singular to his owne person.

It is skarse credible to reporte howe Campian goeth forwarde against vs, that as the calling of Paul, so the adultery of David, and the treason of Iudas, by our doctrine, were the proper vvorkes of God, all alike: as if we mingled yron and clay togither, and the spirit of God had giuen vs no wisedome to discerne thinges, in nature and quality most repugnant. I againe borrowe Saint Augustines wordes; Pe­tilianus dicit, ego nego, eligite cui credatis, Petilian affirmeth it, Lib. 3. con [...]. tit. Petil, ca, 10▪ I deny it, chuse vvhether you vvill beleeue. The conversion of Paul, was the regeneration and newe birth of one that was a straunger to the cove­nauntes of God; the adultery of Dauid, the fall and escape of a Saint; the treason of Iudas, the damned apostasie of a reprobate. The conversion of Paul was the proper worke of God, whom Sathan had held in darkenesse and in the shadowe of death whilst the world had stoode, if God had not cast him into a trance, blindinge the eies, and killinge the senses of his body for a time, but illuminatinge his minde, changing his heart, creating a new spirit within him, and spea­king both to his eares and conscience vvith an effectuall calling. Fi­nally hee founde no vvill in him fitte for his mercies, but wrought both the vvill and the worke to. In the adultery of Dauid, and the treason of Iudas, hee founde the vvill eagerly prepared to iniquity; God doth but vse that will: they runne of themselues, God staieth not behinde, but runneth with them, though to an other end; they to the satisfaction of their naughty lustes, God to the declaration of his righteous and vvise iudgementes. And although he loueth not their sinnes, yet hee loueth and is delighted vvith the execution of his admirable iustice hanging therevpon. And albeit neither the adul­tery of David, nor the treason of Iudas be his proper workes; yet God hath his proper working in both their workes. For as from vnho­nest [Page 240] actions may come good creatures;Anselm. de caesu Diab. cap. 91. (as vvhen a childe is borne in adulterie, the commixtion of adulterers is wicked, the creature good:) so from the lewdest and corruptest willes, God can produce good ef­fectes. Not vnlike the wisedome of Physitians in vsing the poyson of serpentes; for how harmefull a nature soeuer the poison hath, the Physition tempereth it by degree, and healeth his patient therby: the poyson it selfe notwithstanding hurtful, the skil of the Physition com­mendable, the effect profitable.

Thus wee haue ever distinguished, not onely the workes vvhich vvee know are indifferent, but in one and the same action the diver­sitie of agentes, and dealers, both in this manner of working, and in their endes. In the afflicting of Iob (for example sake) Sathan hath leaue to lay his hand vpon Iob: his servauntes are slaine, his ox­en, asses, and camelles taken and driuen away by Sabaeans and Chal­daeans. Slaughter and spoile without mercy. For if a grape-gathe­rer shoulde come to a vine, woulde hee not leaue some grapes? heere neither camell nor beast is lefte, nor any seruaunt, saue one alone to bringe newes. Yet Iob confesseth after all this; The Lorde hath giuen, and the Lorde hath taken. Here are three sundry agents. A man mighte imagine, that either Sathan and the Sabaeans shalbe excused, for ha­ving society in this action with God; or God brought into question, for having society with them. Neither of both: The difference of their intentions setteth them as farre asunder, as heauen is from the earth at her lowest center. God hath a purpose to try the patience & constancy of Iob, to reforme the opinion of his owne innocencie, to make him knowe that hee was but man, and to finde an occasion of powring greater blessings vpon him; Sathan to shew his envy, and malice to mankinde, to driue him to desperation; the Sabaeans to store vp treasures of vvickednesse, and to shew that stolne bread is sweet vnto them. The envy and malignity of Sathan, whence is it? of God? No. God borroweth and vseth his service, I graunte, but Sathan first profered it: so the malice is his owne, who was a murtherer from the beginning, hee onely add [...]ng gouernement and moderation there­vnto. The furious and bloudy rapines of the other, whence are they? from God? no. They lay in the cisternes of their owne heartes, Sa­than drew them forth by ins [...]igation, themselues let loose the streame, and when it was once on flote, the Lorde directed and disposed the course by his wisedome.

For this present I ende. God is of pure eies, and can beholde no vvic­kednesse, Conclusiō. hee hath [...] righteousnesse to the rule, and vveighed his iustice [Page 241] in a ballance, his soule hateth and abhorreth sin, I haue served with your iniquities. It is a labour, service & thraldome vnto him, more than Is­raell endured vnder their grievous task-masters; his law to this day curseth and condemneth sin, his hands haue smitten & scrouged sin, he hath throwne downe angels, plagued men, overturned cities, rui­nated nations, and not spared his owne bowels whilst hee appeared in the similitude of sinfull flesh; hee hath drowned the world vvith a floud of waters, & shall burne the world with a floud of fire, because of sin. The sentence shall stand vnmooueable, as long as heaven and earth endureth, tribulation & anguish vpon every soule that doth evil, Ievv or Gentile. All adulterers, murtherers, idolaters, sacrilegious, blasphe­mous, covetous wretches, liers, swearers, forswearers, & whom the A­postle calleth dogges, barking at the iustice of God, & making a cause­lesse complaint against him, as if he were cause of their sins, shall one day see the folly, and feele the price of their vnrighteous in [...]ectation. Let God therefore be true, and let all men be liers; let God be iust, and all men sinners; let God be iustified in al his iudgements, and let all his accusers vanish and consume in the madnes of their heartes, as the fome vpon the waters.

THE XIX. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 14.‘For thou, Lord, hast done as it pleased thee.’

THe Mariners in this reason of their petition, acknowledge 2. things directly: 1. the worke 1 of God in the casting foorth of Ionas; Thou, Lord, hast done it: 2. the ground of his workes,2 his owne will; as it pleased thee. A third thing is acknowledged by implication, the equity & 3 iustice of that will, as the warrant for their deed (for thou Lord, &c.) their meaning is not therein, either to charge him with a tyrānous will, quod libet licet, as the manner of grievous princes is to thinke that lawfull whatsoever pleaseth them; either to insimulate and accuse him of iniustice, to make him actor or patrone of any their sins, who dealeth in the actions of mē, sometimes with open, sometimes with secret, but alwaies with a righteous iudgement. Therefore I noted their cor­ruption, who thinke themselues excused in their most enormous and execrable sins, because they fulfill the will of God in one sense, [Page 242] not that open and revealed will, which he hath given in tables, pub­lished by sound of a trumpet, specified by blessings, cursings, promi­ses, threatnings, exhortations, dehortations, and such like, wherevn­to they stand strictly bound, but a secret and hidden will, written in another booke, wrapt vp in the couns [...]iles of his owne breast, which neither they intended when they did their misdeedes, neither were they ever charged therewith from Gods lips.Deut 29. August. en. chir. c. 100. Secreta Domino, reve­lata nobis & filijs nostris; Secret thinges belong to the Lord, revealed to vs & our children. 1. Quantum ad ipsos, fecerunt quod Deus noluit; touching their owne purpose and intendment, they have done that which God would not, they have transgressed his lawe with contentation of heart, perhappes with gladnes, it may be, with greedinesse, taking a solace and pleasure therein, and not wishing to have done otherwise; they have pursued it to the third and fourth generation, from the first assault or motion of sin to consent, from consent to delight, from delight to custome, and yet not giving over till they come to a spirit of slumber, or rather a death in sin. 2. Quantum ad omnipotentiam Dei, nullo modo id efficere valuerunt; touching the omnipotencie of God, they were never ab [...]e to doe it; he sitteth in heaven that laugheth them to scorne, he besiegeth them round about, and his hand is vpon them. They are not able to depart from his will, more than if a ship were going from Ioppe to Tharsis (as this ship was) from West to East, and one by walking vpon the hat­ches a contrary course, as if he would goe from East to West, from Tharsis towardes Ioppe againe, might stay the motion or flight of the shippe; he doth his endevour to hinder it, by bending both his face and his pace backewarde, but the ship is too well winged, and of too huge a burthen to be resisted: so those others shewe their will, to fru­strate and faile the will of God by committing sinne prohibited, but yet they shall doe a will of his, or rather his will shalbe done vpon them, maugre their malicious and sworne contradictions. De hijs qui faciunt quae non vult, facit ipse quae vult, Of those that doe what he would not, he doth what he would; and as he commanded light to shine out of darknes, so he can commaund good out of euill, treasure from out the midst of drosse, and commodity from the very heart of deepest wickednesse: at least he will execute his iustice vpon offenders, as he professeth. Exod. 14. I will get me honour vpon Pharaoh and all his host: for this cause he set him vp, to shew his power in him, and that his name might be declared to the whole earth, Exod. 9.

To reduce a diffused, but a dangerous & intricate question (wher­in as I then protested the warinesse of my proceeding, so now I a­gaine [Page 243] protest the subiection of my spirite to the spirites of prophets; God forbid that I should not bee readier to learne than to teach,) I say, [...] to reduce it to heads, I proposed vnto you the errors of some in 2. [...] of extremities: some going too far, in that they make God the [...] of sin; others comming a [...] short, that God doth only permit [...]. The former an error [...] for devils than men▪ the latter an error of hu­manity, offending of simplicity rather then malice, speaking▪ truth of God, when they acknowledge his permission of sinne, but [...] whole truth, because they thinke God only permitteth it both deny the godhead in effect, the one destroying the goodnes and [...], the other impairing the omnipotency, providence, government there­of, in that they restraine it from some thinges.

The former of these two opinions, that God is the author of sin, most prodigious to cōceive, though engendred in the braine, I know not whether of men or devils, yet is taken by Ed. Campion our cha­ritable countriman, & laid at the dores of our Church, yea brought into the streetes of our Vniversities, as if we were the fathers and pa­trons of it. We never said it I say once againe) & to redeeme a thou­sand deathes, if more were due to our sinnes, we would not affirme it. This we say, whatsoever hath substance, & being, & perfection in the action of sin, God is the author of it, because it is good; Ipsum quan­tumcun (que) esse, bonum est; the least essence in the world is good: Aug. de ver▪ rel. cap 34. Inquam [...]u [...] sunt, intan­tū bona sun [...] Id. [...]n qu [...]st, 83.21. Jd ad artic. [...] ▪ impos▪ ad 5. but not of the fault and defection therein. I must once more repeate; sin hath a po­sitive & privative part, a subiect and the quality of the subiect, nature & corruption: Prorsus ab illo est, quicquid pertinet ad naturam, & prorsus ab illo non est, quicquid est contrae naturam; Whatsoever belongeth to nature, is wholy from him, & whtsoeve [...] is against nature, is in no respect from him. Now death, and whatsoever belongeth to the traine of death, sin, and the like, are against nature. In him we live and moove, and have our being▪ there is the piller of our truth; a Poet of the Gentiles delivered it, but an Apostle sanctified and ratified it, and every creature in heaven, in earth, in the deepe, crieth Amen to it. And as that gentility and heathnishnesse of that vnbeleeving Poet coulde not marre Gods truth, so the corruption & depravation in the quality either of mā or action, cannot hurt the substance. Life is his, whether we live to him, as we ought to doe, or to the lusts of our owne flesh, or after the plea­sure of the God of this world, the prince of darknes. Motiō is his, whe­ther we lift vp our handes to praier, or whether to murther.1. Ne (que) [...] institutio­ne prima na­turae. Essence is his: the nature, being, & substance of men, of serpents, of reprobate Angels, are from him, & his good creatures. He made not death, he gave [Page 244] charge to the waters and earth to bring forth creatures that had the soule of life in them,2. Ne (que) secū ­d [...] causam. id est, pecca­tum. and when he made man hee breathed in his face the breath of life▪ & made him a living soule: he made not darknesse, he created the light; neither was the authour of sterilitie and barren­nesse,3. Non fecit, non acc [...]rsi­vit, no [...] enim nobis. hee made the bud of the earth which should seede seede, & the fruitfull tree. And to speake a truth in proper tearmes, these priva­tions, corruptions, and defectes in nature, as death, darkenesse, steri­lity, blindnes, silence, and the like, haue rather deficient than effici­ent causes. For, by the remooving of the things themselues vvhich these destroy, they of their own accord succeede & take their places. Abandon the light of the sunne whereby our aire is brightened and illuminated, you neede not carefully enquire or painefully labour how to come by darknesse, the deficiencie and fayling of the light, is a cause sufficient to bring in darknesse. If the instrument of sighte bee decayed, the stringes and spirites which serue for the eie, inwarde­ly wasted & corrupted, there is no more to be done, to purchase blindnes to the eie; the very orbity and want of seeing, putteth blindnesse forth-with in possession. If there were no speech, or noise in this church, what would there bee but silence and stilnesse? wil you aske me the cause hereof? It hath rightly none. I can render the cause of speech, there are instrumentes in man to forme it, and there is an aire to receiue it from his mouth, & beare it to their eares that should par­take it: vpon the ceasing vvhereof, silence hath a course to supplie, without the service and aide of any creature in the worlde to pro­duce it. And these things we know, and are acquainted with, not by the vse of them, (for who can vse that which is nothing?) We know what light is, by the vse thereof, because we beholde it; but who ever saw darkenesse? if the apples of his eie were as broade as the circle of the sunne and the moone, waking and wide open, how could hee see darkenesse? VVee know what speech is, by the vse thereof, be­cause wee receiue it by the eare; but who ever hearde silence? One­lie vvee knovve them, not by fruition of themselues, but by want of their opposites, which erst wee enioy [...]ed and now are deprived of. I speake the more that I might speake plainely. Wee were to en­quire the efficient cause of sinne; it hath none properly: it hath a de­ficient cause. Adam and Eue forsooke as it were the guide of their youth, the word of God and his grace forsooke them. Nature is now corrupted, the soundnesse, integrity of all the faculties therein disea­sed, the image of God wholy defaced. Vpon the decay and depar­ture whereof, sinne like a strong man entreth the house, the bodie [Page 245] and soule are taken vp with a masse of iniustice, the vnderstanding is filled with darkenesse, the will with frowardnesse, the senses with vanities,Corpu [...] [...] hilominu [...] Deus fecit▪ morbum no [...] fecit, & an [...] ­mum simili­ter fecit, no [...] autē peccatū Nimis indo­ctus est qu [...] vitium na­turae nō dis­cernit ab a [...] ­thore natu­rae. Artic. 3. ad artic. fal­sò imp. Sicut natu­rarum bona­rum optimu [...] creator est, [...] malaru [...] volun [...]atu [...] iustiss imu [...] ordinator. Ve cùm malè il­lae utun [...] naturis bo­nis, ipse ben [...] utatur etiā volūtatibu [...] malis. De correp. & grat. cap. 14. Lips. lib. 2. de. Constā [...], cap 20. Sciente & sinente: qua­dam etia [...] sententia, vclen [...]e▪ In marg. God doth more than permit sin and every part both of outwarde and inwarde man becom­meth a servaunt to vnrighteousnesse. Basill in a sermon vpon this argument now in hande, vvilleth those that enquire of the author of sinne, likewise to answere, whence sicknesse and orbities in the bodie come: for they are not (saith hee) the worke of God. Living crea­tures were at the first well created, having a proportion convenient to them: but they fell into diseases and distemperatures, vvhen they fell from healthinesse, either by evill diet, or by some other cause; notwithstanding, GOD made the bodie, hee made not sicknesse, and hee likewise made the soule, but not the sinfulnesse thereof. Ierome vppon the seconde of Abacuk, giveth the like iudgemente; Et si a­nima vitio suo efficitur hospitium Ch [...]ldaeorum, naturâ tamen suà est tabernaculum Dei: though the soule by her owne faulte is made an habi­tation or lodge for the Chaldaeans, straungers to dwell in, yet by herna­ture shee is the tabernacle of God. Therefore hee should shew himselfe too ignorante, that coulde not discerne betweene the corruption of nature and the author of nature. And because we further were charged, that we made the conversion of Paul, the adulterie of David, and the treason of Iudas, the one the vprising of a sinner, the other the falling downe of a saint, the last finall revolt of a reprobate, the workes, and the pro­per workes of God, all alike; I prooved the contrary. The first I ac­knowledged his proper and entire worke, hee opened the vnder­standing, changed the will, did all therein. In the other two hee tooke the wrll as hee founde it, and without alteration thereof, ap­plied it to some endes which hee had secretly purposed▪ and though neither the adultery of Dauid, nor the improbity of Iudas, were his proper workes, yet God had his proper workes in them both. for as he is a most holy creator of good natures, so he is a most rightuous disposer of evill willes: that whereas those evill willes doe ill vse good natures, hee on the other side may well vse the evill willes themselves.

To conclude; hee is [...] a worker in the workes of all sortes of men. Communiter author, (fateor) sed non nisi boni fautor; Commonly and indifferently (I graunte) an author in a common and large signification, but a favourer onely of good. Doest thou addresse thy selfe to vertue? it is done both by the privitie and assistaunce of GOD. To vice? vvith his privitie and permission (not vvith his helpe) some thinke (saith Lipsius) vvith his vvill too. It is most true that GOD doeth suffer sinne: there is nothing visiblie and sensiblie donne, [Page 246] which is not either commanded or tolerated, from that invisible, intelligible court of the highest Emperour. August. 58. senten. for it could not bee done if God did not suffer it. Nec uti (que) no len [...] [...] sed vole [...]· Nec sineret bonus fieri malè, nisi om nipotens eti­am de malo facer [...] posset benè. Cap. 15 In his Enchirid to Laurent. 100. it followeth: and truely he doth not suffer it against, but with his will: and being good, as hee is▪ he would never suffer any thing to be ill done, but that being also almighty, he can doe well of that which is evill. Vndoubtedly he doeth not suffer a­gainst his will, for that woulde bee with griefe, and must needes ar­gue a power greater than himselfe: then if he willingly suffer, Per­missio est quoddam genus voluntatis, his sufferance is a certaine kinde of will. In his booke of predestination and grace, he compareth Nabucho­donosor and Pharaoh togither, both which had the same plaister of chastisement laid vnto them; though converted in the one to his soules health, in the other to his destruction. Touching nature, they were both men; for honour, both kings; concerning the cause of correction, both helde the people of GOD in captivity; and lastly for their punishment, both were admonished by the scour­ges of GOD. Yet the endes of their punishment were diuerse; for the one fought against God, the other by repentance obtained mercy. Now what obiections soever a man may frame-here hence a­gainst the equity of God, Intelligat ista tamē vel adiuvante Domino perfi­ci, vel deserente permitt [...], vt noverit tamen nolente Domino nihil prorsus ad­mitti: Let him vnderstande that all these thinges are either brought to passe, God aiding them; or suffered, God forsaking them; so that hee knowe withall, that nothing in the worlde can be done, An obiecti­on answe­red. if God be vnwilling. If then I sinne by the will of God, how can I helpe it? and why doeth hee yet com­plaine? as Paule obiecteth, Romanes the ninth. I will remoue this stone of offence, and then returne to my purpose. My will, I say, is borne by a streame of the will of GOD, or it is my destiny to sinne, the starres haue fore-signed my going awry, Mars com­mitted the murther, Venus the adulterie, thus vvas I borne and marked, the fault is not mine, I sinne by compulsion. I put them all togither, because it is the fashion of some to set vp a iudgement seat in their erroneous phantasies, and thereat to arraigne God of iniustice, sive per transennam, sive per cannam longam, sive per proximum, either by the casemēt, or through a long cane, obliquely, or farther of, and some hard at hand and directly, some by destiny, some by starres o­hers reaching immediately at God himselfe, Deus hoc voluit, & si nol­let Deus, non facerem, God would haue it thus, if God would not, I coulde not haue done it. One in a monastery being reprooved, that hee did some things not to be done, & omitted others which he should haue done, [Page 247] answered those that rebuked him; what kinde of man soever now I am, Qualiscu [...] que nunc sim, talis ero, qualē me de­us praescivis esse futurii. Qui profe­ctò & verū dicebat, & hoc vero non proficiebat in bonum. Aug. 2. de [...]o­no persever. 15. E [...]odius obiected the like. 3. de lib. arbit. 3. Non vi­de [...] quomo­do sibi non adversentur haec duo, praescientia, & leberias arbitrii. Au­gustine an­swered; De­us est prae­scius volun­tatis nostrae, & cuius est praescius, ip­sa [...]rit. Praedestina­tio vel est. Al ligationis & potētiae. vel Conditioni [...] & iustitiae This later is with God, even in evil acti­ons. Non vule malum, vul [...] hoc ipsum, [...]ieri malum. Zanch. Deus quasdam voluntates sua [...] uti (que) bonas, implet per malor [...] hominum voluntates mala [...]. Aug. enchir. c. 101. I shalbe such as God hath fore-seene I should be. Who therin (saith Augustine) both spake a trueth, and yet was no whit bettered to amendment of life by that trueth. O damned absurdity, rooting her wickednes in heaven, as if the prescience and will of God were the cause of our sinning, where­as his prescience is but the antecedent to our sins going before them, (for, because we sin, therfore they are foreknowne; not, because they are foreknowne, therefore we sin:) and his will is but the consequent, following vpon them. I say againe, God hath a will and purpose in the sins of vnrighteous men; not that he liketh the sins, but he orde­reth & governeth thē in wise manner, & turneth them to some end that well pleaseth him. And though he willeth not the evill it selfe, yet the doing of the evill doth in some respectes content him. And that will in God is consequent to our will. For albeit it were before ours in time (be­cause his will is as ancient as himselfe, even from everlasting) yet in order and course of thinges, it commeth behinde it, and he that ful­filleth the will of God, in this māner (or rather the will of God is ful­filled vpon him) shall hang in hell for his service; so little thankes is he likely to reape at Gods handes. For there is no question, but God doeth fulfill good purposes of his owne, by the ill purposes of ill men. Iudas was not yet formed, nor any member of his body set togither or fashio­ned, when they were all written in the booke of God. He saw his treason in the glasse of his foreknowledge, and vnderstoode his thoughtes a far off. There was not a word in his tongue but God was long since acquain­ted with it. He knew that his will was bent to mischiefe, from before the world was established. Now God hath a will vpon and after the will of Iudas, and thus he bethinketh himselfe. Iudas hath a will to betray his maister, I will not stop his will, but cōvert it to some good vse▪ I will draw a preservative against poison frō the very poison of a serpent, I wil declare my power & skill therby. The world shal know that of the vnnaturallest treason that ever the sun beheld, I cā worke a good effect. I will shew my iudgements amongst all nations vpon Iudas and his complices; & by the fruites of that bitter roote, the vi­lest treachery that ever hell cast vp, I will save mankinde. Iudas him­selfe never intended therein either to magnifie the power of God, or to manifest his iustice, or to deliver any of his brethren, vvho, I dare say, never conceived therein how his owne singular soule might be saved. So then, Iudas committed a treason, and God foresawe a treason, whose knowledge is as great as himselfe, and the workes of a thousand generations to come as present vnto him as that vvhich [Page 248] is done at the present time.Aug. lib. 6. hypognost. [...]. Dam. What of that? praescivit, non praedestina­vit vel fecit; hee onely foreknewe it, hee neither predestinated it nor com­mitted it. For this is the rule: Mala tantùm praescit, & non praedestinat; bona verò & praescit & praedestinat: Evill thinges hee onely foreknoweth, good hee both foreknoweth and praedestinateth, that is, apointeth and taketh order for them before hand. Hee also foretolde the infidelity, ma­lice, mischievousnesse of the Iewes in complottinge the same villa­ny against the sonne of God.Aug tract. 53. in Ioan Fecerūt pec­catum Ju­daei, quod eos nō compulit facere, cui peccatum nō place [...], sed facturos esse praedixit, quem nihil latet. Jbid. [...]. de cōst. 20. VVhat of that? praedixit, non fecit; hee onelye foretolde and not wrought it. Ipsorum praescivit peccata, non sua; Hee foresawe their sinnes, not his owne. The Iewes committed a sinne which hee compelled them not to doe, who is displeased with sinne, but onelye foretolde that they would doe it, because nothing is hid from him. Iustus Lipsius as acutely as any man; vidit ab aeterno; sed vidit non coëgit; sci­vit non sanxit; praedixit non praescripsit: hee sawe it from all eternitye, but hee sawe it, enforced it not; knew it, decreed it not; foretolde it, prescribed, ordeined it not. For tell mee, yee adulterers, mur­therers, vsurers, drunkardes, traitours, and the rest of this accursed seede, when you committ such things whereof you are now asha­med, and seeke vnlawfull helpes to be rid of them, whether you doe them against your willes, whether you finde any force offered vnto you, whether you are drawne vnto them with, lines, or rather draw not them vnto you with cart-ropes? when the devill prompteth and suggesteth iniquity vnto you, whether you yeeld not your neckes to his yoke with easines; if the least obiect of pleasure allure not, pull not your senses after it; if ever your meate and drinke were sweeter to your palate and throate, than these sinnes to your soules; if there be any christian resistance in you, Quod nolo malum, hoc facio, that evill which I would not, that doe I; if you set not windowes and dores open, that the strong man, who carrieth the mindes of men captive, may enter in? Have you not will in all these? or is it a pos­sible thing that will can be constrained? It is as proper to will to keepe a libertie, I meane from coaction, as for fire to burne. Else it were not voluntas, but noluntas as, not will, but no will, if violence coulde be offered vnto it. I desire to open my meaning. The foreknowledge of God is vnto him (if shallowe and deepe may bee compared togither) as memory is to vs: as memory presenteth vnto vs things that are past, so prescience vnto God things which are to come. Memory is our booke wherein wee reade the one, and prescience his booke where­in hee readeth the other: and as memory in vs is not the cause vvhy thinges past were done, but onely recounteth; so Gods prescience [Page 249] is not the cause why future thinges shalbe done, but only foreknow­eth them: & as we remember some things which we do, but do not al things which we remember; so God foreseeth al things wherof he is authour, but is not authour of al things which he foreseeth: lastly, we remember & God foreseeth the doing of every thing in the nature & kinde therof: we remember a stone throwne wherewith a man vvas slaine; by violence? no, by chance; so God foresawe it: we remem­ber since a vineyard was planted,Jn Psal 32. Si peccavi, ego peccavi, non fatū, nō fortuna, non Diabolus. Adversus me pronunc [...] abo non ad­versus Do­m [...]num. Bern. ser. 76. in Cantic. in illud Psal. 117. Impul­sus sum u [...] caderem. Quaeris, quis ille im­pulsor? non est unu [...]. Im­pulsor Dia­bolus, impul­sor mundus, impulsor ho­mo▪ quis ist [...] homosit, quae ris? quis (que) sui▪ Vs (que) a­deo homo impulsor sibi est, & suime [...] precipitator, ut non sit quod ab alte­ro impulsor [...] formides, si ipse à te pro­prias conti­neas manus. and the trees therof brought forth grapes; by violence? no, by nature; so God foresaw it: we remember a theefe which lay in waite for bloude, and committed a murther by the high way side; by violence? no, by wil; so God foresaw it. Thus al things are done according to the foreknowledge & will of almighty God; necessary things of necessity, contingent by contingency and happe, as we call it, naturall by kindely course, voluntary with ele­ction and choise, their natures neither changed, nor any way enfor­ced by the foresaid meanes. I conclude with Saint Augustin, God cre­ated me with free will (hee speaketh of freedome from coaction,) If I have sinned, It was I that sinned; it was neither destiny, nor fortune, nor the devill. I will pronounce against my selfe, not against the Lord. I knowe I sin of necessity in one sence, because the corruption of nature hath remooved that originall integrity wherin man was first created; but I sin not violently, because mine owne will is reserved vnto me. For, as it was true of man in the state of innocency, Potest non peccare, hee may, if he will, not sin, because God lefte him in the hande of his owne counselles, and gave him liberty both waies; so it is now as true in the state of corruption, Non potest non peccare, he cannot chuse but sinne, the whole lumpe of his nature being sowred with that auncient lea­ven; neither shall he ever be delivered from the corruption where­vnto he is subiect, till he attaine to the state of glorification, wherein it shall as certainely be verified, non potest peccare, he cannot sin though he would, corruption having put on incorruption both in body and spirit. Which necessity of sinning the meane time is not in any ex­ternall cause, either creator or creatures, but in the decayed nature of man, vpon the fall wherof commeth vanity in the mind, and a fro­wardnes in the will to depart from the living God. Now I returne to my former assertion, that nothing is done without the wil of God, & yet the will of man therby no way corrupted or compelled. And surely the very tenour and sound of the scripture phrase, bewraieth a degree of some forwarder dispositiō frō God in the actiōs of vnrigh­teous men, than his bare toleration. For, why was it said, not onely [Page 250] in the 3. of Exod: I knowe that the king of Egypt will not let you goe but by strong hand, which is referred to the prescience of God, foresee­ing what woulde come to passe; and in the 7. chapter, the heart of Pharaoh was heavy and dull, which is referred to his owne obstinate hardening of it; but I will harden the heart of Pharaoh, and he shall not let the people goe, Exod. 4. and Pharaoh shall not harken vnto you? Exod. 7. For when Pharaoh hardened his owne hearte, both against the people of Israell, give them no straw, get you to your burthens, Exod. 5. and in the same chapter against the Lorde himselfe, who is the Lorde that I should heare his voice? then did God permit all this to be done, and helde his peace, as the Psalme speaketh, gave him the hearing and the looking on: but afterwardes when hee putteth as it were iron to iron, adamant to adamant, I will harden his heart, it cannot reasona­bly be supposed, but that besides his sufferance, there was an acces­sion of some worke of his. VVhen the sonnes of Zerviah woulde have taken Shemei his head from him, because he railed at the king, throwing stones at him, and calling him a murtherer, the sonne of Beliall &c. 2. Sam. 16. David stayed them with strange and vnexpected speech, what have I to doe with you, yee sonnes of Zerviah? for hee curseth mee, because the Lorde hath bidden him curse David. And further, as if the rayler were safe vnder the wings of Gods authority, who then dare say, where­fore hast thou done so? and once more, suffer him to curse, for the Lorde hath bidden him. Nathan the prophet had tolde him before, that for his murther and adultery the Lord had thus decreed aginst him:Chap. 12. I will raise vp evill against thee out of thine owne house, and will take thy wives before thy face, and give them to thy neighbour, & he shall lie with thy wives on the sight of the sunne; for thou diddest it secretly, but I will doe this thinge before all Israell, and before the sunne. Micheas told Ahab, The Lorde hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets, [...]. king. 22. and the Lorde hath a­pointed evill against thee. Ieremy to the face of GOD chargeth him,Ier. 4. Surely thou hast deceived this people and Ierusalem, saying, you shall have peac [...], and behold a sworde. And the Lorde in plainer tearmes taketh it vpon him, Ezech. 14. If the prophet bee deceived when he hath spoken a thing, I the Lorde have deceived him. God gave the Gentiles vp (Rom. 1.) to the desires of their heartes, to vncleanenesse, to defile their bo­dies betweene themselves &c. into vile affections, (affections of disho­nour, dishonesty, contumely, shame,) to doe against nature it selfe, into a reprobate minde. Iulian interpreted al these speeches by Permit­tere, as if then God did it, when hee suffered it to be done: (so did many auncient writers, by wordes of the like importance, Passus [Page 251] est, [...]:) Augustine answered him, that God doth not only permit then, but declare his wrath & power therein. Iulian replied, that they were phrases hyperbolicall, that is, in some sort exceeding trueth. Augustine answered, they were proper. Iulian replied, what needed God deliver them to these lusts wherein they were before? it was sufficient to let them sticke fast therein. Augustine answered,Aliud est hae­bere, aliud tradi: tradū ­tur impii nō modò ut ha­beant, sed u [...] ab iis habe­antur. It is one thinge to haue them, an other to bee giuen over vnto them the wicked are giuen over to their lustes, not only to haue them, but to be had, that is, held and possest of them. We have the like specified, 2. Thess. 2. God shall sende them operation of deceite, that they may beleeve lies. I omit a hundreth places of no lesse signifi­cance. Can there be mightier sinnes committed, nay conceaved, and comprehended in the minde of man, than those I have named? than hardnesse of heart, the onely rocke to builde all iniquity vpon, when one neither is nor can be ashamed? than cursed and slanderous speech, rayling at the Gods of the earth, than adulteries, constupra­tions, open, shamelesse, even in the sight of the sunne, lying, deceaving, sinnes of Sodom, vnnaturall lustes in men, women, not to bee spo­ken of, reprobate sense, mighty illusions, and such like? All which not­withstanding, the spirit of the counselles of GOD, of whome it is most true that wisedome shall live and die with him, vvho neither deceaveth any man, neither can bee deceaved, hath not forborne largely to speake of, and to derive them in some sort from the throne of GOD, where iustice it selfe is seated; GOD did thus and thus.

To turne this night into day, and to make it appeare vnto you, how God shalbe iust still, and yet both nature and the workers of such thinges abhorred, and abominated before him to the bot­tome of hell, consider, I beseech you, attentively these two thinges. First that in all the scriptures to-fore alleaged,1 August. ad artic falsò impos. ad 14 Deus indu­ravit per iu­stum iudiciu [...] Pharaonem, & ipse se Pharao per liberum ar­bitrium. A [...]. de grat. & [...] arbit 23. there is mention made of some precedent iniquity, in those vngracious persons whom God so dealeth with, deserving and procuring the hand of God thus hea­vily vpon them. Recessurum non deserit antequam deserat; God ne­ver forsaketh a man that will depart from him, before hee forsaketh God: & plerum (que) facit ne deserat; and often times he worketh so that hee shall not forsake him. Hath God hardened Pharaoh? Pharaoh hardened himselfe before. God hardened Pharaoh by his iust iudgment, Pharaoh himselfe by his free will. Bad he Shemei curse David? gave hee his wives to be defiled by his owne sonne? David had deserved both, for touching both the wife and life of Vriah. VVilled hee a lying [Page 252] spirit to seduce Ahab? Ahab would not giue credit to the right spirit, and he had sold himselfe to worke all manner of wickednesse in the sight of the Lord. Did he seduce both people and prophets the leaders of the people? they had before set vp idolles in their heartes, and put a stumbling blocke of iniquitie before their faces. Did hee giue over nations, to lusts, vncleanesse, dishonest affections, actions against na­ture,Rom. 1. reprobate senses? the Apostle answereth in Gods behalfe; it was [...], a recompence of their former errors, because they changed the truth of God into a lie, & worshipped the creature more than the creator, & turned the glory of an incorruptible God, into the image of corrup­tible mē, birds, four-footed beasts, creeping things. And wherfore were they misled with strong illusions, [...]. Thess. [...]. but because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved? Now where sinne is plagued with sin, as in the pollicie of God wherewith he governeth the world, you shall finde it 1000. times, then is not peccatum, peccatum, but iudiciū, though sin in nature, yet in respect of God not sin but iudgment: it changeth the name, cōmeth in another nature, presenteth it selfe with another face & countenance; sin of it selfe, I must confesse, but as it cōmeth from God, iustice: for it is the repaiment & retaliatiō of some former sin: Iussisti Domine, & verè sic est, vt omne peccatum sit poena peccantis, O Lord, Iustiu [...] in­vidiâ nihil est. thou hast commanded, & indeed so it is, that all sin shall be a punishment to him that committeth it. Envy hath much iustice in it, though a mali­cious, vniust quality in it selfe: for it eateth vp the hart and marrow of her master, as he desireth to eate vp another. VVhen David gave charge for Shemei, let him alone, was it to iustifie Shemei in his wick­ednes? No. He acknowledged the scourge of God for his sins in the tonge of Shemei, boūd togither not of whip-chord, but of the vene­mous reproches which Shemei cast forth. He looked to the iudge frō whome it was iustice, not to the instrument & rod in the hand of the iudge frō whom it was malice, & therfore said; It may be the Lorde will looke vpon my teares, & do me good for his cursing this day, knowing that by the wisdome of God these bitter waters could easily be made sweete. Things that are evil in nature, Po [...]est Deu [...] prav [...] non pravè face­ [...]e. God can handle not in evil maner. Hemlocke of it selfe is a pestilent and noxious hearbe. Yet the magistrates of A­thens pronounce in iudgment, that Socrates shall drinke a boule of hemlocke. What? is iudgement turned into wormewood, iustice in to hemlocke? is there poisoning & destroying of men at a iudgement seate? yea, and good enough. An action evill simply in it selfe may be good by a circumstance; the poison is in the hearbe, not in the magi­strate; he commādeth it to be drunken, though as a bane to the ma­lefactor, to shortē his life, yet a preservative of the cōmon wealth, & [Page 253] for the terror of others, a punishment to him that hath poisoned and annoied the welfare thereof: & as it proceedeth frō the magistrate, so leaveth it as it were the name & nature of poisō, & is called iudgmēt.

The next thing which I wish to be harkened vnto, is this,2. that what­soever God doth in the hardning of Pharaohs hart, or irrogating any the like iudgment, that he doth, non impartiendo malitiam, not by infusing any wickednesse, as the magistrate putteth no venime into the hearbe; sed non impartiendo misericordiā, but by not imparting his mercy, or auferen­do spiritum, by with-drawing his holy spirite: as when yee withdrawe the pillers or proppes of the house, vvhich Sampson did, the house falleth to ruine, with the very weight of the building that is laid ther­vpon; or if a countrey he vvaste and vnpeopled, it becommeth a de­sert of it selfe, &, for lacke of better inhabitants, it is covered with net­tles & briers, & satyres, shrich-owles & hedg-hogs take it vp: so when the aide & assistance of Gods grace forsaketh a man, vvhose body & soule vvere apointed to haue beene the temples of the Lord of hosts to dwell in, presently wildnes & barbarousnes succeedeth, and that which by the mercies of God might haue beene as his garden & plea­sant paradise, through the absence therof becōmeth an habitatiō for fowle & vncleane spirites.Causa defici­ens, sive re­movens. For as the removing of the sun from these vpper partes of the earth where we liue, into the other hemisphere, bringeth darknes vpon vs, not that the body of the sun is not altogi­ther lightsome, & his natural office to lighten, but because he is gone & departed further of: so the departure of God, himselfe most righte­ous, frō an vnrighteous soule, by the only remove of his gracious pre­sence, leaveth it to it selfe in an habite of iniustice never to be recove­red. Wherein notwithstanding the case is not so harde against God, as some imagine it; that it is all one to thrust an olde man dovvne, and to take away his staffe, the only stay to keepe his feete from fal­ling, for his helpe being gone, he cā no longer stand, as if in God, the withdrawing of his grace, (which is his rodde or staffe to sustaine vs) were effectuallie no lesse than to thrust vs into wickednesse: for thus they should rather propose it; that as when an olde man wilfully ca­steth away his staffe, and no man restoreth it to him againe, he falleth through his owne folly, not by anothers instigation; so when the wic­ked despisers of the world, not only neglect, but contemne & defie, that saving grace wherby they stād, through their own stubbornnes & perversity they run a werisome race of wre [...]chednes, the Lord not lending them his helping hand to bring thē backe againe. And ther­fore, as they that purposedly abandō the light of the sun, to goe into a [Page 254] darkesome cave of the grounde, where the sunne never shone, have no reason to complaine that the sunne woulde not followe them: so they that wittingly and stifly renounce the acceptable visitation of God, whereby he would have led them into the waies of peace, let them blame their owne impenitency, that they are not afterwards at­tended vpon by the like compassion. Or, to match these incompa­rable things with Irenee;Lib. 4. cont▪ haeres. c 49. as the sunne which is the creature of God, blin­deth the eies of such as for the infirmitie of sight cannot behold his beames; so God the creator of the sunne, hardeneth the heartes of such, as for the hard­nesse of beleefe will not receave his goodnesse. For whome he fore▪ sawe vndis­posed to beleeve, those hee delivered to their infidelitie, and turned avvaye his face from them, Relinquens eos in [...]ene bris, quas si­bi elegerunt. August. de grat & prae. dest. 8. Non vult e­mollire▪ the for­mer nega­tiue. The latter affirma­tiue leaving them in darkenesse which they chose to themselves. What is it then to harden the heart of Pharaoh, and others? nolle e­mollire; this, that hee will not soften it. What is it to make blinde? this, that hee will not illuminate: what to reiect, or to cast of? this, that hee will not call; (vvhich is ment not of his generall calling, but of that which is effectuall, and belongeth to the chosen:) & yet, me thinkes, there is more [...]n it. For not onelye hee is vnvvillinge to soften, illu­minate, call the impenitent, but hee hath further a will, not to doe it. For there is greate difference betwixte these two speeches, hee will not, and hee hath a will not doe it: the former arguinge but an indifferent and milder alienation of the minde, and rather a care­lesse neglect, than a purposed and prounded hatred; the latter a bent and resolved decree. As when a poore man asketh an almes, some are vnwilling to relieve him, not weighing his necessitie, and bid­ding him goe in peace &c. others have a vvill not to relieve him, it is determined in their heartes not to afforde him comforte, either be­cause they are vnmercifull towardes all the poore, or for that they are out of likinge with the manners or person of this man. Augu­stine in three words decideth this whole question against Faustus the Manichee,Lib. 1. ad Simplician. quaest 2. Sed cùm facit, per mise ricordiam facit; cùm autem non facit▪ per iu­dicium non facit, Enchi▪ cap. 97. touching the hardening of heartes, and the like iudg­mentes: Diabolus suggerit, homo consentit, Deus deserit; The devill vvorketh it by suggestion, man by consenting, GOD by forsaking, by suffering an hard heart to vvaxe as fatte as brawne, by giving successe to [...]ll purposes which hee could have stopped, by not com­municating the helpe of his blessed spirit; vt non ab illo irr [...]getur a­liquid, quo sit homo deterior, sed tantùm, quo sit melior, non erogetur. God were able, I confesse, to soften the hardest heart, open the blindest eies, when, and in whome, and where he listed; But when he doth so, hee doth it by mercy; and vvhen he doth it not, hee doth it not by iudge­ment. [Page 255] Meane-while let this be helde for a constant and vnfallible rule, that although there be many whome God lifteth not vp, Ad [...]rtic. fal. imp [...]art. 14. Multi, ne la­berentur, de­ [...]en [...]i; mulli, vt laberen­tur, impul [...]i. yet there is none whome properly he throweth downe. Ab illo est quòd statur, non est ab illo quòd ruitur, From him it commeth that we all stand, but not from him that any falleth: and many have beene helde that they fell not, no man pushed at to cause him to fall. Onelie hee casteth them downe by a consequence, be­cause hee giveth not his grace which might have susteined them: as if a nurse lend not her hand to support her childe, the childe will fall, I graunte, but the cause of the falling is the vveakenesse and debility of the childe, the nurse no further the cause thereof, then that shee did not hinder it. Which though it bee a fault amongst vs, because wee are members one of the other, and tied togither by the bonde of charity, yet it is no fault in God, who having pow­er over his clay, may worke at his pleasure either in iudgement, to make it a vessell of dishonour, or of honour in mercy. For manife­station of this latter point, that God instilleth not malice into the of­fendours, in this execution of his iudgementes by punishing sinne by sinne, but finding these vesselles of iniquity full fraught of them­selves, leaveth them with the season of their owne licour, and one­ly applieth thē by his wisedome to some good service of his; though I were able to open it vnto you in all the examples before alleadged, yet I will rest, in the seducement and fall of Ahab. Wherein it may seeme, that God doth not onely permitt the false spirit,1. King. 22. Thou shalt seduce Ahab, but giveth encouragement also, thou shalt prevaile, and addeth a commaundement, goe forth, and alloweth of the forme of dealing in the matter, doe so. Now that you may knowe how innocent the Lord is in an action of such preiudice, observe the circumstances of the place well. 1. The thing intended is, that Ahab 1 might fall at Ramoth Gilead. Which purpose of God once set, is so vnchangeable, that if heaven and earth were confederate, they can not save the life of Ahab. God shall send forth a spirit, the spirit deceave prophets, prophets entice Ahab, Ahab change his appar­rell, and though Iehoshaphat be the fairer marke, yet Iehoshaphat shall escape, and one shall draw an arrowe by chance, and smite A­hab betwixte his brigandine, and hee shall dye at evening; hee did so. Therefore touching the ende of this businesse, it is no iniustice in God, to execute iudgement and wrath vpon a famous adversary. 2. Concerning the meanes, enquiry was made who should entice A­hab,2 because in the nature of God himselfe it was not to entice him. 3. That which he doth, he doth by a spirit, not by himselfe: 4. by an 3 4 [Page 256] evil spirit,De propriis loquitur. of his bād & retinew, who stood before God 1. Iob. 5. The spirit commeth furnished of his owne, for vvhen one saide thus, ano­ther 5 otherwise, he profered his service to to entice him. 6. When God 6 demaunded of the meanes, hee invented the practise, by being a 7 false spirit in the mouth of his prophets. 7. What were those prophets of Ahab? men that were faithlesse of themselues, whose guise it was, either for rewardes, or for favour of the king, to say they had dreamed ▪ when they had not, and the Lorde hath saide, when hee never saide it. So there is both malice in the spirit, and falshood in the prophets, before God setteth either hand or hearte to the businesse. Therefore what doth the Lord therin? he fitteth vpō the throne as the iudge & moderator of the whole action, hee commādeth the attendance of al the army of heaven on the right hande and on the lefte, cleane and vncleane spirites are in subiection to him, hee giveth leave to them who without his leave are vnable to doe any thinge, thou shalt entice; hee giveth the successe, which all the kingdome of darkenes coulde not effect, if hee woulde hinder it, thou shalt prevaile; he biddeth goe, and they goe, runne, and they runne, to shew that all the crea­tures of the worlde serue him; hee disposeth the course, Do so, that is, doe so and no more than so; as much as to say, Since thou hast malice to bestowe, extende it vpon Ahab rather than Iehoshaphat; and falshood to infuse, powre it forth vpon the 400. prophets of A­hab rather than vpon Michaeas or any prophet of mine; and let the fall of Ahab be at Ramoth Gilead rather than in another place, and in this battaile with the king of Aram, rather than at another time. Thus when the matter is their owne, God giveth the fashioning and ordering thereof in some sorte, touching the persons, time, place, and other the like particulars. But why is it further saide, that God 1 put a lying spirit into the mouth of these prophets of Ahab? 1. hee did 2 it by way of a punishment, to bee avenged of that custome of lying, 3 which they were inured vnto aforetime: 2. hee did it by his instru­ment,Instrumentū animatum. having both life, and will to doe hurte, not by himselfe: 3. he did it in this sense, that he staied not the wicked purpose, by in­terposing the aide of his good spirit.

By this time, I thinke, it appeareth, that in the actions and passi­ons of vnrighteous men, there is more to bee deemed of God than his bare permission. For doubtlesse hee hath his will therein, neither in alluring, neither in counselling, and much lesse in compellinge thereunto, but in ordering and governing them, in applying them to better endes than the oftendours are aware of, and in ordeining [Page 257] his iust iudgements consequently thereupon. Therefore when I say he hath his will therein, mistake me not. He hath not a will in such sort as if he approved sin, chose or desired sin, as if he bare appetite & liking thereto. It is rather voluntas than volitio, if I may so speake, a wil than a willingnes; it is his will by obliquity, a side-will, vnproper,Zanch. vn­direct, and in respect not to the sinne it selfe, but some other good adioyned vnto it: as when a man is put to have his arme or legge cut off for a further benefite, hee beareth, and beareth it with his will, not that he liketh of the dismembring of his body, or loosing of a ioynte, but that he desireth some other good, vvhich hee fore­seeth may ensue thereby. Thus hee permitted, and (more) hee decreed the treason of Iudas, and iniquity of the Ievves a­gainst his annointed sonne, as you have it confessed by the Apo­stles, Actes the fourth; that Herode and Pilate with the Gentiles and peo­ple of Israell gathered themselves togither against the holy sonne of GOD Iesus, to doe whatsoever his hande and his counsell had determined before to be done. God had determined it before, not in the favour of their sinne, but of our redemption.Origen. in Num. 22. Take away the wickednesse of the pro­dition of Iudas, thou shalt also take away the crosse and passion of Christ; if the death of Christ had not beene, then neither his resurrection, nor anie first begotten from the deade, nor anie hope of our resurrection. Take avvay the malice of the brethren of Ioseph, Tolle mali­tiam fra [...]ū Josephi, si­mul perimes dispensatio­nem Dei. thou shalt togither kill the dispensation of GOD; a fault never to be excused, the more vnna­turall because it came from brethren, the more vnreasonable because of envie without iust cause, the more vnsufferable because they ad­ded lying, and bound two sinnes togither, and it was, in likelihoode, the hastning of their fathers death. Yet Ioseph tolde his brethren when they came into Egypt,Gen. 45. Grieve not your selves that yee solde mee hi­ther, for God sent mee hither for your preservation (this they never fore­saw, neither was it the end of their dispightfull dealing:) you sent mee not hither but God, who hath made mee a father to Pharao, and Lorde of his house, and ruler throughout all Egypt, when you repined that I vvas a brother amongst you, and left mee no footing in mine owne fathers house. Afterwards when his brethren fell downe at his feet, & con­fessed their sin, hee answered them, feare not, am I in steede of God, set to execute iudgment? When you thought evill against me, God disposed it to good, that hee might vvorke, as it is come to passe this day, and save much people a­live. All the wits in the world cannot better set downe the state of the questiō. They thought evill, God disposed it to good ▪ they to vngorge themselves of that venimous malice which the prosperity of Ioseph [Page 258] conceived from his dreames, instilled into their heartes; God, to pre­serve them in a famine to come, and to save much people alive: they sent him away to remoove their eie-sore; God, to be a stewarde both for AEgypt and Israell. Nay God sent him thither, and they sent him not: the incomprehensible reaches of God were so far above theirs, and his wisdome in the good handling of a bad cause doeth so much obscure and discountenance their malice, that it seemeth not to be at all, and the ministers in the action as it were cast aside, the highest dispenser and moderatour thereof onely is remembred, you sent mee not hither but God; the purposes of your heartes were nothing in com­parison of that everlasting decree, which the immortall and onely wise God made to himselfe.

See what a race and pedegree of blessings Origen bringeth downe from the rotten stocke of that vngratious practise. If Ioseph he not sold, Pharaos dreames are not expounded, none maketh provision of corne, Egypt and the country about Egypt, and Israell sterveth in the time of dearth, the seede of Israell goeth not into Egypt to seeke bread, neither returneth out of E­gypt with miracles, no wonders are wrought by Moses and Aaron, no passing through the red sea, no Manna from heaven, no water from the rocke, no lawe from Sinai, no going into the land of Canaan, &c. These are the blessings and commodities which the envy of the Patriarkes bringeth forth by Gods most mighty and wise dispensation. So that we may truly say, Particular mischiefes are common commodities. The life of the Lyon is maintained by the death of the Lambe,Privatae ma­la, publica bona. Sanguis Martyrum, semen Eccle­siae. Ench. c. 27. the cruelty of tyrants giveth Martyres their glory and crowne, And the bloud of Martyrs becommeth the seede and propagation of the church. If any demaunde whether this good might not better have beene procured by good meanes, I an­swere with Augustine, Melius iudicavit Deus de malis benefacere, quàm mala nulla esse permittere; It seemed better to the wisedome of God, to worke good out of evill, than to suffer no evill at all.

Conclusiō.I now conclude the point. As in the statutes & lawes of our com­mon wealth, there are many things contained more than the lawes either commit or allow, as treasons, felonies, heresies, and the like, which notwithstanding the lawes order & dispose of; so in the will of God, within the compasse and pale of his arbitrement, much more is contained, than either by action or autorizement from him could ever be defended, and yet is that will of his, iudge and disposer of al those particulars. And whether Ioseph be sold into Egypt, or Ionas throwne into the sea, or the son of God himselfe nailed vpō a crosse, we may safely & vniversally say with the Mariners in this prophesie, [Page 259] Thou, Lord, haste done as it pleased thee. Surelie there is not an evill in th [...] cittie, nor vpon the face of the earth but God hath some vse of it. Those sins within our land that take al from men, as coveteousnesse, extortion, oppression, vsury, they take not that from God vvhich his wisdome maketh of them, I meane the profit & vse of most vn­naturall vices. Happily they take the substance of their brethren, and by taking such snares away, saue their soules; or, if they take their liues, they ease & vnlade them of a great burthen of their sinnes to come. The drunkard drinketh himselfe a sleepe, not God, and brin­geth his owne senses and wits into a trance, but provoketh & quick­neth the righteous Lorde to do a worke of iustice. The adulterer wrappeth himselfe within the armes of his harlot, and thinketh he is safe, and not perceived, but never shal be able to vnwrappe himselfe from the armes of Gods goverment. The murtherer that spoileth the life of his mortall brethren, if every wish of his hearte were a two edged sworde, shall never kill the life of Gods immortall provi­dence. He shall saie to the hardest hearte, at which the preaching of prophets and denunciation of iudgementes hath often recoiled, o­pen thy dores that I may enter into thee to declare my iustice; and to the reprobatest minde that ever hath beene dulled and benum­med with sinne, though thou feelest not my grace, thou shalt feele my vengeance. Envie cānot hinder his benignity, nor the hotest ma­lice vnder heauen drie vp this spring of his goodnes. What shall we say then? Because God maketh vse of thy sinnes, art thou ex­cused? Is not thine evill, evill, because he picketh good out of it? de­ceiue not thy selfe therein. When thou hast done such service to thy maister and maker, though seven and seven yeares, as Iacob did to Laban, thou shalt loose thy wages, and thy thankes to. O well were thou if thou didst but loose, for thou shalt also gaine a sorowful advā ­tage. It is vnprofitable, nay miserable service which thou hast thus bestowed. Babylon shall bee the hammer of the Lorde a long time to bruse the nations, himselfe afterwardes bruised. Assur his rod to scourge his people, but Assur shall bee more scourged. These ham­mers, rods, axes, sawes, other instruments, when they have done their offices, which they never ment, shalbe throwne themselves into the fire, and burnt to ashes. Sathan did service to God, it cannot bee denied, in the afflicting of Iob, winnowing of Peter, buffeting of Paul, executing of Iudas, and God did a worke in all these, either to proove patience, or to confirme faith, or to trie strength, or to com­mend iustice; yet is Sathan reserved in chaines, vnder darkenes, to the [Page 260] retribution of the great day. Iudas did service to God, in getting ho­nour to his blessed name for the redemption of mankinde, whilst the world endureth: Yet was his wages an alder-tree to hang himselfe vpon, and, which is worse, he hangeth in hell for eternall generati­ons. He had his wages, and lost his wages. That which the priest gave him, he lost, and lost his Apostleshippe, but gained the recom­pence of everlasting vnhappinesse, and lieth in the lowest lake, for the worme and death to gnaw vpon without ceasing. Will you heare the end of all? Feare God, and keepe his commandements, For this is the whole duety of man. This is the will of God, wherewith we are highly charged, and he will strictly require it. The booke that is clasped vp, let vs leave to the Lambe and to the blessed Trinity. Those of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalmes, of Christ and his blessed Apo­stles, wherein we may run and read the ordinances of the most High, belong to vs, and our seede after vs. These let vs carefully search, and meditate in them day and night; let them wake and sleepe, walke & rest, live and die with vs: and whatsoever he hath secretly decreed, whether by our weakenesse or strength, sicknesse or health, falling or standing, which in his hidden counselles is locked vp, and cannot be opened, but by the key of David, let vs beseech him for Christes sake, to turne it to our good, that his name may be glorified, his arme made knowne, his wisdome, iustice, and mercy more and more ma­gnified, and our sinfull soules by the abundant riches of his grace fi­nally saved. Amen.

THE XX. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 15.‘So they tooke vp Ionas, and cast him into the sea, and the sea ceased form her raging. ver. 16. Then the men fea­red the Lord, &c.’

IN the former verse, was the dedication of the sacrifice, wherein they sanctified themselves by praier, & cōmended their action to Gods good favor; in this is the offering of the sacri­fice: before the attēpting whereof, being their finall doome, & animadversiō vpō the life of Ionas, a iudgement without redemptiō, they observe the charitablest & wariest principle in exercising discipline, that may be helde; [Page 261] that is, not to trie an extremity, till they haue tried all meanes, and then, if the wounde bee vncurable and past hope,Cuncta priùs tentanda. to apply the fire or the sword to it. They dealte with Ionas in this course, as a skilfull surgian with his patient, a parte of whose body being putrified, and eating on by degrees, threatneth the losse of the whole, if it be not staied, as the transgression of Ionas being but a member in the ship, went forwarde like a canker, and was at hande to haue invaded the whole company. The professour wil first enquire the cause of the ma­ladie, how commeth it? what hath thy diet, thine exercise beene? as these aske Ionas, vvhat haste thou done? what is thine occupation? &c. and when hee is answered by his patient, I haue eaten and dranke in­temperately, exceeded the strength of my bodie, incontinentlie lived, (as Ionas reported how farre hee had disobeyed,) perhappes hee may chide him, as these chide Ionas, Why haste thou done this? a man of thy yeares, education, discretion? as these implie to Ionas, a man of thy knowledge, calling, and commission? yet he wil do more than expostulate, (for that were to afflict the afflicted, and to heape griefe vpon griefe) hee will advise with the patient himselfe, as these with Ionas, vvho best knoweth the state of his body, as Ionas the counselles of God, What shall wee doe vnto thee? And though he bee aunswered, there is no helpe but one, mine arme must be cut, or my legge sawed of, and then the rest of my body may be saved, as Ionas answered, Cast me into the sea, and the sea shall bee calme vnto you: yet hee will prooue his skill otherwise, as they their endevours by rowing, to saue the ioint, if possibly it may be done. But when there is no other helpe, the sore retayning his anger, as the sea her impatience, both fretting on still, and crying for a desperate remedie, then will the one vse his corrosiues, and sharpest instrumentes, commending the suc­cesse of the cure vnto God, as these, after praier, tooke vp Ionas, and cast him foorth. In the two next verses ensuing vvee may obserue, 1. their proceeding (as it were by steppes) to the action; They tooke vp 1 Ionas: 2. the accomplishment thereof; They cast him into sea: 3. the 2 event; The sea ceased from her raging: 4. the demeanour of the mari­ners, after their release, both in their inwarde affection, Then they fea­red 3 4 the Lord exceedingly; & in the open testification thereof, 1. by sacri­fices, witnesses of their present thankfulnes; and 2. vowes, pledges, and earnests of their duty to come.

Eleazar, an ancient interpreter of the Bible,1. They tooke vp. thinketh that the sen­tence is heere perfited, They tooke vp Ionas, and by a period or full pointe severed from that vvhich followeth, They cast him into the sea. [Page 262] Therevpon he collecteth, that the Mariners assaied fiue experimēts, to acquit themselues from danger. 1. The private invocation of everie man vpon his owne God; 2. the throwing forth of their wares; 3. their casting of lottes; 4. their common supplication; 5. their letting downe of Io­nas into the sea, vp to the necke, and pulling him backe againe, that it might appeare vnto them, that Ionas was the Man, whome the sea desired, because whilst his body was in the waters, the sea stood; when taken backe, it boiled againe. There is no warrant in my text for this opinion, therefore I charge you not with it. For as there is no reason, to loose one worde of the writings of God (not the least fragment of the broken meate,) so on the other side, to adde vnto them, is an iniu­rie, and a plague will follow it. Onely this I obserue as the comple­ment of all their former humanity, specified in many particulars be­fore, that though they coulde not cast him foorth, but they must first take him vp amongst them, yet seeing the history might haue con­cluded both in one, the latter implying the former, and rather doth it by noting the order and distinction of two sundry actions, and by making a space betweene thē ▪ First they tooke him vp, &c. then they cast him forth; it argueth a treatable, deliberate, gentle proceeding in thē, that, that which they did, they did by leasure, and without violent or turbulent invasiō. Hierome, with others, cōment vpō the wordes, Tu­lerunt, non arripuerunt, nō invaserūt, They tooke him, they haled him not, they caught him not vp in a rage, they set not hastily vpon him, but bare him in their armes,Quasi cum obsequio portantes. as it were with honour & due estimatiō. Because it was the funerals and exequies of a prophet of the Lorde, their last service vnto him, they did it with reverence. And in trueth there needed no invasion or force to be vsed against him. Hee was brought to his end, tanquā ovis (which was the Embleme of the sonne of God) as a lambe that is dumbe before the shearer, so opened hee not his mouth. Tulerunt non re­pugnantem, They tooke him without resistance. For what should resistance haue done?Prudent. ‘Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem traehunt;’ (I will not say, The destinies, as the Poet doth) but the will and pow­er of God (for these are the right destinies, and he that so vnderstan­deth them with Saint Augustine,Lib. 5. de civ. Dei▪ cap. 1. Teneat sententiam, corriga [...] linguam, Let him keepe the opinion, onely amending his tongue:) But the will and pow­er of God leade him that is willing to goe, and pull him that is vnwilling. I ne­ver red, that Moses opposed himselfe by the least thought of his heart, to the ordinance of God, when hee saide vnto him, Beholde, the daies are come that thou must die, though Moses might haue lived ma­ny yeares. For in the last of Deuteronomy, his eies were not dimme, nor [Page 263] his naturall force abated ▪ Rather he spake vnto the people with cheere­fulnesse & alacrity of hart, embracing the tydings of his death, I am an hundred and twenty yeares olde this day, I can no more goe out and in, also the Lord hath said vnto me, Thou shalt not goe over this Iordan. Young men a­mongst vs thinke they are priviledged, because they are in their full strength; old men though they haue a foote in the graue, thinke they may be long old: There is none so striken in yeares,Nemo est [...] senex qui nō annū se pu­tet posse [...]i­vere. but thinketh hee may liue a year more. Be we young, or old, if ever the message of God be sent vnto vs, as to Ezechias, Put thy house in order, dispatch thy worldly affaires, for thou must die, and not liue, though we turne our faces to the wal, & pray, & weepe, & mourne like a doue, & beg for life, as he did, yet if the purpose of God be fixed, let vs patiently entertaine it. Cur quod necesse est, non voluntas occupat? Prudentius a Christian & prudent Poet spake it, That that must be, shal be; blessed be the name of God, let vs not refuse it. Let a beast be pulled from his den by force, but let a Christian be taken frō his life with patience. For it is not inheritance but debt, and he that is the Lord of the spirites of all flesh, will as glo­riously restore, as he will certainely require it.

Ionas is now at length executed; if this had beene done before,2. They cast forth Ionas. the sea had beene quiet: but the Lord loveth to hold & suspend an actiō, for he hath many works in one, & this amongst the rest, that mā may know, that howsoever he be favoured by the intercession & respite of time, and by other helpes, he cannot striue with a mightier, nor go to law with his maker, but his reckonings and accounts must be made when all is done. Adam may runne into thickets, and spend the time a while, and cover himselfe with leaves, and thinke to beguile Gods eie, but Adam shall be called forth of his bushes, & stript of his gar­ments as thinne as spiders webbes, and cast out of paradise, and haue a sentence of death pronounced, and performed to vpon him, and his whole linage. Doth Sisera thinke by running away, to runne from the iudgements of the Lord? though there be peace betweene Iabin his master, and the house of Heber the Kenite, yet that peace shalbee turned into warre, hee shall come into the tent of Iahell the wife of Heber, and finde the hande of the Lorde as ready to encounter him there, as if he had fallen vpon the host of Barake; a draught of milke, which he beggeth for his comfort, shal be his last & deadliest draught, and insteed of rest to the temples of his head, a naile shall be driven into his temples to dispatch his life. The Iews may say in the Prophet, they vvill ride vpon horses, they will flie avvaie vpon the swiftest, but their persecutours shall bee swifter than they. Others may goe to the moun­taines [Page 264] and rockes, and say they will lie in the closest, but mountaines shalbe made as valleyes, & rocks shall yeeld at the pleasure of God, as wax before the sun, to open and disclose his enimies. Ionas shall haue his leaue to run away on foote with Sisera, to ride vpon the swiftest with the Iews, to ship himselfe in a vessel, & lie as close in the shrouds therof, as the ribbes wil giue him leaue, he shal one while sleepe, ano­ther draw lots, a third discourse, now be chid, & thē examined, & af­terwards consulted with, & fairelie entreated; hee shal see the losse of all their wares, & thinke his life may be saved by that losse, & behold millians of waues broken against the side of the ship, and hope that millians more shall passe, & not touch him; he shall haue what friend­ship & helpe the whole company of mariners may afford him, either by their praiers, or by their advise, or by the hādling of their ores, yet the end shalbe, Ionas must be cast forth. This is the wages of sin, & this is the way of all sinfull flesh. When we haue stood long, and foughte with the dangers of the world, both by land & sea; when thousandes haue fallē at our right hād▪ & tē thousands at our left, & we haue not fallen; whē we are cōpassed with friends so far forth, that we may saie with the woman of Shunē, I neede not speaking for me, either to the king, or to the captaine of the host, [...]. King. 4. I dwell amongst mine owne people, where I may cō ­mand; when we haue walked in the light of the sun, our prosperity, I meane, waxen so great, that we haue wanted nothing; whē we thinke that we are in league with death, & in covenant with the graue, and promise our selues, that we shal multiplie our dayes as the sandes by the sea side, even when we haue sailes and ores at pleasure, that vvee may saie with Antiochus, (I will not saile in the sea with Ionas) but I will saile vpon the mountaines, and walke vpon the seas as vpon dry lande; yet there must bee a time, when all these helpes shalbee frustrated, and Ionas shalbe cast forth. Though wee escape the pit, vve shalbe taken in the snare, Ierom. 48. wee shall flie from a Lyon, and a beare shall meete vs, or leane our hand vpon a wall, and a serpent shall bite vs, Amos 5. we maie bee delivered in sixe troubles, and the seventh shall dispatch vs; him that escapeth from the sworde of Haz [...]ell, shall Iehuslaie, and him that escapeth from the sword of Iehu, shall Elisa slaie, 1. Kings 19. As one that shooteth at a marke, sometimes is gone, and sometimes is shorte, sometimes lighteth on the right hand, sometimes on the left, at lēgth hitteth the marke; so death shooteth at noble mē beyōd vs, at meane men short of vs, on the right hand at our friends, at our enimies on the left, at length hitteth our selues; & the longer her hande is practised, the more certaine it is. She was aiming at Adam 900. & 30. yeares, at [Page 265] last smote him; at Methusaleh 969. yeares, in the end overthrew him; now shee striketh within the compasse of threescore yeares or threescore & ten, or fourescore at the most, & sometimes at the first stroke, euen in the day of our birth. C [...]st them out of my sight (saith God to his prophets) and let them depart, some to captivitie, some to the sword, Ier. 1 [...]. some to pestilence, some to the water, as Pharaoh, and the Princes of Egypt; sōe to the fire, as the king of Edom, whose bones were burnt to lime; sōe to the bowelles & [...]awes of the earth, as the cōgregation of Abirà, Ha­man to the gallous, Iesabel to the dogs, Herode to wormes, the diso­bedient Prophet to a lion, the sons & daughters of Iob to the fall of an house, the mothers & infantes of Ierusalem to a famine; some to a plague, some to the edge of the sworde, some to a sicknes by the hand of God; one crieth my head, my head, as the Sunamites son; another, my bowels my bowels, as Antiochus; another, my feete, my feete, as Asa; one complaineth of a palsey, another of a burning fever, a third of an issue of bloud: but whatsoever the meanes be, the ordinance of God in the end is this, Ionas must be cast forth, the ship eased, the worlde emptied by degrees, & new generatiōs successiuely take place. If this were remēbred by vs, that as Ionas slept in the sids of the ship, & we in security, so we must both sleep in the dust of the earth; & as the lot fel vpon Ionas in his time, so the lot must fal vpon vs in ours; & as neither counsell, nor strength could deliver Ionas, so neither counsel nor strēgth can deliver vs; & as it was the wil of God to drown Ionas, so it is the will of God some way or other to dissolue vs; & whether the time is limited, within 10. or 100. or 1000. yeares, there is no defence a­gainst the hād of the grave; the very remēbrance hereof would be as cō ­fortable, and as fortunate a staffe vnto vs, to walke the pilgrimage of our few & evil daies, as the staffe that Iacob had to go over Iordā with. O looke vnto your end, as the wise men looked vnto the star, which stood over Bethlehē; it shal happily guide you to heaven, as that gui­ded thē to Bethlehē, where the king of the Iews now sitteth & reig­neth at his fathers right hād; it shal lead you frō the East to the West, as that led them frō the rising of the sun, I meane the state and time where your life begā, to the going down of the same. But it is a death vnto vs, to remēber death. I will say with the son of Sirach, whilst wee are able but to receive meat, Eccle. 43. whilst ther is any strēgth & livelihood in vs & but appetite to our food, it is a death to remēber death; & though we dwel in ruinous & rottē houses, built vpōn sand & ashes, which the wind & raine of infinite daily casualties shake about our eares, yet we walke in this brittle & earthēhouse, as Nabuchodonosor in his galle­ries, [Page 266] and aske, Is not this greate Babell? Is not this my house a strong house? is not my body in good plight? haue I not bloud in my veines? fat­nesse in my bones? health in my iointes? am I not likelye to liue these many yeares, and see the succession of my sonnes and ne­phewes? what will bee the ende of all this? Ducunt in bonis dies su­es, & in puncto descendunt in infernum, They passe their daies with plea­sure, and in an instant of time goe downe into hell. Therefore they are de­ceived, which thinke it an easie matter, speedily to returne vnto God, when they haue long beene straying from him; that are gone with the prodigall childe, in longin quam regionem, into a farre countrey, farre from the thought of death, and consequently farre from the feare of God, yet promise themselues a quicke returne againe. Doe they not know, that it will aske as long a time (if not a longer) to finde God, as to loose God? Ioseph and Mary left their sonne at Ierusalem, and went but one daies iourney from him, but they sought vp and down three whole daies before they coulde finde him; these goinge from the wayes of the Lorde, a iourney of fortie or fifty yeares, hope in a moment of time to recover his mercies. I woulde never wish so des­perate an adventure to bee made by any man, that the sinnes of his soule, and the ende of his life shoulde come so neare togither, as the trespasse of Ionas, and his casting forth. For thinke with your selues how feareful his thoughts were, being at the best, to be rockte & tost to and fro in a dangerfull shippe, the bones whereof aked with the violence of every surge that assayled it, the anchors, cables, and rud­ders, either throwne away, or torne in pieces; having more friend­ship profered him, than he had happe to make vse of; at length to bee cast into the sea, a mercilesse and vnplacable sea, roaring for the life and carkase of Ionas, more than ever the lion roared for his pray, the bottome whereof seemed as low vnto him as the bottomlesse de­struction, and no hope lefte to escape either by shippe boate, or by a broken peece of boord, or to bee cast to lande; and besides all these, the anger of GOD burning against his sinnes like a whole river of brimstone. This is the case of vs all in any extreme and perempto­rie sickenesse, or to speake more largely, in the whole course of our liues, for our liues are nothinge but vncertainety, as Ezechias sange in his songe,Esa. 38. From day to night thou wilt make an ende of mee. We are tumbled and tossed in a vessell as fraile as the ship was, which every streame of calamity is readie to breake in shivers, where neither an­chor nor rudder is lefte, neither heade, nor hande, nor stomacke is in case to giue vs comforte, where though wee haue the kindenesse of [Page 267] wife and friendes, the duety of children, the advise and paines of the Physitians to wish vs well, vvee cannot vse their service; where we haue a graue before our eies, greedie, inexorable, reaching to the gates of hell, opening her mouth to receiue vs, and shutting her mouth when shee hath received vs, never to returne vs backe a­gaine, till the wormes and creepers of the earth haue devoured vs. There is terrour enough in these thinges to the strongest man;Etiam [...] m [...]tu percel­leris, sicu [...] vulgus? Ari­stippus feareth death as well as the common people. But if the anger of God for our former iniquities accompanie them, thrise woe vnto vs; our heavy and melancholicke cogitations will exclude al thought of mercie, and our soules shall sleepe in death, clogged with a bur­then of sinnes, which were never repented of. Therefore if we de­sire to die the death of the righteous, as Balaam wished, let vs first liue the life of the righteous; and as wee girde our harnesse aboute vs before the battell is ioyned, so let vs thinke of repentaunce before death commeth, and the ordinance of God be fully accomplished, that we must be cast forth.

And the sea ceased from her raging. As the rising of the sea vvas miraculous, so it is not a lesse miracle,3. The e­vent. that her impatience was so sud­dainely pacified. Heate but a pot with thornes, and withdraw the fire from it, can you appease the boyling thereof at your pleasure? Here the huge bodie, and heape of waters raised by a mightie winde in the aire, or rather the winde and breath of Gods anger, (what shal I saie?) remitteth it the force of her rage by degrees? falleth it by number and measure? giveth it but tokens and hope of deliverance vnto them? nay at the first sinking of Ionas, it standeth as vnmooue­able as a stone, as dead as the dead sea, having fretted it selfe before with the greatest indignation and wrath that might bee conceaved; as if hee that bounded the sea at the first creation, Hitherto shalt thou come, and no further, had spoken vnto it at this time, Thus long shalt thou rage, & no longer. Let me obserue vnto you thus much from the phrase. If the commotion of the sea,Ab indigna­tione. even in the greatest and vehe­mentest pangues thereof, (as greater than these coulde not be) by a translation of speech, for likenesse of natures, be tearmed her indig­nation and rage; then by as good a reason on the contrary side, the anger of man throughlie kindled, may bee matched with the com­motion of the most vnquiet sea. And how vnseemely a thing it is, that the heart of man should reake with anie passion, as that vast and vntamed element fometh with rage, your selues bee iudges. I haue found this perturbation diversly compared: by Chrysostome, though [Page 268] not to the sea, yet to that confused noise vvhich sea-men sometimes make, when their heads are most busied, with whom there is nothing but tumult, much running too and fro, large & liberall out-cries, but no place lefte for philosophy, that is, wisdome and reason haue no leaue to speake,Fr [...]tus simi­lis navi d [...] ­currenti in mare, & da­monem ha­b [...]nti guber­natorem. Non sic acu­ [...]a Ingemina [...]t Corybantes aera. De ira Dei▪ cap. 5. or to giue their iudgement; By Evagrius, to a shippe sent into the sea, where the devill is pilote; By the Poets, to a troubled springe, wherein if you looke, and thinke to beholde the image of a man, you see no part of his right composition; or to that clamorous and disordered behavior, which the Priests of Cybele vsed in Creete, ringing their basons, and playing vpon timbrels all the day long, and by incomposed gestures in the open streetes shewing themselues to be nothing lesse than reasonable creatures.

When anger, saith Lactantius, is fallen into the minde of man, like a sore tempest, it raiseth such waues, that it changeth the very state of the minde, the eies waxe fiery, the mouth trembleth, the tongue faltereth, the teeth gnash, & the whole countenāce is by course stay­ned, sometimes with rednes, sometimes with palenes. But it vvas ne­ver more rightly fitted than by the spirite of God in this place, where it is likened to the fury and rage of the sea. I may speake it to the shame of men, In the rage and fury of the sea there is more mercie. The sea is contented and pacified, when Ionas is cast forth; wee in the lightest displeasure done vnto vs, never satisfied with the punishmēt, the damage, the dishonour, no nor the death of our adversaries, hate the quicke, pursue the dead, as if wee had made that vnchristian and heathnish vow,Nec mor [...] mihi finiet iras &c.

Mine anger with my body shall not die;
But with thy ghost my ghost shal battel trie.

Whereas the rule of Lactantius rather shoulde moderate vs, Ira mor­talium debet esse mortalis, The anger of mortall men, shoulde bee mortall like themselues. Valerius Maximus reporteth Sylla to haue beene such a one,Jbid. ca. 21. Lib. 9. cap. 3. Jn dubio est Sylláne pri­or, an iracū. dia Syllae si [...] extincta. of whome it was doubted, whether himselfe or his anger were first extinguished. These turbulent perturbations of anger, hatred, and malice, as they are never without the tormente of him that vseth thē, they boile his hart into brine, & eate the moisture out of his flesh so there is great presūptiō, that the spirit of God resteth not in a soule possessed therewith. When God appeared to Elias, 1. King. 19. lying in the caue of mount Horeb, first there passed by him a mighty stronge winde, which rent the moūtaines, & tare the rocks, but the Lord was not in the winde; after the winde came an earth-quake, but the Lord was not in the earth-quake; after the earth-quake came fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; after the fire came a still & soft voice, therein the Lord was, & spake, & Elias [Page 269] came forth and answered. Thinke with your selves, that these winds, earth-quakes, & fires, are our boisterous affectiōs which the presence & favour of God avoideth, better beseeming bruite beastes, in whōe there is no vnderstanding, & the vnsensible sea, which God hath re­strained with bars & dores, thē the childrē of mē endued with reasō.

Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly. I noted in this verse,4. Their be [...]haviour. the behaviour of the marriners towardes God, occasioned by the event that fell out. Surely the rightest vse of Gods mighty wonders, is, when we take them for wonders; when we tremble at the sight of them, & feare that almighty God, whose hands have wrought them. Such are the acclamations in the Psalmes, This is the Lords doing, and it is marveilous in our eies. The gracious Lorde hath made his wonderfull workes to be had in remembrance. O Lord, how gracious are thy workes, and thy thoughtes are very deepe? an vnwise man knoweth it not, and a foole doth not vnder stand this. God doth not miracula propter miracula, miracles for their owne sakes, but for ours; not caring so much himselfe to do them, as that we should consider and beare them away. Wherin I wil shew our negligence by a familiar example of our latest daies. Samuel bid­deth the people stand and see a great thing which the Lord would doe before their eies. Is it not now wheate harvest? I will call vnto the Lord, 1. Sam. 12. & he shall send thunder and raine, that yee may perceive and see, how that your wicked­nes is great which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king. The thunder and raine were sent, and all the people feared the Lord, and Samuel exceedingly. Apply this scripture to your selves. Is it not now wheate harvest? hath not the Lord sent thunder and raine amongst you? so vnseasonable a season, that the fruites of the earth wherewith your fieldes were so faire before, that they laughed & sang, mourning vpō the ground that bare them, & the husbādmā was ashamed, & sighed to himselfe to see his hope so deceaved? was not every cloud in the aire, a cloud of wrath vpō your fieldes to destroy your labours? were yee not neere the curse of the prophecy, you have sowen much, & bring in litle? What was the reason of so suddeine an alteratiō,Hagg. 1. but that our wickednesse was great, as theirs was? & what other end of this worke, but that we might say in our harts let us feare the Lorde our God, which giveth us raine both early & late in due season, & reserveth vnto vs the apoin­ted weekes of the harvest ▪ Ier. 5. thus the mariners applied this extraordinarie worke of God, & the inference of the text speaketh no lesse.

Then they feared. The dutiful behauiour of the mariners cōsisteth 1. in their inward affection, They feared; & [...]. in outward obseruāces, They sacrifised & made vowes. Their inward affectiō is explicated by many [Page 270] stances.1. They fea­red. 1. By the nature and kinde of the passion, They feared. O­thers haue seene the signes and wonders of God, rather to admire them, than to be touched with them; as it is often noted of the Iewes in the gospel, when they beheld the workes of Christ, they were a­stonished, and saide amongst themselues, Wee never sawe it on this wise, The like was never done in Israell. Thus Herod was desirous to haue seene Christ, hoping that some miracle might haue beene doone by him. But this was more than admiration and astonishment, for they are afraide,2. They fea­red & fea­red. when they see the waters stilled. 2. By doubling their passi­on, which in the vse of the Hebrewe tongue, doth encrease the sig­nification, Timuerunt timore, They feared, and feared. 3. By the attri­bute,3. Excee­dingly. Timore magno, Their feare was not ordinarie, but a greate and exceeding feare. 4. By the obiect or matter of the feare, They feared Iehovah. 4. The Lorde. If yee will learne the effects of feare, when it is greate in­deede, where can you better learne them than at the sacking of Ni­niveh, in the second of Nahum? For there the heart melteth, (that is, the leader and the captaine faileth,) the knees smite togither, sorrow is in the loines, and the face gathereth blacknesse. But I leaue to discusse the nature of feare, because I haue handled it twise before. This one­lie I obserue in the mariners, out of these words, that they goe from strength to strength; the longer the leaven lieth in the meale, the more it leaveneth, & the longer they reteine in their harts the knowledge of the true God, the more they encrease in knowledge. If you com­pare the 5. and 10. and this 16. verses togither, you shall finde, that in the first, they only feared; in the second, they feared exceeding­lie; in the third, they feared the Lord exceedinglie. The first declareth no more than the affectiō; the secōd addeth the measure; the third the obiect. The first was the feare of nature; the second of grace, in the prime and first sprowting thereof; the third of grace, in a further perfection. At the first they feare as men, next as novices, lastly as cō ­verts. First they see a tempest, and because it threatneth destruction vnto them, they are afraide, which is incident to all men; second­lie they heare a confession of the true Lorde, a relation of an offence done, a declaration of the iustice of God, then they are afraide more than before; now lastlie they see the event and proofe of all things the truth of a Prophetes words, the importunity of iudgement, the excecution of vengeance, at this they feare as much as before, but their idolles wholie relinquished, they feare whome they shoulde feare, the dreadfull Lorde of hostes, and, to publish that feare to the whole worlde, they offer sacrifices and make vowes. Thus is [Page 271] the kingdome of God described, Math. 13. it is as a graine of mustard seede at the first, the least of all seedes; but when a man hath sowen it in his fielde, it becommeth first an hearbe, secondly the greatest of hearbes, thirdly a tree, fourthly the birds make arbours and shades in the boughes thereof: So doe the marriners passe from one feare as the seede, to an other feare as the hearbe, and to a great feare as a great hearbe, and yet to a greater feare, the feare of the Lord as to a tree, and the boughes thereof are so large, that birdes may build nests in them, that is, their workes and fruites so apparant, that others may be drawne by the sight and example of them.1. [...], 2. [...], 3. [...], 4. [...], 5. [...]. Math. 13. There is small hope & comfort to be had of that man, who though hee heare the worde of God, and receiveth it, and forthwith receiveth it, and furthermore with ioy, yet serveth but the time, applying his religion & conscience to the present condition of things. Examine your selves by these notes, whether you are sowen in the fielde of the Lorde, to take roote, and to growe to perfection, yea, or no; whether yee heare the lawe, to keepe the law; whether you hold that which you have, as Philadelphia is counselled; and not only hold at a stay, but strengthen and confirme the remnant (that which is lefte,Revel. 3.) that your workes may be fulfilled before the Lorde, as Sardi is wished to do; whether you runne not onely to pace the grounde, to make vp the number of runners, to wearie your bo­dies, to spend your breathes, but to obtaine also, for that is the A­postles exhortation, So runne, that yee may obtaine. There is no time of standing in this life, we must still forwardes,1. Cor. 9. and thinke that every blessing of God bestowed vpon vs, is a further calling and provo­cation of God, as were his callings vpon Elias; when he found him a daies iorney in the wildernesse sitting and sleeping vnder a iu­niper tree, hee calleth vpon him, vp, and eate; and when he found him a second time, vp, thou hast a great iorney to goe; and when hee had travailed forty daies, and was lodged in a cave, what doest thou here, Elias? and when hee had brought him forth to the mount, what doest thou heare, Elias? Goe and returne vnto the wildernesse by Damascus, and doe thus, and thus. So whether we be entered into our way, or have proceeded in it, whether we be babes in Christ, or strong men, whether carnall, or spirituall, wee must vp, and eate, and strengthen our selves, first with milke, and then with stronger meat; wee have still a greater iorney to goe, wee must walke from grace to grace, from vertue to vertue, from knowledge to knowledge, and all­waies thinke that we heare a voice that calleth vs forward, Thou hast yet a greater iorney to goe, what doest thou heare, Elias? Our Saviour [Page 272] telleth his disciples, Iohn 14 that in his fathers house are the mansions, they are not in the wildernesse, nor in Horeb, not vpon the mount where Peter would haue had the tabernacles builte, nor in anye parte of this life; therefore let no man singe a requiem to his soule, Anima quiesce, Soule take thy ease, or, body take thy rest, till hee commeth to that place where his rest is. Christ observed this course himselfe, [...]. Revel. 2. Luke 13. Goe tell that foxe, Beholde I cast out devilles; and do cures, this day, and to morrowe, and the thirde day I shalbe perfited. The church of Thyatira in the Revelation, is thus commended, I knowe thy workes, and thy loue, and thy faith, &c. and that thy last workes are more than the first. And the conclusion or posie of the Epistle vvrit­ten to that church, and of all the other Epistles is this, [...], Not he that draweth his sword, nor hee that fighteth the battelles of the Lorde, nor hee that spendeth his bloud, much lesse hee that fain­teth or flieth, but hee that overcommeth, shall eate of the tree of life, and receiue those other blessings. To conclude; It is a graue and serious exhortation, which the Apostle maketh to the Hebrewes; leaving the doctrine of the beginning of Christ, Hebr. 6. let vs be led forward to perfe­ction, not laying againe the foundation of repentance from dead workes, and faith towardes God, &c. The earth which drinketh in the raine which commeth oft vpon it, and bringeth forth hearbes meete for them by whome it is drest, receaveth blessing of God: but that which beareth thornes and briers, is reprooved, and is neere vnto cursing, whose ende is to be bur­ned. You see how the plagues arise, 1. reproofe, 2. a curse, 3. bur­ning; and therefore it is as requisite that wee encrease in our fruit­fulnesse. Hee addeth a modest and kinde qualification of his for­mer speech; But wee are perswaded better thinges of you, and such as are [...]eere to salvation, though wee thus speake. If wee shoulde thus speake of our corrupt and vnprofitable times, wee are perswaded better things. our perswasion must be stronger then our proofe and experience. For our grounde hath drunke this raine, whereof he wrote, and often dranke it, not distilled from the cloudes of the aire, but from an higher region of Gods most gratious favour. Where are the hearbs fitte for the vse of the husbandman that dressed it? I see but briers and thornes; or if there be anie hearbes, they are buried & choaked with weedes, that no man can see them. There are a num­ber within these walles, to whome if a man woulde say, I will walke in the spirit of falsehood and flatterie another while, I will lie vnto you, I wil leaue this sowre and vnplausible veine of reprehension, & cal you to the tabret and harpe, and put you in minde of Sabothes [Page 273] and new moones, and festival daies, I will prophesie vnto you of wine and strong drinke, oh, this were a prophet fit for this people, Mich. 2. they are the wordes of Micheas. But I rather say, for my part, as Samuell to the people of Israell, God forbid, that I should sinne against the Lord, and cease praying for you, but I will shew you the good and the right way: That is;1. Sam. 1▪ He that hea­reth, let him heare, and he that leaveth of, let him leave of, Ezech. 3. Hee that is vnrighteous, let him be more vnrighteous, and he that is filthy, let him be more filthy: but he that is righteous, let him be righteous still, and he that is holy, let him be holy still, Revel. 22. For that was the purpose of my note, that as God hath continued a chaine of his graces, 1. by prede­stinating, 2. by calling, 3. by iustifying, 4. by glorifying vs; so wee should continue a chaine of our graces towardes him, that there may be grace for grace, by giving all diligence to ioine vertue with faith, and with vertue knowledge, and with knowledge temperance, & not to leave ioy­ning the other linkes of the chaine there added, till our owne bodies and soules come to be disioyned.

THE XXI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 1. ver. 16.‘Then the men feared the Lord exceedingly, and offered a­sacrifice to the Lorde, and made vowes.’

VPon the event of their fact, in casting Ionas forth, I meane the stilnes of the sea, I noted before, the behaviour of the mariners, first in their inward affection, (the nature wherof was fear; the measure, great feare; the matter or obiect, the Lord of hostes;) then in the outward de­claration of their mindes, partly by sacrifices, in agnition of their present service, partly by vowes, as an obligation of duety for time to come. The beginning to the rest is feare. For, as Lactantius wisely reasoneth, without it, there can be no religion. That, De ira dei. ca. 8 11.23. Quod non metuitur, cōtemnitur, quod contē ­nitur, uti (que) non colitur. Malac. 1. that is not fea­red, is contemned; if contemned, it cannot be worshipped. For which cause it commeth to passe, that religion, maiestie, and honour must needes consist by feare. For even the kingdomes of the earth would be dis­solved, vnlesse this proppe held them vp. Therefore the zealous Lord calleth for his tribute and due, belonging to his excellencie: If I bee a­maister, where is my feare? But of this heretofore.

[Page 274] They offe­red a sa­crifice.The first Mercurie or messenger to publish a broade their feare, is their offering of a sacrifice. Which whither they presently did at the sea, of the remainder of such thinges, as were left vnto them; or whi­ther vpon their landing;R. Ab. Ezra. or whither their purpose and promise to of­fer a sacrifice, were taken for a performance, according to the mind of the Caldaieke paraphrast and others, who interpret the wordes thus; They offered a sacrifice, that, is they had an intent, and gaue their worde to doe it;Dixerunt se sacrificium [...]acturos. or whither be meant an inward and spirituall sacri­fice, of praise, and thankesgiving, and a contrite heart, as Ierome coniectureth; it is vnnecessary to dispute, seeing the text defineth it not. Againe, what were the profit of my labour to go about Sion, and to tell her turrers; to enter the large fielde of sacrifices, and to number all the kindes of them, Which either the booke of God, or other authors haue put downe? it were to compell the scripture, when it offereth her company a mile, to go twaine with me, and to stretch it beyonde the line which the holye ghost hath laide forth. If any desire to know the causes of sacrifices, and to call them by their names,Lib. 4. ca. 2 let him resort to Carolus Sigonius, in his Hebrewe common wealth, who from the authority of Philo the Iew, handleth this mat­ter at large.

The materiall pointes indeed to be considered in this worship of 1 theirs, are two; 1. the antiquity, 2. the life & soule of a sacrifice. It can­not be denied, but from the auncientest age of the world, & in al the nations wherewith it hath been replenished, before there was any precept of God expresly to require such forme of devotion, there hath ben offering of sacrifices, as voluntary & religious actes, & a kinde of sensible homage, to testifie the power of some nature superior, able to auenge it selfe of dishonour and contempt done, and not vna­ble on the other side to regratifie them with kindenes, that sought vnto it. Cleo the flattering Sicilian, in behalfe of Alexander the greate, whome he laboured with vehment perswasions to make a God,Curt. lib. 8. craved no more of his fellowes, but exiguam thuris impensā, the bestowing of a litle frankincense, as an essential marke to notifie his Godhead.Chap. 12. The angell bad Manoah in the booke of Iudges, when he requested him to stay the dressing of a kidde, if hee purposed therewith to make a burnt offering, to offer it to the Lorde: where it is added im­mediately, that Manoah knewe not that it was an angell of the Lorde; a per­son (was meant) of meaner condition, than to whome a sacrifice be­longed.2.2ae. q. 85. [...]. 1. ad 1. Aquinas resolveth vs thus, that howsoever the determinatiō of the kinds of sacrifices, togither with the circumstances of persons, [Page 275] time, and place, be by the positiue law; yet the common receaved ac­knowledgement, that sacrifice must be offered, is by the law of nature For what reason can be given of so vniforme a consent of sacrificing in so many sundry languages and manners of men, but that everye one groweth after the seede which nature hath sowed in him?Naturae se [...] quitur semi­na quis (que) suae. And therefore in effect they say with the headstrong kings in the Psalme, Let vs breake the cordes of nature a sunder, and cast her yoke from vs, vvho, as if the service of GOD vvere inventum humanum, the devise of man, when they coulde not availe by reason, Vt quos ra [...] non posset, eos ad offici­um religi [...] duceret. Tull. Atheists▪ to maister them by religion, thinke it as cheape an offence to contemne the maiesty of God, as humane authority, & to deny the rightes of the godhead, (which they vainely imagin, is but imagined) as their fealty & allegi­ance to earthly princes. Tell such of the iudgments of God, and the tormentes of hell, you tell them a tale of Cocytus & Phlegeton, & other fabulous inventions of licentious poets. Vrdge thē with the verdicte of the scriptures; you may better vrdge the history of He­rodotus, or Lucians true narrations. A degenerate generation of men, monstrously mishapen in the powers of the soule, and transfor­med from the vse of reason; whose iudgment is already past, Iohn 3. because they beleeve not, or rather, because they roote vp those maximes and prin­ciples of reason, which the hand of nature it selfe had planted in thē. I take but a little peece of their garmēt at this time (as David caught from Saul) onely for a token, and note them as I passe by the vvay, who, if they were kindely vsed, should be pronounced by the priest, and by the prince proclaimed, the vncleanest lepers that ever sore ran vpon; not onely to be excluded the host, and to have their habi­tation alone, but to be exiled the land, and extermined nature it selfe, which they so vnnaturally strive to adnihilate. Their vsage of parricides in Rome, were over favourable for thē, whom they sowed into a male of lether, & threw into the sea, that yet the water of the sea could not soke through, nor other element of nature, earth, aire, or fire approach vnto them. [...]:Her [...] ▪ Atheisme is the maine disease of the soule; not onely of that private man in whome it is harboured, but of the whole land, wherein permitted. For which opprobrious & contagious disease, till other remedy were found, I would they might be marked the meane time, that are sicke of it, as the leper was, that the people might be wise to eschew thē.Levit. 13▪ As the one had his clothes rent, his head bare, his lippes covered, & was enioyned to cry, where he past, I am vncleane, I am vncleane: so I would the other had either a rent, or a writing vpon their clothes, & a brād [Page 276] in their forheades, that all that behelde them might say, an Atheist, an Atheist.

2 The second collection in offering a sacrifice, is, that the sensible and ceremoniall handling thereof,Nunquam in odoribus sacrificiori [...] ̄ delectatus est dominu [...], nisi in fide & desiderio offerentis. August. without the inward oblation of the heart, which the other doth but signifie, was never approoved. I might repeate the proofes hereof, from the elements and begin­nings of the world, the sacrifices of Abel and Caine, the first that e­ver I finde to have beene made; (although I make no question of A­dam himselfe, who nurtured his sonnes in religious discipline:) from thence I might come downe through all the complaintes, that even the soule of the Lord, grieved with abuse and mockery, hath plenti­fully sent foorth against his people of the Iewes; shewing therin, that not only he refused,Es. 1. but hartily condemned, lothed, abhorred their offerings, and denying with pertinacy, that ever hee required them, whereas in trueth they were the ordinaunces of his ovvne lippes. But vvhen hee ordained them, hee made male and female, and ioyned two in one, hee created a bodie and a soule, an outwarde and an inwarde parte, the aspectable signe and the invisible affe­ction: for want of which latter (the better of the two) hee renoun­ceth the other, as that which he never apointed. In the first of Esay, forgetting his people to be the children of Iacob, because they forgat his sacrifices to bee the sacrifices of a God, whome they rather vsed like a skar-crow in the garden of cucumbers, than the Lord of know­ledge, hee calleth them princes of Sodome, and people of Gomorah, asking them in iealousie as hote as fire, What haue I to doe with the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of burnt offeringes of rammes, and the fattte of fedde beastes, I desire not the bloude of bullockes, nor of lambes, nor of goates. When you come to appeare before mee, Who re­quired it at his handes? Bringe no more oblations in vaine, incense is an abhomination vnto mee. I cannot suffer your newe moones, and Sabbaths, my soule hateth your apointed feastes, they are a burthen vnto mee, and I am weary to beare them. Of the outwarde countenance, and li­neaments of their sacrificing, you heare more than enough: Rammes, and fed beastes, bullockes, lambes, and goates, incense, sabbathes, new moones, festivall daies, solemne assemblies, togither with stret­ching out the handes,M [...]ns cuius. [...] is est qu [...]s­ [...]u [...]. and making of many praiers. But I may say, that, as the minde of a man is the man, so the minde and intention of the sacrifice, is the sacrifice; which the searcher of the hart & reines looking for, & finding a carkeise of religiō without a quickening spi­rit, protesteth, that he hath nothing to doe with them; that he is full [Page 277] and overfull, & that they are an hatred, burthen, & abomination vnto him. If they will redeeme his grace, with a sweete smelling sacrifice, they must cease to doe evill, and learne to doe well, seeke iudgement, relieue the oppressed, With such like.Chap. 66. The beginning & ending of the prophe­cie is in one tune. For afterwardes it is denounced in the name of the Lord: hee that killeth a bullocke, is as if hee slew a man; hee that sacrificeth a sheepe, as if he [...]atte of a dogges necke; hee that offereth an oblation, as if hee offered swines bloud; hee that remembreth incense, as if hee blessed an idoll; the reason of this misconstrued devotion of theirs is; They haue chosen their owne waies, and their soule (which shoulde haue beene the principal agent) delighteth in their abominations. The correction of that errour and the erection both of the temple & the sacrifices, which the Lord chooseth, are in the next wordes before; To him will I looke, Os. 5. even to him that is poore, and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my words. If this wine be wanting to those bottles, this substāce to those shadowes, we shall go with our bullockes and sheepe (as it is in Osee) to seeke the Lord, but shall not finde him; because we goe with these alone. Nay, these wee may leaue behinde vs, as vnprofitable carriage, in cōparison of the others, so we want not those.Psal. 50. I will not reprooue thee (saith God) for thy sacri­fices, and because of thy burnt offerings, that they are not commonly before mee. I will take no bullocke out of thine house, nor goates out of thy foldes; for all the cattell of the forrest are mine, and the beastes vpon a thousande moun­taines. I knowe all the fowles vpon the hilles, and all the wilde beastes of the field are mine. If I be hungry, I will not tell thee, for the world is mine and all that therein is. Thinkest thou that I will eate the flesh of bulles, or drinke the bloude of goates? Thus the externall parte, and as it were the letter of the sacrifice, is not much lesse than cancelled and abrogated, that the spririt may take place: offer vnto God praise, and paie thy vowes to the most high, and call vpon mee in the daie of trouble, so will I deliver thee, and thou shalt glorifie mee. This was it, that Samuel aunswered Saul,1. Sam. 1 [...] when he pretended the saving of oxen and sheepe, and the best of the spoile to offer to the Lorde in Gilgal: hath the Lorde as greate pleasure in burnt offerings & sacrifices, as whē his voice is obeied? to obey i [...] better thā sa­crifice, and to harken is better than the fatte of rammes. This did our Saviour implie to the Scribes and Pha [...]ises, who did so invvard­lye sticke to the outwarde keeping of the Sabbath,Math. 12 Go learn what this meaneth, I will haue mercie and not sacrifice. This did the learned Scribe (vvhose praise is in the gospell,Mar. 12. that hee aunswered discreetely, and was not farre from the kingdome of GOD) reioine to the sonne of GOD, when hee instructed him in the greatest and [Page 278] the next commandements; Well, maister, thou hast said the trueth, that there is one God, and there is none but he, and to love him with all the heart, &c. and his neighbour as himselfe, is more then all burnt offerings and sa­crifices. And so farre is it of, that the slaying of vnreasonable beastes, were they in number equall to those millions of bullocks and sheep, which Salomon offered at the dedication of the temple,2. Chro. 7 Mich. 6. Jbid. Sacrificium & oblationē noluisti. Ps 40. Intelli gendum est non qu [...]d no­luit simpliciter, se [...] se­cundariò. Nō [...]olui [...] ut res▪ sed vt signa Jtem noa voluit ipsa sacrificia sed voluit devo­tionem offe­rentium. Hi­eron. Pers. sat. 2. Jn templo quid facit aurum? Compositum ius fas (que) a­nimi &c. Hoc cedo ut admoveam templis, & farre litabo. Dii magis curant taci­tam horum obtestationē, non ambitio­sam, quám vestram pō pam. 1. De vero cultu, ca. 24. Hominis ac vitae and ad­ding a millian of rivers of oile, to glad the altars of GOD, shall bee acceptable vnto him; that the giving of our first-borne for our transgression, and the fruit of our bodies for the sinne of our soules, shal bee an vnfruitfull present, without serious, hearty obedience to his coun­selles. Hee that shewed thee, O man what is good, and what he requireth of thee: Surely to doe iustlie, and to loue mercy, to humble thy selfe, and to walke with thy God.

The ends of the Iewish sacrifices, if I mistake not, were these. First, to acknowledge therein, that death is the stipende of sinne, which though it were due to him & those that sacrificed, yet was it transla­ted & laid vpon the beast that offended not. Secondly, to figure be­fore hand, the killing of the lambe of God, which all the faithfull ex­pected. Thirdly, to testifie the submissiō of the hart, which in these vi­sible samplers, shone as a light before the whole world. So spoiling the sacrifice of the last of these endes, they make it in manner a lying signe, & leaue it as voide of life & breath, as the beastes which they immolate. The Poet complaineth in his satyre, of the costlines vsed in their churches, & asketh the priests, what gold did there? willing thē rather, to bring that, which Messalas vngratious son, frō all his super­fluities could not bring, to wit, iustice, piety, holy cogitations, an ho­nest hart: Grant me but these, saith he, & I will sacrifice with salt and meale only. It agreeth with the answer which Iupiter Hāmon gaue to the A­thenians, enquiring the cause of their often vnprosperous successes in battaile against the Lacedemonians, seeing they offered the choicest thinges they could get which their enimies did not; The Gods are bet­ter pleased with their inwarde supplication, lacking ambition, than with all your pompe. Lactantius handling the true worship of God against the Gentiles, giveth them their lesson in few & sententious wordes: that God desireth not the sacrifice either of a dumbe beast, or of death & bloud­shead, but the sacrifice of man, and life: wherein there is no neede either of gar­landes of vervin, or of fillets of beastes, or of soddes of the earth, but such thinges alone as proceede from the inwarde man. The alter for such offe­ringes, hee maketh the hearte, whereon righteousnesse, patience, faith, innocency, chastity, abstinence, must bee laide and ten­dered [Page 279] to the Lorde. For then is GOD truely worshiped by man, when hee taketh the pledges of his hearte, and putteth them vpon the altar of God. The sacrifices evangelicall,Pignoram [...] ­tis. Jn epit. ca 9. which the giver of the newe lawe requireth of vs, are a broken spirite, obedience to his vvorde, love towardes God and man, iudgement, iustice, mercy, pray­er, and praise, which are the calves of the lippes, Hebr. 13. Rom. 12. almes deedes to the poore (for with such sacrifices is the Lord pleased) our bodies and soules, not to be slaine vpon the altar, for it must be a quicke sacrifice; not to be ma­cerated and brought vnder even to death, for it must be our reasonable service; and finally our lives, if neede be,Phil. 2. for the testimony of the trueth. All which sacrifices of Christianity, without a faithfull heart, which is their Iosuah and captaine to goe in and out before them, (to speake but lightly with Origen in the like case) are nutus tantùm & opus mutum, a bare ceremony, and a dumbe shew;In Luc. Actes 8. but I may cal them sorceries of Simon Magus, whose heart was not right in the sight of God; and not sacrifices but sacrileges, with Lactant [...]us, robbing God of the better part; and as Ieremie named those idle repetitions of the Iewes, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, Ier. 7. this is the temple of the Lord, verba mendacij, lying wordes, so these opera mendacij, lying workes, so fraudulently handled, that, if it were possible, God him­selfe should bee deceived. O how hath Sathan filled their harts that they shoulde lie vnto the holy Ghost? in making a shewe that they bring the whole price of their possession,Actes 5. and lay it downe at the feete of God, when they withhelde the dearer part from him. They have not [...]ied vnto men (though that were fault enough) but vnto God, who will truely require the least vntruthes betweene man and man; but falshoods and fallacies committed betweene the porch and the altar, within the courtes of his owne house, and in the professions of his proper service, by casting vp the eies or handes, bowing the knee, knocking vpon the brest or thigh, making sadde the counte­naunce, mooving the lippes, vncovering, or hanging dovvne the heade like a bul-rush, groveling vpon the earth, sighing, sobbing, praying, fasting, communicating, distributing, cry­ing LORDE, LORDE, seeking to abuse the fleshly eies of men, and the fiery eyes of omniscience it selfe, hee will right sorely re­venge, as a dishonour immediately and directly done to his owne sacred person. Galienus the Emperour, gave this iudgement of one who solde his wife glasse for pearles; imposturam fecit & passus est, hee couzened and was couzened. But this for the good of the couzener. For vvhen he vvas brought vpon the stage, and a Lion expected [Page 280] by the people to have torne him peece-meale, a capon was sent vp to assault him. The same sentence standeth firme in hea­ven, against the deceitfull marchandizers of true religion, vvho offer to the highest emperour clothed vvith essentiall maistye, as the other vvith purple, and to his spouse the church, glasse for pearles, copper for golde, coales for treasure, shewes for substances, seeming for being, fansie for conscience; Imposturam faciunt & patientur, They mocke and they shalbe mocked; but in an other kind than the former was: for whereas they looke for the thanks and recompence of their forepassed labours, loe, they are like the dreamer in the Prophet, vvho eateth by imagina­tion in the night time, and vvhen hee awaketh from sleepe, his soule hath nothinge.

Vowes. And made vowes. The matter of their vowes is as vnceraine as of their sacrifices. What it was they promised to the Lorde, and by obli­gation bound themselues to perfourme, neither ancient nor recent, Iewish nor Christian expositour is able to determine. By coniectural presumption, they leaue vs to the choice of these foure specialties.

1 That either they vowed a voyage to Ierusalem, where the late­lie 2 receaved Iehovah was best knowne; or to beautifie the tem­ple 3 of the Lorde with some rich donaries; or to giue almes to 4 the poore; or thenceforth to become proselites in the religion of the Iewes, and, as Ierome explaneth it, never to depart from the living God, whome they had begune to serue.

The conditions of a lawefull vowe are principallye these tvvo.Two con­ditions of a lawe full vowe. First that the matter thereof bee consonant to the word and vvill of God; otherwise (as Ierome noteth vpon the 11. of [...]udges) it is follye to plight, and impietie to perfourme it: second­ly, the end must be to witnes our thankefulnesse to our maker and protectour.Jn vovenilo stultus. in reddendo impius. For albeit wee are bought with a price, and both our bodies and spirites are the Lordes, not our owne to dispose of, and wee ought to doe that vnvowed, which our vow hath ti­ed vs vnto, because wee have no better gifte than our selues (as hee sometimes saide to Socrates his master) to giue even our selues to our bounteous God, and, as it were by bargaine and sale, to man­cipate our willes to his obedience; yet the making of a vowe, and en­tering into bondes vvith God, to pay him some speciall debte, is a more open marke, and professed badge of a thankeful soule. Besides, it confirmeth the minde of a man in vertue, and setteth a tutour and overseer over his will, to keepe it within the boundes of promi­sed [Page 281] dutifulnesse.Epist 45. Faelix neces­sitas est quae in melìora compellit. Whervpon Saint Augustine writeth in his epistle to Armentarius and Paulina, It is an happie necessitie, that compelleth a man to doe better than hee vvoulde doe. And surelye if we vvell regarde it, the mother cause of a vowe, is an engraf­fed opinion in the mindes of most men, of returning kindnes for kindnesse, vvhich is the readiest vvay both to conciliate and preserve friendshippe, according to that olde proverbe [...]: frendshippe, and the life of man,Epichar­mus. and nature it selfe, consisteth in taking and giuing. And although God hath no neede of our giftes (for can our goodnesse extend to him, who hath the riches of all goodnes?psal. 16. or can he encrease by lesse than a drop of raine, who is more than the maine sea of all abundance?) yet it giveth him to vnderstande, that at least his glory is sought, though not his vtilitye and of that a man hath, not of that he hath not, there is a purpose and desire to doe him worshippe.Benignus exactor est & non ege­nus, & qui non crescat ex reditis, sed in se cres cere faciat redditores. Quod [...]i rect­ditur, reddē ­ti additur ▪ Chap. 29. The summe is this; the honour is Gods, the profitte ours. Hee is our liberall creditour, (saith Augustine in the same epistle) and hath not want of our paiusent. Neither groweth hee greater by repaying, but the pay-maisters by him. And vvhatsoever is restored or recompen­sed in lieu of any his benefits, is added to him that returned it Thence it commeth, that David and the princes give thankes vnto the LORDE, in the first of Chronicles, when they had offered vnto him silver, golde, brasse, iron, precious stones, af­ter this manner▪ Now therefore our God, wee thanke thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that wee shoulde bee able to offer vvillinglye in this sort? for all thinges come of thee, and of thine ovvne hande wee have given thee. It is saide before, that the people reioyced when they offered vvillingly, and David the kinge also reioyced with greate ioy. To returne to the heade of my speech, the vowes of these marriners, in anye of the fovv­er kindes, before aimed at, are iustificable by both the proper­ties of a vowe. For of their ende I make no doubte, the snares of destruction beinge so nevvelye broken before their eies, and they escaped: and vvhat fault can vvee finde in the mat­ter? whither their purpose were to leave their ovvne countries, and to goe to the citty of God, for better instructions in his lawe, as the Queene of the South came from her native dominion, to heare the wisedome of Salomon, such pilgrimage is not amisse: or to adorne the temple of Ierusalem, vvhere the honour of God dwelt, vvith voluntary giftes and presentes, as David, and his no­bles [Page 282] before, and as the wisemen of the East, carried the gold, fran­kincense, and mirrhe to the son of God; or to distribute their goods to the needy, as Zacheus did, and to cast their bread vpon the waters for the Lords sake, where they looke to receive againe neither thanks nor recompence; or lastly to devote themselves to the redeemer of their lives, and with an indissoluble covenant, to become his faithful servants: the last of which is indeede the substance and center of all vowes. There are two things (saith Lactantius) that must bee offe­red vnto God,De cultu dei, cap. 25. donum & sacrificium, a gift and a sacrifice, the one per­petuall, the other temporall. The one, as silver, and gold, and pur­ple, and silke, the other a beast slaine, or whatsoever is burnt vpon the altar. But God hath vse of neither of these, because himselfe is incorrupt,Quia & ip­se incorup­tus, & illud [...]otum cor­ruptibile. Virum (que) in­corporale of fe [...]endū est. Serm. 7. de Tempore. Hoc quod re­demit ipsum offer. and they subiect to corruption. Therefore wee must of­fer both, in a spirituall and vnbodilie manner, that God may haue vse of them. Our gift must be the vprightnes of minde; our sacrifice, praise & thankesgiving. Some vow one thing, and some an other (saith the author of those sermons of the time) some oile, some abstinence frō wine, some fasting: This is not the best, nor the perfitest kind of vowing. I shew you a more excellent waie; God careth not for thine oile, nor thy fastes, but that, that the Lord hath redeemed, that offer, I meane thy soule. And if thou demaundest, how my soule? I aunswere, by holie manners, chaste cogitations, fruitfull workes. I will not strictly examine vpon this oc­casion, the vowes prescribed and practised in the church of Rome, somewhat to the imitation of these, that are presumed of the mar­riners.Romishe Vowes. These vowed perhappes a voiage to Ierusalem, they to Com­postella or Walsingham▪ these to beautifie the temple of the Lorde, they the monuments and shrines of Saintes; these to bestowe their goods vpon the poore, they to professe wilfull beggerye; these to bee proselytes, and to cleave to the service of God, they to renounce the world, to abandon the society of men, to ab [...]ure the company of wo­men, and to burie themselves in monasteries and cloysters, for their better opportunity thereunto. Shall I say in a word? the matter of all their vowes vnneedefull, in some vnlawfull, in some vnpossible, in others, idolatrous, impious, diabolicall: and the end for the most part, not to be thankefull to God, but to arrogate a kind of perfection, and to build merit therevpon.

But tell mee yee sonnes of Balaam, you that exalt your syna­gogue so much by reason of your vovves, if in any part of the world there be more slouthfull and sinfull desidiousnesse, than in the resty cloysters and dormitories of that church, wherein such wearisome [Page 283] peregrinations, and tyring of the legges is enioyned. If in any part of the world, such roiall, Pontificall, Persian magnificence, as in your prestes and Nazarites, the votaries of that churhe, where povertye is pretended. If in any parte of the world, such adulterous, incestu­ous, Sodomiticall defiling of women, men, children, not onely by stea [...]th, but in the sight of the sunne, in brothell-houses and stewes, erected, maintained, rented, iustified, as in the streetes of that mother-citie, where chastitie is imposed? So the harlott alleageth for her selfe in the Proverbes▪ I have paide my vowes, yet she calleth a yong man to dalliance and filthinesse. In an epistle they wrote to the Lordes of the counsell (from their Cacus den,) prefixed before the libell of Persecution in Englande, they pleade for the vowes of their church, as a custome standing with good pollicie, & making for the establishment of common-weales. They fetch it in by con­sequence: that because a vowe made vnto God must bee fulfilled, therefore our promise to our neighbour, which is also a kinde of vow, must not bee violated. Wee (they say) on the other side, by affir­ming that vowes may bee broken to God, make no doubte of our breach with man; wherevpon it ensueth, that there is no trust nor faithfulnesse in our dealing. Philo, mee thinketh,De' confusio [...]ne lingu. [...] ▪ Cap. 17. Cap. 18. 1. Cor. 10. [...] ▪ Indies difici [...] in agris agri cola, &c. Cypr contra Demetr. 2. Tim. 3. rightly expres­sed the qualities of these Saturnine, solleine, discontented men; They are alwaies complaining of the pollicie of their countrey, and framing an inditement against the lawes of it. With as much right as the vaga­bondes in the Acts, complained of Iason & the brethrē in his house. These are they which have subverted the state of the whole worlde, & here they are. Surely I confesse, there is a decay and declination, as of the state and strength of the worlde, so of all goodnesse. The refuse and drosse of mankinde, wee are, on whome not the ende, but the endes, nor of the world, but of the worldes and ages forepassed, are not onely come, but mett togither by coniunction. The alacrity and vigour of the whole creature is worne away. Iustice draweth her breath faintly. The charity of many is waxen colde, and when the son of man commeth, though he burne cresset-light shall he find faith? There is a daylie defection of the husband-man in the fieldes, the marriner at the sea, innocencie in the courte, iustice in iudgement, concorde in friendshippe, workemanshippe in artes, discipline in manners. How shoulde the scrip­tures els be true, that in the latter daies there should be perilous times, such as the golden age never knew: that men should be lovers of themselves, covetous▪ boasters, vnnaturall, truce-breakers &c. which they might find, if they woulde cleare their eies with the eie-salve of plaine dealing [Page 284] quocun (que) sub axe, amongst Papistes as much as protestantes, without whetting their tongue or pen against our innocent religion. But whē I heare them hunting for the praise of God & man, by such meanes, I cal to minde an auncient historie of vowes vied & revied betweene the citizens of Croto,Alexan. ab Alex. lib. 3. cap. 22. and Loc [...]us or great Greece in Italie. They were at hote strife, and ready to discerne their variance by dinte of sword. And the former vowed vnto their Gods, to give thē the tenth part of the spoile, if they wan the field; the others (to goe a foote be­fore them) promised the ninth, so they might obtaine the conquest. Let these admirers of Italy, follow the steppes of their Italian prede­cessours. Notwithstanding I doubte not, for all their ambitious o­stentation, but though they goe before vs in making vowes, we shall not come behinde them in keeping promises:Quid dig­num ta [...]to feret hic [...]ro­missor hi [...] ­tu? what neede they gape so wide in telling of their vowes and performances, when it is not vn­knowne as far as the world is christened, that they have verified the olde proverbe, in straining at gnats, and swallowing downe camm [...]lles? Ad­mit their keeping of promise for mint and anise seed, & the smaller things of the lawe;Reade the story of Iohn Hus. Hebr. 6. yet they will breake a promise in a matter more capitall touching the life of a man, though in a generall Councell, and in the face of Christendome plighted vnto him. And whereas an oth for con­firmation, is the end of strife, and it is not onely a shamefull thing to bee iustly charged, as onely of the kings seede in Ezechiell, he hath despised the oth, Chap. 17. and broken the covenant, yet loe, eee had given his hand; but it e­vermore pulleth downe the iudgement of God, for, as I live, saith the Lord, I wil surely bring mine oth which he hath despised, & my covenāt which hee hath broken, vpon his owne heade: yet will these men take an oth, not to the king of Babell, a stranger, as hee did, but to their soveraigne lady the Queene of England,At the ta­k [...]g of their de­g [...]ees &c. to be true to her crowne and domini­ons, even with ceremony and solemnity; and as Abrahams servant put his hād vnder his masters thigh, taking an oth by him who should come from the thighes of Abraham so these laie their hande vpon their maisters booke, wishing a curse [...]o their owne soules, in the sight of God & angels above, & a whole Vniversitie beneath, if they per­forme not fidelity; yet they will breake that sacrament, with as easie a dispensation, or rather (as Bernard tearmeth it) a dissipation graun­ted by themselves, as if they had but tied a knotte in a [...]ushe, to bee vndone againe at their pleasures. I maie truely saie vvith the A­postle Saint Iohn, That which I have heard, and seene, and mine eies have looked vpon, and I have handled with mine handes, that de­clare I vnto you. These bee their holy sanctions, their politique [Page 285] and religious vndevoute vowes, this the event, these the fruites of them. In the number whereof, I might inserte an other accursed vowe, not vnlike to that of the Iewes against Paul,Actes 23. that they would neither eate, nor drinke, till they had killed him. Surelye they have taken an othe, these runnagates of Ephraim, which runne from the chosen of the Lord to Saules sonne, and flie to a forreine neste after the partriche hath bred them, to doe a mischiefe with Herode, and to accomplish as much as the Herodias of Rome shall require of them. Whereto they have bound themselves, not to the halfe of a king­dome, which they have not, but to the losse of their heades, vvhich thy daylie come in question of. If nothing will please Herodias, but the head of Iohn Baptist, the greatest amongst the sons of women, it shall be given her; if nothing this other strumpet, but the head of a Queene, the greatest amongst the daughters of men, they will doe their best endevour to make it good.

When I first began to handle this prophesie, I told you, that the ar­gument of it was nothing more than mercy:Conclu [...] ▪ and that from the whole contentes thereof, knitt vp in foure chapters, as the sheete of Peter at the foure corners, proceeded a most lively demonstration of the gracious favour of God, 1. towardes the Mariners, 2. towards Ionas, 3. towards the Ninivites, lastly in generality, not so much by perso­nall and practicall experience, as by strife and contention of argu­ment, to iustifie his goodnesse which Ionas murmured against. The first corner of the sheete hath bene vntied vnto you, (for some make an end of the first chapter, where I nowe left) that is, the mercye of God, embracing the mariners in their extremity of danger, hath ben opened, after that little portion of grace, which the spirit of God hath divided vnto me. This mercy is evident in two singu­lar, and almost despaired deliverances first of their bodies from a raging and roaring sea; a benefite not to be contemned, for even the Apostles of Christ [...] cried in the like kind of distresse vpon the waters, helpe Lorde, wee perish: secondlye of their soules, from that idola­trous blindnes wherein they were drowned and stifled; a destruction equall to the former, and indeed far exceeding. The horrour of this destruction was never more faithfully laid out in colours, than in the eighth of Amos. Where, after repetition of sorrowes enough (if they were not burnt with hote irons, past sense) as that the songes of the tēple shoulde be turned into howlinges, feastes into mourning, laughter into la­mentation, that there should be many dead bodies in every place, even the nū ­ber so great that they should cast them forth in silence (without obsequies) [Page 286] the sunne going downe at noone, and the earth darkened in the cleare day, that is, their greatest woe in the greatest prosperity: yet he threatneth a scourge beyōd al these. Behold, saith the Lord, (I have not yet made your eies dazell, nor your eares tingle with my iudgements, though your eies have beheld sufficient misery to make them faile, yet be­hold more) The daies come, (I give you warning of vnhappier times, the plagues you have endured already, are but the beginnings of sor­row) the daies come, that I will send a famine in the land: if the mouth of the Lord had here stayed, famem immittam, I will send a famine, had it not sufficed? Can a greater crosse, thinke you, be imagined, than whē a wofull mother of her wofull children,1. King. 17. shall be driven to say, As the Lorde liveth, I have but a little meale left in a barrell, and a little oile in a cruise, and beholde, I am gathering two stickes to go in and dresse it for me and my sonne, 2. King. 6. that wee may eate and die? and much rather, if it come to that extremity, that an other mother felt, when shee cried vnto the king, Helpe, my Lord, O King: This woman saide vnto mee, give thy sonne that wee may eate him to day, and wee will eate my sonne to morrowe: so we sodde my sonne, and did eate him &c. yet hee addeth to the former by a corre­ction, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst of water, but of hearing the word of God: and they shall wonder (not as the sonnes of Iacob, who went but out of Israell into Egypt,) but from sea to sea, and from the North to the East, shall they runne to and fro, to seeke the worde of the Lorde, and shall not finde it. This was the case of these men, before a prophet spake vnto them, and the wonders of the lawe were shewed amōgst them. And this was the case of our countrey, when either it fared with vs, as with the church of Ierusalem, signa non videmus, non est am­pliùs propheta, Psalm. 74. Chap. 22. wee see no tokens, there is no prophet lefte; or if we had pro­phets, they were such as Ezechiell nameth, they saw vanities, and divi­ned lies; and the booke of the law of the Lorde, though it were not hid in a corner, as in the raigne of Iosias, nor cut with a penknife, and cast into the fire,2 King 22. Ierem. 36. as in the daies of Iehoiakim, yet the comforta­ble vse of it was interdicted the people of God, vvhen either they could not reade, because it was sealed vp in an vnknowne tongue, or vnder the paine of a curse they might not: and such as hungred and thirsted after the righteousnes of Iesus Christ, were driven into Germany, and other countries of Europe, to enquire after it. But bles­sed be the Lord God of Israell, for hee hath long since visited and redeemed vs his people. If our many deliverances besides, either by sea, from the invasion of the grande pirate of Christendome, or from other rebel­lions and conspiracies by land, had beene in nūmber as the dust of [Page 287] our grounde, this one deliverance of our soules, frō the kingdome and power of darkenesse, the very shadowe and borders of death, wherein we sate before the sending of prophets amongst vs, to pro­phecie right things, to preach the acceptable yeare of the Lord, and the tidings of salvation, had far surpassed them. Let vs therfore with these mariners, sing a song of thanksgiving, not onely with our spi­rites, (My soule, blesse thou the Lorde, and all that is within mee, Psa. 103. praise his holy name) but with sacrifices and vowes also, as audible sermons and proclamations to the world, let vs make it knowne, that great is the mercy of Iehovah to our little nation.

THE XXII. LECTVRE.

The last verse of the 1. Chap. Or, after some, the first of the second‘Now the Lorde had prepared a great fish to swallow vp Ionas, and Ionas was in the bellye of the fishe three daies and three nightes.’

WEE are now come to the second section of the prophesie, wherin the mercy of God to­wardes Ionas is illustrated. It beginneth at my text, and parteth it selfe into three mem­bers. 1. The absorption or buriall, 2. the song, 3. the delivery of the Prophet. Isiodore in three wordes summeth the contentes of it:De patrib. vet. tesiam. Cetus obiectum, voratum, orantem revomuit: The whale cast vp Ionas, first cast forth, then devou­red, afterwards making his moue to God. Ionas is swallowed in this pre­sent sentence.

The iustice and mercy of God runne togither in this history, as those that runne for the maisterie in a race. And it is harde a long time for Ionas to discerne,Gen. 25. whither his iustice will overcome his mer­cie, or his mercy triumph over iustice. They labour in contention, as the twinnes in Rebecca's wombe. And although Esau bee first borne, red, and hairy all over like a rough garment, yet Iacob hol­deth him by the heele, and is not farre behinde him. I meane, though the iudgment of God against Ionas, bearing a rigorous and bloudy countenance, and satiate with nothing (in likelyhode) but his death, & that most strāge & vnaccustomed, seemeth to have the first place, yet mercy speedeth her selfe to the rescue; and in the end is fulfilled [Page 288] that which God prophecied of the other paire, The elder shall serue the yonger. For when iustice had her course, and borne the pree­minence a greate space, mercy at lengh putteth in, and getteth the vpper hande. To vs that haue seene and perused the historie, who haue as it were the table of it before our eies, and know both the first and the last of it, it is apparant that I say; that although he were tos­sed in the ship, & cast forth into the sea, & deuoured, yet God had a purpose prevised herein, to worke the glorie of his name, & the o­thers miraculous preservation. But Ionas himselfe, who all the while was the patient, and set as a marke, for the arrowes of heavenlye displeasure to be spent at, and knew no more what the end would be, than a child his right hand from the left, what could he th [...]ke, but that heaven and earth, land and sea, life and death, & all [...] in the world had sworne and conspired his immortall misery? First he was driven to forgoe his natiue countrey, the land of his fathers sepulchers, and take the sea. When he had shipt himselfe, the vessell that bare him, stackered like a drunken man to and fro, & never was at rest till she had cast forth her burthen. Being cast forth, the sea, that did a kinde of favour to Pharaoh and his host, in giving them a speedy death, is but in manner of a iaylour to Ionas, to deliver him vp to a further torture. Thus from his mothers house, and lap, wherin he dwelt in safety, to a shippe, to seeke a forreine countrey▪ from the ship into the sea; and from the sea into a monsters belly▪ (incomposi [...]um navigium, an incomposed, mishapen ship;) therein, shall I say, to his death?Chrysost. that had bene his happines: he would haue wisht for death, as others wisht for treasure.Iob▪ 3. There are the prisoners at rest, and heare not the voice of the oppressour; there are the small and the great, and the servaunt is free from his maister. So then, there is a comfort in death to a comfortlesse soule, if hee could atchieve it. But Ionas cannot die; the sea that swalloweth downe volumes of slime and sandes, is not grave enough to bury him; hee may rather perswade himselfe, that he is reserved for a thousand deathes, whome the waters of the O­cean refuse to drowne, giving over their pray to an other creature. My thoughtes are not your thoughtes, (saith the LORDE by his pro­phet Esaye) neither are your waies my waies. [...]sa. 55. For as the heavens are high­er than the earth, so are my waies higher than your waies, and my thoughtes above your thoughtes. It is most true. When wee thinke one thing, GOD thinketh an other: hee safety, and deliverance, vvhen, in the reason of man, there is inevitable destruction. We must not therefore iudge the actions of the Lorde, till wee see the last acte of [Page 289] them. We must not say in our hast, all men are liers; Psal. 11 [...] the pen of the scribes is vaine; the bookes false, the promises vncertaine; Moses, and Samuell, prophets and apostles, are like rivers dried vp, & have deceived vs. We must tarry the end, and know that the vision is for an apointed time, Abac. 2. but at the last it shall speake (according to the wishes of our owne harts) and shal not lie. Though our soules faint for his salvation, yet must, Ps. 119. Vers [...]1. we wait for his worde. Though our eies faile for his promise, saying, O, when wilt thou com­fort vs? and we are as bottels in the smoke (the sap of our hope dryed vp) yet we must not forget his statutes. When we see the fortunate succeeding of things, we shall sing with the righteous prophet, Wee know, O Lord, that thy iudgements are right, (though deepe & secret) and that thou of very faithfulnes hast caused v [...] to be tried: that howsoever our troubles seemed to be without either number or end, yet thy faithful­nesse higher than the highest heavens, failed vs not.

To set come order in the sentence propounded,The divi [...] ­on. I commende these circumstances vnto you. First, the disposer and ruler of the acti­on, the Lorde. Secondly, the manner of doing it, hee provided or prepa­red, Thirdly, the instrument, a fish, togither with the praise and exorna­tion of the instrument, a great fish Fourthly, the end, to swallow vp Ionas. Lastly, the state of Ionas, and how it fared with him after he was swal­lowed vp.

And first,1▪ The au­thor. that you may see the difference betwixte inspired spi­rites, and the conceiptes of prophane men, vvho, as if the nature of thinges bare them to their ende without further disposition, as when the clowde is full (they saie) it giveth her raine, and go­ing no higher than to seconde and subordinate causes, never con­sider that high hande that wrought them; it may please you to ob­serue, that thorough the whole body of this prophecie, vvhatsoe­ver befell Ionas, rare and infrequent, is lifted aboue the spheares of inferiour thinges, and ascribed to the Lord himselfe. A great winde vvas sent into the sea, to raise a tempest. It is not disputed there, what the winde is by nature (a drie exhalation drawne vp from the earth, and carryed betweene it and the middle region of the aire aslant, fit to engender a tempest,) but the LORDE sent it. Ionas vvas afterwardes cast into the sea. It is not then conside­red so much, vvho tooke him in their armes, and vvere the mi­nisters of that execution, but thou, LORDE, hast done as it plea­sed thee. Ionas is heere devoured by a fish. It is not related that the greedinesse and appetite of the fish brought him to his praie, but the LORDE prepared him. Ionas againe is delivered from the [Page 290] belly of the fish. It mighte bee alleadged in reason perhappes, that the fish was not able to concoct him; but it is saide, the Lorde spake to the fish, and it cast him vp. Towardes the ende of the prophecie, Ionas maketh him a booth abroade, and sitteth vnder the shaddow of a gourde; the Lorde provided it. A worme came, and consumed the gourde that it perished; the Lorde provided it. The sunne arose, and a fervent east-winde bet vpon the heade of Ionas? the Lorde also provided it. Lament. 3. Who is he then that saith, and it commeth to passe, if the Lorde commaunde it not? Out of the mouth of the most high commeth there not evill and good? Jbid. Thus whensoever we finde in any of the creatures of God, either man or beast, from the greatest whale to the smallest worme, or in the vnsensible things, the sun, the windes, the waters, the plantes of the earth, either pleasure or hurt to vs, the Lord is the worker and dis­poser of both these conditions.

[...]. The ma­ner. The Lorde prepared. That yee may know it came not by chaunce, brought thither by the tide of the sea, but by especiall providence. For it is not saide, that God created, but that he ordeined and provi­ded the fish for such a purpose. There is nothing in the workes of God, but admirable art and skilfulnesse.Psal. 104. O Lord (saith David) how mani­folde are thy workes? in wisedome hast thou made them all. Salomon giveth a rule well beseeming the rashnes and vnadvisednesse of man, who without deliberate forecast entereth vpon actions, first to prepare the worke without, Prov. 24. and to make all things ready in the field, and after to builde the house. God keepeth the order himselfe, having his spirite of coun­saile and provision alwaies at hande to prepare, as it were, the vvaie before his face, to make his pathes straight, and to remooue all impe­dimentes, to levell mountaines, to exalt vallies, to turne vvaters in­to drie grounde, and drie grounde into water-pooles, and to change the whole nature of things, rather than any worke of his shalbe inter­rupted. He had a purpose in his heart not to destroy Ionas; yet Ionas was thrown into the mouth of destructiō. A mā would haue thought, that the coūsaile of God (if ever) should now haue been frustrated, & that salvation it selfe could not haue saved Ionas: Put from the succor of the ship, frō the friēdship of his associats, having no rocke to cleaue vnto, far from the shore, and neither able perhaps, nor desirous to es­cape by swimming, yeelding himselfe to death, and to a living graue, with as mortified an affection, as if lumps of lead had been cast down; yet God had prepared a meanes to preserue the life of Ionas. Evē the bowels of a cruel fish, are as a chariot vnto him to beare him in safety through those vnsearchable depthes. O how many wonders in how [...] [Page 291] few wordes? how many riddles and darke speeches to the reason of man? he will scarselie beleeue, when they shall be tolde vnto him. 1. That so huge a fish shoulde bee so ready to answere at the call of the Lorde, & to saue his prophet. 2. So able to devour a man at a morsel, without comminutiō or bruise offered to any one bone of his. 3. That a man could liue the space of 3. daies and nights in a fishes belly. But so it was. The Lorde doeth but vse a preamble to finish his worke in­tended. He suffereth not the ship to carry him forth-right to the city, but so ordereth the matter, that the Mariners deliver him to the sea,Chrys. Homi. 5. ad pop. Antioch. the sea to the whale, the whale to the Lorde, and the Lorde to Nini­veh. That we may learne thereby, when our sinnes hange fast vpon vs, the harbour of a warme shippe cannot bee beneficiall: but when wee haue shaken them of, the sea shall make a truce, and the vngen­tlest beastes bee in league with vs. The demaunde of the earthlie man in these vnprobable workes, hath ever beene, [...], how can this bee? Though an angell from heaven shall tell Sarah of a sonne, after hath ceased to bee with her after the manner of women, shee will [...] within her selfe, and saie:What? after I am waxen olde, Gen. 1 [...]. and my Lord [...] But what saith the Angell vnto her? Shall any thing bee harde to the [...]orde? VVhen the children of Israell wanted flesh to eate, and cryed in the eares of the Lorde, quis dabit? Num. 11▪ VVho shall giue vs flesh to eate? God promised it for a moneth togither, vntil it should come out of their nostrels: And Moses saide, sixe hundreth thousande footemen are there among the people, of whom I am, and thou saiest, I will giue them flesh to eate a moneth long. Shall the sheepe and the beeves be slaine for them to finde them, either shall all the fish of the sea bee gathered togither for them to suffice them? But the Lorde aunswered him, is the Lords hand shortened? Thou shalt see now whether my word shall come to passe vnto thee, or no. Elizeus prophecied in that wofull famine of Samaria, when they bought an Asses head, and Doues dunge, at an vnreasonable rate,2▪ King. [...]. To morrowe by this time, a measure of fine flowre shall bee solde for a shekell, &c. Then a prince, on whose hande the king leaned, aunswered the man of GOD, Though the Lorde woulde make windowes in heaven, can this thinge come to passe? the prophet aunswered him, Beholde, thou shalt see it with thine eies, but shalt not eate thereof. Tota rati [...] facti▪ poten­tia facienti [...]. Considera authorem, tolle dubi [...]tionem▪ Saint Augustine in his thirde epistle to Volvsian, and elsewhere, giveth the rules to sa­tisfie these distrustfull reasonings. Wee must graunte that GOD is able to doe some thinge, vvhich wee are not able to finde out in such works: the whole reason of the doing, is the power of the doer. It is GOD that hath done them. Consider the authour, and all doubts will cease. Therefore if Ma­rie [Page 292] receiving a message of vnexpected & vnwonted conception, shal say at the first, how shall this thing be? yet, when the angell shal say vnto her, that it is the worke of the holy ghost, and the might of the most high, & that her co [...]zen Elizabeth hath also conceived in her olde age, though shee had purchased the name of barren by her barrennesse, because with God, saith the angell,Luke 1. nothing is vnpossible, then let Marie lay her hande vp­on her heart, and saie, Beholde the hand-maide of the Lorde, that is, with­out further disceptation I submit my selfe to the power of God. But if that former reason of his all-sufficient might, bee not of strength e­nough to resolue either pagans abroade, or atheistes at home, tou­ching the likelihoode and probability of such vnlikely actes, but the innocencie of the sacred Scriptures wherein they are written, must be arraigned, and condemned by their carnall reason, and our whole religion derided, because wee iustifie them; I will say no more vnto them, but as Augustine doth in his bookes of the city of God, Quic­quid mirabile fit, Lib. 10. c. 11. in hoc mundo, profectò minus est quàm totus hic mundus; The very creation of the worlde, (which being the booke of nature they runne and read, and can deny no part of it, though they deny & de­praue the booke of scripture,) sheweth them a greater miracle in the world it selfe, than whatsoever in these or the like singularities seemeth most in­credible.

The instru­ment A great fish. Some of the rabbines thinke, that the fish was crea­ted at that moment when Ionas was to be swallowed. Others, that he had lasted from the sixt day of the world. A thirde sorte, that it was a whale that first devoured Ionas, & that afterwardes the Lord becke­ned vnto him, & then hee cast him into the mouth of a female which was full of yong, where being streightned of his wonted roume, he fel to praier. Fabulous invētions, & fruit according to the trees that bare it. Whither t [...]e fish were created at that instāt or before, sooner or la­ter, I list not enquire. Neither will I further engage my self herein, thā the spirit of God giveth me direction. Only, that which the prophet setteth downe in 2. words, by a circumlocution, a great fish, it shall not be amisse to note, that the evāgelists abridge, & name more distinct­ly in one, shewing the kinde of the fish: therefore Matthew calleth it the belly of a whale. Math. 12. [...]. So do the 70. interpretours, from whom it is not vnlikely, the expositour of Matthew tooke his warrant.

I never found any mentiō of this goodly cre [...]ture, but the wisdōe of God the creator was willing to commēd it in some sort. In the first of Genes. God saide, Let the waters bring forth in abundance every creeping thing that hath the soule of life: howbeit in all that abundaunce there [Page 293] is nothing specified but the whale, as being the prince of the rest, and, to vse the speach of Iob, the king of all the children of pride, Iob 41. vvherein the workemanshippe of the maker is most admired: for so it is saide, Then God created the whales: and not singlie vvhales, Genes. 1. but vvith the same additament that this prophet vseth, the greate vvhales. So doth the Poet tearme them also immania caete, the huge vvhales, as being the stateliest creature that mooveth in the waters. Likewise in the Psalme: The earth is full of thy riches, so is the greate and vvide sea, vvherein are thinges creeping innumerable both small and greate beastes. Psal. 10 [...] There goe the shippes, (the artificiallest wonder that ever vvas framed) and there goeth that Leviathan (the wonder of that nature) vvhom thou hast made to play therein. In the booke of Iob,Chap. 40. & 4 [...] ▪ two argumēts are produ­ced to amplifie the incomparable power of God; Behemoth by land, Leviathan by sea: and for the power and perswasion of wordes, I do not thinke that ever more was vsed, than where the power of those 2. creatures is expressed. Of the latter of these it is professed in open tearms: I wil not keepe silence cōcerning his parts, nor his power, nor his come­ly proportion. Indeed they are all worthily described,Iob 41. by the tongue of the learned, evē the learnedst tongue that the holy ghost had. Never were there rivers & flouds of eloquēce, neither in the orators of Athēs & Rome, nor in the Seraphins of heavē, equal to those that are pow­red forth in that narratiō. Augustine some-where noteth, that al men marvailed at Tullies tongue, but not his invētion.Tulli lin­guam omne [...] mirantur▪ pec [...]us non aequè. Ari­stotelis pe­ctus omnes▪ linguam non [...]què. Plato. uis pectus & lingua [...] aqué▪ Ep. ad Pau [...]n. Annare in­sulas pute [...] &c. Plin. lib. 9. cap. 2. In mari ta [...] lu [...] supine At Aristotles invē ­tiō all men, but not his tongue. At Platoes invention & tongue both. But for a tongue & wisdome to, not to be vttered by the tongue, nor to be cōprehended by the wisdōe of mortal man, I remit you to those chapters. Ierome writeth of the whole booke, Singulain eo verba plena sunt sensibus, Every word of it is very sententious. But no where through the whole, more sense, more substance, grace, and maiestie spent, than where the meaning and intent was, that the maiesty of the most high God should fully be illustrated. To cast mine eies backe againe from whēce I am digressed, it is writtē of the whale, that whē he swimmeth & sheweth himselfe vpō the flouds, you would think that ilāds swam towards you, and that very high hils did aspire to heaven it selfe with their tops. Pliny giveth the reasō, why many beasts in the sea are big­ger thē those vpō land: Causa evidens, humoris luxuria; The evidēt cause, saith he, is superfluity of moisture. Howbeit, it holdeth not in birds (whose ofspring is frō the waters to) quibus vita pendentibus, because they liue hā ­ging, as it were, & hovering or wa [...]ting in the aire. But in the open champian sea, being of a soft & fruitfull encrease, semper (que) pariente naturâ, & of a [Page 294] nature that is ever breeding and bringing forth, monsters are often en­gendred.Cap 3. He writeth of Balae [...]a, the whirle-poole, or we may english i [...] also a whale, (so doth Tremelius interpret the name of Leviathan in Iob & the Psalme:) that in the Indian sea, there are some founde, to the largenes of fowre acres of grounde, Quaternûm inge [...]um Cap. 6. & that they are laden & surchar­ged with their owne waight. Likewise he reporteth of other beasts in the sea, that the dores of houses were made of their iawes, and the rafters of their bones, some of which bones were 40. cubites in length, and that the skins of some were broad enough to cover habitable houses.Superficies. Quicquid nascitur in parte naturae uila, & in mari esse, praeterque mul [...]a quae nusquam a. libi. Plin. Suasor. 2. Quod gran­dia omnia probaret ni­hil volebat nisi grādes di­cere. Servos habere nole­bat nisi gran­de, argentea vasa non ni­si Grandia, calceos ma­iores sump­fit &c. Galerius Pontifex Max. Thebaiicus Max. Sarmaticus Max. Quinquies Parsarum Max &c. Psal. 29. Genes. 30. Psal 36 Io [...]. 3. So true is the opinion of the people cōmonly received, that whatsoeuer is bred in any part of nature▪ is in the sea, & many creatures besides, which are no where els. And therfore the lesse marvaile may it seeme, evē to a natu­ral man, by the course of nature it selfe his lady & mistresse, that God should prepare a fish great enough to swallow vp Ionas. For the attri­bute is not adioyned for naught, A great fish. Seneca the philosopher writeth of one Senetio sirnamed Grandio: (others haue beene called Magni for the greatnes of their vertues, Alexander in Greece, Pom­pey in Rome, Arsaces in Parthia, Charles amongst the Emperors the great, and Gregory the great amongst the Popes: but Senetio had to name the grād, or the great, for his great vanity.) He liked of nothing that was not great. He would not speake but what was great. He kept no servants but great. Vsed no plate but great. The shoes he ware, were over great. The figs he ate, were great outlādish figs And he had a wife besids of a great stature. But whosoever is greatest vpō the face of the earth, though his stile be as great as that emperours, of whō Eu­sebius writeth, whose titles were sūmed togither in a long catalogue, The greatest bishop, greatest in Thebes, greatest in Sarmatia, in Persia fiue times the greatest, greatest in Germany, greatest in Egypt, yet I will say vn­to him, as the Psalme to the princes of that time, Give vnto the Lord yee sons of the mightie, giue vnto the Lord glorie and strength, giue vnto the Lord the honour due vnto his name. That greatnesse belongeth vnto the Lord alone, wee are taught by an excellent phrase of speech proper to the Hebrews. The striving of Ra [...]ell with her sister Leah, about the bea­ring of childrē, because it was very great, is called the wrastling of God. The mountaines of the earth wherwith the righteousnesse of God is cōpared, because they were very great, are called the mountaines of God The city of Niniveh, because very great, & of 3. daies iourney, is cal­led the citie of God. In all which singular idiotismes, the letter it selfe directeth vs rightly, where to bestowe all greatnes. Vndoubtedly it was the great God of heaven and earth, that prepared great lightes [Page 295] in the firmament, great fishes in the sea, great men, great beasts vpon the drie land, & magnitudinis eius non est finis, and there is no ende, Psal. 105. no limits of his greatnesse.

To swallowe vp Ionas. They have an history in prophane reading,4. The end▪ that Arion the Lesbian, a famous musitian, beeing embarked with some, who for the gaine of his money woulde haue cast him into the sea, he craved a litle respite of them before his casting forth; & taking his harpe in hand, & playing a while theron, at length himselfe leapt into the waters, & was caried vpon the backe of a dolphin to the lan­ding place intended, before the Mariners could possibly ariue there. In Herodotus the father of history, saith Tully,Apud Here­dotum pa [...]r [...] historiae in­numerabiles fabulaes. there are innumera­ble fables; & happily this amongst the rest. But I alleadge it to this end, that if God had prepared a whale to have borne Ionas vpon his back, & to have held him aboue the waters, where he might have be­held the light of heaven, & drawn the comfort of the aire, as other li­ving souls, there had been no fear of miscariage. It is quite contrarie: for the Lorde prepared a fish to swallow vp Ionas. Whereof one spake,Res inaudi­ta. Vēter Ce­tes domicilū hominis. a thing not hearde of before; the belly of a fish, is the habitation of a man. If of a man dismēbred & dissolved piece-meale, I would never haue doub­ted. The crocodiles of Nilus in Egypt, Gangs in India, & other rivers of Mexico & Peru, will devour not onely men, but whole heards of cattell.P. Plancius A beast With a wo­mans face, and horse [...] feete. And a physitian of our latter times hath written (Calvin not sparing to testifie the seme) that in the bowels of a Lamia, hath beene found a whole armed man. But Ionas is taken in aliue, through ran­ges and armies of teeth on both sides, without the collision or crush­ing of any limme in his body; and entereth the streights of his throate where he had greater reason to cry, thā the childrē in the prophet, the place is to narrow for me; and liveth in the entralles of the fish, a prison or caue of extreame darkenesse, where he found nothing but horror, and stinch, and loathsome excrementes. What shall we say herevn­to, but as Ierome did vpon the place;Vbi putabae­tur in [...]ritus ibi custodiae. where there was nothing looked for but death, there was a custodie, in a double sense, first to imprison, and yet withall to preserue Ionas.

Thus farre you have hearde, first that a fish, and for his exornati­on great fish, secondly vvas prepared, thirdly by the Lorde, fourthly to swallow vp his prophet. Now lastly if you will learne what tidings of Ionas, after his entring in the monsters mawe,5. His state in the fish it is published in the nexte wordes, And Ionas was in the belly of the fish, three daies and three nightes.

Therein I distinguish these particularities. First the person, Ionas; [Page 296] 1 not the bodye of Ionas forsaken of the soule, as the bodye of Christ lay in the graue; but the whole and entire person of Io­nas, compounded of bodye and soule, livinge, mooving, feeling, meditating, not ground with the teeth, not digested in the stomake, not converted into the substaunce of the fish, and neither vitall nor integrall part diminished in Ionas. Secondly, the place vvhere he 2 was, in the remotest and lowest partes, the bovvelles of the fish, as Ieremy was in the bottome of the dungeon where there vvas no water, where what nutriment he had amiddest those purgamentes & super­fluities, the Lorde knoweth; but man liveth not by breade alone: or what respiration and breathing, being out of his elemente, amongst those stiflinge evaporations vvhich the bellye of the whale reaked forth: but wee may as truely saye, man liveth not by breath alone. Thirdly, the time, hovve long hee continued there, three daies & 3 three nightes: when, if the course of nature were examined, it is not possible to bee conceived, that a man coulde liue so one moment of time, and his spirit not be strangled within him. Physitians giue advise,Levin. Lem. lib. 2. cap. 3. that such as are troubled with apoplexies, & falling sicknesses, or the like diseases, should not be buried till the expiration of 72. howres, that is, three daies and three nightes: In which space of time, they say, the humours begin to stop & giue over their motion, by rea­son the moone hath gone through a signe the more in the Zodiake. For this cause it was that our Saviour vndertooke not the raisinge of Lazarus from the dead, till hee had lien 4. daies in the graue, least the Iewes might haue slaundered the miracle, if hee had done it in hast, and saide, that Lazarus had but swooned. The like he experi­enced in himselfe, (besides the opening of his heart) that if falshoode woulde open her mouth into slaunder, it might bee her greater sin, because he was fully dead. Who would ever haue supposed, that Ionas fulfilling this time in so deadly and pestilent a graue, shoulde have revived againe? But the foundation of the Lord standeth sure, and this sentence hee hath vvritten for the generations to come, My strength is per [...]ited in infirmity, vvhen the daunger is most felt, then is my helping arme most welcome. We on the one side, vvhen our case seemeth distresseful, are very importunate with God, crying vpō him for help; It is time that the Lord haue mercy vpon Sion, yea the time is come: & if in the instant he answer not our cry,Psal. 102. Periit spes nostra. we are ready to reply against him, The time is past, and our hope cleane withered. But he sitteth aboue, in his provident watch-towre, who is far wiser than men, & thinketh with himselfe, you are deceived, the time is not yet come. They meete [Page 297] the ruler of the synagogue in the 5. of Marke, & tell him, thy daughter is deade, why diseasest thou thy maister any further? Assoone as Iesus hearde that vvorde (a word that he lingred and waited for) he said vnto the ruler of the Synagogue, be not afraid, onely beleeue. And as Alexan­der the great, solaced and cheered himselfe with the greatnes of his perill in India, when he was to fight both with men and beasts, their huge Elephantes, at length I see a daunger aunswerable to my minde;Tandem [...] animo meo periculu [...] vide▪ so fareth it with our absolute & true monarch of the world, who hath a bridle for the lippes of every disease, and an hooke for the nostrels of death, to turne them backe the same vvay they came; it is the ioy of his hart to protract the time a while, till he seeth the heigth & matu­rity of the daunger, that so he may get him the more honour. Martha telleth him in the 11. of Iohn, when her brother had beene long dead, & lien in the graue till he stanke, past hope of recovery, Lorde, if thou hadst beene here, my brother had not beene dead. And what if absent? was he not the same God? Yet he told his disciples not long before, Laza­rus is deade, and I am gladde for your sakes, that I vvas not there, that you mighte beleeue. You see the difference. Martha is sory, and Christ is glad that he was not rhere.Chap. 1 [...] ▪ Martha thinketh the cure commeth to late, and Christ thinketh the sore was never ripe till nowe. In the booke of Exodus, when Israel had pitched their tents by the red sea, Pharaoh and host marching apace, and ready to surprise them, they vvere sore afraide, and cryed vnto the Lord, and murmured a­gainst Moses; hast thou brought vs, to die in the wildernesse, because there were no graues in Egypt? wherefore hast thou served vs thus, to carrie vs out of Egypt? &c. Moses, the meekest man vpon the earth, quieted them thus, Feare yee not, stande still, and beholde the salvation of the Lorde which he will shew to you this day. For the Egyptians whome yee haue seene this day, yee shall never see them againe. The Lorde shall fight for you, therefore hold you your peace. Neither did Moses feed them with winde, & prophecy the surmises of his owne braine: for the Lorde made it good▪ as followeth in the next verse, vvherefore cryest thou vnto mee? speake vnto the chil­dren of Israell, that they goe forwarde. Thus, when the wounde was most desperate, & they might haue pledged even their soules vpō it, we cannot escape; when their legges trembled vnder them that they could not stand still, & their hearts fainted that they could not hope, the waters roring before their face, & the wheels of the enimy ratling behinde their backs, they are willed to stand still, not on their legges a­lone, but in their disturbed passions, to settle their shivering spirites, to pacifie their vnquiet tongues, and to go forwardes, though every step [Page 298] they trode, seemed to beare them into the mouth of death.

The state of the daunger you see. Ionas is in the belly of the fish, three daies and three nightes. Long enough to haue altered his na­ture, to haue boyled him into nourishmente, and to haue incorpo­rated his flesh into an other substaunce. Yet Ionas liveth. But if the LORDE had not beene on my side, (might Ionas nowe say) if the LORDE had not beene on my side, vvhen the beast rose vp against mee, hee had swallowed mee vp quicke, vvhen his vvrath vvas so sore enflamed. But praysed bee the LORDE vvhich hath not given mee o­ver a pray to his teeth. Psal. 124. My saule is escaped, even as a birde out of the snare of the fowler. The snare is broken, and I am delivered. Let all those whome the LORDE hath redeemed from the hande of the oppressour, from fire, or water, or from the perill of death, take that songue of thankesgiving into their lippes, and singe it to his blessed name in remembraunce of his holinesse. O thou the hope of all the endes of the earth, Psal. 65. (sayeth that other Psalme) and of them that are farre of in the sea, shevve vs but the lighte of thy countenaunce, and vvee shall bee safe: giue vs but the comforte of thy mercies, and wee will not feare, though the earth bee moo­ved, and the mountaines fall dovvne into the middes of the sea, and the sea, and the vvaters thereof rage fearefully, though Leviathan open his mouth, wee will not quake at it, yea though the Leviathan of the bottomelesse pit, open the throate of hell never so vvide to devoure vs, wee vvill not bee disquieted. VVee knowe that there is mercy vvith the LORDE, and that vvith him there is plen­tifull redemption, I meane redemption a thousande waies, by nature and against nature, by hope and against hope, by thinges that are and thinges that are not. Hee that hath saved his people, by ga­thering the vvaters in heapes like vvalles, and making a path in the redde sea; hee that hath kept his children in the middest of a fiery oven, when, if arte coulde adde any thinge to the nature of fire, they shoulde have beene burnt seven times for one, because it was seven times hote; and delivered his prophet in a denne of lyons, though dieted and prepared for their pray before hand, yet shuttinge their mouthes so close, and restrayninge their appe­tite, that they forbeare their appointed foode; and committed this servaunt of his to the belly of a fishe, as if he had commit­ted him to his mothers vvombe, to be kept from harme; he is the same GOD both in mighte and mercye to preserue vs, no time vnseasonable, no place vnmeete, no daunger vncouth and vn­accustomed [Page 299] to his stronge designementes. Our onely helpe there­fore,psal. 124. standeth in the name of the LORDE that hath made heaven and earth; blessed, and thrice blessed bee that name of the Lorde, from this time forth for evermore. Amen.

THE XXIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. vers. 1.‘Then Ionas praied vnto the Lord his God out of the fishes belly, and saide.’

THIS second section or division of the pro­phecie,Orantis lo­cus, modus exitus, wherein the mercy of God towardes Ionas is expressed, I parted before into three branches. 1. That he was devoured, 2. praied, 3. was delivered. The tearmes that Lyra gi­veth, are these, the place, the manner, the successe of his prayer. The marvailes that I haue already noted vnto you, were, 1. that so huge a creature, was suddeinely provi­ded by the providence of God: 2. that a whole man passed thorough his throate: 3. that he lived in his bowels, three daies & three nightes. Now whither he fulfilled that time exactly, yea or no, three na­turall dayes complete, consisting of twenty foure howres, neither can I affirme, neither is it materiall over-busily to examine. Our Savi­our, you know, in the gospell, applyeth this figure of Ionas to his buriall. As Ionas was in the belly of the whale, three daies and three nights, so shall the sonne of man bee in the heart of the narth. Math. 12. But if you conferre the shadowe and the body togither, you shall finde in all the evange­listes,Math 27. Marke 16. that the Lorde of life was crucified the 6. howre of the preparati­on of the sabbath, and the ninth gaue vp the ghost; that late in the eveninge, his bodie vvas taken downe from the crosse, and buried, that hee rested in the graue the night that belongeth to the sabbath, togither vvith the daie, and night nexte ensuinge after it; and that in the morning of the first day of the weeke, he rose againe. So as indeede the body of Christ was not in the heart of the earth more than 36. hovvers, to weete two nightes and a daie, vvhich is but the halfe space of 72. howers. Some, to supply this defect of time, accompte the lighte before the passion of Christ, and the darkenesse till the 9. howre, one day and a night, because, they say, there vvas both lighte and darknes. Lyr [...]. And then the light that followed from the 9. howre, and the succee­ding [Page 300] night, a secōd day & night, likewise the third, til the time he rose againe. [...]. Others expoūd it by a mistery thus: 36. hours, they say, to 72. which is the absolute measure of 3. daies & 3. nights, is but simplum ad duplū, one to two, or the halfe of the whole. Now ours was a double death, both in soule by sin, & in body by paine; Christes was but sin­gle, only in the body, because concerning his soule he was free frō sin; therfore they infer, that the moity of time might suffice him. Hugo Cardin. hath an other conceite, that from the creation of the worlde till the resurrection of Christ, the day was evermore numbred before the night, both in the literall and in the mysticall vnderstanding; first there was light, then darknes: but from the resurrection of Christ for­wardes, the night is first reckoned: (for which cause he thought, the vigiles were apointed for sabbathes & other festivall daies, that vvee might be prepared with more devotiō to solemnize them:) herehēce he cōcludeth, that the night which followed the sabbath of the Iews, was the angular night (& must twice be repeated,Angularis est. as the corner of a square serveth indifferently for either side which it lyeth betwixte:) for both it belonged (saith he) to the sabbath praeceding, & must be as­cribed againe vnto the Christian sabbath, or Lords day, whereon the son of God rose from death. And he thinketh there is great reason of his invention:Et merito: quia Chri­stus simplâ nocte suâ duplam no­stram abstu­tis. Divinatores & vates, nō interpretes. Senec. Tull. in Aca. because Christ by one night of his, tooke away two of ours. So they are not content to be sober interpretours of the minde of God, but they wil ghesse and divine at that which he never meant. They thinke their cunning abased, if they go not beyond the moone to fetch an exposition. What needeth such curious learning, to apoint every egge to the right hen that laid it, as some did in Delos, so these to think their labor vnprofitable in the church of God, vnlesse they can make the devises of their own heads reach home to the letter of the booke in al respects? Our soundest divines agree, that the triduan rest of Christ in the graue, must be vnderstood by the figure synecdo­che, a part put for the whole. And thus they make their account: the first day of his passion & enterrement (which was the preparation of the Iewish sabbath) must haue the former night set to it. The second was fully & exactly run out. The third had the night complete, and only a piece of the first day of the weeke, which by the figure before named, is to be holpen & supplied. Now I go forwardes to explicate the behavior of Ionas in the belly of the fish. Therein we are to consi­der, 1. what the history speaketh of Ionas, 2. what he speaketh him­selfe. The words of the history testifying his demeanour, are those in the head of the chapter, which you haue already heard,

[Page 301] Then Ionas prayed vnto the LORDE his GOD out of the bel­lie of the fish, and saide. VVherein, besides the person of Ionas, needelesse to bee recited any more, wee are stored vvith a cluster of many singular meditations. 1. The connexion or consequution after his former misery; or, if you will, you may note it vnder the cir­cumstance of time; Then. 2. What he did,Then. He prayed how hee exercised and be­stowed himselfe; Hee prayed. 3. To whome hee prayed and tendered his mone; To the Lorde. 4. Vpon what right, interest,To the L. His God. Out of &c. And saide. or acquaintance with that Lorde; because he was his God. 5. From whence he directed his supplications; Out of the belly of the fish. 6. The tenour or manner of the songe and request hee offered vnto him; And saide. Thus far the history vseth her owne tongue: the wordes that followe, Ionas himselfe endited.

Many thinges haue beene mentioned before,1. Then. vvhereof we may vse the speech of Moses: Enquire of the auncient daies which are before thee, since the day that God created man vpon the earth, and from one ende of heaven to the other, if ever there were the like thing done: as that a man should breath and liue so long a time, not onely in the bowels of the waters (for there Ionas also was) but in the bowels of a fish vvithin those waters; a prison with a double ward, deeper than the prison of Ieremie, wherein, by his owne pitifull relation, hee stacke fast in mire, Ier. 38. and was ready to perish thorough hunger, and when hee was pluckte from thence, it was the labour of thirtie men to drawe him vp with ropes, putting ragges vnder his armes betweene the ropes and his flesh, Actes 12. for feare of hur­tinge him: closer then the prison of Peter, who was committed to fowre quaternions of souldiours to bee kept, and the night before his death intended, slept betwixte two souldiours, bounde with two chaines, and the keepers before the doore: yea stricter then the prison of Daniell, the mouth whereof was closed with a stone, Dan [...]. and sealed with the signet of the king, and the signet of his princes, and the keepers of the ward, by na­ture harder to be entreated than ten times 4. quaternions of souldi­ours. Name me a prison vnder heaven, except that lake of fire & brim­stone, which is the second death, comparable vnto this wherein Ionas was concluded. Yet Ionas there liveth not for a moment of time, but for that cōtinuance of daies, which the greate shepheard of Israell after­wards tooke, & thought a tearme sufficient wherby the certain & vn­doubted evictiō of his death might be published to the whole world. But this is the wonder of wonders, that not onely the body of Ionas is preserved in life & liuelyhood (where if he receaved any foode, it was more lothsome to nature than the gall of aspes, or if he drew any [Page 302] aire for breath, it was more vnpleasaunt than the vapours of sulphur) but his soule also and inwarde man was not destroyed, and stifled vnder the pressure of so vnspeakable a tribulation. For so it is: he lieth in the belly of the fish, as if he had entered into his bed-chamber, & cast himselfe vpon his couch, recounting his former sinnes, present miseries, praying, beleeving, hoping, preaching vnto himselfe the deliveraunces of God, with as free a spirite as ever he preached to the children of Israell vpon dry lande.Vigilat in ceto, qui stertebat in navi. Mira res. Zeno ep. Veronens. lib. 2. ser. 38. 2. Cor. 1. [...]. He is awake in the whale, that snor­ted in the shippe. VVhat a strange thing was this? O the exceeding riches of the goodnesse of God, the heigth and depth whereof can never be measured, that in the distresses of this kinde (to vse the apo­stles phrases,) aboue measure and beyond the strength of man, wherein we doubte whether wee liue or no, and receaue the sentence of death within our selues, that if you should aske our owne opinion, we can­not say but that in nature and reason we are dead men: yet God lea­veth not onely a soule to the body, whereby it mooveth, but a soule to the soule, whereby it pondereth and meditateth within it selfe Gods everlasting compassions. Doubtlesse there are some afflicti­ons that are a very death; else the Apostle in the place aforesaide, woulde never have spoken as he did:Ibid. Wee trust in God who raiseth vp the deade, and hath delivered vs from so great a death, and doth deliver vs, and in him wee hope that yet hee vvill deliver vs. Harken to this, yee faint spirites, [...]. and lende a patient eare to a thrice most happy delive­raunce, be strengthened yee weake handes, and feeble knees re­ceaue comforte: hee hath, he doth, and yet he will deliver vs, not onelie from the death of our bodies, when wormes and rottennesse haue made their long and last pray vpon them, but from the death of our mindes too, when the spirit is buried vnder sorrowes, and there is no creature found in heaven or earth to giue it comforte.

The next thing we are to enquire, is, what Ionas did. Hee praied All thinges passe, [...] He pray­ed. Nihil novi video, nihil novi facio. lib. 3. ep. 2.4. Eccles. 3. sayeth Seneca, to returne againe. I see no nevve thing, I doe no newe. A wise man of our owne to the same effect: That that hath beene, is, and that that shalbee, hath beene. I haue before hand­led the nature and vse of prayer, with as many requisite conditions to commende it, as there were chosen soules in the arke of Noah. You will now aske me, quous (que) eadem? how often shal we heare the same matter? I would there were no neede of repetition. But it is true which Elihu speaketh in Iob,Chap. 33. Eccle. 22. God speaketh once and twice, and man seeth it not. There is much seede sowen that miscarieth, some by the high-way side, some amongst thornes, some otherwise; many exhor­tations [Page 303] spent as vpon men that are a sleepe, and when the tale is tolde, they aske vvhat is the matter? Therefore I aunswere your demaund,Jgnoscant scientes, [...] offendant [...] nescientes. Satius est e­nim offerre habenti, quae differre non habentens. 2. de. bapt. [...] Donat. 1. as Augustine sometimes the Donatistes, when hee was enforced to some iteration. Let those that know it already pardon mee, least I offende those that are ignorant. For it is better to giue him that hath, than to turne him away that hath not. And if it were trueth of Homer, or may be truth of any man that is formed of clay, Vnus Homerus satietatem omnium ef­fugit, One Homer never cloyed any mā that red him, much more it is truth, that one and onely Iesus Christ, the precepts and ordinaunces of his law, his mysteries of faith, haue beene often preached, often heard, & yet never wearied, never satisfied those that hungered and thirsted after his saving health. I goe backe to my purpose. Ionas, you heare, praied. This is the life of the soule which before I spake of: when being perplexed with such griefe of heart, as neither wine, (according to the advise of Salomon) nor stronge drinke could bring ease vnto; her tōgue cleaving to the roofe of her mouth, and her spirite melting like waxe in the middest of her bowels; when it is day, calling for the night againe, and when it is night, saying to her selfe, when shall it be morning? finding no comforte at all [...], either in light or darke­nesse, kinsfolkes or friendes, pleasures or riches, and wishing as of­ten as shee openeth her lippes, and draweth in her breath vnto her, if God were so hasty to heare those wishes,Iob 1 [...] Oh that thou wouldest hide me in the graue, and keepe me secret, vntill thy wrath were past: yet then shee taketh vnto her the wings of a doue, the motion and agility▪ I meane) of the spirite of God, shee flieth by the strength of her praiers into the bosome of Gods mercies, and there is at rest. Is any afflicted amongest you? Let him pray. Afflicted or not afflicted, (vnder correction of apostolique iudgement) let him pray. For what shall he else doe? Shall he follow the vvaies of the wicked, which the prophet descri­beth? the wicked is so prowde that hee seeketh not after God; Psal. 10 hee saith ever­more in his heart, there is no God; hee boasteth of his owne heartes desires, he blesseth himselfe and contemneth the Lorde; the iudgementes of God are high aboue his sight, therefore hee snuffeth at his enimies, and saith to himselfe, I shall never be mooved, nor come in daunger? I can name you a man that in his prosperity said even as they did; I shall never be moved: Psa. 30. thou Lorde of thy goodnesse hast made my hill so strong. But see the change. Thou diddest but hide thy face, and I was troubled. Then cried I vnto Lorde, and prayed vn­to my God, saying, what profite is there in my bloud &c. Or shall hee vvith those vnrighteous priests in Malachie, vse bigge wordes against the LORDE, It is in vaine that I haue served him, Mal. 3. and what profite is it [Page 304] that I haue kepte his commaundementes, and vvalked in humility before him? Ioh 21. O, the counsell of the vvicked bee farre from mee, saith Iob: their candell shall often bee put out, and the sorrowe of the fathers shalbee laide vp for their children, and they shall even drinke the wrath of the Almigh­ty. And all such as feare the Lord speake otherwise every one to his neigh­bour, Malach. 3. and the Lorde harkeneth and heareth it, and a booke of remembrance is written for them that feare him, and thinke vpon his name. Or shall he on the other side, when his sorrowes are multiplied vpon him, saie, as it is in the Psalme, vvho will shew mee any good thing? Let him aunswere the distrust of his minde in the nexte woordes: Lorde lifte thou vp the lighte of thy countenaunce vpon mee. Psal. 4. Thou shalt put more ioy thereby into mine hearte, than the plentifullest en [...]rease of corne, wine, and oile can bring to others. Or lastly, what shall hee doe? shall hee adde griefe vnto griefe, and welcome his woes vnto him? shal he drinke downe pensiuenesse, as Behemoth drinketh downe Ior­dan into his mouth? shall hee bury himselfe aliue, and drowne his soule in a gulfe of desperation? shall hee liue the life of Cain, or die the death of Iudas? shall hee spend his wretched time in bannings and execrations, cursing the night that kept counsaile to his con­ception, cursing the day that brought tidings of his bringing forth, cursing the earth that beareth him, the aire that inspireth him, the light that shineth vpon him? shall hee curse God and die, or perhappes, curse God and not die? or shall he keepe his anguish to himselfe, & let his heart burst like newe bottelles that are full of wine, for want of venting? or shall hee howle and yell into the aire, like the wolues in the wildernesse, and as the maner of the heathen is▪ not knowing where or how to make their mone, feeling a wounde, but not know­ing how to cure it? or what shall hee doe when he findeth himselfe in misery, his waies hedged vp with thornes, that hē cannot stirre to deliver himselfe there-hence,Jn fine sent. what shoulde he doe but pray? Ber­nard, vnder a fiction, proposeth a table well worthy our beholding; therein the Kinges of Babylon and Ierusalem, signifying the state of the world and the church, alwaies warring togither. In which en­counter, at length it fell out, that one of the souldiours of Ierusalem was fled to the castell of Iustice. Siege laide to the castell, and a mul­titude of enimies intrencht round about it. Feare gaue over all hope, but prudence ministred her comfort. Dost thou not knowe, saith shee, that our king is the king of glorie? the Lorde stronge and mighty, even the Lord mightie in battell? let vs therefore dispatch a messenger, that may informe him of our necessities. Feare replyeth, but who is able [Page 305] to breake thorough? Darknes is vpon the face of the earth, and our wals are begirte with a watchfull troupe of armed men, & we vtter­lie vnexperte of the waie into so farre a country▪ where vpon Iustice is consulted. Be of good cheare, saith Iustice; I haue a messenger of especiall trust, well knowne to the king and his courte, Praier by name, who knoweth to addresse her selfe by waies vnknowne, in the stillest silence of the night, till shee commeth to the secrets and chamber of the king him selfe. Forthwith she goeth and finding the gates shut, knocketh amaine, Open yee gates of righteousnes, and be ye opened ye everlasting dores, that I may come in and tell the kinge of Ierusalem how our case standeth. Doubtlesse the trustiest and efectuallest messenger we haue to send, is Praier. If we send vp merits, the stars in heaven wil disdeine it, that we which dwell at the footestoole of God dare to presume so far, when the purest creatures in heaven are impure in his sight. If we send vp feare and distrust­fulnes, the length of the waie will tire them out. They are as heavy and lumpish as gaddes of iron, they will sinke to the ground, before they come halfe way to the throne of salvation. If wee send vp blasphemies and curses, all the creatures betwixt heaven and earth will band themselues against vs. The sun and the moone will raine downe bloud, the fire hote burning coales, the aire thunder­boltes vpon our heades. Praier, I say againe, is the surest embassadour which neither the tediousnesse of the way, nor difficulties of the pas­sage can hinder from her Purpose; quicke of speede, faithfull for trustinesse, happie for successe, able to mounte aboue the eagles of the skie, into the heaven of heavens, and as a chariote of fire bea­ring vs aloft into the presence of God, to seeke his assistance.

And Ionas praied vnto the Lord. I handled also this point be­fore more largely then at this present I intende.3. Vnto the Lord. I noted there­in their wisdome and choice, who take their marke aright, and direct their petions to their true and proper periode. I will brief­ly saie, Non minus est Deum fingere quam negare. Hil in ps. 1. Psal. 11. It is as greate an offence, to make a newe, as to denye the true GOD. in the Lorde put I my trust, bovve then say yee vnto my soule (yee seducers of soules) that shee shoulde flie vnto the mountaines as a birde; to seeke vnnecessary and forraine helpes, as if the LORDE alone were not sufficient? The LORDE is my rocke, and my fortresse, Psal. 18. and he that deli­vereth mee, my GOD, and my strengh; in him will I trust: my shielde, the horne also of my salvation, and my refuge: I vvill call vpon the Lorde vvhich is vvorthie to bee praised, so shall I bee safe from mine enemies; [Page 306] vvhome have I in heaven but thee, amongst those thousands of angels and Saintes, vvhat Michaell or Gabriell, what Moses or Samuell, what Peter what Paule?Psal. 146. and there is none in earth that I desire in com­parison of thee. Put not your trust in Princes (which are the ablest vp­on the earth) nor in the sonne of man for there is no helpe in him. His breath departeth, and hee returneth to his earth, and then all his thoughts perish. But blessed is the man that hath the GOD of Iacob for his helpe, vvhose hope is in the LORDE his GOD. In that lamentable siege and famine of Samaria, a woman cry [...]d to the king as he passed by, helpe my Lorde O king. 2. King. 6. The king aunswered, seeing the Lorde doeth not succour thee, howe shoulde I helpe thee vvith the barne or the wine-presse? The king concluded soundly, that if the LORDE withdraw his helping hande it lyeth not in any prince of the earth to afforde it, GOD hath spoken once, Psal. 62. and I have hearde it twise, that povver belong­eth vnto GOD, and thine O LORDE is salvation; even thine a­lone. As much as to say, God is very constant in the asseverati­on of this doctrine.Semel & bis. i. non semel. saepi­us, aeternali [...]ter. penitus, inconcusse. To driue it into our conceiptes he hath spoken it once and twise, that is not once, but many times, he hath spoken it eternally, vnmoueably, effectually, vvithout retractation. Once in the lawe and a seconde time in the gospell. Both the breastes of the church giue this milke. Moses and Christ, prophets and Evan­gelistes runne vpon this point. Surely they forsake their first & bet­ter husbande, and goe after lovers, whose company they will deare­ly repente,Osea 2. (for they will see an alteration, and bee driven to con­fesse, It was better with mee at that time, then nowe) which thinke that their breade and water, woole, and flaxe, and oile, and drinke are not the bles­si [...]gs of God, much more the giftes and vertues of the soule, inward and spirituall graces; that cry for deliveraunce where there is none, that lay out their silver and not for breade, Es. 55. bestow their labour and are not satisfi­ed, spende and consume their praiers and are not heard. Or (as I­renee maketh the comparison) they are not vnlike Aesopes dogge, Lib. 2. ca. 12. who having meate in his mouth, caught at the shaddowe vvhich hee saw in the waters, and lost the substaunce. Is not the gleaning of Ephraim of more worth then all the vintage of Abiathar? Is not the staffe of the Lord of more strength (whereof David spake) thy staffe and thy rodde comforted mee; then all the staues of Assur and Egypt, staues of reedes, staues of flesh and bloud? is not the least finger of his right hand of more puis­sance then the whole arme either of flesh, or any spirite besides, yea then the whole loynes, whole bodies, whole substances of angels, men, silver, golde, silke, purple, al other creatures? Olympias the mo­ther [Page 307] of Alexander the great, wrote to her sonne, when he called him­selfe the sonne of Iupiter, not to do it; for seare of procuring vnto her the envie and displeasure of Iuno. The angels and Saintes in heaven, are much displeased, I dare affirme, to haue such daungerous honour thrust vpon them, that bringeth them into emulation with their fear­ful Lorde, whose presence they tremble at: and if it were possible for them to heare such vnlawfull praiers of men, they woulde, I doubte not, with a contrary sound of words, labor to purge themselues before the Lord of hoasts. Not vnto vs, Lord, not vnto vs: it belongeth not to thy servants to receiue such sacrifice. They that refused a far smal­ler offer vpon the earth, the only bowing of the knee vnto them, See thou doe it not, when the knees of the heart shal stoupe, and praiers be pow­red vnto them, they will much more be discontented. I conclude out of Saint Bernard, Sperent in alijs alij; Let others put their trust in other things. Some in the knowledge of letters, some in the wilines of this world. Some in nobility, some in preferment, or in any the like vanity, and let him that listeth trust in vncertaine riches. But it is good for me to holde mee fast by the Lord, and to put my hope in God. Who ever hoped in the Lorde and was confounded? The Lions lacke and suffer hurger, but they that feare the Lorde, shall wante no manner of thing that good is.

The specialtie wherevpon he tooke encouragement to pray vnto the Lord;4. His God. he had a particuler feeling of the loue of God to­wards him, and knew him to be his God. He had not onely heard and seene in others, but tasted in himselfe hovve sweete the LORDE was: some litle experience of deliveraunce he had already made, be­cause the waters chokte him not, and albeit he were swallowed into the belly of the fish, yet his life remained in him, and there is no other likelyhoode but he lived in hope of a farre greater salvation. The former circumstaunce, is as the alablaster boxe of spikenarde, that contayned precious ointmente in it, but kept it close and vncom­municated: this latter breaketh the boxe and povvreth out the ointmente, that the savour of the perfume may fil the whole house, and comforte both the body and soule of him that vvill vse it. The former at large delivereth the arguments of the might and mercie of God, telleth vs▪ there is a Lord aboue, whom al the ends of the worlde haue a portion in, whose name is Iehovah, and his aide most requisite to be sought vnto.

This latter bringeth him home as it were, vnder the roofe of our private houses, and giveth him entertainemente in our particular consciences. The former giveth counsaile, and sheweth the vvaie, [Page 308] the latter putteth in execution;Dicit fides, parata sunt bona inex­plicabilia &c. Dicit spes, mihi illa servantur. Nā charitas &c. Bern ser. 10. super qui ha­bitat. Nempe ger­mana fidei spei (que) cognatio est. Vt (que) illa futurum credit, haec sibi incipiat sperare fu­turum. Super inane. Cap. 8. See Mart. Luther vp­on the 5. to the Galathians. Aliquid cre­ditur quod nō speratur, nihil spera­tur quod non creditur. Fi­des est mala­rum rerū & bonarum, & praeteritarū, & praesenti­ [...]m & futurarū, & su­ [...]rum rerum & alienarū. Spes est bo­narum rerū [...]antū & su­ [...]rarum & nostrarum. [...]. Paedag 6. the one teacheth knowledge the other application; the one what to beleeue, the other what to hope, the one to pray vnto the Lorde, the other to pray vnto the Lorde our God. Dicit fides, parata sunt bona, &c. faith saith, there are good thinges, which cannot bee tolde, prepared for beleevers; hope saith, they are kept for mee. Charitie, which is the thirde sister, saith, I runne and endevour to at­taine vnto them. Before he had saide, that there was a neare affinitie be­tweene faith and hope. For that which the one beleeveth shall bee, the other beginneth to hope shall bee for her. The prophet breaketh not the or­der of these two vertues: first he beleeveth, then hopeth. For faith is the substance of thinges hoped for: and no more can a man hope after that, which he beleeveth not, then a painter paint in the aire or vp­on emptines. Augustine in his enchiridion to Laurentius, alleadgeth many differences betwixt faith and hope. Namely these, that more is beleeved then is hoped for; as the paines of hell; but nothing is hoped, vvhich is not beleeved. Againe, faith apprehendeth both good and evill; rewarde and punishmente; thinges past, thinges present, and thinges to come, as the death of Christ for the first, for the seconde his sitting at the righte hande of God, for the last, his comming to iudgement. Moreover faith hath to do in matters both concerning our selues and others; for we also beleeue that, that appertaineth to Angels. But hope is the expectatiō only of good things, & such as are to come, & are proper to our selues. So faith is evermore ampler then hope, and hope is in a maner a contracted & abridged faith. Clem. Alex. faith, that hope is the bloud of faith. And whē hope hath given vp the ghost, it is as if the bloud of faith had flowed out, & all her vitall power were exhausted. The devils both know & obey God. Iob 1. & they acknowledge his son Iesus Christ, not only in the substance of his deity to be the son of God, but in his office of mediation, Thou art that Christ, Marc. 1. and they professe & publish that knowledge of theirs, for Christ rebuketh them for it, Luc. 4. nei­ther are they ignorāt of his cōmission, that al power is granted vnto him both in heaven & earth. And that he is ordained the iudge of the quicke & the dead. Therfore they aske, why art thou come to vex vs before the time? Math. 8. Yea they fall downe and worship him, Mark. 5. they feare & trē ­ble and beleeue 2. Iac. and they pray vnto him. For the Legion instantlie besought him 4. Mark▪ not to send them away out of the coasts of the Gadaren [...]. [...]o there is in the devils, you see, 1. knowledge, and that very deepe and profound, 2. confession, 3. worship, 4. feare, 5. beliefe, 6. praier and supplication; what want they? that which if christians wāt, they haue a name that they liue, but indeed are dead. They want [Page 309] a particular confident faith, the application of mercy, which is the life of Christians, and the defect whereof maketh devils. For not to beleeue assuredly that God is rich in mercy to all that call vpon him in faithfulnes and truth, to haue his loving kindnes in iealousie, to di­strust his promises which are yea and Amen, to falsifie his word more stable thē the pillers of the earth, to make him a lier what in vs lyeth, & to evacuate the testimony of his spirit speaking to our spirites that we are the sons of God, & as it were to pull off the seale whereby wee are sealed against the redemption of the iust, is that damnable & des­perate infidelity which turneth men into devils, and of the houshold of faith maketh them a family for the prince of darknes. And not to speake more of this beautiful damsell, as highly favoured of the king of kings as ever was Esther of the king of the Medes & Persians, not cōtenting her selfe to stay without at the gate,Ester. 4. but with an hūble pre­sumptiō approaching into the inner court, & finding the goldē scep­ter of favor ever ready to be held out vnto her; be ye assured in your soules, and write it in the tables of your harts with the point of a Dia­mond, with the perswasiō of Gods holy spirit, that the writings of ad­versaries may never raze it out againe, that if you erre not in the na­ture of a true faith, if you take not shadowes of mountaines for men, a fansie and shadow of faith for the body it selfe, if it be sound & sub­stātial, rightly informed, properly qualified, you may say vnto it, goe in peace; it shall walke through life & death without controlement.Iud. 9. If it finde angels, principalities, powers, things present, things to come, a­ny other creature in the world, stopping her passage, & rebuking her forwardnes, she shal cleare her way notwithstanding with the strēgth of her hope, and climbe into the presence of her God; where if shee craue to sit at his right or left hand in his everlasting kingdome, her suite shall be graunted.

He praied vnto the Lord his God out of the belly of the fish;5. The place. where he had as litle cōfort of life, as blind Tobias had: what ioy can I haue, said he, that sit in darknes and behold not the light of heaven?Tob. 5. Ionas might truly say in a double sense de profundis clamavi, & abyssus abyssū invocat, out of the deepe haue I cried, & one depth calleth vpon an other, who lay both in the bottome of a mōster, & in the lowest gulfe of afflictiō that ever soule was plunged in. Might he haue had the liberty of the sons of God, to haue entred into the house of the Lord, the house of praier, as the pro­phet calleth it, the place where his honor dwelt, there to haue hūbled himselfe & powred out his soule to him that made it, I woulde lesse haue marvailed to heare this duty performed. Anna the daughter of [Page 310] Phanuell hath spent her daies in the temple of God, serving the Lord with fastings and praiers night and daie, Luc. 2. and shee departed not thence. David desired but one thing of the Lorde, and that he would require, that he might dwell in the house of the Lord all the daies of his life, to beholde the beautie of the Lord, Psal. 72. and to visite his temple. But in the belly of the fish there was no beauty to invite vnto devotion; in this darkesome and deserte house, no company or fellowshippe to draw him on, Ibimus in domum domini, Psal. 122. Come vvee will goe into the house of Lord: Our feete shall stande in thy gates O Ierusalem. No, not so much as swallowes and sparrowes, which David envied, because they had leaue to build their nestes by the altars of God; yea, if vultures and shrich-owles had but dwelte thereby, it had beene some comforte. Yet in this desolate and soli­tary house, voider of haunte then the ransackte sanctuary of Ierusa­lem, the pathes wherof foxes for want of passengers ran vp & downe vpon, wherin he lay as forlorne in a māner, as he that made his abode amongst the tombes of the dead and frequented the company nei­ther of men nor beasts,Marc. 5. even in this hatefull cage of filth & vnclean­nes, he setteth himselfe on worke, humbling his soule in praier low­er then his body was humbled in the water, talking with God on high, mourning and lamenting his wretchednes, not in a caue of Ho­reb as Elias did, not in a caue of Adullam as David, but in the oug­liest, vncomfortablest vaulte (setting hell aparte) that ever vvas entred. O Lord, where shall thy spirite forsake thy chosen ones? if wee climbe into heaven, there it is as apparant to the worlde as the sunne in his brightnesse. If we bee driven into the wildernesse, there it will attend on vs. If we lie downe in the bottome of the sea, if in the bowels of a whale within that bottome of the sea, there will it al­so embrace vs.

To conclude all in one for this time, there was never contempla­tion or study in the world so holy and heavenly in the sight of God, so faithfull and sociable to him that vseth it,Peregrina­tur, perno­ [...]tat. as praier is. It travaileth by day it awaketh by night with vs; it forsaketh vs not by lande, by water, in weale, in woe, living nor dying. It is our last friend an [...] indissolublest companion: therefore wee must praie. There was never name so worthy to bee called vpon, in heaven or earth, so mighty for deliverance, so sure for protection, so gainefull for suc­cesse, so compendious to cut of vnnecessarie labours, as the name of Iehovah our mercifull father, and the image of his countenaunce, Iesus Christ. Therefore to the Lord. There was never citty of refuge so free for transgressours, never holes in the rockes so open for doues; [Page 311] never lappe of the mother so open to her babes, as the bowels of Gods compassions are open to beleevers. Therefore we must pray in that stile of propriety which Thomas vsed, when he looked vpon Christ, my Lord and my God. Lastly there was never affliction so great, but the hande of the Lorde hath beene able to maister it: therefore if we walke in the shadow of death (as where was the shadow of death if these bowels of the whale were not?) we must not take discomforte at it. The Lord sitteth aboue the water flouds; the Lord commandeth the sea and all that therein is. He that hath hidden Ionas in the belly of a fish, as a chosen shafte in the quiver of his mercifull providence, and made destruction it selfe a tabernacle and hiding place to preserue him from destruction, blessed be his holy name, and let the mighte of his maiestie receiue honour for evermore) he will never forsake his sonnes and daughters, neither in health nor sicknesse, light nor dark­nesse, in the lande of the living, nor in the lande of forgetfulnesse. And therefore as David cursed the mountaines of Gilboah,2. Sam. 1. that nei­ther dew nor raine might fall vpon them, because the shielde of the mighty was there cast downe; so cursed be all faithlesse and faint harted passions, that throwe away the shielde of faith, and open the way for the fierie dartes of the devill to worke their purpose. But blessed be the moun­taines of Armenia, for there the [...] found rest. Blessed be the pow­er and mercy of our God, for these are the mountaines vvherevpon the arke resteth: these are the holy hils whereon the Sion and church of the Lord hath her everlasting foundations. The Lorde liveth, and blessed be our strength, even the God of our salvation for ever and e­ver be exalted. Amen.

THE XXIIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. ver. 2.‘And said, I eryed in mine affliction to the Lord and he hearde me, out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardst my voice.’

IN the wordes of the history, before we come to Ionas speaking frō his own person, I noted 1. his action during the time of his imprison­mēt, praier, 2. the obiect of his praier, the Lorde, 3. the applicatiō, his God, 4. his house of praier, the belly of the fish, & 5. the specification of it, he said; which particle only remaineth to bee ad­ioyned to the former, before wee proceede to to praier it selfe.

[Page 312] And saide.It beareth one sense thus: I will not onely acquaint you that Io­nas prayed, but I will also expresse vnto you what that prayer was; this was the summe and substaunce of it: the matter hee framed and compiled to his God, was to this effect. Hee praied and saide, that is, these were the very wordes, this was the tenour and text of his songe indited. But if the worde bee better lookt into, it may yeeld a further construction. For in the three principall tongues Hebrew, Greeke & Latine, there hath ever bene held a difference betweene speaking & saying:Aul Gel. 1. noct. At. 15. Satis loquē [...]lae, sapien­tiae parùm. Salui. the former being more generall & vnperfite, be­longing to as many as vse the instruments of speech. Thersites spake though hee spake like a Iay, & they speake of whome the proverbe is verified, little wisedome, much prating. Eupolis noted them in the greeke verse,

[...], they are excellent to talke, but very vnable to say. The later is more speciall, & noteth a wise & deliberated speech, graue & sententious, weighed in the bal­lance as it is in the words of Syrach, & vttered to good purpose. Tul­ly in his rhetorickes giveth the difference,Eccle. 21. in that he ascribeth saying to oratours alone,Solius est o­ratoris dice­re, loqui au­tem commu­nis vulgi. speaking to the cōmon people; & that the one cō ­meth from nature, the other from art. Such was the handling of that argument in the 45. Psalme, whereof the authour witnesseth before hand, My heart is inditing a good matter; & his tongue was but the pen of a ready writer. It was sermo natus in pectore, a matter bred in the breast not at the tongues end. And such was the song of Ionas in this place. It was drawne as deepe as the water from the well of Iacob, the senten­ces wherof were advisedly penned & the words themselues set vpon feete, and placed in equall proportions. A skilfull and artificiall song, as if it should haue fitted an instrument, cōposed in number & mea­sure, to the honour of his name who giveth the argument of a song in the night season:Iob. 35. who in the heaviest and solitariest times, when nature cal­leth for rest, quickeneth vp the spirit of a man, and giveth him wisdōe & grace to meditate within himselfe his vnspeakable mercies. I doe not thinke that the praier of Ionas was thus metrically digested with­in the belly of the fish as now it standeth. But such were the thoughts and cogitations, wherein his soule was occupied, vvhich after his lan­ding againe, perhappes he repolished, & brought into order & fashi­on▪ as a memoriall & monument of the goodnes of God that had en­larged him. It ministreth this instruction vnto vs al, that when vvee sing or say any thing vnto the Lord we keepe the rule of the Psalme, Sing yee praises vvith vnderstanding: Psal. 47. that as Iohn Baptist went before [Page 313] Christ to prepare his vvaies, so our heartes may ever goe before our tongues to prepare their speeches; that first vvee speake within our selues as the woman with the bloudy issue did ( [...] for shee saide within her selfe, Math. 9. if I may but touch the hemme of his garment) after­wardes to others; first in our harts with David in the Psalme,Psal. 39. Dix [...] Custodiam &c. I saide, I will keepe my waies, then with our lippes; that first we hew the stones and make them fit for the building of the tē ­ple before we place them in the walles, least by our hammering and confusion at the present time wee disorder al things; finally that whi­ther we pray or preach, we come not wildly and vnadvisedly to those sacred workes, beating the aire with empty words, and seeking our matter vp and downe as Saul his fathers asses, but furnished and pre­pared to our busines with sufficient meditation. I never shal perswade my selfe that the exactest industrie vvhich either tongue or penne can take in the handling of his workes can displease God. And they that thinke the contrary, seeke but a cloake for themselues (the grea­ter parte) to cover their ignorance withall, as it was noted of Hono­rius the thirde, when he forbade the cleargy the study of both laws, the foxe dispraiseth the grapes vvhich himselfe cannot reach. Exod. 31. VVhen the Tabernacle shoulde bee made with the arke of testimonye, and the mercy seate, and all other instrumentes belonging therevnto, GOD called Bezeleel by name, and filled him vvith his spirite, in wise­dome, and in vnderstanding, in knovvledge, and in all workemanshippe, and ioyned Aholiab vvith him, and as manye as vvere vvise of hearte besides, God put cunning into them. As Bezeleel and his fellowes were fitter for these works, then others vnfurnished, so had they been very vnworthy of these graces of God, if beeing bestowed to such an end, they had not vsed thē to the vttermost. I aske in the like maner. Who made the mouth and the heart of man? whose are learning and artes, invention and eloquence? what wombe hath ingendred them? are they not Gods blessings? shall we dissemble the authour? shall vvee obscure the giftes? shall wee wrap them vp in a napkin, & hide them in the grounde, and not expresse them to the honour of his name by whom they were given? Erasmus in his preface vpon the workes of Cyprian, giveth this testimony & applause to that glorious martyr of Christ. Talem ecclesiae doctorem &c. such a doctour of the church, such a chā ­pian of Christian religion, did the schoole of rhetoricians bring forth vnto vs; Ne quis sibi stolidè pla­ceat, quod nihil rheto­rices atti▪ [...]rit▪ least any man foolishlie shoulde flatter himselfe, that hee never m [...]dled vvith rhetoricke. It is not vnknovvne to all that peruse the ho­lye vvritte that Moses vvas learned in all the vvisedome of Aegypte, [Page 314] Daniell of Chaldee, Iob not vnexpert in astronomy, Ieremy in the common lawes of his time, David in musicke, Paul in Poetry, and in all the knowledge both of Iewes & Gentiles; and those that delight in the histories of the church, shall finde Cyprian, Optatus, Hilarie, Lactantius and others, laden out of Egypte vvith the treasures and spoiles of the Egyptians, instructed for the better service of GOD vvith the helpes of prophane writers.Sero. 1. et 5. [...]polog. c. 45. They require but their owne, for these other were but theeues (saieth Clem. Alex.) and robbed Moses and the prophets; and likewise in the iudgement of Tertul­lian harping vpon the same string, vvhat poet or sophister hath there ever beene, that dranke not at the well of the prophets? or if there be any thing in them besides, let them be enforced to confesse with Iu­lian, proprijs pennis consigimur, wee are striken thorough vvith our owne [...]uilles, Si turpe est bonas literas colere, malle [...] agnoscere culpam quā deprecari. The words of Ionas himselfe. that is vvounded and disadvantaged, by our owne learning. And therefore I ende with the saying of Picus Mirandula, if it bee an opprobrious thing to embrace good letters, I had rather acknowledge my faulte then aske pardon for it.

Hitherto vvent the words of the history, now let vs see what Io­nas himselfe saith. I cryed in mine affliction vnto the Lord, &c. I remem­ber what Eschines spake of Demosthenes at Rhodes, when hee red the defence that Demosthenes had framed to his accusatiō, the peo­ple wondring at the strength and validity of it, quid si ipsum audissetis? what would yee haue thought, if you had heard him pronouncing with his owne mouth? I thinke no lesse betwixt Ionas & Ionas, vvhen I find what oddes there is betwixt him and himselfe, as he speaketh in the name of the history vvhich hee vvriteth, and as in his owne person. His pen wrote nothing so effectually as his heart felt, and being the scribe and oratour onely, hee is not so fluent and copious, as vvhen he is the pa­tient. Iob demaundeth in the sixt of his booke; will yee giue the words of him that is afflicted to the winde? as if hee had saide, when affliction it selfe and the inmost sorrowes of my hearte tell my tale, will you not regarde it?Iob. 16. Oh that your soules were in my soules steede, that you felt as much as I am grieved with: I could then keepe your company, and could shake mine head at you.Iob. 7. Loquor in angustia mea, queror in ama­ritudine animae meae; I speake that that I speake from a worlde of trouble, I make my complaint in the bitternes of my soule. So Ierusalem cryeth in the Lamentations of the prophet,Chap. 1. O all yee that passe by, stay and consider if ever there were sorrow like vnto that wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me. For they that past by, considered it not, but Ierusalem felt it at the heart. The style of the history before if you observed it, was sim­ple [Page 315] and plaine, in as vsuall, naked, and vulgar tearmes as might be: Ionas prayed vnto the Lorde his God out of the belly of the fishe: what one worde therein lofty and magnificent, and lifted aboue the common course of speech? But the style of Ionas himselfe speaking from a sense and impression of his vvoes, is full of ornament and maiesty, full of translated and varied phrases, as if a sentence of ordinarye tearmes were not sufficient to expresse his miseries. It is not novve said that he praied, but that he cried, praying is turned into crying, not from the belly of the fish, but frō the belly of hel, a marveilous transfor­matiō; & the trouble he speaketh of is not properly trouble, but nar­rownes & streights, & the hearing of the Lord is not naturally hearing, but aunswering, a degree beyond. Againe the stile of the historye was single and briefe, and not a worde bestowed therein more then was needefull to explane the matter intended.Clamavi▪ vociferatu [...] sum. Exaudivit, exaudivisti, Angustia, venter in­ferni. Aul. Gel. 13.23. Jbid. [...] & [...]. But the stile of Io­nas himselfe in every parte is doubled and iterated. For where it was saide before at once, Ionas prayed, now, hee cried and cried. And the Lorde hearde and hearde. And the belly of the fish there menti­oned, is now, both pressure and tribulation, and the belly of hell to. Euri­pides charged Eschylus in the comedy for vnnecessary repetition of wordes.

[...]
[...],
[...].
Wise Eschylus hath one thing twise repeated
In that, I come, and come, againe is vsed,
When comming, there, and comming is not changed.

But in the two members of this present verse, though there bee neare affinity, and they seeme to importe but the same meaning, yet we may not take thē for an idle repetit [...]ō: the later of the two rising in degree in some sort, & giving elucidation to that which went before it. And as nature in the body of man hath doubled his eies, his eares and other partes, that if the one should faile in his office & charge, the other might supplie the defecte; so in the body of this sentence the wisedome of the prophet hath doubled every word, that if those of the former ranke, faile in their office and message wherevnto they are sent, the other in the later might helpe them out. For thus mee thinketh they found. Is any man desirous to vnderstand my case? I was in affliction: and that affliction so great, as if I had been pin­ched and thronged in some narrowe roume;Ex angusti­as. Lam. 3. as if the Lord had hedged aboute mee that I shoulde not get foorth, and mured mee vp within hewen [Page 316] stone, they are the words of Ieremy, to shewe the nature of extreme tribulatiō.Clamavi. If you will know my refuge, I wēt vnto the Lord, not with a cold & carelesse devotiō, nor with a dūbe spirit, but with as earnest & impatient a voice as the affections of my hart could send forth.Exaudivit. If you will also learne the successe, what cōfort & speed my crying had, the Lord gaue eare and answere vnto it. Now in the second clause of my text,Eventre in­ferni. though neither the order of the partes, nor the substaunce of the words disagreeth, yet their vertue and power is much more sig­nificant. For that which he called before tribulation and anguish is now the belly of hell. Vociferatus sum. And the cry that he vsed before is now vociferati­on, an other kinde of crie. And whereas he said before, the Lord hath heard me, as one that were farther removed from him, now by chan­ging the person,Tu Domine. he cōmeth nearer to his throne of grace, & delivereth his tale as it were in the eares, & vnder the eies of the author of his deliverance; Thou Lord hast answered me. Frō this difference of stiles, that when he speaketh frō himselfe, he vseth greater force of wordes, thē when the history speaketh of him, I make this briefe collection: that Ionas interpreted aright, the afflictions sent of God, & mistooke not the end why he was chastened. For what was the cause of them, but to put a sensible & liuely feeling into the soule of Ionas, that he might see and say in himselfe, I am sicke indeed, and that his soule refusing all other comfort, he might run to the succours of God there to be re­freshed. God did iustly complaine against Israel in the second of Iere­my. I haue smitten their children in vaine, they received no correction. The prophet in the 5. chap. findeth the same fault, Thou hast striken them, but they haue not sorrowed: thou hast consumed them, but they refuse to be cor­rected: they haue made their faces harder then a stone and refuse to returne. But what wil be the end of this stupidity & blockishnes in apprehē ­ding the chastisements of God? the same which is spoken of Ezec. 16. recessit zelus meus à te, Solo auditu contremisco. Vides quia tunc magis irascitur Deus cum nō irascitur. Misericordi­am, hanc ego nolo. Super omnem iram miseratio ista. Ser. 42. super Cant. my wrath is departed frō thee, & I wil cease, & bee no more angry. Wherupon sweet S. Barnard. I trēble at the very hearing of it. Now thou perceivest that God is then more angry, when he is not angry. God keepe me frō such mercy: this pitty is beyonde all wrath. Let thē consider this wel that take the afflictions of God brought vpon thē as an horse or mule taketh the brāding of an hote iron which they presently for­ge [...]: who whē they are smitten with sorrow, sicknes, infamy, losses or such like tēptations, are no more moved therwith, thē when they see the wether or winde in the aire chāged. O Lord, they wil not beholde thine high hand, but they shall see it. If they will not apply it to amendmente of life, they shall receiue it to their further iudgement.

[Page 317]The partes severally to be handled in the present words are these▪ Division of the text. 1. the gravity of his afflictions declared by two metaphors, straightnes, & the belly of hell, & what effect those afflictions drew frō him, prayer, 2. the vehemency of that praier▪ expressed both by the ingemination & increment of 2. wordes, crying & vociferation or out [...]crying. 3. the suc­cesse of his praier, in two other words laide downe and amplified by changing the person, he heard & thou heardest.

The first metaphor or translation bewraying his misery vnto vs,Out of my anguish. is angustia, narrownes, strictnes of roume, & as it were, a little-ease, whence I suppose, we deriue our english name anguish. The reason of this me­taphor in afflictions, is because the heart & countenāce at such times indure a kinde of cōpression & coartation, a shrinking togither, & are drawne as it were into a lesser roume, the spirites not diffusing them­selues so freely, as when there is occasion of mirth & cherefulnes. For it is not vnknowne in common experience, that laughter dilateth & spreadeth the face abrode, which sorrow contracteth; therefore God promiseth in the 60. of Esay, that the heart of the church shallbe enlarged, Dilatabitur cor ecclesiae. that is, filled with ioy. Or this may be an other cause, that in a narrow & close roume (say for exāple the prison of Iohn Baptist, or the grate wherein Tāberlaine kept the great Turke) there is not that scope and freedome of passage, there is not that plenty and variety of necessa­ry helpes, as in a larger place. Therefore David giveth thankes in the Psalme at his first comming to the kingdome,Psal. 18. that after he had been chased like a flie from cuntry to cuntry, first to Samuell in Ramah, then to Abimelech in Nob, afterwardes to Achis in Gath, some­times into a caue, sometimes into a wildernesse, at lengh the Lord had delivered him and set his feete in a large roome. The afflictions of Iob, you all know, how vehmēt they were, & he never more kind­ly expressed thē then by this transla [...]iō, in the 7. of his booke. Am I a sea, or a whale fish that thou keepest mee in warde? afterwardes hee expoundeth his meaning: that God did try him every moment, that hee would never depart from him, nor let him alone till he might swallow his spittle downe, such were the straightes he was hemd in. The like manner of speech he vsed in the 11.Ex angustiâ mihi. He hath put my feete in the stockes & looketh nar­rowlie to al my waies. There were enough in this former borowed tearme to shew the affliction of Ionas, which by the grace that is vsed in the words, seemeth to haue sitten as close to his soule as a garment to his skin, or as the entrals of the fish lay to his body, wherin as the spaces of grōd which he vsed to walke were stinted & abridged him, so the pleasure & feeedome of his mind, solace of his frinds, & comfort of [Page 318] the lighte of heaven were taken from him:Out of the belly of hel. but the other without comparison, let the worlde be sought through from the vtmost cir­cle to the centre of it, is the absolutest patterne of misery that ever sanke into humane invention. For as nothing is more direfull and vnsufferable then hell, so nothing more fit in the nature of things, wherevnto the hugest tribulation may be compared. The word in the Hebrew carryeth it selfe indifferently either for hell or the graue, for they are both alvvaies craving Bring in; and thence they haue their name, the graue is never satisfied with the corpses of the dead, nor hell with the soules of the damned that descende into it. I ra­ther take it to signifie hell in this place, one saith because of the hor­rour, an other for the darkenesse, some for the depth, some for the hugenesse of the belly of the fish·Hieron. Venter inferni alvus caeti, tanti magnitudini [...] vt instar obtineat inferni: The belly of hell is the belly of the fish, so large and capable that it may goe insteeede of hell. The belly of the fish, saith an other, alter mihi infernus erat, vvas an other hell vn­to mee. Mercer. David vseth the same phrase with Ionas, the paines of hel com­passed mee aboute, and the snares of death over-tooke mee. But in an o­ther Psalme more distinctly. Thou hast delivered my soule from the [...] ­thermost hell. What? did Ionas or David ever descende into that f [...]e­ry lake, to know the torments thereof? Or as Pythagoras ghest at the stature and pitch of Hercules by the length of his foote, which was but one part of his body, so by a taste of bitternesse incident to this present life, haue these conceived what sorrow and vexation is re­served to the wicked for times to come? Vndoubtedly the griefe of heart hath beene infinite, and as much as mortality coulde ever admitte. The mournings of Hannah, Iob, David, Ieremy, Ieru­salem such, as his hart must needes bee harder then the stithy which the smith beateth vpon, that readeth the catalogues of their woes and is not moved at them. But if all those foresaide agonies, and as many besides as ever wrunge and wrested the spirite of man, since the breath of life was breathed into him, were put togither to parte the tormentes of hell among them, parte after parte, as if they woulde empty the store-houses, and breake the streame of it, yet hath the hand of hell an vnmeasurable portion behinde to distribute to her children, an endelesse patrimony, of howling, wringing, and gnash­ing which all the forepassed mischiefes and maimes in this life, haue skarse beene shadowes and counterfeites of. The belly of hell, you heare, but in a type or figure, where the worde is mistaken and abused, and broughte from his proper sense, though it be fearefull enough, and [Page 319] the extremity of paine hath so beguiled and besotted some (I speake it with sobriety) in the iudgementes of their mindes, that they haue thought it very hell indeede, yet woe bee to them ten thousande times more, and more then can be imagined, by any heart as deepe as a floude, whome the belly of very hell hath swallowed and clo­sed vp. It is not possible to be spoken, it is more vnpossible to be endured (yet it must bee endured) what the terrours and tortures of hell are. Take him, saith the gospell, binde him hande and foote, Mat. 22. & [...]. is it no more but so? I [...]ictor liga manus: goe seargeant binde his hands? yes: cast him into vtter darkenesse: outwarde to those inwarde wherein they delighted before, blindnesse of minde and vnderstanding; outward, because the whole man, body and soule shalbe folded and compre­hended therein; outward because in extremitie, without the limites and borders of any favour of God to bee extended. Where neither the lighte of the sunne, moone and starres, and much lesse the sight of Gods glorious face shal ever shine: There shall bee vveeping and gna­shing of teeth, there is, there shalbee, no time set. It standeth for all aeternity, no myriade of yeares shall ever determine it. There the eies shall destill like fountaines, and the teeth clatter like armed men, and all the partes of the body relinquish their natural vses, and spend their cursed time in wretchednesse and confusion. These are the straightes indeede, not like to those vvhich before I mentioned, when handes and feete are so bounde, body and soule so hampered and snared, not with cordes and withes as Sampsons were, but vvith the vnexplicable bandes of longe nighte, that not a part of either of the two shal haue any power or activity left to gratifie their owner with; neither the minde to contemplate more then endlesse infelicity, nor the memory to recounte more then auncient and thrice most hate­full sinnes, nor the phantasie to present more then fearefull visions, nor the eies to behold more then legions of vncleane spirites, nor the eares to heare more then the roarings of findes, nor the nostrelles to smell more then the smoake of brimstone, nor the handes to catch hold of more then flames of fire, nor the feete to walke further, then their giues and chaines wil giue them leaue. Tormentes invented and inflicted by tyrants, haue been most hideous; the teeth of vvilde beastes, hote glowing ovens and fornaces, caldrons of boyling oyle, fiery brason bulles, powning to death in motters, rowling in barrels of nailes, rosting vpon spittes, boaring with angers, parting the nailes and fingers-endes with needles, nipping the flesh with pinsers, rac­king and rending a sunder the iointes with wilde horses, no pittye [Page 320] no remorse taken, whilest there was either flesh, or bloud, or sinew or bone,Cyprian. Saevitum est in vulnera. Non mihi si centum &c. Bern. or I say not member, but wound in the body to worke vpon. But the torments of hell are in greater variety;

Had I an hundred tongues and mouthes to hold them,
A voice of iron, yet could I not vnfould them:

and in an other kinde, or rather indeede without kind. Ibi ordo nul­lus, horror sempiternus: where there is no order but everlasting horrour. For who can define either by speech or vnderstanding a thing so in­finite? so monstrously compact of natures most disparate and re­pugnant? an ende not ending, a death not dying, vnquenchable fire, yet a darkenesse withall to accompanie it more palpable then the fogges of AEgypt, and blacker then blacknesse it selfe; everla­stingly burning, yet not consuming. So much more vnsufferable then any torments of tortours vpon earth, as the inventions of devilles can better devise then man, and the malice of devilles bet­ter put in execution.Psal. 60. Psal. 40. This this is the cup of the deadliest wine that ever was tasted of; these these are those deepe graves in the Psalme from whence there is no rising againe.Cap. 8. Cap. 38. This is the fire that goeth not out, the worme that never leaveth gnawing in the last of Esaie. These are those waters of gall in Ieremy, those fearefull thinges wherewith the Lorde shall pleade against the vnrighteous of the earth as he pleaded sometimes against Gog and Magog in Ezechiell, pestilence and bloud, and sore raine, and huge hailestones, and fire and brimstone: not such as fell vpon the sisters Sodome and Gomorrhe, the witnesses wherof for many succeeding ages were heapes of ashes and cloudes of pitch; but fire and brimstone from a bottomlesse mine, which burneth in the lake of death, and shall never cease from burning. Lastly, this is that greate wine-presse of the wrath of God, Revel. 14. Revel. 16. where the smoke of torment ascendeth for e­vermore, and there is no rest day nor night, those endlesse and vnmer­cifull plagues which the angels powre out of their vialles, when men have given them bloude to drinke, and boile in heate, and gnaw their tongues for sorrowe. And yet are these but shadowes and semblances which the scripture hath vsed, therein to exemplifie in some sorte the cala­mities to come: fearefull enough, if there were no more, to make the heart of the strongest melte and fall asunder within him, as the yce against the summers sunne: but that as the ioyes of heaven are vnmeasurable for their parte, so concerning the paines of hell, the eye hath never seene, the eare not hearde, the tongue not vttered, the heart not conceived them sufficiently in their nature and perfe­ction. That accursed glutton in the gospell, who coulde speak by [Page 321] experience of his vnestimable discruciatiōs, as Aeneas did of the trou­bles of Troy, Et quorum pars vna fut, what I haue felt and borne a parte of, he giveth a warning to al his brethren in the flesh, not to accounte so lightly as they doe, of the tormentes of that place. The flames & fer­vour wherof were so importunate to exact their due of him, that hee craved with more streams of teares, thā ever Esau sought his blessing. but one drop of water to coole his tongue with, & could not obtaine it. And what if all the rivers in the South, if all the waters in the Ocean sea had bene grāted him? his tongue notwithstanding would haue smar­ted and withered with heat stil, & he would haue cried in the lāguage of hel, It is not enough. Or what if his tōgue had bene eased? his hart, his liver, his lunges, his bowels, his armes, his legs would haue fried stil. O bitter day when not the least finger, I say not of God, whose hand is wholy medicinal, but not of the poorest saint in heaven, nor the skan­test drop, I say not from the waters of life, but not of the waters of the brooke, shalbe spared to a soule to giue it comfort. Which if the latest day of al the running generations of men, if the great yeare which Plato dreamed of, might ever end, the ease were somewhat for hopes sake. But it is apointed for a time & times, & no time even when time shall be no more, then shal it continue. The gates are kept from egresse,Revel. 10. as the gates of paradise were warded from entrance, not by the Che­rubines with the blade of a sworde but by the angels of Sathan with all the instrumentes of death; and the seale of Gods eternal decree set thereunto, as the seale of the high priestes and rulers were set vpon the tombe-stone of Christ. The covenant of day and night shall one day bee changed. The starres shall finish their race, the elements melt with heat, heaven and earth be renued, som­mer and winter have an end, but the plagues of the prisoners in hell shall never be released.

If you aske the cause why I enter so large and vngratefull a dis­course of hel vpon so smal an offer in my text, as some may conceive, I will not dissemble it. Some may be deceived by the translation, im­propriety, and abuse of words. For because they heare the name of 1 hell alleadged and applied to the present tribulations of this life, they are induced thereby to thinke that there is no other hell, nor sorer vexations elswhere to be sustained: as some on the other side hearing the rest of God to be called by name of Ierusalem that is aboue, the wals & foundations wherof are saphires & carbuncles, &c. take it to be no more thā Ierusalē in Palestina, or Venice in Italy, or any the like glo­rious and sumptuous cittie vpon the face of the earth, and therefore [Page 322] dispose themselues with so much the colder affection to the attain­ment of it. Some haue taught and commaunded their tongues to 2 speake a lye, & to say that there is no hel, (for I cānot thinke, that ever they shal commād their harts to deny it,) & as Tully spake of Metro­dorus an atheist of his time,Nec quēquā vi [...]i qui ma [...]g [...]s ea time re [...] quae ti­mēda esse negaret, mortē dico, & deos. Affirmāt ti­bi non sibi. Jnterdiu nō noctu. I never sawe any man that more feared those [...]hings, which he said were not to be feared, I meane, death & the gods, so I wil never perswade my selfe but the atheists of our times, hartilie feare that which they are content to say, they feare not. Now lest these slee­py adders should passe their time in a dreame, or rather in a lethargy, no man awaking thē vp from their carelesse & supine opinions wher­with they enchant their soules, & infect others; Let not the watch­man hold his peace, least they die in their sins for wāt of warning, let the trūpet of iudgmēt oftē be blowne vnto thē, let it be published in their eares 7· times, as the rams-horns 7▪ times soūded about the wals of Iericho, that their ruine & downfal is at hand, that hel gapeth for thē ▪ & that God hath ordained long since, their impious & blasphe­mous spirites to immortal malediction. Of others that is true, which God complaineth in Esay. Let mercy be shewed to the wicked, yet he wil not 3 learne righteousnes. Chap. 26. Preach honor, & glory, & peace, a garlād of rightousnes, an vncorruptible crowne, fruit of the tree of life, sight of the face of God, follow­ing the lābe, fellowship with angels & saintes & the congregatiō of first-borne, new names, and white garments, pleasures at the right hand of God, and fulnes of ioy in his presence for evermore; they are as obstinately bent & vnmo­vably setled against these blessings of God, as Daniel against the hire of Balthazar,Danel 5. keepe thy rewardes to thy selfe, and giue thy giftes to an other. They are not wonne nor enarmoured with the expectation of good thinges: and the revelation of the sons of God, which the whole crea­ture longeth & groneth for, savoureth no more vnto them, than a boxe of putrified ointment. What? is there no way to quicken & put life into them?Deut. 27. yes. If the blessings of sixe Levites vpon mount Gar­izzim will not mooue them, let them heare the cursing of sixe others vpon mount Ebal: if they take no pleasure in the beautie of Sion, let the thundering & lightning of Sinai, & fire to the midst of heaven, & mistes, & cloudes, & smoke ascending like the smoke of a fornace, & the exceeding lowde sounde of a trumpet, put them in feare, & make them beleeue that there is a God of iudgment: if the spirit of gentlenes take no place, shake the rod over them, as the Apostle speaketh. Giue thē mourning for ioy ashes for beauty, the spirit of heavines for the oile of gladnes, a rent insteed of a girdle, & teare, I say not their garments, but their hearts a sunder, pull their bodies souls & spirits one frō the other; lastly, if the offer of peace [Page 323] be refused, sound wars & rumors of wars at their gates, & such tribu­lation besides, as the like hath never been since the beginning of the creatiō which God created vnto that time, neither shalbe again. Who knoweth if they wil be softned, if not for the loue of vertue, nor for the recōpence that springeth therehence, yet for the other cause,Formidin [...] poenae▪ for fear of the wrath of God, which they hear denoūced? It may be, fee­ding a while vpō the foode of iudgment, as Ezechiel calleth it, will breed good bloud in thē & the cōsideration of such misery, wil work the [...] effect in thē, that the sense of adversity wrought in Ionas, I meane, to shake of their burthē of sin, & to turne vnto the Lord their God wi [...]h vnfained cōversiō: which was the 2. thing that I propoūded vnto you in the afflictiōs of the prophet, what effect they produced from him.

I cried in mine affliction. Binde Manasses with chaines,I cryed. loade him with irons, bow downe his necke and his backe with bonds, & he will know himselfe. Pull the king of Babylon frō his throne, lay his honor & insolency in the dust, hunt him frō the cōpany of men banish him frō his pallace, wherin he [...]erted like a monarch indeed, turne him in­to the field to eat grasse like an oxe, to be wet with the dew of heavē, & you shal find a miracle quickly done, an oxe to have more vnder­stāding thā a mā: he wil thē learne to praise the king of heavē whose; tow­er is an everlasting power & his kingdō [...] frō generatiō to generatiō. The ido­latrous Iewes in the 2. of Ier. that being called to the true God, spake desparately, & stifly, No, but we have loved strangers, & those wi [...] we follow, in their trouble notwithstanding they will cry to the right God, arise thou & helpe vs. In their affliction they will seeke him diligently, Osee 5. Osee 6. & will take sound words into their lips. Come, and let vs returne to the Lord, for he hath spoiled, & he wil heale vs, he hath wounded, & he wil binde vs vp. Let Moab settle it selfe vpon her lees, & not be emptied frō vessel to vessel, Ierem. 48. & her sent wil remaine in her: Doth the wild asse bray whē he hath grasse, Iob 6. or the oxe low whē he hath fodder? But take away the grasse from the wilde asse, & he wil be tame [...], & fodder frō the oxe, & you shal heare him rore. Ther must be a whirl-winde raised, & a fiery chariot prepared to carry Elias into heavē: there must be heresies to try the approved: there must be a fur­nace to purge the silver & gold:Petr. Chry­solog. Ser. 3. indi­vit. avaro. there must be a fire to fine the sonnes of Levi: there must be an angel of Sathan to keepe Paul from pride. A pilote must be tried by a tempest (saith Basile) a runner by a race, a captaine by a battaile, a christian by calamity, tentation, provocation, & misery. Wher­in, if poisons become preservatives, & frō the venime of serpents the wisedome of God can extract an antidote against the venime of ser­pents, if all things shall worke togither to the best for those that are [Page 324] Christes, if evill by nature shall be made good by his powrefull art, if the waters of a floud overspreading the whole globe of the earth bee so far from drowning the Arke, that they shall lift it higher, and bring it nearer to the presence of God, if afflictions I meane by the good hādling of our gracious God, be not afflictions but medicines, & the more they encrease vpon vs, the nearer they land vs to the haven of his blessings; how truely may we say & acknowledge with Barnard, Totus mundus fideli divitiarum est, Serm. 15. su [...]er Qui habitat. Epist. 87. the whole worlde is riches to a faithful mā (even when it seemeth to be poverty) & with Augustine, that nothing happeneth to man from the Lord our God, but cōmeth in the nature of mercie, when tribulation it selfe is such a benefite? For both prosperity is his gift com­forting, and adversity his gift admonishing vs. Jnsipidum, amarū gra­num sinapi [...], sed ingens fructus. A very vnlikely seede to yeeld such fruit, as bitter as mustard seede▪ but give it leave to growe, & the fruit shall be very pleasant. The wicked vnderstand not this, & the vnwise have not knowledge of his waies. She crieth in the comoedy, & shee presenteth the person of them all, that are her companions;

In Rudente.
Hanccine ego partem capio ob pietatem praecipuam?
Tum hoc mihi indecorè iniquè, immodestè datis dij:
Nam quid habebunt sibi igitur impij post hac? &c.

Is this my portion & guerdon for my especial piety? thē do the gods reward me very vnsemely, vniustly & vnreasonably. For how shal the wicked hereafter be dealt with, if the godly be thus honored amōgst you? Augustine in his preface vpon the 25. Psalme, laieth downe the like cōplaints of some, O Deus Deus, Haecciné est iustitia tua? O God God, is this thy iustice? & the Lorde answereth them againe, haecciné est fides tua? is this thy faith? hast thou so learned Christ? is this the best instru­ction thou hast found in my law, to murmure against my discipline? possesse thy soule therfore in patience, whosoever thou art, leave the ordering of these things to the wisdome of God, with whōe it is alike to sweeten the pot of the prophets with meale, & the waters of Ieri­cho with salt, to cure the eies of Tobias with a gall, & to strēgthen the sight of Ionathā with an honi-cōbe. Some he healeth by hony, some by gall, some by salt, some by meale, some by sower, some by sweete, some by piping, [...]e [...]e punge­ [...] [...]ōpun­g [...]ris. Bern Si peccator, ut corriga­tur, si vero [...]n [...]us, vt e [...]u [...]iatur. Hugo Card. sōe by dācing, some by prosperity, some by afflictiō, but al by some meanes or other, that have a longing & desire to the waies of happines. Now then againe I say, if it be a good thing sometimes to be humbled of the Lord, for till we are hūbled, cōmonly we go astray, if it be an happy pricking of the body that maketh a pricking in the hart, if expedient for al sorts of mē that the hand of the Lord shoulde nowe and then take holde on them, because a sinner is amended, the [Page 325] righteous is instructed thereby, because gold is prooved, [...], p [...]ove [...]ur Si ferr [...], [...]. mittat. Gr [...] Hebr. 12. iron is scowred by this meanes; if when the outward man is corrupted, the inward [...] i [...] renued daily, 2. Cor. 4. and there is honour in dishonour, riches in poverty, life in [...]eath pos­sessing all thinges in having nothing; 2. Cor. 6. if when the fathe [...]s of our flesh chasten vs for their pleasures, the father of our spirites correcteth vs for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holine [...], & though [...]o chastisement seeme ioious for the time yet it bringeth the quiet fruit of righteousnes to those that are exercised thereby; if when the body of I [...]nas was in thrall be­neath, the soule of Ionas triumphed aloft, and when the tongue of his flesh could not speake perhaps a word▪ skarce mu [...]ter to it selfe, the tongue of his spirit cried & cried alowd; if whē he lay in the belly of hel, even then he climbed above the stars of the firmamēt & though he saw nothing with his bodily eies▪ he saw heaven opened vnto him with the eies of his vnderstāding: thē let vs not be dismaied, my bre­thrē, if tribulatiō come, let vs not thinke it any strange thing: yea rather if tribulation come, let vs not thinke it an vnprofitable & vnwelcome thing, let vs receive it with thanks, keepe it with patience, digest it in hope, apply it with wisdome, bury it in meditation, & it shal end vn­to vs no doubt in glory and peace more than can be spoken.

THE XXV. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. ver. 2.‘I cried in mine affliction vnto the Lord, and he heard me, out of the belly of hell cried I, &c.’

IN the two members of this second verse, signifying almost the same thing, I observed first the measure of his afflictions, explicated by two metaphors togither with the effect they brought forth; secōdly the force & zealousnes of his praiers declared likewise by two words; and thirdly the audience which ensued vpon his praying.

The force of his praier, wherin I am to proceed,2. Clamavi, vociferatur sum. is interpreted by 2. phrases, though not distinguished in our English trāslatiōs, yet in the Hebrew, Greek, & Latine of Tremelius somwhat vari [...]d: as if he had said, I called & cried, or I cried & outcried. Which Ierome expoūdeth vel aquis cedentibus, either the waters yeelding him away, & making pas­sage, vel toto cordis affectu, or with the whole intētiō of his hart, The former is not likely; I rather take it to have bene the vehemency of spirit, such as is vsually mēt in the scriptures vnder these or the like words: as in the 119. Psalme expresly; I have cried vvith my vvhole hearte. [Page 326] Galath. 4. God hath sent the spirite of his son into our heartes crying, Abba, that is, father, though it be in the hart alone, yet it is called crying. It ever not [...]th, whither in propriety or by translation, an earnest, lowd, importunate desire,1. King. 18 1. Sam [...]. Tolerare & odisse, non est virtus man­suetudinis, sed velamen [...]tum fur [...]is Homil. 2. in Ezech▪ Murmura dum s [...]cum & rabiose silentia rodunt. Persi­us. loath to loose audience for wante of speaking out, and impatient of repulse, when it hath spoken. Therefore Elias bade the priestes of Baal, cry with a lowd voice: and he in the comoedy, mervailing at overmuch patience, sheweth what shoulde bee done; Eho, non clamas? non irasceris? What? doest thou not cry? art thou not angrie? Annah in a part of her song telleth vs what the māner of the wicked sometimes is, Impij in tenebris tacent: when they are afflicted, they lay their handes vpon their mouthes, and heartes too, they frette with indignation, & repine to themselves, letting neither voice nor grone come forth, nor any other token of submission to him that hath cast them down. Of whome I may say with Gregory, To suffer so desp [...]ghtfully and ma­liciouslye, is not the true vertue of patience, but a covered or concealed madnesse. Now Ionas is many degrees beyond these. 1. He is not si­lent, which, as you heard, is sometimes a marke of impiety. 2. He doth not mutter to himselfe, as the philosophers in the Poet, humming within themselves, and vttering a kinde of vnsensible and vnarticu­late silence. 3. He doth more than speake: for that might argue the heart of a man but indifferently disposed to obtaine. 4. He speaketh with most endevored contention, he crieth vnto the Lord, & when he hath once cried, crieth againe, & with an other kinde of crying. For as if the former word were not enough, a latter is added, to signi­fie either a different kinde, or if the same, in a more intensive and for­cible affection. This ingemination, either of one and the same word again repeated, or of sundry bearing the same sense, giveth as it were a double strength to the declaration of that which is delivered. As Phavorinus gave his iudgement of the verse in Homer, wherin Idaeus laboureth by perswasion to pacifie the contention betwixt A [...]ax and Hector,Au. Ge. noct A [...]. 13.23. [...], Warre not any longer, beloved youngmen, neither fight togither; that the addition of the second word, (though adding nothing in significatiō to the for­mer) is not to make vp the verse, but as they continued in their strife, so duplex eadem compellatio admonitionem facit intentiorem, his twise spea­king vnto them in the same māner of speech, maketh his advise the more ear­nest. And if they were the same words, yet one might very wel think them to be others, quia aures & animum saepiùs feriunt, because they beate the eares and the minde of a man often. These often and fierce inclama­tions within the spirit of Ionas,Jbid. speaking to the Lord, as it were with a [Page 327] doubled and cloven tongue, and sending vp his Praiers into heaven, as incense casteth vp smoke without intermission, condemne the dissolute and perfunctorie prayings of our daies both in churches & chambers, who vtter a forme of wordes, as the manner of hypocrites or the Gentiles was, or as the parret of Ascanius recited the creede, rather of custome than zeale flattering God with our mouths, Psal. 7 [...] and dissem­bling with him with our tongues, leaving our spirites as it were in a slum­ber the meane time, or if we cal thē vp to praier, leaving them again, as Christ his disciples before we haue thoroughly awaked them; as if the offering of the halt and the lame, body without soule, or soule with­out devotion, voice without spirit, or spirit without clamor and voci­feration could please him. The praiers of David (I am sure) had an o­ther edge vpon them. In the 55 Psalme,Plango▪ per­s [...]epo, [...]. Rugio prae [...] [...]. I mourne in my praier & make a noise. Evening and morning and at noone will I pray, and make a noise, and he will heare my voice. In the 38. before, I roare for the very griefe of mine heart. Lord mine whole desire is before thee, and my sighing is not h [...]d from thee. Cor meum palpitat, my hearte panteth, or runneth too and fro, I haue no rest, no quietnes within me. Such was the pange and palpitation of I [...]bs hart. My groning commeth before I eate, Chap. 3. & effunduntur velut aquae rugi­tus mei, and my roarings are powred forth and waue like waters: not gro­nings, nor cryings, but plaine roarings, with a continuall inundation, velut vnda impellitur vndâ, as one water driveth on an other. [...]hese are wonderfull passions. The Lion in the forest never roared so much for his pray, nor the hart after the water-brookes, as the soules of the faithfull after Gods goodnes. Yea, the Lion indeed hath roared, Am. 3. who will not feare? the Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophecie? The mightie Lion of the tribe of Iudah hath roared in his supplications, and his righteous spirit beene vexed and disquieted within him: and shal not we be moved? of him it is witnessed in the 11. of Iohn▪ that at the ray­sing of Lazarus, he not only wept, but groned or yearned in his spi­rite, and troubled himselfe about it. It was trouble indeede, Tartarus hath his name from such troubles. [...]. He roared then for Lazarus whom he loved, and for Martha's sake, and for other of the Iewes that were there abouts. But afterwardes in his owne cause, when not onely his soule was vexed vnto death, and vexation helde it in on every side, but when he cried with a great voice, My God, my God, [...] why hast thou forsaken mee? and crying againe with a great voice, gaue vp the ghost. Math. 28. There­fore the Apostle speaking of the daies of his flesh, and that fruite of his lippes and spirite which wee are now in hande with, thought it not sufficient to make mention of his praiers and supplications, Heb. 5. nor of [Page 328] his teares, [...]. Rom. 8. which watered his blessed plantes, nor of a crie alone weake­ly sent forth, but of a stronge cry, which if heaven were brasse, were able to breake through it. So it is saide of the [...]pirite of God, who helpeth our infirmities, that because wee know not our selues what to aske as wee ought to doe, hee maketh request in our names, with grones not to bee expressed. Ipse inducitur gemens qui gementes facit, hee that put­teth groninge into vs, Bern ser. 59. in [...] 2. Ca [...]tic. is brought in groninge himselfe. The voice of the [...] is hearde in our lande: the groninge of this turtle doue, is heard within our bosome. Vox quid [...]m gementinon ca [...]enti similis, a voice in truth, as of one that mourneth, and that si [...]geth not. Thus the exam­ple of the glorious Lorde of life, who mourned vnspeakably, not for the sinnes of his owne person, but of the sonnes and daughters of Ie­rusalem, who led the way before vs in water and bloud, not in wa­ter alone, but in water and bloude both, who with his bleeding teares, shewed vs the right forme of faithfull supplications, this very example biddeth vs crie in our prayers. The helpe and assistance of the blessed spirit of God groning as vnmeasurably on the other side, not for his owne necessities, but for ours his wretched crea­tures and clientes, not of infirmitye in himselfe, but of compassion towards vs, whome wee continually greeue, and no way so much as for want of our greefe and repentance, biddeth vs cry. The dread­fu [...]l maiestye of the sacred LORDE of hostes whome wee stande before, the roialty of his nature, sublimity of his place, domini­on over men and angelles, who with the spirit of his mouth is a­ble to consume ou [...] both bodies and spirites, biddeth vs cry. The view of our wretched mortalitye (as Adam and Eue when they sawe their nakednesse, fled, Miriam when her leprousy, sheee was ashamed) after mortality exceedingly mortall, the view of our sinne exceedingly sinfull, that wee are not worthy to cast vp our eies towards the seate of God, and after our sinne, our misery ex­ceedinglye miserable, that the prophet was amased in himselfe to see either man or the sonne of man so kindelye visited, biddeth vs crye. Lastlye the hope and expectation of successe, (vnlesse wee will sowe and not reape, plant vines and not drinke the wine thereof, powre out many prayers and not bee hearde: (the delica­cie and tende [...]nesse of the eares of God, which must bee wisely en­treated, and the precious favour of his countenance, which must be carefully sought, bid vs cry. Let vs not thinke, that the sounde and noise of our lippes, as the ringing of basons, or vocall modulation, without cordiall and inward meditation, can procvre vs audience. [Page 329] Valentiores voces apud secretissimas dei aures [...]on faciunt verba, Greg. seddesi [...] ­ria. The most effectuall speech in the secret eares of God, commeth not from wordes, but from desires. He that hea [...]eth without eares, can interpret our praiers without our tongues. He that saw and fansied Nathaniel vnder the figtree before he was called, saw and sanctified Iohn Bap­tist in his mothers wombe, before he came forth, he seeth and blesseth our praiers fervently conceaved in the bosome of our conscience, be­fore they be vttered: but if they want devotion, they shall be answe­red by God,Ezech. [...]. as the praiers of those idolators in Ezech. though they cry in mine eares with a lowde voice, yet will I not heare them.

And he hearde me. The Hebrew saith, he answered me;3. Successe. which doth better expresse the mercy of God towards Ionas, than if it had bene barely pronounced that he heard Ionas. For a man may heare when he doth not answere, as Christ heard the false witnesses, & when the priests asked him, answerest thou nothing? t [...]cuit, he held his peace. Marke 14. And likewise he heard Pilate, whē vpon the accusatiō of the priests he askt him, answerest thou nothing? yet he answered not; Marke [...] ▪ so as Pilate mervailed at his silence. David in the 18. Psal. confesseth of his enemies, that they cried, but there was none to save them, even vnto the Lorde, but he answered them not. Now this answere of God, wherof he speaketh, is not a verbal an­swere sharpt of words, but a reall, substantiall satisfaction and graunt, directly & fitly applied, as answeres should be to questions, so this to fulfill the minde & desire of Ionas. For as be heard the heavens Osee 2. (not that the heavēs spake, or he listened) & the heavens the earth, the earth the corne, oile, & wine; & the corne, oile, & wine, Israel; not by speech, but by actuall performāce of some thing which they wanted; he the heavēs by giving vertuous dispositiō vnto thē, they the earth by their happy influēce, the earth her fruits by yelding thē iuice, & these Isra­el by ministring their abūdāce: so doth he answer Ionas here by graū ting his petition. For as to answer a questiō is not to render speech for spe [...]h alōe, but if ther be scruple or vncerteinty in the matter propo­sed, to resolve it; so to answere a suite, is to ease the hart & satisfy the expectatiō of him that tēdred it. In this case Pub. Piso a rhetoriciā in Rome was abused by his servāt: who, to avoide molestatiō, had given his servants a charge, to aunswere his demandes briefly & directlye without any further additions. It fell out that he provided a supper for Clodius the generall, whome he long lookt & often sent for at the howre▪ & [...]et Clodius came not. At lēgth he asked his man; didst thou bid Clodius? I bad him. Why commeth he not? he refused.Plutare. de garrul▪ How chanceth thou toldst me not so much? because you demāded it not. [Page 330] Plutarke in the same booke, where hee reporteth that tale, maketh three sortes of aunswerers. For some giue an aunswer of necessity, some of humanity, others of superfluity. The first, if you aske whe­ther Socrates bee within, telleth you faintly and vnwillingly, he is not within: perhappes hee aunswereth by a Laconisme, [...], not. The second with more curtesie, and to the sufficient measure of the de­maund, willing to instruct the ignorant; hee is not within but in such a place, at the exchange. The third running over with loqua [...] city, knoweth no ende of speaking; hee is not within, but at the exchange waiting for straungers out of Ionia, in vvhose behalfe Al­cibiades hath written from Miletum &c.

The aunsweres of God are neither so sparing and restrict as the first, leaving the soule in manner as doubtfull and perplexed as hee founde it by grauntinge to little, nor so idle and superfluous as the last, to bring a lothing to men by surcharge of his benefites, but they are in the middle sorte, tempered with good moderation, full of humanity, kindnesse, and grace, giving enough, and hap­pily more than was askt, and sending away the heart ioyfull for that which it hath obt [...]ined; According to the phrase of the Psalme, d [...]lata os tuum & implebo illud, Psal. 81. aske largely, boldly, bountifully, I will not deny thee. Our saviour promiseth as franckely in the gospell, Aske and it shalbe given you, seeke and you shall finde, knocke and it shalbee ope­ned vnto you, Perhappes hee meaneth of disciples alone: No, but whoso­ever asketh receaveth, and hee that seeketh findeth, and to him that knoc­keth it shalbe opened. Giue but thy prayer a voice to aske with, for it must not bee dumbe nor tounge-tide; giue it an eye to seeke, for it must not bee carelesse; giue it an hand to knocke with, for it must not feare to molest and disquiet: and not onely the dores, but all the treasures and iewelles of the kingdome of heaven shalbe open vnto it. You know what labour is made to the princes and states of the earth by travell of body, expense of purse, mediation of friends, suppliancy of gesture and speech, intervention of time, to obteine but temporary and frivolous sutes. A widdow of Macedon had a long sute to Philippe the king, wherein shee was perswaded the e­quity of her cause called for iudgment. At length hee aunswered her, non est mihi otium (which is the manner of most magistrates) I am not at leasure; shee boldly replieth vnto him, Ergo ne sis Rex, then bee not King any longer. No mervaile if such an aunswere be gi­ven by a King or a Iudge, when a private and familiar friende in a small request for 3. loaues, shall aunswere his friende. Trouble mee [Page 331] not, my dores are shut my children in bed &c. Bathsheba commeth to Sa­lomon her sonne in behalfe of Adoniah,1. King. 2. about a matter of no great moment, as shee interpreted it. The King encourageth her, Aske on, my mother, for I will not say thee nay. A sonne to his owne mother, and one whome hee bowed vnto, and set her at his right hand. 1. shee requested it; 2. a smal thing; 2. desired him not to say her nay. Yet when she had opened it, then goe aske the kingdome too, saide hee, and he sware in her presence that Adoniah had asked it against his life, and forth with gave order that he might be executed. Howefearefull was Nehemias, though he held the cup to the king, to make a request vnto him? At last, with some invitation from his Lorde,Chap. 2. why is thy countenance sad? this is but sorrowe of heart; not without lowly salutation, God save the king for ever, and prayers to the God of heaven, hee dis­closed it: the gladdest man alive that his suite was heard. It was the danger of Esthers life to come before the king vnles shee were called for. For it was their law,Esth, 4. that whosoever man or woman came in­to the inner courte, which was not called, should die, vnlesse the Kinge helde forth his golden rodde. But the scepter of the Lord our God, I meane not that iron scepter of his iustice, but the golden of his grace, is e­ver held forth to man, woman, childe, bond and free, straunger or citizen, whether they be called or not called, they may safely ap­proch, I name neither outwarde nor inwarde courte, but even to the throne where the King himselfe sitteth, and if they shall crave of him, I say not to the halfe of his kingdome, as the Persian Monarch saide, but to the whole, to devide the inheritance with the principal heire Christ Iesus, to eate and drinke at his table, to sit vpon a throne and iudge the angels of heaven, it shall not be denied them. Zede­kias spake it in folly, and in a servile, popular affection that he bare to the princes of his land, when they required the life of Ieremy;Ier. 38. but God speaketh it of the abundaunce of his heart and riches of mer­cies, The King can deny you nothing.

Surely they doe iniury to his grace, who talke of warders, and porters, and maisters of requestes, Angels and Saintes, to admit vs into presence, and to bring vs to speech with God. Services not vnmeete for the governours of the earth, whose life is the life of the countrie and their people with whome they live; as Ieremy in the 4. of Lament▪ calleth their King the breath of their nostrells. And ther­fore it is very necessary that their persons shoulde bee carefully gar­ded and attended vpon. Caesar thought, that to bee an Empe­rour, was safegard enough against daunger, when a little ship or [Page 332] boate, & a greate tempest being committed togither (a very vnequal match) & the master himselfe doubting the [...], f [...]are not, saith he, thou carriest Caesar. Caesare [...]i v [...]. his. He might haue bene deceived, & afterwards was, in a safer place. Maximilian had some like conceite, when he told his soldiers dropping away at his heeles, with the sho [...] of their enemies: You must not adventure as far as I do, habent enim principes peculiarem quandam fortunam suam; for princes haue a lucke of their owne. I am sure they must haue a peculiar regard and garde to their bodies, or they may soone fal into dangers. Againe it is true of the princes of this world, which Iethro told Moses, when he sate from morning to eve­ning to hea [...]e the causes of the people,Exod. 18. Thou both weariest thy selfe and the people that is with thee, the thing is to heavy for thee, thou art not able to doe it thy selfe alone: and therefore infinite suites, besides the distracti­on of many other businesses, requiring larger audience than the eares of any one mortall man can afforde, driue them of necessitie to the deputation of subordinate officers, both to receiue and commence the requestes of their inferiours. But is there either daunger in the person of God, who rideth vpon the Cherubins, and maketh his enemies his foote stoole? Or defect in his hearing, whose eares are open to the praiers of the poore destitute, and his eie liddes soundelie trie and exa­mine the children of men? Hee that boweth the heavens, and himselfe commeth downe with his omniscient knowledge, hath hee neede of intelligenciers and informers to giue him knowledge of earthlye thinges? Hee that planted the eare, doeth hee not heare? Hee that stan­deth and knocketh at our dores, and calleth for entrance, vvhen wee stande and knocke at his, will hee not graunte entrance? Is hee not neare and next of all to all such as cal vppon him with faith­fulnesse? We dreame of outwarde and inwarde courtes, dores and gates, porters and mediatours, impedimentes and stoppes, I graunt, in earthly Courtes. But the Lorde is porter himselfe at these hea­venlye gates.Chap. 11. For vvhen the friende knocked in the parable of Luke at midnight, the deadest houre of the nighte, who was nea­rest the gate, first awoke, if yet hee slept at all, and first aunswered? O quam dare vult &c. O howe willing is hee to graunte that is so wil­ing to bee disquieted? Petr. Ravē. Howe glad to heare thy knocke, that hath placed his bed so neare the gate? O quam non ad [...]anuam tantum, sed ipsa ianua dominus fuit? &c. And how truly maie wee saie, that hee was not onelie neare the gate, but the Lorde himselfe the very gate; who, when his children were a sleepe,Primus & solus. the eares of Angelles and saintes shutte vp, first and at the first call, nay onelie amongst the rest, [Page 333] made aunswere vnto it? The Lord is alwaies nearer to vs than wee to him; hee heareth the desires of the poore in the tenth Psalme, hee first prepareth the hearte, and setteth it on worke to pray, and when he hath so done, bendeth his eare vnto them. Claudi [...] Casari [...] liber­tus Aut manu. a [...]t [...], aut si res longior, scripto; scilices ne vocis digni­tatem iis impertiret. If now they can otherwise de­monstrate that as Pallas the Emperours libertine, would never speake to any servant about him (forgetting his owne late servile estate) but either by pointing and signifying with the fingers, as the wiseman cal­leth it, or becking, or if the busines vere long, by writing; because forsooth he was loth to bestow the honour of speaking vpon them; and as the rulers of the earth in a kinde of maiesty not vnfitting to their place, aunswere by mediation of others; so the Lorde above heareth not suiters but by the preferment and procurement of Angels and other glorified spirits, then it cannot be hindered, but other advocates and spokes-men must be allowed of. But this is likewise cleared in the 102. Psal. where it is saide, that hee hath looked downe from the height of his sanctuary, out of the heaven did the LORDE beholde the earth; to what other ende? but that hee might heare the mourning of the pri­soner, and deliver the children apointed vnto death. And this moreo­ver I am sure of, that the LORDE hath often and expressely en­ioyned vs, Call vpon mee: and if the booke were searched through­out with cresset-light, never would it bee prooved, that hee gave any charge to call vpon others. Neither was ever the shadowe of any thing so faithfull to the bodye, to followe and waite vpon it, as the successe of good speede hath beene consequent to a prayer faithfullye made. For, as if their soules were knit togither, like the soules of Dauid and Ionathan, you shall ever see them ioy­ned. So in the fourth Psalme, I called vpon the LORDE, and hee hearde mee at large: and an hundreth the like might bee alleadged for confirmation. And therefore if vvee erre in this point of do­ctrine, vvee may say truelye with Ieremy, Thou hast deceived vs LORDE, vvhen vvee vvere deceaved, that is, when wee were vvilled to call vpon thee alone, thine vvas the blame, if wee doe amisse, and wee may comfort our selves that wee erre by warrant and authority from him, that must pardon errours. Therefore I conclude from the two and twentieth Psalme; Praise the Lorde yee that feare him, magnifie him all the seede of Iacob, and feare him all yee the seede of Israell. For hee hath not despised the lowe estate of the poore, nor hidde himselfe from him, but when he called, hee harkened vnto him. Let the house of Esau vse the liberty of the wide worlde, and the feede of Babylon call vpon other helps as they have done, [Page 334] and those that feare not the Lorde, vse their discretion. Our ex­ample leadeth vs otherwise. Ionas was this poore man, and his lowe estate, the belly of the fish, hee called vpon his God, and hee har­kened vnto him.

Thou hear­dest my voice.The varying of the person, in that before hee spake of God, now to God, giveth vs variety of instruction, and helpeth to confirme the doctrine before delivered. For since wee have immediate ac­cesse to the Lorde, to speake to his maiesty as it were face to face, and mouth to mouth, it were to shamefast and senselesse a parte in vs to make other meanes. And it is besides, a singular testification of his thankefull minde; who receaveth not the favour of God as the nine lepers in the gospell receaved their clensing, not returning againe to give thankes to him that cured them, but first reporteth to him­selfe, and as many as shall reade or heare this songe what God hath done for him, I called vpon the Lorde, and hee hearde mee, (which is some­what further of;) and then with a nearer approche ioyning his soule as closely to the eares of God, as Philip ioyned himselfe to the cha­riot of the Eunuch, relateth the blessing of his prayer to the authour himselfe of all blessings, And thou Lorde hardest my voice; thus ren­dring vnto him grace for grace, a kinde and dutifull rememoration, for the mercies bestowed vpō him. Some take the comforts of God, as the beastes in the field take their meate, not looking vp to heaven from whence they come. Nay the Oxe will knowe his owner, and cast an eye to his hande, and the asse his maisters cribbe, but my people knowe not mee, saith the Lorde: Some acknowledge the Authour, and for­get him presently, even whilst the meate is betweene their teeth, as Isra­ell did. Some remember sufficiently, but accept them as due debt, as if they had God in bandes to performe them. They serve not God for naught, which was the obiection of Sathan. Some are ready to kisse their owne handes ▪ for every blessing that commeth vpon them, and to ascribe them to their strength or wit, whereof Bernard spake, Vti datis tanquam innatis, maxima s [...]perbia, It is the greatest pride, to vse Gods giftes, Idem. as if they were bred in vs. Others there are that give thanks ex usu magis quàm sensu, rather of custome then devotion, as cymballes sounde from their emptinesse; for even Saul will bee a prophet a­mongst prophets, and an hypocrite take good words into his mouth amongst harty professours. Ionas, I nothing doubt, from the ground of his heart, telleth forth the deliverance of the Lord, which in the spirit of a prophet hee foreseeth and presumeth before it commeth, not onely to himselfe and vs, but as the rivers of the Lande sende [Page 335] back their waters to the sea, in a thankfull remembrance and remu­neration, that they tooke them thence; so Ionas returneth this mer­cy to the Lorde himselfe that was the giver of the mercy, And thou Lorde heardest my voice: as if hee had concluded and agreed to him­selfe, that neither God, nor man, nor his owne conscience shoulde ever bee able to accuse him of vnthankefulnesse. I will both preach it to my selfe privately, and publikely to the world, that the Lord hath heard mee: And thou Lord shalt also vnderstand from mine owne lips, that I make acknowledgement and profession to haue receaved my safety from thine onely goodnesse, Thou Lord hast heard my voice. I will so meditate vpon thy benignities within mine owne heart, and leaue a chronicle of them to al posterity to come, that I will not meane-while forget to looke vp to the mountaines from whence my helpe was. It is the parte of an honest & ingenious minde,Plin. prolog. nat. histor. Deprehendi, in fur to ma [...] le quàm mu [...]tuum redde, re. to confesse vvho they are by whome thou hast profited; but on the other side, the marke of a most vngratious amd vnhappy nature, rather to be taken in the theft, than to returne like for like. And what doe they else but steale and embezell the graces of God, which either dissembling their authour, assume them to themselves, or confessing the authour, extenuate their worth, as if they were not meete to bee accounted for? These are the theeves & robbers indeede, capitall malefactours, sure to bee cut of on the right hand and on the left, zach. 5. 1 Cor. 6. Prov. 6. and not to inherite the kingdome of God, as the Apostle threatneth. The stealing of tempo­rall things may bee acquited againe, either with single, or double, foure-folde, or seven-folde resolution. But the filching and purloming of the glory of God can never bee aunswered. Others steale of neces­sity to satisfie their soules, because they are hungrie, and but equall from e­quall, man from man. But these of pleasure and pride breake through heaven; which though it bee free from violent theeves, yet these by a wile and insidiation enter into it, and steale away the honour of God which is most precious vnto him. When Iohn Baptist was borne,Luc. 1. the neighbours and cousins vpon the eighth day at the cir­cumcising of the childe, called him Zacharias after the name of his father. Elizabeth aunswered them, not so, but hee shalbee called Iohn, though it were a mervaile to them all, and none of his kinred were so named; and Zachary wrote in his tables, that Iohn should be his name. They knew that hee was the gift of God, which his mother in her olde age and in the state of her barrennes had conceaved, and ther­fore called him Iohn, that is, the gift of God, in remembrance of na­tures vnfuitfulnesse, and their vndeserved sonne, whome neither [Page 336] father, nor mother, nor kinred, I meane not ordinary and carnall generation could haue given vnto them· such are the children of our wombes (a gift that commeth from the Lorde.) And such are our children and fruit otherwise, whatsoever wee possesse, outwarde or inwarde, wee holde it in Capite, even in the Lorde of Lordes, who is the giver of every good perfit gifte, Val. Max. li. 5. cap. 3. Exanguem & moritu [...]am. as Iames writeth. Scipio Afri­canus the elder had made the citty of Rome, being in a consumption, and readie to giue vp the ghost, Lady of Africke. At length being ba­nished into a base country towne, his will was that his tombe should haue this inscription vpon it, Ingrata patria, ne ossa quidem mea habes; vnthankefull country, thou hast not so much as my bones. Many and migh­tye deliverances haue risen from the Lorde to this lande of ours to make provocation of our thankefulnesse. For not to goe by a kalen­der, but to speake in 2. wordes, wee haue lien in ignorance as in the belly of the whale, or rather the belly of hell (for blindnesse of heart is the very brimme and introduction into the hell of the dam­ned;) the Lorde hath pulled vs thence. Wee haue also lien in the heart of our enemies as in the belly of the fishe; Gebal, and Am­mon, and Amelek, and the Philistines with those of Tyre, haue combined themselues, and cried a confoederacy, a confoederacy against vs; the Lorde hath also delivered vs, to make some proofe of our gratefull spirites. For this a rule in beneficence, Ingratus est ad­versus unum beneficium? Senec. is a man vnthankefull for one benefite? for a se­conde hee will not. Hath hee forgotten two? the third will reduce to his me­mory, those that are slipt thence. God hath liberally tried vs, with one, and an other, and a third, and yet ceaseth not. But what be­commeth of our gratitude? It hath bene our manner for the time, to haue pamphlets and formes of thankesgiving in our churches, our heartes haue burnt within vs for the present, as of the two disciples that went to Emaus, to assemble our selues at praiers, preachings breaking of bread, and to give an howre or two more than vsuall from our worldly affaires, as a recompense of Gods goodnes. Our mouthes have beene filled with laughter, and our tonges with ioy, and wee have bene content to say, the Lord hath done greate thinges for vs, wher­of wee reioyce. But how quickly forget wee all againe? Ingrata An­glia, ne ossa quidam habes; Vngratefull England thou hast not so much as the bones of thy patrone and deliverer; thou hast exiled him from thy thoughtes, buried him in oblivion, there is not one remnant or foote­print left, to witnesse to the worlde, that thou hast bene protected. What others have testified in former times, by building of altars, [Page 337] pitching of huge stones, raysinge of pillers, dedication of feastes, vvriting of bookes, that their childrens children might aske a rea­son, and bee instructed in GODS auncient mercies; thou haste not lefte to thy race to come by one stone, one turfe, one post, one paper or schrole of continuaunce, in remembraunce vnto them of thy ampler benefites. It deserveth the protestation of GOD 1. Esay, (Heare O men? and harken O Angels? no.) A greater auditorie is required. Heare ô heavens, and harken ô earth, I have brought vp, preferred, and exalted sonnes, and they have despised me. If servauntes and bond-men, the sonnes of Agar, of whome it was saide, Cast out the bond-man, it mighte lesse have beene marvayled at: but sonnes of mine owne education, adopted by speciall grace, these have despised mee. They had an action in Athens against vn­thankefull persons: The more their blame,Val Max. Qui cum aequissima iu­ra, sed iniquissima haberent ingenia, moribus suis quàm legibus vti malue­runt; vvho having good lavves, ill natures, had rather vse their manners than their lawes. For if some of those excellent men, which Athens despightfully and basely required, Theseus who was buried in a rock, Miltiades who dyed in prison, and the sonne of Miltiades vvho inherited nothinge amongst them but his fathers bandes, Solon, A­ristides, Phocion, who lived in banishmente, shoulde bring their action against Athens in the courte of some other cittye, vvere it able to aunswere their iust exprobrations? O Athens, thy wals, thy people, thy trophees, and triumphes farre and neare, by lande and sea are thus and thus multiplyed. Horum authores vbi vixe­rint, vbi iaceant, responde. But put in thine aunsvvere, and shevve, vvhere the authours of those thinges lived, and vvhere they are buryed. God hath an action of ingratitude against his sonnes, and bringeth them into lawe, not before citty or nation, but (to note the horror of the vice) before heaven and earth, that all the corners and cre­atures of the vvorlde may both knowe and detest it. And surelye it was well marked by a learned man; No man wondreth at dogs, or wolues, because they are common: but centaures, and satyres, & such monsters of nature al gaze vpon. It may be, drunkennes, & adulterie, and other faultes, having either nature or custome on their side, are lesse odious to men, though not lesse haynous in their kindes. But name an vngratefull person, and vvithout naming any more, vvee all detest him as a prodigious, vnnaturall noveltie,Jngratum si dixeris. Psal. 92. violating the communion and nature of mankinde. I conclude. It is a good thing to praise the Lord, & to sing vnto the name of the most high, to declare [Page 338] his loving kindnesse in the morning and his trueth in the nighte season. It is good touching the actiō it selfe. For it is better to blesse thē to curse, and to giue thankes, then to giue out a voice of grudgings. It is good in respect of the matter and obiect; that so glorious & renowned a God vouchsafeth to be magnified by our polluted lippes, the honor retur­neth vpon our selues. It is good because of the retribution. For Cessa [...] decursus gratiarum, vbi non fuerit recursus; the course and descent of the gra­ces of God ceaseth, and the spring is dried vp, where there is not a recourse and tide of our thankefulnesse. Wherefore let not so good an exercise bee a burthen and griefe to good soules. Let the vnrighteous vanish away in their gracelesse ingratitude, and become as the dunge of the earth. Let them forget the God of heaven, that the God of heaven may al­so forget them. But let the righteous alwaies reioyce in the Lord, for it becommeth well the iust to be thankefull. Earely and late let vs blesse his holy name, though not with Lutes and Harpes and instrumentes of ten stringes, yet with the best members and instrumentes we haue, bodies and spirits, which the fingers of God haue harmonically com­posed and ioined togither, and the ioy of the holy ghost, hath melo­diously tuned for this purpose. Let vs never turne our backes to the tem­ple of the Lord, Ezech. 8. nor our faces from the mercy-seate. Let vs not take with­out giving, as vnprofitable ground drinketh & devoureth seed with­out restoring. Let vs neither eate nor drinke, nay I will more say, let vs neither hunger nor thirst, without this condiment to it, The Lorde be praised. Let the frontlets betweene our eies, the bracelets vpon our armes, the gards vpon our garments, be thankes. Whatsoever, we re­ceiue to vse or enioy, let vs write that posie and epiphoneme of Za­chary vpon it.Zach. 4. Grace, grace vnto it, for all is grace. Let vs learne the song of the blessed before hand, that hereafter we may be able to sing it with more perfection; Praise, honor, and glory, be vnto him that sitteth vpon the throne, and to the Lambe. Paul is ours, Apollos is ours, Cephas is ours, the worlde ours; children, friendes, fieldes, vineyardes, health, wealth, all things ours, but we are Christes, and Christ Gods; there is the fountaine, thence they come all, thither they all returne. He is α and ω, first and last, authour and finisher, giver and receiver, his holie name be blessed for ever and ever. Amen.

THE XXVI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. verse 3. and 4.‘For thou hadst cast mee into the bottome, in the middest of the sea, and the flowdes compassed mee a­bout; all thy surges and all thy waues passed over me. Then I said, I am cast away out of thy sight: &c.’

IMAGINE the songe of Ionas to consist of three partes, a proposition, narration, and a conclusion; and the proposition alreadye to bee past in the seconde verse, summarilye abridging the beginning, proceeding and ending of the matter in hande, that is the pe­rill, praier, and deliveraunce of Ionas. The narration nowe followeth to the eighth and ninth, wherein hee concludeth: so that all that lyeth betweene the seconde and those, maketh but for exor­nation; for both his daunger is more amplie described, and his prai­ers often mentioned, and a frequent hope of his deliveraunce inge­sted. And it is well worthy your considering, that as musicke con­sisteth of acutum and grave, high and lovve, sharpe and flatte, so this song of Sion which Ionas singeth in a strange lande, vvith a far hea­vier hearte then ever Israell sange by the rivers of Babylon, is mixte and compounded of two kindes of soundes. For on the one side, are daungers, terrours, desperations and deiections of minde of­ten hearde, but on the other, the sweetest comfortes and ioyes of the holy Ghost that coulde be conceived. First in the third verse, Thou hadst cast mee into the bottome of the sea, with many exaggerati­ons to declare his feare. But in the fourth, Yet vvill I looke againe to thy holy temple. Againe in the fifth, The waters compassed mee aboute vnto the soule, &c. But in the sixte, Yet haste thou broughte vp my life from the pitte, O LORDE my God. Lastly in the seventh, My soule fainted vvithin mee, yet I remembred the LORDE, and my prai­er came vnto thee into thine holie temple. Invicem cedunt dolor & volup­tas: sovver and sweete, mourninge and ioy, trouble and peace come by courses and successions. There is no weeding vp of these tares, no remooving of these griefes and annoyaunces from the life of man. This is the state and condition of our present pilgrimage, as of a fielde, vvherein there is vvheate and darnell, they must of [Page 340] necessitye grovve togither till the harvest, when it shall be saide, priora transierunt, the former thinges are past, sorrovve and sicke­nesse, dreade and death haue nowe their ende. The eveninge and the morning are but one day. Barnardes allusion to that place of Genesis is the interpretation of the Psalme, heavinesse maye bee in the evening, but ioye commeth in the morninge. VVee beare foorth our seede vvith teares, vvee shall bringe home the sheaves in our bo­some vvith ioye. The Sonne of GOD hath beene entertayned in this life, at one time vvith Benedictus, blessed is hee that commeth in the name of the LORDE; at an other, vvith crucifige, crucifie him. Iohn Baptist at one time is reverenced and hearde gladlie, at an other beheaded. Not to speake of the heade or members a­parte,Cantic. 1. the vvhole bodye cryeth in the Canticles, I am blacke, O yee daughters of Ierusalem, but comelye. Nigra vestro, formosa divi­no Angelicó que iudicio, Bern. ser 25. in Cantic. blacke in the iudgemente of menne, faire in the sighte of GOD and Angelles; nigra foris, sed intùs formosa, blacke with­out, by reason of the miseries and deformities of this life, but in­vvardelye beautifull, vvith a godlye presumption and hope of my blisse to come. One generation passeth and an other succeedeth, saieth Ecclesiastes,Eccles. 1. the sunne govveth downe, and the sunne dravveth to the place of his rising againe, the vvinde goeth to the South, and compasseth to­vvardes the North, Hoc vnū ae­quale habet om [...]ium tē porum inae­qualitas quod vicissi­ [...]udo in om­nibus reperi­tur. Nazian. and returneth by the same circuite: and though all times differ, yet they differ not in this, that they are all subiecte to var [...]ati­tions. And as a discorde in musicke giveth a grace and commenda­tion to the song, so these discordes and iarres in our life keeping their alternatiō, make our pleasures more welcome when they come. That Christians should well digest them, there is some better cause, by rea­son of their faith. For they thinke not how bitter the potion is in tast, but what health commeth after it. Nor are they ignorant, that these crosses and disturbances, are as it were the first-fruites of the spirite, the earnest penny of our fathers inheritance, Primitiae spiritus, ar­rha paternae haereditatis, praelibatio gloriae. Corpus & a­nima minu­ [...]a duo. a prelibation of glory to come: that if we bestow all that we haue as the poore widow did, our 2. mites, body and soule (as one compareth them) vpon the service and at the plea­sure of our God, we leaue but simpla pro centuplis, one for an hundreth fold, which shall afterwardes be restored. But you shall finde that the Gentiles themselues, who were without the covenant of God, & con­sequently the hope of better things, were loth to sur [...]et of pleasure, and tooke it as an introduction to worse to come, if ever they recei­ved too much even of good fortune. When tydings was brought to Philip of Macedon, that Parmenio got the victory over his enimies, [Page 341] Alexander his sonne was borne, and his chariots wonne the prize at Olympus, all in one day,Fortun [...] o [...]nipotem & ineluctabil [...] fatum. Levi me a [...] ­fice infort [...] ­nio. hee called vpon fortune (reputed a goddesse in those dayes) to doe him some little hurte, and to spice as it were his ioyes, with bitternesse, that they made him not forget him selfe. It was the reason that the king of Egypte blest himselfe from having any thing to doe with Polycrates king of Samos, be­cause he was over-fortunate. For having throwne a massie and rich ring into the sea to try an experiment in despight of fortune, he found it againe at his table in the belly of a fish vvhich was brought for a present vnto him. They many times wished good lucke,Hostium [...]ili­is continga [...] in delicii [...] viver [...]. and plea­surable daies to the veriest enimies they had. In the bookes of Iob and the Psalmes, the thriving of the wicked, vvanteth not a lear­ned orator to set it foorth at large. Their bullocke gendereth and fay­leth not, their cowe calveth and casteth not her calfe. They sende foorth their children like sheepe, and their sonnes daunce. Iob. 21. They take the tabret and harpe and reioyce in the sounde of the organs. Thus farre it vvere good, you vvoulde thinke, to bee no good man.Psal 7 [...] ▪ For they come into no misfortune like other men. VVhat? no misfortune? Even the greatest in this, that they haue so large an indulgence. Sure­ly it vvere good for vs not to be acquainted vvith such engrossers of prosperity, and much lesse to haue to doe vvith their vnhappy hap­pinesse. For as in the burning of a candle, when it hath long gi­ven light, extremum occupat fumus & caligo, the ende is in smoake and caliginousnesse, so fareth it, when the candle of the vvicked is put out (for so Iob compareth their felicitye.) Their ende is vvorse then their beginning, as the beginning of Saintes vvorse then their end. In puncto descendunt in infernum; in the stirring of an eye, they goe dovvne into hell. VVhere if there bee not, fumus & caligo, and much vvorse, there is no hel. He that saw the wicked flourishing like a greene bay tree, which winter defaceth not, & it never withereth til it be pluckt from the earth, looked at an other time for their place, (I say not the trees but their place) and they were no more found. O howe suddainely are they destroyed, perish, Psalm. 37. and come to a fearefull ende? as a dreame when one awaketh? Lord, when thou rai­sest vs vp, thou shalt make their image despised. Suddenly, Psal 73▪ and fearefullie and contemptibly; measure enough, themselues vanishing, perishing, consu­med, whē others arise whom they thought not of. He that at one time said of himselfe, I haue cleansed my hart in vaine, because he coulde not iudge aright of the prosperity of the wicked,Ibid. at an other time saide to the foolish, Be not so foolish, and to the wicked, lifte not vp the horne, Psal▪ 75. lift not vp your horne on high, neither speake vvith a stiffe necke. For in the [...]ande of [Page 342] the Lorde is a cuppe, and the vvine is of the colour of bloude, it is fully tempe­red, and hee povvreth out the same, and all the vvicked of the earth shall surelie vvringe out and drinke the dregges thereof. What pleasure is there now in the cuppes of Balthazar and his concubines, the cuppes of the vvhore of Babylon, golden and sugred cuppes, and wine in [...]oules as the prophet speaketh, vvhen at the ende of the banquet to close vp the stomake, they must take this cup from the hand of the Lord, and drinke their fatall draught? Thus of the one side, you shall ever finde the happines of the wicked in primis, it commeth at the first, and falleth like a dry thistle flower. Sonne, thou hadst thy pleasure: it is now past.Ierom. 30. But if you will learne what becommeth of the righteous, in novissimis intelligetis, you shall vnderstand it in the last daies. Marke the vp­right man, Psalm. 37. V [...] eadem Catena cu­stodem & militem co­pulat, sic sp [...]s & metus c [...] ­ [...]ūcta. 1▪ ep. 6. and beholde the iust, for the ende of that man is peace. Seneca writeth that as the same chaine coupleth the keeper and prisoner togither, so hope and feare are ever conioined, and feare followeth hope. For where our wishes and desires are bent, we cannot choose but doubt of our good speede. These two are coupled togither in the song of Ionas, but their order inverted. For feare goeth before, like the keeper and iaylour of Ionas, and hope commeth ever be­hinde, to giue him comfort of enlargement. Feare seemeth to haue the greater scope, and to triumph over hope, as may appeare, in that so many words, even fowre whole members of the two nexte verses, are spent in the amplification of it, when as but a short clause, & snat­ching looke of the eie is added in the end to expresse his hope. But how little leaven of hope seasoneth the whole lumpe of the daunger before mentioned?The divisiō of the text. 1. Thou hadst cast me. 2. Into the bottome. 3. The flouds cō ­passed me &c. 4. Then I saide.

The partes are according to the number of the verses, two. First, his daunger, secondly, the hope of recovery. The daunger enlar­ged, first by the authour, Thou hadst cast mee, vvhich noteth not on­ly a violence, but a neglect, as if the Lorde had throwne him aside never to bee remembred more: secondly by the place, into the bot­tome in the midst of the sea: thirdly by the accessaries to the place, the flowdes compassed mee, all thy surges and all thy waves passed over mee: fourthly by the infirmity and distrust of his owne hearte, the effect of the rest, and his conclusion vpon the precedent proofes, Then I saide, 2. yet will I looke a­gaine. I am cast awaie out of thy sighte. But in the seconde place, one cast and motion of his eie towardes the temple of the LORD, maketh satisfaction and amendes for all those former discom­fortes.1. The au­thour.

1 Thou hadst cast me. The authour is not his equall; (a briar con­tending [Page 343] vvith a thorne, an earthen vessell vvith an earthen vessell, wherein there is some proportionate comparison: The children of Israel & sonnes of Anak▪ David and Golias, vvere not equally mat­ched, yet man to man; Wherin if either part be the weaker, it may be redressed in time, either by thēselues, or by their a bettours, Or if ne­ver redressed, the body alone beareth the smart, the soule no whit endangered.) But the worker of this woe, is the most mighty LORDE, whose face is burning and his lips full of indignation; whose wrath he liveth not vpon the earth that can abide,Psalm. 1 [...]. vvhen the foundations of the moun­taines mooue and sbake because hee is angrie; vvhose anger hath a fur­ther extente, not vpon the body alone, but vpon the soule too, not onely to kill, but to cast them both away for ever into hell fire. Be­holde, he breaketh downe and it cannot be built, Iob. 1 [...]. hee shutteth vp a man and hee cannot be loosed. Woe, woe be vnto vs, cried the vncircumcised Philistines, though they stood in battaile aray,1. Sam. 4. who shall deliver vs out of the hands of these mightie Gods? erring in the number, but not in the power of the glorious deity? The men of Bethshemesh, being afterwards smitten, because they had pried into the arke of Covenant, accounted them­selues but dead men before him, VVho is able to stande before this holie Lord God? The very pillers of heaven, saith Iob,1. Sam. 6. tremble and quake at his re­proofe. At his rebuke hee dryeth up the sea, and maketh the flouds deserte; Iob. 26. their fish rotte for vvant of water and die for▪ thirst. Hee clotheth the heavens with darkenesse, & maketh a sacke their covering in the prophecy of Esay.Chap. 50. How fearefull a thing shall it then be, to a sinfull man, vvhose foundati­on is but dust, and not like those of the mountaines, and the pillers of his body but flesh and bloud, farre inferiour to the pillers of heaven, all the moisture of whose substance shall sooner be exacted than that of the flouds & rivers, to fall into the handes of the living God, who liveth for al eternity beyond the daies of heaven, and therefore is more a­ble to avēge any iniury done vnto him? The anger of a prince, though it seemeth as dreadful as the messengers of death vnto vs, may bee paci­fied; if not, his anger is mortal like himselfe, his breath is in his nostrels, and promiseth to those that feare, an ende of his life and wrath togi­ther. The hostility of a deadly foe may beeresisted by hostilitie a­gaine, though his quiver bee an open sepulchre, and they all very strong;Ierem. 5. if not, hee can but eate vp our harvest and bread, eat vp our sonnes and daugh­ters, our sheepe and our bullockes, our vines and fig-trees, and destroy our cities. But if the anger of the Lord of hosts be kindled, who can put it out? if he be an enemy, let heaven and earth ioine hand in hand to worke our safety, it should not helpe. If he begin he vvil make an end, 1. Sam. 3. in the first [Page 344] of Samuell, or rather not an ende, in the fourth of Ieremie. Consi­der the vision. I haue looked vpon the earth, saieth the Prophet, and loe it was vvithout for me and voide; and to the heavens and they had no light. I behelde the mountaines, and loe they trembled, and all the hils shooke. I behelde, and loe there vvas no man, and all the birdes of the ayre vvere departed. I behelde, and loe the fr [...]tfull place was a vvildernesse, and all the cittyes thereof vvere broken dovvne at the presence of the LORDE and by his fierce wrath. For thus hath the Lorde saide, the vvhole lande shall be desolate, yet vvill I not make a full ende. Beholde now an ende and no end. Nowe if the Lorde had so cast Ionas as he cast the Angels out of heaven, vvithout repentance and revoca­tion of his fact, Ionas must haue lien belovv as the gravell and slime of the sea never to haue risen vp. But he cast him in mercy not in fury, as he cast Adam out of Paradise to till the ground, Nabuchodonosor from his kingdome to eate with the beasts of the fielde, Iob from h [...]s house and home to lie vpon the dunghill, to doe them greater honor and favour in time to come.

2. The place. In profun­dum.The place hath three amplifications, 1. Hee vvas cast into the bot­tome of the sea; vvhere-hence in likelyhoode, there was no recove­ry. Else, what ment Micheas by the phrase in the seventh of his booke, that God vvill cast our sinnes into the bottome of the sea, but that hee vvill lay them so lowe, and heape such a burthen and weight vp▪ on them, that they shall never rise vp againe? And our Saviour by the same in the gospell, that he who should offend one of his little ones, it were better for him that a mil-stone were hanged aboute his necke and hee throwne into the bottome of the sea?Math. 18. Implying therein so desperate a danger to the body, as would never be restored. So they singe of Pharaoh and his host in the fifteenth of Exodus: Abyssi operuerunt e­ [...]s, & descenderunt in profundum velut lapis, and afterwardes, profunda pe­ [...]ierunt vt plumbum. The bottomlesse depthes covered them, and they sunke to the bottome as a stone; and as lead they were swallowed in the waters. Some vvrite, that the sea at the deepest is forty furlonges. I can­not censure their estimation. But this I am sure of, it is very deepe, and our Saviour ment to signifie no lesse when he called it not (mare) the sea by it selfe,Math. 18. but Pelagus maris, the bottome of the sea. So Iob spea­keth of Leviathan, hee maketh the deepe to boile like a potte of ointemente. Yea, Iob. 41. thou wouldest thinke that the bottomelesse depth had an hoary heade. VVhere it is compared for depth vvith that which the legion of De­vils in the eighth of Luke,Abyssus. desired they mighte not be throwne into. Nowe one furlong or faddome of waters had beene deepe enough [Page 345] to haue taken away the life of Ionas; much more was he in ieopardy, when he was cast into the bottome of the sea. 2. he was not onely in the sea, but in the midst, the heart, the inwardst secretes and celles of it, as the heart of a living thing is mid-most, and inwardst vnto it.Jn cord [...]. Where­vpon Christ is saide to haue lien in Corde terrae, in the heart of the earth Math. 12▪ and the depthes to haue stoode vp togither in Corde maris, in the heart of the sea Exodus the fifteenth. This was the next augmenta­tion of the daunger, that the whale bare him farthest from the shore, and kept his way in the deepest channell or trade, so that all hope of ever comming to lande againe seemed to haue forsaken him. 3. he was not onely in the heart of the sea, but of the seas. There is but one vniversall and maine sea, which is the girdle to the dry land,Marium▪ but many particulars which take their severall names from the pla­ces they lie next vnto. Nowe the voyage of Ionas vvas not limi­ted and bounded vvithin the compasse of the Syriacke sea, vvhere­into hee vvas first received. But if it be true which Iosephus hath, that hee vvas cast vp to lande vpon the shore of the Euxine sea, then must hee needes bee carryed through diverse seas, before his arrival to that place. Hee had a purpose at first perhappes to goe no fur­ther then to Tarsus in Cilicia, which was harde at hande, and the Cilician sea, the first hee past by. But Ionas is borne from the Ci­lician to the Aegean, from thence to Propontis, and so to the rode where his landing vvas. A iust iudgement of God vpon him, that because he would flie from the presence of the Lord, he shoulde be made to flie indeed. God threatneth Sobna the treasurer, Esaie the 22. that hee woulde carry him into captivity, and tosse him as a ball in a large country, that he would driue him from his station, and destroy him from out his dwelling place. So is Ionas carried into captivity, a prisoner to a whale, and tost as a bal in a large country, from sea to sea, driven from his station vvhere hee mente to haue setled himselfe, and destroyed from out his dwelling place, & from the land of the living, & as Cain was a runnagate vpon the land, so is Ionas vpon the waters, and till the Lord giue a charge for his discharge & manumission, no land da­reth receiue him.

The floudes compassed mee aboute, &c. His thirde perill is from the ac­cidentes of the sea. For being in the bottome, 3. The acci­dentes. and in the middest of the bottome, not of the sea, but of the seas, is he at rest there? No. There is no agony, nor passion of the sea but Ionas feeleth it. The disquietmentes of that element, are either the meetinge of the fresh and salte vvaters togither, or the ebbing and flowing of it; [Page 346] or the waues and surges that arise, either by vvindes in the aire, or by flawes and expirations from the cavernes of the earth; vvith all these is Ionas acquainted.Eccles. 1. There is no question, but all rivers runne into the sea, according to the proverbe, Qui nescit viam ad mare, quaerat si­bi amnem, comitem, hee that knoweth not the vvay to the sea, let him get some river to be his guide. Now it must needes breede a vexation and tumulte, vvhen these contrary waters meete: there is a fight and contention helde betwixt them for the time. It is an o­ther disturbaunce, vvhich the continuall agitation, the fluxe and refluxe of the waters maketh.Cymothoe [...] [...]a regna va­gae. Sil. Ital. For when the course of that migh­ty body of waters is turned backe againe, whither by the moone, as they holde in Philosophy, or by other disposition, which al the instrumentes and engines in the worlde cannot bring to passe, wee cannot imagine that so reciprocall a motion is done in peace, but that the whole heape of the sea is molested thereby. There be the floudes vvhich encircle him and compasse him aboute, [...]. vvhich either the confluence of the waters diversly qualified, or the ebbing and flowing of the sea procured vnto him. As who should say, I laye not in a calme, but looke where the waters were most vnpeaceable and vnquiet, even there was I compassed about and had no waye to passe forth. The sea is otherwise disquieted, when either the windes in the aire, or flawes from the vawtes and breaches of the ground, raise vp the waues thereof. For the earth hath aire oftentimes impriso­ned in the hollownes of it, which being inwardly choked, and la­bouring to get out, sometimes shaketh the ioyntes of the land with earth-quakes, sometimes setteth the people of the sea in a rage, and bringeth a furious commotion vpon the face of the waters. Where­fore Ionas being carryed through the Mid-land sea, having the land on both sides of it, must needes bee troubled the more, by reason the waters haue not so free a passage as in the patent Ocean, & there­fore make a way with sorer impatience. Giue them streame at will, and there is lesse daunger of travaile, but straighten their course, and they breake a passage by force, and shewe what indignation they can against the barres that hinder them. By common experience at home in lockes and mill-dammes wee see what catarrhactes and downe-falles there are by the rage of the water, what hast it maketh to passe, how vnpatiently it roreth because her liberty is denied her. But those that ever passed the Magellan straightes, or entred the mouth of the Gaditan sea betwixt Europe and Africke, where Spaine and Barbary is devided, to make a voiage into Barbary, or any other [Page 347] coast within the Mid-land sea, know it to be most true, not by easie experience alone, but by the adventure both of their vesselles and their liues also. So as, you see, the very nature of these seas, where the propinquity & enclosure of the continent did so much annoye them on every side, partly by breathing vpon them out of manye holes and ruptures thereof, partly by lessening their channell, besides the ordinary windes which raised vp their billowes, and the extra­ordinary providence of God which delt more strongly than al these, did the more afflict Ionas.

The wordes are very significant.Omnes flu­ctus & gur­gite [...] [...]ui. All thy surges and all thy vvaves passed over mee. 1. They are not simplie waues (as all confesse) but waues with irruption and violent assault. Our English well inter­preteth them surges, which is the meeting and breaking of vvaters in such sorte, that the one encountreth the other as if they were at war. The Poet notably expresseth them in the shipwracke of Caeix:Metam. 11. that they plaide vpon the shippe, as engines and brakes of warre play vp­on castles, and as a Lion runneth with all his mighte vpon the wea­pons of man, or as in the siege and skaling of a wall, though many haue assailed it before, yet one of a thousand at length surpriseth it; so when many volumes of waues had before beaten and tried them­selues vpon the sides of the shippe,Inter mill [...] viros murū tamen occu­pat vnus. Vastiùs in­surgens deci­mae ruit im­petus vndae. yet the tenth vvaue commeth further and fiercer than all the rest. They were not inferiour to those that shooke and battered the shippe of Ionas, when the sides there­of groned, and it thought to bee rent in peeces. 2. They are not the sur­ges of the dead and senlesse sea, such as the winde and wether one­ly mighte excite, but they are the waues of God, chosen and ap­pointed by him to bee his ministers to execute vvrath against diso­bedient Ionas; Thy waves. 3. Their number is so infinite and past comprehension, that hee speaketh in the largest number, All thy waues, as if they had beene levied from the endes of the sea, and had assembled their forces into one place. 4. They lay not aboute him as the floudes before mentioned, but they passe quite over him; and are a burthen to his head to keepe him vnder still: they are on his right hande and on his lefte, vpwardes and downewardes, forwardes and backewardes, and leaue him no hope of evasion. The severing of the particulars weakeneth the force of the words. But take a sum­mary view of all in one, and make a single sentence of the vvhole togither, and you shall finde them beyonde exception. 1. Hee is in the bottome, the lowest and basest part, far from the top of the waters. 2. in the heart and entralles, far from the shore: 3. not of one singu­lar [Page 348] sea, which had some limites, but of a continuall tract and course of seas. 4. Not where the waters were placide and still, but vvhere the floudes were ever fighting togither. 5. Those floudes lie as a circle a­bout him, and keepe him in like armed men. 6. Not onely the flouds annoy him, the tides of the sea, and the decourse of lande rivers, but hee is also troubled with vvaues. 7. They are not simply waues, but surges, vvaues of the vehementest collision and insultation. 8. And not simply surges, but such as are strengthned by the arme and animation of God, his waues. 9. As if there were no more in the world, but they had all forsaken their proper places (as they came to the siege of T [...]oy) to turmoile this one sea, hee tearmeth them in gene­lity, all thy waues. Lastly, they were not aboute him as before, but laie like a pressure vpon his body to keepe it downe. There is yet a stinge in the taile of the Scorpion, a danger behinde, worse then the former; which as it is reserved to the last place, so hath it more venime in it then all the rest.

Then I saide, I am cast out of thy sighte, which containeth the weak­nesse and distrust of his fearefull conscience.4. Infirmity of heart. See what a daunge­rous conclusion hee maketh against his soule; not rashly apprehen­ded, but with leasure and deliberation conceived. I saide: that be­cause the Lord had cast him into the bottome of the sea from the sight of men, and the floudes and surges were over and about him, therefore hee should thinke, hee is cast from the sight of God, that is, that the lighte of his face, brightnes of his countenance, aspect of his mercy & compassion had everlastingly forsaken him. Ionas, thou art deceived. Thou speakest more to thy selfe, thē ever the Lord said. Hee that cast thee into the sea, or caused the mariners to doe it, never said, that he cast thee out of his sight; & if thou hadst askt the seas and the flouds wherein thou wert overwhelmed, they would never haue said it. They know that the Lorde can say vnto the earth, giue, and to the sea, restore, keepe not those my sonnes & daughters back whom I call for. It is the voice of the serpent that speaketh this damnable sentēce vvithin thee. Beware of his sophistry, admit it not, his reasoning is not good, that because thou art persecuted & driven to the bottome of the sea, therefore thou art wholy cast out. It is the pestilentest bait that ever Sathan laide to infect soules with. Who being himselfe the sonne of perdition, compasseth sea and lande to make others his prose­lytes, the childrē of hel, as deeply as himselfe is: & the cords wherwith he draweth thē into his own inheritance of destruction, are to make the grievousnes of their sins, & the sense of their presēt & but momē ­tany [Page 349] afflictions, markes of their finall dereliction, and that the fa­vour of God is vtterlie departed from them. This vvas the snare that he set for the soule of Iob in the mouthes of his three friendes pronouncinge him a reprobate, and hypocrite, because hee was afflicted by God. The like for the soule of David, in the lippes of his insolent enimies, vvhen they vpbraided him, where is now thy God? he trusted in God, let God deliver him, if hee will haue him. Behold I shew you a sea indeede, of a bottomelesse depth, the ground whereof can no more be founded than the lowest hel. He that is throwne into this sea, is alwaies falling and descending, and never findeth an end. It hath no midst in it, as the sea hath, because it is vnmeasurable and infinite: I meane a desperate conscience, distrusting the mer­cies of God, relinquished of it selfe; the floudes and surges whereof, restlesse, turbulent, vnplacable cogitations can never be quieted, and the fightings therein, as betwixt waters and waters in the sea, be­tweene affirmations & negations (it is and it is not) cannot be recon­ciled. Let all the rivers and streames of fresh vvater which glad the citty of God, and comforte the soules of the faithfull, runne into it, they are resisted and driven back. There is no entrance (I meane) for any perswasion of the graciousnes & kindnes of the Lord, though it be preached a thousand times. The salt, vnsavory, bitter quality in the soule, wherewith it is baned before, hath no communion with so sweete a nature. Which sin of desperation as the nature of man hath iust cause to detest, because it breaketh that league of kindnes which we owe to our owne flesh, & many a bloudy instrument hath it put into the hands of man to destroy himselfe, (which execution beeing done against the laws of nature, a worse ever ensueth from the iudg­mēt fear of God) so for that iniury & indignity which it ostreth to the Lord of heaven, sooner shal he forgiue the apostasie of his reprobate angels, than this dāned sin. Ierome observeth vpon the Psalmes, that Iudas offended more in despairing of pardon, and hanging himselfe, In Psa 108. than in be­traying his innocent maister to death. Isiodore giveth a kinde of reason for it. Because to commit an offence is the death of the soule, but to cast of hope of forgiuenesse is to descende into hell. Perpetrare flagitium est mor [...] animae Sed veniam desperare est ad infernum descendere. 2. de sum b [...]. What can ever be done more derogatorie and iniurious to that righteous nature of his, than to change his trueth into a lye, and the lyes of Sathan into trueth, and to iustifie Sathan more than God? that when as the Lord shall speake on the one side & binde by promise, confirme by oth and seale with the bloud of his onely begotten son, touching his goodnes towardes al true penitent sinners, that although he haue made a wound, he wil heale [Page 350] it, though broken hee will binde vp, though killed he will giue life, yet he is not beleeved? But when the Devill contrariwise shal sug­gest for his parte that the iustice of GOD will never bee satisfied, the heynousnesse of our sinnes never pardoned, as if he had left his name of beeing the father of lyes any longer, hee is harkened vnto? VVhat else is this, but to turne falshoode into trueth, darcknesse into light, and GOD for ever to be magnified into the Devill him­selfe? Ionas went not so farre as I nowe speake of. For though it were a daungerous pang which hee was fallen into, and there vvan­ted but age and strength to make it vp, yet he persisted not therein; his feete had vvell nigh slipte, but he recovered them, and he spake vn­advisedlye vvith his lippes, 2. His hope. but he recalled it againe. Yet vvill I looke tovvardes thine holie temple, I vvill not so much explicate the wordes at large, as vrge their consequence. This was the difference be­tweene Iudas and Ionas. Iudas vvente out, and never looked backe more. The LORDE cast him foorth, and the devil bare him awaye to a tree, vvhence hee returned not till hee had hunge himselfe. Ionas is cast out, vvith an hope and minde to returne. Hee forgetteth not the temple of the LORDE, and the place vvhere his honour dwelt, though hee vvere farre remooved from it. Iudas hath nothing but mill-stones aboute his necke (the necke of his guiltye conscience,) to vveigh him downe; Ionas hath wings and corke to beare him vp. Iudas like a carkas vvherein there is no life, falleth downe as the Lacedemonian saide of a dead man, whom hee coulde not set vpright vpon his feete oportet aliquid intus esse, there must bee somevvhat vvithin: Ionas hath that vvithin, a spirite of com­forte to quicken and supporte him. Hee hath an eye in his heade, discovering those hidden vvaies vvhich the eye of the eag [...]e and kite never founde out, to looke to the temple of the LORDE. VVhi­ther he ment the temple at Ierusalem, or vvhither his temple in hea­ven,Psa. 11. vvhereof the Psalme speaketh, the LORDE is in his holy pal­lace, the Lordes throne is in the heavens, I enquire not: but thrice bles­sed were those eies that did him this service. If his sentence and re­solution had ended in those former wordes. I am cast out, and there had beene the periode and full pointe, all his ioyes had ended. When the Iewes saide in the Prophet,Fortuna in­nocenten de­serit saepe, at spes bona nunquàm. Senec. perijt spes nostra, our hope is gone, they mighte aswell haue added, perijt salus nostra, our salvation is gone, a man vvithout hope is without his best advocate. Good suc­cesse may often for sake the innocente, but never good hope. And there­fore hee chaunged his stile in good time, veruntamen, yet notwithstan­ding, [Page 351] I haue annointed mine eyes with the eye salue of hope, and through all those obstacles of sea and seas, floudes and surges, I am a­ble to looke to the place of thy rest. It standeth as the rudder in the sentence, and turneth it quite an other way. It vvas running apace vpon dangerous shelues, and had set vp the full sailes of deadliest dis­comfortes, but a breath of faith commeth in and stoppeth that wret­ched course. Notwithstanding: Now doth Ionas begin to neese, with the childe that the prophet called to life; now is his first vprising from the dead; he had vtterly fainted when he was in the belly whither of the vvhale or of hell, but that he beleeved verily to see the goodnesse of the Lord in his holy temple. Epaminondas being striken thorough with a speare, and his bloud fayling him, asked, if his target were safe, and whither the enimy were put to flight: and vnderstanding all to be answerable to his heartes desire, saide, my fellowes in armes, Valer. Max. lib. 3. cap. 2. it is not an ende of my life that is nowe come, but a better beginning. The losse of the body is not great. VVe sow it in dishonour, we shall reape it in ho­nour. And conscience may be wounded and daunted sometimes in the best that liveth. But if Ionas had lost his shielde of faith, and his helmet of hope, the principall armour of defence, the one for the head vvherein the braine, the other for the breast vvherein the heart lieth, and if the enimies of his soule, these desperate agonies had gotten the vpper hande, and not beene vanquished by him, where had his glo­ry, where had his safety beene? But his shield, you heare, is whole, Not­withstanding I will looke towardes thine onely temple. VVith a little diffe­rence, you haue the same speeches in the Psalmes which Ionas heere vseth. As in the 31. Psalme. I saide in mine haste, I am cast out of thy [...]ight. Likewise in 42. All thy waues and thy floudes are gone over me. I repeate no more. But they make it an argument, that Ionas had dili­gently red the Psalmes, and kept them by hearte, and applyed them as neede served, to his particular occasions. Est certe non magnus, Tul. verùm aureolus, & ad verbum ediscendus libellus. As he spake of Crantors booke. Surely the booke of the Psalmes is not greate, but golden, Nunquam de manibus recedat. Discatur psalterium ad verbu [...]. and throughly to be learned. Ierome advised Rusticus that the booke of the Psalmes shoulde neuer depart from his handling and reading. Let every worde of the Psalter bee conned vvithout booke. I vvill say shortely, sayeth he, It is a common treasurie of all good learning. It appeareth in the gospel that Christ and his disciples were very conversant in that booke; because in their sayings & writings not fewer then threescore authorities are procured from aboue forty of those severall Psalmes. But my mea­ning is not so much to commende the booke at this time as your vse [Page 352] of it. For it is never so well red or hearde, as when the harpe of David and the ditty of our hearte, the scripture of the Psalme, and the sense of our present occasion go togither. Quid prosunt lecta & in­tellecta, Bern. [...]is [...] teipsum legas & intelligas? readinge and vnderstanding without application, is nothing. Neither is it to purpose to singe Psalmes, vnlesse we make them accord to our present miseries, when we are in misery; when we are delivered, to our deliverances; & other the like variations. Thus did Ionas.

But to come backe to David himselfe; though hee spake so daungerously as you haue hearde, I am cast of: yet hee confes­seth, hee spake it in his haste, and hee correcteth that hasty speech with a veruntamen (a particle of better grace, as Ionas did) yet thou heardest the voice of my praier, vvhen I cryed vnto thee. And he exhorteth all those that trust in the LORDE to bee stronge, and hee vvill establish their heartes. Likewise in former vvordes: these amongst the restiarring very vnpleasantly, and striking out of tune, I am forgotten as a deade man out of minde, I am like a broken vessell. But I trusted in thee O Lorde, I saide, thou art my God. But for (nisi and ve­runtamen) but and notwithstanding, notes as it were of a better sound, our heartes might quake, to see such passions in the Saintes of God. The beloved sonne of God, was not without this convulsion of spirite, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken mee? not feared and suspected, but felt and presently endured: why hast thou done it? yet he com­mendeth his spirit into the handes of that Lord, who seemed to haue forsaken him.Psal. 68. Thus ever the Lord sendeth a gracious raine vpon his inheri­tance to refresh it when it is weary: and it is true which Osee saith, though wee looke for a day or two, as if wee were dead and forlorne, yet after those two dayes hee vvill reviue vs, and the thirde he vvill raise vs vp, and we shall liue in his sight. Osee 6. I will now proclaime from an other Psalme. Heare this all yee people, giue eare all that dwell in the world; low and high, rich and poore, one with an other. My mouth shall speake of vvisedome, and the meditation of my hart is of knowledge. Psal. 49. I will encline mine eare to a parable, and vtter a graue matter vpon mine harpe. Surely it is wisedome, and knowledge, and a graue matter indeede, and blessed are they that conceaue it. If it bee hid, it is hid to those that perish, it is a para­ble to Cain, and Saul and Iudas, and such like cast-awaies. If I had the doubled spirit of Elias, and wisedome like the angels of GOD. I woulde spend it wholy in the commendation of this graue and se­rious sentence. VVherefore shoulde I feare in the evill dayes, when iniqui­rie shall compasse mee aboute as at mine heeles? vvhen it shall presse and [Page 353] vrge me so closely with the iudgementes of God, that I am alwaies in daunger to be supplanted? nowe vvhat are the pillers of this heavenly security? can riches, or wisedome, or houses and landes after our names, or honour sustaine vs? these are but rotten foun­dations to builde eternity vpon. But, GOD shall deliver my soule from the power of the grave, for hee will receive mee. I drawe to an ende. GOD is faithfull that hath promised: heaven and earth shall passe avvay, but not a iote of his blessed worde. As the hilles vvere a­bout Ierusalem, and as these floudes vvere aboute Ionas; so is the LORDE aboute all those that feare him. Hee hath made a decree in heaven, it belongeth to the nevve testamente, confir­med by the death of the testatour, witnessed by three in heaven, and as many in earth, and never shall it be altered, That at what time soever, a sinner (whatsoever) shall repent him of his wickednes (whatsoe­ver) from the bottome of his hearte, the Lorde will forgive and forget it. O heaven before heaven. And the contrarye perswasions, hell be­fore hell, damnation before the time. I say againe, if hee re­pent of his wickednesse, it is not the misery of this wretched life, nor terrour of conscience, nor malice of foes, let them bee men or devilles, let them bee seven in one, a legion in another, all the principalities and powers of darkenesse in the thirde, that shall hinder forgivenesse. Beholde the lambe of GOD, you that are lions in your house, as the proverbe speaketh, worst towardes your selves; you that are ready to teare and devoure your owne soules with griefe and feare of hearte, beholde the Lambe of GOD that taketh avvy the sinnes of the worlde. Hath his death put sense into rockes and stones, and can it not perswade you? shall that bloud of the lambe cleanse you from your guiltinesse, and will you in a madde and impatient moode throwe your bloud into the aire with Iulian, or spill it vpon the grounde with Saul, or sacrifice it vp­on an alder with Iudas, and not vse the medicine that shoulde ease their maladies? shall hee open heaven, and will you shutte it? hee naile the writings to his crosse, and you renue them? hee pull you from the fire, and you runne into it againe? Is this his thankes? this the recompence of his labours? this the wages yee give him for bearing the heate and burthen of the day in your per­sons? this the harvest for the seede hee sowed in teares? this the wine hee shall drinke for treading the wine-presse? in steede of a cuppe of salvation, which you ought to take in your handes, and call vpon the name of the LORD, that is, as he hath drunke vnto you [Page 354] in a bitter cuppe of passion, so you shoulde pledge him in a plesant draught of thanksgiving, will you take a cup of death and despera­tion, blaspheme his name, evacuate his crosse, treade the bloude of his testament vnder you [...]eete, and die past hope? God forbid, and the earnest praiers and sobbes of your owne soules hartely for­bidde it. Ianuas aeternae foelicitatis desparatio claudit, spes aperit: De­speration shutteth vp, hope openeth the dores of eternall felicitie. And therefore, hee that hath least and nothing at all to hope, yet let him de­spaire of nothing:Qui nil po­test s [...]erare, desperet ni­hil. it was the advise of an heathen, let it bee the pra­ctise of a Christian. Let him hope against hope, though the basenesse of his condition, horrour of sinne, weight of tribulation, envy of Sa­than, rigour of the lawe, iustice of the vpright iudge, seeme to over­thwarte him.

THE XXVII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. ver. 5.6.‘The waters compassed mee about vnto the soule, &c. Yet hast thou brought vp my life from the pit, O Lord my God.’

IN the third and fourth verses before I hādled first the daunger or feare of Ionas, illustrated 1. from the person that cast him into it, 2. from the place with the accessaries thereunto, the depth, the heart, the multitude of seas, 3. from the passions of the sea, which vvere either floudes compassing him about, or waves overwhel­ming him, & those waves in nature surges, tou­ching the author, Gods surges; touching the number, all his surges: 4. from the infirmity of his owne conscience, wherein, 1. advisedly he pronounceth and saith; 2. that as an vnprofi­table thing he is cast out; 3. from the sight, that is, the favour and grace of his mercifull Lorde. Secondlye I added thereunto his hope and confidence, as a peece of sweete woode cast into the waters of Ma­rah to take away their bitternesse, so this to rellish and sweeten his soule againe, and to make some amendes for all his former discou­ragementes. In these two contrary affections, feare and hope, I tolde you the vvhole songe vvas consumed to the ende of the se­venth verse. First you shall heare his daunger displaied in sundry and forcible members, (for his wordes swamme not in his lippes, but were drawne from the deepe well of a troubled conscience) and then [Page 355] at the end some sentence of comfort added, as a counter-verse to alay the rigour of the other partes, and to vpholde his fainting soule. This was the order that David tooke with his soule in the 42. and 43. Psalmes, Why art thou cast downe, O my soule? Hope in the Lorde, for I will yet giue him thankes for the helpe of his presence. Likewise in the 80. Psalme, Turne vs againe, O God of hostes, cause thy face to shine, and wee shall bee safe. They come ( [...] seemeth) as so many breathings to a man wearied with a tedious race, or rather as so many lines and recollections of spirites after swoonings. Now, vnlesse I will leaue my texte, as Ionas left the way to Niniveh which God had apointed him to walke in, I must againe entertaine your eares with the same discourse which before I helde: I hope without offence to any man. For the hearing of these admirable wordes and workes of God is not, or should not be as the drinking of wine, wherin they say,Primum po [...]cultum necessi [...]atis, secū ­dum volup­tatis, tertiū ebriet [...]tis &c· Chap. 24. Eccles. 1. Cytharaedu [...] ridetur. the first draught is of necessity, the second for pleasure, the third for sleepe, & so ever more worse; but here it is true which the son of Syrach wrot of wisedome (for this is the pure and holy wisedome,) They that eate her shal haue the more hunger, and they that drinke her shall thirst the more. The eie is not satisfied with seeing, nor the eare with hearing such things. And albeit it bee a faulte in musicke, evermore to strike vppon the same string, yet Ionas (I doubt not) shall easily bee excused and finde fa­vour in your eares, in handling this song of his, though he bring no­thing for a time but the repetition of the same matters. For first hee gaue you the ground and plain-song, which I called the propositi­on in the second verse. The rest to the end of the 7. though it be spēt vpon the same argument, yet is it with such descante and variety to grace the plaine-song, the phrase so delectably altered, and the sense of the wordes so mightily augmented, as I cannot faine to my selfe, how the description of his troubles coulde haue beene furni­shed with better lightes of speach. I haue hearde the descriptions both of auncient Poets, and of those in our latter daies, Tassus, Ariostus, and the like so highly extolled, as if wisedome had lived and died with them alone. And it may be the sinne of samaria, Angelus Politian preferred Pindarus his Odes before the Psalmes of David. the sin of this lande and age of ours (perhappes the mother of our atheisme) to commit idolatry with such bookes, that insteed of the writings of Moses and the prophets, and Evangelistes, which were wont to lie in our windowes as the principall ornaments, & to sit in the vppermost roumes as the best guests in our houses, now we haue Arcadia, & the Faery Queene, and Orlando Furioso, with such like frivolous stories: when if the wanton students of our time (for all are studentes, both [Page 356] men and women in this idle learning) would as carefully read and as studiously obserue the eloquent narrations and discourses contained in the Psalmes of David and other sacred bookes, they would finde thē to be such, as best deserved the name & cōmendation of the best Poets. So rightly did Ierome pronoūce of David to Paulmus, that he is our Simonides, Pindarus, Alceus, Flaccus, Catullus, Serenus, & in steed of al others. For the warrant of my sayings, cōsider but this scripture now in hand. The danger of Ionas (one might haue thought) was so handled before, as if he had powred forth his whole spirit at once. He tolde you of the deepest, and of the midst, and of the number of the seas, with as many perturbations (for ought I know) as the sea is subiect vnto, the confluge of repugnant waters, ebbing & flowing, and breaking of the surges. Yet is he stil as ful as the moone, and as if he were freshly to begin, entreth againe with an other stile, & much more abundance into the same narration.

Texte.Now he acquainteth you how farre the waters came. He was in the waters and waues before; but within the bowelles of the fish as it were in a christall cage: here it is otherwise, for the waters compasse him ad animan vsque, even vnto the soule; hee was now in the pre­sentest daunger of his life, there was not an haires breadth betwixte him and death, his soule lay even at the gates of his body ready to passe forth. He told you of a bottome before, but now of a depth with­out a bottome; there profundum, here abyssus: and he addeth to his for­mer encumbrances weedes about his head, mountaines, and promontories, and rockes, & the barres of the earth wherewith he was imprisoned. The son of Syrach speaketh of wisedome,Eccles. 24. that shee is set vp like a cedar in Libanꝰ, and as a cypres tree vpon the mountaines of Hermon, exalted like a palme­tree in Cades, and as a rose-plant in Iericho, & as a faire oliue-tree in a plea­sant fielde, and as a plane-tree by the waters; as a terebinth so shee stretcheth out her branches and her boughes are the boughes of honour and grace. Her roote is so rich and so ful of sap, that an heart endued therewith, ne­ver lacketh matter or wordes whereby to perswade. It is written of Salomon, one of the ofspring of wisedome, that God gaue him prudence and vnderstanding exceeding much, and a large hearte, even as the sande that is vpon the sea-shore, and that his wisedome exceeded the vvisedome of all the children of the East, and all the vvisedome of Egypt. That he was able to speake of trees from the cedar of Lebanon, to the hysope that springeth out of the wall, hee also spake of beastes, and fowles, and cree­pinge thinges, and of fishes. 1. King. 4. Compare the hearte of Ionas a little vvith the hearte of Salomon▪ You see howe large it is. [Page 357] Larger, I am sure, if it be wisely weighed, than of all the people of the East, and children of Egypt before mentioned. He speaketh of all his troubles by sea, from the greatest to the least, even to the weede and bulrush that lyeth in the basest part of it. Wee say, where the griefe is, there commonly the finger· It is not an easie matter for those that are pint [...]ht with griefe indeede, hastily to departe either from the sense or report of it. A man must speake sometimes to take breath. Ieremy wrote a whole booke of Lamentations, and in the person of the people of the Iewes, as if all the afflictions vnder heaven had beene stored vp for that one generation, proclaimed, Ego vir ille sum, I am that man that haue had experience of infirmities; that one and only singular man. This is the manner of al that are afflicted: as Ionas before, all thy surges and all thy waues passed over me;Etiam inno­centes cogit mentiri do­lor. Valer. Max. lib. 7. cap. 2. they thinke their miseries to bee alone, and that no other in the worlde hath any parte with them. Contrary to the iudgement of Solon the wise Athenian, who thought that if men were to laye their griefes vpon one com­mon heape, and thence to take out an equall portion with their fellowes▪ they woulde rather carry their owne home againe, and beare their burthen aparte, than divide at the stocke, where they should finde their wretchednesse much more encreased. David in many Psalmes declameth at large of his miseries. In the 69. by the same words, which Ionas here vseth, & happily borrowed from that ancienter prophet. The waters are entred in vnto my soule, and I sticke fast in the deepe mire where no stay is. I am come into deepe waters, & the streams runne over me. I am weary of crying, my throa [...]e [...] d [...]ie▪ and mine eies faile whilest I waite for my GOD. It is though [...] that the 102. Psalme was a praier written by Daniell, or some other prophet, for the chil­dren of Israell whilst they were at Babylon in captivity. My daies are consumed like smoake, my bones are burnt vp like an hearth. Mine heart is smitten and withered like grasse, I forget to eate my breade, for the voice of my groaning my bones doe cleaue to my skinne; I haue eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drinke with vveeping. These were perswaded, that the sunne was no where overcast so much as vvhere they were, and that it woulde bee happy for them to ex­change their woes with any other living creatures. Howe often did our Saviour, the heade corner stone of the building, tell his disciples before hand of his perils to come at Ierusalem? The emperour Otho thought it a parte of dastardy to speake too much of death: Plura de extremis lo­qui part ig­naviae est. Taci [...]. the empe­rour over Otho thought otherwise. If you search the Evange­listes, you shall finde his arraignement and death often repeated [Page 358] from his owne mouth. Matth. the 17. as they abode in Galilee. The twentieth of that Evangelist, he tooke them apart in the way as they were going to Ierusalem. Luke the ninth, hee biddeth them marke his wordes diligently, and put them into their eares, (for he woulde not they shoulde bee committed to the wast aire, which laye so deepe in his owne heart,) The sonne of man shall bee delivered into the handes of men. In the 18. he reckoneth vp all the particulars, the delivering of him to Gentiles, mocking, reviling, spitting, scourging, putting him to death. That elect ves [...]ell of his, 2. Cor. 11. as if hee gloried in his infirmities, and made them his triumphes, recapitulateth with a breath as many dangers as ever he had endured either at home or abroad, his labours his stripes, his stonings, his deaths, his scourgings, his shipwracks, by land, by sea, by theeves, by false brethren, by his cuntrymen, by strā ­gers, his hūger, thirst, fasting, cold, nakednes, besides outward things. It was truly spoken by a lerned man, Sapiens miser, plu [...] miser est quam rusticus miser. Scit enim exaggerare causas dolendi, quas rusticus miser igno­rat. A wise man in misery is more miserable, than one that is simple, because he knoweth how to amplifie the causes of his sorrow, which the other doth not. I take it to have beene no small token of wisedome in Ionas, Ieremy, David, Paul, & in wisedome himselfe, not only that they felt the bitter­nesse of the cup when they dranke it, but were able to discerne what ingredients it had, and particularly to recounte whereof it was tem­pered. The Stoicke philosophers, of whom we reade, Acts 17. that they disputed with Paul, [...]. and called him a sower of wordes, and a setter out of strange Gods (and it shall not be impertinent a vvhile to dispute with them, and to confute their strange learning) they held many o­pinions incredible to the world, amongst the rest, that griefe was a matter of nothing.Orat pro L. Muraena. & in Paradox. Tully reciteth some of their paradoxes, that their wiseman, whome they rather supposed than ever coulde finde in na­ture▪ (as Xenophon imagined a king, Tully an oratour, Aristotle fe­licity more perfit than ever that worlde was so happy to attaine vn­to,) though he were most deformed, was most and only beautifull, rich though beggerly, a king though the servant of servantes like cursed Canaan: that all sinne: vvere alike, and hee offended as much that killed a cocke vvhen there was no neede, as if he had cut the throate of his father: that their wise man, was never mooved with pitty, never entreated, never went by gesse or opinion, never was deceived, never repented any thing, never changed his minde, Thence it vvas that Chrysippus,Porticū Sto­ [...]rum [...] dice­batur. vvho vvas saide to proppe vp the gallerye of the Stoickes, offered that stricte and tetricall di­vision to the vvorlde, Aut mentem aut restim comparandam, ei­ther [Page 359] to get them mindes (constant and vnmoueable) or to hang themselues.Mentis quā mortis meta tenenda pri­or Tyrtae [...] ▪ Nowe all other men that vvere not in the compasse of this their phantasticall and Platonicall notion of vvisedome, they condemned for fooles, frantickes, exiles, fugitiues and the like. Amongst the rest of their admirable positions, one was, that their wise man coulde not bee inforced, and that sorrovve, paineful­nesse, and griefe, were neither good nor evill, but indifferent at least. And surely I must needes say, they were very prodigall of thei [...] liues; and little woulde they seeme to regarde extremity of tortures. One told Theodorus, that he would hang him: Threaten that, saith hee,Minitare purpuratie tuis▪ Senec. Tull▪ Noct. Atti [...] lib. 12. ca. 5. Psal 119. Bern. ser. 66. in Cant. Nonné plus est sibimet hominem in­iicere ma­nus▪ quàm id libēter ab a­lio sustinere? Verū est ve­ro [...] martyres aequo animo subiis [...]e dolo­res. Ne (que) hoc facit stupor sed amor. Submittitur enim sensus non amitti­tur, nec deest dolor sed su­peratur, sed contēnitur. [...]. to your carpet-knightes. It is all one to mee whether I rotte in the aire or in the ground: & when you haue al dōe, Cantherides, a little kind of wo [...]mes can doe as much as you. When they were vpō the racke, they would cry, O quám suave, O what pleasure is there in racking? Aulus Cellius wri­teth of a fenser at the games of Cesar, that when his woundes were l [...]nced by the Surgions, he vsed to laugh at it. The Donatistes and Circumcellions were not much behinde them in this madnesse. But the reason of their insensibility is that (saith Barnard) that the Psalme giveth; Their hart is as fat as grease. And that which piety vvorketh in others, hardnes of hart worketh in them. Some marvailed (he saith) that heretickes did not only suffer death, but they vnder-went it with ioy. But they little considered what power the devill hath, not onely vpon the bodies, but vpon the hearts also which he possesseth. Is it not more for a man to lay vio­lent handes vpon himselfe, than to indure it at the handes of another? yet that the devill hath thus farre prevailed with many, wee knowe by frequent experience. He addeth. It is true that the true Martyrs are very well con­tent to suffer death Which proceedeth not from studipity, but from loue; nei­ther is there an amission or leesing, but a submission of sense in them: not that paine is away, but for the loue of Christ, they vanquish and contemne it. The Apostle doth rightly expresse the cause of their wonderful pacience. In all these (he doth not say, we are more than men) but we are more than conquerours. I returne to the Stoickes. It fell out that one of that sect was sicke at Lebadia. His disease was a fever, wherewith hee was so afflicted, that he groned deepely and inwardly to himselfe, yet would skarcely seeme to doe it. Taurus willing to excuse him (a philosopher of a diverse profession) you haue seene a sight, saith hee not pleasaunt, yet profitable to bee knowne; a philosopher and paine wrestling and combating togither.Faciebat vis illa & natu­ra morbi ꝙ erat suū &c. The force and na­ture of the sicknesse did her office, in causing a distraction and vex­ation of the bodily partes. On the other side, reason, and the na­ture [Page 360] of the minde, did that to them apperteined, in repressing the violence of griefe, and suffering no howlings or vnseemely out­cries to bee heard. One that was present, replied, Why groneth he against his will, if paine have no compulsion in it? Taurus aunswered, that the Stoicke was best able to defend himselfe;Inter ea quae [...]. [...]. but withall, that it was one of the principles in nature, to reioyce in that which is good, and to shunne the contrary; and that some of the Stoickes themselves did never alovve their indolencye, or lacke of passion; and lastlye that fortitude vvas not a monster to strive against nature, and to de­light in stupiditie and immanitie, but a knowledge and skill to discerne what was meete to bee suffered, what not. And therefore because this opinion of the Stoickes is not onelye against nature, but the practise of the sonne, and all the sonnes of GOD, I thought it labour vvell bestowed to overthrowe these sowers of wordes (as they called Paul) by their ovvne practise, and by the iudge­mente of other naturall Philosophers. Of whome vvee may truelye saye, as Plutarckes servant sometimes said of his maister; Non est ita ut Plutarchus dicit: It is not as my maister saith His opinion is that it is a shame for a Philosopher to bee angry, and hee hath often reasoned of the mischiefes that come thereby, and hee hath written a booke Of not beinge angrye; Et ìpse mihi irascitur, and yet is hee angrye with mee. [...]. So these affirme in speech that sorrowe is no­thing, vseth no violence against a wiseman, yet when it com­meth vpon them, they are no more able to endure the gripings of it, than other fooles. As Taurus spake of the Stoickes ague, so may I of the misery of Ionas. The force and nature of his miserye did her parte; reason and the nature of saith on the other side, vvere not idle in their offi [...]es. Ionas behaved not himselfe as the deafe ro [...]kes of the sea, which the waves beating, and breaking vpon, yet they feele nothing; dolere inter dolores nesciens, not know­inge how to bee grieved amiddest his griefes, but according to the mea­sure and quality of his sorrowes, so was his sense, and so was the pur­pose of God, by whome they were inflicted, To descend now to part [...]culars. The matter of his feare, or the daunger intended a­gainst him, arose from two mightye adversaries, the sea and the lande. His daunger from the sea, is tripled in the fifth verse, according to the number of the clauses therein. First the vvaters compassed him about vnto the soule. To have beene in the vvaters, had not beene so much: nor much to bee compassed and intren­ched, as those that are helde in siege. But that they come vnto his [Page 361] soule, the meaning is, that his spirite, whereof the quickeninge and life of his bodye consisted, vvas at hande to departe from him, and to yeelde it selfe prisoner to the waters that assaulted it: there was the daunger. Secondly, The depth closed him rounde about. Abyssus. The depthe, or rather no depthe. Some measure of water, where the bottome might have beene reached, woulde also have kept his feare within a measure. But to bee closed about with a bottome­lesse water, maketh a bottomelesse griefe whereof there is no end. 3. the weedes were wrapt about his heade, the sedge, the flagges, the bul-rushes, and other the like trashe, the very skorne and contempt of the sea, daungerous impedimentes, to those that by swimming put themselves vpon the mercy of the mercilesse waters, they were not now fluent and loose, but tied and entangled, not about the armes or the legges alone, but about the head of Ionas, the principall spire of his body, [...] the highest tower and as it were capitolle to the ci­ty, the leader and captaine to all his other partes. Now whether his head were bound about with weedes, when he was first swallow­ed vp, and so they remained about it still; or whither the head of the whale be here the head of Ionas, because he is now incorporate into the whale, and liveth within him as a part of the whale, I examine not: but this was the mind of Ionas to omit no word, not so much as of the excrementes and superfluities of the sea, whereby his inextri­cable perill might be described.

His danger by land is likewise expressed in two members of the 6. verse. First he was descended to the bottomes, or endes, or rootes, Verse. 6. or cuttinges of, of the mountaines; for where a thing is cut of, there it endeth. Man by nature and stature was made to ascende. God gave him his head vpwardes. But Ionas was descended, which is the state of the dead, according to the phrase of the scripture, Descendam lugens &c. I shall goe downe sorrowing to my grave. Neither vvas hee descended into the sides, or some shallowe cave and vawte of the mountaines▪ but as if hee were numbred with those forlorne soules, who call vpon whole mountaines, fall on vs, and vpon whole hils, cover vs, so vvas he descended ad radices & praecisa montium, Osee 10. to the rootes and cragges of them, lodged in so lowe a cabbin, that all those heapes and svvellinges of the earth lay vpon him. 2. The earth with her barres was about him for ever. What is the strength of a citye or house but the barres of it? as we reade in the Psalme; Praise the Lord, O Ierusalem, praise thy God O Sion: Psal. [...]4 [...]. for he hath made the barres of thy gates stronge, and blessed thy children within thee. So then the barres of [Page 362] the earth, that is, the strongest muniments and fenses it hath, are the promontories and rockes, which God hath placed in the fronti­ers to withstand the force of the waters. These are the barres and gates in Iob, which God hath apointed to the sea, saying vnto it, Hitherto shalt thou passe, Iob 38. heere will I stay thy prowde waues,; and if you wil these also are the pillers of the earth, which god hath fixed in such sort that it cannot bee mooved. The meaning of the prophet was, that hee was lockt and warded within the strengh of the earth, ne­ver looking to bee set at liberty againe. I tolde you before, that the nature of the sea, wherein Ionas travailed, besides the over-naturall working of God, did adde much more trouble vnto him, than if he had past through the Ocean, where he had gained more sea roume, and the continent being farther of, would haue yelded a liberall current, and lesse haue endaungered him. Now he hath land round about him, by reason whereof, the sea is more narrow, rockie, and hilly, apter to stormes, skanter of rodes for safety, and subiect to a number of other incommodities. The course of the seas, through which hee past, was this. First hee tooke shipping at Iapho, and was carried thorough the Syriack sea; thēce through Archipelago, or the Aegean; thence thorough Hellespont betwixt Sestus and Aby­dus, where Asia and Europe are divided not by more than seven furlonges, others say but fiue; afterwardes thorough Propontis, where the sea is patent againe, & hath his forth; from thence through Bosphorus Thracius, betwixt Constantinople and Natolia, where the passage is so narrow that an oxe may swimme over; and lastlie to the Euxine sea, where, they hold, hee was set to land. Thus was hee often encumbred with straightes, and never had cause to complaine of overmuch liberty, where he was most favoured, till he came to the dry grounde. Thus far of the daungers both by sea and land. The first extended his rage, not to the chin or lippes of the prophet, but to his soule; and threatned him with a depthe bottome­lesse and vnmeasurable, and came not against his life with limpide and pure waters alone, but with other impedimentes, the vnprofi­table pelfe and corruption of the waters. The later gaue him not rest vpon a plaine floore of the earth, but clasped him vnder the cragges of ro [...]kes, and held him close prisoner vnder the strongest barres and bounders it had. But as in the former staffe of the song, so also in this, there is a touch of a distrustfull conscience: but there it was openly expressed, and here it is closely conveyed in. The earth with her barres was about mee for ever. For ever. For what meaneth, in seculum, [Page 363] for ever, but that he was cast away from the saving health & helpe of the Lord, without all hope of redemption? Did hee not know, that although his life were taken from him for a time, it shoulde bee re­stored vnto him at the resurrection of iust men? vvhat then, if the waters were come vp ev [...]n vnto his soule? Or coulde hee perswade him­selfe that any depth of vvaters coulde over-reach the iudgementes and counsailes of the Lorde in preserving his Saintes? Are not they also abyssus magna, as greate and a greater deepe than ever sea had? what then, if the depth closed him about? did hee not know that weedes shoulde rotte and fall away from his head, and in steede of weedes the head shoulde bee crowned with mercy and compassion, and clo­thed vvith glory as with the sunne-beames? vvhat then, though the weedes were bound about his head? vvas hee to learne, that the Lorde shoulde one day say to all the prisoners of hope, (though Ossa and Pin­dus, the graves of those Gyants had buried their bodies,) stande vp and shew your selves, and that the gates of hell, much lesse the barres of the earth are not of force to resist his ordinances? what thē, though hee were descended to the bottomes of the mountaines? &c. What if his heade and heart also, body and soule, the vvhole composition and frame of Ionas, had susteined a dissolution temporall, vvhich the lawe of mortalitye, and the common condition of all fleshe had made him subiect vnto? is there not a time of refreshing, when both the substance and beauty of all these shalbe renewed againe? Then againe, I say, what needeth in seculum? so deepe a suspition of the goodnesse of the Lord, as if it had for ever relinquished him? it is an effect, which for the most part a vehement griefe worketh in all sortes of men, except some of a Stoicall disposition, and others of a worse, that have seared their heartes with hot irons, and can feele nothing. So vvee reade in the Lamentations,Lam· 3. My strength and my hope is perished from the Lorde. And for a space of time there is little difference either in speech or thought betwixt precious and repro­bate spirites. But whereas the nature of desperation is this, obligatur consuetudine, obseratur ingratitudine, impenitudine obfirmatur; custome bin­deth, ingratitude locketh, impenitency barreth it vp; there is not that cu­stome, ingratitude, impenitency in Gods chosen ones, but though they lay downe their hope, they take it vp againe, and though they giue over the field to the enimy, and seeme to fly away, yet they flye to returne and to fight with more courage and vpon better ad­vantage.

The hope of a Christian man is very nicely and fearefully placed, [Page 364] betwixt two extremities, as Susanna in the midst of two adulterers. Ista duo occidunt anima [...], aut desperatio aut perversa spes. Desperation and presumption are two infamous gulfes, and here as ill, as ever Scylla & Charybdis did, for the wracke & overthrow of in my poore soules. For as it is not good on the one side to haue too bold & head strong an hope, that howsoever we liue, whither swearing or fearing an oth, we shal be saved (eáspe freti, sperando pereunt; they that so hope, perish by so hoping, Jnfidelis fiducia. Bern. Iob 8. & 11. it is the hope of the hypocrite, & shall come to naught, it is as the house of a spider that shal soone be overturned:) so on the other it is not safe to haue our iealous god alwaies in iealousie, & stil to diffide, whi­ther he be our merciful father yea or not. For hope is ever accōpanied with 2. sisters, which never depart frō her sides & society, faith & loue; faith the guide to keepe vs frō desperation, loue the rule to keepe vs from presumption. For he that hath faith can never distrust of the mercies of God, because he beleeveth the promises in Iesus Christ, & he that hath charity wil never presume of a sinfull and licentious life, because he is taught by loue to keepe the cōmādementes of the most High. Ionas made some triall of both these extremities. For when he went fiirst frō the face of the Lord, and refused a plaine iniunction, what was it els but presumption in him? Now to distrust of the mer­cies of God, and stifly to affirme that his miseries shall never be relea­sed, is a spice of desperation. But his wisedome was, that at their first invasiō he treadeth vpōn the heades of both these serpents; assoone as he feeleth them sting, he presently armeth himselfe with the grace of God to escape from them. Otherwise, if as the speech of Ionas was in seculum, so the thoughtes of his heart had continued in seculum, without revocation, then had he also takē vp his place amongst those whom God had set on his left hand, and made the mirrours to the world of his irrevocable damnation. For this were insanabilis plaga, as Ieremy speaketh, a wound that never can be cured, to despaire of the aide of God; as if a surgion should promise helpe to a sore, and the pati­ent should thrust his nailes into it, and answere him, nay, but it shall not be healed. It is the iust state of the damned; for when all the peo­ple vpon the earth besides, liue by hope, (for he that soweth, soweth in hope, and he that reapeth, reapeth in hope, he that liveth, liveth in hope, and he that dieth, dieth in hope, yea the whole creature gron­eth vnder hope, and waiteth for that time with a fervent desire vvhen the sonnes of God shall be revealed, and it selfe restored,) these onely are past hope. One compareth desperation to the beaste in Daniell that hath no name given to it. The first of the fowre was a lion [Page 365] the second a beare, the third a leopard;Dan. 7. but this without distingui­shing the kinde, was very fearefull, and terrible, and stronge, and had greate iron teeth, destroied, and brake in peeces, and stampt vnder his feete, and had hornes enough to push at God with blasphemy, at his brethren with iniury, and at the soule within his owne bosome with distrust of mercy. Other our sinnes are fearfull enough, and haue as it were the rage of lions and leopardes and beares, to spoile & make desolate the soule of man, but the finall decay indeede, which can never be reco­vered, whilst there standeth a seate of iustice in heaven, is desperatiō. The greatest sinnes (they say) are these,Th. Aquin. 2.2. qu. 20. art. 3. which are opposed to the theologicall vertues, faith, hope, & charity; infidelity to faith, despe­ration to hope, hatred to charity: amōgst the which, infidelity & ha­tred, the one not beleeving, the other hating God, are in themselues worse, but in regard of him that sinneth, desperation far excedeth thē both in the daunger annexed to it. For what can bee more miserable, Quid mise­rius misero non miserā ­te seipsum? August. than a wretch not pittying himselfe? But to acquite the prophet of the Lord from so damned a sin; as in the former verses, after his deadly downe-fall (one would haue thought) when his iudgmēt came from his owne mouth, I said I am cast out, &c. he arose againe & set vp a stā ­dart of cōfort to al the distressed of the world, yet will I looke againe to­wardes thy holy temple; so in this 2. fight and fit of his soule, vvhen he is well-nigh spent, and it is a question whether his faith be quicke or dead, there commeth an other veruntamen like a showre of the la­ter raine in the drought of summer, to water his fainting spirite,, yet hast thou brought vp my life from the pitte, O LORDE my GOD. The readings are diverse. The Hebrewes s [...]y, thou hast brought vp my life, or caused it to ascende. The septu [...]ginte, my life hath as­cended. Ierome, Thou shalt lifte vp. Some say from the pitte, Fovea. Inte­ritus Sepul­chrum. [...]. August. ad Dardan. Jn aeternis idem est pos­se & esse. Nemò potest valde dolere & diu. Epist. 97. Aut toler [...]. bilem aut brevem. some the graue, some from death, some from corruption. There is no oddes. For whither of the two times bee put, the matter is not great, Thou hast or thou shalt. For the nature of hope is this, futura facta dicit; Thinges that are to come, it pronounceth of as al [...]eadie accomplished. In the eigth to the Romanes, we are saved by hope, though we are not yet saved. And whome God hath iustified, those hee hath also glorifi­ed, though not yet glorified. Ephesians the second, wee are raised from the dead, though our resurrection heereafter to be fulfilled. But I stay not vpon this. It is a rule in Seneca, that by the benefite of nature, it is not possible for any man to bee grieved much and long to­gither. For in her loue shee beareth vnto vs, shee hath so ordered our paines, as that shee hath made them either sufferable or shorte. [Page 366] that which Seneca imputed to nature,Heb. 6. I to hope, grounded in the promises of God, immutable things, the safe and sure anchor of the soule of man. The sorrow of Ionas was wonderfully vehement, but soone a­laied. Whence had he that speedy mittigation? from nature? nothing lesse. Here what the voice of nature is. When the people of Israell crieth vpon Moses for flesh,Numb. 11. what is his crie to God? I am not able to beare this people. If I have founde favour in thine eies, kill mee that I behold not this misery. When Iezabell threatneth to make Elias like one of the dead prophets,1. King. 19. he hasteth into the wildernes, and breaketh out into impatience and irkesomnes of life, O Lord, it is sufficient, (either he had lived, or he had bene plagued long enough) take away my soule from me. The woman in the 2. of Esdras having lost her sonne (be it a figure or otherwise, it is true in both) ariseth in the night season, go­eth into the field, decreeth with her selfe neither to eate nor drinke, but there to remaine fasting and weeping till shee were dead. Esdras councelleth her, foolish woman, doe not so, returne into the city, goe to thine husband &c. shee answereth, I will not, I will not goe into the citye, but here will I die. You heare how nature speaketh. Was Ionas thus relieved? no. The sense of his owne strength or rather his weakenesse, woulde have sent him hedlong, as the devils the heard of swine, into the lake of desperation.Thou hast brought vp my life, my Lord & my God. Bern. It is the Lord his God, whose name is tempered accor­ding to the riddle of Sampson, both of strong and sweete, who is for [...]ter suavis & suaviter fortis, strong in sweetenes, and sweete in strength; fortis pro me, suavis mihi, strong for me, and sweete to me, that hath done this deede. Behold, my brethren, there is ho [...]ie in the lion, there is mercy in the fearefull God of heaven. He is not only a Lord over Ionas, to note his maiesty & feare, but the Lord his God, to shew the kindnes of a father. It is the Lord his God, to whom he repaireth by particular appli­catiō & with the disciple of Christ leaneth as it were in his maisters bosome, that delivered his life from the pit, & his soule from fainting. Before he lay in the depthes, & was descēded to the ends of the moū ­taines &c. All that is aunswered in one worde, eduxisti, thou hast brought me vp from the pit wherein I was buried. Before, the waters were come even vnto his soule, ready to drinke it in, and to turne him to corruption: but now God hath delivered that soule from the corruption it was falling into. What shall we then say? the sea hath no mercy, the weedes no mercy, the earth with her promontaries and bars no mercy, the whale no mercy, the Lord alone hath mercy. It fa­red with Ionas as with a fore-rūner of his when his spirit was cōfused & folden vp within him, Psal. 142 when hee looked vpon his right hand, and behold, there [Page 367] was none that would know him (much lesse at his left;) whē all refuge failed, and none cared for his soule; then cried he vnto the Lorde his God and saide, Thou art my hope and my portion in the land of the living, O harken vnto my cry, for I am brought very low, (even as low as the earth is founded) and bring my soule out of prison, (this pit wherin I lie) that I may praise thy name. O let not life nor death (I name noe more, for death is the last and worst enemy that shalbe subdued) bee able to take your hope from you. When your heart in thinking, or tongue in speaking hath gone too far, correct your selues with this wholesome and timely verunta­men, yet notwithstanding, I will go to the Lorde my God, and trust in his name. The nailes that were driven into the handes and feete of our Saviour, were neither so grievous nor so contumelious vnto him, as that reproch that was offered in speech, he trusted in the Lorde, let him deliver him. This was the roote that preserved Iob, and Iob preserved it: when his friends became foes,Iob. 13. and added affliction vn­to him, he willed them to hold their tongues, that he might speake, not caring what came of it. Wherfor do I take my flesh in my teeth (saith he (and put my soule in my hand? that is, why should I fret and consume my self with impatience? If he shoulde kill me, would I not trust in him? so far is it of, that I despaire of the mercies of God, that my life shall soo­ner leaue me, than my assurance of his graces. This was the deepe and inwarde matter he ment in the 19. of his booke, from the abundance wherof he made that propheticall and heavenly protestation. O that my words were written, written in a booke, Revel. [...]. and graven with an iron pen in lead or stone for ever: I knowe that my redeemer liveth. Wormes & rottenes shall consume me to nothing, but my redeemer is aliue, & behold he liveth for evermore, & hath the keies of hell and of death. The graue shalbe my house, and I shall make my bed in darkenes, but I shall rise againe to behold the brightnes of his countenance. These eies of nature shal sinke into the holes of my head, but I shall receiue them againe to behold that glo­rious obiect. And though many ages of the worlde shall run on be­twixt the day of my falling, & his long expected uisitation, yet he shal [...] stand the last day vpon the earth, himselfe α and ω, the first and the last of all the creatures of God, to recapitulate former times, & to make full restitution of my ancient losses. What needed writings in a booke & graving in lead or stone, but that he was carefull of posterity, that the scripture & sculpture of his owne conscience' might be a monument in time to come for other afflicted soules?Ps. 42. & 43. The counsaile which Da­vid giveth his troubled soule, again & again repeated, because his sor­rowes were againe and often multiplied, shalbe my last for this time; [Page 368] O my soule, why art thou cast downe, and why art thou disquieted within me? I wil not forget to note vnto you, that one of the greatest temptations hee then felt, and that which fed him with his teares day and night, in steede of meate, was the daily vpbraiding of his persecutours, where is now thy God? If they could have battered the fortresse of his hope, they had vtterly spoiled him. Yet he encourageth that persecuted and downe-trodden soule, with harty incitations, Why art thou cast downe &c. trust in the Lord, for I will yet and yet give him thankes for the helpe of his presence. Hope is never put to silence; never a­basheth nor shameth the man that ioyneth her vnto him:Adhuc. Rom. 5. the sweetest and plesantest companion that ever travailed with the soiourners v­pon earth. She carrieth them along through all the difficulties and crosses of the way that lie to interrupt them. Though they have pas­sed through fire and water, shee saith, be not discomforted, we shall yet give him thankes for the helpe of his presence. Though through a life so replenished with misery, that they blesse the dead more than the living, and count them happier then both, that have never bene, she saith, be of good cheere, we shall yet give him thanks, and there is time and matter enough wherin to shew his goodnes. Yea though they walke into the chambers of death, and shut the dores after them, and see not the light of heaven, still shee biddeth them be bold, for they that sleepe in the dust, shall arise and sing, the dew of their dry bones shalbe as fresh as the dew of the hearbes, and we shall yet give him thanks for the helpe of his presence.Cynaegerus. I remember that valiant and thrice renowned Athenian (when I speake of the tenure and perti­nacy of hope) who, when other-meanes failed, grasped the ships of the enimy with his handes, to hold them to fight, and when his handes were striken of, staied them with his teeth, till he lost his life. Hope can never be put from her hold-fast. her voice is according to her nature, adhuc confitebor I will yet give thanks, in the winter and deadest time of calamities she springeth, and cannot die, nay shee crieth within her selfe, whether I live or die, I will not loose my pa­tience; for I shall see the day, when the Lord shall know mee by my name againe, righten my wronges, finish my sorrowes, wipe the teares from my cheekes, treade downe my enimies, fulfill mee with the oile of ioy, and I shall yet and for ever give thankes for the helpe of his presence.

THE XXVIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. vers. 7.‘When my soule fainted within mee, I remembred the Lorde, and my praier came vnto thee into thine holy temple.’

THE two last verses, if you remember, were but a varied repetition of that which two o­thers had handled before. The generall partes of all vvhich, were the feare and the hope, daunger and comfort of the prophet; vvhich two affections or conditions (you haue often hearde) the whole songe spen­deth it selfe vpon. His feare and daunger in the last place was, that neither water nor earth spared him. The waters, touching their pride and exaltation, came vnto his soule; touching their measure, promised him no bottome; touching their traine and confederates, bounde their vveedes about his heade. The earth neither lodged him in a smooth and easie floore, but vnder the rootes and ragges of mountaines, nor in an haven, or any the like accessible place, but vvithin her barres. Notwithstanding, the head of the serpent, vvith all his subtile devises against the life of the prophet, is bruised at the heele of the speech, where one little particle of hope, wipeth out all the former discomfortes: Yet haste thou brought vp, &c. Once againe, as heeretofore I dissembled not with you, I must enter into the selfe-same matter of discourse and explication. The soule of Ionas may fainte vvithin him (as my texte telleth vs) the sunne and moone may faile in their motions, day & night may faile in their courses, the earth may faile and totter vpon her proppes, the sea and rivers may faile and be emptied of their wa­ters, but the worde of the Lorde shall never faile neither in trueth, nor in the riches and plentye thereof, to minister an everlasting ar­gument to him that dispenseth it. Time, and speech, and audience shall faile, but matter can never vvant, vvhen that aboundant trea­sure commeth to bee opened. It was well saide by Chrysostome, that in a thousande talentes of worldely wordes, a man shall hardly finde an hundreth pence of spirituall and heavenly wisedome, scarsely tenne halfe­pence. But infinite are the talentes of wisedome, that are hidde in the vvoordes of God, even when they seeme in the iudgement of man to bee most exhausted. The Apostles exhortation to the Colossians is,Colos. 3. that the worde of the Lorde shoulde dvvell plentifullie [Page 370] amonge them. Surely the woorde of GOD, in one of the dee­pest and vvaightiest pointes of knowledge [...], touching our hope, howe to bee vsed and where to bee founded, hath once and a se­conde time alreadie offered it selfe vnto you. VVhither as yet it hath gotten house-roume and dwelling among you, I cannot tell. Perhappes it did but soiourne in your heartes, and was in nature of a passenger to tarry for a night or an howre. Or happily as the Le­vite that came to G [...]beah, in the nineteenth of Iudges, it hath sitten in the streetes and no man hath received it into house. Or if it hath gotten entraunce and admission, it was perforce, as those that let downe the sicke man by the tyles of the house, the dores being pe­stered and thronged with multitude that they coulde not haue en­trance otherwise; it may bee the gates of your heartes beeing stop­ped vvith multitudes of popular and worldely affaires, it tooke some little fastening against your willes. But that it may dvvell in your consciences, never to departe from them, and not in a narrovve corner thereof, sparingly, and vvith discontentment, but in such plentifull manner as the Apostle spake of, to enioye her full libertye, all other in-mates and associates put aparte, all distrustfull cogitati­ons either from the wiles of Sathan, or vveakenesse of our flesh re­mooved, the providence of GOD hath so ordered it, that after twise navigation, as the proverbe is, there shoulde bee a thirde itera­tion of the same doctrine, that your heartes for ever might be esta­blished. VVhen the vision of the sheete vvas sent vnto Peter, in the tenth of the Actes, the voice was vttered vnto him three times Arise Peter, kill and eate. And the first time he denyed it plaine­ly, Not so Lorde. Afterwardes hee was better advised, and harke­ned to the voice of the Lorde. VVhen the angell of Sathan was sent to buffet Paule, least his visions shoulde lifte him vp too high, hee besought the Lorde thrise, [...]. Cor. 12. that it mighte departe; and then the Lord aunswered him, My grace is sufficient for thee. It may bee accor­ding to the signe vvhich God gaue Ezechias, that the first yeare, hee shoulde eate of such thinges as came vp of themselues; Es. 37. the seconde, such as sprange againe vvithout sowing; the thirde, they shoulde sowe and reape, and plante vine-yardes, &c. So for the first and seconde time, that we heare the doctrine of salvation, wee heare vvithout profit, we breed no cogitations within vs but such as growe of themselues, naturall, worldlye, corrupte, and such as accompanie flesh and bloud, fit­ter to cast vs downe, than to helpe vs vp; but at the thirde time, when the wordes of God with often falling shall haue pearsed our [Page 371] heartes, as raine the marble-stones, vvee then apply our mindes to a more industrious and profitable meditation of such heaven­ly comfortes. Let it not grieue you then, if I speake vnto you againe the same thinges; and as Paule disputed at Thessalonica three sabbath dayes of the passion and resurrection of Christ, Actes. 17. so I three sabbath dayes amongst you of our hope in Christ. Let it bee true of vanities and pleasures, that the lesse they are vsed,Voluptates commenda [...] rarior vsu [...] ▪ the more com­mendable: but in the most accepted and blessed thinges that belong to our happiest peace, bee it faire otherwise. Our dayly breade, though it bee daily received, wee are as ready to craue still: neither can the perpetuall vse of it ever offende vs. The light of the sun, woulde displease no body but some lover of darknesse, if it never wente downe in our coastes. The nature of such thinges for their necessary vse, must needes bee welcome vnto vs, though they never shoulde forsake vs. And can the doctrine of saith and affi­aunce in the mercies of God, the light of our dimme eies, the staffe of our infirmities, our soules restoratiue when it lyeth sicke to death, and as Chrysostome well compared it, a chaine let downe from heaven which hee that taketh holde on, is presentely pulled vppe from the hande of destruction, and set in a large place to enioy the peace of conscience, can it ever displease vs? wee were content to heare it once, and I doe not doubte, but it will bee as welcome be­ing repeated tenne times. I make no question, but as vvhen Paule had preached at Antioche in the synagogue of the Iewes one day,Et placida seme [...] &c. [...]. Actes 7. the gentiles besought him that hee woulde preach the same vvordes to them againe the nexte sabbath; so though it were the last worke that I did amongst you, to cut the throate of desperation, which hath cut the throate of many a wretched man and woman, to set the piller of hope vnder all fainting and declining consciences, yet because it is our last refuge in adversitie, and standeth vnmooueable like the Northerne pole, when our soules are most distracted with doubtes, and fullest of scruples, to giue vs aime and direction whither to bend our course, if I shall once againe repeate vnto you [...], the selfe-same wordes that before, in substance and sense, though not in syllables, I trust I shall finde your acceptaunce as good as when I first began it.

The wordes propounded are the last of the whole narration, and drawe into a narrower compasse of speech all that hath beene saide before. For whatsoever you haue hearde, of the bo [...]tome of the sea, floudes, and surges, vvith all those other disturbances already rec­koned [Page 372] vp, they are now concluded in a little roume, My soule fainted. The partes the same vvhich I haue observed before: for I neede not to acquainte you againe, that hee hangeth and devideth the whole song, betweene feare and hope. And as the feete to that image in Daniell,Spem (que) me­tum (que) inter. were parte of yron, parte of clay, which the pro­phet expoundeth, partely stronge, partely broken; so are the feete, if I may so call them, which Ionas through all this travaile goeth vpon, the one of clay, weake, impotent, alwaies shivering, and sinking downewarde, I meane his feare and distrust; the other of yron, strong, stable, and firme, keeping him vpright, his hope and confidence in the mercies of God. His feare is in the former member of the sentēce, When my soule fainted within mee:Division. his hope in the nexte, I remembred the Lord, &c. Wherein to shew that it was not in vaine for him to re­member the Lorde, and withall how hee remembred him, he telleth vs, that his praier came vnto him into his holie temple. Concerning his feare,My soule. 2. Fainted. 3. In mee. wee haue to consider, first, what person or part he notifieth to haue beene assaulted, his soule. Secondly, the plight or perturbati­on of his soule, it fainted. Thirdly, the application of the place, within himselfe. The daunger is much augmented, from that which before it was. Then, the vvaters but came to his soule: heere, they had fought against him so long, that his soule plainely fainted. Then, the perill but imminent and hard at hand:My soule. heere, it had taken hand­fast. Then, was he but threatned or beaten by the waters: heere he seeme [...]h to bee vanquished. Al that vvente before, might con­cerne the body alone, and the losse of his temporall life whereof hee was yet in possession. As when he pronounced against himselfe, I am cast away out of thy sighte, it mighte bee no more in effecte than vvhat Ezechiell spake,Es. 38. I saide, I shall not see the LORDE, even the LORDE in the lande of the living: I shall see man no more amongest the inhabitauntes of the vvorlde: mine habitation is departed and remoo­ved from mee like a shepheardes tente, and as a vveaver cutteth of his threade, so is my life ended. But heere hee confesseth in open tearmes, that his very soule, that invvarde, immortall, heavenly substaunce, vvhich when the bodye fainteth, is sometimes most in health, and liveth vvhen the bodye dyeth, that this parte fayleth him, and leaveth no hope of better thinges. Saint Augustine very vvell defineth the soule to be the vvhole invvard man, wherewith this masse of clay is quickened, governed, and helde togither, changing her names according to the sundry offices, vvhich shee beareth in the bodye. For when shee quickneth the bodie, shee is called the soule; when shee hath appetite [Page 373] or desire to any thing, the vvill; for knowledge, the minde; for recorda­tion, memory; for iudging and discerning, reason; for giving breath, Dum vivi­ficat, anima [...] dum vult, a­nimus; dum scit, men [...] est▪ dum recolit memoria▪ d [...] iudicat, ra­tio, dum spi­rat, spiritu [...]: dum sentit, sensus. Aug. de Ecclesi [...] Dogmati [...]. Cap. 34. spi­rite; lastly for apprehending or perceiving outwardly, sense: so as the fain­ting of the soule is the decay of all these faculties. Nowe if the lighte that is in vs bee darke, howe great is the darkenesse? if the life bee death, howe greate is the death? if the soule fainte, howe greate the defections? The infirmities and disablementes of his bodye, I knowe, vvere very great, in the whole service and ministery there­of. For what vse had he either of his hands, to helpe himselfe with­all, more than Ieroboam had when his hande was withered? or of his eies, to beholde the light of heaven, more than if the eagles of the valley had pickt them out? or of his eares, to heare any sentence of comforte, more than if they had never beene planted? The grin­ders within his head, what did they for him, vnlesse they ground and whetted themselues? His tongue what tasted it, excepte his owne spittle? He might truly say with the prophet Esay,Es. 1. that from the crowne of the heade to the sole of his foote, there was no parte that did the duties of it. But all those former defectes, and impotencies are no­thinge to that he nowe speaketh of: VVhen my soule fainted within mee. For as the soule is of more worth and excellencie than the body; so the languishmentes of the soule more grievous, and the death of the soule more remedilesse, than those of the bodie: and therefore as the hazarde exceedeth, so the health of the soule is more dearely to bee tendered. In the greatest distemperatures and disorders of the body, vvhen the bones are smitten asunder, and the loynes filled vvith a sore disease, when the woundes are putrified and stinke, the marrow and moysture quite dryed vp, yea though it bee brought and dissolved into the dust of death, yet the soule may bee safe and sounde notwithstanding, and in farre better case, than vvhen shee lived in her house of claie. But if the soule bee sicke, can the body have any comforte? Maie vvee not then inferre vvith him in the come­die, My hearte is sicke, my raines sicke, my splene sicke, Cor dole [...], re­nes dolen [...]. &c. Plaut. Serm. parv. Bonū castei­lum custodit qui custodi [...] corpus suū. No [...]a▪ non sic, sed ster­quilinium vile &c. my liver sicke, and all my other partes are out of frame? Out of this compari­son betweene the body and soule, let mee make my perswasion vn­to you. The men of the world were w [...]nt to say, saith Bernarde, that hee that keepeth his bodie, keepeth a good castell. A castell? how long to con­tinue? this is the errour of worldly men, to call their tabernacle▪ which was made to be removed, and pulled downe vpon every light occasi­on, a castell. VVee say not so, but hee that keepeth his bodie, keepeth a base dunghill. He that had seene the body of righteous Iob, vlcerated, [Page 374] botched, and blained, sitting vpon the dunghill, woulde he not haue thought that a dunghill had sitten vpon a dunghill? But hee that keepeth his soule, Qui a [...] animam custo­dit, &c. Quid aliud voces animū quam Deum in corpore humano hos­pitantē ▪ Sen. Nullus ex­tremus idio­ta, nulla ab­iecta muli­ercula, non credit ani [...]mae immor­talitatem. Non sic ho­die filij ho­minum, non sic. Bern. in declamat. hee keepeth a good castell indeede, borne to eterni­ty, hee keepeth a heaven in comparison, the sunne and moone, and starres whereof, are vnderstanding, faith, and hope, with other Christian graces, and the Lord of hostes himselfe hath his dwelling therein. There is no man so simple, no man so vile, but taketh this to bee a castell of honor and strength because they beleeue it to be immortall. Our saviour manifested this difference, both by the ende of his com­ming in the flesh, which was principally for our soules, after for our bodies, first to take away the sinnes of the worlde, which are spirituall dis­eases, then to remooue corporall infirmities; and by the behaviour of his owne person amongst vs, who though he suffered his body to bee tried with all kindes of ignominious and accursed vexations, with spittings, whippings, buffetings, and the bitterest death of the crosse, yet was it ever his care to preserue his soule free from staines and cor­ruptions. It is not thus with the sonnes of men nowe a daies. They neg­lect the care and culture of their soules, but the lustes of the flesh they make provision for with all possible diligence. They haue lear­ned from the schoole of Hippocrates the physitian, and Epicurus the swine, to physicke and diet their bodies, but the sicknesse and death of the soule, which are their sinnes, they never account of, till they see they must bee punished. O yee sonnes of men, foolish and slowe of hearte to conceiue the rightest thinges, howe long will yee loue such vanities, and seeke after leasing? These times are allot­ted to the soule, not to the bodie. Nowe is the time of salvation, not of pleasure and pastime. Let the flesh alone a while, more then nature and necessity require, let it not bee favoured, either in food or rayment, or any the like transitorye and fading benefite. And vvhen it is vveary of walking vpon the face of the earth, let it goe downe in peace, and rest in hope, till hee that came for your soules before, shall also come to raise and reforme it. In the fainting of our soules, there is a grosse difference betwixte Ionas and vs. His soule fainted vvithin him through paine, ours through pleasure, and that pleasure the mother and nurse of a worser paine. Our fleshe is too insolent against the spirite, and keepeth it vnder with a stronge hande. Hagar despiseth Sara, the servaunt setteth her foote in the necke of her mistresse. The flesh is cloathed like the raine-bowe, with colours of all sortes, wee goe into the bow­els of the earth, wee goe into the bowelles of the sea, as farre and [Page 375] as lowe as ever Ionas went, to seeke pearles and the riches of the sea to adorne it. VVe forget our selues shamefully in such vnnecessary travaile. It is the Queene that shoulde bee cloathed in a vesture of needle vvorke, wroughte with diverse colours; but the Queene is stripte of her iewels, the soule robbed of her orna­mentes and rich attire, and the body is the theefe that deceiveth it. The flesh is daintily fedde with the finest flowre of the wheate, and the reddest bloud of the grape, wee care not what it costeth; the vn­worthiest member we haue, is de [...]fied and made our God,Nunquā a­nimo praetijs obstantibus. Whose bel­ly is their God. (a sinne beyonde the sinne of the Pagans, shamefull and beastly idolatry) they made them Gods of silver and golde and marble, wee of our bellies; what is done with the soule, the meane time? behold shee is pined and famished, the breade of life is not bought nor sought for to strengthen her withall, shee is kept from the gospell of peace and from the body and bloud,Cibus ani­mae incon­sumptibilis. Cyprian. Sursum ani­mum vocant initia sua Senec. (that inconsumptible meate) of her ho­ly redeemer. Shee that was borne from aboue, to eate the hid­den Manna, the foode of Angels, and to be nourished with the tree of life, whose beginnings call her home againe, is lesse regarded than a lumpe of earth. O consider, that hee vvho looseth the life of a bodie maie finde it againe. The time shall come vvhen they that are in the graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of GOD. But the losse of a soule is vnrecoverable. If it die in sinne, it shall also die in perdi­tion. Rather it shall not die, for it is not as the soule of the beast that endeth with the bodie. O living and ever-living death. Let them take heede, that haue eares to heare with. Their price hath beene once paide, vvhich if the riches of Salomon, treasures of Eze­chias, all the silver and golde within the globe of the earth coulde haue satisfied God would willingly haue spared his owne bloude. Actes 2 [...]. Let them not looke for more Christs, or more passions; if they vvill goe in­to captivity againe, let them goe, but they shall not returne; if they sell themselues to the will of their enemy, let them never hope for a second ransome.

VVhen my soule fainted. In the second circumstance of the first branch, wherein is noted the affection of his soule, I will rather marke the efficacie of the worde heere brought, than make discourse vpon it. The very noting of the worde is discourse enough. The wordes that the holy ghost vseth, are not vaine vvordes, such as are vsed by men to deceiue with,Ephes. 5. [...]. the examination & search wherof yeel­deth no profit; but he that wil weigh them aright, must not only view the outwarde face of the whole sentence at large, but sucke out [Page 376] the iuice and bloude of every severall vvorde therein contained. The extremitye of the soule of Ionas seemeth to bee very greate, because there is no little trouble and care how to expresse it. The Septuagints render it an eclipse, or if you will a dereliction and death of the soule; Calvin a convolution or folding vp togither; Tremelius an overvvhelming; Ierome a streightning or compacting into a close roume; Pomeran a despairing. VVhatsoever it is, Rabbi Kimhi affir­meth that the vvorde is never vsed but of greate miserie, happily such, as shall accompanie the last times, [...]. Luke 21. [...]. when men shall bee at their wittes endes for feare, and their heartes shall faile them because of troubles. Nowe whither you saie that his soule forsooke him as if it were, and there was deliquium animae, a disparition of it for a time as if it vvere not, like the state of Eutychus in the Actes, who was taken vp for deade, though his life remayned in him: or vvhither it were wrapt and vvounde vvithin it selfe, that her owne house was a prison vnto her, and shee had no power to goe foorth, no list to thinke of hea­ven, no minde to aske the counsaile of GOD or man, as vvhen a birde is snared, the more it laboureth the harder it tieth it selfe, and though it vse the legges or the vvinges, it vseth them to a further hinderaunce; so all the thoughtes that the soule of Ionas thought, were not to ease the hearte, but more to perplexe it, and all fell backe againe vpon himselfe: or whither the soule were overwhel­med vvithin him with her owne weighte, as one that shoulde ga­ther stones for his owne graue: or that it was pinched and pressed with­in a narrowe place, that all those former impedimentes, promon­tories and barres of the earth, did not imprison him so close as his owne feare: or whatsoever it were besides, what was it else but ei­ther the messenger and fore-runner, or a neare companion, to that vnnaturall and vngratious sinne, which wee haue often alreadye smitten at with the sworde of Gods spirite, accursed desperation? Howe is the golde become drosse? howe is the soule of man turned into a carkeise? The chaunge is marvailous. That that was gi­ven to quicken the bodie, and to put life into it, is most dull and liuelesse it selfe.Serm. 48. in parvis. Animae ra­tionalis duo loca: inferi­or quem re­gis, Corpus, superior in­quo requies­cit, Deus. That that was given, to giue liberty, explica­tion, motion, agilitie, and arte to every parte of the bodye, is nowe the greatest burthen that the body hath. If I shall giue the reason heereof, it is that which Bernarde alleageth in a Sermon. The reasonable soule of man, hath two places, an inferiour vvhich it go­verneth, the bodie; a superiour vvherein it resteth, GOD: vvhich is the same in substance, that Augustine had before delivered in [Page 377] his nineteenth treatise vpon Saint Iohn, it quickneth, and it selfe is quickened. VVherefore if that better life vvhich is from aboue, Vivificat, vivificatur. Melius ipsa quàm cor­pus, melius quàm ipsa est Deus. Id. re­linquish the soule, vvith the comfortes and aides of GODS blessed spi­rite, hovve is it possible but that the soule should also relinquish her body, with the offices of her life. This is the reason then that the soule faine­teth▪ shee first dyeth vpwardes, then dovvne-wardes and in­vvardely to her selfe. Shee forgetteth her maker and preserver, and hee likevvise striketh her vvith amazement and confusion in all her powers, that shee lyeth as it vvere in a traunce, and knovveth not howe to apply them to their severall and proper fun­ctions.

Nowe therefore, if the floudes and waues of the sea, wherewith hee was embraced on every side, had beene as kinde vnto him as ever were his mothers armes, and those ragged endes of the moun­taines, like pillowes of downe vnder his bones, if the promon­tories and barres of the earth had vnbarred themselues vnto him of their owne accorde, like those dores of the prison in the Actes, to let him out, yet if the soule within him did remaine thus fettered and gived with the chaines of her owne confusion, and all the de­vises and counsailes of her heart were rather hinderances than helpes vnto her, and her greatest enmitie, or at least her least friendship came from her owne house, that either shee thought nothing, or all that shee thought was but the imagination of a vaine thing, I would not wish her greater harme. Hee wanteth no other miserie, that is plagued with a fainting soule. Aske not the malice of the sea, the malice of the lande, the malice of hell against him, vvhom the vntovvardenesse and distruste of his ovvne soule hath beaten downe.

The thirde circumstaunce maketh mention of the subiect or place vvherein his soule fainted, that you may knovve,3. Within mee. there is no power in man to vndoe such implicite cordes, and to loose the bandes of sorrowe and death, vnlesse some vertue from vvith­out set too an helping hande. The sense is verie plaine, that in himselfe his soule fainted, that is, there vvas no domesticall, earth­ly, naturall helpe that coulde release him; but vvhen his father, mother, friendes, lande, sea, his soule, all had forsaken him, the Lorde tooke him vp, and gaue him better hope? For vvho should restore to libertie a soule confounded as this was, and re-deliver it to her former abilities, teach her to vnderstande arighte, pru­dentlie to deliberate, assuredly to hope? who reconcile a man fallen [Page 378] out with himselfe, and make peace within his borders, or rather re­viue and recover a man fallen from himselfe, but hee who is said to order a good mans goinge, and to bee a GOD of order, not of con­fusion. VVhen the earth was vvithout forme, and voide, and darke­nesse vpon the deepe, and neither heaven nor earth, lande nor wa­ter, day nor night distinguished, who fashioned the partes of that vnshapen Chaos, separated light from darkenesse, and brought the creature into a comely proportion, but even the same LORDE who finding this wastnesse and informity in the soule of Ionas, made it perfit againe? It is evident in the nexte wordes. For marke the connexion.I remēbred the Lorde. Sabellicus reporteth so of Joan­nes Scotus. Thesaurus, Custos. VVhen my soule fainted within me, I remembred the Lorde. How is it possible? for did his soule faint, and was it in ma­ner no soule vnto him, (as it fareth with some who seeme for a space to bee deade and their spirites to haue forsaken them) was all the strength thereof consumed, stifled, choked, given over within him, and had hee a memorie lefte, the cofferer and treasurer of the soule, to remember the Lorde with? how came this gift of memory to a soule so taken and possest, that as Orbilius a Grammarian in Rome forgot not onely the letters of the booke but his owne name, so this is even deade and buried vnder it selfe, and hath forgotten to thinke a thought, and laide aside all her accustomed heavenly meditations? Ionas, without question, had never remembred the Lorde, vnlesse the Lorde had first remembred him. Bernarde vpon the wordes of the Canticles (I sought him in the night season.) Every soule amongst you, saith he, that se [...]keth the Lorde, that it turne not a great blessing into a greate mischiefe, let her knovve that shee is prevented by the Lorde, and that shee is first sought, Noverit se praeventam & ante quae­fitam quàm quarentem. Ser. 84 in Cantic. Vtinuar do­nis tanquam non datis. Dilexit non diligentes ipsum Et non existēte [...], ad­doctiam re­sistentes. Psal. 119. before shee can seeke. For then are our greatest fe­licities changed into our greatest woes, when being made glorious by the gra­ces of God, wee vse his giftes as if they were not given, and ascribe not the glory of them to his holy name. Who hath first loved him? Giue mee a man that ever loved GOD, and was not first beloved, and enabled therevnto, it shalbee highly recompensed vnto him. But it is most cer [...]aine, that hee loued vs vvhen vvee were his enimies, and when we had not existence or being. I say more, when wee made resi­staunce to his kindenesse. Wee can promise no more, in this hea­venlesse race and exercise of Christianity, than the Prophet doeth in the Psalme, I will runne the waies of thy commaundementes, when thou hast set my hearte at liberty. Wilt thou runne with thy feete, before thy heart be prepared? or canst thou run with thy hart, before God hath enlarged it? or canst thou runne the way without the way, which is Iesus [Page 379] Christ? a vvay that thou canst not see, till thine eies bee opened and illightened? or wilt thou runne the way of Gods commaundements, when thou canst not discerne the commaundementes of God from the motions and fansies of thine owne minde? not so. But when the Lorde shall haue set thine heart at liberty, then runne, when the LORDE hath quickened and rubbed vp thy memory, then remember him. Otherwise without that helpe, wee lye lame and impotent, as the creeple at the poole of Bethesda, all the daies and yeares of our life are spent, like his, without ease of our infirmities, and the vertue of the waters of life, as of those in the poole, are by o­thers caught from vs. Ierome translateth the wordes with some lit­tle difference from others. I remembred the Lorde,Recordatu [...] sum, vt per­venias. That my praier might come into his holy temple. So his praier came vnto the Lorde, by meanes of his praier: for that remembring of the Lorde was his prai­er. But whence came that former praier, that made way for the la­ter? Fulgentius in an epistle to Theodorus a senatour,Epist. 6. laying a sure foundation and axiome to the rest of his speech, would haue all that 1 we doe, or enioy, ascribed to the grace of God. Next, that the helpe 2 and assistance of that grace must be craved of God. Thirdly, that 3 the craving of his grace, is also it selfe the worke of grace.Vt desidere­mus adiuto­rium gratiae hoc ipsum quo (que) opus est gratiae. Ipsa incipi [...] infundi, vt incipiat pos­ci. &c. For first it beginneth to bee powred into vs, that it may afterwardes beginne to be begged by vs. As vnlesse the light of the aire first goe into our eies, our eies though made to see, yet see nothing. Fourthly, vve cannot aske (hee saith) vnlesse wee haue a will to aske, and what wil is there, if God worke it not? Lastly, hee counselleth all men dili­gently to converse in the scriptures, vvherein they shall finde the grace of God, both preventing them in such sort, that when they are downe they may rise vp, and accompanying them, to hold them in 4 their right course, and following them till they come to these hea­venly 5 beatitudes. And as he accounteth it a detestable pride of the hart of man, to do that which God in man condemneth (he meaneth sinning;) so much more detestable that, when a man doth attribute to himselfe the giftes of God.

Thus much by the iust occasion of my texte, because hee saide, when his soule fainted vvithin him, yet he remembred the LORD, which I say againe hee coulde never haue done, his reason, know­ledge, will, memorie, all being past, excepte the Lorde had first re­membred him. After his feare againe his hope.2. His hope▪ I remembred the Lorde, and my praier came vnto thee into thine holy temple. The particu­lars are quickely had: after that fainting and fit of his soule, 1. what [Page 380] hee did: hee remembred. 2. whome hee remembred: the Lorde. All the rest serveth for explication. As namely 3. how he remembred him, by praier. For it seemeth that not only his memory, but al the faculties and affections of his soule were set on worke by him. 4. How his praier sped. It was not stopped by the way, but came vnto the Lorde, and did the part of a trustie embassadour. 5. It is not amisse to know, that every soule is the Lordes, the soule of the father, and the soule of the childe are his,Nec ad mul­tos multus, nec ad pauci­ [...]atem carus. Sic vni in­tentus, vt non detētus: sic pluribus, vt non distē ­tu [...]. Bern. ser. 69. in Cant. and that the promises are made not only to Abra­ham but to his seede after him, and to all of that seede in particular, for hee is neither multiplied with multitudes, nor scanted with paucities; so ca­ring for one, that hee omitteth not the care of many; so for many, that he cea­seth not to care for one: and therefore the praier heere sent was peculiar­ly his owne, as of a person accepted & chosen vnto the Lord, my prai­er. 6. The faithfull coniunction of his soule with God, which the A­postrophe, and suddaine change of the speech causeth me to note. For now he speaketh not to vs, or to his owne spirit as before, I remembred the Lorde, but vnto the Lorde himselfe, laying his mouth to those pure & vndefiled eares, my praier came vnto thee. 7. The place where­in it was presented vnto him, into thine holy temple, which either he mea­neth of heaven, the pallace and basilicke of the great king, or of the temple of Ierusalem, which all the children of God in those dayes had respect vnto.Dan. 6. So Daniell though he prayed in Babylon, yet opened hee the windowes of his chamber towardes Ierusalem. And Sa­lomon made request at the dedication of the temple, that if ever his people, in the time of famine, battaile, captivity, or any the like tribu­lation,2. Sam. 6. shoulde pray towardes that citty, and towardes that house of praier, the Lord that sate in heaven would vouchsafe to heare them. Though not sure of the place yet this I am sure of, that whither soever of the two be spoken of, the holy Lorde hath dedicated it to holinesse, and called it by the name of an holy temple, setting thereby a barre about it, as hee did aboute the mounte, to keepe out beastes and brutish men. For as his temple vpon the earth none should, so that other, more sacred and secret that is in heaven, none shall ever enter into, that is vnholy and vncleane. To draw these scattered braunches home to their roote againe, the generall substance of them all togi­ther is this; that Ionas received hope by remembring the Lorde for his part, and that the Lorde on the other side accepted his prayer and gaue successe to it. As Ieremie spake in the Lamen­tations; so mighte Ionas say, It is the mercie of the LORDE that I am not consumed. Lam. 2. The reason is, For his compassions fayle not. [Page 381] The danger seemed vncurable, because it lighted vpon the soule, not to the crazing and distempering alone, but the vtter overwhelminge of it: and no hope left in himselfe to heale the hurte.I remēbred What doth he then? hee betaketh himselfe to the glasse of memory, to see what suc­cour hee can finde there: and as it is placed in the hinder parte of the head, so he reserveth it for the hinder part of his miseries, & maketh it his latest refuge to ease his heart.

I haue red of memories in some men almost incredible. Seneca writeth of himselfe, that he had a very flourishing memory,Pro [...]m. Cur­sor. Codices su­perva [...]u [...]s fecerat. not only for vse, but to deserue admiratiom. He was able to recite by hearte 2000. names, in the same order wherein they were first digested, Por­tius Latro in the same author, wrote that in his minde which other in note-bookes. A man most cunning in histories. If you had named a capitaine vnto him, he would haue runne thorough his actes present­ly. Cyneas being sent from Pyrrhus in an embassage to Rome, the nexte day after he came thither, saluted all the Senatours by their names, and the people round about them. A singular gift from God, in those that haue attained thereto, howsoever it bee vsed. But yet as the obiect, which memory apprehendeth is more principall, so the gift more commendable: As Tully comparing Lucullus and Horten­sius togither, both being of a wonderfull memory, yet preferreth Lu­cullus before Hortensius, because he remēbred matter, this but words. Nowe the excellentest obiect of all others, either for the memorie to accounte, or for any other part of the soule to conceaue, is the Lord. For he that remēbreth the Lord as the Lord hath remembred him, that nameth his blessings by their names as God the starres, and calleth them to minde in that number & order that God hath besto­wed them vpon him, if not to remember them in particular, vvhich are more then the haires of his head, yet to take their view in grosse, and to fold them vp in a generall summe, as David did, vvhat shall I render to the Lord for all his benefites? though he forget his owne people and his fathers house, though the wife of his bosome, and the fruit of his owne loines, yea though he forget to eate his bread, it skilleth not, hee remembreth all in all, and his memorye hath done him service enough in reaching that obiect. And for your better encourage­ment to make this vse of memory, vnderstande that it is a principall meanes to avoide desperation, onely to call to minde the goodnesse of the Lorde forepassed either to our selues or others. Thinke with your selues, that as it was hee that tooke you from your mothers wombes, and hath beene your hope ever since you hung [...] at the breastes, and hath [Page 382] opened his handes from time to time to fill you vvith his goodnesse, so hee is as able to blesse you still. Compare and lay togither the times as David did, that because hee had slaine a lyon and a beare at the folde, therefore GOD woulde also enable him to prevaile against Golias: So if the mercies of the Lorde haue beene so bountifull tovvardes you in former times, to create you of the slime of the grounde, and to put y a living and reasonable soule into you, to nurse you vp in a civil and well-mannered country, to redeeme you with the bloude of his be­gotten sonne, to visite you vvith the lighte of his gospell, to iustifie you with the power of his free gratuitall grace, to fill your garners with store and your baskets with encrease▪ and to giue you sonnes and daughters to the defyinge of your enemies in the gates; saye to your selues, his arme is not shortened, h [...] is the same to day that ye­sterday, hee will never forsake vs wit [...] his loving kindenesse. This is the course that David taketh in t [...]e Psalmes, a capitaine never more skilfull to leade in the vvarres, though the Lorde had taught his fingers to fighte, than to conduct the desolate in the battailes of conscience.Psalm. 25. Call to remembraunce thy tender mercies, O Lorde, which haue beene ever of olde. This was the songe that hee sange to him­selfe in the nighte season, in the closet and quire of his owne breast, vvhen hee communed with his private heart, and searched out his spirites diligentlie. Psalm 77. Hath the LORDE forgotten to bee graciou [...]? hee hath then lefte his olde wont. No, David forgot that the Lorde was gracious, and afterwardes confessed his faulte of forgetfulnesse, stirred vp his decayed memory, and saide, But I vvill remember the yeares of the right hande of the most high. Not the momentes, nor houres, nor dayes, of a few moment any afflictions, which hee hath delt foorth vnto me with his left hande, but the years of his right hand, his wonders and actes that have beene ever of olde. So likewise in an o­ther Psalme.Psalm. 22. Our fathers haue trusted in thee, O Lorde, Our fathers haue trusted in thee, and were not confounded. What is that to vs? yes, we are the children of those fathers, sonnes of the same hope, and heires of the same promises. When the disciples of Christ mistooke the meaning of their maister touching the leaven of the Pharisees, sup­posing he had said so,Math. 16. because they had brought no breade, he reprooved them for lacke of memory: O yee of little faith, vvhy thinke you thus in your selues? doe yee not remember the fiue loaues, vvhen there were fiue thousand men, and howe many baskets full yee tooke vp? neither the seaven loaues when there were foure thousande men, and howe many baskets yee tooke vp? thus we shoulde remember indeede how few loaues, and howe [Page 383] many thousandes of men haue beene fed with them, and what rever­sions and remnantes of mercy the Lord hath in store for other times.Serm. 22. in Cantic. O good Iesus (saieth Barnarde vpon the Canticles) VVee runne after the smell of thine ointmentes, the perfume and sweeee savour of thy fat mer­cies. Wee haue hearde that thou never despisest the poore afflicted. Thou diddest not abhorre the theefe vpon the crosse confessing vnto thee, nor Mat­thew sitting at receipt of custome, nor the woman that washt thy feete with her teares, nor the woman of Canaan that begged for her daughter, nor the vvo­man taken in adultery, nor the Publican standing a farre of, nor the disciple that denied thee, nor the disciple that persecuted thee and thine, nor the wic­ked that crucified thee, therefore wee runne after the smell of thine ointmentes, and hope to be refreshed with the like sent of grace. Ma­ny haue written preceptes of memory, and made a memoratiue art, apointing places and their furniture, for the helpe of such as are vn­experienced. I will also giue you some helpes. When your soule beginneth to fainte, as this prophets did, remember what the Lord is by name. Iehovah a God not in shew,Psalm. 9. Ephes. 2. but in substaunce and per­formance. For they that know thy name will trust in thee. Remember what by nature, rich in mercie, as others are rich in treasure. His iu­stice,1 wisedome, and power, and vvhatsoever hee hath or rather is 2 besides, are also infinite riches, God hath scarsitie of nothing. But as his mercy is aboue all his workes, so the riches of his grace, a­aboue all his other riches. Remember what hee is by promise.2. Tim. 1. The Lorde is faithfull. I know whome I haue beleeved, and I am sure hee is able 3 to keepe that which I haue committed vnto you. His trueth shalbee thy shielde and thy buckler, O Lorde, bee mindefull of thy worde, Psalm. 91. Psalm. 119. wherein thou hast caused thy servant to put his trust. If God be God, follow him, beleeue him, builde vpon his worde, his fidelitie is a thousand times alleaged, that it may be past doubt. Remember what hee is by covenaunte, made vnto Abraham and his whole seede, not in the bloud of bulles 4 and goates, but in the bloude of the seede of Abraham. O my people, Mich. 6. saieth God by his prophet Micheas, remember vvhat Balak King of Moab had devised, and what Balaam the sonne of Beor aunswered him, that yee may knowe the righteousnesse of the Lorde. He cryeth vnto vs all at this day, O my people, remember what the prince of darkenesse had de­vised against you, and howe Iesus Christ the sonne of the living God hath aunswered him, and stopte his mouth vvith a voice of bloude, and nayled his accusations to a crosle, that yee may know the righ­teousnesse of the Lorde, howe assured it is to those that beleeue it, This, this is the sure foundation, which hee that buildeth vpon,Esay 28. shall [Page 384] never fall. This is the stone that vvas laide in Sion: as for the bow of steele, the wedge of golde, the strength of an horse, the promise of a man lighter vpon the ballance than vanity it selfe, the righte­ousnesse of the lawe, merites of Saintes, they are the stones of Ba­bylon. This hath beene tried to the proofe, precious aboue al the marchandize of Tyre: and standeth in the heade of the corner. He that beleeveth in this stone, let him not haste, saieth the Prophet. Let him not yeelde too soone to the frailty of his flesh, nor be over­credulous to the suggestions of Sathan, nor suffer his hope to bee quelled at the first or second assaulte; let him stay the leasure of the Lord, for he will certainely visite him. I haue shewed you some helpes and directions for memory. I knowe no better hiding place from the winde, no surer refuge from the tempest, as Esay speaketh, no safer harbours and receptacles wherein to repose your wearied soules, than those I haue spoken of. What better secret or shadow hath the most High? what closer winges, 'warmer feathers to keepe you from the snare of the hunter (I meane not Nimrod or Esau, mighty, hairy, and wilde, making but temporall prayes either of men or beastes) but the hunter of your soules, than when you are distressed, and compassed with troubles rounde about, and sinnes, which are the sorest troubles of all other, haue taken such holde vpon you that you dare not looke vp, when the soule fainteth, as this prophetes did, wise­dome hath hid it selfe, and vnderstanding is gone aside into a se­cret chamber, that you know not what to advise, nor where to fetch a thought that may minister comforte; then to remember the Lord of hostes, his name, howe stronge a towre of defence it is; his nature, how sweete and amiable; his promises, how faithfull; his covenant, how precious in his eies; that the Lord may remember you againe in his holy kingdome?

THE XXIX. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. ver. 8, & 9.‘They that waite vpon lying vanities, for sake their owne mercie. But I will sacrifice vnto thee, &c,’

THe narration is ended. We are now to an­nexe the conclusion of the song, wherin the prophet betaketh himselfe to a thankfull ac­knowledgement, and as his tenuity will give him leave, a remuneration & requital of the goodnes of the Lord, which his hart had pre­sumed before. The partes are three. 1. A con­futation and reproofe of all kindes of idola­tours, who as they call vpon false Gods, so they are likely to be sped but with false deliveraunces; They that wait vpon lying vanities, forsake their owne mercy. 2. An affirmative or posi­tive determination, and as it were bond that hee taketh of himselfe, to render kindnesse to his merciful and faithfull Lorde; But I vvill sacrifice &c. and vvill pay that that I have vowed. 3. A sentence of ac­clamation, the aphorisme and iuice of the whole songe, the conclusion of the conclusion, the comprehension of sacrifices, vowes, praiers, thanksgivings, all thinges, Salvation is the Lordes, or the Lord.

They that waite vpon lying vanities, forsake their owne mercie. 1. Confutation. What communion is there betweene darkenesse and light, falshode and truth, the table of devils and the table of the Lord, idolatry and the right [...]ervice of the righteous God? This is the cause, that Ionas begin­neth with confutation. Before he will plant the vineyard, he will re­moove stones, and briers, and all other obstacles that may hurte the growth of the vines. Before hee buildeth his house, hee vvill first pull downe a ruinous and rotten foundation. So is the due­ty of a prophet in the first of Ieremie: This day have I sette thee over nations and kingedomes, first, to plucke vp, to roote out, destroy, throw downe; secondly, to plant, and build, and set vp againe. And so is the du­ty of an Evangelist also, who hath received the administration of the gospell of Christ: first to prepare the way, as it vvere, and to make straight pathes before the face of Christ; that is, first to reproove and then to teach concerning doctrine,2. Tim. 2. first to correct and afterwardes to in­forme touching conversation. Iohn Baptist, you know, a middle man betweene the lawe and the gospell, a prophet and more than a prophet, because he both foresaw, and visibly saw the Lorde of life, both prophecied and pointed with his finger, turning his face, like [Page 386] their Ianus in Rome, both waies; he first made ready the houses and heartes of the people before the king of Sion came, cast downe hilles, lifted vp vallies, &c. that the gospell of the kingdome might have the freer admission. He beganne his preachings with reprehension of their vicious lives, O yee generation of vipers; and convulsion of their false groundes, Saie not within your selves, wee have Abraham to our fa­ther, &c. No man setteth a new piece to an olde garment: hee maketh the rent but worse. No man putteth newe wine into olde bottles: for hee then marreth both. It is to little purpose to offer truth, and the tidings of peace, the newes of the newe testament, to the olde man, whose an­cient corruptions hange vpon him, and his wedded conscience is thoroughly seized and possessed with inveterate errours. There is but one truth, oppugned by falshodes without number, like the armes of the sea. But the nature and courage of that one trueth is, wheresoever she findeth falshode, not to dissemble her quarrell and emulation to her enemy, but to play the part of truth, that is, simply, ingenuously, apparantly, to defie her adversary, and to withstand her to the teeth. Fulgētius in his first booke to Thrasymūde king of Van­dalles, giveth the reason of this orderly proceeding. It is almost all one, to deny the faith, Pene id esse fidem nolle asserere, quod negare. Vno eodem (que) silētio firmat errorem, qui terrore setu [...]epore pos­sessus silendo non astruit veritatem. and not to maintaine it. He bringeth the reason of that also. Because, by one and the same silence he strengthneth errour, who tho­rough feare or negligence holding his peace, affirmeth not the truth. As a slee­py Centenar betrayeth the tentes of the king, not that he hath a will perhaps to betray them, but because he keepeth not the watch as he ought, nor descrieth the enemy, which commeth to assault them. One heaven holdeth not Michael and the Dragon in peace, nor one house the Arke and Dagon, nor one wombe Iacob and Esau, nor one temple prayer and merchandizing, nor one campe the cleane & the leprouse, nor one bath Iohn and Cerinthus, nor one hart God and Mammon, nor one tongue God and Milchom, nor one conscience truth and falshode; religion and superstition. This, I suppose, was the reason, why Ionas beginneth his speech with a triumph against idola­tours, & being to magnifie the strong arme of the Lord, doth it with disdeine and contempt of all those that seeke vnprofitable meanes. Thus much generally touching his order of proceeding.

The confu­tation divi­ded.The refutation devideth it selfe into two partes, an antecedent and consequent, a position and privation, what they doe, whom hee taxeth by his speech, and what they loose by so doing. If they observe lying vanities, which is the former, they are sure to forsake their owne mercy, which is the latter. In both these ioyned togither the partes [Page 387] are so desposed, that there is a matching of three with three. On the one side, 1. They are said to loue, to be intentiue and fonde vpon: 2. that which they loue is vanity, emptinesse, nothing: 3. that vanitie is lying, fraudulent, deceitfull vnto them. On the other, whereas they loved before, nowe first, they leaue, abandon, giue over: se­condly, that which they leaue, insteed of vanity, is mercy; which might doe them good: 3. that mercy is their owne, as proper and peculiar vnto them, if they would vse it, as ever any thing in their rightful pos­sessiō. Do ye not see the change that wordlings make? corne for a­cornes? a state of innocencie, immortality, incorruption, for an apple? the prerogative of birth-right with the blessing that belongeth vnto it, for a messe of potage, belly cheare, as Esau did? a kingdome vpon earth, and the kingdome of heaven also, for oxen, and asses, and sheepe, as Saule did? Christ, his gospell, his miracles, his salvation, for an heard of swine with the Gadarens? God for idolles, mercy for vanity, the comfortablest nature that ever was created, for that which profiteth not?

It is thought by some, that the speech here vsed, is by a concession or insultation against idolaters, and as it were a farewell and defiance vnto them, Let them forsake their owne mercy;Derelin. quant. Pereat, per­dat, profun­dat. Psal. 6 [...] ▪ if they like the change so well, and will not receiue warning▪ as he in the comedy; let him sinke, & wast, and consume all that he hath, I will never speake word vnto him more, Against sinners past grace, you shal often finde renouncements vnto them. Lay iniquitie to their iniquitie, and never let them come into thy righ­teousnes. When they haue [...]o [...]de themselues to sinne, and hate to bee reformed, this is the mercy that befit [...]eth them. Reprooue not [...]orner saith Salomon, least he h [...]e thee. Prov. 9. If there be any amongst vs with whō the mercie of God is so vile, and contemptible, that it is [...] of force to over-sway lying vanitie, but vanitie is the stronger [...], and kee­peth the house against mercy, let them goe on in van [...]y still, and as Christ gaue over the Scribes, let them fulfill the [...]asure of their vvretched choice. But let them knowe withall,Math· 23. that as the prodigall sonne forsooke his fathers house for a strange countrie, his fathers favour and inheritance for a bagge of monie, father, and kindred, and friendes, for vnhonest and vncurteous harlots, and the breade in his fathers house, for the husks of beanes which the swine abroad fed vpon, & his soule desired; so they forsake God for this present world, heaven for earth, the pleasure of sinne for a season, for everlasting pleasures at Gods right hand, and finally their owne mercie, as faithfull and true vnto them as ever was their soule to their body, for vvhorish and [Page 388] forreine vanities, which liue and die in an instante of time, and leaue no substance behinde them. O how happy were our lives, thinke wee, if these two might stande togither, vanitie for a while, till wee had satisfied our selues therewith, & afterwardes mercy with a wish? Let me first goe kisse my father, and take my leaue of friendly delightes, let me not suffer the flowre of mine age to passe without garlandes of rose-buddes and sweet ointments, then I will come and follow thee. It must not bee. The Lion and the bullocke, leoparde and kidde may feede and lye togither, but vanitie vvaited vpon, as my text speaketh (serviceably pursued, officiously & diligently em­braced, and drawne with cordes, as an other prophet hath) and the mer­cy of God, haue no agreement.

In the former and positiue member of the refutation, vvee are directed to three particulars. First, their habite and affection of whome hee speaketh, who are not content to thinke of, or some­times to commit a vanity, but they loue, observe, attende vpon it.

They keepe it, and make much thereof, saieth Ierome, as if they had founde a treasure.Quasi inve­nerint the­saurum, Mordicùs retinent. Lyra noteth perseveraunce, Mercer perti­nacie, as of a thing, that in no case they can be perswaded to forgoe. Secondly, the nature of that which their affections are set vpon: vani­tie, that which is not; as Narcissus loved the shadowe that the water cast vp. Nay, vanities. The singular is not enough to expresse their folly. They run thorough al the classies and rankes of vnity, the ken­nel and sinke of as much as their harts can devise. Thirdly, the quali­tie of these vanities, that which must needes accompanie them, vnlesse they could cease to bee vanities, that they are lying, and vnprofitable, having no solidity in them. The first noteth their superstition, in that they are so diligent and observant. The second their folly & indiscretion, in making so bad a choice. The third their confusion,1. The ha­bite. that they trust and are tied to that wherein no substance, no succor is.

Nulla res ef­ficaciùs multitudinem mouet q̄uám superstitio Cu [...]t. Superstitio ne qui est imbutus, quietus esse nunquam potest. They that loue lying vanities. I know not so wel the reason, but I finde that conclusion every where prooved, which our Saviour lai­eth downe in the gospell, The children of this worlde are wiser in their generation, than the children of lighte. First there is nothinge that win­neth the common people (marke it when you vvill) more than su­perstition. Adde the iudgmēt of the Romane Oratour in the second place. A man that is wonne to superstition can never bee quiet in minde. Which, whither it bee our pride that wee are all in loue, as Pyg­maleon with his picture, so we vvith the vvorkes of our handes, [Page 389] & devises of our heads, and therefore the true service of God we are not so soone allured with, because it commeth by precept, as vvith the inventions of our owne braine, because wee are the authours of them our selves, (Philo implieth so much, writing of religions, that everie man; a part seemeth best vnto him, because they iudge not by reason, Suae cui (que) optima. but by affection;) or whither it be the care and vigilancy of the devill, whome he hath gotten prisoners, those to loade with the more irons, and to keepe them in safe custodie, and if it be possible, to make thē love their captivity; or whatsoever the cause else be, this I knowe (to begin at the head) that Sathan will spare no paines in compassing the whole earth to gaine a soule, a Scribe or Pharisee will travaile sea and land to winne a proselyte, an idolatrous [...]ewe will freely bestowe his iew­elles and earinges to make a golden calfe, an Ammonite will not spare his sonne or daughter from the fire to sacrifice to Moloch a Priest of Baall will cut and launce his owne flesh to demerite his i­doll, a false prophet will vveare a garment of haire nexte his skinne to deceive with, a frier will whippe himselfe till the bloude run downe his shoulders, the fathers and children of Babylon, will rise early and late, to keepe Canonicall howers, observe fastes, walke pilgrima­ges, runne over their beades, and rather loose a limme of their bodies than a ceremonie of their chur [...]h, and in every acte of their coun­celles, and thirde line of their writings, Anathema to men and angels that hold otherwise.

Let it be their commendation,Ier. 9. that they take such paines to doe wic­kedly. A thiefe is more watchfull to breake through the house, than the goodman to garde it. The traitours that Cesar feared in Rome were not those that were fat & well in proofe, but macilenti & pallidi Cassius & Brutus, that were leane and pale, spending the sap of their flesh, with travailinge, watching, plotting devises. What is it they loue and labour vpon so much? Vanities. Is it not of the Lorde of hostes, that men shall labour in the fi [...]e (to burne and consume themselues) and the people shall even weary themselues for verie vanitie? 2. The mat­ter of their loue. Abbac. 2. They that plough wickednesse (a toilesome occupation) doe they not reape iniquitie and eate the fruit of lies, because they trust in their owne vvaies?Osee 10. Es. 55. A man may aske them vvith the prophete, vvherefore bestovve you your labour and are not satisfied? Or with the Apostle, vvhen hee seeth their labour lost,Rom. 6. what profit had yee in those thinges whereof you are now ashamed?

The vanities, hee nameth, are not onely the idolles of the hea­then, vvhich haue neither sighte in their eies▪ nor hearing in their [Page 390] eares, nor breath in their nostreiles, nor helpe in their hands, to wipe away the dust frō their owne faces; but whatsoever the world hath, visible or invisible, outwarde or inwarde besi [...]es, displacing God of his right, and bearing our hart and hope after it, it is our idoll in some sort, and one of those lying vanities that is heere mentioned. Ionas committed idolatry, in leaving the mandate of God, and bending his iourney after the lustes of his owne heart. That vnprobable co­gitation which hee fansied to himselfe of escaping the presence of God, by taking a contrary way, was the idoll hee served and waited vpon, and the lying vanity wherewith hee was beguiled. The God of heaven called vnto him, Arise, goe to Niniveh; the God of his owne making, the devise of his braine, commanded otherwise, Arise, flie to Tharsus. The covetous mā is called an idolatour in plaine tearmes, Ephes. 5. Iob expresseth the right forme of their canoniza­tion, whereby they make gold a God: They saie to there wedge, thou are my confidence. As treason and rebellion putteth vp a nevve king (Absolon for David;) so covetuousnesse a newe God, Mammon for Iehovah.Ex super­fluo. Chrysost. [...]. You cannot serue God and Mammon. Dispute not su­perfluously and idly that you can doe it, for God hath pronounced the contrary. God cryeth, lende, giue, scatter, cast vpon the waters, feede, cloath, visite, harbour, and is not obeyed: Mammon cryeth on the other side, take, gather, extort, strippe, sterue, spoile, and is harkened vnto. Whether of these two is now the God? An other idolatry as mentioned by Abbacuk in the first of his Prophecie, of those that sacrifice to their nettes, and burne incense to their flewes: vvho because their portion is encreased, and their meate plenteous by these in­strumentes and helpes vvhich they vse in their trades of fishing or the like, they forgette the righte author of their thrifte, and ar­rogate all to themselues and their serviceable meanes. Some make an idoll of their owne braine, as the king of Tyre did: who thoughte that by his vvisedome and vnderstanding hee had gotten riches into his treasury;Ezech. 28. and his hearte was so highly exalted vvith that conceite, that hee coulde not forbeare that most blasphemous and Luciferian presumption, I am a GOD. Such are the states-men (as they loue to bee helde) the Politicians and Machiavellistes of our sinnefull age, plotters of kingdomes and common-vveales, vvho thinke themselues vviser than Daniell, as the king of Tyre did, and that Moises and the prophetes are not so able to instructe them, as they themselues. Some make an idoll of the strength of their armes, as Zenacharib did, By the multitude of my chariots [Page 391] have I done thus and thus: but touching the true Lorde of hostes,Es. 37. as if hee were lesse than nothing, and had lost the strength of his mightie arme, hee vaunteth to the king of Iudah, let not thy GOD deceive thee. The end of all is this. Idolum nihil est. An idoll is so farre from being more than vanitie, that it is mere nothing I know, in an idoll of silver or gold, or brasse, there is both matter and fashi­on. Golde is golde, and the thoughtes of our heartes, thoughtes, our wisedome, beauty, and strength are qualities that have their be­ing. And if we make either belly or backe our God, they are both creatures that God hath made; but they are nothing of that wh [...]ch we suppose them to be. Wee make them our honour, our hope, our confidence, such they are not. For yet a little while, and the moth, the worme, rottennes, rust, and consumption shall inhe­rite them all. The righteous shall beholde it and feare, and laugh them to scorne that haue beene so madde after vanitieis ecce ho­mo, beholde the man which hath not made God his helper, Psal. 52. but trusted in riches, or other like transitorie things. Wherefore I exhort you al,Acte [...] 14. [...]. as Paul his auditours at Lystra, that ye turne frō these vaine hopes, from these foolsh and paltry idols, (whether you are fallen in liking with your selues or other creatures) to serue the living God, which made the heavens the earth, the sea, and all that therein is.

The prophete mighte haue called them by other names, to note that iniquity, filthines, abhomination, that is foūd in thē; but (setting the Lorde and his kingdome aside) he taxeth the whole worlde and whatsoever is therein contained, with the generall censure of Salo­mon; vanitie of vanities, all is vanitie. He that filled the earth with his wisedome as with a floude, filled it also with vanitie as with a floude, hee smiteth on both cheekes, vanitie and vanitie againe, and to shevv that hee did not repente him of his speech, pronounceth a thirde time, All is vanitie: that you may knowe, whatsoever you cleaue vnto, besides the true subsisting Lord, it hath not that substance and certainty which you first imagined. Therefore is the attibute set vn­to it in the next place, lying vanitie: because there is nothing but de­ceite in them.3. Lyinge vanites, the quali­ty. In the 4 of Gen. when Eue had brought forth her first begotten son, she called him Cain▪ a mā purchased or obtained of the Lord. Some say more: I haue obtained the man that is the Lord. Thinking vndoubtedly, that she had bin the mother of that blessed seed,Virum ac­quisivi Je­hovam. which should bruise the head of the serpent. But finding her selfe deceived, & overweening in a corrupt, cruell man, shee named her second son Abell, that is vanity, to note that her former hope was altogither [Page 392] frustrated. The Epithit is very fitlie adioined to vanity, and in effect signifieth the same that vanitye doth: for what is vanitye but ly­inge and deceavinge? Au [...]us Gellius writeth of a vaine Gramma­tian, that made himselfe most skillfu [...]l in Salustes wordes. Apol­linaris,Lib 18. [...]oct. A [...]tic. cap. 4. [...] esset an va­ [...]ior. Priscorū ego verborū &c to trie his skill, met him on a day and asked him, what Sa­lust meant (if hee were so cunninge in the bloude and marrowe of his history, as he professed) by saying of C. Lentulus, that it was a question, whether hee were more foolishe or vaine. The interpreter aunswered him; the knowledge I take vpon mee, is in auncient words, not these that are common and worne by daily vse. For he is more foolish and vaine than was that Lentulus, vvho knoweth not that both these words note but the same weaknes. Apollinaris not satisfied with this answere, & to satisfy others that desired to be better instructed by him, at lēgth resolved; that they were properly tearmed vaine men, not as the common people helde, who were dullardes, wi [...]lesse, and fooles, but in the opinion of the most auncient lear­ned,Mēdaces & infi [...]i &c. such as were given to lyinge and faithlessenesse, who gaue lightnesse for waighte, and emptinesse for that that hath true sub­stance. Now as in an idoll in proprietye, there are sundrye rea­sons that make it to bee a lying vanitye; for first, the authour and suggestour was the father of lies; secondly, the former of it lied to himselfe, in thinking that it was the pleasure of God that idolles shoulde be fashioned; thirdly, hee that trusteth therin, lieth, for he saith to wood or stone, thou art my helper; 4. the whole substance of the idoll lieth,Substātia to ta mentitu [...]. in promisinge helpe, where none is, and seeminge to be that which is not: so on the other side, those other idolles, which I named, are lyinge vanities, and shall as litle profite vs, when wee craue their truth, as grasse the mower, that grovveth vpon the house toppes. If vvee trust vnto them, let vs looke for no better aide and comfort therein, than those others in the prophet, who con­fessed too late, vvee haue made falshood our refuge, and vnder vanitye are wee hid. I conclude the first member. Trust not in oppression or robberye If riches encrease, Esa. 28. set not your hearte vpon them; man disquieteth himselfe in vaine, saith the Psalme, heapeth vp riches not knowinge who shall gather them. An horse is but a vaine thinge to saue a man, neither is it his bowe that can deliver him. A man is but a vaine thinge to saue a man, if you weighe him vpon the bal­lance, you shall finde him lighter then vanitye. Wisedome is as vaine, and shall become as foolishe, as of the beastes that perishe. Strength is as vaine, and shall become as weake as vvater spilte. Beautye [Page 393] is as vaine, and shalbee changed into lothsomenesse more than the sores of Lazarus. All these are vanities, and vaine vanities, ly­inge vanities, as emptye as the vvinde, as [...]leetinge as the miste in the aire; God onely is true, and his promise iust, his faithfull­nesse is aboue the cloudes, and his righteousnesse exceedeth as the greatest mountaines.

The consequent or private part of the refutation,The privā ­tiue part. Derelin­qunt, non derelinquū ­tur, Deus prior in amore po­sterior inodio 1. They leaue. Luke 16. is in the words following, They forsake their owne mercy. Mercy forsaketh not them, but they mercy. God is ever formost in loue, never hateth till hee is first hated. It is not onelye to hazard, and put in adven­ture, nor to extenuate and diminish the mercy of God, but wholie to renounce it, and to sende a farewell to God, to embrace vanities. It is a vvall of partition, betwixt vs and grace: I had almost said, it is as the greate gulfe, that vvas betwixte Abraham and the rich man. Surelye it shall stande as the faithfull vvitnesse in heaven, that neither idolatour, nor adulterer, nor covetous persons, (both vvhich vvith manye other offendours, are idolatours in an other kinde) shall ever inherite the kingdome of God. You see how the con­sequence holdeth. Loue they the one? they certeinlye leaue the other. There is no haultinge betwixte two opinions. If God bee God, they must followe him alone, there is no minglinge of Baal with him. Our God is a iealous God, and suffereth no copartner or competitour in any part of that honour that belongeth vnto him. But in leaving mercy, 2. Mercie▪ [...]. Luke 3. Psal. 103. so sweete and amiable a nature in him that is loue it selfe, vnwise and vnhappye wretches, vvhat doe they leaue? more, than all the wordly solaces shall bee able to supply vnto them▪ They leaue even the bowelles of mercy, as Zacharye sange in the gospell of Luke. For as a father pittyeth his children, (and more by a thousande degrees) so hath the LORDE compassion to­warde all them that feare him. And a mother may forget the fruit of her wombe, but the LORDE shall never forget his children of election. These bovvelles and invvardes of mercye they leaue, (mercye, so deepe and affectionate, that the seate of affecti­ons in man sufficeth not to expresse it) that relinquishe GODS mercye. It had bene more ease and happinesse vnto them, if their owne bowelles had fallen from their bodies, as the bowelles of Iu­das. They leaue not handefulles of barlye and pieces of breade, tem­porall and tr [...]fling commodities, parcells of that boūty and goodnes which God hath bestowed vpon them, but the vniversall mercye of God, as greate in quantity as the spaces of the whole worlde (for [Page 394] looke how high the heaven is above the earth, so great is his mercy towardes them that feare him;) nay, the worlde may bee measured and span­ned, but of his goodnesse there is no end. They leave that mercy that is better than their life. Psal. 63. For what is life without mercy? Mercie gave it vnto them at the first, mercie preserveth it, mercie shall exchange it hereafter, & mercie restore it at the last day: without this life of mer­cie to their mortall lives, they live, or rather die, in everlasting mise­ry. Peter tolde his maister in the gospell, to shew how willing they were to make Christ their onely advantage; Beholde, wee have left all. He might as truely have saide, beholde, wee have founde all. They left their fathers, mothers, kinsfolkes, houses, nettes, vanities. They found the mercy of God, which made a full amendes. These other were the thinges that were made to bee lefte, ‘Linquenda tellus, & domus, & placens,’ Vxor. Wee must leave landes, Horat. and houses, wives, and children, with their tempo­rall commodities. But the change of the apostles of Christ was no vnprofitable change to have left all, for him that is above all. But woe vnto them,Non inutilis commutatio est▪ pro eo qui est super om­nia▪ omnia reliquisse. Bern. who after their tearme of vanity expired, and vanities left, have not miserere in store, a grone and sobbe in their soules to call for mercye, and a favourable propension in the eares of their Lorde, to ha [...]ken to their crie. Lastly it is their owne mercy which they forsake, that embrace vanity. I meane not active mercye in themselves,3. Their owne. inhabiting their owne heartes, but the mercy of almigh­ty God, tendered and exhibited to each man in particular, vvhither hee bee bond or free, Iew or Gentile. For his mercy is not onelye from generation to generation, but from man to man. And in this sense it is true which God spake by Ezechiell, Every soule is mine: the soule of the father is mine, and the soule of the sonne is mine also. Therefore it is not saide in my text, that they leave the mercie of God, but their owne mercy, the patrimony of their father in heaven, a portion wher­of was allotted to every childe. For the inheritance of the Lorde is not diminished by the multitude of possessours, Haereditas domini non minuitur multitudine possesso [...]um, tanta [...]ingulis, quanta universis. August. it is as large to every heire a part, as to the whole number put togither. This poore man cried (saith the Psalme, naming a singular person, but leaving an vniversall presi­dent to the whole church) and the Lord heard him. And that poore man crieth, and the Lord will also heare him. Iste pauper & ille pau­per: you may make vp a perfect induction and enumeration. For if all the poore and destitute in the worlde crie vnto him, hee will heare them all.

The refutation is now ended, and giveth place to the asserti­on [Page 395] or affirmation what himselfe will doe: not as before hee did,2. The affirmation. wal­king after the lust [...]s of his owne eie and heart: nor as the manner of the heathē is, embracing lying vanities: but acknowledging his life and liberty to come alone from the Lorde of mercy; But I will sacri­fice vnto thee &c. I will sacrif. Pay vowes. Which I haue made To him onelye will hee pay the tribute that is due vnto him, not deriving his safety from any other imaginary helpes. Hee will offer sacrifice which the law required, and he will first make and afterwardes pay the vowes which the law required not, the one an offering (in manner) of necessity, the other of a free heart. With thāksgiving. The voice of thankesgiving. Hee will not offer with cakes or wafers, and oile (and yet perhappes not without these) but with thankesgiving, an inward and spiritu­all sacrifice, and that thankesgiving shall haue a voice to publish it to the whole worlde, that others may witnesse it. Sacrifices and vowes I handled once before. Let it now suffice by way of short re­petition to let you vnderstande, that hee offereth the best sacrifice who offereth himselfe, body and soule, all the members of the one, affections of the other to serue the Lord. It shall please him much better, and cast a sweeter smell into his nostrelles, than a bullocke that hath hornes and hoofes. And hee maketh the best vowe, who vow­eth himselfe, I say not in the worlde a virgin, but a virgin to Christ, that whither hee marry or marry not, he hath not defiled himselfe with women; (for he that shall say, hath not coupled or matched him­selfe with women, in an holy covenant, misseth the vvhole scope of that scripture:) that voweth himselfe, I say not in the vvorlde a pilgrime, to gad from place to place, but a pilgrime to Christ, that though hee lie beneath in a barren and thirsty grounde where no water is, yet hee walketh into heaven with his desires, and in affection of spi­rit liveth aboue where his maister and head is: that vovveth him­selfe, I say not not in the world a begger, but a begger to Christ, that though hee possesse riches, yet hee is not by riches possessed, and al­be it hee leaveth not his riches, yet hee leaveth his will and desire to bee rich. For it was well observed by a learned father,Faci [...]ius sa [...] ­cus contem­nitur quàm voluntas. The bagge is more easily contemned than the will. And if you will, you may relinquish all, though you keepe all. This, I say, is the richest sacrifice, and rightest vowe, to giue thy selfe, and vowe thy service and adherence to al­mighty God,Si vultis, etiam retinen­do relinqui­tis. Psal. 63. as wee reade that Peter did (but to performe it with more fidelity) though all forsake thee, I will not. And what, I beseech you, are these sacrifices and vowes but pensions of our duety, ar­gumentes and seales of thankefull mindes; which is as marrowe and fatnesse to the bones of a righteous man, to praise the Lorde with ioyfull [Page 396] lippes, to remember him on his bed, and to thinke on him in the night watches; that is, both early and late, season and not season, to bee telling of all his mercifull workes, and recounting to himselfe his manifold lo­ving kindnesses?

[...]. The ac­clamation.The last thing I proposed, is the sentence or Epiphoneme, conclu­ding the conclusion: or it may be the reason of his former promises. I will offer sacrifices, &c. Why? because Salvation is the Lordes. I am sure, it is the summe of the whole discourse; one word for all, the very mo­rall of the history. Shall I say more? it is the argument of the whole prophesie, and might have concluded every chapter therein. The marriners might have written vpon their ship, in steede of Castor & Pollux, or the like devise, Salvation is the Lordes. The Ninivites in the next chapter, might have written vpon their gates, Salvation is the Lordes. And whole mankinde, whose cause is pittied and pleaded by God, against the hardnes of Ionas his hearte, in the last, might have written in the palmes of their handes, Salvation is the Lordes. It is the argument of both the testamentes, the staffe and supportation of hea­ven and earth. They would both sinke, and all their iointes bee se­vered, if the salvation of the Lord were not. The birdes in the aire sing no other note, the beastes in the fielde give no other voice than Salus Iehovae, salvation is the Lordes. The walles and fortresses to our cuntry, gates to our cities and townes, barres to our houses, a surer cover to our heads than an helmet of steele, a better receite to our bodies than the confection of Apothecaries, a better receite to our soules than the pardons of Rome, is Salus Iehovae, the salvation of the Lord. The salvation of the Lord, blesseth, preserveth, vpholdeth all that we have; our basket and our store, the oile in our cruises, our presses, the sheepe in our folds, our stalles, the children in the wombe, at our tables, the corne in our fieldes, our stores, our garners; it is not the vertue of the stars, nor nature of the things themselves, that giveth being & conti­nuance to any of these blessings. And what shall I more say? as the apo­stle asked Hebr. 11. when he had spoken much, and there was much more behind, but that time failed him. Rather, what should I not say? for the world is my theatre at this time; and I neither thinke, nor can feigne to my selfe any thinge, that hath not dependaunce vpon this acclamation, Salvation is the Lordes. Plutarcke writeth, that the Amphictyones in Greece, a famous counsell assembled of twelve sundrie people, wrote vpon the temple of Apollo Pythius, in steede of the Iliades of Homer, or songes of Pindarus (large and ty­ring discourses) shorte sentences and memoratives, as Know thy selfe, [Page 397] Vse moderation, Beware of suretishippe, and the like. And doubtlesse though every creature in the world, whereof we haue vse, be a trea­tise and narration vnto vs of the goodnesse of God, and wee might weary our flesh, and spend our daies in writing bookes of that vnex­plicable subiect, yet this short apopthegme of Ionas comprehēdeth all the rest, and standeth at the ende of the songue, as the altars and stones that the Patriarkes set vp at the partinge of the waies, to giue knowledge to the after-worlde, by what meanes hee was delivered. I would it were dayly preached in our temples, sunge in our streetes, written vpon our dore-postes, painted vppon our walles, or ra­ther cut with an admant claw vpon the tables of our hearts, that wee might never forget, Salvation to bee the Lordes▪ wee haue neede of such remembrances to keepe vs in practise of revolvinge the mercies of God. For nothinge decayeth sooner than loue. Nihil facili­us quā am [...] putrescit Sene [...] ▪ Memoria de­licata, tene­ra, fragilis, in quam pri­mùm sene­ctus incur­ri [...]. Primùm se­nescit bene­ficium Diog Jni [...]. regn. Elizabet. 2. King. 7. And of all the powers of the soule, memorye is most delicate, tender and brit­tle, and first waxeth olde; and of all the apprehensions of memory, first a benefite. To seeke no further for the proofe and manifestation of this sentence within our coastes, I may say, as our Saviour in the nineteenth of Luke to Zacheus, This day is salvation come vn­to this house. Even this day, my brethren, came the salvation of the LORDE to this house of David, to the house of this King­dome, to the houses of Israell and Aaron, people and prieste­hode, church and common wealth. I helde it an especiall parte of my duety, amongst the rest, the day invitinge, and your expe­ctation callinge mee thereunto, and no text of mercy and salva­tion impertinent to that purpose, to correcte and stirre vp my selfe, with those fowre lepers that came to the spoile of the Syrian tentes. I doe not well, this day is a day of good tidinges, and shoulde I holde my peace? let the leprosie of those men clea [...]e vnto my skinne, if it bee not as ioyfull a thinge vnto mee to speake of the honour of this day, as ever it vvas to them to carrye the happye nevves of the flight of Aram. It is the birth-day of our countrey. It vvas deade before, and the verye soule of it quite departed. Sound religion, which is the life of a kingdome, was abandoned, faith exiled, the gospell of Christ driven into corners, and hunted be­yond the seas. All these fell, with the fall of an honorable and re­nowned plante; which, as the first flowre of the figtree,Hunc tani [...] terris fata ostendere. in the prime and bloominge of his age was translated into heaven: they rose a­gaine, with the rising and advancement of our gracious Lady and Soveraigne. Were I as able as vvillinge to procure solemnitye [Page 398] to the day, I would take the course that David did. I would begin at heaven,Psal. 1.48. and call the Angelles and armie [...] thereof, the sunne, moone, and starres, I woulde descend by the aire, and call the fire, haile and snow, vapours and stormy windes, I would enter into the sea, and call for dra­gons and all deepes, I woulde ende in the earth, and call for the moun­taines and hilles, fruitfull trees and cedars, beastes and all cattell, creeping thinges and feathered fowles, Kinges of the earth and all people, Princes, & Iudges, yonge men and maidens, olde men and children, to lend their har­mony and accord vnto vs, to praise the name of the Lorde, to accompa­ny and adorne the triumph of our land, and to showte into heaven with no other cry than this, salus Iehovae, salvation is only from the Lord, by whome the horne of this people hath so mightily bene exalted.Bona silua [...]ôrint Angli. O happy English, if wee knew our good; if that roiall vessell of gold, wherein the salvation of the Lorde hath bene sent vnto vs, were as precious and deare in our accounte, as it rightly deserveth. Her particular commendations, common to her sacred person not with many princes, I examine not. Let it bee one amongst a thousand, which Bernard gaue to a widowe Queene of Ierusalem, and serveth more iustly to the maiden Queene of England: that it was no lesse glory vnto her to liue a widowe (havinge the worlde at will, and beinge to sway a kingdome, which required the helpe of an husband) than a Queene. Illud succes­sionis est, hoc virtutis▪ il­lud tibi ex genere, istud ex munere Dei, illud foeliciter na­ta es istud viriliter nacta es. 2. ho­nor, alter se­cundum se­culum, alter secundū De­um, uter (que) à Deo. Bern. in epist. Pers· Potestas om­nis debet esse ornata The one, saith he, Came to thee by succession, the other by vertue; the one by descent of bloude, th [...] other by the gift of God; the one it was thy happinesse to bee borne, the other thy manlinesse to haue atteined vnto: a dou­ble honour, the one towardes the worlde, the other towardes God, both from God. Her wisedome as the wisedome of an Angell of the Lorde (so spake the widowe sometimes to David) fitter for an Angell than my selfe to speake of, her knowledge in the tongues and liberall learninge in all the liberall sciences (that in a famous Vniversitie amongst the learnedest men, shee hath bene able, not onely to heare and vn­derstand (which were somethinge,) but to speake, perswade, de­cide, like a graduate, oratour, professour; and in the highest court of parliamēt, hath not onely sitten amongst the peeres of her realme, and delivered her minde, maiestate manus, by some bodily gesture in signe of assent, but given her counsaile and iudgemente not inferi­our to any; and her selfe by her selfe hath aunswered the embassa­dours of severall nations in their severall languages;) with other excellent graces beseeming the state of a prince, though they best know, on whose hande shee lea [...]eth, and that are nearest in attendāce and observance about her maiesty, yet if any man bee ignorant of, [Page 399] let him aske of strangers abroade, into whose eares fame hath brui­ted and blowne her vertues, and done no more but right, in giving such giftes vnto her, as never were more rare in the rarest Queene, and in the sex of woman-hode carry admiration. Why doe I saye woman-hode? Vertue is tied neither to revenew nor kinde. Nec censum nec sexū ex­igi [...] virtus. Senec. Basil. ser. de Iulit a mart. Iulita a vvo­man & one that witnessed a good confession for the name of Christ, as shee was going to the stake to be burnt, exhorted womē, that they should not complaine of the weakenes of nature: because first, they were made of the same matter, whereof man was finished; Secondly, to the image of the same God; Thirdly, as fit and as capable to receive any goodnes; Fourthly, in­vested into the like honour. Why not? saith shee. Seeing vvee are kin­ned vnto men in all respectes. For not their flesh alone was taken for the cre­ation of women, but wee are bones of their bones: for which cause vvee are endebted to God, for courage, patience, virility, aswell as men.Sine excus­tione sexus ite obviam pietati. And Basile addeth his owne advise, that setting excuse of their sexe aside, they shoulde set vpon piety, and see vvhither nature hath debarred them of any thing, that was common to men. I note it the rather, because I know it greeveth Abimelech at the heart, that a vvoman shoulde cast downe a milstone vpon his head to kill him; and there­fore hee calleth his page to thrust him thorough, that men might not say, A woman slew him. It greeveth Abimelech of Rome,Iud. [...]. and his whole faction, that the church of England, and the whole estate of our land vnder the government of a woman, shoulde bee better able to defend it selfe against his tyranny, than any country in Chri­stendome. Their heartes breake with envy hereat, their tongues and pennes dissemble not their grudge at the foeminine primacie ▪ that a woman should bee the head (vnder Christ) of the church of Eng­lande. But as Chrisostome sometimes spake of Herodias and Iohn Baptist, so (by a contrary application of their manners) may I,Ser de de­coll. Ioan. Bapt. of two as vnlike (as ever fire and water) the one to Herodias, the other to Iohn Baptist; Mulier totius mundi ca [...]ut truncavit, A woman hath beheaded (within her realmes and dominions) the falsely vsurpinge and surmised heade of the whole worlde. Her father and brother of most famous memory, had broken his leggs before, as they brake the leggs of the theeues vpon the crosse; the one his right legge of rentes, and revenewes, the milke and hony of our lande; the other his left legge of idolatrous worshippes, the doctrine of men, false and er­ronious opinions, wherewith the children of this realme had beene poisoned a longe time. Queene Elizabeth hath bruised his heade, (for though his legges were broken, hee began to gather strengh [Page 400] againe.) Hee now commaundeth not, liveth not within our land (saving in a few disordered and luxate members, which as the parts of an adder cutte a sunder, retaine some life for a time, but never I trust, shall growe into a body againe) neither ever is hee likely to revive amongst vs, vnlesse the Lord shall raise him vp, for a plague to our vnthankefulnesse.Fecit virtu­tibus sui [...] ne haec civitas poenitentia ageres &c. And therefore as they saide of Tarquini­us Priscus in Rome, a Corinthian borne, and a straunger to their ci­ty, hee hath vvell deserved by his vertues, that our city shall never repent it of chusing a straunger to the king; so by her gracious and religious government amongst vs, hath her most excellent Maiesty worthily purchased, that England shall never be sory, that a woman was the Queene thereof. When shee came to her crowne, shee found the country (as Augustus the city of Rome) of bricke,Jnveni late­ritiam, reli qui marmo [...]eam. shee turned it into marble. Shee founde it in the sandes, she set it vpon a rocke, the foundation of prophets and apostles: shee founde it a lande of images, ignorances, corruptions, vanities, lies, shee hath hither­to preserved it, and I hope shall leave it to posterity, a lande possest of the truth, and seasoned with the gospell of Christ crucified. This this is the savingest salvation, that the Lorde hath, this the blessing and happinesse that we enioy vnder her gracious government, (be­sides our peace, such as our fathers never presumed to hope for, plenty, prosperity, corporall benefites, in that we lend and borrowe not, not onely our milke, but our bloud, mony, and men too, to those that want, and when wee ringe our belles for ioy, and give eare to the noise of timbrelles and tabrets, others are frighted with other kindes of soundes, the neying of horses, roaring of great or­dinance, howling of women and children, to see their orbities and miseries before their eies) I say, this is the blessing vvee reape, that the gospell is free by her procurement, our consciences not en­thralled to the ordinances of men, our zeale rectified by knowledge, and our religion reformed by the statutes of the highest God. Now as we have great reason to singe merily vnto the Lorde and vvith a good courage, Salvation is the Lordes, for these graces, so vvhat was the cause of her owne so many, miraculous deliverances, both before and since shee sate vpon the seate of her fathers, but the same Sal­vation, that by saving her, saved vs? I am sure shee was in daun­ger either of vvolves or of butchers, when her rightuous soule cried, Tanquam ovis, Suspecta multa, pro­ [...]a [...]a nulla. and as a sheepe was shee led to the slaughter, or not far from it. When her innocency coulde not be her shield, but though shee were free from crime, and God and man might iustly have clea­red [Page 401] her, yet shee was not free from suspicion. When she feared that the scaffolde of the Lady Iane stood for an other tragedie, wherein her selfe should haue plaide the wofullest part. Since which almost despaired escapes, (but that her time, as David spake, and her soule was in the handes of that Lord who deposeth and setteth vp Princes) how it hath fared vvith her, both at home and abroade, we al know: partly from trayterous and false-hearted Achitophels, which haue served her with an hearte and an hearte; partely from the bloudy bi­shops of Rome, and their pernicious seminaries, as full of mischiefe to Christendome, as ever the Troian horse to the inhabitants of Troy; partly from the king of Spaine, whose study long hath beene to bee the Monarke of Europe, of whom it is true, that they spake of ano­ther Philippe of Macedon, that hee bought the more part of Greece, Antè Phi­lippus maio­re ex part [...] mercator Graeciae, quàm victo [...] Val. Max. be­fore hee conquered it, so he buyeth countries before he winneth them, and would doe that by his Indian gold, which will be little ease for him to doe by men. They haue long maliced her, and I trust long shall; and malice shall doe the nature of malice, that is, drinke out the marrowe and moysture of those that foster it, and bring their devises vpon their owne heades, as Nadab and Abihu were consu­med with the fire of their owne censors. So long as Salus Iehovae en­dureth, which is as long as Iehov [...]h himselfe, our hope shall not pe­rish. He hath even sworne by his holinesse, as he did to David his servaunt, not to faile Queene Elizabeth.Psalm. 21. Jdoneum & compar tibi regnum fili invenias, quoniam Macedonia tui capa [...]s non est. He that prevented her with liberall blessings, before shee tooke the scepter into her handes, and set a crowne of pure golde vpon her heade, will maintaine his owne doings, perfit his good worke begunne and continued a long time, glori­fie his blessed name by advauncing her to glorie, encrease his king­dome by hers, subdue her people vnto her, confounde her enemies, and when the kingdome of Englande is no longer capable of her, (as Philip spake to Alexander his sonne) hee will establish her in a kingdome of a far more happy condition. Amen.

THE XXX. LECTVRE.

Chap. 2. ver. 10.‘And the Lorde spake vnto the fish, and it cast out Ionas vpon the dry lande.’

IONAS hath ended his song of Sion in a strange lande, which was the seconde parte of the chapter nowe insisted vpon. He hath brooked the seas with patience, and dige­sted his perilles with hope, and is nowe ar­rived at the haven of happy deliveraunce.Lament. 4. The inhabitauntes of the earth vvoulde never haue beleeved that the enemie coulde haue entred within the gates of Ierusalem, nor that the prophet of the Lorde coulde haue had egresse from the gates and barres of this monstrous fish. But so was it done by the Lorde, and it is marvailous in our eies.Act. 12. And as the chaines fell from the handes of Peter, the very night before Herode intended to bring him forth to his triall, and hee passed through the first and second watches without in­terruption, and the yron gate opened by it owne accorde vnto him, though hee were delivered to foure quaternions of souldiours to bee k [...]pte, and that nighte slepte betweene two, bounde with two chaines, and the keepers before the dores of the gaole; so after seventie two howres, which is the iudici­all howre of many daungerous diseases, happily the timeliest time wherein Ionas, if ever, was to looke for libertie againe, and the Whale might beginne to plead to himselfe everlasting possession of his pray so longe retained, though his heade were wrapte aboute vvith weedes, as Peters handes bounde with chaines, and he were de­livered both to floudes and depthes, promontories and rockes, as hee to fowre quaternions, and at this instante of his deliverye laie betweene the barres of earth and sea, as Peter slept betweene two souldiours, besides the throate and iawes of the fish (his loath­some prison) which sate as keepers before the dores, yet all these encumbraunces and lettes fell from the bodie of Ionas, and hee past through the first and seconde watches, I meane, the entralles of the VVhale, and that iron gate, of his strong armed teeth, and was cast vp vpon drye grounde, as Peter vvas restored to his friendes house.

In miracles and mysteries must I spend my discourse at this time. The miracles are not newes vnto you,Miraculis [...] mysterij [...] [...]nia plena. thorough out the vvhole decourse of these histories. VVherein the Lorde hath the prin­cipall [Page 403] parte, qui facit mirabilia solus, vvho onely worketh vvonders and onelye vvonders, vvhat haue you seene else? Ionas was svval­lowed by a miracle, by a miracle vvas preserued, lived, and sang, and by a miracle is cast vp. VVho was the authour of the mira­cle? The Lorde. What were his meanes?The Lord. Spake. To the fish. Hee cast him vp. Vpon dry land. His vvorde or comman­dement? Who the minister? the fish. The manner what? by vomi­ting or disgorging himselfe. Lastly, the terminus ad quem, or place that received him; The dry land. In these particulars doth the sentence of my text empty it selfe.

1 The Lorde spake. One and the same hande both vvounded and recured him.1. Vna eadem (que) manus vul­nus opem (que) tulit. Iob. 40. VVho else vvas of mighte to haue encountred this fearefull beast? For canst thou drawe out Leviathan with an hooke, or pierce his iavves vvith an angle? VVill hee make manie praiers vnto thee, or speake thee faire? Lay but thine hande vpon him, and thou shalt haue cause to remember the battell, and to doe no more so. Be­holde, thine hope is in vaine, if thou thinkest to match him, for shall not one perish even at the sighte of him? Muchlesse canst thou draw him to the shore, and cast a line into his bowels, to draw out a pro­phet or any spoile there-hence. They said of David in the Psalme, novve hee is dovvne, hee shall rise no more. Psalm. 41. If thou hadst askt both lande and sea, when Ionas vvas fallen into the depthes of them, they vvoulde haue aunswered thee, nowe hee is downe, hee shall rise no more. Even his owne most familiar friende, vvhome hee best tru­sted, vvith whome hee had taken his sweetest counsaile, the hearte with­in his brest, tolde him many a time, Thou shalt rise no more, thou art cast out of the sighte of the Lorde and company of men for ever. But hee knewe whome hee trusted, and who vvas best able to restore the pawne committed vnto him, though hee walked in the bellie of the fish, as in the valley of death. Yet the LORDE was on his side, vvhat then coulde hurte him? The Lorde liveth, Vivit Domi­nu [...]. Dicis Domi­nu [...]. Dominus nomen eius. the LORD hath spoken, the Lorde is his name, and such like preambles to manie sentences of scripture, are most effectuall motiues of perswasion, and giue vs vnquestionable assuraunce of vvhatsoe­ver therein set downe. The Angell appeared vnto Gedeon, Iudges the sixte, and saide vnto him, The Lorde is with thee thou va­liant man. VVhat cause had Gedeon, when hee hearde but that preface, Dominus tecum, the LORDE is with thee, to speake of their miseries, and to call for wonted miracles, and to thinke that God had forsak [...]n them? The weakest and feeblest soule in the worlde, assist [...] with the valiancie of the most valiant Lorde, cannot [Page 404] be endangered. And therefore hee bade Gedeon, Goe in this thy mighte, Jn hâc tuâ. and thou shalt saue Israell out of the handes of Madian. Not in the mighte of thine owne arme, for who hath enabled thee? but in this thy might, this that I speake of, the presence of my maiesty, mine by right, thine by vse and receipte; mine by possession, thine by com­munication; mine originally, thine instrumentally: for haue not I sent thee? and I will bee with thee, and thou shalt smite Madian as one man. The like was the greeting of the angell to the mother of the Lord, Domi­nus tecum, The Lord is with thee. I haue said enough: I neede not giue reasons of my message. Aske no questions, make no doubt of thine o­vernaturall and vnkindely conception, when thou shalt but heare that the Lorde is with thee, and the power of the most high shall overshadowe thee.

2 The meanes or instrumēt. andThe Lorde spake to the fish. The instrumente that the LORD vsed in the delivery of his Prophet, is that Delphian swoorde, or vniversall instrumente vvhich hee vsed in forming the worlde, and all the creatures thereof.3 The mi­nister. Genes. 1. Hebr. 1. Dixit, id est, perfecit. Alchym. Posuit, vt celeritatē & facilitatem operis Dei o­stendere [...]. Hee saide, let there bee lighte, let there bee a firmament, let the waters bee gathered into one place, let the dry lande appeare &c. and it was fulfilled. And at this howre the everliving vvorde of GOD, beareth vp and supporteth all thinges by his vvorde. VVhat is his word then, but his meere and effectu­all commaundement, and the giving of effecte to that which his hearte hath intended? VVho as hee goeth without feete, seeth vvithout eies, and reacheth without hands, so there is no question but hee speaketh vvithout a tongue, and such instrumentes of speech as are ordinarie vvith the sonnes of men. For vvhat eares had the light, the firmament, and other his vvorkes, to heare and obserue his wordes if hee had pronounced them? or vvhat capaci­tie and intelligence had the fish in this place?Dicere est praecipere. Occolampad. Quia coa­ctus est face­re volunta­tem Dei. R. Kimhi. Ad bonitatē piscē adigit. Naturâ [...]o­lent pisces grandes salo se defendere. Plin. But as the office of speech in man, is to bee the messenger and interpreter of his hearte; and to signifie his conceiptes invvardely and secretly pur­posed: so somevvhat the LORDE doeth, vvhereby he im­parteth a knowledge, even vnto insensible creatures what his minde and pleasure is. Therefore it is saide, that the LORDE spake to the fish, when he commaunded that service of him, and compelled him to execute his will, when hee mooved him to more mercie than na­ture had shaped him vnto, and brought him to the shore, whome the hugenesse of his bodie naturally enforced to keepe the depthes of the sea. It sheweth what divinity there is (if I may so tearme it) in the word of God, how imperious to command, how easie to obtaine [Page 405] when it hath commaunded. One fiat, is of power to make that which was never made before, and had lyen in everlasting infor­mitie, if GOD had spared to speake; to establish nature when it is not, and to change nature when it is; to create angels, men, birdes, beastes, fishes; to store heaven, earth, and the deepe with innu­merable armies of creatures; and to make them bowe their knees to their maker, and render vnlimited obedience to all his decrees. VVhen God was manifested in the flesh, and wente aboute doing good, Math. 8▪ as the Evangelist writeth, a beleeving Centurion in a suite that dearely affected him, desired not the travaile of his feete, nor any receite of physicke to heale his servaunte, no not so much as the laying on his hande, vvhich some had requested, nor comminge within the roofe of his house, but onely a woorde from his lippes; Speake but the woorde, LORDE, and my servaunte shall bee healed. Man liveth not by breade, neither recovereth by physicke onelie, but by everie worde that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. A leper had tolde him in the nexte wordes before, Lorde, if thou wilte thou canst make mee cleane. Voluntas tua, opus est, Thy will is thy worke:Origen. And hee saide, I will, bee thou made cleane. As if with the breath of his mouth hee had spoken to his leprosie, bee gone, as hee afterwardes spake to the Devilles, [...], bee packing into the hearde of swine,Ibid. and they went the next way over the rockes and cle [...]ues, as if a whirle-winde had borne them. He rebuketh the windes and the sea in the same place, with more authority than ever Peter rebuked Ananias and Saphira, and with the like successe, for he smote the breath from the windes, and motion from the sea, [...]. The voice of his thū ­ders. and a greate concussion of waters became a greate calme. Who is this, that the windes and the sea obey him? For they not onelie heare him, but heare him vvith effecte, they goe, and runne, and stande still, like servauntes of their master, and as it were, liue and die at his commaundement. The pro­phet in the twenty nine Psalme, speaketh of one voyce that the Lorde hath, a mightie and glorious voice, (a voice that hath a sensible sounde indeede, and smiteth the eares both of man and beast some­times with tingling and astonishment) that it breaketh the cedars, e­ven the cedars of Libanus, and shaketh the wildernesse, even the wildernesse of Cadesh, that it divideth the flames of fire, maketh the Hindes to cast their calues, and discovereth the forrestes. But this voice, whereof I speake, maketh the cedars, even the cedars of Libanus, and crea­teth the vvildernesse, even the wildernesse of Cadesh, formeth the flames of fire, fashioneth the Hindes and their younge ones, [Page 406] and planteth the forrestes. And this was the worde that spake to the fish to cast vp Ionas. Beholde, at the voice of the Lorde Levia­than casteth his young, and aborteth a prophet before hee is wil­ling. So true it is by absolute experience, which the spirit of God testifieth Heb. 4. That the worde of God is liuely and mighty in operation, and sharper then any two-edged sworde, and entreth through even vnto the dividing of the soule and the spirite, and of the iointes and the marrowe, and is a discerner of the thoughtes and the intentes of the hearte. Neither is there any creature which is not manifest in his sight, but all thinges are na­ked and open vnto his eies, vvith whome wee haue to doe. You heare how farre it entered, in the wordes of my text. It went into the bowels of a Whale lying in the bowels of the seas, and as narrowly searched all his entralles as Laban Iacobs stuffe, it divided betweene his teeth and their strength that they coulde not chew, and went betweene his stomacke & the appetite therof that it durst not concoct, it drew him as an angle and hooke to the land, ransackte his mawe, and opened the straights of his throate that the prophet of the Lord might come forth.

Hee cast vp Ionas. The manner of his comming foorth see­meth to haue beene without ease and pleasure to the Whale.4. The mā ­ner. For as a stomake over-charged, or offended with meate that it hath received, is not at rest till it hath vnloaden it selfe: so the VVhale feeling a morsell vvithin him, vvhich hee cannot turne into nu­triment, what shoulde hee doe, for his owne quiet, but by the riftings and reachings of his stomacke sende it foorth? Thus it is saide of the hypocrite, Iob the twentith, VVho hath vndone ma­nie, and spoiled houses which hee never builded, vvhose wickednesse vvas sweete in his mouth, as perhappes Ionas in the mouth of the fish, and hee hidde it vnder his tongue, &c. That his meate in his bowels was tur­ned, and that the gall of aspes was in the middest of him; that hee had de­voured substance, and shoulde vomit it vp, for GOD woulde draw it out of his bellie; that hee shoulde restore the labour, and devour no more; that [...]ee shoulde feele no quietnesse in his bodie, neither reserue any thing of that vvhich hee desired. There you heare at large what the nature of a surfitte is. And doubtlesse ill gotten goods, vvhen a man snatch­eth at the right hande, and catcheth at the lefte, vvithout bee­ing satisfied, and eateth vp the people of the lande as breade, is a spirituall surfitte, and not a kindelye or hole-some maine­tenance to him that hath coveted it. So is pleasure, and sweet­nesse in sinning, vvhen one favoureth it (as Zophar there speaketh) [Page 407] and vvill not forsake it, but keepeth it close in his mouth, though it dwell in darkenesse as darke as night, and saie to the soule and reines, hide mee safe, yet it is a surfitte too, and vvhen the bellie hath beene filled vvith aboundaunce thereof, it shall bee in paine, (to conti­nue the phrase of that booke) and GOD shall sende vpon it his fierce vvrath. The angell of the Laodicaean Church,Ibid. Revelation the thirde, was vnto GOD as rawe and vndigested meate which his hearte coulde not brooke. His lukenesse and neutralitye of dealing in his service did so much offende him, that although he had beene received into some inwarde favour as sustenaunce is ta­ken into the stomacke, yet hee is threatned to bee spued vp againe. [...]. The phrase is some-what infrequent and rare in the scripture, yet is it no where vsed, but it deserveth wisely and waightily to bee con­sidered. In this place, to conclude, the meaning is, that Ionas was not descended into the bellie of the fish to become a pray vnto him, but to dwell in a desert and solitarie house for a time, as Iere­mie wisht him a cotage in the wildernesse, and as it were to goe aside, and hide himselfe from the anger of the Lord, till the storme might be overpast.

The vvoordes of Micheas doe rightelye expresse my minde heerein. I vvill beare the vvrath of the LORDE because I haue sin­ned against him, vntill hee pleade my cause, Chap. 7. and execute iudgemente for mee. Then vvill hee bringe mee foorth to the lighte, and I shall see his righteousnesse. VVhen thou that arte mine enemie shalt looke vpon it, and shame shall cover thee, vvhich sayest vnto mee, vvhere is the LORD thy God?

Lastlye the place vvhich received Ionas, was the drye lande. 5. The place. VVhich noteth a qualitye of the earth commodious and fitte for habitation. Hee felte the grounde before, vvhen hee went downe to the bottome of the mounetaines, and the earth vvas aboute him vvith her barres, but he felte not the drie grounde. He vvalked not then vpon the face of the earth, vvhich is the manner of living soules, but vvas vnder the rootes of the mounetaines, vvhere hee had not li­bertye nor power to breath, but by speciall providence. In the beginning of the creation, the vvaters were aboue the earth, til the LORDE saide,Genes. 1. Let the vvaters vnder the heaven bee gathered into one place, and let the drie lande appeare, and it vvas so. According to the vvordes of the Psalmes; Hee hath founded it vpon the seas, Psalm. 24. and esta­blished it vpon the flovvdes. And againe, Hee hath stretched out the earth vpon the vvaters, for his mercie endureth for ever. Psalm. 136. A straunge [Page 408] kinde of building, when others lay the foundations vpon rockes, the LORDE vpon the vvaters.Psalm. 104. Cum te p [...]u­dēti reputas insistere ter­rae: Nonné vel hinc clarè conspicis esse Deum? Locus alius Naturalis, alius Fata­lis & mira­culosus. And yet hee hath so set the earth vpon those pillers, that it shall never mooue. VVhen thou callest to minde, that thou treadest vpon the earth hanging (like a ball) in the aire, and floting in the waters, is it not evidente enough vnto thee, even by this one argument, that there is a God? By the con­fession of all, the naturall place of the waters is aboue the earth. This at the first they enioyed, and after repeated and recovered againe, in the over-whelming of the worlde, when the LORD for a time delivered them as it were from their bandes, and gaue them their voluntarie and naturall passage. And at this day, there is no doubte, but the sea, which is the collection of waters, ly­eth higher than the lande, as sea-faring men gather by sensible ex­perimentes, and therefore the Psalme saith, Thou coveredst it with the deepe as with a garment. For as a vesture in the proper vse of it, is aboue the bodie that is clothed therewith; so is the sea aboue the lande: and such a garmente woulde it haue beene vnto the earth, but for the providence of GOD towardes vs, as the shirte that was made for the muthering of Agamemnon, where the heade had no issue out. Therefore the Psalme addeth immediately, The vvaters woulde stande aboue the mounetaines, but at thy rebuke they flee, at the voyce of thy thunder they haste away. And the mounetaines ascende, and the vallies descende to the place which thou haste established for them. But thou haste set them a bounde, which they shall not passe; neither shall they returne to cover the earth. Iob 38. The like in the booke of Iob; vvhere the phrases are, that the LORDE hath established his commaunde­ment vpon the sea (though a wilde and vntamed creature) and sette barres and do [...]es aboute it, and saide, Hitherto shalt thou come and no fur­ther, Ecaenaculis. heere vvill I staie thy prowde waues. VVhat from the chambers that are aboue, and from the fountaines and sluces that lie beneath, howe easie a matter vvere it for the former of all thinges to set o­pen his vvindowes and dammes,Genes. 7. and every howre of our life to o­ver-runne vs with a newe deluge? Nay, he hath vvater enough to drowne vs vvithin our owne bodies. Hee ca [...]e there com­maunde a full sea of distempered and redundant humors,Heraclius the Empe­rour dyed of a dropsy. V [...]a [...]err. to take our breath from vs. VVee little bethinke our selues howe daylie and continually vvee stande beholding to the goodnesse of GOD for sparinge our liues. VVho though hee with holde the forces of those outwarde elementes, vvater, and fire, and the rest, that they doe vs no harme, yet vvee haue elementes vvithin, where­of [Page 409] wee are framed and composed, wee haue heate and colde, moy­sture and drought, which hee can vse at his pleasure to our owne destruction. Let these brethren of one house, but withall the fa­thers and founders as it vvere of our nature, fall at variance with­in vs, and they vvill rende our liues a sunder like vvilde boares. Howe manye haue beene buryed aliue in the graues of their earth­lye and melancholicke imaginations? Howe many burned in the flames of pestilent and hote diseases? Their bowelles set on fire like an oven, their bloude dryed vp, their inwardes withered and wasted vvith the violence thereof? The vapours and fumes of their owne vicious stomacke, as a contagious aire, howe ma­nye haue they poysoned and choked vp? Finallye, howe ma­nye haue beene glutted and overcharged with waters betweene their owne skinne and bones? And therefore we must conclude and crye with the Prophet, It is the mercie of the LORDE, that wee are not consumed, both from without and from within,Lamen. 3, because his compassions faile not. Hitherto of the myracles, the former parte of my promise, and the seconde experimente of the ever­flowing mercye of GOD continued towardes Ionas his servaunt. O livinge and large fountaine of grace, alvvayes drawne, yet never dryed vp, because it runneth from the breast, and is fed with the good pleasure of an infinite and immortall GOD. For what better reason canne bee given, of his lovinge affection to­vvardes vs, than that which Micheas hath in the ende of his pro­phecie, Because mercy pleaseth him?Mich. 7. VVhat other cause hath in­duced him, (not to remooue in haste from the sweete songue of that Prophete) to take awaie iniquitie, and passe by the transgressions of his heritage, not to retaine his anger for ever, though for ever deser­ved, but to returne and haue compassion vpon vs, to subdue our vnrigh­teousnesse, and cast all our sinnes into the bottome of a sea, deeper and farther from his sighte than were these seas of Ionas, to perfourme his trueth to Iacob, and kindnesse to Abraham accordinge to his othe in auncient time, but because mercie pleaseth him? For who hath first loved, or first given, or anye way deserved, and it shalbee re­stored vnto him a thousande folde? Blessinges and thankesgi­vinges for evermore bee heaped vpon his holy name, in whom the treasures of mercy and loving kindenesse dwell bodylie, who of his owne benevolente disposition hath both pleased himselfe and pleasured his poore people with so gracious a qualitye. E­ven so LORD, for that good pleasure and purpose sake, deale with [Page 410] the rest of thy people as thou hast dealt with Ionas and the marriners, take awaie those iniquities of ours, that take away thy favour and bles­sing from vs, and as a stranger that knoweth them not, passe by our trans­gressions, retaine not thine anger for ever, though we retaine our sinnes the cause of thine anger, but returne to vs by grace, who returne not to thee by repentance, and haue compassion vpon vs, who haue not compas­sion vpon our owne soules, subdue our raigning and raging vnrighte­ousnesse, and drowne our offences in the bottome of the sea, which els will drowne vs in the bottome of perdition.

2. Myste­ries.The mysteries buried vnder this type of the casting vp of Ionas, the seconde principall consideration vvherein I bounded my selfe, are collected by some, 1. The preaching of the gospell to the Gen­tiles not before the passion and resurrection of Christ, because Io­nas went not to Niniveh, till after his sinking and rising againe; 2. A lanterne of comforte to all that sit in the darkenesse of affliction and in the shadowe of death, held out in the enlargement of Ionas, who though hee vvere swallowed downe into the bowels of an vn­mercifull beast, yet by the hand of the Lord he was againe▪ cast our. These are somewhat enforced. But the only counterpane indeed to match this original, is the resurrection of the blessed sonne of God from death to life, figured in the restitution of the prophet to his former estate of liuelyhode, and by him applyed in the gospel to this body of truth, who is very and substantiall trueth. For so hee tel­leth the Scribes and Pharisees twise in one Evangelist,Math. 12. & 16. An evill and adulterous generation, (degenerated from the faith and workes of their father Abraham, wherein standeth the right descent of his children) asketh a signe, but no signe shall bee given vnto it, saue the signe of the Prophet Ionas. For as Ionas vvas three daies and three nightes in the whales belly so shall the sonne of man bee three daies and three nightes in the [...]earte of the earth. His meaning was, that if this so vnlikely, and in nature so vncredible a signe coulde not mooue them, all the tokens in hea­ven and earth would not take effect. That Christ is risen againe, there is no question. The bookes are open, and hee that runneth may reade enough to perswade him. Hee that tolde them of the signe before mentioned, signified the same worke vnder the name and shadow of the temple of Ierusalem, a little to obscure his mea­ning, (and that hee tearmed a signe also,) Destroie this temple, and I will builde it againe in three daies. He meante not the temple of Salo­mon, [...]. Iohn 2. Ibid. as they mistooke, but the temple of his bodie, more costly and glorious than ever that admired temple of theirs, the buildinge [Page 411] whereof in the counsaile of his father was more than forty and sixe yeares, even from the first age of the worlde, and everie stone there­in, angular, precious, and tryed, cut out of a mountaine without handes, Daniel. 2. or­deined from the highest heauens without humane furtheraunce; and such whereof hee affirmed longe before in the mouth of his Pro­phet, who could iustifie his saying,Psalm. 16. Thou shalt not suffer thine holy one to see corruption; though of the other temple hee prophecied, and it was perfourmed,Math. 24. there shall not a stone bee lefte standing vpon a stone that shall not bee cast dovvne. Praedixit, & revixit. He gaue warning be­fore that it shoulde so bee, and hee fulfilled it.Bern. ser. 1. in pasch. The earth-quake at the very time of his resurrection, Math. 28. the testimonie and rebuke of Angelles, vvhy seeke yee the living amongest the deade? hee is risen, he is not here, his manifestation to one, to two, to twelue,Luke 24▪ to moe than fiue hundreth at once, once and againe, his breaking of breade a­mongst them; the printes of his handes and side, their very fingers and nayles for evidence sake thrust into them,Qui altè dubitat, alti­ùs credit. Petr. Chry­solog. de Tho­ma. togither with so ma­ny predictions that thus it must bee, and so many sermons and ex­hortations that so it was, are able to resolue any spirite, that setteth not it selfe of purpose to resist the holie Ghost. Or if there be any of so audacious impiety as to deny the scriptures, (the warrante whereof is so stronge, that Paul in the Actes of the Apostles, not tarrying the answere of king Agrippa, by his owne mouth speaketh in his name by a reasonable and vndoubted concession, I know thou beleevest them, Act. 26. and hee thought it afterwardes firme enough to prooue any article of the faith without other force according to the scriptures;) let them listen a while to that learned disputation that GREAT ATHANASIVS helde concerning this point.1 Cor. 15. Quo vivē [...] res Christia­na mirificè 46. annis su­stentata est. Platina in Siricio. Lib. de hu­mil. verb. & corporaei [...] advent [...]. Hee proveth that the sonne of God coulde not chuse but die, having taken vnto him a body of death; and that hee coulde not but liue againe, because that bodye of his was vitae sacrarium, The vestrie or chappell wherein life vvas con­served. And hee holdeth it a senselesse thing, that a dead man shoulde haue the power so to extimulate and pricke the mindes of the livinge, that the Grecian and Pagan was brought to forsake his auncient, nationall idolatries, and worship the Saviour of the world: that a man forsaken of life, and able to doe nothing, should so hin­der the actions of actiue and liues-men, that by the preaching of Ie­sus of Nazareth, an adulterer leaveth his adulteries, a murtherer his bloud sheades, and at the naming of his dreadfull name, the very devilles departe from their oracles and oratories. He vrgeth yet fur­ther. Howe can the carkas of a dead man prevaile so much with the [Page 412] living, that vpon the confidence of life therein contained, they haue endured the losse of libertie, countrie, wife, children, goods, good name, [...]. and life it selfe, with such Christian magnanimity, that the Arrians espying it, beganne to receiue it as a ruled and resol­ved case not to be doubted of, there is no Christian living that fea­reth death. As for the slaunder of his sworne enemies the Iewes, whose malice cannot ende but in the ende of the woorlde, vvho contrary to common humanity belyed him in his graue, and gaue not leaue to his bones to rest in peace, saying and hyring men to saye, and vvith a greate summe purchasing that vntrueth, as the chiefe captaine did his burgesshippe, Actes the two and twentith. His dis­ciples came by nighte, Math. 28. and stole him awaie while we slept: let it sleepe in the dust with them, till the time come, When everie eie shall see him, e­ven those that pierced him vpon the crosse, and those that watched him in his graue also, and then they shall say too late, wee and our mo­ney are both perished. VVhy haue we taken or given the accur­sed wages of vnrighteousnesse to speake falshode? But how could it bee the meane time, that you may knowe they shewed them­selues starkest fooles, vvhere they professed greatest vvisedome? VVas there not caution and provision enough before hande? Sir, wee remember, [...]. this deceiver saide thus? was not a greate stone rolled to the mouth of the graue? and their seale set vpon the stone? and a watch apointed to attende the sepulchre? Standeth it vvith reason, that a fewe disciples, their eies yet streaming, and their heartes aking with their late losse, bruised reedes, the staffe of their comfortes being taken from them, the children of the bride-chamber mour­ning for the absence of the bridge-grome, lambes amongst ravenous and bloud sucking woules, shoulde dare to attempte an acte so dan­gerous to be vndertaken, and so vnpossible to bee compassed? But they did attempte it by stealth; when there was neede of engines to remooue the stone, and it coulde not bee done without most tumul­tuous heaving and shouldering. And the souldiours slept, they saie; as if sleepers coulde truely reporte that which they knewe not. But why doe I fighte against a disarmed and vnworthie falshode? If an­gels, men, weomen, disciples, strangers, friendes, foes, a clowde of suf­ficient vvitnesses, if the emptying of the sepulchre, and leaving of the linnen clothes, which those that had eies to see with, mighte be­holde, if the amasemente of the watch, newes of the souldiours, sub­ornation of high-priestes and elders, the letter of Pilate to the Emperour to signifie no lesse, if his owne walking, talking, eating, [Page 413] drinking, conversing, visible ascending, if preaching, beleeving, and both livinge and dying in that beleefe, bee enough to mooue credite, Christ is risen from the deade, and novve hee dyeth not againe, Rom. 6. neither hath death any more dominion ouer him. Rather hee hath do­minion over death. For hee is aliue but vvas deade: And beholde, hee is aliue for evermore, Amen. Revel. 1. And hee hath the keyes of hell and of death. For who was worthy, nay who was able of all the host in hea­ven and earth, to open this last seale of death and destruction, but the Lambe that vvas killed, or rather the Lyon that was raised by the power of his owne might? And therefore it is righte vvell ob­served by Bernarde,In die pasch. ser. 1. that all those resurrections which we reade of in former times, of the Shunamites sonne and others, vvere istius praeambulae, not onely fore-runners and leaders to this, but surelye they were wrought in the finger and vertue thereof. And these were the differences betwixte those and this later, that then they came foorth of their graues or vvere recovered to life mortui, sed iterum morituri, deade I confesse, but vvithall they were to die againe: Christ dyeth no more. That Elizaeus restored a childe, sed alterum non seipsum, an other not himselfe: Christ himselfe.Caeteros di­cimus quidē resuscitator; Christum re­surrexisse. And they vvere rather raysed, than did rise themselues, for they were but patientes whilst the act was done vpon them: Christ arose by his owne strength.

But to returne to the heade of the race vvhere wee first began, vvee haue founde the signe and the thing signified thus farre fit­ted together, that as Ionas the thirde day vvas cast vp out of the bellye of the fish, so our holy redeemer arose from the heart of the earth. Shall wee heere rest? Or shal it suffice vs to know what the body to that shaddowe is, and not to sucke there-hence the sweete­nesse and iuyce which that body yeeldeth vs? The Iewes asked a signe, and this signe was given them. And vvhen they saw it ful­filled, either they spake against, or they did but wonder at it. To vs it shall bee more than a signe, even dearer to our soules than our soules are to vs. It shall haue wonder and wonder enough▪ but withal we will not lose our fruit and our part therein for a worldes ransome. Our hope would vanish like smoke, and our heartes within vs wither away as grasse vpon the house tops, death would sting vs to death in­deede, & the graue shut the mouth vpon vs, & hell make her full tri­umph, but for this graine of faith, that Christ is risen from the dead, and is become the first fruites of those that sleepe. And,1. Cor. 2 [...]. hee is the heade of the body of the church (not an head to himselfe without respect to his [Page 414] member) the beginning and first begotten of the deade (not without bre­thren and sisters in the same kinde of generation) that he in all thinges might haue the preheminence. Golos. 1. What other restoratiue had the fainting and dying soule of Iob to comfort it selfe with, vvhat other bles­sing and sap in the vine, in that deadest winter of affliction, vvhat other couche to lodge his distressed and diseased bones vpon, what helper, when his wife molested him, what friend, when his friendes forsooke him, but this onelye meditation vvhich was in steede of friendes, wife, bed, borde, all thinges vnto him, I knowe my redee­mer liveth? that is: The life of my life can never be destroyed, and for the enrollement of this happy argument, hee called for bookes of the longest continuance, and pennes of the hardest pointes, that the latest liver of all after worldes might learne by it. Hence came it, that the blessed vessell of election made that free challendge to all the actours and pleaders that condemnation had, fearing neither the districte iustice of God, nor the malice of his owne heart, nor the vncessant accusation of Sathan day and night; Who shall condemne; It is Christ which is deade, [...]. Rom. 8. yea, or rather, which is risen againe: Who is also at the righte hande of God, and maketh request likewise for vs. So that the sinewes & strength of his confidence is not so much in the death, as in the resurrection of the sonne of God, not to a weake and con­temptible life, as before time, but to a full possession of glorie, nor for himselfe alone, but for his orphane members vpon the earth, for whome hee maketh continuall intercession. And vpon this stocke hee seemeth to plant the whole body of Christianitye in his former Epistle to the Corinthians.Chap. 15. For if Christ bee not risen, then is preaching vaine, and faith vaine, and the living are yet in their sinnes, and those that are fallen a sleepe are perished, and vvee were of all men most wretched. As much as to say, pull downe tem­ples and synagogues, burne the writings of Prophets and Apostles, stoppe your [...]ares at the voice of charmers, praise the dead more than the living, and rather than them both, those that haue never beene, commende the wisedome of the Epicure, who taketh his portion in this life, and suffereth not the flowre of his youth to passe without pleasure; If Christ bee not risen againe. But I bring you other ty­dings.Bernard. Our Phoenix is revived, the seede that was mortified in the grounde, is come vp againe with abundance of fruite: and the beautifull flowre of the roote of Iesse, though withered and defa­ced for a while in his passion, hath so reflourished by raysing him selfe, that in him is the blooming and springing of all that loue his [Page 415] name. This is that which Paul in his aunswere before Agrippa, cal­led the hope of the fathers; and this I may as properly tearme,Act. 26. Revel. 13. Virtus agen­di, spe [...] futu­ri. Tolle spem resurrectio­nis, & reso­luta est ob­servantia omnis pieta­tis, Chrysost. The faith and patience of the Saintes. For as in every action, the vertue that mooveth the agent to vndertake it, is the hope of good to come, (for hee that soweth, soweth to reape, and hee that fighteth, figh­teth to get the victory:) so take away the hope of resurrection, and all the conscience or care of godlinesse will fall to the grounde. Gre­gorie vpon these wordes of the last of Sain [...] Matthew, But some doubted, (VVherevpon hee else-where [...]oteth, that it was the es­peciall providence of God, that Thomas shoulde bee away, and af­terwardes come and heare, heare and doubte, doubte and handle, handle and beleeue, that so hee might become a witnesse of the true resurrection; and that it was not so much a touch of infirmitye in them, as a confi [...]mation to vs,Non tam in­ [...]irmitas illo­rum, quàm nostra firmi­tas fuit. In integrum de corrup [...]o &c. de resur. Carnis. J [...]sorum temporū pro­pria gula. Cr [...]s sperā ­do moriun­tur, & hodie bibendo se­peliuntur▪ Mor [...]um quo [...] mortu­um. Vive dū vi­vis. Nihil esse post mortem Epicuri scho la est &c. Quid enim mundus quo­tidie nisi re­surrectio­nem nostrā in elementis suis imi [...] ­ [...]ur▪ who by that meanes haue the re­surrection prooved by so many the more argumentes) there are ma­ny, saith hee, who considering the departure of the spirit from the flesh, the goinge of that flesh into rottennesse, that rottennesse in­to dust, that dust into the elementes thereof, so small, that the eie of man cannot perceiue them, denie and despaire of the resurrecti­on, and thinke it vnpossible that ever the withered bones shoulde be cloathed with flesh and waxe greene againe. Tertullian frameth their obiections more at large. Can that body ever bee sounde a­gaine that hath beene corrupted, whole that hath beene maymed, full that hath beene emptied, or haue any being at all, that hath beene altogither turned into nothing? Or shall the fire, and water, the bowels of wilde beastes, gordges of birdes, entralles of fishes, yea the very throate that belongeth to the times themselues, ever bee able to restore and redeliver it to the former services thereof? Heerevpon they inferred, vvho had no longinge after life, nor desire to see good dayes, let vs eate and drinke, for to morrowe vvee shall die; that is, they will not die before to morrowe, but in drunkennes and excesse they will bury themselues to day. And liue whilest thou mayest liue. And it is better to be a living dogge then a deade lion. And there is nothing after death, no not death [...] selfe. Who if they helde not, saith Gregorie, the faith, of the resurrection, by submitting them­selues to the worde of God, surelie they shoulde haue helde it vp­on the verdite of reason. For what doth the worlde daylie, in the elementes and creatures thereof, but imitate our resurrection? VVe see by degrees of time, the withering and falling of the leaues from the trees, the intermission of their fruites &c. And beholde vpon [Page 416] the suddaine, as it vvere from a drye and deade tree, by a kinde of resurrection, the leaues breake foorth againe, the fruites waxe bigge and ripe, and the whole tree is apparrailed with a fresh beau­ty. Consider wee the little seede, whereout the tree ariseth, and let vs comprehend if wee can, in that small-nesse of seede, howe so mighty a tree and where it was couched. Where was the wood, the barke, the glorie of the leaues, the plenty of the fruit, when we first sowed it? when wee threw it into the grounde, was any of these ap­parant? what marvaile is it then, if of the thinnest dust, resolved in­to the first elementes, and remooved from the apprehension of our eies, God at his pleasure reforme a man, when from the smallest seedes he is able to produce so huge trees? The Apostle vseth this similitude of the seed,1. Cor. 15. and the body that springeth from it. Thou foole, that which thou sowest, is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall bee, but the naked and simple seede, whereof the blade and the eare with the rest of the burthen and encrease ariseth. And Tertullian much wondreth, that the earth is so kinde vnto vs,De fraud [...] ­ [...]rice fi [...] ser­vatrix. Vt custodia [...], perdit. Jni [...] ­riâ, vsurâ: damno, lucro &c. to returne our corne with such aboundance: of a deceaver shee becommeth a preserver. And before shee pre­serveth shee first destroieth. First by iniurie, then by vsurie. First by losse, then by gaine. This is the manner of her dealing. He ad­deth to giue more light even from the starre of nature, the revolu­tions of winters, sommers, autumnes, springes, as it vvere so ma­ny deathes and so many resurrections; the dying of the day dayly into night, and vprising to the worlde againe, as freshly be-decked with honour and bravery, as if it had never died. So true it is vvhich Arnobius wrote against the Gentiles, Beholde, howe the whole creature doth write a commentary to giue vs comfort in this pointe. If wee shall shewe this booke to the Atheistes and Epicures of these daies,Vide adeò quàm in so­latium no­strum omnis creatura me­ditetur. li. 8. Observa or­bem rerum in se remeā ­tium. Senec. Ioel 1. Esa. 26. and bid them reade therein the resurrection of the flesh, liue­ly discoursed, and they answere vs againe, either that they cannot reade it, because the booke is sealed and not plaine vnto them, or will not because their heartes are seared, I say no more but this, at Paul of the hiding of the Gospell to the like nighte-birdes, I am sure, they are seared and sealed to them that perish. So let them rest, their bodies rotting in the grounde, as the seede vnder the clods, which God blesseth not; the graue shutting her mouth, and destru­ction closing her iawes vpon them; and when others awake to singe, themselues awaking to howling and everlasting lamentation. For our owne partes wee rest assured in the authour and finisher of our [Page 417] faith, that if the spirit of him who raised vp Ionas and Iesus from the dead dwell in vs, hee that raised vp them, 1 The au­thor. Rom. 8. shall also quicken our mortall bo­dies. And as hee spake to the fish and it cast vp Ionas, spake to the earth and it cast vp Iesus (for vpon the trueth of his fa­thers word did his flesh rest in hope:) so the time shall come, 2 The in [...]strument. Act. 2. Ioh. 5. when all [...]hat are in the graues shall heare the voice of the sonne of God; vvhen hee shall speake to the earth giue, and to the sea restore my sonnes and daughters, to all the creatures in the vvorlde keepe not backe mine inheritance, and finally to the prisoners of hope, lodging a while in the chambers of the grounde, Stande foorth and shew your selues. And as Ionas was cast vp against the wil of the fish, his bowels not able to hold him longer then the pleasure of God was,3 Manne [...] and Christ returned to life with a songe of triumph in his mouth,Evomuit: emphat [...]cū, quod eximi [...] mortis vita­libu [...] vict [...]ix vita proces­serit. Hie­ron. 1. Cor. 15. Act. 2. Es 26. 1. Cor. 15. O graue where is thy conquest? because it was vnpossible that he should be ho [...]den of it; so when that howre commeth: the earth shall disclose her bloud and shall no longer hide her slaine; And the sea shall finde no rest, till the drowned be brought forth▪ nor any creature of the world be able to steale one bone that hath bin committed vnto it: but all kindes of deathes shal be swallowed vp into a general victory, and in his name that hath wonne the field for vs, we shall ioifully sing, thankes be vnto God that hath given vs victory through our Lord Iesus Christ.

And as Ionas was cast vp vpon the drie ground, the land of the living, where he might walke and breath and repose himselfe without dan­ger of miscarying, and Christ restored to life and immortality,4 Terminus ad quem. and exalted to a glorious estate at his fathers right hand: so the Lord shall also shew vs the pathes of life, & fill vs with the ioy of his countenaunce for evermore. Our corruptible shall put on incorruption, our mortall immor­tality, & we shal liue with the lambe that was slaine, in eternal glory Other shal rise to shame & perpetual cōtempt, Dan. 12.Non adda­mus inqui­rere quod il­le non addi­dit dicere Et de compen­dio finata sit omni [...] quae­stio. August. Quicquid futurum est decebit quiae nō futurum est si non de­cebit. And to the resurre­ctiō of cōdemnatiō, Ioh. 5. Saddu [...]es, Saturnians, Basilidians, Epicures, Atheists, which haue trodden this precious pearle of doctrine vnder their swinish feet, & haue not beleeved that they might be saved; but we to the lēgth of daies in the hands of God, & to the sight of his ho­ly face, which is most blessed blessednes. Other particulars of stature, age, & the like, we cease to enquire of, because God hath forborn to deliver them. We will not loose that by our curiosity, which Christ hath bought with his bloud, and is gone to possesse in the body of his flesh that we may also possesse it. I am sure, there shal be al wel, for else it shoulde not bee. There shall bee a drie grounde, for this valley of teares and sea of miseries. A lande of the living for this [Page 418] desert of the dead. A commodious and setled habitation for this tossing to and fro. There shall be no monsters of land or sea to make vs afraid any more, no sorrow to disquiet, no sicknesse to distemper, no death to dissolve vs, no sin to obiect vs to the wrath of God and to bring vs in danger of loosing his grace.

THE XXXI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. ver. 2.‘And the worde of the Lorde came vnto Ionas the seconde time, saying, Arise, goe vnto Niniveh, that great ci­tie, &c.’

THe summe of the whole prophecie, and of every part therein, I have often told you, is in variety of examples, the mercy of God towards his poore creatures. The boundes whereof, if any desire to learne how large they are, let him cōsider that in this present history it is exhibited, both to Iewes & Gē ­tiles: an example of the former was Ionas, of the later the Mariners & the Ninivites; both to prophets and others of meaner and mechanicall callings, both to Prince and people, aged and infantes, men and beastes; that no man may thinke either himselfe, or his seed, or any the silliest worme that moveth vpon the earth, excluded therehence. Paul in his first to Timothy glorieth in the mercie of Iesus Christ which he had shewed vpon him, Chap. 1. to the ensample of such as shoulde beleeve in time to come. But heere are fowre examples at once, and as it were fowre gospels, preaching to every countrey and language, age, and condition, and sexe, the hope of better thinges. Blessed be the Lord God, which hath writ­ten a whole booke of remembrances, and filled it with argumentes to so good a purpose.Malac. 3.

This third chapter, which by the wil of God we are entred vpon, treateth in generall of the mercy of God towards Niniveh, and shea­deth it selfe orderly into foure parts. 1. The calling or commission of Ionas renued. 2. The perfourmance of his message. 3. The re­pentance of Niniveh. 4. Their delivery.

Ionas is called and put in charge againe in the two former verses. Wherein (besides the authour, and other particulars heretofore ex­tracted [Page 419] from the same words) we will rest our selues especially vpon these three points. 1. The repitition of his warrāt; The word of the Lord came the second time. 2. Whither he is vvilled to goe; To Niniveh. 3. What he is to doe there: 1. touching the matter, he must preach the preaching that God shall bid them; 2. touching the manner, he must doe it by proclamation.

And the word of the Lord came vnto Ionas the second time, saying, Arise,1 go vnto Niniveh, that great cittie. Ionas being become a new man,The com­mission re [...]newed. Hebr. 5. Quid teip­sum super candelabrū ponis, qui te­ipsum non accendis? Bern. ser. 17. in Cantic. Ier. 17. af­ter his baptisme & regeneration in the water of the sea, receiveth a new commission, his former being forfeited by disobedience. First it is not lawfull, we know, for any man to take that honour vnto him without calling; nor to set himselfe vpon a candlesticke, who hath no power to burne vnlesse God kindle him. I haue not thrust in my selfe for a pastour after thee, neither haue I desired the day of miserie. Then, because Ionas had dis­anulled his first commission, it stood as voide vnto him and of none effect, till it was repeated the second time. Peter denying his maister three times, and not lesse then loosing thereby his legatine & Apo­stolicke authority, repaireth his broken credit by three confessions, and is newly invested into his former office. If I fall now and then into the same points, which I haue already handled in the first chap­ter, you may easily pardō me. For first the words are the same or not much altered; & happily as the first commission of Ionas took ship­wracke in the Syriacke sea, so the first notes I gaue are perished in your memories, and therefore there may be neede or repetition of such doctrines, no lesse than of his charge.

There is no materiall difference betvveene the tvvo verses,The secōd time. vvherein the mandate is given vnto him, but in the addition of one particle; The second time. Which carrieth a double force: first 1 of propension in the nature of a man to fall away from God, vnlesse it be daily and continually renued.Quot iterū parturio. Gal. 4. The Apostle was faine to travaile in birth, and to doe it againe with his little children the Galathians, till Christ were formed in them: for as the ripening and perfiting of a childe in his mothers wombe asketh the time of nine moneths at least, so the breeding of Christ in the consciences of men, and be­getting or preserving of children to God, cannot be done without often and carefull endevour bestowed therein. Secondly of the mercifull clememcie of God towardes Ionas in restoring him to 2 his former dignity. For he not onely gaue him his life vvhich vvas despaired, but the honour and place of a prophet. He might haue lived still, and seene long life, and many daies a straunger [Page 420] to his owne home, an alien to his mothers sonnes, an exile from the Israelites, a by-worde of reproach, for leesing his wonted prehemi­nence, and as they wondered, when they heard that Saul propheci­ed What? is Saul become one of the prophets▪ so it might have given as iust a cause of admiration, that Ionas was become none of the prophetes. But Ionas abideth a prophet still, and is as high­ly credited, as if hee had not broken his former faith. I knovve the patience of GOD is verie abundante. Hee is mercifull and gracious, long suffering, and of great goodnesse. He crieth vnto the fooles (and such vvee are all) Prove [...]bes 1. O yee foolish, howe long will yee lo [...] foolishnesse? hee dealeth vvith sinners as David dealte vvith Saul, vvho tooke avvay his speare, and his vvaterpot, and sometimes a peece of his cloake, as it were snatches and remem­braunces, to let vs vnderstande, that vvee are in his handes, and if wee take not vvarning, hee will further punish vs. He dresseth his vineyarde, Esay the fifth, vvith the best and kindliest husban­drie that his heart coulde invente; aftervvardes hee looked (requi­red not the first howre, but tarrying the full time) hee looked that it shoulde bring foorth grapes, in the autumne and vintage season. Hee vvaiteth for the fruite of his figge tree three yeares, Luke the thirteenth, and is content to bee entreated, that digging and doun­ging, and expectation a fourth yeare may be bestowed vpon it. They saie that moralize the parable, that hee stayed for the synagogue of the Iewes, the first yeare of the patriarches, the seconde of the Iudges, the thirde of the kinges, and that the fourth of the prophets it was cut dovvne. Likewise that hee hath waited for the church of Christianity, three yeares, that is three revolutions and periodes of ages, thrice five hundreth yeares from the passion of Christ; or if we furthe [...] repeate it, that hee hath tarried the leasure of the whole world, one yeare vnder nature, an other vnder the lawe, a thirde vnder grace: The fourth is nowe in passing, vverein it is not vnlikely that both these fi [...]ge-trees shall bee cut dovvne. VVhat­soever iudgementes are pronounced (Amos the first and second) a­gainst Damascus and Iudah and the rest, are for three transgressions & for foure: so long he endured their iniquities. Hee was able to chardge them in the fourteenth of Numbers, that they had seene his glorye and yet provoked him ten times. Ierusalems prouocation in the gospell, and such care in her loving Saviour to have gathered her children vnder his winges of salvation, as the henne her chickens, see­meth to bee without number,Math. 23. as appeareth by this interrogation, [Page 421] O Ierusalem Ierusalem howe often? Notwithstanding these presi­dents and presumptions of his mercy, the safest way shall bee to rise at his first call, and not to differre our obedience till the second, for feare of prevention: least the Lorde haue iust cause given by vs to excuse himselfe, I called and you haue not aunswered. And albeit at some times and to some sinners,Esa. 65. the Lorde bee pleased to iterate his sufferance, yet farre be it of that we take incitement thereat to iterate our misdeedes. He punished his angels in heaven for one breach, Achan for one sacriledge, Miriam for one slaunder, Mo­ses for one vnbeliefe, Ananias and Saphira for one lie; he maie be as speedy and quicke in avendging himselfe vpon our offen­ces. But if we neglect the first and second time also, then let vs know that daunger is not farre of. Iude had some reason & mea­ning in noting the corrupt trees, that were twice dead. For if they twice die, it is likely enough that custome vvill prevaile against them, and that they vvill die the thirde time, and not giue over death, till they bee finally rooted vp. Two rea­sōs against carelesse sinning There are tvvo reasons that maie iustly deterre vs from this carelesnesse and security in offending, vvhich I labour to disvvade. 1. the strength that sinne gathereth by growing and going forwardes. It creepeth like a canker, or some other contagious disease in the body of man; and because it is not 1 timely espied and medicined, threatneth no small hazarde vnto it. It fareth therevvith as vvith a tempest vpon the seas, in vvhich there are first, Leves vndae, little waues, afterwardes maiora volumi­ [...]a, greater volumes of waters, & then perhapps ignei globi, balles of fire, & fluctus ad coelum, and surges mounting vp as high as heaven. Esay descri­beth in some such manner the breedes of serpents: first an egge, Altera na­tura. Affabricat [...] natura. Benè consue­tos pudebi [...] dissuescere. Senec. Cum in pro­fundum ve­niunt, negli­gunt. Vt malâ cō ­suetudine delectem [...]. Valer. Ma [...] lib. 7. cap. 2. next a cockatrice, then a serpent, & afterwards a fierie flying serpent. Custome, they hold, is an other nature, and a nature fashioned and wrought by art: And as men that are well invred are ashamed to giue over, so others of an ill habite are as loth to depart from it. The curse that the men of Creete vsed against their enemies, vvas not a svvorde at their heartes, nor fire vpon their houses, but that vvhich vvoulde bring on these in time and much worse, that they might take pleasure in an evill custome. Hugo the Cardinall noteth the proceeding of sinne vpon the vvordes of the seventh Psalme, If I haue done this thing, if there bee any wickednesse in my handes, &c. then let mine enemie persecute my soule by suggestion, and take it by consent, let him tread my life vpon the earth, by action, and lay mine honour in the duste, by custome and pleasure therein. For custome in sinning is not onely a [Page 422] grave to bury the soule in, but a great stone rolled to the mouth of it to keepe it downe.Ebrietas 1 Vi [...]i 2 oblivionis 3 Libidinis peccandi. And as there is one kinde of drunkennesse in ex­cesse of wine, an other of forgetfulnesse, so there is a thirde that commeth by lust and desire of sinning. 2. Nowe if the custome of sinne bee seconded vvith the iudgement of God, adding an other vveight vnto it, blinding our eies and hardening our heartes, that vvee may neither see nor vnderstande, least vvee should bee saved, and because wee doe not those good thinges which wee knowe, Quia non faciunt bona quae cognoscunt, nō cognoscent ma­la quae faciunt August 2. pet. 2. Math. 12. therefore wee shall not knowe those evill thinges which wee doe, but as men bereft of heart, runne on a senselesse and endlesse race of iniquity, till the daies of gracious visitation bee out of date, it vvill not be hard to determine, vvhat the end vvill bee. Peter saieth, vvorse than the first begin­ning. Matthew shevveth by hovve many degrees vvorse. For vvhereas at the first vvee vvere possessed but by one devill, novve hee commeth associated vvith seven others, all vvorse than himselfe, and there they intende for ever to inhabite. Therefore it shall not be amisse for vs to breake of vvickednesse betimes, and to followe the counsaile that Chrysostome giveth, alluding to the pollicy of the vvise men in returning to their countrie an other waie. Math. 2 Hast thou come, saith hee, by the waie of adultery? goe backe by the waie of chastity. Camest thou by the way of covetousnesse? Venisti per viam fornicationis? &c Goe backe by the waie of mercy. But if thou returne the same vvaie thou camest, thou art still vnder the kingdome of Herode. For as the sickenesses of the body, so of the soule there are criticall daies, secret to our selves, but well knowne to God, whereby hee doth ghesse, whether wee be in likelihode to recover health, and to harken to the holesome counsailes of his law or not. If then hee take his time to give vs over to our selves and the malig­nity of our diseases, wee may say too late as sometime Christ of Ieru­salem, O that wee had knowne the thinges that belong to our peace, but nowe they are hid from our eies.

2 2 Arise, goe vnto Niniveh. Arise, is but a word of preface or pre­paration, and noteth, as I saide before, that forwardnesse that ought to bee in the prophetes of the Lorde. Lying downe for the most part is a signe that both the body and minde are at rest. Sitting be­tokeneth the body at ease, [...]ubatio sig num quieti & corporis & animi, &c. but the minde may be occupied. Rising most commonly is an argument that both are disposed to vndertake some worke. Now as it is both shame and sin for any sorts of men to trifle in their calling, (for wee shall all rise in our order, but those vnordi­nate walkers, saith Bernard, in what order shall they rise, who keepe not that order and ranke vvhich GOD hath assigned them vnto?) so especially [Page 423] for those that are sent about the message. Christ tolde his disciples in the ninteenth of Mathew, that when the sonne of man sate, they should also sit. But I beseech you (saith Bernard) when sate hee in this world? where rested hee? or what place had hee to lay his heade vpon? rather hee reioyced, as a Gyant refresht with wine, to runne his race, and he vvent about doing good, as it is vvitnessed in the Actes of the Apostles: birdes had their nestes and foxes their holes, but Christ had no resting place till his worke being finished, he had dearly earned and deserved to haue his leaue warranted vnto him, when the Lord saide to our Lord, sit at my right hande. Thomas Becket an evill man, and in an evill cause, but vvith wordes not impertinent to his place if he had well applied them, aunswered one, who advised him to deale more mo­derately towardes the king: Sit I at the sterne,Clavium [...] ­neo, & ad sō ­num me v [...] ­cas? and would you wish me to sleepe? Our Saviour to the like effect, vvhen he founde his disciples a sleepe, why sleepe you? and to Peter by name: Sleepest thou Peter? is Iudas vvaking? are the high-priests consulting? the soul­diours banding? the sonne of man neare his betraying? the envi­ous man sowing his tares, marring the field, hindring the good seed, and the gospell of the kingdome, and will not you awake? Rise, let vs walke, and consider the regions farre and wide, that they are not only white to the haruest, but drie to the fire, if they be neglected.Albae ad mes sem; Siccae ad ign [...]m. Bern. They must be labourers that are sent into that harvest, and to shew what a blessing it is that such be sent, the Lord of the harvest, must be earnest­ly praied vnto. Such a labourer was he, who though he were borne out of due time, yet he omitted no due time of working, and though the least of all the apostles, in some honours of that calling, yet in the burthens and taskes that belonged vnto it,1. Cor. 15. Malo mihi malè esse quàm molli­ter. Satis est mi­hi vigilare des [...]isse▪ Ali­quando m [...] dormisse scio [...] aliquand [...] suspicor. Epist. 33. Carn [...]ades. Praxagora [...] Goe to Ni­niveh. he attributed it to the speciall grace of God, that hee labou [...]ed more abundantly than all they. Seneca was so farre at oddes with idlenes, that he professed he had rather bee sicke than out of businesse. I sleepe verie little, saith he, It is e­nough for me that I haue but left watching. Sometimes I knowe I haue slept, sometimes I doe but suspecte it. The examples of heathen men so studiously addicted to their woorke, that they forgot to take their ordinary foode, and tied the haire of their heades to the beames of their chambers, least sleepe should beguile them in their intended labors, are almost incredible, but to the open disgrace of vs, who ha­ving a marke set before our eies, and running to the price which they knew not, are so slacke in our dueties.

But as before, so againe I demaund, why to Niniveh? we haue alrea­ [...]y coniectured fowre reasons: Let vs adde a fifth. The force [Page 424] of example, wee all know, and very greate to induce likenesse of manners, and to verifie the the proverbe in the prophet. Like people, like priest; Esay 24. like servant, like maister; like maide, like mistresse; like buyer like seller; like lender, like borrower; like giver, like taker to vsury. And the greater the example is, the greater authority it hath to draw to similitude. Facile transitur ad plures. we are easily moved to go af­ter a multitude. I may adde, facile transitur ad maiores. It is no hard labour,S [...]n [...]e. to make vs imitate great authorities, be our patterns good or bad. Evill behaviour in Princes, prophets, and higher degrees what­soever, corrupteth as it were the aire round about, and maketh the people with whome they liue, as like vnto them in naughtinesse as, they say, bees to bees. God telleth Ierusalē in the 16. of Ezec. that al that vsed proverbes, should vse this amongst the rest against her, As is the mother, so is the daughter. Thou art the daughter of thy mother, that hath cast of her husband and her children: and thou art the sister of thy sisters, which forsooke their husbandes and their children. You see how evenly they tread in the steppes of the same sinnes. Your mother is an Hitt [...]te, and your father an Ammorite. Did the daughter degenerate from her kind? Her elder sister at her left hande was Samaria, and her daughters. And the yonger at her right, Sodome and her daughters. Father and mother, daughter and sisters, the whole broode was alike in­fected. Ieroboam the sonne of Nebat is never mentioned in the writinges of Israell, but hee draweth a taile after him like a blasing starre. Who sinned and made Israell to sinne. A sicke head disordered all the other partes, and a darke eie, made a darke body. A feare­full instruction to those that feare God, to make them beware of binding two sinnes togither, that is of sinning themselues, and sinning before others, to put a stumbling blocke before their feete of falling into the like offence, especially when the credit, and countenance, and priority of their places,Tutum est peccare au­thoribus il. [...]. maketh others the bolder to sin, because they sin with such authors. Such bitter rootes shall aunswere for themselues & their corrupted brāches. Such poisoned foūtaines shal not escape vvith single iudgment, because they haue polluted the vvhole course of vvaters. Such leprous and contagious soules, as they heape sin vpon sin, so by numbers and heapes they shall re­ceaue their plagues, and accompt to the iustice of God, not onelye for the pollutiō of their owne persons, but of many thousands more whome by the warrant of their precedency, they haue pulled vnto vvickednes.The great cittie. And for this cause I take it, amongst others, Niniveh is crowned in the next words with the honorable title of her great­nesse, [Page 425] to let her know, that the more eminent in dignity, the nea­rer shee lay to daunger, and as shee gave to the inferiour citties of the lande an example of sinning, so shee shoulde also bee an exam­ple of desolation vnto them.

Goe to Niniveh that great citie: that is, preach repentance to the mother, and the daughters will drawe their instructions from her breastes. Winne the Lady and princesse, and her handmaides wil soone be brought to obedience. Speake to the hauty monarch of the world, knocke at the gates of his prowde pallace, beat the eares of those insolent and wealthy marchants, shake them from the settled lees of their long continued abhominations▪ and thou shalt end ma­ny labours in one, thou shalt doe a cure vpon the heart of the prin­cipall cittie, the benefite whereof shall spread it selfe into the partes of the whole countrie. But if Niniveh bee so greate in vvealth, and so deepely rooted in pride▪ that shee vvill not bee reformed, tell h [...]r, shee hath climbde so high to have the lower downe-fall, & though her children should die in their sinnes, yet their bloud, for example given, shall especially bee required at her handes. Many goodly citties were there in Asia (Babylon so big, that Aristotle cal­led it a country not a citty, and Niniveh greater then Babylon, [...]. Colume [...] pollentis Asiae. Lucan. and Troy lesse then them both, but in her flourishing daies the piller of that part of the world) of vvhich and many their companions wee may now truely say. O, iam periere ruinae, the very ruines of them are gone to ruine. The king of the Gothes when he saw Constantinople, pronounced that the Emperour there was an earthly God. They write of Quinsay at this day, that it is an hundreth miles about,P. Ven [...]. and furnished with 12000. bridges of marble. Let not Ierusalem leese her honour amongst the rest. Though her honour and happinesse were laide in the dust long since. They that were alive when Ierusalē lived, to have numbred her tovvers, considered her walles, and marked her bulwarckes, and to have tolde their posterity of it ▪ might have made a reporte skarsely to have beene beleeved. I am sure,Psal. 48. vvhen the Kinges of the earth were gathered togither and sawe it, they marvailed, they were astonied, and suddainely driven backe. Let mee adde the renowned citties of Italy by some never sufficiently magnified, Rich Venice, Dites Vene­tiae. Jngen [...] Me­diolanum &c. Sabellie▪ Greate Mil­laine, Auncient Ravenna, Fruitfull Bononia, Noble Naples, with all their glorious sisters and confederates, and her that hath stolen the birth-right from the rest, and saith she is ancientest, and the mother to thē all, which only is a citty in the iudgment of Quintilian, and others are but townes were they all cities, great and walled vp to heaven, Deut. 3. as those of [Page 426] the Anakins, were they regions, as hee spake of Babilon, and eve­ry one a world in it selfe, yet time shall weare them away, sin shall dissolue and vndoe their composition, and hee that is greate over all the kingdomes of the earth, can cover them with brambles, sowe them with salt, and turne them vpside downe as if they had never beene. When the Emperour Constantius came in triumph to Rome, and behelde the companies that entertained him, he re­peated a saying of Cyneas the Epirote,T [...] se vidis se reges quot cives Vt eo vix a­spicere ocu­lus humanus posset. Naturam vires o [...]nes in vna [...] vr­bē effudisse. Stabulum quo (que) tale conda [...] op [...]r­ [...]es, sivoles e­quum talem succedere. Jd tantium sibi placere respondi [...] ▪ quod didi cisses ibi quo (que) homine [...] mori. platin. in vita foelic. 2. that he had seene so many Kings as Citizens. But viewing the buildinges of the cittie, the stately ar­ches of the gates, the turrets, tombes, temples, theatres, bathes and some of the workes like Babell, so high that the eye of man coulde skarcely reach vnto them, he was amazed and said, that nature had em­ptied all her strength vpon that one cittie. Hee spake to Hormi [...]da, mai­ster of his workes, to erect him a brasen horse in Constantinople, like vnto that of Traian the Emperour, which hee there sawe. Hor­misda aunswered him, that if hee desired the like horse, hee must also pro­vide him the like stable. All this & much more in the honour of Rome. At length hee asked Horsmida, what hee thought of the cittie. Who tolde him, that hee tooke not pleasure in any thing, but in learning one lesson, which was, that men also died in Rome. This was the end of those kinglie men, which Constantius so tearmed, and the end of that lady citty, the mirrour and mistresse of the worlde, vvill bee the same that hath befallen her predecessours. And as nature em­ptied her selfe vpon it; so shee must empty her selfe into nature againe, if shee be so happy to fulfill the number of her daies, and come to a perfit age: but such may bee the iudgement of God, vpon her no­torious and vncureable witchcraftes, that as an vntimely fruite shee may perish, & reape the meede of the bloud-sucker in the Psalme, not to liue out halfe her daies.

3 Preach vnto it the preaching which I bid thee. Or proclaime against it the proclamation which I enioyne thee. So that first the matter must be receaved from the Lord, secondly the manner must bee by proclamation, and out-crying, which requireth not onelye the lowdenesse of voice, but the vehemency and fervency of courage to excecute his makers will. In Esay they are both ioyned togither. For first the Prophet is willed to cry. Esay 40. And secondly, because he was loth to trust the invention of his owne spirit, hee taketh his texte from the mouth of the Lord, What shall I cry? that all fleshe is grasse &c. Iohn Baptist in the gospell, is but a voice (himselfe not the au­thour nor speaker) but onely the voice of one that cried in the wilder­nesse, [Page 427] prepare the waies of the Lorde. And whether hee spake as lowde as the will of that Crier was, I report mee to the Scribes and Phari­sees, Publicans, souldiers, Herode and Herodias, vvhose eares hee claue in two, with denouncing his maisters iudgementes. The preaching which I bid thee. 1. The mattor. Howe daungerous it is for any messenger of the Lord to exceede the boundes of his commission by addinge his owne devises thereunto, and taking words into his mouth which were never ministred vnto him, or to come shorte of it, by keeping backe the coūsailes of his master which he hath disclosed to be made knowne, let that fearefull protestation in the ende of the booke, summing and sealing vp all the curses and woes that went before,Revel. 22▪ testifie to the worlde. I protest vnto euerie man that beareth the wordes of the prophecie of this booke, (and of all those other bookes that the fin­ger of God hath written) If any man shall adde vnto these things, God shall adde vnto him the plagues that are written in this booke. And if a­ny man shall diminishe of the wordes of the booke of this Prophecie, God shall take away his parte out of the booke of life, and out of the holy cittie, and from those thinges which are written in this booke. The protestation hath vveight enough vvithout helpe, to make it sinke into the dullest eares of those who dare adventure at such a price to set their sacri­legious handes to those nice and religious pointes. Let them be­vvare, that preach themselues, and in their ovvne names, and saye, the Lord hath said, vvhen he never said, that abuse the worlde vvith olde wiues tales, & olde mens dreames, traditions of Elders, constituti­ons of Popes, precepts of men, vnwriten truthes, vntrue writings, or that sell the worde of the Lorde for gaine,2. Cor. 2. and marchandize that pearle, which the vvise marchant vvill buy vvith all the treasure hee hath, that holde the truth of God in vnreghteousnesse, and dare not free their soules for feare of men, and deale in the worke of the Lorde as adulterers in their filthines: for as these esteeme not issue but lust, so the others not the glory of God, nor profit of their heartes, but their ovvne vvantonnesse.Chap. 23. Iud. 1. Some haue too many fingers vpon their handes, like the Gyant in the second of Samuell. And some too fewe like those vvhome Adonibezek mained: some offend in excesse, some in defecte, some adde, some diminishe. But hee that hath power to adde plagues, whilest the worlde standeth, that is, to multi­plie and continue them in such sort, that they shall ever encrease to an hundreth hundreth fold, and never see an ende, and to dimi­nish blessinges so lowe, that not the least dramme of them shall re­maine; hee shall retale their doinges into their bosomes, and giue [Page 428] them their reward in the same maner and kinde wherein they haue deserved it. The Apostle vvalked vvisely in this calling, and stinted himselfe with that measure which God had divided vnto him. Quod accepi á domino tradidi: What I haue received of the Lord, that I haue de­livered vnto you. [...]. Cor. 11. neither more nor lesse, but iust weight. And be­ing iealous over Timothy vvith a godly iealousie, for feare hee mighte erre concerning the faith as others had done before him, hee adiureth him in the sight of GOD who quickneth all thinges, and be­fore Iesus Christ who vnder Pontius Pilate vvitnessed a good confession, to keepe the commaundement given vnto him vvithout spotte and vn­rebukeable, 1. Tim. 6. vntill the appearing of our Lord Iesus Christ. And in that praescience he had of times to come, and loue hee bare to his schol­ler,Exclamatio ista & pre­scientiae est & charita­tis. Vincēt. Lirin. adu. prophan. no­vat. Ecclesia, prae positi, sacer­dos▪ tracta­ [...]or, doctor. Quod tibi creditum, nō quod à te in­ventum &c Non author debes esse sed custos, nō in stitutor sed sectator, non ducens sed sequen [...]. Vt cū dicas novè non di­cas nova. he calleth vnto him vvith intensiue inclamation. O Timo­theus keepe that pledge or gage that is committed vnto thee. VVho is that Timotheus in our times? The church, the Priestes, the doctours, the pa­stours, the treaters of the worde of God vvhatsoever. Keepe it because of Theeues, because of enemies, vvhich watch to sowe their tares. That that is committed vnto thee, not that thou hast invented; that thou haste received, not devised; a matter not of thine ovvne vvit, but of thy lear­ning; not priva [...]lie caught vp, but publickely taught; vvherein thou must not bee an author but a keeper; nor a master but a scholler; nor a guide but a follower. The Talent of the vniversall faith, vvherevvith thou art credited, keepe vnviolated; thou hast received gold, returne gold, giue not lead, or brasse▪ or copper in steede of golde. The precious iewels of heavenly doctrine, cut and adorne, giue beauty, grace, and comelines vn­to them, but suborne them not. Illustrate that which was obscure, and let posterity gratulate it selfe for vnderstanding that, which before they reuerent­ly esteeemed being not vnderstoode. But ever bee sure that thou teach the same things which thou hast learned, & though thou bring vnto them a new fashion, let the matter and substance be all one. Much more, & in fit­ter tearmes doth Vincentius vtter to the same purpose.

Preach or proclaime vnto it. The office of a faithfull prophet, vvhen he hath received his message from the Lord, is as faithfullie to deliver it.2. The mā ­ner. Chap. 20. Ieremy savve vvhat ensued vpon his simple and plaine dealing, in not dissembling the faultes of the vvorlde, but setting them in order before the faces of men· Since I spake, I cri­ed out of wronge, and proclaimed desolation, therefore the worde of the LORDE was made a reproach vnto mee, and had in derision daylie: And hee hearde the rayling of manie, and feare on everie side, and thought to giue over speaking in the name of the Lord: but his vvorde [Page 429] was as fire within his bones, and hee was weary of forbearing and coulde not doe it. Hee afterwardes cursed the day of his birth, Ibid. and the man that brought newes to his father, saying, a man child is borne, and wished the messenger in case of one of those citties which God overturned without re­penting him, because hee had not slaine him from the wombe, that his mo­ther might haue beene his graue, and his belly his everlasting conception that hee might not haue come forth to see labour and sorrow, and to haue con­sumed his daies with shame; hee went not into corners to smo­ther the will of him that sent him, but in tearmes of defiance, and personall application to the stowtest that bare an heade,And thou Palshur &c round­lye disclosed it. Hee had shewed the precisenesse of his cal­linge, that hee must not spare either small or greate, though it pulled the whole vvorlde vpon him, not longe before, and with vvords of no lesse heavinesse.Chap. 15. Woe is mee my mother that thou hast borne mee a contentious man, and a man that striveth vvith the vvhole earth. I haue neither lente in vsurye, nor men haue lent vnto mee, that is I deale not in these affaires vvhich for the most part breed quarrelles and heart-burninges, yet everye one doth curse mee.

We are the children of those prophets that haue lived in former daies. We were borne to contend & striue with the whole earth, we are despised, despighted, hated, cursed of every man, because wee preach the preachings, that the Lord hath biddē vs, & proclaime his vengāce against sinners, our hand against every man & every mans hand against vs, our tongue against every vice, and every tongue walketh & rangeth at liberty through our actions. We are thought to clamarous against the disorders of commō life, to busie & severe in makinge Philippickes and declamations against every offence. Forgiue vs this fault. A necessitie is laide vpon vs. And as it is our woe, that our mothers haue bredde vs to so quarrelsome a vocati­on, so it is an other and our greater woe if wee preach not the Gospell, if not also the lawe; if not the tydinges of ioy to those that reioyce in our message, if not also the terrours of iudgemente to those that contemne it; if not liberty to captiues, if not also captivity to liber­tines, if wee pipe not to those that will daunce after vs, and sounde not a trumpet of warre to those that resist: if wee builde not an arke to those that wilbee saved, and poure not out a floude of curses a­gainst those that will perish; Lastly, if wee open not the doores to those that knock and are penitent, and stand not at the gates with a flaminge swoorde in our mouthes againste those that are obstinate. [Page 430] What?Lib. 1. epist. 3 ad Cornel. Ecclesia ce­de [...] Capito­lio? Maiorae fu­rentium sce­lera, quàm sacerdorum iudicia? Viden [...], non videns, prae­co mu [...]u [...]. Shall the invincible t [...]nts of Christ (saith Cyprian) defended with the strength of the Lord, giue place to the terrours & threatnings of men? shall the Church yeeld to the Capitoll? shall the outrages of mad men bee greater than the iudgments and censures of ministers? It must not be. If wee bee the light of the vvorld, we must esp [...]e faultes? and if voices of Iohn Baptist, we must cry against them. If we be the seers of the Lord we must not be blind; and if his criers, we must not be dūbe or tongue­tide. I know▪ the preaching of mercy is more acceptable vnto you. O how beautifull are the feete, & how sweete the tongues of those that declare peace? and publish good things? and how vnwelcome of those that proclaime warres & publish woes. If every congregation vvee came into, we would cry peace to to this place, & to this auditory, and would singe vpon earth as the Angels sange from heaven▪ glorye bee to God, and peace to men, then no men better pleasing. But you will not suffer vs to thinke the thoughts of peace. When we say, wee will meditate of mercy, we are presētly interrupted & called to a songue of iudgment. These latter and last daies, full of the ripest and last sins,Non habet vlterius quod nostris moribus ad­da [...]. Posterita [...]. which no posterity shalbe able to adde vnto, so drunken and drowned in viciousnes, that as in a plague, we marvaile not so much at those that die, as at those that escape, so in this generall infection of sinne, not at the vilenes of the most, but that any almost is innocent, giue vs no rest from bitter speakings. And to giue you one reason for ma­ny, we are fearfully afraide, if we take not that wise advertisement that the Apostle gaue in the Epistle to the Coloss.Chap. 4. Say to Archippus, take heed to the ministery that thou hast receaved in the Lord that thou ful­fill it. Paul wrote it to the Collossians, and the Collossians must doe it by word of mouth to Archippus, and they all to vs all (as many as are in the office of Archippus, write, speake, proclaime, and least it might be forgotten, set it in the end of many precepts, and advise it by way of post-script, ▪Take heede, looke vnto it, giue good and care­full regard, haue your eies in your heades▪ and your hearts in your eie liddes, it is a worke not a play, a burthen nor an honour, a service not a vacancy; and you haue receaved it in him that will require it, talent & vse, principall and interest, & giue you the fulnes of wrath, if you doe it▪ to halfes, and not perfitely fulfill it.

THE XXXII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. vers. 3.‘So Ionas arose and went to Niniveh, accordinge to the word of the Lord. Now Niniveh was a great and ex­cellent cittie of three daies iourney.’

THE first part of the Chapter, wherein the commis­sion of Ionas is renewed vnto him, wee haue alrea­dy absolved, and are now to proceede to the exe­cution thereof, which was the 2. generall branche. Wherin hee so warily behaveth himselfe, havinge bought his experience with cost, that hee depar­teth not an haires breadth from his directions perfined. Beeing bidden to arise, hee ariseth; to goe, hee goeth;) not now to Thar­sis, as before, but to Niniveh) to proclaime, hee proclaimeth; not the fansies or supposalles of his owne heade, but the preachinge no doubt which the Lorde bade him, because it is saide, according to the worde of the Lorde. As for that which is added, or rather inter­posed, and by a parenthesis conveyed into the rest, of the greatnesse of Niniveh, it maketh the rather for the commendation of his due­tie, that failed not in so large a province, and the faith of that peo­ple, who were so presently reformed. I will followe the card that Ionas doth. As hee went to Niniveh, and preached according to the worde of the Lorde, so because the same word of the Lorde againe re­peated in my text tieth mee to a rememoration of the same particu­lars, which erst I haue delivered, let it not offend your eares, that I passe not by them without some further explication. The pre­sent occurrents are, 1. his readines and speede to obey the calling of the Lord; So Ionas arose: 2. his running to the marke propo­sed, not out of the waie; and went to Niniveh: 3. his walking by line and levell; according to the worde of the Lorde: 4. a caution or watch­worde cast forth by the holy ghost concerning the greatenesse of of the cittie, as if it were plainely saide; Bee carefull not to for­get the compasse of Niniveh. If you thinke on that in the course of this story, you will easily graunte, that the service of my pro­phet was the more laudable in persisting,1. Ionas a­rose. and the conversion of the inhabitantes in taking so short a time▪

They spake of the Lacedaemonians in former times,Turpe est cuilibe [...] vir [...] fugere; La­coni etiam deliberâsse▪ a people in de­fence of their right most prodigall of their liues, and quicke to en­counter any daunger, That it was a shame for any man to fly from the battaile; but for a Lacedaemonian, even to pawse and delibe­rate [Page 432] vpon it. Ionas beinge willed to Arise and goe to Niniveh, is now so far from flyinge the face of the Lorde, that as if his eare were pulled, and his soule goaded with that worde, hee taketh the first handsell of time, to begin his worke. So truely was it said by Esaie in the 40. of his prophecie, They that waite vpon the Lorde shall renue their strength, they shall lifte vp their winges as the Eagles, they shall runne and not bee wearie, and they shall walke and not fainte. Ionas was quicke enough before, when hee highed himselfe to Tharsis with more hast then good speede (as the wicked and disobedient haue wings vpon their heeles to beare them to destruction,Alacrius currunt ad mor­tem quàm nos ad vitā Bern. their feete are swifte to shedde bloude, and they runne with more alacritie to death, then o­thers to life) but hee wanted that encouragement which Esay spea­keth of, he waited not vpon the will of the Lord, neither had hee the testimony of a good conscience, and therefore was soone wea­ry of that vnhappy race. Now he ariseth with a better will, and fee­leth agilitie put into his bones which before he was not acquainted with, The word implieth many times such hast as admitteth no dalliance, The Iewes in the 2. of Nehemias havinge hearde of the goodnesse of their God vpon them, and the wordes of the king for the repairing of Ierusalem, presently made aunswere to the speech of Nehemias let vs rise and build. Let vs not loose so good an op­portunity nor giue advātage to our enemies by protraction of time. And it followeth immediately vpon that accorde of theirs: So they strengthned their hand to good. The latter expoundeth the former Let vs rise and builde, that is let vs strengthen our handes, and har­tily addresse our seues to dispatch this busines. Afterwardes when their adversaries reproched thē and charged them with rebellinge against the king, Nehemias aunswered, the God of heaven vvill pro­sper vs and vnder the warrant of his protections we his servantes will rise and builde, that is, we will not be removed from our worke vvith all your threatnings and discountenancings. Then arose Eliashib the high priest with his brethren the priests & they built the sheep­gate &c.Chap. 3. And surely if you consider the order and manner of their building how they flanked one the other in the worke, some setting thēselues to the sheepgate, some to the fishport, some to the gate of the olde fishpoole, others to the valley gate, these next vnto those, and all in their apointed wardes and stations, and I doubt not but every man (except the greate ones of the Tekoites who put not their neckes to the worke) as earnest as Baruch was, of vvhome it is saide that he killed and fired himselfe in the doing of his taske,Jbid. A [...]ndis se. (for they [Page 433] watched in the nighte time, Chap. 4. and put not of their cloathes saue onely for the wa­shing:) you vvill easily confesse, that their meaning vvas, when they first saide let us rise and builde, to doe their worke at once, and to bu­sie themselues aboute nothinge els, not to giue rest to their bodies,Hoc age. more then nature did necessarily and importunately call for, nor va­cation to their mindes, till their worke were at an ende. Thus Io­nas arose (for I am as willing in these our lasie and loytring daies to builde vpon the worde, as those vpon the fragmentes and ruins of Ierusalem) that is, he strengthened, and armed, and inflamed him­selfe to runne vvith his errande to Niniveh, his legges are as pillers of marble, and his feete as the feete of an Vnicorne to vndertake the travaile. Hee knevve that as vineger is to the teeth, and as smoake to the eies of a man, so is a slowthfull messenger to him that sendeth them:Prover. 10. but much more a slowthfull prophet, woulde grievously offende so high a LORDE as hee was nowe to deale with. So Ionas arose. The example riseth with full strength against idlnesse, a sinne as idly and carelessely neglected in this place, as carelessely committed. I will speake with your good leaue. Your collections for the poore (by hear-say) are not over-spating. (The Lord encrease not onely your oile and meale, in your vessels, but your mercy within your bowels, The lower you draw forth these wels of charity, the clearer will your waters flow vnto you.) But where are corrections for the slowthful the meane time? an almes as necessary as the former, and a worke of mercy not to bee slipte in a well-ordered common-wealth. The faithlesse stewarde in the gospell being warned to make his accounte and giue over the stewarde-shippe,Luc. 16. amidst his perplexed thoughtes what he shoulde doe for times to come, saide within himselfe, I can­not digge, and to begge I am ashamed. These more faithlesse in their callinges then that vnrighteous stewarde, are not ashamed to begge, though they are able enough to digge, and sustaine the burthen of other labours, but vvill not; as vnprofitable to the earth as Margi­tes in the Poet, of whome it vvas saide, that hee neither ploughed,Ne (que), arasse ne (que), [...]odis [...]e &c. nor delved, nor did any thing his life throughout, that might tend to good. Will you knowe the cause that Aegysthus became an a­dulterer? we neede not call for Oedipus or any cunning interpreter to render a reason of his lewde living. Slowthfulnesse vvas the bane that poysoned him.Jn prompt [...] causa est. And if you will knowe the cause of so many rob­beries in the fieldes, riottes in your streetes, disorders in common life, wee may shortlie and in a worde deriue them from idlnesse: it is so ranke a sinke (sayeth Bernarde) of all lustfull and lavvelesse [Page 424] temptations.Lib. 11. cap· 5. &c. Propè ex vmbrâ mi­nimi anima­lis. Jncompara­bile quiadā. Nullus cum per coelum li­cuit otio pe­rit dies. ca. 6. Cap. 10. More castio­rum. Gemino aut triplici bom­bo vt bucci­no aliquo. Mane ruu [...]t portis, nus­quam mora▪ Virgil. Ne (que) enim separatim vescuntur. cap. 10. Mita obser­vatio operis. ibid. Cessantium inertiam no­tant & pu­niunt morte. ibid. Verarum a­pum seruitia cap. 11. It is not lesse then a wonder in nature, that Plinie in his naturall history reporteth of the bees: their industry and paine­fulnesse to bee such, and so hardly to bee matched in the vvorlde, that almost of the shaddowe, saith he, (rather then substaunce) of a verie small living creature, nature hath made an incomparable thing. They ne­ver loose a day from labour, if the aire will giue them leaue to worke. And when the weather is lowring and troublesome, they cleanse their hiues, and carry out the filth of those that laboured within dores. The manner of their working is this. In the day time they keepe watch and warde at the gates, as they doe in campes. In the night they take their rest, and when the day is sprong, they haue an officer to call them vp with humming twice or thrice, as with the sound of a trumpet. The younger go abroad to fetch in worke, the elder stay at home, some bring burthens, other vnloade them. Some build, other polish, some supply them with stuffe for the worke, other take care for their victuals, for they take not their diet apart, that they may be equall in all things. Moreover they are very observant and strict in exacting the labours of every one, and such as are idle they note and chasten with death. Finally, the drones, which are the ser­vantes of the right bees, they are content to giue house-roome vnto, in fruitfull years, but they rule them as their slaues, and put them for­most to the labours, and if they be slacke; punish them without pitty, and when the hony is ripe, they driue them from their dwellings, and many falling vpon one spoile them of their liues. Go to the bees O sluggard, consider their waies and be wise, they are but small amongest foules, yet doth their fruit exceede in sweetnes, saith the sonne of Sirach, & their labour in greatnesse. And goe to the bees ye magistrates of the earth, and learne from that little kingdome of theirs to vse the vigour and sharpenesse of discipline against our vnserviceable drones, who like paralyticke members in the body of man, loose and vnbound in the iointes of obedience, say to the head commaund vs not, for vvee will not stirre at thine apointment. I will adde to the former exam­ple vvhat the same history speaketh of the pismires, a people not strong, yet prepare they their meate in sommer. Pro. 6. & 30. Sed illae fa­ciunt cibos, hae condunt. Plin. lib. 11. cap. 30. Humeris ob­nixae. They labour likewise as the bees. But these make, the other horde vp meate. Their bodies and the burthens they beare haue no comparison. But such as are over-great for their strength, they set their shoulders vnto and with their hinder legges drawe them backe-warde. And because they fetch their provision from sundry places, the one not knowing which vvaye the other goeth, therefore they ordaine certaine daies of [Page 435] marte, wherein they meete and conferre, and take a generall ac­count each of others labour. We see, saith he,Certi dies ad recognitionē mutuā nun­dinisdantur. ibid. Ne quis du­bitet quali­bet in re quid possi [...], quantulacū ­ (que) assiduitas. Prov. 6. that the very flintes are vvorne, and pathes trodden out vvith their iournying, least any might doubt, in every creature of the worlde how availeable it is to vse never so little diligence. I say againe, Goe to the pis­mires O sluggarde, consider their vvaies and bee vvise. For they having no guide, governour, nor ruler, provide their meate in sommer, and ga­ther their foode in harvest. We having our rulers and guides of many sortes, soule to governe our bodies, reason our soules, God our rea­son; nature to shew vs the way as it did these creatures, law to hold vs therein, and grace to further vs; and not labouring for the foode of this transitorie life alone, but for that meate that perisheth not, and for the rest from our labours; yet are content as it vvere to lan­guish aliue, and to linger out our little time in a continual wea­rinesse of well-doing, as if the lavve had never beene given to the sonnes of Adam, to labour, nor to the daughters of Eue to passe through affliction; and vvhen (I saye not pismires and bees and the little wormes of the grounde) but the angels of heaven are evermore attending vpon their businesses, for thousande thousandes stande before him, and tenne thousande thousandes minister vnto him; yet wee will sit downe and holde our selues bound to no ministrati­on: nay when the Lorde himselfe sanctified not his rest, before he had first laboured and finished the vvorke of sixe daies, wee are e­ver in our Sabbathes and restes, and suffer our daies of worke to slide without remembraunce. But as verily as the God of heaven hath sanctified both labour and rest in his owne person, so truely shal it be fulfilled, that if we rest in the time of labour,2. To the marke. we shall labor in the time of rest. Ionas arose,

And went to Niniveh. The first-borne of idlenes, is to do nothing,Pro vitando otio, otiosa sectari, ridi­culum est. 1. Tim. 5. [...]. Curiosum genus ad cognoscendā vitam alie­nam, desidio­sum ad corri­gendam suā. Aug 10. cōf▪ the next issue shee hath, is to doe that that appertaineth not vnto vs. For to follow vnnecessary businesse to keepe our selues in ex­ercise, is little praise, and most commonly it falleth out that there is a fellowshippe and affinitie betweene these two, as Paule vvri­teth of the wanton yong widowes, that they learned nothing in their idlenes, but to go about from house to house: and that they were not only idle, and did nothing, but were also pratlers, and busi-bodies, and given to vtter vncomely speech a curious kinde of people to know the liues and affaires of other men, desidious and negligent to amende their owne. The corruption is na­tural to vs al, & aunciently descended. Adam in that richest & roial­lest liberty of his, over all the works of Gods handes, had more desire [Page 436] to knowe and to doe that that was forbidden him then all the rest, and the very commaundemente of God which should haue restrai­ned him, gaue occasion to his vvill to become more wilfull. From thence it commeth, that we his vnwise and vngracious children, are Physitians to other men rather then our selues, & states-men in for­raine common-wealthes, rather then our own, & medlers in any cal­ling of life rather then that which God hath enioined vs.Aliud ple­ctrum aeliud s [...]ptrum S [...]olam Aa­ronis omnes assumimus. Su [...]or vltra [...]repidam. Tuum est pulmenta Caesari prae­parare, non evangelium exponere. Basil. Esay 1. 2. Cor. 12. Harpers will deale with the scepters of princes and tel them how to rule. The peo­ple will put on Aarons robes and teach him how to teach. The cob­ler will finde fault with the thigh of the picture, though his art go no higher then the foote. The Emperours stewarde will pervert scrip­tures to strengthen the Arrian heresie; though fitter to be a market man, or to command broth for the Emperour in the kitchin. Vzzah will beare vp the arke, though he overthrow himselfe by it; and Na­dab and Abihu offer strange fire though they burne in the flames of it. God will surely require of vs all for doing more then we should, or that which wee ought not, as he did of the Iewes for doing lesse, Quis ista à vobis requisivit? VVho hath required these things at your hands? There are diversities of giftes, and diversities of administrations, and diversi­ties of operations, though the spirite be but one, and God the same that worketh all in all. Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all doers of mi­racles? haue all the giftes of healing? doe all speake with tongues? doe all inter­pret? Or hath not God devided these graces to sundry men, that e­very one mighte knowe and doe what belongeth to his calling? The members in the body of man, are not the same, nor ordained to the same function. If the whole bodie were an eie, where were the hearing? or if the vvhole vvere an eare vvhere vvere the smelling? Roman. 12. Seeing then that we haue giftes that are diverse, according to the grace that is given vnto vs, whi­ther we haue prophesie, let vs prophesie according to the proportion of faith: or whither an office, let vs waite on the office; hee that teacheth, on teaching; hee that exhorteth on exhortation; hee that distributeth, let him doe it with sim­plicitie; he that ruleth, with diligence; hee that sheweth mercy, with cheereful­nesse. Let every man, as hee hath received the gifte, m [...]nister the same (and not his brothers or companions) as good disposers of the manifolde grace of God. 1. Pet. 4. One and the same spirite, which is the author of order not of confusion, see how constant he is, and like himselfe in the mouthes of sundry Apostles, to teach this ambitious and idly busie age (bring­ing into nature the like deformed informity of thinges by mingling all togither, wherein the worlde sometimes was, and whilst it doeth all thinges, doing nothing worthy of thankes) neither to bee wise in [Page 437] matters appertaining to God or man, more then may stande vvith sobriety, and having a charge of their owne properly distinguished,Spartam na­ctus es han [...] ornae. Praefat. in l. de ar [...]e rhe­tor. ad An. dream Nau­gerium. not to trouble their heades, with aliene, and vnnecessary affaires. It was a worthy epigramme, that Aldus Manutius wrote vpon the dore of his chamber to avoide such wearisome ghestes. Their cause of troubling him (a mā carefully bent to enlarge the bounds of good learning) was, negotij inopia, want of businesse: for then their agreement was, Eamus ad Aldum, come let vs go to Aldus. At length to pre­vent them, hee set an vnmannerly watchman at his dore, which could not blush, and whose entertainement was on this maner.Quisquise [...], rogat te Al­du [...] etiā at (que) etiam, vt si quid est quod à se velis▪ perpaucis a­gas, deinde actutum abe­as: nisi tan. quam Her­cules defesso Atlanti ve­neris suppo­siturus hu­meros. Sem­per enim e­rit quod & tu agas, & quotquot huc attule. rint pedes. Psalm 119. Pedes eorum ped [...]s recti. Ezech. 1. Who­soever thou arte, Aldus doeth heartily beseech thee, if thou haue ante bu­nesse with him, briefely to dispatch it, and presently bee gone: vnlesse thou commest as Hercules did, when Atla [...] was wearie, to put his shoulders vn­der the burthen. For neither thy selfe canst want worke of thine owne at anie time, nor any of those that repaire to this place. To conclude the note, Ionas arose and hasted before at his first call, there wanted not speed to his travaile, he went like the lightning as Ezechiell speaketh of the foure beastes: and spared neither the paines of his body, nor the be­nefite of winde and sailes to beare him forwardes. But he lost the approbation and rewarde of his labour, b [...]cause he mistooke Tharsis for Niniveh, and bended his course to a wrong place. Now he hath learned the song of David, I will not onely runne, but I will runne the way of thy commaundementes. And as the feete of the beastes before mentioned (which in the tenth of Ezechiell are interpreted to bee Cherubins) were straight feete, so are the feete of Ionas straitned to­wardes Niniveh, and like an arrow that flyeth to the marke, so setteth he his face and heart vpon the place commaunded. According to the worde of the Lorde. The most absolute, constant, infallible rule that ever was devised; and as many as walke according to this rule, they shall not faile to be blessed. It was deservedly wished and longed for in the Psalme, O that my waies were made so direct that I might keepe thy statutes, so shoulde I not bee confounded, 3 His rule. Psalm 119. Secundum o [...] Jehovae. vvhilst I had respect vnto thy com­maundementes. It is said of the children of Israell, Numbers the ninth, that at the mouth of the Lorde they iournied, and at the mouth of the LORD they pitched or lay still. They knew his minde by the clowde that vvas over the tabernacle. For if it abode vpon the tabernacle two daies, or a mo­neth, or a yeare, they also abode, but if it vvere taken vp, Ex praestitu­to Jehovae. then they vvente for­warde. Againe it is added in the same place, and as it were vvith a breath, to praise their obedience, At the commaundement of the Lorde they pitched, and at the commandement of the Lorde they iournyed, Ibid. and at the [Page 438] commaundement of the Lorde, they kepte the Lordes watch, by the hande of Moses. O happy and heavenly sound of wordes, where the lustes of their owne eies, and counsailes of their owne hearts were displaced, and the commaundement of the Lorde in all thinges for going and tarry­ing, from a day to a month, and so to a yeare, was only observed. That which David demaunded in behalfe of a yong man, wee may aske of yong and old and all sorts of men.Psalm. 119. In quo corriget, &c? Wherewithall shall a yong man amende his waies? or an old man his? or theirs, the Prince, sub­iect, noble, vnnoble, Priest, prophet, for we are all crooked, and haue neede to be rectified.Ioh. 6. But wherewithall? even by ruling our selues af­ter thy worde. Whither shall we else goe? as Peter akt his master in the gospell. Thou hast the words of eternall life, not only the words of autho­rity to commaunde and binde the conscience, nor the wordes of wise­dome to direct, nor the wordes of power to convert, nor the woordes of grace to comforte and vpholde, but the wordes of eternall life to make vs perfitely blessed.Ezech. 13. And therefore wo to the foolish prophets that follow their owne spirites, and prophecie out of their owne heartes: so likewise wo to the foolish people that follow their own spirits, & walke by the dimme and deceitfull light of their owne devises. I may say vnto such as Ieremy to their like in the eighth of his prophecie: How doe yee saie, we are wise, and the law of the Lord is with vs? for he answereth them with wonder and demonstration to the world, that they were to senselesse to builde vpon so false a grounde. Loe, they haue reiected the worde of the Lorde, and what wisedome is in them? The messenger that went to Micheas, to fetch him before Ahab and Iehosaphat, might sooner haue craved his head and obtained it, then one word from his mouth contratying the word of the Lord. He spake him very faire, in a fowle matter.1. King. 22. Beholde nowe, the wordes of the prophetes declare good vnto the king with one accorde. Let thy worde therefore I pray thee, he like the word of one of them, and speake thou good. But the prophet wisely aunswered him, knowing that the best speech is that, not which pleaseth the hu­mours of men, but the minde of GOD, As the Lorde liveth (though I die for it my selfe,) whatsoever the Lorde saith vnto me that will I speake. So like wise, whatsoever the Lorde saith vnto vs, that let vs doe, and let vs learne how dangerous it is to swerue from his will, I say not by open rebellion as Ionas did, but in the least commaundemente, by the smart of Moses and Aaron; who being willed in the twen­teth of Numbers, onely to speake vnto the rocke, and to vse no other meanes saue the word of their mouthes, and it shoulde giue water vnto them ▪ because they smote it with the rodde, and smote it twice, both to [Page 439] shew their distrust of the promise of God, and to vtter their impaci­ence, they were also smitten with the rod of his lips, and had a iudge­ment denounced against them, that they should not bringe the people into the land which hee had promised vnto them.

(Now Niniveh was a great and an excellent citty of three daies iourney. 4. The greatnes of Niniveh. Vers. 2. (Now Ni­niveh &c.) Great and excellent. Of 3. daies iourney.) Wee haue heard of the greatnesse of Niniveh twice before, once so late that a man woulde thinke it were needelesse so presentlye to re­peate it. Howbeit, we shall heare it againe, and this third time, in an other manner then before, forciblie broughte in as it vvere, and brea­king the hedge of the sentence, and with greater pompe of wordes, and every place of her ground exactly measured vnto vs. Ionas was going apace to Niniveh. The history was running onwards as fast, and keeping her course. And it may be, the mindes of those that heare or reade the history, passe too quickly & lightly over the sequele there­of. They heare of the greatnes of Niniveh as that Queene did of the greatnesse of Salomon, but they will not beleeue howe greate it is, vnlesse they may see it with their eies, and haue a table or map there­of laide before them at lardge.By a paren [...]thesis. This is the reason that first the vvise­dome of God interrupteth the sentence, and maketh an hole as it were in the midst thereof, as God in the side of Adam, and closeth not vp the flesh againe, till the greatnes of Niniveh be thorough­ly known. Now Niniveh, &c. That is, I must tell you by the way once againe for feare of forgetting, I will rarher hinder the history a while then not put you in mind of a matter worthy your gravest attnetiō, That Niniveh was a great cittie, yea very great, Magnae▪ Deo. a citty though lent to men, yet better beseeming the maiesty of God, so stately and excel­lent, that we find not in earth wherewith to match it: and somewhat to say in particular, not filling your eres alone vvith generall tearmes, the very vvalke of their borders,Itinere tri­dui. will aske the travaile of three daies.

A great and excellent cytty, or exceedingly great. The mother tongue wherein the history was written, hath it thus, a cytty great to God. Per-quam maxima. The like maner of speech is vsed by Rachel Gen. 30. Whē Bilha her maid had the secōd time borne a son to Iacob, & Leah ceast to be fruitful, with the wrestlings of God haue I wrestled with my sister, Excellent wrestlings. and gotten the vp­per-hand, that is, with wrestlings, aboue the nature and reach of man. I take the meaning of the phrase to be this (if life finite and infinite haue any proportion) Either that Niniveh was as greate for a cittie, as God is great for a God; or that it surpassed so farre the nature of created and inferiour thinges, that nothinge but the [Page 440] most excellent himselfe must bee named vvith it; or happily as Troy vvas feigned to bee the buildinge of the Goddes,Coeli [...]ū egre gius labor. so no worke-man in heaven or earth vvas worthye to bee credited vvith the building of Niniveh, but the chiefe of all. Others do other­wise interpret it, I knowe. That therefore it is called a cittye to GOD,Vrbs Deo. because there was no idoll in it, but it was truely and pro­perly 1 dedicated to the service of one onely God; whereas the con­trary is manifest, both by the multitude of her fornications mentioned in the thirde of Nahum, and by Nisroch their false God which Se­nacharib was worshipping in the temple of Niniveh, 2. King. 19. when his two 2 sonnes slew him; or because it was in especiall regarde with GOD, in that hee sent a prophet to reclaime it, and to plucke it foorth of the fire of his intended iudgement; whereas Bethleem the least a­mongest the thousandes of Iudah, and but an handefull to Niniveh, and Bethania the towne of Marie and Martha, Ioan. 11. though more tender in the eies of GOD, for the birth, doctrine, and miracles of more then a prophet, were never so called. Vndoubtedly the reason is, whatsoever in nature or arte is most perfite and exquisite, and hath as it were a kinde of divinity in it, that to ascribe to GOD, for these foote-printes, and that imitation sake which it hath of his perfection. Ordinarie mounetaines, cedars, or cittyes, haue their fellowes and equalles vpon earth wherewith to bee sorted. But such as excell in greatnesse, and refuse the copartnershippe of all in that kinde, because it vvere an iniurye and disparagement vnto them to match them with their inferiours, they are claymed by GOD himselfe as his especiall rightes·Non est par­vus in par­vis. Aug. ad. vo­lus ep. 3. Per diverti­cula & flex­iones, lente & pedeten­ [...]im. Cum pagis. Cum subur­bijs. Vrbis appel­latio muris, Romae autē continētibus aedificijs fini­tur. Not to exempte the smal­ler from his care and providence, (who is as greate a GOD in the least, as in the greatest, and hath given more vvisedome to the little antes and bees, then to asses and camels) but to teach the vnwise worlde, to esteeme his maiestie as it is, not to serue him vvith lame or leane, base and vnperfite offeringes, and to thinke there is nothing in the whole godhead, but is most rarely and incomparablie excellent.

Of three dayes iourney. Some say, if you walke the streetes, a softe and leasurely pace, with all the lanes and allies that are therein. Some, if you ioyne the villages rounde aboute, the dition, liberties, and marches that appertained to Niniveh. Others, if you take it with the suburbes alone. For though the name of the citty, bee li­mited within the walles, yet the name of Rome or Niniveh, inclu­deth also the continent buildinges. Lastly others expounde it, of [Page 441] the very ambite of their walles and turrettes. And by the iudge­mente of the civill lawe, which defineth a daies iourney, by twen­ty miles, Niniveh mighte iustlye spende the labour of three daies. I applye these testimonies of her largenesse to that which follow­eth. Niniveh was a greate cittye (vvhither you take the peo­ple or their dwellinges:) Ionas not more then an ordinarye man.Civitas magna. Vrbs magn [...]. Niniveh was very greate, Ionas very little, and in comparison but as a locust amonge them; Niniveh a cittie of three daies iourney, Ionas had newly begunne to enter his voyage of the first day; and yet this great,Vers. 4. and spacious cittye, is presently reformed, by the preaching of an ordinarye, common, and contemptible Prophet. I will not reape the harvest of the nexte wordes, but onely viewe them in haste to make my connexion. They are all, if you marke them, stin­ted and diminished by the holy Ghost. Ionas beganne, had not finished; to enter into the cittye, had not gone over it; the iour­ney of one daye, the seconde and thirde were behinde: yet Nini­veh in these beginninges; did not onely beginne, but almost ende and consummate her repentaunce. And as Ionas cried, yet forty daies, and Niniveh shall be destroied, so Niniveh cried vnto him againe, yet not forty howres, and thou shalt see Niniveh wholy changed. Our Saviour in the eight of Matthew, telleth his disciples, that the people had endured him nowe three dayes havinge nothinge to eate (for hee helde their stomackes and appetites, that they might not hunger, as hee helde the disciples eies that were walking towardes Emaus that they mighte not see, and when hee had fedde them sufficiently with the breade of life, then hee restored them to nature againe, and gaue them leaue to hunger and thirst after corporall reliefe.) The peo­ple of Niniveh as commendable in an other kinde, never wearie of the preaching of Ionas, and willing to endure him more then three daies without eating or drinking, they wearie not him so much, as to put him to the toile of the seconde and thirde day, neither suffer they the nexte morninges sunne to arise vpon their former daies iniquity. But as if every soule in the citty had beene summoned as Lot vvas, Escape for thy life, make haste and saue thy selfe, Genes. 29. so these addresse them­selues with all possible speede to escape the wrath of GOD, and the morning and the evening were the first day of their repentance. At the beginninges of the preaching of Iohn Baptist, they wente out by flockes vnto him, Ierusalem, and all Iudea, and all the regions about Ior­dan, (as if the citties and townes had emptied themselues to fill the wildernesse, and to leade new Colonies into desert and vnhabitable [Page 442] places) and they were baptised of him in Iordan confessing their sinnes, and manie of the Pharisees and Sadduces also vvente to his baptisme. Math. 3. At one sermon of Peter Actes the seconde, the principall and finall appli­cation whereof was, Saue your selues from this frowarde generation, there were added vnto the church aboute three thousande soules, which was as great a nuber as a man may imagine at one time to haue beene capa­ble of the speakers voice. The LORDE hath not dealt so spa­ringly with our nation.Abbac. 2. The vision hath spoken a long time, and we nor waited for it, but it for vs, and he that hath begunne a good worke in vs, hath endevoured to make it perfitie. Our king hath followed the parable Matthew the two and twentith. Hee hath sente foorth his servauntes to call vs away, not to the house of mourning as he did Ni­niveh; But to the marriage feast of his onely sonne (which what ho­nour it is to sit and eate at the kings table, let Haman reporte to his wife and friendes,Esther. 5.) Againe hee hath sent foorth other servauntes, to tell vs what provision he hath made, and to invite vs with the hope of most bountifull entertainement. But we, as these vnworthy ghestes, rather esteeming the dinners of this world, then the supper of the Lambe, which is the last meale of the day, and whereof who so ta­steth, shall never hunger againe; And thinking the garlicke and o­nions of Egypt to haue a better relish, then the milke and hony in the lande of promise, make light of his often biddings, and not much lesse then enforce him, to pronounce against our vnthankefulnesse, and to commune with his servauntes of furnishing his house vvith worthier ghestes. All the day long hath he stretched out his handes vnto vs,Ios. 10. Es. 38. and made as long a day as ever he did to Iosuah, and as long houres of the day, as ever were shadowed vpon the diall of Ahaz, to provoke our repentaunce; for the twelue houres of the day, he hath given vs thrice twelue yeares, vnder the happy and peaceable go­verment of our godly Iosias. Yet as Paule asked them of Ephesus, Whither they had received the holie ghost, and they aunswered him, We haue not so much as hearde whither there bee an holy Ghost;Act. 19. so such stran­gers are wee to the worke and fruites of repentaunce, that scarselie wee vnderstande what repentaunce meaneth. And so farre is it off that wee are become true Israelites,Ioh. 1. Act. 26. In agro Nar niensi sicci­ [...]ate lutum fieri (ex Pli­nio) imbre pulverem. with Nathaniell, or but almost Christians with Agrippa, that we are rather proved fully Atheistes. And that which Tully reporteth amongst his wonders in nature that in one country, Drought causeth dirte, and raine stirreth vp dust, may bee truely applyed vnto vs, that abundance of grace hath brought forth in vs abundance of sinne, and as sinne tooke occasion by [Page 443] the lavve to waxe more sinnefull, so iniquity had never beene so rife a­mongst vs, but through the rifen [...]sse of the gospell. Surely the men of Niniveh shall rise in iudgement against vs, for they repented at the preaching of Ionas newely begunne amongst them: the men of Ierusalem and Iudea and the regions about Iordan, and some of that serpentine broode of the Pharisees and Sadducees shall rise in iudgement against vs, for they confessed their sinnes, and vvere baptized at the first preaching of Iohn Baptist; The Parthians, Me­des, Elamites, and of every nation vnder the heaven some, shall rise in iudgement against vs, for they were prickte to their heartes, and be thought them vvhat to doe, at one sermon of Peter, and were ad­ded to the Church: and low wee are still in our sinnes, and as men without feeling haue given our selues to wantonnesse, to vvorke all vncleane­nesse even with greedinesse, Eph. 4▪ though wee haue learned Christ a longer time then Christ lived amongst vs, and Prophetes haue early risen, and late continued, to winne vs to repentance. The sinnes of Ni­niveh are not specified by Ionas. They are saide in the first chap­ter to ascende into the presence of God, and to stande like Sathan amongst his children before his face;Iob. 5. surely ours are as impudente and sawcy as e­ver were theirs. And if theirs cried into heaven, ours are not tongue-tide. In the prophecie of Nahum, shee is described a bloudy cittie, and full of lies, and robbery, and one from whome the pray departeth not, Nah. 3. Ibid. 2. shee is famous for the lions dennes, and the pasture of the Lions whelpes. Wee reach home to them with our wickednesse, I would to God our re­pentance were as theirs. Our houses, handes, and heartes are full of bloud. Our wordes and workes full of lying. The lion teareth in pieces for his yonge ones, and worieth for his lionesse, and his hole is full of spoiles. We all climbe vp to honour and mighte (as Iona­than and his armour-bearer to the garrison of the Philistines by the raggednesse of the rockes) so we by the ruines and desolations of the country about vs.1. Sam. 14. Blessed is the man in this vaine and ambitious age of building, wherein the Lorde doeth even skorne them from hea­ven (vvhat doe these weake builders? will they fortifie themselues?Neh. 4. will they establish their seede for ever? will they dwell in houses of Bricke and hewen stone for all eternity?) I say blessed is the man, the timber of whose beames, and stone from whose walles and foundati­ons, crieth not a woe against him. Beholde the daies come, when you shall be bruised your selues, O yee bruisers of the people, and the pray shall be pulled from your teeth, yee lions and lions whelpes, and your holes emptyed of your hidden treasures. How long haue we cried a­gainst [Page 444] such oppressions? And smitten the oppressours with the rod of Gods vengaunce, as Moses smote the rocke? And yet vvhat one droppe of remorse haue wee ever wrung from their stony hearts? how long haue wee clapte our handes at the shamelesse vsury of this place? If vsury bee to stiffe to bee mooved, yet wee must free our our soules, and if it were possible, wee woulde also free them that are wrapt in her snares. If they little esteeme the warning of the fif­teenth Psalme, that giue their mony vpon vsury, let them at least take heede that receiue it.Plutarch. de vsura. Let them not trie to beare an Oxe vpon their shoul­ders, vvhen they are vnable to beare a goate. That is, if poverty be bur­then enough vnto them, let them not adde the burthen of vsurie. They aske, what they shall doe? Doest thou aske? saith Plutarke. Thou hast a tongue, begge. Thou hast hands, worke. Thou haste feete, walke. Thou hast an heart, thinke. Naviga, renaviga, saile for­warde and backewarde,Nihil tam mole [...]um quàm redde­re. take any paines, rather then to fall into the mercy of an vsurer. There is nothing so bitter as to restore. Our a­dulteries are like Absolons, even vpon the house toppes: open to the world, we know their faultes as we know their faces that commit thē: and such in some,1. Cor. 5. as are not named amongest the Gentiles. I scarsely per­swade my selfe that Sodome lyeth in ashes for a greater offence then hath beene founde amongst vs within these few dayes. Pride, it see­meth,Pater filiā. is proud that shee is so much talked of. Shee loveth to be no­ted, though it be with a cole. Wo be vnto her. We haue spit in her face seven times, and yet shee blusheth not. I haue seene drunken­nesse drunke till it thirsted,Vidi ebrioso­rum sitim & vomentium samem. Sen. and gluttony vomite till it hungred a­gaine. Goe too drunkards, and heare what your doome is, from his mouth who hath threatned to pull the cuppe from your mouthes. Drinke, and bee drunken, and spue, and fall, and rise no more. These are the linkes which helde the chaine of your plagues togither, and wher­with you shall as certainely bee bounde, as ever your flesh was tied togither with sinewes. Of the contempt of the worde of God, his sabbathes, & sacramentes, & whole service I speake not. I know there are a few names in Sardis, which haue not given themselues to the cō ­pany of those wicked. God graunt, I bee not deceived in them. For though I see them come to the wels of salvatiō, as Christ came to the well of Iacob, perhappes they haue not pitchers to draw with, that [...]s, they haue left their mindes and meditations behinde them, where with these waters should be received. But as the disciples of Christ spake of the fevve loues amongst so many thousandes, so maye I of so few soules amongst such a multitude of inhabitantes, vvhat are [Page 445] these amongest such a number? I woulde humbly beseech the magi­strate, because hee serveth God in a double place, to haue care not onely of his owne soule, but of the soules of others. And as Paule Rom. 9. had so fervent a loue towardes his brethren that he wisht to be made an anathema, that is to be separated from the loue of God for their sakes; so let him also become an anathema for the time, and se­parate himselfe. I say not from the favour of God, but from the as­semblies of the brethren, for their brethrens sake; let him goe foorth into the high-waies with those servantes of the king, and walke the streetes, and ransacke the idle and irreligious corners of the citty, and compell them to come into the house of the Lorde, that the roumes may be filled. It shal be a crowne vnto his owne head, a recompence of our labour, a sweete smelling sacrifice to the Lord, the ioy of Angels, a blessing to the city, the saving of soules, and revocation of such from destruction, who are speedily falling thereinto, by their obstinate contempt.

THE XXXIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. ver. 4.‘And Ionas began to enter into the citty a daies iourney &c.’

WHAT wee haue hearde alreadie in the for­mer verse, was but a preparatiue and an in­troduction to this that followes. As that: 1. hee arose, who before time had beene slacke and vndisposed: 2. went to Niniveh, who else when had diverted to Tharsis, 3. according to the worde of the Lorde, which erst he had diso­beyed. Thus farre we vnderstood whither he went; nowe we are to learne what hee did in Niniveh, namely: 1. for the time, Hee beginneth his message present­ly at the gates 2. for the place, hee had entred but a thirde parte of the ci­tie, so much as might be measured by the travaile of one day: 3. for the manner of his preaching, hee cried: 4. for the matter or contentes; Yet fortye daies and Niniveh shall bee destroyed. I haue tasted no­thinge of this present verse, but vvhat mighte make a connex­ion with the former. For the greatnesse of Niniveh repeated in the latter ende thereof, served to this purpose, partly to commend the faith of the Ninivites, who at the first sounde of the trumpet chā ­ged their liues, partly to giue testimony ito the diligence & constācy [Page 446] of the Prophet who was not dismaide by so mighty a chardge.1 The time and 2 The place And Ionas beganne to enter into the city: All the wordes are spoken by dimi­nution. Ionas beganne, had not made an ende, to enter the citty, had not gone through. A daies iourney which was but the third parte of his way. Not that Ionas began to enter the citty a daies iourney and then gaue over his walke, for hee spent a day and daies amongest them in redressing of their crooked waies; But Niniveh did not tar­ry the time, nor deferre their conversion till his embassage vvas accomplished amongest them, which is so much the more marvei­lous, for that he came vnto them a messenger of evill and vnwelcome tydinges: it is rather a wonder vnto mee that they skorned him not, that they threw not dust into the aire, ran vpon him with violence, stopped his mouth, threw stones at him with cursing and with bit­ter speaking as Shemei did at David,1. King. 18. & as Ahab burdened Elias with troubling Israell; so that they had not challenged Ionas for trou­bling Niniveh, because he brought such tidinges as might sette an vprore and tumulte amongst all the inhabitantes. That vvicked king of Israell whome I named before, hated Micheas vnto the death for no other cause,1. King. 22. but that hee never prophecied good vnto him. A man that ever did evill and no good, coulde not endure to heare of evill. And for the same cause did Amaziah the priest of Bethell banish Amos from the lande, for preaching the death of Ieroboam and the captivitie of Israell, Amos 7. therefore the Lorde was not able to beare his words, and hee had his pasporte sealed, O thou the seer, goe flee thou avvaie into the lande of Iudah and there eate thy breade, and prophecie there, but prophecie no more at Bethel, for this is the kinges chappell, and this is the kinges courte: so I woulde rather haue thought that they shoulde haue entertained Ionas in the like manner, because hee came with fire and sworde in his mouth against them; the cittye is not able to beare thy wordes, vvee cannot endure to heare of the death of our king, and the vniversall overthrow of our people and buildings. O thou the seer, get thee into the lande of Iudah, and returne to thy cittye of Ierusalem, and there eate thy breade and prophecye there, but prophecie no more at Niniveh▪ for this is the kings chap­pell, nay this is the court of the mighty Monarch of Assyria. But Niniveh hath a milder spirite, and a softer speech and behaviour in receiving the Lordes prophet. Now on the other side, if you set to­gither the greatnesse of Niniveh and the present on-set vvhich the prophet gaue vpon it, that immediately vpon his chardge, without drawing breath, hee betooke him to his hard province, it maketh [Page 447] no lesse to the commendation of his faithfulnesse, then their obedi­ence. For when hee came to Niniveh, did hee deliberate what to doe? examine the nature of the people vvhether they were tracta­ble or no? enquire out the convenientest place wherein to doe his message, and where it might best stande with the safegarde of his person? did he stay till hee came to the market place, or burse, or the kings palace, where there was greatest frequency and audience? No; but where the buildings of the citty beganne,Ionas be­gan. To enter. there hee began to builde his prophecie. And even at the entrance of the gates, hee opened his lippes and smote them with a terrour of most vngratefull newes. Againe, he entered their citty, not to gaze vpon their walles, not to number their turrets, nor to feede his eies with their high aspiring buildings, much lesse to take vp his Inne, and there to ease himselfe; but to travaile vp and downe, to wearie out his stronge men, not for an houre or two, but from morning til night,A daies iourney. even as long as the lighte of the daie vvill giue him leaue to worke. I departe not from my texte, for as you heare, 1. Ionas began, protra­cted not, 2. to enter, not staying till he had proceeded, 3. to travaile, not to be idle, 4. the whole day, not giving any rest or recreation to his bodie.

If wee will further extende and stretch the meaning of this sen­tence, we may apply it thus. It is good for a man to begin betimes, and to beare the yoke of the Lord from his childe-hoode (as Goliath is re­ported to haue beene a warriour from his youth) to enter in the vine­yard the first houre of the daie, and to holde out till the twelfth, to begin at the gates of his life to serue God, and even from the wombe of his mother to giue his bodie and soule, as Anna gaue her Samu­ell, Nazarites vnto the Lord, that his age, and wisedome and grace may growe vp togither as Christes did: And that as Iohn Baptist was sanctified in his mothers wombe, Salomon was a witty childe, Daniell and his yong companions were vvell nurtured in the feare of the Lorde, and David wiser then his auncientes; so all the parts & degrees of his life from the first fashioning of his tender limmes, may savour of some mercy of God which it hath received. That whether hee bee soone deade, they may say of him, hee fulfilled much time;4 Wised. or whither he carry his graye haires vvith him downe into the graue,Psalm. 119. Detur aet [...]t [...] a [...]uid. Non est mi­hi crede vi­tium ado­lesc. &c, he may say in his conscience as David did, Thy statutes haue ever beene my songes in the house of my pilgrimage. As for the devils dispensation, youth must bee borne with, and as that vnwise tutour sometimes spake, It is not trust mee, a faulte in a younge man to followe harlots, to drinke wine [Page 448] in bowls, to daunce to the tabret, to weare fleeces of vanity a­boute his eares, and to leaue some token of his pleasure in every place; so giving him lycense to builde the frame of his life vpon a lascivious and riotous foundation of long practised wantonnesse: it vvas never written in the booke of God, prophets and Apostles ne­ver drempt of it, the law-giver never delivered it, he [...]l onelye in­vented it of pollicy, to the overthrow of that age which God hath most enabled to doe him best service. And as it was the vvisedome of the king of Babylon, to take the young children of Israell whom they might teach the learning and tongue of Chaldaea,Dan. 1. rather then their olde men, so it is the wisedome of the Devill to season these greene vesselles vvith the li [...]our of his corruption that they maie keepe the taste thereof while life remaineth.Iob. 20. But their bones are fil­led with the sinne of their youth, and it lyeth downe with them in the dust, and when their bodies shall arise, then shall also their sinne, to receiue iudgement. So sayeth the wise preacher giving them the raines in some sort, but knowing that the end of their race vvill be bitternesse. Reioice O young man, Eccle. 11. and let thy hearte cheare thee in the daies of thy youth, walke in the waies of thine hearte and in the sight of thine eies, but knowe, that for all these thinges, God will bring thee to iudgement. Let the examples of Elie his sonnes whome hee tenderly brought vp to bring downe his house, and whole stocke to the ground, and the boies that mockt Elizaeus, be a warning to this vnguided age, that the LORDE will not pardon iniquitie neither in young nor old; and that not on­ly the bulles and kine of Basan but the wanton and vntamed heigh­fers, and the calues that play in the grasse shall beare their trans­gressions. It is the song of the young men, Wisedome the seconde. Let not the flowre of our life passe from vs &c. and it is the cry of the young men in the fifth of the same booke vvhat hath pride profited vs? For whilst they take their pleasures vpon earth, the Lord writeth bitter thinges against them in heaven, Iob. 13. and shall make them possesse the ini­quities of their youth.

3. Maner of preaching And hee cryed. His manner of preaching was by proclamation, lowde and audible, that it mighte reach to the eares of the people, hee hid not the iudgementes of God in his heart, as Mary the words of her Saviour, to make them his proper and private meditati­ons, but as ever the manner of God was, that his prophets should denounce his minde, least they might say, wee never hearde of it, so did Ionas accordingly fulfill it.Esay. 53. Ier. 2. & 50. Thus Esaye was willed to cry, and to lifte vp his voice like a trumpet; Ieremye to crye in the eares of Ierusa­lem, [Page 449] to declare amongst the nations, and even to set vp a standarde and proclaime the fall of Babylon. And Ezechiell had a like com­maundement, Clama & vlula fili hominis, Ezech. 21. Crie and hovvle sonne of man, for this shall come vnto my people, and it shall lighte vpon all the princes of Israell. Our Saviour likewise bad the Apostles vvhat they heard in the eare, that to preach vpon the house toppes. Math 10. They did so. For being rebuked for their message and forbidden to speake anie more in the name of Iesus, they aunswered boldly in the face of that vvicked consistory, vvhether it bee fitte to obey God or man iudge yee. Wisdome her selfe Proverbs the first,Acts 4. crieth not in her clo­set and the secret chambers of her house, but vvithout in the streetes, neither in the vvildernesse and infrequent places; but in the heighth of the streetes, and among the prease, and in the entrings of the gates, that the sounde of her voice may be blovvne into all partes. If Iohn Bap­tist vvere the voice of a crier in the vvildernesse, Math. 3. then vvas Christ the crier, and Iohn Baptist but the voice. Surely it wanted not much that the very stones in the streetes shoulde haue cried the honour and povver of God, for even stones vvoulde haue founde their tongues,Luc. 19. if men had helde theirs. The commaundement then and practise of God himselfe is to crie, to leaue the vvorlde vvithout excuse: the nature of the vvord biddeth vs crie, for it is a fire, and if it flame not forth, it vvil burne his bovvels & harts that smothereth it. I thought I woulde haue kept my mouth bridled, saith the prophet,Psal. 3 [...]. Whilst the wic­ked was in my sight; I was dumbe and spake nothing, I kept silence even from good, but my sorrowe vvas the more encreased. My heart vvas hot within mee, and while I was musing, the fire kindled, and I spake with my tongue: lastly, the nature of the people vvith vvhome vvee haue to deale requireth crying. Deafe adders vvill not bee char­med with whispering, nor deafe and dumbe spirits, which neither hear nor answere God, cast forth without much praier and fasting, nor sleepie and carelesse sinners, possessed with a spirite of slumber, and cast in­to a heavy sleepe, as Adam vvas vvhen he lost his ribbe, so these not feeling the maines that are made in their soules by Sathan, awaked without crying. Sleepers and sinners must be cried vnto, againe and againe, (for sinne is a sleepe) What? can you not watch one houre? And dead men and sinners must be cried vnto, for sinne is a death, and asketh as manie groanings and out-cries as ever Christ bestow­ed vpon Lazarus, Exiforas Lazare, Lazarus come forth, Ioh. 11▪ and leaue thy rotten and stinking sinnes, vvherein thou hast lien too manye daies. Happy were this age of ours, if all the cryings in the daie [Page 450] time could awake vs. For I am sure that the cry at midnight shall fetch vs vp; but if the meane time vvee shall refuse to hearken, and pull awaie the shoulder, and stoppe our eares that they shoulde not heare, and make our heartes as an adamant stone that the vvordes of the Lorde cannot sinke into them;Zach. 7. it shall come to passe, that as hee hath cried vnto vs and vvee vvoulde not heare; so wee shall crie vnto him againe, and hee vvill not answere.

And saide, yet fortie daies, and Niniveh shall bee overthrowne. The matter of the prophets sermon is altogither of iudgement.4 The mat­ter. For the execution whereof 1. the time prefined is but forty daies: 2. the mea­sure or quantity of the iudgement, an overthrow, 3. the subiect of the overthrow, Niniveh, togither with an implication of the longe sufferance of almighty God, specified in a particle of remainder and longer adiourment in the fourth place yet forty daies, asmuch as to say, I have spared you long enough before, but I will spare you thus much longer.

The onely matter of question herein, is how it may stande vvith the constancie and truth of the aeternall God, to pronounce a iudge­ment against a place, which taketh not effect within an hundred yeares. For either he was ignorant of his owne time, which we cannot imagine of an omniscient God, or his minde vvas altered, vvhich is vnprobable to suspect. For is the strength of Israell as man that hee shoulde lie? Numb. 23. or as the sonne of man that hee shoulde repent? is hee not yester­day and to day and the same for ever? Heb 13. Revel. 1. that vvas, that is, and that is to come? I meane not onelye in substance, but in vvill and intention, doeth hee vse lightnes? are the wordes that hee speaketh yea and nay? Doth hee both affirme and deny to? are not all his promi­ses, 2. Cor. 1. are not all his threatnings, are not all his mercies, are not all his iudgmentes, are not all his vvordes, are not all the titles and iotes of his vvordes yea and amen? so firmely ratified that they can­not bee broken? doubtlesse it shall stande immutable when the heaven and earth shall be chandged, and vvaxe olde like a garment, Ego Deus, Malac. 3. & non mutor, I am a GOD that am not chandged. The 1 schoole-menne in this respect haue a wise distinction; it is one thing to change the vvill,Aliud muta­re volūtatē. Aliud velle mutationē. Aquin. 1. qu. 19 art. 7. another to vvill a change, or to bee vvilling that a change shoulde be. God vvill haue the lawe and the ceremonies at one time, Gospell vvithout ceremonies at ano­ther. this was his will from everlasting, constant and vnmooueable, that in their severall courses both shoulde bee. Though there bee a change in the matter and subiect, there is not a change in him that [Page 451] disposeth it. Our will is, in winter to vse the fire, in sommer a colde and an open aire, the thing is changed according to the season, but our will vvhereby wee haue decreed and determined in our selues so to do, remaineth the same.

2 Sometimes the decrees and purposes of God consist of tvvo partes, the one vvhereof, God revealeth at the first, and the other he concealeth a while and keepeth in his owne knowledge; as in the action enioined to Abram, the purpose of God was two-fold. 1. to try his obedience, 2. to saue the child. A man may impute it to incō ­stancy, to bid, and vnbid; but that the will of the Lorde was not ple­narily vnderstoode in the first part. This is it vvhich Gregory ex­presseth in apt tearmes,Mutat sen­tentiam [...] mutat consi­lium. lib 20. Mor. cap. 23 God changeth his sentence pronounced sometimes, but never his counsaile intended. Sometimes thinges are decreed & spoken of according to the inferiour cause, which by the highest and over-ruling cause are otherwise disposed of. One might haue saide, and saide truely both vvaies, Lazarus shall rise a­gaine, and Lazarus shall not rise: if we esteeme it by the power and 3 finger of God, it shalbe; but if we leaue it to nature, & to the arme of flesh it shall never be. The prophet Esay told Ezechias the king,Es. 38. put thy house in order for thou shalt die, considering the weaknes of his bo­dy, and the extremity of his disease, hee had reason to warrant the same; but if he had tolde him contrariwise, according to that which came to passe, thou shalt not die, looking to the might & mercie of God who received the praiers of the king, he had said as truely. But the best definitiō is, that in most of these threatnings, there is a con­dicion 4 annexed vnto thē, either exprest, or vnderstood; Which, is as the hinges to the dore, & turneth forwards or backwards the whole matter. In Ieremy it is exprest,Ier. 18. I will speake sodainely against a nation or against a kingdome to plucke it vp, to roote it out, and to destroy it; but if this nation against whom I haue pronounced, turne from their wickednes, I will re­pent of the plague which I thought to bring vpon them. So likewise for his mercy,Ibid. I will speake sodainly concerning a nation and concerning a kingdome to builde it, and to plant it; but if it doe evil in my sight, and heare not my voice, I will repent of the good I thought to doe for them. Gen. 20. it is supprest; where God telleth Abimelech withholding Abrahams wife, thou art a dead man because of the woman which thou hast taken: the event fell out otherwise, and Abimelech purged himselfe with God, with an vpright minde & innocent hands haue I done this. There is no que­stion but God inclosed a condition within his speech, thou art but a dead man, if thou restore not the woman without touching het body, [Page 458] and dishonouring her husband. Thus we may answere the scruple by all these waies. 1. Yet forty daies and Niniveh shall bee overthrovven, and yet forty and forty years, and Niniveh shal not be overthrowen. Why? because Niniveh is changed, and the vnchangeable vvill of God ever was, that if Niniveh shewed a change it shoulde bee spa­red. 2. There were two partes of Gods purpose, the one disclosed touching the subversion of Niniveh, the other of her conversion, kept within the heart of God. Wherevpon he changed the sentence pronounced, but not the counsaile vvhereto the sentence was re­ferred. 3. If you consider Niniveh in the inferiour cause, that is, in the deservings of Niniveh, it shall fall to the ground; but if you take it in the superiour cause, in the goodnes and clemency of almighty God; Niniveh shall escape. Lastly the iudgment was pronounced with a condicion, reserved in the minde of the iudge. Niniveh shall bee overthrowen if it repent not. Now he that speaketh vvith con­dicion may change his minde without suspicion of lightnes. As Paul promised the Corinthians to come by them in his way tovvardes Macedonia and did it not;2. Cor. 1. for he evermore added in his soule that condicion vvhich no man must exclude, if it stande with the pleasure of God, Iam. 4. and he hinder mee not. Philip threatned the Lacedemonians, that if he invaded their countrey he would vtterly extinguish them▪ they wrote him none other answere but this, If, meaning, that it vvas a condition well put in, because he was never likely to come amōgst them. The old verse is. ‘Si nesi non esset, prefectum quiàlibet esset.’ If it were not for conditions and exceptions, every thing vvould be perfect. But nothing more vnperfect then Niniveh, if this secret condicion of the goodnes of God at the second hand, had not been. Arias Montanus hath an expositiō by himselfe, yet forty daies, & Ni­niveh shall be turned, Et Niniveh versa, non eversa. not overturned, that is, Niniveh shall bee chan­ged either to the better or to the worse, Niniveh shall either amend her waies, or see an end of her happines. Niniveh in such extremitie cannot stande at a stay, no more then the sicknesses of the body whē they are come to the highest degree. But to leaue his singular opini­on, we haue specially to marke in this feareful sentence & doome of Niniveh, that the thoughts of God were rather for peace & recōci­liatiō then to overthrow it. Here are Esaues hands, but Iacobs voice; hard speech, rough coūtenance, a strong tēpest of words, but an hid­dē spirit of tēdernes & loving kindnes: who knew rightwel that vn­lesse they were toucht to the quicke, til their bloud were drawen out [Page 453] they woulde not be mooved. Else vvhat did he meane, (if he meant not mercy) to sende a prophet vnto them, vvho mighte haue sent his angell from heaven as against the host of Senacherib presently to haue destroyed them? Or vvhy prefixt hee a time, and gaue them a respite of fortie daies, vvho in the motion of an eye coulde haue laide them in the dust, and slaine them with the least breath of his angry lippes? But come we to the particu­lars.

The time that was lent them before their overthrow, is forty daies:1. The time neither too long, least they might presume, and put of from day to day; neither too shorte, least they might despaire of mercy, by thin­king themselues overmuch straightned.Pro. 30. But as Salomon bounded his estate in a middle and convenient sort, betweene povertie and ri­riches little and much, least [...]f hee were too full, he might deny his maker, and aske who is the Lord? or if hee were too emptie he might steale, and take the name of God in vaine; so is the time of this people, temperatly measured vnto them, betweene long and shorte, that neither abundaunce of daies may make them forget GOD, nor skarsitie driue them from the hope of their vvished salvation. Auncient woundes (saieth Ierome) are not cured in haste,Tā antiqua Vulnera di [...] apposito emplastro curanda erant. in hunc loc. the plaister must long lie vpon them, and the olde festared sinnes of Niniveh coulde not be done away vvith a daies repentance. The mea­sure and quantitie of their iudgement is an overthrow. Niniveh shall bee destroyed. Shee might haue beene plagued many vvaies and yet haue stood vpon her pillers and foundations; plagued vvith the want of raine, as Samaria in the daies of Ahab;2. The mea­sure of the iudgment. with skarsitie of breade, with pestilence, vvith siege of enemies, with the tyran­ny and exaction of her own kings and governours; but these are all too light in the eies of God, and nothing will satisfie his iustice▪ but her finall subversion.Ier. 49. If the grape-gatherers come to a vine (saith Ie­remie) vvill they not leaue some grapes? if theeues come by night, they vvill but steale till they haue enough; but Niniveh must bee gathered, and prayed vpon by the vnsatiable iudgment of God, till it hath left her nothing. Some of the Hebrewes thinke that Ni­niveh should haue beene destroyed by fire from heaven as So­dome and Gomorrhe were. Others suppose by the sworde of a forreigne enimie. If by the former of these tvvo, what a feare­full thinge vvas it, that in steede of the fatnesse of the clowdes, the greater and the smaller raine, the sweete dewes of heauen, comfortable showers, which God hath engendered in the aire, and [Page 454] devided by pipes to fall vpon the earth in their seasons; their ground should be (watered?) nay vvithered, and the fruites of the earth (cherished?) nay consumed; their temples and buildinges resol­ved into cinders, yea their very skinnes and bones molten from their backes with the heate of Gods vengeance? The other in effect is not much behinde, though in manner and kinde different, vvhen so forcible and fierce an enemy commeth,Nah. 1. that destructions shall not need to arise vp the second time, where neither the aged hath reverence for his gray haire, nor the suckling release for the innocency of his age; where neither matrone, nor virgin, priest, nor Senatour shall be priviledged from slaughter. When mourning shall be in their streetes, and they shall saie in all their high waies, Amos 5. alas, alas; or as it is in the fourth of Ieremy, Woe is mee, for my soule fainteth because of the murders: vvhen there shall bee no man lefte to carry nevves to the next citye, none to say to his friende, leave thy fatherlesse children to mee and I will preserve them alive, and let thy vviddowes trust in mee. Finallye, when the bloud of men shall bee powred out as dust, Ier. 49. and their flesh as dung, and all the beastes of the field, togither with the foules of the aire, shall be called to a sacrifice of dead corpses.Zoph. 1.

3 The sub­iect.The subiect of that overthrow is Niniveh; Niniveh in state and magnificence as the stars of God; Niniveh that excellent city, which had her name from God himselfe. Niniveh of such antiquity that from the floud of Noah she had stood vpright;Civitas Deo Niniveh that over-avved Babylon, destroyed Samaria, brought Ierusalem vnder tribute, and was the rod of Gods anger to smite the nations with; Niniveh that glorious city which dwelt in confidence and saide in her hart, I am, & there is none besides me, Niniveh must be subverted. Niniveh built with so much labor and ambition by infinite numbers of men, exquisite ar­tificers, vnmesurable chardges, Niniveh with her walles 400. miles about, their heighth and theit bredth wondered at, vvith her thou­sand & five hundred turrets, so glorious to the eie, Niniveh must bee subverted. Her wealthy, insolēt, imperious inhabitāts, not only those of Assiria, but the choise of al the coūtries roūd about, father, son, ne­phew, old & young, all must be destroied. It is not the losse of their king alone that is here threatned, nor decay of marchants & men of war, nor the rooting out of the noblest families in Niniveh, nor the funerals of private houses. It is the fal & overthrow without restraint of the whole city. Thus pride, when it commeth to the highest, I say not in the sonnes of men and women, but in the very sonne of the morning, and the angels of heaven, and not onely in common and [Page 455] singular persons, but in societies, citties, kingdomes, monarchies, shall be brought downe. Notvvithstanding vvrite it in tables, and let it be a monument for the last day, hovv gracious the Lord is towardes vngracious sinners. Niniveh is threatned to be overthrowen, and hath yet forty daies stinted to repent her in: but vvho can number the yeares vvhich Niniveh hath enioyed aforetime?4 Gods pa­tience. yet God is con­tent to sustaine the losse and profusion of all those, and as he added in mercy 15. yeares to the life of Ezechias; so to the life and being of Niniveh 40. daies. The particle of remainder yet 40. daies doth wō ­derfully set forth the bounty of God; that albeit ten generations had past before, and ten more succeeded vvithout fruit; yet he woulde spare them thus much longer to try their amendment.

The people of the Iewes endured sufficiently in the vvildernes, when he protested in the Psalme,Psal. 95. forty yeares long was I grieved with this generation: not only provoked, offended, discontented but grieved at his very soule, vvho could haue grieved all the vaines of their harts, and taught them the price of angring so dreadfull a maiesty as his is. In the prophecie of Ieremie, he repeateth their disobedience from farther antiquity. The children of Israell, Ier. 32. and the children of Iudah haue surelie done evill before mee from their youth; and this city hath beene vnto mee a provocation of anger from the day that they first built it. But I neede not labour to prooue the patience of God, when the worst servant in his house confesseth it.Math. 24. My master is gone into a farre coun­trey, and vvill not returne in hast, yea when the Athiest and skor­ner himselfe acknowledgeth no lesse. For if they vvere not ac­quainted vvith his patience and long sufferance, they vvoulde never haue called it slacknesse, nor askt in derision,2. Pet. 3. for the promise of his comming, nor taken advantage of impiety, because al things had stoode in their state from the daies of their fathers, nor put the evill daie farre from them, and slaundered the footsteppes of Gods anointed sonne. Conclus. Tempus vi­tae tempus poenitentiae. The time of this life is as the forty daies of Niniveh, a time of repentance, to some it is forty yeares, as it was to Israell in the desert, to some not houres, to others not minutes; but their spirit departeth from them, as Iacob vvent from Laban, and the Israelites from the land of Egypt without leaue taking, carrying away their iewels and treasures, and vvhatsoever in this life is most deare vnto them. O happie are they to vvhome this favour is lente vvhich vvas shewed to Niniveh, yet forty daies for thy re­pentance. But thrise most vvretched on the other side vvhome the Angell of God hath aunswered, time shall be no more vnto [Page 456] thee, the night is come wherein thou canst not worke, the vision is ended, the prophecy fulfilled, the doores shut vp, thy gracious vi­sitation past; who in the closing of an eie are pulled from the lande of the living, & their place is no more knowne. Let me tell you for con­clusion, that which was spoken to Niniveh in this place vnder con­dition, was afterwards simply pronounced by Nahum, & Niniveh was destroied indeede. Tobias before his death hearde of the fall of Niniveh,Tob. 14. & the monarchie that said within it selfe here will I dwell, was translated into Babylon. He that endured Ierusalem so longe, was afterward so obstinate against it, that if Moses and Samuell had stoode before him to aske her pardon, hee woulde not haue beene entreated; hee that forbare that froward and stubborne generati­on forty yeares long, afterwards sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest. And as he hath spared, and spared, and spa­red, so hee will overturne, and overturne, and overturne, Ezech, 31. and as he hath added yet more houres, and yet more yeares, and yet forty daies, so hee will add yet more plagues, and yet more punish­ments, and yet more vengeance. According to his fearfull commi­nation Levit. 26. I will yet plague you seven times more, & yet seven times more, & still with further repetition, as there is no end of our sinnes, so there is no end of his anger. This were the preaching fitt for these times: blessings must sleepe a while, mercy go aside, peace returne to the God of peace & not be spoken of. That reverend, religious, ho­nest estimation which was of God, in former times, there is mercy with thee o Lord, and therfore shalt thou be feared, is now abandoned and put to flight. This rather must be our doctrine, there is iudgement with thee o Lord, with thee o Lord there is ruine and subversion, vvith thee are plagues o Lord, with thee there is battaile and famine and snares and captivity & storme & tempest. there is fire & brimstone with thee O Lord, therefore thou shalt be feared. Happy are we if ei­ther loue or feare will draw vs to repentance, if our marble and flinti heartes wilbe softned with any raine that falleth, if our stiffe and y­ron-sinued neckes will bow with any yoke, either the sweete yoke of the gospell of Christ, or the heavye & vnsupportable yoke of the lawe and iudgement. But if Niniveh continue as it hath begun, Ni­niveh shall bee overthrowen. I am not a prophet, nor the sonne of a prophet to set the time, either of forty or fifty, daies or yeares more or lesse; hee sitteth aboue to whome it is best knowne, and is comming in the cloudes to determin that question. But mercye and iustice I knowe are two sisters, and as the one hath had her day [Page 457] so the other shall not misse hers; and the Lord hath two armes, two cuppes, two recompences, and doubtlesse there is a rewarde for the righteous and doubtlesse there is also a plague for obstinate and im­poenitent sinners.

THE XXXIIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. vers. 5.‘So the people of Niniveh beleeved God and proclai­med a fast &c.’

THE third part of the fowre, whereinto the Chapter divideth it selfe containeth the re­pentance of Niniveh, continued vvithout interruption from the beginning of the fifth verse to the end of the ninth, where it is ioi­fully embraced by the mercy and pardon of God towards her, which was the last parte. The first of these five, which we are present­ly to deale with, is the generall table & con­tents, of that which the other fowre diduce into speciall branches. as Ezechiel first portraied the siege of Ierusalem vpon a bricke,Ezech. 4. to give the people of the Iewes an image of that misery, vvhich after­wardes they should finde distinctly and at large accomplished: For whatsoever wee heare in the lineall succession of all the rest, tou­ching their faith, fastes, sackloth, proclamations, vvithout respect of person or age, wee have broched vnto vs, in this prooemiall sen­tence. Their ordering and disposing of this weighty businesse of repentance, with every office and service belonging vnto it, is so comely, convenient, and with such arte, as if David were to apoint the Levites and priestes of the temple their courses againe, and to settle the singers and porters in their severall ministrations hee could not have shewed more wisedome and skilfulnes. For such are the duties tendered to God by this people of Niniveh, as were these officers of the temple. Some principall, others accessary; some mo­rall, others ceremoniall; some for substance, others rather for shew, and to set out the worke; some to the soule belonginge, others to the body and outward man. And in all these, the first have the first places, the second and inferiour, such as are fitte for them. [Page 458] Faith goeth before works, & in worke fasting goeth before sackloth & in the persons the greatest goeth before the lesse, & in the doinge of all this, the proclamation of the king and counsaile goeth before the excecution of the people. The army that Salomon spake of, was never better set,Cantic. 6. nor almost the starres of heaven better ordered, then this conversion of Niniveh. First they beleeved God. For the Apostles rule admitteth no exception. Without faith it is vnpossible to please God. For he that commeth to God must beleeue that God is, and not onely his being,Heb. 6. but in his nature and property, that he is also a re­warder of them that seeke him. This is the first stone of their building, the first round of the ladder of Iacob, whereby they climbe to the presence of God. From faith which is an action of the minde, they goe to the workes of the body. Fasting and sackloth. For faith cried within them, as Rachel cried to Iacob, giue mee children or I die. Faith is hardely received and credited to be faith vnlesse it be testified. For that is the touchstone that the Apostle trieth vs by, Shew mee thy faith by thy workes. So first they quicken the soule, (for faith is the life of it) and then they kill the body by taking a­way the foode thereof, wherein the life of the body consisted, and buryinge it in a shrowde of sackloth. In their workes they begin with fasting as it were the greater thinges of the lawe, and end with sackecloth as the lesse. For as Ierome noteth, fasting is rather to be chosen without sackcloth, then sackcloth without fastinge; therfore is fasting put before sackecloth.Jeiuniū ma­gis eligendū abs (que) sacco, quam saccus sine ieiunio, ideo iciuniū ante saccum. But if wee shall adioyne from the 8. verse their turning from their evill waies, and from the wickednesse of their handes (which some expound of restitution) wee shall see that they went from fasting and sackcloth to that which was more then both. The persons are as rightly placed. For they humble them­selues from the greatest of them to the least of them, which declareth not onely an vniversall consent, that there was but one heart, one soule, one faith, one f [...]st, one attire amongst them all, but that the king began, the people were led by him, and that olde menne gaue example to the younge, parents to their children. Lastly ac­cording to the wordes of the Psalme,Maior aetas incipit, ad minorem pervenit▪ Hier. I beleeved, therefore haue I spo­ken, no sooner had they holde of faith in their heartes, but their tongues are presently exercised, nay their pens set one worke, not onely to speake, but to speake publiquely, to speake vpon the house toppes, by open proclamation, that all might vnderstande; and it is probable enough from the 7. verse, that ill the pro­clamation was heard, for order and obedience sake, they did no­thing. [Page 459] More particularly,They bele­ved. 2. God. 3. [...]asted & wore the saeke. From grea­test. &c. 5 Proclai­med a fast. 1. King. 14. 1. the radicall and fundamentall action wherewith they begin is faith, 2. the obiect of that faith God, 3. the effectes and fruites of their faith, abstinence from tvvo vices, the slaunder and reproch whereof Asia was famously subiect vnto: 4. their generality in that abstinence: 5. their warrant and commission for so doing by the edicte of the King, I reserve to an other place.

So the people of Niniveh beleeved God. When Ahiiah the prophet told Ieroboam, that God shoulde raise vp a king in Israell to destroy his house, not to leaue him in hope that the time was far off remoo­ved, hee correcteth himselfe, with sudden and quicke demaunde, and maketh the aunswere vnto it: What? yea euen now. Did I saye hee shoulde? nay, it is already done. So soone as the worde was gone from the mouth of Ionas,Quid adtē? eiam nunc. yet 40. daies and Niniveh shall bee de­stroied, vvithout pawsing and resting vpon the matter, they beleeved God. What? yea, even now. It vvas so speedily done that almost it was lesse then imagination. It is very straunge that a Gentile nati­on, vvhich vvere ever al [...]ants from the common wealth of Israell, and straungers from the covenants of promise, should so soone be caught within these nettes. For when prophets preach the mercies or iudg­ments of God, so fatte are the eares and vncapable the hearts of the incredulous vvorlde, (much more when God is a straunger amongst them) that they may preach amongst the rest as Esay did,Es. 23. who hath beleeved our report? or to whome is the arme of the Lord revealed? either the gospell which is his power to salvation to them that beleeue, or the lawe which is his rod of iron to crush them in pieces that trans­gresse it? Rather, as it is in Habbaccuk,Hab. 1. they will behold amongst the heathen, and regarde, and wonder, and mervaile they vvill lend their eies to gaze, & their tongues to talke, but with all they will despise and lightly esteeme all that is saide vnto them. Beholde yee de­spisers and wonder at your vnbeliefe, you that wonder so much & yet despise. For I will worke a worke in your daies, saith the Lord, yee will not beleeue it, though it be told you. The Lord vvill worke it, pro­phets declare it, and yet the people beleeue not. Nay, their man­ner of deriding, and insulting at the iudgments of God is, let him make speede, let him hasten his worke that wee may see it, Es. 5. and let the coun­saile of the holy one draw neare and come that wee may know it. And some­times, they plainely deny the Lorde, and all his iudgements, saying, It is not hee, neither shall the plague come vpon vs, Ier. 5. neither shall wee see sworde or famine. And as for his prophets they are but wind and the word [Page 460] is not in them. Exod. 5. Moses and Aaron preached vnto Pharo, not one­ly in the name of the Lord, and with kinde exhortations, let my people goe, nor onely by threates and sentences of iudgement, but by apparant plagues, the effectuallest preachers that might bee, by the tongues of frogges, lice, flies, grashoppers, of morraine, bot­ches, darkenesse, haile-stones, bloud, and death it selfe; could not all these mooue him?Exod. 7. Exod. 8. Jbid. No, but the first time hee returned into his house, and hardened his heart; and the second, When he saw he had rest, he hard­ned his heart againe; and the thirde time: his heart remained obsti­nate, and likewise the fourth, though Moses gaue him warning, let not Pharaoh from hence-forth deceiue mee any more, and so hee conti­nued to his dying day, building vp hardnesse of heart as high as ever Babell vvas intended, even vp into heaven, by deny­ing and defying the God thereof, till hee quite overthrew him in the red sea. What shall vvee say to this, but as the apostle doth? All men haue not faith. 1. Thes. 3. God sent his patria [...]kes in the ancienter a­ges of the vvorlde, and founde not faith; sent his prophetes in a later generation and founde not faith. Last of all sent his sonne, a man approoved to the vvorlde, and approoving his doctrine with great vvorkes, and vvonders, and signes, and founde not faith: and vvhen the sonne of man commeth againe, Act. 2. Luc. 18. shall hee finde faith on the earth? So contrary it is to the nature of man to beleeue any thing, that custome and experience hath not invred him with, or may be cō ­prehended by discourse of reason. Yet this people of Niniveh ha­ving received, you heare, but one prophet, and from that one pro­phet, one sentence, and but in one part of the citty skattered and sowen amongst them, presently beleeved, as if the Lord from heaven, had thrust his fingers into their eares and hartes, and by a miracle set them open.

It rather seemeth to haue beene faith of credulity, which is heere mentioned, yeelding assent to the truth of the prophecie, then faith of affiance & cōfidence, taking hold of mercy. That is, they first ap­prehend God in the faithfulnes of his word,Fides fiduciae they knowe him to be a God that cannot lie, Titus 1. they suspect not the prophet, distrust not the mes­sage, assuring themselues as certainly as that they liue, that the iudg­ment shall fall vpon them, without the iudges d [...]spensation. Not­vvithstanding there to haue staied, without tasting some sweetenes of the mercy of God, had ben little to their harts ease. The devils be­leeue, Iac 2. Epist. Jude. and tremble. They are reserved to the iudgment of the great daie, and they keepe a kalender that they are reserved. For they neither [Page 461] see, nor heare of Iesus of Nazareth, the iudge of the quicke and dead, Angels and men, death and hell, but they are inward­ly afflicted, and aske why hee is come to vexe them before the time. And surely to beleeue the truth of God in his iustice, without aspect and application of mercy to tēper it, & to consider nothing in that infinit supreme maiestie, but that he is fortis vltor dominus, the Lorde a strong revenger, & reddens retribuet, hee that recompenceth, Ier. 51. will surelye recom­pence, and to take holde of no vvorde from his mouth, but Nini­veh shall bee destroied; this were enough to make them desperate,Vna salut nullam spe­rare salutē. to cause them to stone his Prophet, to set their cittye on fire as Zim­ri did the pallace, and to die cursinge and blaspheming the name of the Lorde of hostes· But there is no question, but eyther by the preachinge of Ionas, who might mingle a little sweete with their sower, or by the goodnesse of God by delivering Ionas, vvhich manye of the Rabbins thinke they had hearde of, or by the light of nature, some particles and sparkles vvhereof, might yet re­maine in them, because they came from Assur, Assur from Sem, and Sem had the knowledge of God, or by some other meanes (the spirite of God especially havinge a worke to vvorke, and rea­dy to helpe their infirmities) they conceived some hope, of the bountye and graciousnesse of the LORDE, and therevpon, humbled themselues in fastinge and prayer vpon trust to receaue it.

They beleeved GOD not Ionas,2. The ob­iect. although in meaning it is all one, they beleeved GOD as the author, Ionas as the mi­nister. God in Ionas, or Ionas from GOD, and for Gods sake; therefore Rabbi Esdras saith, they beleeved GOD, that is, the vvoorde of GOD, which GOD sent, Ionas pronounced. As it is said of the Israelits Exodus the fourteenth, ioyning both togither that they beleeved God and his servant Moses. And 2. Cor. 5. there is a like savinge: Nowe therefore are wee embassadours for Christ, As if GOD did beseech you through vs &c. Wee for Christ and GOD through vs. Therefore to shewe that the contempt of the servant redoundeth to the Lord, God telleth Samuel. 1. Sam. 8. They haue not cast thee away, but they haue cast me away: and Christ his disciples Luc. 10. hee that heareth you, heareth mee, and hee that despi­seth you, despiseth mee, and him that sent mee, and hee that receaveth a prophet in the name of a prophet, and a disciple in the name of a disciple, Math. 10. (not in the name of an Israelite or Samaritan, brother or straunger, But vnder that relation) shall not loose his revvarde. An admira­ble [Page 462] and gracious dispensation from God, to speake vnto man, not in his owne person, and by the voice, of his thunders, and light­nings, or with the sounde of a trumpet exceeding lowde, as hee did vpon the mount;Exod. 20. (for then wee shoulde runne away, and cry vnto Moses or anye other servant of God talke thou with vs, and vvee will heare thee, but let not God talke with vs, least vvee die,) but by prophets and dis­ciples of our owne nature, flesh of our flesh, and bones of our bones, and as the Scripture witnesseth of Elias, men subiect to the same passi­ons, Iam. 5. whereto wee are, accordinge to the worde of Moses, Deuter. 18. A prophet will the Lorde thy God raise vp vnto thee, like vnto mee, from amongst you, even of thy brethren, bringing neither shape nor languadge other then I haue done. And that prophet, shall raise vp others of the like condition, for the perfiting of his Saints [...]ll the vvorldes ende. In which borrowing and vsing of the tongues of men,Jmperans non mendi­cans hoc fa­cit. Jndulgētia est non indi­gentia· Non efficati­am quaerit sed congruē ­tiam. Bern. ser. 5. in cāt. Act. 14. hee doth not begge but commaunde; nor wanteth him­selfe, but benefiteth vs; nor seeketh strength to his owne worde, but congruence and proportion to our infirmities; for we were not able to beare the glorye of that maiesty, if it did not hide in some sort and temper it selfe vnder these earthly instrumentes. But now wee may say (renouncing their idolatry) as they did in Lystra of Paul and Barnabas when wee take the counsailes of God from the lippes of our brethren, God is come downe amongst vs in the likenesse of men. It is hee that speaketh from aboue, and blesseth and curseth, bindeth and looseth, exhorteth and dehorteth by the mouth of man. And surely for this respect, and relations sake betvveene God and his ministers, whome it hath pleased of his mercy to dig­nifie in some sort, with the representation of his ovvne person v­pon earth, the vvorlde hath ever held them in very reverent esti­mation. Insomuch that Paul tolde the Galathians, although he preached the Gospell vnto them through infirmity of the flesh, Galat. 4. without the honour, ostentation, and pompe of the worlde, rather as one that studied to bring his person into contempte, yet so far was it off that they despised or abhored his infirmities, that they rather received him as an Angell of God, yea as Christ Iesus. And hee bare them record, that if it had beene possible (nature and the law of God not forbidding) they woulde haue pluckt out their eies to haue bestowed vpon him. Chry­sostome vpon the second to Timothy thinketh no recompence e­quall to their daungers:Homil 2. Quantumli­bet obsequil deferas &c. and that it is not more then deserved, if they shoulde lay downe their liues for their pastours sake, because they doe it dailie for them, although not in this life for lacke of per­secution [Page 463] to try it, yet by exposing their soules to the perrill of eternall death, I beare you record (to vse the Apostles vvords) that in former times, when you had ligneos sacerdotes, woodden priestes, priestes of Babylon to bee your leaders and guides, and not onely Balaam the Prophet of Moab, Balaams asses, who never opened their mouthes, but it was a miracle to heare them▪ you gaue thē the honour of angels & of Christ Iesus himselfe. You thē bestowed your earings and frontlets (as Israell did vpon a golden calfe) vpon those leaden calues, I meane your landes and revenewes, to main­taine the covents of Monkes, cages of ignorant and vnlearned buz­zardes. Then you committed idolatrye with stockes and stones, & to every Frier that drew you aside, were ready to submit your selues, pater meus es tu, you are my father. Then religion ate vp pol­licy, the Church devoured the common wealth, cloysters were fuller of treasures then Kinges courtes, all the wealth and fatnesse of the lande was swallowed downe into the bellies of Frieries and Nōneries. And as the king of Persia continued his feast to his princes and servantes an hundreth and fourescore daies, Esther. 1. so if these had continu­ed their eating and drinking the substance of the world to this day, their appetite woulde haue lasted. Then had you priestes without learning, Zeale without knowledge, devotion without discreti­on, and liberalitie without moderation. But there is a time to win and a time to loose, a time to gather and a time to skatter, a time to eate and a time to cast vp. For now pollicy hath eaten vp religion, the common wealth the Church, and men spoile their Gods, as God ex­postulateth Malac. 3. against all equity and conscience. His tithes and offeringes are translated to strangers; they eate the materiall bread of the Prophets, who never giue them spirituall foode, and they that serue not at the altar, liue by it, when they that serue in­deede cannot liue. Antigonus asked Cleanthes a learned Philo­sopher, and painefull student at his booke, Cleanthes doest thou yet grind? I grind, saith hee, and that for sustenance sake. Molis adhu [...] cleanthe? molo id (que) vi­t [...]e sustentā ­dae causa. Quibus ille manib &c▪ Plutarch▪ Wherein they noted a great indignity, that those hands should be vsed at the mill where­with hee wrote of the sunne and starres. It grieveth mee to speake vvhat shiftes they are driven vnto, who are able to labour in the word & to doe the worke of righte good evangelistes, id (que) vitae sustentandae causa, not to grow rich thereby, but to put meate into their mouthes and the mouthes of their families. I conclude with the exhortati­on of the Apostle, 1. Thes. 5. Now wee beseech you brethren, that you know them which labour amongst you, and are over you in the Lorde, [Page 464] and admonish you, [...]. that yee haue them in singular, or abundant, or more then abundant loue for their workes sake. From an abundant spirit hee cra­veth abūdant abūdance of loue, empting his soule of words, that if it vvere possible, hee might stirre their heartes. In this sparingly spa­ring generation of ours, what wordes might serue to warme their frozen devotion, vvhome neither painefulnesse in labouring, nor preeminence in overseeing, nor vigilancy in admonishing, can cause to knowe and discerne? no nor keepe from contemning; or so excee­dingly to loue? no, nor vvithdraw from exceedingly hating, these labourers, rulers, vvatchmen of theirs, but even for their workes sake, because they are ministers, most debase and despight them? They knew Christ among the Iewes, to bee the carpenters sonne, and such to bee his brethren and sisters: So these they are content to know, not in the worthinesse of their calling, givinge counte­nance to their place, and maintenaace to their service, but in the basenesse of their birth and kindred, poorenesse of their liuinges & pensions, and whatsoever may make to adde vnto them further disgrace,

3 the effect of faith. And proclaimed a fast, and put on sackloth. Fasting and sacke­clothe, saith Ierome, are the armour of repentaunce. Shee com­meth not to God with a full belly and meate betweene the teeth,Arma peni­tentiae sac­cus & ieiu­nium· Jnanis ven­ter & luct [...] ­osus habitus ambitiosiùs Deum depre­ [...]antur. Hieron. Moeroris in signia. Tull. nor in gorgeous attire of silver and golde or of needle worke, but with the thinnest face, and coursest apparrell that shee can provide. Shee is so much the apter to apply her suite, and to entreat GOD. Not that the emptinesse of the stomake, or roughnesse of the gar­ment doe so much content him: which are but outwarde signes of an inwarde cause from whence they proceede. For when the soule is touched indeede, and feeleth the smarte of her sinnes, because it hungreth and thirsteth after the righteousnesse of God, therefore it cannot thinke on feeding the outward man, but commaundeth it abstinence for a time even from necssary eating: and because it longeth to bee clothed with the salvation of God, therefore it char­geth her flesh and bloud, not to take care for wonted attiring, but to change their accustomed ornamentes into sackcloth and ashes. Meanetime the pleasure that God hath is in the sorrow of the heart and in the humility of the minde which the humiliation of the body giveth him assurance of. The practise of David Psalm. 35, is, mee thinketh a very good paterne, both to shewe the order of repen­tance, & to assigne the place that fasting & sackcloth haue therein, When they were sicke, I clothed my self with sackcloth, & humbled my soule [Page 465] vvith fasting, and my praier vvas turned vpon my bosome. I behaved my selfe as to my friend or brother, and made lamentation as one that bewaileth his mo­ther. 1. There must be some misery, as the sickenes of friends, maladies of our own soules, or the publicke sores of the whole land. 2. Vpon that misery, ensueth an inward & harty compassion, as in a case that dearely affecteth vs. 3. vpon that cōpassion, griefe, which mercy is never sun­dred frō. 4. vpon that griefe, a neglect of bodily duties, & neither lea­sure to fill it with meates & drinkes, nor care to trim it with ornamēts. 5. vpon the neglect of the body, doe the exercises of the soule praier & the like offer thēselues, & 6. praier with her other cōpanions at length come laden home with the sheaues of comfort & blisse frō the plen­tifullest fields. So that sackecloath and sasting, as they are the wit­nesses of sorrow or some like passion, so are they helps also & occasi­ons to more acceptable workes then they are themselues, neither lye they next to the favor of God, but they thrust praier & faith between them and home to begge remission. I meane not to prevent my text, by shewing the nature, originall, kindes, and vse of fasting amongest both heathens & Christians, which some later verses of this chapter doe challendge to themselues. Only I obserue for this present, that both those sinnes, wherwith the people of Asia did most especially a­bound, and these in Niniveh perhaps more especially then the rest, they laboured forthwith to reforme, that is, the delicacy of meates & drinkes, & intemperancy in cloathing.Luke 16. The rich man in the gospell is noted for both these, as handmaides that waited vpon his riches. And Niniveh the richest lady vnder heaven was not cleare from them. To rid themselues of these baites & allurements, 1. they fast, from meate, drinke, sleepe, ointments, delightes & recreations of all sorts. For that is truly to fast; not only to forsake & forget ordinary food,Non solum ab escis sed à cūctis illece­bris abstine­re. Hieron. but to em­prison & shut vp the body from all the pleasures of life, to pul downe the strength and pride thereof, & for neighbour-hoods sake to afflict the soule with it, & in effect to giue it straight commandement, touch not, taste not, handle not any thing wherein thy wonted ioies consi­sted. 2. They proclame a fast, they leaue it not indifferent and arbitrary to the will of every private cittizen to doe what hee best fansied. They binde them by a law and decree to do as the rest did, least there might have bin some in the city, carrying their Epicurisme and loose­nesse of life to their graue, Let vs eate and drinke for within forty daies vvee shall die. 3. They put on sacke-cloath. Perhappes not sacke-cloth in kinde, which all the shoppes in Niniveh coulde not supply them with, but the vilest and simplest vveedes that they might devise. [Page 466] Their purple and prince-like furniture, wherein they esteemed not warmth,Non calor sed color. Be [...]. Pretium af­fectatur in vestibus non necessitas. Id. but the colour and die, and ware them for their price more then necessity; their wanton, disdainefull, superfluous sailes of pride and vaine-glory they lay aside, and, but for open vncivilitie, they would strippe themselues to the bare skinne, and repente naked. 4. from the greatest to the least. They spare no calling, Prince nor peere, noble nor vulgar person. They spare no age, old nor yong. The aged that went with his staffe, and the suckling that drew the breast, are all chardged alike, even those who for bodily infirmities, were vnable e­nough to beare it.

The two daughters of the horse-leach which sucke the bloude of our land,The con­clusion. wasting the substance and commodity thereof in vaine, in some the effects of their wealth, in others the efficientes of their beg­gery, are the vices of these Assyrians which directly and purposedly they crosse in this worke of repentaunce. For what hath vndone both gentlemen & meane men in our country so much, & broughte some to shame, as their backe & bellie, pride and profusion? What means shall we vse to crush these vipers amongst you? declaiming will not serue. Denouncing of the iudgements of God we haue found vnpro­fitable by over-long experience. Haue we not beaten your eares? (I mistake, the aire & the winde) a thousand times vvith faithfull & ear­nest detection of these monsters, pride & prodigality, strangenes of apparell, excesse of meates & drinkes, and haue we not gained there­by, as if we had preached but fables? Niniveh is fallen long since, be­cause shee returned to that wallowing which here shee repented her of. But Niniveh shal rise againe and stand vpright against vs, and con­demne vs face to face, for shee repented in hunger and thirst, we in sa­tiety, gluttony, surfetting, drunkennes; for either we never repente at all, or these are the stomakes which we bring in repentance: And Ni­niveh repented in sacke-cloth and ashes, stuffe of the coursest woofe and workemanship, and of the simplest fashion that their wits coulde invent, we in our silkes and velvets, of French, Italian, Iewish, Tur­kish, Barbarian, hellish devises: for either vve never repent at all, or these are the guises and shewes we bring in repentance. These, these are the stomakes we goe with, I say not to our beddes, to stretch our selues, and to take our ease, till we haue gotten our appetites againe, and these are the weeds we carry, I say not to the theatres to bee sta­red vpon, nor to the kings court where soft raiment is more tolerable to be worne; But vvith these stomakes and these weedes, we goe to the temple of the Lorde, his house of praying and preaching, and as [Page 467] boldly present our selues therewith, as if the favour of God were so­nest wonne by such intemperancies. Whither we be a people defi­led and corrupted as these in Niniveh were, vvee are not so shame­lesse to dissemble; and whither prophets haue beene amongst vs, as Ionas was in Niniveh, let their wearied tongues and sorrowfull soules for their lost labour, witnes an other day; & whither the iudgementes of God, some we haue already felt, and some wee haue cause to feare, though not so grievous as they did, we neede none other messengers to report, then our eies standing in our heades, and beholding some parte of them accomplished; And lastly, we would thinke it a great wrong vnto vs to be chardged with vnbeleefe. Wee say wee beleeue God as frankely and confidently, as ever the men of Niniveh did. Thus far wee will be equall with Niniveh▪ But shewe me your faith by your workes as they did in Niniveh. If your sinnes haue deserved a iudgement, and iudgement hath beene sounded by prophetes, be­sides the preaching of experience; and prophets, you say, are belee­ved, because you receiue them as those that speake in the name of the Lord: I say againe, shew me your faith by your workes, as that ci­tie did. When did you fast, I name not bread and water, but from su­perfluous sustenance? VVhen did you pull one dish from your tables, or one morsell from your bowels? Nay, doe you not daily adde, and invent for pleasure, even till the creatures of God, which die for your liues, cry out vpon you; we desire not to bee spared, but not to bee abused; vvee refuse not to serue your necessitie, but your riot; kill to eate, Necessitatē haud depre­cor sed iniu­riam. Necessitati subservire haud recuso sed luxu [...], vt vescuris iugula, vt lautiùs & iucundiùs vescaris haud iugulae. Plut. de es [...] carn. but to eate deliciouslie and intemperately kill vs not? Or when did you chandge one sute or thred of your rayment, in signe of suppliant and contrite spirites? shall I say by proclamation? no, nor by the secret and single de­cree of any private heart. Or from the greatest to the least? No. For greatnesse will not stoupe but at greater iudgementes. The Lorde doth bruise but the heele of the body, when the poore are smitten, vn­lesse he reach the head, the rich and mighty amongst vs feele it not. Brethren there must be some ende of these things, our eating and drinking not to liue, but as if wee woulde die with fulnesse, and wea­ring of pride like a chaine to our neckes, and a mantle to our whole bodies; or if Moses and Samuell vvere amongst vs, they woulde be weary of their preaching. Yea there must be some ende, or if Moses and Samuell vvithall the angels in heaven vvere amongst vs; to bestowe both their preachings and praiers that we might be saved, they should saue but their owne soules, and neither vs, nor our sonnes and daughters. This is an yeare of temptation whereof I maie [Page 468] saye as Moses did in Deuteronomie of a straunge prophet,Deut. 13. T [...]n­tat vos dominus vester, The LORDE your God prooveth you whither you loue him or no, vvhither you can bee contente for his sake to leaue superfluities a while and to lay aside vanitie, and converte your heartes and handes to the workes of mercie. In the timeliest time of your harvest hee covered the heavens with a sacke, to teach you the way to sacke-cloath, and sent leanenesse vpon the earth, to teach you frugalitie and thriftinesse in the vse of his blessinges. Manie the poorer of our lande vvoulde bee glad vvith the disciples of Christ to rubbe an eare of corne betweene their handes, for reliefe of their hunger, if they coulde come by it. Their bowels sounde like shaumes for vvante of foode, and their teeth are cleane, vvhen your barnes and garners are filled to the toppe, your presses runne over, and your bellies are satisfied vvith more then the flower of vvheat. O take somewhat from your bellies and backes, if you haue any loue to that hidden Manna, the meate that perisheth not, the fruites of the tree of life in the middest of the paradise of God; if any desire to those vvhite garmentes washt in the bloud of Christ, and rather to shine hereafter as the starres in the firma­ment, then as glo-wormes vpon the earth in this present life; take from your bellies and backes, both in regard of your owne soules, to witnesse humility and sobriety before God and man, and for your poore brethren sake, that they may bee fedde and clothed. It is Christ that hungreth, and Christ that must satisfie you. Christ that craveth, and Christ that must give vnto you. Christ that lieth at your gates, and Christ that must advaunce you to glo­rie. Hee is the advocate to the poore, and the iudge of the rich, hee hath the sentence of blessing and cursing in his mouth, and to those that are plentifull givers, he shall render a plentifull recompence.

THE XXXV. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. ver. 6.‘For word came vnto the king of Niniveh and he rose from his throne, &c.’

THE first of those fiue verses vvherein the re­pentaunce of Niniveh is laide downe, is no­thing else, I told you, but a generall compre­hension of that which is afterwarde repeated and repolished with more particular decla­ration. Therein they lay their foundation low and sure: for the first stone of their buil­ding that beareth vp al the rest, is faith, plain­ly and expressely mentioned: which if it had beene supprest by silence, as one that seeth the branches and fruites of a tree, knoweth there is a roote that carrieth them, though it be bu­ried in the moulde of the grounde; or the members of the bodie of man, stirring and mooving themselues to their severall functions, knoweth there is a heart that ruleth them, though it dwell secretly within the bosome: so though the name of faith had not heere beene heard of, he that had seene such branches and members of religious devotion and humiliation in the people of Niniveh, might easilie haue ghessed that there was a roote and hearte of faith from whence they proceeded. To this they adioine fasting and sacke-cloath, not only as arguments and outward professions of their inwarde contrition or griefe: but as adminicles, helpes, & commendations besides to that effectuall praier of theirs which afterwardes they powred forth. The belly, they say, hath no eares, and we may as truely say,Venter no [...] habet aures▪ Vexiliū su­perbiae ni­dus (que) luxu [...]riae. August. it hath no tongue or spirit to call vpon God; and sumptuous garmentes are ei­ther the banner of pride and nest of riotousnes, as the Emperour of Rome tearmed them, or tokens at least of a minde at rest and no way disqui­eted, therfore they cry in the second of Wisedome, Let vs fill our selues with costly wine and ointments, and let vs crowne our selues with rose buddes. And Amos complaineth of them in the sixt of his prophecie, that put the evill day farre from them, and approach to the seate of iniquitie, that they eate the lambes of the flocke, and the calues out of the stall, drinke their wine in bowles, and anointe themselues with the chiefe ointmentes, but no man is sory for the affliction of Ioseph. For it is not likely that the affliction of oth ers should mooue their heartes, who are so occupied and possest before with fulnes of pleasures.

For the better explication heereof, it shall not be impertinent to [Page 470] consider and apply the behavior of Benadab 1. Kings. 20. he had re­ceived an overthrow of the children of Israell, one yeare in the moun­taines, the next at Aphek. An hundred thousand footmen were slaine in the field in one day, seven and twenty thousand perished with the fall of a wall in the city, besides the danger of the king, who is afraid of his owne life, and runneth from chamber to chamber to hide him­selfe. Vpon this misery wherewith they were toucht, one daunger be­ing past, another imminent, his servauntes come vnto him with these wordes: Behold now, we haue heard say, that the kings of Israell are mercifull kings: we pray thee therefore, let vs put sacke-cloath about our loines and ropes about our heades, and goe out to the king of Israell, it may be that hee will saue thy life. They did so, and came to the king, and said, thy servant Bena­dab saith, I pray thee let me liue. Benadab of late a puissant king, having two and thirty kings in his army, is novv content with the name of a servant.

First then you see, there is a perswasion of mercy in the kings of Israell: so there must be a perswasion of mercy in the God of heaven, vvhich the Ninivites were not voide of. Secondly that perswasion was vnperfect, mingled with feare, standing vpon tearmes of doubt, it may bee hee will saue thy life: so likewise said the king of Niniveh, who knoweth if the Lorde will repent? Thirdlie, vpon this perswasion, such as it is, the Sirians go and entreate the king of Israell: vpon the like doe the inhabitantes of Niniveh cry vnto God: Lastly, to testi­fie their humilitie, and to mooue him to pitty, they put sacke-cloath aboute their loines, and ropes aboute their heades; so doe the people of Niniveh sit in sacke-cloath and ashes, to bewray their contrite spi­rites. Now as Aram put ropes about their heades, to shew that for their owne partes they had deserved nothing, but their liues and deathes vvere in the kings handes, either to saue, or hange them; so to fast, or vveare sacke-cloath, with any intention to merite, or satisfie the anger of God, is to abuse the endes of both these servi­ces.22. Quaest. 147. art. 1. Conc [...]us. Sine Baccho et Cerere fri­get Venus. applied by Ierome. Cibum rerū desiderabili­um non co­mederam. Aquinas reciteth three endes of a fast: First to represse and subdue the insolencie of the flesh; hee prooveth it from the seconde to the Co­rinthians the sixte, vvhere the Apostle ioyneth fasting and cha­stitie togither: the one the cause, the other the effect that follow­eth it.

Secondly, to elevate the minde, and make it more capable of hea­venly revelation: as Daniell in the tenth of his prophecie, after his fasting three vveekes from pleasaunt breade, flesh and vvine, behelde a vision. Thirdlie, to satisfie and appease the anger of God [Page 471] for sinnes: which wee can in no case admit: the proofe he brin­geth is from the seconde of Ioell, vvhere we are willed to turne vn­to the Lorde with all our hearte, with fasting and mourninge and wee­ping, to rende our heartes and not our garmentes, &c. VVhat then? It is the manner and vsage, wee graunte, of suppliant petitioners to abstaine from meates, and to teare their garmentes from their backes, not with purpose to satisfie the wrath of GOD, but rather to execute vvrath and vengaunce vpon themselues, and by macerating their bodies, and stripping them of their best ornaments to shew, howe vnworthy they are of the blessings of God, whom by their hainous iniquities they haue so offended. For it is not fa­sting and sacke-cloath that pleaseth him so much, nor rending the garments, nor looking vnder the brow, nor hanging downe the head like a bulrush, nor shaving the head and the beard, nor casting dust vpon the face, nor sitting in ashes, nor filling the aire with howlinges and out-cries: but inwarde and hartie conversion to God, acknow­ledgement of our grievous provocations, confession of our owne vn­worthines by these outward castigations, vnfained repentance, vaca­tion to praier, & a faithfull apprehension of his auncient and accusto­med mercies. Therefore it followeth in Ioel, For the Lord is gracious and mercifull▪ slow to anger, & of great kindnes, and repenteth him of the evill. As much as to say, when you haue sorrowed sufficiently for your sinnes, and signified that sorrow with abstinence and teares, take comforte at the length againe, not in your owne satisfactions, but in the remem­brance and view of Gods everlasting mercies. ‘For word came vnto the king of Niniveh.’ Some thinke, that the matter herein contained is distinguished from that which wente before in the fifte verse: and that the rulers and warders of the several partes of the city which Ionas had past through, had proclaimed a fast to the people, before the preaching of the pro­phet came to the kings eares. Herevpon they inferre, that in mat­ters appertaining to God, we must not tarry the leasure of Princes their license be obtained, for Princes (they say) are slowest to be­leeue, and farthest from humbling themselues before the maiesty of God when his anger is kindled. I take it to be otherwise, and I am not left alone in that opinion: for most agree, that the former verse is but an index or table to that that followeth. Wherein the repentance of Niniveh is first rough hewen, and afterwardes revised and gone over againe with more speciall explication. For thus it hangeth togither. If you will knowe vvhat the people of Niniveh [Page 472] did vpon this strange and vnexpected newes, they doubted nothing either of the word, or of his calling that brought it: but from the grea­test to the least, olde and young, princes and inferiours, all orders and states of men, they both beleeved the reporte, and became specta­cles to God, and men, and angels of admirable contrition, condem­ning themselues in those two thinges especially whereof the whole world might iustly haue condemned them, luxuriousnes of meates, and drinkes, and costlinesse of garmentes: But if you will know their order of proceeding more particularly, thus it was: 1. Worde came vnto the king, Prover. 15. as to the most excellent power and authority amongst them: 2. the king calleth a councell, of the princes and peeres, as being the pillars of his governement: for where there are many counsellors, there is strength. 3. the king and his counsaile make an acte, touching fasting and praier, and renouncement of sinne, 4. they cause it to bee proclai­med in manner and forme as afterwarde followeth: 5. for encourage­mente and example to the rest, the Kinge is the first man that hum­bleth himselfe. So that in trueth, their soveraigne and liege-Lord is first made privie to their service intended; wherein, for mine own parte (simply to speake my minde, as one that must giue accompt what I haue built vpon my maisters foundation, whether golde, sil­ver, hay, stubble or the like, for both my workes and my words must be tryed by fire) though I make no question, if the prince shoulde be backewarde and carelesse in the worshippe of God, but God must be served, and so I would wish it: yet in a common cause, con­cerning the weale and well-fare of the whole common wealth, where it lyeth vpon all sortes of men alike, to doe some extraordinary wor­ship to God (as the case of Niniveh heere required) I holde it a point of disorder and confusion, that the foot should run without the head, the people or inferiours doe any thing in publique, wherevnto the knowledge and authorizement of the prince is not first had. Giue vnto Caesar the thinges that belong to Caesar, and giue him this for one amongst the rest, if Caesar bee willing and ready to ioine with thee in the ho­nor of God, leaue him not out. I would not open this gate of libertie, to any subiect or people in the worlde with whome Christ and his kingdome are harboured, that in a common daunger of a country when God is to bee pacified, and the land purdged in generall, the private members thereof may enter into the action, without the vvarrant of the prince both to commaunde and direct the same. If such were the king as Darius was, Daniell, 6. and such his rulers and officers as woulde make a decree to defraude God of his worshippe, [Page 473] that whosoever shoulde make a petition to anie, either God or man, [...]n thir­tie daies, saue onelie to the kinge, shoulde bee cast into the denne of the Lyons, then be thou also as Daniell was, enter into thine house, and open thy vvindowes towardes Ierusalem and pray, or enter into the house of God, and set open the dores and pray, or goe into the corners of the streetes, or into the market place, or climbe vp to the house toppes and pray, stay not till the king or his councel release thee ther­to, and if every haire of thy head were a life, redeeme thy dutye to God with adventure and losse thereof, rather then neglect it: and if thou hap to be alone in that action as Elias was, yet forgoe it not. But if such be the king as Iosias was, or the like, and such his Princes and officers as make decrees for the worshippe of God, and are more wise then thy selfe, to knowe the dandger of the state, and as zea­lous to prevent it: whatsoeuer thou doest in private betwixt thy selfe and thine owne spirite, thy selfe and thine owne houshold, yet gather no open assembly, sanctifie no publique fast, call not to sacke-cloath and mourning before the magistrate haue decreed it. It may be a presumption of thine owne zeale, an affectation of singularitye, a commending and preaching of thy selfe vnto the people, but sure I am, it is a censure by consequence, and a iudgement vnder hande, against the rest of thy brethren, that they are over-colde in religi­on, a preiudice against the magistrate, that he is to slacke, a breach of obedience to the powers that God hath ordained, and the mother of Anarchie and confusion which within a christian common wealth must carefully be shunned. In many the daungers of our lande both at home and abroade, many the members and subiects there­of, as if our countrey had no more oratours, and there were none to stande in the gappe but themselues, haue assembled togither, ei­ther in townes, or in hamlets, and sometimes in a private house to fast and pray before the Lorde. Their humbling of themselues in such sorte, confessing of sinnes, offering of their heartes in devout supplication, singing of Psalmes, prophecying in course from mor­ning till evening, as they are plausible exercises in the sight of men, so I vvill not saye the contrary but full of Godlinesse and Christia­nity. But (vnder correction of better knovvledge and iudge­mente) I thinke, that obedience and loue, had beene better then all this sacrifice, and that thus to minishe the authority of the ma­gistrate, by preventing his decree, and controlling as it were his governement, and to giue sentence against all the children of the lande besides of negligence and vnmindefulnesse in Gods affaires, [Page 474] may more offende, then their service or devotion can doe good otherwise. Much more seemely it vvere, that as the Apostle ex­horteth the Corinthians, not the one to prevent the other, vvhen they come to the supper of the Lorde, [...]. Cor. 11. vvhich is a sacrament of communion and fellowshippe; so in a calamitie of the realme, when all the iointes thereof are disquieted, and haue neede to bee salved and holpen by the saving-health of GOD, that all mighte concurre and agree for seeking that remedie: that the people might stay for the magistrates, magistrates lead the people, the prophets preach and denounce, the king and his counsaile enact, and all put in practise: that a whole burnt offering might bee made vnto the Lorde, from the highest to the lowest, a solemne dedication of every person and state that the land hath. And as Ierusalem was commended for her buil­ding, so we for our praying and fasting, a people at vnity within our selues, vvhere neither the greatest nor the least are excluded. But of the nature of a publique fast hereafter. Meane-while, the dangerous conclusions, that haue, and might haue ensued out of this maxime, to weete, that in matters belonging to God, wee are not bounde to expect or respect the magistrate, make me the more warie and scrupulous in handling this point. For I like not in any case, that the least advantage and scope in the earth bee given to the people, against his lawfull and Christian governour. It is as fire to flaxe, an easie and welcome perswasion to busie and catching natures. The least exception once taken against their want of religion, pietie, iu­stice or the like, is so farre followed, that not onely the prince, in the ende, but the vvhole people rueth it. The Anabaptist in Ger­manie, no sooner entertained this fancie in his braine, that a god­lesse magistrate may bee made away, but foorthwith he granteth to himselfe, that all the magistrates of Germanie are of that kind: and casteth in his heade howe hee may laye his handes vpon the Lordes anointed. Hee beareth the worlde in hand, that God hath had speech with him, and given him a chardge to destroy the wic­ked, and to constitute a newe vvorlde, consisting of righteous and innocent. The ordinary preachings of Muncer were these, God hath warranted mee face to face, hee that cannot he hath commanded mee, Joan. Sleid. Com. 5. Jpsemet mi­hi coràm promisis &c. to attempte the chandge by these meanes, even by killinge the ma­gistrates. Phifer his lewde companion, did but dreame in the night time, of the killing of many mice, and presentlye expounded his dreame of murthering the nobles. So likewise, let a papist from Rome or Rhemes giue foorth, that a prince vvhich is an Apostata, [Page 475] or excommunicate by the Church, for heresie or Schisme, and openlie denounced to bee such, may bee deposed from his seate, seignories, title to the crowne, claime of subiects allegiance, how many trayterous heartes, slaunderous and mutinous bookes, li­belles, speeches, declamations, defamations, rebellious, vio­lent, hostile conspiracies, hath it brought forth? how ready hath the Lion beene, to take cares for hornes? that is, a preiudicate opinion, of men maliciouslie bent, to interprete the service of God heresie, and departing out of Babylon, schisme; and falling away from An­tichrist, flat Apostasie? The Brownist in England of late, imagining to himselfe, that in the disorders of the Church, reformation may be made without the leasure and leaue of the Prince, if God had not slak't that heate, vvoulde haue followed his conceipt per saxa, perignes, through all the daungers and difficulties that are, woulde haue trodden order, obedience, conscience, religion, duty to God and man vnder his feete, rather then haue missed his purpose.Schismatici semper inter initia sua feruēt, incre­menta verò habere non possunt. 4. epist. 2. But the mercy of God assisting vs, we haue found it true which Cyprian some times observed, that schismatickes are ever hotest in their first beginninges, but cannot take encrease.

To conclude, this fact of the people of Niniveh in this their religi­ous intendment of publique repentance and conversion to God, evē for that order and obedience sake, which they holde towardes their king, is the rather to be commended; & may be an image to all other kingdomes and Churches on the earth, how to demeane themselues in the like businesses; not to neglect their rulers and governours, not to suspect them of carelesnesse in their chardges, not to impaire their credit and dignitie in the opinions of men, vvith vncharitable and hastie surmises, not to vsurpe their authoritie, in the practise or publi­cation of vnusuall actes: But to giue them this prerogatiue, not one­ly for pollicie but even for conscience sake, that as they are the heads of the bodye, and set over the rest; so in all such weightie affaires as this whereof I speake, they thinke their knowledge, advise, and asso­ciation most fit to be required. ‘And word came to the king of Niniveh.’ If vvee consider the wordes in particular, wee shall finde them to haue marveilous force: 1. Worde came, not onely the bruite, fame,1. Worde came. reporte, tidinges or hear say of it; but a word of a far different kinde, a burden, a iudgement, a powrefull, terrifying, threatning worde, a dreadfull alarme of the wrath of God, a word that hath a deede in it and is not onely pronounced, but done, or not farre from doing. [Page 476] Such a vvorde as wee reade of in the second of Luke, when the shep­heardes said one to another,Verbum hoc quod factum est. let vs go into Bethlehem, and see this vvord that is done, this singular, miraculous, extraordinary worde, the like whereof, we never heard vttered. 2. to the king of Niniveh, not to a vice-roy,2. To the king of Ni­niveh. apetite and tributary king, a king of a mole-hill, or of a lit­tle ile, a king vnder avve and subiection to some higher kingdome; but to the king of Niniveh, the successour of Nimrod, the Monarch of the [...], the terrour and scourge of the vvorlde farre and neare, the mightiest, maiesticallest, prowdest king that the sunne at that day lookt vpon. For what is the reason that the history having mentioned Niniveh so often before (goe to Niniveh, and he went to Niniveh, and Niniveh shall bee overthrowne, and the men of Niniveh beleeve God,) doeth yet, adde the name of the citie, as if vvithout this addition it could not be vnderstood vvhat king vvere meante, but that the minde of the holy Ghost therein vvas, to note the vnlikeliest king, to strike sailes, and to yeeld his scepter to the king of kings of all the countries and kingdomes that the worlde had. Yet this potent and insolent king of Niniveh, though he had builte his nest as the eagles of the sky, for earthly provision and preheminence, assoone as he heard the tidings of this worde,3. He arose. vvhat did he? 3. hee arose, as if hee had felte his seate shaken vnder him, and tost with an earth-quake, so he raiseth himselfe, starteth from his ease and tranquillity, thinketh it no time to sit and deliberate, and aske questions, to examine circumstances, to convent the disturber of Niniveh before him, and to take an account of his preaching, but if ever he hasted, and bestirred his iointes, and called his senses and wittes, his princes and people togither to worke a worke, now to doe it. 4. hee rose from his throne, not from his bedde,4. From his throne. VVhereon he tooke his ease; nor from his borde, whereat hee ate and dranke; but from his seate of honour and principalitie, his royall, magnificent, monarchicall throne; where he sate as king, and commaunded, and tooke state vpon him. From thence hee arose, to doe his obeysance to the Lord of all Lordes, whose throne is the heaven of heavens, and all the thrones of the earth but his foote-stooles.5. Cast of his robe. 5 More then this, as if the robe of maiestie, his vesture of purple and gold, his kingly attire, had beene a burden to his backe, and as vnseemely to be vvorne as ever the botch or scabbe vvas to the Egyptians, he doth not onely despise or refuse, and not recken of it; but he putteth it off, nay he casteth it off, & throweth it downe, and biddeth it farewell for ever as not becomming him: as if hee had rated and reprooved it in this manner: haue I [...] thee [Page 479] for pompe and pride, and given countenaunce vnto my begger­lie and base vveedes in comparison of him who is cloathed with zeale as with a cloake, and with righteousnesse as with an haberge­on? lye aside, I mistooke thy nature, thou art but the painting of a graue, or whiting of a rotten wall, the cover and case to a lumpe of mortal flesh; vaine and vnprofitable ornament, I am weary of thy ser­vice, thou haste made mee honourable in the sight of men, thou canst worke me no reverence or estimation before the Lorde of hostes: 6. It had beene enough to haue proceeded thus farre,6 Covered himselfe with sacke-cloath. to haue stripte him into his weekely and ordinarie attire: to haue gone like a com­mon man, as Ahab in the first of Kings, chandged his apparrell that his enemies might not know him: first, the king of Niniveh doeth not so; but hee that had silver and golde as the dust in the streete, and precious stones as the gravell in the river Tigris, to haue wrapt his body in, and to haue glistred against the rayes of the sunne, as Herode in his shininge gowne, forgetteth the wardrobe of the Empire, and goeth to the beggers presse, humbleth himselfe like a bond-man, one that had grounde at the mill coulde not haue ta­ken a garment of baser condition, hee putteth on sacke-cloath, nay hee covereth himselfe vvith sacke-cloath, sacke-cloath is all the appar­rell hee weareth, sacke-cloath is the diademe to his heade, sacke-cloath the mantell to his backe, from the crowne of the head to the plant of his foote there is nothing but sacke-cloath. The king hath wounde his body in sack-cloath as a corps made ready for the buriall, and fitter to lie in the ground, then to liue and breath vpon the face of the earth. Lastly, when hee hath all done, he lieth not on an heape of violets & roses, as the Sibarites were wont to do;7 Sate in a­shes. nor vpon a couch beautified & deckt with the tapestry of Egypt; neither goeth he into the temple of Niniveh, to cleaue to the dust of the pauement, nor shutteth himselfe into his closet, to grovell vpon the flore therof; but he sitteth, dwelleth, abideth in an heape of ashes, sacke-cloath was the ground, ashes is the garnish, lace, and welt to all his garments. A won­derfull alteration, from a king of the earth, to a worme of the earth, from a robe to sacke-cloath, from a throne to a dunghill, from sitting in estate, to lying in ashes, from the pompe of a monarch, to the i­mage of a caitife: he whom all the reverence of the world attended vpon, to whom the knee was bowed, the head vncovered, the bodye prostrated, who had as manie salutations as the firmament starres, God saue the kinge, longe liue the Emperour; throweth away his crowne, his scepter, his maiestie, with all the signes and solemnities [Page 478] thereto belonging: and in effect rebuketh himselfe, Why art thou prowde O earth and ashes? Humble thy spirite, see thy mortalitie, tremble before the presence of that God, who sendeth terrour into the heartes, and confusion into the faces of all earthlye poten­tates.

Conclusiō.To make an ende (for I haue ever for the most part, against my meaning and purpose offended you with prolixitye of speech) I haue briefly two instructions to commende vnto you: the one to the ma­gistrates 1 in particular, that they serue God as beseemeth magistrates. It is not the sworde, scepter, and robe, nor the highest roume, and other preheminence, that maketh a magistrate: but as he doeth make lawes, so hee must take lawes (contrary to the minde of lavv­lesse Caracalla) and be a rule both to others and himselfe: as the king of Niniveh in this present example,Imperatores leges dare nō accipere. is first and formost in the ser­vice of God. The other in general to all sortes of men; The king of Niniveh, you heare, for whome the silver and golde and riches of 2 the earth are provided, for who should enioy these rather then prin­ces? goeth from his throne and putteth on sacke-cloath about him, as one that must giue account to the highest God, like those of the mea­nest condition:Psal. 82. (I haue saide yee are GODS, but yee shall die like vul­gar men:) and sitteth in ashes, as one not forgetting his first founda­tion, that as he was bred of the ashes, so to ashes he must returne. My brethren, let not the pompe of the worlde deceaue you, whi­ther it stand in authority, or opulency, or voluptuousnesse of life, I say let it not deceiue you. As the fresh rivers runne into the salt sea; so shall all the honours of the world ende in basenesse, all the plea­sures of the vvorlde ende in bitternesse, all the treasures of the worlde in emptinesse, all the garmentes of the world in nakednesse, and finally, al the viands and delicates of the world in lothsomnesse and rottennesse. Throw away your robes and costly caparisons, you Kinges and Queenes of the earth, (you that are such not by the ordi­naunce of God, but by your owne vsurpation, that take such ho­nour vpon you not beeing called thereto, but beare the bravery of princes, the royalty of Salomon vpon your backes) throw away your robes: least he giue you a rent that gaue you a garment, and cloth you with worse then leprosie, that hath hitherto cloathed you with honour and beautie. But why doe I spende my time in so imperti­nent and vnprofitable exhortation? fashion brought them in (these disguisementes I meane) and fashion must beare them out, or no­thing will doe it. Fashion is the best preacher and oratour of our [Page 479] age. I woulde to God our preaching were in fashion to, for then I am sure it would winne both men and women, we vse all the fashi­ons therein that our commission can extende vnto, we preach sea­son and not season, wee bring forth olde and newe, wee giue milke and strong meate, we come in a spirite of gentlenesse, and with a rod, we entreate, we threaten, wee preach mercie, we preach iudge­ment, all these fashions we vse, and yet without successe. But the fa­shion of the world preacheth and perswadeth with more effect. Fa­shion brought in silkes and velvelts at one time, and fashion brought in russets and gra [...]es at another; fashion brought in deepe ruffes, and shallow ruffes, thicke ruffes, and thinne ruffes, double ruffes, and no ruffes, fashion brought in the verdingale, and carried out the verdin­gale, and hath againe revived the verdingale from death, and pla­ced it behinde, like a rudder or sterne to the body, in some so bigge that the vessell is scarse able to beare it. Thus whilst wee fashion our selues after this worlde, and every garish devise therein; or rather after the devill himselfe (for these are Satanae ingenia, the inventions of sathan, not of man:) It is to be feared,Terull. that when God shall come to iudge the quicke and the dead, hee will not knowe those, who haue so defaced and multiplyed that simple fashion which hee crea­ted, Opus hoc meum non est, nec haec imago mea, this is not my worke­manshippe, nor this the similitude I first made. The Lorde is king, Cyprian. let all the kings of the earth ascribe glory vnto him: he rideth vpon the che­rubins, let all their chariots and chaires of estate stoope before him: he hath put on glorious apparell, let all their glistering and counterfaite or­namentes bee ashamed at his presence. O let vs all from the high­est to the lowest fall downe and kneele before the Lorde our maker, let vs lie lowe before the foot-stoole of his excellencie, and withall submission both of bodie and spirite, acknowledge his hand & pow­er over vs. He is our God, and will thus bee served; our Lorde, and will thus be honoured; our father, and will thus be followed; our iudge and dreadfull revenger, and will thus be feared.

THE XXXVI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. vers. 7.‘And he proclaimed, and said through Niniveh by the coun­saile of his king and nobles, saying, let neither man &c.’

IN the particular explication of the repen­tance of Niniveh, begunne in the sixte verse, I observed principally both the order of their dealing, that without the knowledge and war­raunt of their king, they attempte nothing in private; and the example, or precedency of the king therein for his owne parte: vvhich was, as if he had thus pronounced against him­selfe; a iudgemente is come foorth against all the sinners of Niniveh,Ego primu [...] ▪ Scilicet in vulgus ma­nā [...] exempla regentum. and I am first, and the onely vvay to miti­gate the anger of God is repentance, and I will bee first therein also. The repentaunce of the king, was in effecte the repentaunce of the whole citty: as it is noted of the ruler: Ioh. 4. when hee hearde the wordes of comforte, Goe thy waies thy sonne liveth, hee first beleeved himselfe, afterwardes vvhen hee better knewe the time, and other circumstances, then hee beleeved and his whole housholde. You haue hearde alreadye in what life the repentance of the king is described: for whatsoever he had, making, for honour and princelyhood, that hee forsooke; and whatsoever there was on the other side, to de­grade and discountenaunce himselfe in the eies of his subiectes, that hee admitted and endured: hee rose from his throne, and threwe of his robe, as much as to say, hee laide downe all his authority, state, ex­cellency, and forgate himselfe to bee a king, and the monarch of the countrey, and more then that, covered himselfe vvith sacke-cloath, and sate in ashes, so farre from being a kinge, that hee seemed in his owne sighte to bee lesse then nothinge. The throne and the robe with other royall preheminences, as the scepter, the crowne, and gor­geous attire in difference from other men, haue ever preferred vnto the eies of the worlde, an image of that glorie and honour, where­with the kings of the earth are invested. It appeareth in the booke of Genesis, what maiesty the Egyptian kinges had, by that seconde degree of honour which Pharaoh awarded vnto Ioseph, hee put a ring vpon his finger, Genes. 41. and araied him in garmentes of fine linnen, and hunge a gol­den chaine about his necke, & placed him vpon the best chariot saue one, & they cryed Abrech before him: hee onely reserved vnto himselfe the Kings throne, Likewise we may read what honor belonged vnto the kings of Chal­daea, [Page 483] and of the Medes and Persians in the bookes of Esther and Da­niell: and of the throne of Salomon, with all his other port and pros­perity, wondred at so much by the Queene of Saba,ChaP. 10. in the first of kings, and other places. And there is no question, but the kings of Niniveh, being growen and swollen in pride, were not far behinde these. The stranger it is vnto me, that this golden cup of honour & authority, made him not drunke, and draue him from all sense of his earthlines and mortality: it is so vsuall an intoxication to the rulers beneath, making them forget that God which sitteth aboue them. We haue seene what the king of Niniveh hath done in his owne per­son: now we must also attend what he did with the multitude and in common: for he is not content to mourne, or pray, or fast, or re­pent alone, or alone to be freed and delivered from the curse of God hanging over them: but he is carefull of his people too, by gi­ving the best example he can, he is both carbo and lampas, Gregor. in Ezec. hom. 1. a cole bur­ning vnto himselfe, and a lampe shining vnto other men. The oint­ment runneth downe from the head by the beard, to the border of the garment: repentance I meane descendeth from the king, by the counsaile and nobility, to the meanest soule of the city. First,Division. he calleth his counsaile togither: secondly, they make an acte: third­ly they cause it to bee published, fourthly, that acte vvas onelye for repentance, and the service of God▪ VVho ever hearde the like, I say not in Israell, vvhere prophets, and Apostles, and Christ himselfe preached: but even in paradise, the garden of the Lord, vvho ever heard the like, to this that vvas done in Niniveh? The Lord had but one paire of men in paradise, and preached but one word vnto them, himselfe by his owne mouth, and they obeied him not: but in the citie of Niniveh, barbarous, wild, and barren Ni­niveh, where all the plants were vnnaturall, and it could not be ho­ped that the fruite shoulde be other then sowre and vnsavoury to him that gathered it, they are all turned saintes, at the preaching of one Ionas. As one reported at Rome, after his long voyage, that he had seene in England a goodly king, in Fraunce a goodly kingdome, in Spaine a goodly counsaile; so beholde all these togither in Niniveh;Pul [...]am regem, pulchrum regnum. palchrum senatum. a good king, a good counsaile, a good nobility, a good people, the whole city good. The king commandeth, the princes consent, the people obey, all iointly excecute, as if all Niniveh vvere but a sin­gle man, and had but one heade, and one heart amongst them. It vvas vndoubtedly the vnction of Gods spirite, and not their naturall gifte, that caused such tractable and tender heartes: [Page 482] prophets may preach long enough, as the droppes of raine fall vpon marble stones, but if the God of peace and vnity, ioine not two in one; and tie the tongue of the preacher to the eares and conscience of his hearer, not by a chaine of iron or brasse; but by the bond of his holy spirit, and wrappe a blessing and power in his wordes, to subdue the soule of man, and bring it in subiection to the will of God; it can ne­ver be effected. By the order and course of the things themselues, though not of the wordes; the first thing that the king did, was the assembling of his princes and counsailours,1. Coūsaile called. as appeareth manifest­ly by the parenthesis that followeth (by the counsailr of the king and his nobles.) Thus the king doth nothing without his counsaile, nor the counsaile without the king, but both togither. No man is ignorant that the greatest offices haue neede of the greatest supportation: and that a king must haue many eies, Exod. 18. Si satis no­rint homines quàm mole­stum sit tan­tarum rerum tam numero sas epistolas, tantum lege­re aut scribe­re, diadema abiectum nemo acci­peret. Si solus sit sapiens: [...]. Hesiod. AEquius est vt ego tot taliu [...] que ami [...]corum consilium se­quar, quam tot talesque amici meam vnius vo­ [...]unta [...]em eares and hands ▪ as Xenophon wrote in his institution of Cyrus; that is, many subordinate counsailours, ministers, and assistantes, by whome to discharge the burden of his place. VVhen Iethro saw Moses his sonne in law, sitting him­selfe alone and iudging the people, from morning vnto even, he did not lesse then reprooue him for it: VVhat is this that thou doest to the people? vvhy sittest thou thy selfe alone? the thinge vvhich thou doest is not vvell: thou both vveariest thy selfe greatly, and thy people that is vvith thee: and he caused him to apoint rulers cover thousands, rulers over hundreds, rulers over fifties, and rulers ouer tennes, to iudge the people at all seasons in their smaller causes. Moses confessed asmuch Deuteronomy the first, as Iethro complained of, I am not able to beare you my selfe alone. It vvas a saying of Seleucus one of the kings of Syria, that if men did considerately know how troublesome it were onely to reade and write so many letters of so waighty af­faires, if the crowne were throwen at their foote, they woulde not take it vp. Anacharsis, one of the Sages of Greece, thought it the onely felicity of a king to bee onely vvise, and not to neede the helpe of other men, but vvho vvas ever so wise to attaine to that happines? I vvill not deny, but he that can counsaile himselfe in all thinges, is very absolutely vvise: but it is a second degree of vvisedome not to reiect such counsailes and directions as are given vnto him. And there­fore worthely was it spoken by Antonius the Emperour: with much more reason it standeth that I shoulde bee ruled by the advise of so many and such my friendes, then that such and so many shoulde yeelde to my will a­lone. We read that Assuerus the king of the Persians, Esther the first, did nothing in the remooue of Vashtie the Queene, without the [Page 483] advise of the seven Princes vvhich sawe the kings face, and sate first in the kingdome. Salomon 1. Kings. 10. had his auncient counsaile, it vvas senatus indeede, because it consisted of graue and olde men,Consilia se­num hasiae iuvenum sunt. Jbid. ac­cording to the proverbe, speares are fit to be handled by yong men counsailes by the aged. But Roboam his yong son, provideth coun­sailers like himselfe; yong in yeares, and yong in descretion: which howsoever they were friends to Roaboam, they were not friendes to the king, though happily they loved his person well, they were eni­mies to his kingdome.

As it is meete that the king shoulde haue peeres to consult with:2. An acte made. so it is a blessed combination and knot, vvhen all their consultati­ons and actes are referred 1. to the glory of God (for that is the first and great commandement) then, to the peace & safety of the weale publique For as the lawe of God (saith Cyprian) is the sterne that must guide all counsailes, and bee of counsaile vnto them;Consiliorum gubernacul [...] lex divna. so if it bee not also the haven where all their counsailes arriue, and both the beginning and ending of their decrees, their successe will be accor­ding. The qualities of those whom the superiour magistrate should associate to himselfe, in administring his government, are numbred in the 18. of Exodus, and 1. of Deut. to bee these seven. 1. they must be men of courage. 2. fearing God. 3. men of truth. 4· hating filthy lucre. 5. the chiefe of the tribes. 6. wise. Lastly, knowen men: such as had experience of the people, and the people of them. Without these conditions and respectes, they were very vnfit helpers. For what were a magistrate without courage, but a lion without his heart? or courage without the feare of God, but armed iniustice? or what fear of the true God, where his truth is neglected? or how can truth consist with aucupation of fil­thy gaine? or if their persons & parentage be in contempt, how shall the people regard thē? or if they haue not wisdome to rule, what are they els but an eie without seeing, or as if the day & the night should be governed without sun & moone? Lastly, as artes are made by ex­periments, so they must be tried and approoved before hand by the sight of their vertues. Otherwise to meete at any time, & to lay their heads togither for the dishonoring of God, & defacing of his religi­on, and so to intend policie, that his worship is not cared for, and his feare lieth at the threshold of their counsaile-house, not admitted amongst them; is to make themselues such counsailers as Alecto called in Claudian,

Concilium deforme vocat, glomerantui in vnum
Inumerae pestes Erebi:

[Page 484] Vntoward and vnfashioned counsailers, so far from being the pillars & props of the common wealth, that they are rather mischiefes and plagues which hel hath cast vp. Now as it is meete, that the king & his nobles should come togither,3. The acte Proclai­med. to decree wholesome constituti­ons; so it is as meete to publish them abroade, that the subiects may know what their duety is. The statutes of a kingdome must not be lockt vp in cofers, as the bokes of the Sybils in Rome, nor as the sen­tences of Pythagoras which no man might write, bee kept from the knowledge of the vulgar sort. In the 1. of Sam. 14. Saul had charged his people by othe not to taste any thing till night: vpon an eager intention he had to pursue the Philistines. Ionathan his sonne heard not of it and as he went through a wood, beeing faint with hunger, raught forth the ende of his rod and d [...]pt it in an hony combe, and put it to his mouth: you know what danger it brought him vnto: I tasted a little hony with the end of my rod and lo I must die. Therefore it is not amisse to publish such decrees, if for no other cause, yet to safegard the people from that daunger which by their ignorance they might incurre. Be­sides, the glory of God is proclaimed by such proclamations; as Na­buchodonosor, Dan. 3. made a decree that every people, nation, and language that spake any blasphemie against the God of Syrach Misach and Abeduego should be drawen in pieces: and that it might be knowne abroade, he caused it to be publisht. Nabuchodonosor king, vnto all people, nations and languages that dwell in all the world, &c. The like did Darius in the sixth of that booke, first hee made an acte that all shoulde tremble before the GOD of Daniell in the dominions of his kingdomes, and aftervvardes for the promulgation of it, vvrote to all people, nations, and languages in the vvordle vvhat the acte was.

Let neither man nor beast, &c. The matter enacted and proclaimed is in one word repentance wherein they were blest from heavē with as great a measure of wisedome as the sons of men were capable of:4. The acte it selfe. when they were to bethinke thēselues, & to beat their braines wher­with to wrestle with the iudgmēt of god, that they made their choise of repentance. Repentance an act of all actes; if they had spent their daies in consulting, this one in steede of infinite thousandes to saue their liues. An enimie did aproach vnto them, a spirituall enimye, from the higher places, iustice I meane from the throne of GOD, vvhose forces were invisible, and could not be repelled with sworde and target. What gate or fortresse should they then vse to shut out iustice, but onely repentance? their citie had beene laid in the [Page 485] dust, their candell put out, their monarchie translated, their car­kasses had rotted in dung, their soules beene drowned in perdition without repentance.

The ground and provocation of this their repentance is in the 1 ninth verse. Who knoweth if God will turne and repent, &c? Faith in the mercies of God: this is the star that goeth before the face of re­pentance, the pillar of fire that guideth it in the night of her sor­rowes, and giveth her light, and telleth her how to walke, that shee stumble not. For who would ever repent indeede, if he had not hope that his sinnes might bee pardoned?Jn Luc. l. 10▪ cap. 22. and therefore Ambrose noteth, alluding vnto Peters den [...]al [...]es, that men doe never true­ly repent, but when Christ looketh backe vpon them. For Peter denied the first time and vvept not, because Christ lookt not backe: denied a seconde time, and vvept not, because Christ lookt not backt: but denied a thirde time and vvept bitterly, be­cause his master lookt backe vpon him. And he lookt not backe so much with his outwarde and bodily eie,Non oculo exteriore, sed oculo cle­mentiae. as with the eie of his cle­mency. The substantiall partes of repentance are in the latter parte of the eigth verse; turning from their evill waies, and from the wickednesse that was in their hands; their diet and preparation to repentance, fa­sting; the habite and livery weerein they come, sackcloath, the libel or 2 petition which they offer, praier and strong cry. You see the mem­bers 3 of their decree, first, the ground of repentance, faith: secondly,4 the substance of repentance, newnes of life; thirdly, the body or coū ­ten [...]nce 5 of repentance, spare & thin; fourthly, the garments of repen­tance, penetentiall and base, fiftly, the voice of repentance, suppl [...]nt & lamentable. More generally, it hath two parts, the one by negati­on, denying something to the people of Niniveh, in this 7. verse: the other by affirmation, prescribing & enioining what they should doe in the eigth. The negatiue and former part containeth only a fast, let neither man nor beast, bullocke nor sheepe taste any thing:Ieiunij cani­tiem diligen­ter perseru­ [...]are. Homini pri­mo coaevum. the anti­quitie whereof maketh it venerable, and the perpetuity vnto this day, and to the ende of the vvorlde, highly graceth it; it is no new invention; some haue derived it from paradise, and made it as an­cient as the first man: for the forbidding of the tree of knovve­ledge, they say, was a lawe of abstinence. The exercise of nature, the lawe, the gospell of Christ, the practise of gentility it selfe, if I name but Niniveh alone, it vvere sufficient to prooue it; but the storyes of gentility make it nore plaine. Ceres had her fast, Iupiter his; and Priamus in Homer bewaileth the death of [Page 486] Hector with fasting & in dust. Patriarckes vsed it, prophets forsooke it not, Christ & his disciples departed not from it: & the true childrē of the bride-chamber continue it at this day: they mourne because the bridegroome is taken from them, & til his returne in the clouds of the aire, they shall ever mourne. But there are fasts of diverse kindes: 1. there is a spiritual fast from sinne, vnproper an translated, 1 but that which especially pleaseth God. It is mentioned Esay, 58. and Zach. 7.Magnum et generale ie­iunium. This is the great generall fast, and a Lent of abstinence which we must all keepe consisting in the holines of our liues. Ni­niveh fasted this fast, but it fasted also otherwise. There is a corporal 2 fast, from eating and drinking, and such other refections as na­ture taketh pleasure in:In hoc seculo quasi qua­drag [...]simam abstinentiae celebramus dum bené viuim us, August. and this is either naturall, prescribed by phisicke for healthes sake; or aboue nature, and miraculous such as the fast of Moses, and Elias and the sonne of God for forty daies or civill and politique, as the prohibition of Saule, mentio­ned befor, vvhich Ionathan vvas angrye vvith, because the people vwaxed faint; and Saule had no religious respect therein, but an earnest purpose of heart of sparing no time from chasing 3 the Philistines. It is sometimes a fast of necessitie, which we cannot 4 avoid, as in the time of dearth. Aquinas calleth it [...]eiuniū ie [...]unii, a fast 5 of a fast, 1. Sam 14 because the earth forbeareth her fruits, we forbear our food, 6 and vvoulde eate if vve had it: and in this sense Basill calleth fasting, the companion to poore men, the other is [...]eiunium ieiunantis, the fast of him that fasteth: that is, a voluntary and free fast. Lastly, there is a christian and religious fast,Pauperum conviva et Contuberna­lis ieiunium. either common and ordinary, vsing frugality in meates and drinkes at all times, according to the warning of our Saviour, See that your heartes bee not overcome 7 at any time vvith surfetting and drunkennesse, Or speciall and extra­ordinary,Luc. 21. aboue the custome, but not beyond the nature of man: 8 for then the lavv of fastes is broken; let the flesh bee tamed (saith Ie­rome) and not killed. Dometur ca­ro sed non in terimatur. holocaustum de rapina of­fert. For he offereth an offering of robbery, and bereaveth both GOD and man of his due, vvho afflicteth his bodie overmuch with immoderate subtraction either of foode, or rest. Now the latter of these two is either private to one, or few, as to David, and the friendes of Iob, or publique, as this of the people 9 of Niniveh: for it is said first to haue bin proclaimed, secondly, through out Niniveh.

In this fast of the Ninivites, there are many thinges to be consi­dered: first, it was timely, secondly orderly, thirdly vniversall, fourthly exact, fiftly not hypocriticall.

[Page 487]1 The time which they tooke for fasting (I meane not time in the 1 common acception and sence thereof, consisting of space and mo­tion; as when they beganne to fast, and how long they endured, vvhat daies of the moneth or weeke they made choise of, this my text expresseth not,) I meane the season of the time, the fitnes and oppertunity for such an action, was in a suddaine terrou [...] of vt [...]er de­struction. Austin in an Epistle to Hesychius, [...]. Epist. [...]8. distinguisheth these two: times, and seasons: so doth the Apostle in the first to the Thes [...]a­lonians and fift, which the Latines have rendred tempora, & momen­ta, times, and momentes of times: wherein there is waight and worth not to be omitted. The former signifieth but space or leasure alone, which passeth to fooles and wisemen alike: the latter, convenience or inconvenience for the doing of any thing. So long as there shall be a sunne in the firmament which hath his course, there shall bee a time for the handling of our actions, but perhappes not a season. As a man that gathereth his grapes at the first knotting thereof, gathe­reth them in time, but if he tarry the vintage then he gathereth them in season. Now the fittest and convenientest time for a fast, if you consider the fact of the Ninivites, and peruse all the examples that are written in the booke of God, is ever some extremity, when the anger of God is thoroughly kindled, and threatneth a wound to the whole body. Me thinketh it should be in these publique fasts, as the schoole-men write of their solemne penaunce:Differt à publica & fit cum po [...] ­pa. lib. 4. di­stin. 14. which is seldome gran­ted by Origen, and by the Canonistes but once; The reason is given by the maister of the sentences: Ne medicina vilesceret, least the medi­cine should grow in contempt by the common vse of it. I have heard of a nation of men (I will not say that their neighbour-hoode hath a lit­tle infected England) who when their king hath intended a feast, for the honour of his country, and entertainement of forraine Em­bassadours, they on the other side have proclaimed a fast, as if God had sent them an Embassage of the last iudgement; I cannot deny them time, but surely they tooke not a season for so doing. I will proove the matter in hand in the next circumstance, and ioine them both togither: wherein I observed, Secondly, that it was an orderly 2 fast, because the king and his counsaile had first decreed it. I toucht it a litle by occasiō of the former sentēce, the words directly leading [...] therevnto. If any remaine as yet vnsatisfied, first for mine owne purgation, know ye, that I speake not as the Lord of your faith, but as one that had obtained mercy to be faithfull in my calling, I shewed you mine opinion and iudgement: 2. for the thing it selfe, search the [Page 488] scriptures, for they beare witnesse of the trueth, whither these publique, religious, extraordinary fasts had not alwaies their au­thority & emanation from publike persons In the 20. of the booke of Iudges, the chosen souldiers of Israell, which vvere taken by lot out of all their tribes, to fight against Beniamin, in the quarrell of the levite, whose wife was shamefully abused and murdered; they held a publique fast from morning vntill evening;vers. 26. the cause was, a slaughter which they had receved of forty thousand men, and a conscience they made of fighting against Beniamin their brethren. vers. 2. The authors of the fast,Anguli vel extremitates populi. ve [...]s. 6. ibid. are the rulers of the people, who in the Original are called▪ the corners and heades of the people. In the 1. of Sam. 7. they fast publique­ly, they drew water saith the text, even rivers of teares, & powred them out before the Lorde; the appointment is from Samuell, who iudged Israel in Mispah; and the cause, their idolatry committed to strange Gods, & the absence of the arke from them full twenty yeares. verse. 2 & 3. verse. 3. In the 2. Chronic. 20. there is a fast proclaimed throughout all Iudah, Iehosophat the king proclai­med it; the cause was, the sodaine comming of a great multitude, from Ammon and Moab aad Aram, verse. 1 & 2. to invade his kingdome. Esdr. 8. there is likewise a publique fast summoned in their returne towards Ierusalem: vers. 21. 7. Esd. 5. Esdras the high priest ordaineth it; the reason is, that God woulde directe them in their way and preserue themselues, their children and goodes in safety. vers. 16. Another, Esther 4. which Esther gaue Mordecay in charge for: now Mordecay was the man on whome the heartes of all the Iewes in Shusan depended at that time. The cause that God would assist Esther, who with the hazard of her head, when her people vvere neare their vtter extirpation, adventured her selfe to speake to the king in his inner court, being not called before him. Another, Ie­remy 36.vers▪ 9. In the daies of wicked Iehoikim, who cut the booke of the Lord with a penknife▪ and caused it to be burnt. It was certainely pro­claimed by order from some that might commaund. For who else could assemble together, all the people in Ierusalem, and all the rest that came from the citties of Iudah without speciall authority? yea Ie­z [...]bell her selfe,2. King. 21.8 though the daughter of Belial, was not ignorant what the manner of those times was. Shee proclaimed a fast in Iez­rael where N [...]both dwelt, to rob him of his vineyard, and to betraie his life; but first shee sent letters in the kinges name, and secondlye sealed them with the kinges seale, and lastly directed them to the elders and no­bles of Iezraell, that they might put them in execution. But the Phrases vsed in Ioel doe sufficiently determine the nature of this a­ction, Blow a trumpet in Sion, sanctifie a fast, call a solemne assemblie, [Page 489] gather the people, sanctifie the congregation, gather the elders, and all the inhabitants of the lande: assemble the children, and those that sucke the breastes, let the bridegroome and the bride goe forth of their chamber. Sanctifica­tum ieiuni [...] quod publi­cè indicitur per deū, vel per magistratum, episco­pum, prophe­tam. P. Mart Ionathan sanctificare vertit per decernere. Now what is a sanctified fast, but that which is publikely called and esta­blished either by God himselfe, Levit. 23. or by the magistrate, Bi­shop, or prophet? or who hath authority to draw the people from their worke, to gather the aged and sucklings, and al the inhabitants of the country togither, to apoint an holy day vnto the Lord, to be spent in praiers & sacrifices, but only these governours? As in a re­ceipt of Physicke, the ingredients may al be good, yet is it not so war­rantable vnto vs, neither are we willing to meddle therwith, vnlesse a professour of Physicke by his art and authority prescribe it: so in a publike fast, privately convented, I said before that all the exercises were christian & religious, their praier, preaching, singing, and distri­buting to the poore; but as our saviour told the rich yong man in the gospell, there is one thing wanting vnto thee, if thou wil [...] bee perfect, sell all that thou hast &c. So there is one thing wanting vnto these,Med [...]cina est ieiunium. sed medicina licet millies vtilissit; per vtentie imperitiam fit invtilis Homil 3. ad Pop. Ant. Nosseoporte [...] et tempus. &c Jnter ieiunij laborē â ie­iunii coronà excidemus. Jbid. [...]. Can 66. Ap. Non bene succedi [...] quicquid fit [...]assim. de singular Cl [...] ­ri [...]. and to give them their full perfection, we must suffer the rulers of the com­mon wealth to apoint them. Chrisostome calleth fastinge a kinde of Physicke; but Physicke may be profitable a thousand times, & yet be hurtfull at a time, for want of skill to vse it: therefore he would never have it done but congrua cum l [...]ge, with all the lawes that agree vnto it: and every cir­cumstance of time, quantity, state of the body, with the like, precisely observed. He applieth the Apostles similitude: No man striving for a maistery is crowned, vnlesse he strive lawfully, & so it may fall out, that a­middest the paines and afflictions of fasting, vvee may leese the crowne of it. Zonaras hath a rule to the same purpose, treating likewise of fastes, Good is never good, except it bee done in good sort. And Cyprian in like manner, It prooveth not well, which is done of headinesse and without order.

The Thirde thinge in the fast of Niniveh, is the vniver­salitye of it: for it vvas not onelye publique and open, but included almost vvhatsoever breathed amongst them. It concer­ned first men (which is heere indefinitelye put) signifying the whole kinde, from the man of grayest haires, to the tenderest infant: and as you hearde before, from the greatest to the sma­lest: secondly, Beastes ▪ yea all sortes of beastes, great and small, oxen, horses, sheepe, goates, and whatsoever cattell they had of any service.

Fourthly, it was very strict, for they are forbidden to feede, I say [Page 490] not to glut themselues, but they might not so much as tast; per­happes not delicate meates; no nor anye thinge: it had beene e­nough to haue kept them from eating, but neither might they drinke I say not wines, and curious electuaries, but not so much as water, which their rivers and welles afforded them.

5 Fiftelye it was serious and vnfained, not false and sophisticall as the manner of hypocrites is. It appeareth by that that follow­eth in returning from their evill waies, and forsaking that wickednes vvhich was in their handes. So that, by this their behaviour, they seeme to intende thus much; wee acknowledge before thy maiesty (Lorde of hostes) wee thy vnworthiest creatures that ever thy handes haue formed, viler then the sackcloth wee weare; (for if there had beene baser stuffe in the worlde, wee vvoulde not haue refused it) & fowler in thy fight, then the ashes wee are besprent vvith; vvee acknowledge before thy maiestie, our king, princes, and sena­tours, our sonnes and daughters, olde and yong, even from the grounde of our heart, that thou art a righteous Lorde, and vvee an vnrighteous nation, not vvorthie our meate, drinke, clo­thing, or any other thy benefites, yea worthy to fall vpon the sharpest edge of thy severest iudgments; we haue endangered our selues, wiues and children, infants and dumbe beastes, life and goods, city and people, to thy heaviest ire? and in acknovv­ledgement thereof and signe of our humble subiection, as guiltye within our selues, and condemned in our owne consciences, what­soever thou hast given vs to enioy, outward or inward, nearer or further of, for comfort, for pleasure, for service, or anye other vse, either in our familes at home, or in our foldes and stalles a­broade, wee resigne into thy hands, as having no right vnto it, we lay it downe at the feet [...] of thy iustice,Why not beastes? 1. To pro­voke repentance. 2. To amplifie the misery. 3. To moue men to pit­ty. 4. To draw God to commise­ration. and beseech thee for thine owne names sake to take mercy vpon vs.

Let neither man nor beast &c. But what meane the king and coun­cell of Niniveh by so mad a decree? haue they a purpose to regaine favour of God, and thinke they to do it by trifles and vanities? are they so simple and vnsensible, to put vnsensible beastes to repen­tance? hath God care of bullockes and sheepe? or haue bullockes and sheepe care of God? doe they not liue and die? (without re­pentance shall I say?) yea, without religion, and without reason also? did they feare? nay did they ever know God that they shoulde bee threatned? haue they ever sinned, or shall they ever come to iudgemente that they are taught heere to humble them­selues [Page 491] and to bee Godly as it were, and to ioyne with the people of Niniveh in their publique repentance; O pardon repentance a-greater absurditie then this: her vnspeakeable griefes and compun­ctions 1 within, knowen vnto God, and to no mortall creatures besides that feeleth them not, send forth vnreasonable actions sometimes, to common iudgement. Her spirit is so dull and lum­pish with sorrowe, that shee cannot abide the recreation of anye creature when shee is in heavinesse, shee wisheth and endevoreth by her vttermost provocations, that not onely men but beastes, nay trees and stones might mourne with her, And that the light of heaven woulde accompany her in her dolefull passions. Shee thin­keth that no sunne shoulde shine, because shee taketh no pleasure in the brightnesse thereof; that the lillies of the field shoulde bee clothed in blacke, because shee is so apparrelled; that the infante should not draw the breast, nor the beast take his foode, because she hath no appetite: neither doth she do this of an envious affectiō (that bee far from the meaning of humble and meeke repentāce) but feeling the weight of sinne, and alwaies chewing the cud, that God is offended with it, shee runneth from all pleasure of the world as from a serpent, shee panteth and sobbeth day and night shee weareth her handes with wringing, and her breast with smitinge vp­pon it; the pauement is the cabbin that pleaseth her best, anguish her breade, her drinke salt teares, till shee get some comfort from the God of peace. And fearing withall a decay and declination within her selfe, that shee shall bee wearie too soone of well doo­ing, that her sorrowes will end, and her teares bee dried vp▪ be­fore they haue washt her sufficiently, except they bee nourished; shee saith within her selfe, O that the world would mourne with mee, to keepe me in practise of mourning; If I but sawe others weepe, mine eies would ever runne, If I but heard the suckling cry for milke, and beasts roare for foode, because they want it; how would it cause me to send vp my cries for the favour of God, because I haue it not? This is one reason of their decree, let nei­ther man nor beast tast any thinge. For these outward, but grievous obiects, sights and sounds of misery in others, carry word to our soules, how generall the misery is, and moue our inward affe­ctions to continue in repentance. Chrisostome addeth some o­ther reasons; that they made their beasts to fast,Homil. 3. ad pop. Antioch as at the funeralles of rich men, not onely the friendes and servantes of the deceased, but their very horses are clad in blacke, and led [Page 492] in the traine with them, both to note the greatnesse of their losse, & 2 to moue the lookers on to take cōpassion. He hath yet a further con­ceit, 3 that they did therin as the prophets were wōt to do, who seeing 4 a scourge come from the Lord,Et calamita­tis magni [...]u­dinem often­tante [...] & omnes ad mise­ricordiam al licientes. Ier. 14. & finding no confidence in thēselues nor way to excuse their iniquities, not knowing whither to flie for patronage, nor daring for very shame in their owne names to craue pardon for their sins, betake them to the brute beasts, & tell God of their wofull plight, as if by the commemoration of their miseries he would sooner be perswaded. Thus did Ieremy in his prophecie, the hinde calved in the field, & forsooke it because there was no grasse And thus did Ioel in his, how did the beasts mourne? the heards of cartell pinde awa [...]e because they had no pasture, and the flockes of sheepe were destroied. And for this cause also they put their infantes to fast,Ioel. 1. that the innocent age might speake vnto God in be ha [...]fe of the riper sinners.

I now conclude. The repentance of Niniveh made them hard hearted,Conclusion vnmercifull & vncompassionate to themselues and to their beasts, harmeles & innocent creatures, to debar them of their meate & drinke, and because they vnderstood not the anger of God by prea­ching, Non licet brutis ser­mone iram Dei discere, discant fame Chrysost. vt supra. to make them vnderstand it by famine. Where is the repentance of our times? Whither is [...] fled? or where hath it hid her selfe? [...]ur land and our sea may say, repentance is not in me. Repentance the gift of God, the ioy of angels, the salue of sins, the haven of sinners, I say a­gaine, what is become of it? It is not for the angels of heaven to re­pent, because they sin not: nor for the divels of hell, for their iudge­ment is sealed: it is onely for the sonnes of men, and we only know it not. The people of Niniveh sinned and woulde not eate, sinned and would not drinke, sinned and woulde not bee cloathed, nay sinned and would not giue leaue to their beastes to feed. We sinne, and yet we eate, nay we sinne in eating: we doe not onely taste, and feede, which are here forbidden, but vvee taste and feed delicious­ly, we are wanto with the giftes of God, & abuse them to surfet. We sin, and yet we drinke, nay we drinke and sinne in drinking: for wee drinke intemperately; I say not water, which is here forbidden, but wine, and wine in excesse, & wine withal the helpes that may be to make vs more exceede. And we sinne and cloath our selues, rather we cloath our selues, & sin by cloathing vs: for we cloath our selues superfluously, I say not with sackcloath, but with that which might be­seeme Salomon if he were now king in Ierusalem. And we feed not only our selues but our oxen in our medowes & stalles, to feede our vnprofitable carkasses, & our horses in the stables to bear our vnpro­fitable [Page 493] carkasses, vvhen the poore in our streetes, and at our gates, feede vpon empty aire for lacke of sustenance. I aske againe, in the he [...]ghth of our sins, what is become of repentāce? Repentance, which God preached in paradise; for he shewed our fore-fathers their sin, & gave them the promise. Which Noah proclaimed to the old world; Lot to Sodome; Moses to Egypt; Prophets in their sundry generati­ons to Israel and Iudah; Iohn Baptist, the day-star & morning of the Gospell, Christ the sonne of righteousnes, and all his Apostles the shining lamps of the new world, what els did they preach to the people that then was? of faith & repentance were their sermons. Re­pent & beleeve the gospell. Repent, for the kingdome of God is at hand. These & such like were their textes, and these shalbe our preachings, and themes till we see some number, & measure of our vnruly transgres­sions. If we beleeve not we are already iudged. And if we repent not the kingdome of God is comming vpon vs But the scepter will bee changed & the governmēt wholy altered. Then was the kingdōe of grace, now of glory & iustice. Then was the saving, now the iudging of soules; then came it in the tongues of men, now in the trumpet of an archangell; then with tidinges of greate ioy to the whole world, now with terrour and amasement to all the kindreds thereof. Then with glory to God on high, and peace vpon the earth; now with, vae, vae, vae, habitatoribus terrae, thrice woe to them that dwell vpon the earth. Then to gather the lost sheepe of Israell into the sheepe-folde, now to se­ver the goates from the sheepe; then to embrace both Iew & Gen­tile, now to divide betweene servant and servant at the same mil; be­tweene man and wife in the same bed; betweene Iacob and Esau in the same wombe, and to pronounce the one of them blessed, the other accursed. Repent therefore, for this kingdome of God is at hande, to deface all kingdomes, to roote vp the nations, to con­sume the earth with her workes, and her people with their sinnes, and to feede them with the foode of iudgement and water of gall, who eate and drinke vp iniquitye like their daielye repaste. It belongeth to vs all to repent. Wee vvere all conceived in sin, and in iniquitye have our mothers brought vs foorth. Con­cupiscence hath beene the nurse whose milke we have dravvne from time to time, and as wee have growne in yeares our selves, so hath corruption growen with vs. What remaineth, but to repent? to chandge our Morians skinnes, to putte off our stai­ned coates, and to vvashe our feete from their filthinesse as Iob spake, and not onelye our feete, but our heades also as Peter spake [Page 494] in the gospell, to renew both bodies and soules, and to serue him in holinesse and righteousnesse, vvho long time hath served him­selfe vnder the burthen of our sinnes. So God shall aunswere repen­tance with repentance. Hee shall bee sorye in his hearte, that ever hee past that sentence against vs. It repenteth mee to haue made man: And if hee haue thought vpon anye plagues to smite vs vvithall, it shall also repente him that ever hee devised them.

THE XXXVII. LECTVRE.

Chap, 3. vers. 8.‘But let man and beast put on sackloth &c.’

OF the two generall partes wherein the re­pentance of Niniveh stood, the negatiue be­ing ended in the former verse, contayning the dyet of repentance, we are now to pro­ceede to the affirmatiue, delivered the most part in this eighth, wherein 1. the habite & attire of repentance, sackcloth. 2. the tenour of her speech, mighty crying ▪ 3. her very sub­stance and soule, the change of life are expres­sed. Wee mooved a question why beastes shoulde bee called to communion of fasting, and those other afflictions exercised by the Ninivites. Some thinke they are put by tanslation of speech, so that the distribution of man and beast, signifieth not two disparate kindes of creatures, but in the same kind, men of sundry condti­ons; wise and vnwise, prudent and simple, reasonable and vnreasonable, so doth Ierome expound them.Prudētes & simplices, ra­tionabiles & irrationab. How be it there is no question, but the most foolish are also men, and therefore included in the for­mer member of the division. Of withholding food from the beasts there is lesse doubt, but that they should cloth them in sackcloth, and place them in the number of those that cry mightily vnto the Lorde, seemeth more vnsensible: for they haue neither vnderstandinge, nor speech, and their bodies are wet with the dew of heaven, as Nabu­chodonozors was,Dan. 4. and their hydes are those naturall indumentes which God hath provided for them.1. Sacke­cloth. Touching the sackcloth, it is not necessary to enquire whether they were all covered vvith it yea or no: happily but their horses and mules, which were in grea­test price, and wherein they most gloried, whose manner afore­time [Page 495] was▪ to bee clothed in sumptuous trappings; of such it is like­lie enough that their ornaments vvere chandged, and it maie bee their whole heardes and flockes, to make the greater spectacle and solemnite of dolefulnes. For it is no more vnprofitable in these fune­ralles of their city when she was going as it were to her graue, that these beastes should also accompany her in mourning steedes vvith the rest of her people and children, then that at the funeralles of noble men not onely their kinsmen and friendes, nor their houses and herses alone, but their horses which they vsed for service, should also bee drawne into the fellowshippe of their sorrovvinge. And wee reade, Iudith. 4. vvhen the approach of Holofernes was feared, that the children of Israell cried every man to God with greate fervencie, and their soules with greate affection; and that both they, and their wiues, and their children, and their cattell, and every stranger and hireling, and their bought servantes put sackcloth vpon their loy [...]es. And to make the greater shew of sorrowe, they sprinkled ashes vpon their heades, and spread out their sackcloth before the face of the Lord, and they put sackcloth also about their altar.

Their cryinge, Lyra expoundeth to haue beene after their kind;2. Crying▪ they roared and brayed for want of foode,Clamaban [...] suo more. Deficiente pastu mug [...] ­eban [...]. Qui mugi [...]s di­cebatur ad Deum cla­mare. which naturall moane of theirs was their cryinge, It is saide, Psalm. 147. that God gi­veth foode to the beasts, and to the yonge ravens that call vpon him, Like­wise, Iob. 39. VVho prepareth meate for the crovves, vvhen their yong crye vnto the Lorde for it? By these, and by the like scriptures, you may know what the cry of the beasts was. That which Da­vid speaketh of the heavens and firmament day and night, Psalm. 19. that they declare the glory of God and shew forth his handy workes; least any shoulde mistake hee explaineth in the thirde verse, They haue neither speech nor language, yet without these is their voice hearde: so wee may say of these beastes, that though they cried not vnto the Lorde, as the men did, yet they cryed after their vsage. R. Iarhi hath a conceipt that they tyed their dammes and their foles asunder and said, before the Lorde of the worlde, Dixerunt coram domino mundi, nisi tu nostri mi­sereare nos horum non mis [...]rebim [...] vnlesse thou take pittie on vs wee will not pittie these. I will not thinke them so vnwise to haue con­ditioned with God, but I will easily admit, that they might parte the olde and the yong, and doe all that was to bee doone, to fill the aire with lamentable outcrying. To acquite the king and his counsaile, from folly or distraction of their wittes, in this so vnv­suall and vnreasonable an acte, I shewed you the manner and na­ture of sorrow before; how gladly it seeketh companions, Est a­liquid, [Page 496] 1 socios habuisse doloris. It is no little comfort in discomforts not to be left alone in lamenting, and to see all thinges turned into mourning, that are neare about vs. For as vvee desire nothing more then heavines of spirite in such a case, and the cheerefulnes of any thing is as welcome vnto vs, as prickels to our eies; so vvee blesse that creature, whatsoever it is, that will helpe to feede vs in our me­lancholike humors. Wee wish fountaines of water in the heades both of men and beastes, to be a patterne for our imitation, and to draw vs forward in our well-pleasing pensivenes. And as in the con­trary affection, when the name of God was highly to be magnifi­ed, and there was iust cause to exult and triumph, David cont [...] ­ted not himselfe with the secret of his owne spirit, or with aw ki [...]g his lute and harpe to praise the Lorde; but hee desired the harm [...]ny of heaven and earth to bee added vnto it; (so did the child [...] of Babylon in their songe. O all yee workes of the Lorde blesse yee [...] Lorde, praise him and magnifie him for ever; So did the Prophet [...] in their writings, Psal. 148 Esa. 44. Reioyce O heavens, showte yee lower partes of the earth, burst forth into praises yee mountaines, ye forrestes and every tree therein:) Even so is the nature of griefe never so well pleased, as when all the pleasures of the worlde are exiled, Shee calleth heaven aboue too weepe, the earth beneath to lament, beasts to pine away, rockes to cleaue in twaine, the moūtaines to giue none other Eccho but la­mentations, the rivers to runne with teares, and all the fruits of the 2 earth to bee changed into worm-wood and bitternesse. And as it mooveth the affection, so it instructeth our vnderstanding also: it putteth vs in minde of the hugenesse and horrour of sinne, howe dangerous the contagion thereof is, to touch not onely our selues, but all the creatures of God that belong vnto vs. It is for our sinnes sake that the whole creature Rom. 8. is subiect vnder vanitye: that is, a fliting and vnstable condition; and not onely vnder vanity, but vnder corruption, yea vnder a bondage and thraldome of corruption; not of it selfe, but for him that hath subiected it, (which is either God of­fended with sinne, or man that provoked him,) and it groneth with vs, and travaileth togither in birth, and putteth out the head to looke and watch for the revelation of the sonne of God, because that is the time vvhen her service shal be ended. Genesis 3. besides the curse of the serpent, the curse of Eue, the curse of Adam in his ovvne person, In the sweate of thy face, thou shalt eate thy bread, that is all callinges of life shall bee laborious and painefull vnto thee, and thou shalt eate the hearbe of the fielde, common and wast, not the fruites of the garden as [Page 497] thou didst before, and thistles and briers shall the earth bring foorth vnto thee, though thou spende thy labour to the contrarie; it is added in the same place, maledicta esto terra propter te, the earth which thou treadest vpon, and vvhich is free from deserving the curse, the earth which was made before thee, and thou made of the earth, cursed bee that earth for thy sake. Likewise, Genesis the sixte, when the Lorde [...]aw the wickednesse of man, howe greately it was encrea­sed, then it repented the LORDE that ever hee had made man, and hee was sorrie in his hearte; therefore he saide, I vvill destroie from of the earth the man whome I haue created, (hee stayeth not there,) but from man to beast, from creeping thinge to the soule of the heaven, for I repente that I haue made them, not onely the man, but these that were created for mans vse. Beholde the vngraciousnesse of sinne­full man. VVee were made the Lordes and rulers of the earth, both of the fruites, and of the people and living creatures thereof; vvee haue dominion over all the vvoorkes of GODS handes, Psalm. 8. all thinges are put in subiection vnder our feete, all sheepe and oxen, yea and the beastes of the fielde, the birdes of the aire, and fishes of the sea, and vvhatsoever vvalketh through the pathes of the sea; but wee haue chandged our go­vernemente into tyranny, and are not content with the rule, vn­lesse vvee seeke the spoile, nor vvith the vse and commodity, vnlesse we worke the ruine and wracke of our poore bond-servantes. Quid meruistis oves? (saieth Pythagoras in the Poet) what haue our harmelesse sheepe and oxen deserved at our handes, thus to be mis­used? But we, the nocent wretches of the worlde, workers of all ini­quitie, deserving not roddes but scorpions, cause innocency it selfe to bee scourged for our transgressions. But that the providence of God restraineth them, it is a marvaile that they breake not their league, and shake of their yoke of obedience towardes vs, and vvith their hornes and hoofes, and other naturall artillerie, make warre vpon vs as their vnrighteous Lordes, whome it sufficeth not to haue vsed their service alone, vnlesse wee plundge them besides into such vndeserved vengeance.

Againe, the punishing of their beastes vvas to adde something 3 to their owne punishmente:Cum haec i [...] ­menta sint homini dat [...] in adiutori­um, corum afflictio in homine [...] r [...] ­dund [...]. for vvhen these are not fed and nouri­shed, and kept in heart▪ not onely the beast, but the owner himselfe smarteth for it. Vndoubtedly, it is a blessing to men, that their oxen are stronge to labour, their horses swifte to the race, their asses and ca­melles meete for their burthens, that their bullocke engendreth with­out fayling, their covve calveth vvithout casting, their sheepe bring forth [Page 498] thousandes and tenne thousandes in their streetes: and it is a curse on the other side, to be berefte of these commodities, as in the fift plague of Egypt. Now then, a parte of the vvealth and substaunce of Niniveh consisting in these beastes, by reason of the service they en­ioyed, and profit they reaped thereby, doeth not the afflicting of them redounde to their maisters? and doe they not loose themselues, by vveakening the bodies of their cattell through lacke of foode, vvhereby not onelye their labour, but also their fruite and encrease is hindered?

4 Lastly, some tooke a pride in some kinde of beastes, namely their horses vvhich I mentioned before, and not onely fedde them with the best, to keepe them fat and shining, but cloathed them with the richest. We read of Nero the Emperour of Rome, that he shodde his mules with silver; and of Poppaea Sabina, that shee her horses with gold.Non sic Pe­tru [...] &c. De Consid. Bernard telleth Eugenius the Pope, that Peter rode not vpon a white warre-like horse, clad in trappings of golde. And it is not vnlikelie but the kings of Niniveh did offende in the sumptuousnesse of their horses, asmuch as the Emperours or Popes of Rome. In these it was not amisse that their glorie and pompe should be abated, how­soever it fared with the rest; and that their bellies should be pinched with hunger, which were pampered before; and their backes cloathed with sack-cloath, which were wont to be magnified with such costlie furniture. These and such other reasons of their act as might be al­leadged, I let passe, and come to the handling of the wordes them­selues.Sack-cloth. But let man and beast put on sacke-cloath. The first member com­maundeth the habite that their repentance must be cloathed with. It was the manner of those times, especially in the East partes, if either they lost a friend or childe by death (as Iacob his son Gen. 37.) but ra­ther for the losse of the favor of God, and commonly when they re­pented their sinnes, and sometimes when they praied, not only to re­fuse their best garments, as the children of Israell, Exod. 33. When the Lorde tolde them that he would not goe himselfe, but send an angell with them, they sorrowed exceedingly, and no man put on his best raiment; & sometimes to cut their cloathes, as Iosu. 7. sometimes to rend them from their backs, as Ioel. 2. but insteed thereof to take vnto themselues the vncomfor­tablest weedes and fashions that might be devised. For besides their wearing of sacke-cloath, they would sit vpon the ground and in ashes, as the friendes of Iob;Iob. 2. and not only sit, but wallow in dust and ashes, as the daughter of Ierusalem is willed to doe, Ierem. 6. and claspe the handes vpon the heade, and sprinkle ashes vpon it, as Tamar did, 2. Sam. 12. and [Page 499] their haire, as their mannes is described, Amos 8. and finally, take vppe an howling, and make an exquisite lamentation, Ier. 6. as one that shoulde mourne for her onelie sonne. In all which and such like outwarde ob­servaunces, I like the iudgemente of a learned Divine, that they are neither commaunded by God, nor by GOD forbidden, and are not so properly workes, as passions; not sought, or affected, or studied for, but such as in sorrowe, or feare, or the like perturbations offerre themselues,Non tamo­pera quàm passi [...]. Pomera [...] ▪ and are consequent of their owne accordes as helpes to expresse vnto the world our inwarde dispositions. So when we pray vnto God, wee bowe the knees of our bodies, lie vp­on our faces, cast vp our eies to heaven, smite vpon our breasts, with the like ceremonies. In all which, praier is the substance and worke intended, and these, though we thinke not of them, come as a kinde of furniture and formality (if I may so speake) to set it foorth. The [...]nesse of the spirite draweth the whole body into participation of the griefe, making it carelesse of the foode, and negligent in the at­tire that belongeth vnto it. And if ever they be alone (these shad­dowes and dumbe shewes, I meane of sacke-cloath and mourning) without their body of toward contrition, (as they fasted in Esay from meate, and were prowde of their fast,Esa. 58. Zach. 13▪ Why haue wee fasted and thou regardest it not? but not from strife and oppression; and the prophetes in Zachary ware a rough garment, but it was to deceiue with:) then is our thankes with God, the same that he gaue to Israel in the place be­fore mentioned, Is this the fast that I haue chosen, that a man should afflict his soule for a daie, and [...]owe downe his heade like a bull-rush, and lie in sack-cloath and ashes? wilt thou call this a fasting, or an acceptable daie vnto the Lorde? or is not this rather the fasting that I haue chosen, insteede of forsaking thy meate, to deale thy breade to the hungrie, and for sacke-cloath about thy loines, to cover thy naked brethren, and not to hide thine eies from thine owne flesh? And as of sacke-cloath and fasting, so wee may like wise say of crying which was the voice of repentaunce.And [...]rie mightily. For was it the neying of horses, lowing of oxen and bullockes, lamen­tation of men, eiulation of women and children, mingling heaven and earth togither with a confusion of out-cries, that could enforce the LORDE aboue to giue them a [...]dience? doubtlesse no. For the praier of this people (a shielde against the iudgement of GOD, which nature it selfe thrust into the handes of the marriners before, and heere of the Ninivites, yea that obstinate king of Egypt, which sette his face against heaven, and confronted the GOD thereof, vvas glad to flie vnto it,Exod. 8. Pray vnto the LORD for me and my peo­ple, [Page 500] that this plague maie departe; and Simon the sorcerer, who de­ceived the worlde with his enchauntmentes, thought it the onelie charme vvhereby the mercy of God mighte be procured;Act▪ 8.) though it bee reported of by as speciall notes as praier may bee honoured with, 1. for the manner of it, that it was vehemente and forcible, They cryed; 2. for the grounde, invvarde and intentionall, They cryed mightilie, and from the bottome of their heartes; 3. for the obiect, right and substantiall, They cryed vpon GOD; yet if their words and works, purpose and performance had not kissed each o­ther, if with their lips alone they had honoured God without their heartes, or with their heartes alone without their handes, as we haue to consider in the nexte wordes, they had soone beene aunswered, as a people better favoured than themselues were, Esay the first, Though you stretch out your handes, I vvill hide mine eies from you, and though you make many praiers, I vvill not heare you. The Gentiles, Matthew the sixte, vsed longe speech and much babling, and thought to bee hearde for that cause, but they lived as Gentiles. The Scribes and the Pharisees in the same place, praied also, not as the Gen­tiles to vnknowne GODS, but to the God of the Hebrews, they cryed Lorde, Lorde, with often inclamation, yea they stood and praied, not onely in their houses, but in the synagogues and corners of the streetes to appeare to men, and no doubt to be hearde of men, and they vsed likewise longe praiers, Luke the twentieth as the Gentiles did, yet they were but hypocrites, and the portion of hypocrites was reserved for them. And this is your meede (looke for it, hypocrites, as you looke for summer vvhen you see the blooming of the figge-tree) when you pray as if you dreamed vvithout your senses, your lippes walking, and your eies aspiring into heaven without devotion, you, whose hearte lyeth within your bosome as a secret thiefe, cal­ling to your tongue and handes and bodily members, and saying, giue mee credite in the eies of men, make some shew of piety at the least, recite the praiers of the Church though you pray not, and vse the gestures of the Saintes of CHRIST though you meane them not, your parte is with those hypocrites, and vvith Simon Magus, your lying tongues the LORD shall roote out of their tabernacles, your deceitfull eies shall sinke into the holes of your heades, the sa­crifices of your forged and faithlesse consciences stinke in his no­strelles, your prayers are an abhomination vnto him, and, that e­ver you haue taken his fearefull name vvithin your lips, shall turne to your sorer condemnation. The complement and perfection of all [Page 501] that went before, the soule of their corporall fasting, sackcloath, crying, which is their spiritual fast from sinne, and insteede of putting on sackcloath, putting on the new man, followeth to be examined in the next part of the mandate: wherein the substantiall parts of repen­tance are contained.

Yea let everie man turne from his evill vvay, &c. For what is re­pentance in effecte, but a returning to that integrity and vpright­nesse of life from whence thou art departed? Therefore sayth the edict, let everie man returne. There is terminus à quo, Revertitor quisque. and terminus ad quem, in this sanctified motion; somewhat which we must for­sake and relinquish, somewhat which we must recover, and procure againe. There must be a death to sinne, and a resurrection to iu­stice: for as Eusebius calleth repentance a type of the resurrection, so may we the resurrection a type of repentance. There must bee an aversion from sinne, and a conversion to God; a mortification of olde Adam with all his concupiscences, and a vivification of the newe man. Ioell expresseth both these partes. First,Ioel 2. rende your heartes. VVhat? shall we smooth them? annointe them? flatter them? binde them vp? No. Wee must pull them in pieces, racke them vpon tenter-hookes, teare them vvith gripes and convulsions; we must not suffer sinne to hide it selfe in any corner thereof, which is not produced to lighte and thoroughly examined: and then turne vnto the Lorde your God, &c. GOD by his prophet Esay giveth like­wise his people a chardge concerning both these, vvash you, Es. 1. make you cleane, take away the evill of your workes from before mine eies, cease to doe evill; afterwarde followeth the seconde, learne to doe well, seeke iudgement, relieue the oppressed, with other effects of a new life. And who was ever a better expounder of repentance, than he, who went before the face of the Lorde, and both preached the doctrine vvith his lippes, and with his handes administred the baptisme of repen­tance? Albeit the texte that he vsed vnto them were [...], which signifieth a chaunge of the minde, and the inwarde powers thereof, yet hee added by way explication,Math. 3. Bring foorth fruites vvorthie of a­mendment of life. And when the people asked him, Luke the thirde, What shall vvee doe then? hee aunswered them, hee that hath tvvo coates, let him parte vvith him that hath none, and hee that hath meate, let him doe likewise. Thus much in effect. The repentaunce that I preach vnto you, doeth not onely forbidde crueltie, in pulling cloathes from the backe, and meate from the teeth of others, but it also enioyneth the vvorkes of mercy. Chrysostome in his thirde [Page 502] Homily to the people of Antioche demaunding vvhat it was that preserved the Ninivites from the inevitable wrath of GOD, thus reasoneth with himselfe; vvas it their fasting and sacke-cloath alone? vvee cannot say it, but the chandge of their vvhole life. How knovv wee? [...]. 10. by the very wordes of the prophet. And God saw their workes. What kinde of workes? That they fasted and vvare sacke-cloath? neither of both. For the Prophet suppressing all this, inferreth, that they returned from their evill vvaies. I speake not this (saith he) to bring fasting into contempt, but rather to honour it: for the honour of a fast, is not abstinence from meates, but avoidaunce of sinne. Honor ieiu­nij▪ non cibo­rum abstinē ­tia, sed pec­catorum fu­ga. And hee that defineth a fast, by the onely for­bearing of foode, is the man that most disgraceth it. Doest thou fast? shew mee thy fasting by thy vvoorkes? Thou vvilt aske, vvhat kinde of workes? if thou seest a poore man, take mercie on him. If thine enemie, reconcile thy selfe. If thy friende deserving praise, envie him not. If a beautifull vvoman, make a covenaunte vvith thine eies not to bee taken in her beau­tie: and let not onely thy mouth and thy bowels fast, but thine eies, thine eares, thy feete, thy handes, and all thy bodily members. Let thy handes fast from robbery, thy feete from bearing thee to vnlawfull spectacles, thine eares from sucking in slaunderous tales, thine eies from receiving in wantonnes. For what availeth it to abstaine from eating and drinking, if meane time we eate and de­vour vp our brethren?

1. Let every man.The matter of this edict is very notable, and in so fewe wordes asmuch as wisedome and religion mighte containe: first, it requi­reth of every man a chandge of life. For the worde is a particle of distribution and excepteth neither the age, sexe, nor estate of a­ny person. Maximilian the Emperour comparing himselfe and the kinges of Spaine and Fraunce togither, had a witty and plea­saunt saying that there vvere but three kinges in the time vvhere­in hee lived.Rex homi­num, rex asi­norū, rex re­gum. The Spanish, a king of men: because he vsed them ingenuouslie and liberallie as men: The French, of asses; for the immoderate exactions which hee tooke of them: Himselfe, a king of kinges; for they vvoulde doe no more then their owne pleasure was. But the king of Niniveh is a king of subiectes. Be­holde a generall decree enacted for repentance, and there is not one soule in Niniveh that starteth backe. Secondly, it re­quireth of every man not onelye to goe from his vvickednesse,2. Returne. but to returne to that iustice from vvhence hee vvas fallen and to renew the image of holinesse decayed in him. It is a good degree of repentaunce to bevvaile those sinnes vvhich vvee haue com­mitted, and not to committe those sinnes which wee haue be­wailed. [Page 503] But it is not enough in repentance; for hee that is not a gatherer with Christ is a scatterer,Plangere co­mussa. Plagenda non commi­tere. and as great displeasure we reape in the omission of duety, as in commission of iniquity. Iohn Bap­tist did not tell them in his sermon of repentance, that everie tree which brought foorth evill fruite shoulde bee hewen downe, (though that were implyed) but if it broughte not foorth good fruite, it was in dan­ger of the same iudgement. Neither did our saviour tell his disci­ples, that excepte their iniustice vvere lesse then the iniustice of the Scribes and Pharises, they shoulde not enter into the king­dome of heaven: but excepte their iustice vvere more. Hee that buried his talent in the grounde had a purpose not to offende. But he had no purpose of doing good. This then is the meaning and sentence of the decree: wee are fallen from labour to idlenes, from meekenesse to pride, from temperance to riot, from mercy to oppres­sion, from iustice to violence; let vs not onelye leaue and for­goe these vices, but let vs returne to their contrary vertues. Thirde­ly, It requireth of every man to returne from his evill vvaies, 3. From hi [...] evill waies. his aun­cient and accustomed sinnes wherein hee had travailed and traded himselfe, and made it his walke a long time. Therein they imply this secret confession. VVe are not fallen by ignoraunce and mis­chaunce as those that labour to rise againe, neither hath our foote slipt alone by the frailtie and infirmitie of our flesh, but wee haue wilfully and weetingly brought our selues into an habite of vicious­nesse. We are not sinners of yesterday, and novices in the schoole of Satan, but wee haue long trodden the pathes of vniustice, and wearied our selues in the waies of wickednesse. Fourthly, it requi­reth of every man to returne from the wickednesse that is in his handes, 4 From the wickednes in his hāds. not in his hearte alone; that is, not onely from his proper sinnes, which harmed no more then his owne conscience, but from his violence, rapine, extortion, vvhich were his open transgressions, noysome and hurtfull vnto other men. For there are some sinnes private and domesticall, the stinge and smarting whereof for the most parte dyeth within the soule, and plagueth but the person of him that committeth it. Wee commonly saie of a prodigall man, that hee is no mans foe but his owne, and envie eateth but the marrowe of his bones that envieth, not his that is envi­ed▪ And pride is but thine owne vanitie, and slouth an igno­minie belonging to thy selfe. But some, their nature is such, that vvheresoever they haue their dwelling, they are the ham­mers and mallets to the whole countrey that lyeth about them. [Page 502] [...] [Page 503] [...] [Page 504] These are the vnrighteousnesses which before I specified in parte, and [...]re therefore called the vvickednesse of the handes, though other partes of the soule and bodie are not innocent, because the hande is the chiefe instrumente and weapon whereby they are wroughte. Curtius writeth of the Elephant that hee taketh an armed man with his hande,Lib 4 Ma [...] [...] viros (que) cor­ri [...]it. and delivereth him to his master that sitteth vpon him. Hee meaneth the bosse of the Elephante vvhich hee vseth, as men their handes, to doe that service. And Achilles asked Pa­lamedes goinge to the battell of Troy, why hee wente without a servaunt. Palamedes shewed his his handes, and asked him a­gaine, vvhether hee thoughte not those in steede of servauntes. It is the strength,Nonné hae illorum vi [...]e sunt? Manus orga­num organo­ [...]um. agilitie, serviceablenesse of the handes by reason of the aptnesse they haue to so manye and sundrye offices, vvhich chardgeth them with vnrighteousnesse common to other partes. But the chiefe thing to be considered, and wherwith I will conclude, is the especiall hold that the king and the counsaile taketh, omitting o­ther sinnes, namelye of this forcible and hande-stronge violence. Other thinges wee leaue to your owne consciences, commune with your heartes aboute them, and purdge your selues. We are not the searchers of the hearte and reynes, wee knowe not the faultes that lie in darkenesse; but that which is open to the world, for which wee are hatefull to GOD and man, the worme that hath bred of our greatnesse and wealthinesse, the daughter of the monarchie, a famili­ar to kinges courtes, and not a straunger to the burse of merchantes, fraudulency and forgery in contractes, bribery in iustice, crueltye in common life, overbearing of righte by mighte, grinding the poore like corne betweene the milstones of oppression, and eating them vp like bread, pushing at the weake sheepe with side and shoulder, and leaving neither flesh nor arme, vineyarde nor house free from inva­sion, this wee namely forbidde, and precisely giue in chardge that it bee amended. I woulde our vsurers woulde marke this, that of all those grievous offences whereof Niniveh had laboured a long time, the rest are helde a sleepe, and their names spared, as not worthye in comparison to come in speech vvith their farre superiour iniquity;Namque meos nec equos mihi nec rapuere i [...]venc [...]s. [...]lutar. de vit [...]ndo▪ ere alieno. onely the vvickednesse of their handes, which is not least in bytinge the poore, is remembred and reported in speciall vvordes. Spake I of vsurers? There are none: neither is there a sunne in the skie. For mine owne parte, I know them not. For they haue taken nei­ther horse nor bullocke of mee. But for my brethren sake both in the cittye and country, I vvish that their bellies and bondes were [Page 505] all heaped togither in the market place, and set on fire, as they were sometimes at Athens, that wee might all ioye and saye, as Alcibiades then did, vvee never savve a clearer fire.Nunquam vidi ignem puriorem. But because wee cannot ease our heartes so soone of them, nor by such meanes, I vvill tell them for their owne comforte vvhat they shall trust too amongest other thinges:E [...]si vorsurâ suâ ignem assiduè nu­triant. that although they labour in the fire, to gette riches, yet the time shall come, vvhen there shall nothinge remaine vnto them but this, that they shall bee able to knovve and recounte vvith themselues, hovve manye debters they haue quite vndonne.Quot debi­tore [...] pessum dedere. De malè quaesitis &c. As for their treasures of iniquitye, let them plainelye vnderstande that they put them into a bottomelesse bagge which coulde holde no­thinge. Ill gotten goodes never descende to the thirde heire. Per­happes, nor to the seconde, nor first, nor to benefitte him­selfe, who thinketh hee hath most handfast.Mich. 1. Shee gathered it of the hire of an harlotte, and it shall returne to the vvages of an harlot. They gathered their wealth by vsurye, and vsurye or somewhat else shall consume it. Gnipho the vsurer, as Lucian reporteth. lyeth in hell, bemoaninge his harde estate, that Rhodocha­res an incestuous vnthrifte shoulde vvaste his goodes: so maye these. But I leaue their iudgemente to GOD, to vvhome it belongeth. For vengaunce is his, and hee will surely repaye. Yet dare I giue sentence against them▪ as farre as the lawes of the aunci­ent Romans did: vvherein because a thiefe was bounde to make restitution of double, the vsurer of fourefolde, their meaninge is plaine enough, that they esteemed vsury a double thefte, and that at the least is my iudgemente. And therefore as Alexander Seve­rus made an acte, that none should salute the Emperour, who knewe himselfe to be a thiefe; so let our vsurers take themselues warned and dischardged (so long as their heartes accuse them of their double and treble thefte) from saluting Christians, and much more from eating, drinking, conversing, most of all from praying, fasting, cōmunicating with Christians.

This cittye of all other partes of the province, is not other­vvise vnfitte to receiue dehortation from this vvickednesse of the handes. Heere are the thrones of David, the seates of iudgement in both kindes of lavves. Ecclesiastes saide of the one,Chap. 3. I haue seene vnder the sunne the place of iudgemente vvhere vvas vvickednesse, and the place of iustice vvhere was iniquitye. And Bernarde to Eu­genius of the other, A greate abuse, Noe manne looketh [Page 506] to the mouth of the iudge, all to his handes. These are they that doe all the Popes businesse. Omne Papa­le negotium illae agunt. 4. De consid. Manus ser­mo gentium. You see how actiue and stirring the handes are. Surely as Anaxagoras thought man to bee the wisest of all creatures because hee onely had handes, whereby hee is able to speake, if neede bee, and to expresse all signes: so I doe thinke him the wic­kedst of all creatures, because hee onely hath handes; and no Ti­ger or vulture vnder heaven more hurtefull vvith his clawes or ta­lentes, then man with his excellente member, vvhen hee is dispo­sed to vse it to bad purposes. But to returne from those vvicked hands the Popes factours, As Paul, albeit he knew nothing by him­selfe, yet was hee not iustified thereby; so though I know nothing by either of those two places, vvhich I speake of, yet haue I not freed my soule, nor dischardged my duety, vnlesse I admonish them both of that which may bee. I trust they will pardon my charitable iea­lousie over them,2. Micah. J [...] qui tig­num rapuit & construen­d [...] magn [...] arci adhibu­it, totam ar­cem subver­tere debet, et [...]ignum do­mino suo re­stituere. Abb. 2. Epist. 54. Si res aliena propter quā peccatu [...] est, reddi po­test & non redditur, pae­nitentia non agitur sed si­mulatur. Si autem vera­citer agitur, non dimi [...]t [...] ­tur peccatū, nisi restitua­tur ablatu [...], Sed vt dixi, cum resti [...]i po [...]est. the same reasons of mightinesse and authority a­greeing to them, which were founde in Niniveh. For what is the reason that men first imagine iniquitie, and afterwardes contriue wickednes in their beddes, and vvhen the morning is lighte, put it in practise, but because their hande hath power? First they covet fieldes and then take them by vio­lence; and houses, and take them away▪ so they oppresse a man and and his house, even a man and his heritage. When a malicious will, and a mightie hand, concupiscence and violence meete, you see how a familie and posterity is overthrowne by it.

VVhatsoever either violence or fraude bee meante by the wicked­nesse of the handes, the Hebrewes agree, that the meaning of the king and his counsaile vvas to call for restitution. In the observation whereof, as R. Kimhi affirmeth, their forefathers of godly memorie were so carefully carefull not to offende, that they made this decree; If any had wrongfully taken a beame or rafter, and vsed it in the building of a greate tower, hee vvas to plucke downe the whole tow­er againe, and restore that peece to his owner. Habacuk doeth not much dissent from them. For the stone shall crie out of the vvall, and the beame out of the timber shall aunswere it, woe vnto him that buildeth a towne in bloude, and erecteth a cittie vvith iniquitie. It shall bee better for them to pull downe towers, and townes, and citties, and countries to the grounde, rather then to suffer such sk [...]ich-owles of woe to singe in the chambers thereof. Saint Augustine to Macedonius, is as peremptory in tearmes as ever the oppressour was in his violence. That if the goods of an other man, the taking away whereof was vniust, maie bee restored and is not; repentaunce is never truelie done, but counterfeited. [Page 507] But vvhere it is truelye done, the sinne shall never bee pardrned till the spoile bee restored. But as I saide before, vvhen it may hee restored. Where­in thou mayest deceiue thy selfe. For though thou canst not restore in identity the same for the same, yet thou mayest restore in equali­tie so much for so much, which was the meaning of Augustine. Ful­gentius noteth vpon the vvordes of Matthew, Every tree vvhich bringeth not good fruite &c. If barrennesse shall bee cast into the fire, what doeth rapine and robbery deserue? If iudgement shall bee without mercy to him that sheweth not mercy,Si sterilita [...] in ignem [...]ittitur, rapacitas quid m [...]re­tur? &c. Quid reci­piet qui ali­ [...]a [...]uli [...], si semper ard [...] ­bit qui sua non dedit [...] vvhat iudgemente shall bee to him, that doeth also shewe cruelty? And Rabanus no­teth no lesse vpon that complainte of Christ Matthew twenty fiue, I was hungry, and thou gavest mee no breade. VVhat shall hee receaue for taking away other mens, who shall ever burne in hell fire for not giving his owne? I vvas hungry and thou gavest mee no breade. Nay, I was hungry, and that little breade that I had, thou tookest from me. I was naked and thou gavest mee no cloathing. Nay that simple coate and cloke that I had, thou spoiledst mee of. I had but one vineyarde, and thou deceavedst mee of it. These in their iudge­mentes and conclusions went not so farre touching the necessity of restitution, but Nehemias avowed it as deepely by actuall demon­stration; for hee shooke the lap of his garment, and wished that the Lorde woulde even so shake out all those that restored not. But if so excellent a governour in so different a case, the houses and lands of the people beeing laide to gage by themselues and monye received vpon them, vvere so angrye in his minde for the crie of the poore, that he rebuked the princes and rulers for their sakes, and set a greate assembly a­gainst them, and put them to silence, telling them that for the reproach of the heathen, they ought to haue vvalked in the feare of the Lorde (Which nowe they did not) and praying them to giue backe the pledges againe and to remitte some parte also of the debte, and not contente with their worde, binding them by oath before the priestes to perfourme it; nor vvith their oath, but sealing it for more assurance vvith that fearefull sacra­ment of emptying his garmente, himselfe cursing them to their faces▪ if they brake promise, and all the congregation crying Amen: what shall vvee then saie of them, or vvith vvhat reasons shall vve vrdge them, or vvhat bondes shall vve take for their restitution, who haue taken the houses and fields and of their brethren, not as pledges but praies; not voluntarilye yeelded, but violentlye wrunge ou [...], without either mony or recompence to those vvhome they haue displaced? If they loose the accepted time, they will come and restore here­after, [Page 508] as Iudas did. He brought the thirty pieces of silver againe, but it was too late.Luke 19. Let them rather learne of famous Zacheus, whose praise is in the gospell, and the singularity of whose fact maketh it almost a miracle. Hee was the chiefe receiver of the tribute, and hee was rich withall, and if the country belyed him not, a man of a sinne­full life. I vvil not say that his office made him rich, and his riches an evill man: (but officers that grow rich in haste, hardly escape that gradation;) howsoever it were, little Zacheus, but as great in exam­ple as ever we read of, a chiefe receiver and a chiefe restorer, rich in sub­stance and rich in good workes, and in the midst of his sinnefull life, a re­nouncer of his sinnefulnesse, no sooner hee received Christ into his house, and much more into his conscience, but as if hee had lien in his dregges of extortion before, hee novve stoode vp; and not caring to bee heard of men, nor hunting after earthly commendation, spake vnto the LORDE, 1. He stood and said. 2. Lorde. 3. Beholde. 4. Halfe. 5. My goods Dona nō spo­lia. 6. I giue. 7. To the poore. 8. If I haue defrauded. 9. Any man 10. Of any thing. 11. I restore 12. Foure-folde. Beholde Lorde, with a readie and cheerefull heart, (offering his service and sacrifice before the face of his Savi­our;) not the crummes of my table, nor morselles of my meate, but halfe of my goods, a franke and bountifull present, and I take them to bee mine owne, honestly and lawefully gotten; I giue with as free a minde, as ever thou gavest to mee; not to my friendes and kindred, or to the rich of the vvorlde, who are able to make mee recompence, but to the poore; and if ever I defrauded, much more if ever I defeated by mighte any man, straunger or home­borne; I say not of his maine estate, but of anie his smallest por­tion, nor by open detected wronge, but by secret concealed cavil­lation; I restore it, principall and damage; for I restore it foure-folde. VVhat follovved, but that hee emptyed his house of the transitorie treasures of this vvoorlde, and insteede thereof let in salvation vnto it. This day is salvation come to this house, not one­ly to the private soule, but to the house of Zacheus thorough his meanes. I scarsely thinke that these ravenous and greedy times can yeelde a man so innocent, as to say vvith Samuell, vvhose oxe or asse haue I taken? or vvhome haue I vvronged? At the least let him say vvith Zacheus, I say not in the former parte of his speech, halfe of my goodes I giue to the poore, (for that vvere heresie to bee helde, and false doctrine to bee preached in this illiberall age) but in the latter clause, if I haue iniuried an [...]e man, though I re­store not foure-folde, yet I restore him his owne. Otherwise our houses and consciences vvill bee so full, of houses, fieldes, vine­yardes, oliues, silver, golde, vnrighteous pledges, that there wil [Page 509] bee no roume for the peace and consolation of GOD to dwell vvith them. Therefore washe your handes and heartes from this lepro­sie, my brethren, that you may bee receaved into the hoste of the Lorde, and dwel with his first-borne: and either forsake your vio­lence, or convert it an other way. Let the kingdomes & commodities of the earth alone, and learne that the kingdome of heaven suffereth vi­olence, and must bee wonne by force.Math. 11. See if you can extorte this spoyle from him that keepeth it. Spare no invention of witte, in­tention of will, contention of sinewes, strength of handes to get this kingdome. Begge it, buy it, steale it, assault it, vse any meanes. This, this is the onely oppression and violence that we can allow you, and in this onely thing. Bee not modest and curteous towardes a­ny man in this heavenly price. Hither if you bring not tooth and naile, and resisting vnto bloud, and hating your liues vnto the death, you are not worthy of it. It suffereth violence it selfe (it is so proposed & conditioned) and they are men of violence, [...]. that by violence must attaine vnto it. Therefore wrastle for this blessing, though you lame your bo­dies, and striue for this kingdome, though you loose your liues.

THE XXXVIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. vers. 9.‘Who can tell if God vvill turne and repent? &c.’

THE last thinge in the repentaunce of the Ni­nivites, by the order of the wordes, though in purpose and intention first; and that which presently giveth place to the repentaunce of God, their expected deliverance in the nexte sentence, is the foundation wherevpon they grounde, a knowledge and apprehensi­on, such as it is, of the goodnesse of God, and some likely hope to escape his vengance in­tended. There may be some part of repentance without faith; con­trition, anguish, vexation for sinne, till not onely the heart aketh, but the conscience also is quite swallowed & drowned in the gulfe of it. As there is no question, after that horrible fact of Iudas, but his spirite was as full of griefe, as before of trechery and covetousnes. Let the world witnesse with him, how deepely he rued his malice, vvhen hee [Page 510] pledged body and soule for it, and gaue over the one to the tree, the other to hell fire. For it there had beene a penaltie to haue taken of himselfe worse than death and damnation, hee woulde not I thinke, haue shunned it. Caine was also as sory for his blou­dy fact as ever greedy before to commit it. He felt even a talent of lead vpon his soule, never to be remooved; and therefore vttered a blasphemy against the grace of GOD never to be pardoned: My sinne is greater than can bee forgiven. Genes. 4. This is the reason that he had a marke set vpon him, that no man shoulde kill Caine, who with a thou­sand daily woundes killed himselfe; and that [...]ee ranne from place to place, not so much in his bodie, as in his minde, tossed like a waue of the sea, and finding no place for rest, because the mercy of God shone not vnto him: Beholde, thou haste cast mee this daie from the face of the earth; is that all? And I shall bee hidde from thy face, dri­ven from thy presence, banished from the light and favour of thy gracious countenance. This is the dart that woundeth him to death. For, this received into the minde, that we are hidde from the face of GOD, that wee are so farre in contempte and hatred with his maiestie, that hee vvill not vouchsafe to giue vs the looking on; if all the clowdes in the aire rained loue and compassion, we could not bee perswaded that any of the least droppes thereof should fall vpon our grounde. VVherefore there must be a beleefe to conceiue, and an hope to expect our reconciliation and and attonement with God, and GODS with vs; or it will bee an vnprofitable and vnpossible attempte, to endevour a true repentance. For either it will followe that wee become desperate, and giue over care of our selues, it is in vaine to serue GOD, and vvhat profit shall we reape to humble our selves before him, seeing his mercy is cleane gone from vs for ever, and hee hath bent his soule to doe vs mischiefe? And as it is written of Iulius the Pope, that having received an over­throw by the French at Ravenna, which he looked not for, he set his face and mouth against the God of heaven, and thus spake vnto him, So, hence-forth become French, in the name of all the divels of hell, holy Switzer pray for vs;Sic, esto nunc Gallicus: in nomine om­nium diabo­lo [...]ū S▪ S [...]i­ [...]er [...] [...]ra pro [...] ▪ In col. [...] Lu. [...]. so wee betake vs to new Saintes, or rather to newe divelles, flying to hardnesse of heart, carelesnesse of sal­vation, contempt of God; or else vve repent but after the manner of hypocrites, wee make some proffer and likelyhoode of returning to God▪ but cannot do it. Such I thinke was the repentance of the Philistines, the first of Samuell the fift and sixt, when they had ta­ken the arke of the Lorde, and placed it first in Ashdod, and there [Page 511] were punished with Emerodes and with death; afterwardes in Gath, and Eckron, and there they could not endure it, It is said of them, not only that they were troubled, and conferred of carrying home the arke againe, but that they cried, and their crie vvente vp to heaven, and they sent it backe with a present vnto the Lorde, and with sinne offerings: nay their priestes and sooth-sayers saide vnto them, wherefore shoulde you harden your harts as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened theirs? Such the repentance of Saul, 1. Sam. 15. who having received a mes­sage by the prophet, that as he had cast of the word of the Lorde, so the Lord had cast him of from being a king, and that his kingdome was given to his neighbour better than himselfe, though at the first he denied his crime, yea, I haue obeyed the voice of the Lorde; yet after­wardes he confessed, I haue sinned in transgressing his commaundemente, and he desired Samuell to take away his sinne, and to returne with him that hee might worshippe the Lorde; which when Samuell refused, hee then altered his speech; yet turne with mee I praie thee, and honour me before the elders of my people, and before Israell. So that his principall care was not the service of GOD, but honour and estimation in the sight of men. Such the repentance of Ahab, 1. King. 21. who ha­ving heard the wordes of Elias thundering the iudgements of God against him and his house, hee rent his clothes and put sacke-cloath vpon him, and fasted, and lay in sacke-cloath, and went softlie; but how tempo­rary and feigned his repentance was, may appeare in the next Chap­ter by his despitefull dealing with Micheas. Such is the repentance of those who are not rightly perswaded of the pardon of their sinnes: fitter for Philistines and reprobates than Christians, and to be vsed in Ashdod or Ascalon, than at Ierusalem. The coniunction of faith and repentance is so close, that some haue thought it to be a part of repentance. I rather take it to bee the beginner and leader thereof. As the body and soule, though they are ioyned togither in the same man, yet is not the body a parte of the soule, nor the soule of the bodie, but both distinct: so faith, hope, and charitie, if they bee true, they are narrowly lincked one to the other, yet na­turally and essentially severed. For finall resolution whereof, you may best satisfie your selues by proofe from this place. For although this sentence which I haue in hand, be the last of the mandate, in or­der and disposition of wordes, yet is it first in proposall. For if they had asked in Niniveh a reason of the king and his counsaile, vvhy they shoulde bid them fast, and weare sacke-cloath about their flesh, sparing neither beast nor sucklinges, vvhy they shoulde adde affli­ction, [Page 512] and miserie to miserie, as if it vvere not sufficient to be pla­gued by the handes of God, at the time prefixed, but they must plague themselues and their cattle fourty daies before hand, having but a handfull of daies (in comparison) to enioie their liues, and to take their pleasure in earthlye commodities, or why they shoulde cry vnto the Lorde, and not bee hearde, and forsake their wicked­nesse, and not bee pardoned; the reason of all this is alleadged in this Epilogue, vvho can tell if the Lord vvill turne and repent? It cannot lightly bee worse, it may bee better with vs; the doinge of these dueties to God, will not put vs nearer to our iudgemente, it may sende vs farther of; vvee are sure to bee overthrowen if we repent not, wee may repente, and happily escape it; it is but the leaving of our meate and drinke for a time, who must leaue both belly and meate too; the missing of our better garmentes, who must misse our skinnes and our flesh from our backes; if wee vse our tongues in crying, wee loose nothing by it; and if we wash our handes, and cleanse our consciences from iniquity, we shall goe the lighter to our iudgement. Who can tell? it is the nature and property of God to shew pitty vnto the whole world, and although Niniveh bee the sincke of the earth, why not to Niniveh?

Some chandge the reading, and insteede of quis novit, who knovveth they put qui novit, Chald. pa. raph. Ar. Mon [...]. Rabbini nonnull [...]. Qui scit. cō ­vertatur qui sibi conscius est admis [...]i facinoris &c quisquis pe­nes se existe­repe [...]cata agnovit. Jra est Dei non intelli­gere peccata ne sequatur poeniten [...]ia. Cypr. Luke 15. hee that knovveth; connecting the sense vvith that which went before, in this manner: let everie man turne from his evill vvay, and from the vvickednesse that is in their handes, qui novit, who knovveth so to doe, and is not ignoraunte what belongeth to such a chandge, or thus; he that is privie in his hearte of any wickednes com­mitted against God or [...] an, publique or private, let him amende it. The instruction from so translating it, is good, though the tran­slation it selfe bee mistaken; that knowledge must ever goe before the face of repentaunce. Knowledge I meane, not onely in kinde, to distinguish sinne from sinne, and to call them all by their proper names, but by number and weight, howe many, howe grievous they are, howe farre they extende to the annoyance of the earth, provocation of heaven, breach of christian charitie▪ and strikinge at the maiestie of God himselfe. Thus hee acknowledged his sinne in the gospell, who spake in his hearte before hee did it, and there­fore was not ignoraunt what hee went aboute; I vvill goe to my father, and saie, I haue sinned, yea but not a simple sinne, I haue sinned a migh­tye and manifolde transgression, I haue sinned against heauen, I haue also sinned against thee; against the father of my spirite, against the [Page 513] father of my flesh, against him that gaue me his law, against thee that gavest mee my nature; both the tables haue I broken by my mis­deedes, and whatsoever dueties I had to perfourme, those haue I vi­olated by mine vnnaturall disobedience. If you obserue the or­der of all the repentances in the booke of GOD, vvhither in Moabite, Edomite, Egyptian, or in the people of God, they e­ver began with the knowledge of their sins: that as the first argument of life which the widowes son of Naim gaue, was this, he began to speake ▪ so in this spirituall resuscitation from the death of the soule, the first token of their recovery, was the acknowledgement and confession of their misdoing. The voice of Pharaoh, Exod. 10. was, I haue sinned against the Lord your God. The voice of Balaam, Num. 22. when he saw the Angell in his way, I haue sinned. The voice of Saul to Samuel, 1. Sam. 15. I haue sinned: and 1. Sam. 26. when hee saw the kindnesse of David towardes him, I haue sinned. The voice of David to Nathan, 2. Sam. 12. I haue sinned: & 2. Sam. 24. to God, after the numbering of the people, I haue sinned. Nay, valde peccavi, I haue exceedingly sinned in that I haue done. And it is further added, that his hearte smote him vvhen he had done it. And when afterwardes he felt the smiting of the Lorde, with plainer demonstration, and with clearing the whole lande be­sides, Ego sum qui peccavi, & ego sum qui iniquè egi, It is I, and only I, which haue done wickedlie. The voice of Iob in the seventh of his booke, I haue sinned. The voice of Daniell in behalfe of himselfe, their kinges, princes, fathers, of every man of Iudah, and the inhabitantes of Ierusalem, and of all Israell both neare and farre of, was, vvee haue sinned, and commit­ted iniquitie, and done vvickedlie, and rebelled, and departed from thy pre­ceptes, and not obeyed thy servauntes the prophetes, and nothinge saue open shame appertaineth vnto vs. We heare no ende of accusation; iniqui­tie vpon sinne, wickednes vpon iniquity, rebellion vpon wickednes, and still a further proceeding in the testification of their vnrighte­ousnesse. VVhen Ezra hearde that the people of the captivitie were mingled with the heathen, hee rente his cloathes, and pl [...]ckte of the haire of his heade and bearde, Ez. [...]. [...]. and sate astonied vntill the evening sacrifice, at vvhat time hee arose againe, and fell vpon his knees, and spread out his handes vnto the Lord his God, and saide, O my God, I am confounded, and ashamed to lifte mine eies vnto thee, my God; for our iniquities are en­creased over our heade, and our trespasse is growen vp into the heaven. As the manner of auncienter times was, when heavinesse and trouble was vpon them, to call for women and others that were most skilfull in mourning; so they that will learne to repente, and are not [Page 514] cunning in the art thereof, let them repa [...]re to Esdras and such like, who were most skilful in repenting. O how available, saith Ambrose, are three syllables? peccav [...], is but three syllables, but the flame of an harty sacrifice ascendeth therein into heaven,Lib. 2. de poe­nitent. Quantum valent tres syllaba? and fetcheth downe three thousand blessings. Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentaunce. Sinners? then all, even the greatest Princes and rulers of the Iewes; for they the greatest sinners: No. but sinners in sense and conscience, sinners in action and plea against them­selues, sinners in iudgement from their owne mouthes and against their owne heades, these are they to whom Christ hath designed the medicine and restoratiue of his saving health. According to his cur­teous invitation, Mat. 11. Come vnto me all yee that travaile and labour, not you that loiter with your sinnes, and trifle with my iudgements, you that beare your iniquities like strawes or corke, seeke you other pardoners; come you that are weary, and are loaden with the bur­then thereof, & I will refresh you. The poore Publicane, Luk 18. was one of those patients that tasted of such mercies: he stood a far of, not daring to approach vnto God,Non aude [...] appropin­quare, vt Deu [...] ad ip­sum appro. pinquet. Bed. Poenas de se exigit, vt Deus par [...]as. Gloss. that God might approach vnto him; nor to lift vp his eies vnto heaven, which hee had mooved to anger a­gainst him: but smiting vpon his sinnefull brest, as the arke of all in­iquity, and punishing himselfe with stripes that the Lorde might forbeare to punish him, with a fearfull heart, and trembling tongue called vpon his Saviour, O Lorde, bee mercifull vnto mee a sinner. I saie not thy creature, or servant, or childe, but onely a sinner: my whole composition is sinne, whatsoever I am in body or soule, so far as my manhoode and humanity goeth, a sinner: and not onelie by mine office & calling, because I am a Publicane; but even by nature and kinde it selfe, a sinner. So did Mary Magdelen in the seventh of the same Evangelist, of whom there is no more reported, but that she was a sinner, as if the spirite of God had forgotten her other names: whē she heard that Iesus was come into a Pharisees house, 1. She stood at his feete, 2. behinde him, 3. weeping 4 she began to wash, as if she durst not go on, but did often retract and pull backe her handes, 5. the lowest part of his body, his feete, 6. with her teares, though the water of the brooke had beene humanity enough, 7. did wipe them, not with the lappe of her coate, but with the haires of her head, 8. kissed them, and lastly, anointed them with a boxe of ointment. O how precious an oint­ment flowed from her heart & eies? how odor [...]ferous & wel-pleasing vnto Christ, who made her apologie, not only against the Pharisee, in preferring her kindnesse before the entertainement of his house, [Page 515] but against Satan, and the power of hell, in forgiving her many sinnes?Math. 9. The like submissiue behaviour we read of the woman which had the issue of bloud, for she also came behinde Christ, as Mary Magdelen did, avoiding the sharpnes and pearsing of his eagles eie, and touched the hemme of his garment; for shee saide in her selfe, I dare not be so rude and vnmannerly to presse him, as the multitudes did; if I may but touch (not embrace) him? nay his garment; the very hemme of his garment, no vpper or honorable part thereof, I shall be whole, In all these, humble, and skilfull repentances, as of those who knew their sinnes by heart, & were able to set downe their ful catalogue, what successe doe we finde? That vertue went out from Christ to this woman, and many sinnes were remitted to the other; the Publicane went home to his house iustified, the children of the captivity were delivered, the last daies of Iob vvere blest more than the first, David at one time had his sinne translated, at another the punishment mitigated,Foelix consci­entia in qu [...] misericordia & veritas obviaverune sibi, In med [...] ­ta [...]. the Lorde himselfe crying vnto his Angell, It now sufficeth, hold thy hande: yea Balaam and Pharoah themselues fared the better for the false fire, and but blazing of repentance. Happy therefore is that consci­ence, to conclude with the saying of Bernard, vvherein trueth and mercy meete togither. The trueth of him that confesseth his sinnes, and the mercy of God that pardoneth them. For mercy can never bee wanting vnto that soule, which truely knoweth it selfe. Fieri potest forsan. Ambiguum ponitur, vt dum de salu­te dubitant homines, fortius agā [...] paenitentiā Hiero. [...]. Ne forsitan magnitudo clementiae nos facere [...] negligente [...]. Multos im­pedis â firmē tate prae­sumptio fir­mitatis.

Others, in a far greater number, & with far better reason expresse it by an interrogation, who knoweth? and make it a sentence absolute and compleate in it selfe, without referring it to the former wordes Then they make this construction of it: it may be the Lorde will turne, or peradventure haue mercy vpon vs. They put it with ambiguity, that while men doubt of salvation, they may be the more earnest in repentance, and seeke the better meanes to provoke God to mercie. And surelie, as doubting is the mother (they say) of enquiring, (for a man that doubteth not, will never aske) so some kinde of doubtfulnesse is the mother, or at leastwis the nurse of repentance. Ierome, whose note the former was, writing vpon the second of Ioel, who knoweth of the Lord will returne and leaue a blessing behinde him? expoundeth the pro­phet, least happily the greatnesse of the clemencie of God shoulde make vs negligent, therfore the prophet subioineth, who knoweth? So that it seemeth, those tearmes of vncertainty, are not in any sort to admit or allowe of doubting of salvation, but rather to keepe vs from presumption. We al know the mischiefe of that heady sinne. Many are hindered (saith Augustine, frō their strength, by presuming on their strength. [Page 516] The collection that Pomeran maketh vpon these words, is, rather to iustifie than to condemne the Ninivites.Tantum ab­ [...]st vt confi­derent &c. So far was it of, that they had any confidence in their works, that they rather doubted of the mercy of God; and they were saved by faith, who, if they had rested vpon their owne merites, must needs have despaired. And he remo­veth all diffidence from the king and his nobles, as if they included not themselves in the speech who knoweth if the Lord will returne? but only spake it vnto the people, in this sense: In these dreadfull frightes and perplexities, being encountered with 3. sore mischiefes at once, atrocity of your sins, shortnes of time, greatnes of destruction, none of you knoweth of the mercy of God, as we doe, and therefore vvee preach it vnto you that you may take knowledge. And for this cause doe the septuaginte adde in the end of the former verse [...], that is, saying; as if it were the voice of the people that is now in question, and not of the king & his princes.An obiecti­on answe­red. But how can it any way stand with the nature of repentance, either in prince or people, to doubt, seeing that faith is the principal proppe wherwith repentance is borne vp, & we cannot acknowledge this to be a true faith, which hangeth and wavereth betweene such vncertainties? Rather it savoreth of infide­lity and desperation to cast forth such demaundes. It might be an­swered, that albeit they doubted of the event of this sentēce, yet not of the favour of God towards thē: for what if their city had bin over­throwen as the towre of Siloe, & their bodies had perished? had that bin an argument that his mercies had forsaken them? No more, than it was to Moses who died for angring the Lord before he went into the land of promise: or than it was to Paul, who said that the Lorde had delivered him out of the mouth of the Lion, 2. Tim. 4. and would also deliver him from every evill worke, and preserve him vnto his heavenly kingdome, though afterwarde hee was slaine by Nero,Certè infide­litas dixisse [...] negativè. Desperatio ad deum non clamaret, nec tale serium praetend [...]ret. Luther. Dubitatio affirmatio­nem quan­dam in se continet. Mercer. who was the Lion hee there ment. But I rather aunswere, that infidelitie woulde have spoken by a flatte negation, God vvill not returne: and desperati­on woulde not have cried vpon God at all, nor have pretended so much earnest. This speech of the Ninivites, at the most hath but doubting, and doubting containeth in it a kinde of affirmation. As Mardochey spake to Esther in the fourth of that booke, if thou hol­dest thy peace at this time, breathing and deliverance shall arise to the Iews out of an other place, but thou and thy fathers house shall perish: and who knoweth whither thou art come to the kingdome for such a time? That is, I little doubte, but the providence of GOD hath advaunced thee thus highe, to doe this service. I finde noted vpon the [Page 517] same phrase, Ioel the seconde,Vox aptis­sima poeni­tentis v­trum (que) in se continet sen­sum peccati, et spem libe­rationis. that is the fittest speach the pe­nitent may vse: for it includeth both these, a sense of sinne, & hope of deliverance. The leper commeth to Christ, Mar. 1. and telleth him, Lorde, if thou wilt, thou canst make me cleane: I cannot say that ei­ther thou wilt, or thou wilt not, I leaue it to thine owne wisedome. For mine owne part I haue deserved no grace at thy handes, I see nothing in my selfe either in body or soule, but leprosie and vn­cleanes: but in thee there is power and mercy, if it shall please thee to extend thē towardes mee. In the ninth of the same Evangelist, our Saviour answered the father of the childe that had a dumbe spirit, re­questing him if he could doe any thing, to helpe them,If thou canst do any thing helpe vs & to haue com­passion vpon them; this if thou canst beleeue, all thinges are pos­sible to him that beleeveth. The father cried vvith teares, Lorde, I beleeue, helpe mine vnbeliefe. That is, I beleeue and skarse beleeue: I would faine, but I feele a fainting in my selfe: and therefore hee that craved but lately a cure for his sonnes infirmity, novv craveth helpe for his owne vnbeliefe. So then I make no doubt, but these are the wordes of faith: vvho knoweth if the Lorde vvill returne? albe­it an infirme, and vnsetled faith.Jgnorati [...] negationis. For as betweene knovvledge and meere or negatiue ignorance, opinion lieth; so betweene a perfect and ripe faith, and plaine infidelity or distrustfulnes, a weake and midling faith. For there are degrees in faith: it hath a beginning, encrease, and consummation, The disciples are rebuked, Mar. 9. by the name of a faithlesses generation: O faithlesse generation, howe longe shall I nowe bee vvith you? &c. Peter,O thou of little faith why doub­test thou? Mat. 14. for a little and doubting faith. Paule, 2. Cor. 10. speaketh of an encreasing faith; but Colos­sians the first and second, of a faith wherein they are rooted, built, and established. Yea the strongest faith that ever was, is it not mixte with doubtfulnes? overcast with clouds? shakē with stormes? beaten vvith windes and raines? winowed by sathan, that, if it were possible, it might bee turned into chaffe and branne? What else ment that wary advertisement, given to Peter by his maister, Luke 22. and his vigilant care over him, Simon, Simon, listen to my speech; Behold, looke well to thy foote-steppes, haue an eie to thy soule; Satan hath desired you, it is the care of his heart, it is the marke that he shooteth at, he watcheth walketh, roareth, transformeth him into all shapes, yea into an angell of light to haue his purpose; to sifte you, ex. amine you; as vvheate, graine after graine, person after person, that, if it be possible, you may bee reprooved. And surely we need the praiers of our owne spirites, and of the spirite of GOD that [Page 516] [...] [Page 517] [...] [Page 518] groaneth with groanings which cannot he expressed; and of the sonne of God himselfe, who si [...]teth at his fathers right hande, and maketh request for vs, that our faith faile not. For what thinke we of our selues? are we pillers of brasse? or as the deafe rockes of the sea? or as mount Si­on on that can never be remooved? Our shield and breast-plate of faith, (for so it is called) is it not beaten and driven at vvith dartes? fierie dartes?Ephes. 6. yea all the fierie dartes? I say not of the vvicked that are in our flesh, Athiestes, Arrians, Iewes, Paynims, deriders, blasphe­mers of our faith, but of him that is pricinpally vvicked and Lea­der of the daunce, Satan himselfe? This made him trivmph so much when hee saw the fielde ended, and his tabernacle at hand to be pulled vp, that he had fought a good fight, though his ene­mies were encreased against him as the haires of his head;2. Tim. 4. that hee had runne his race, though hee had many stumbling blockes and snares laide in his vvay, openly to detaine, secretly to vndermine him; and finally, vvhich vvas the chiefe glory of a christian soul­diour, that hee had kept the faith, and not lost his target, though hee had borne in his body the markes of Christ Iesus, and felte in his soule many a buffet and wound given by Satan and his con­federates. The issue is this: the faith of a christian is sometimes in fight and conflicte, in agonie, passion, sweating, bleeding, as Christ vvas in the garden, resisting (vnto bloud shall I say) nay even vnto hell it selfe They knewe it by experience, who saide, thou bringest downe to hell. It is as the last and least sparkle of fire, al­most extinguished, as a little graine of seede, which the birdes, nay the devils of the aire seeke to picke from vs, and as the last gaspe and pant of the soule, readie to flie out: at length it getteth the victo­ry againe, according to that Ioh. 1.5. this is the victorie that overcom­meth the world even your faith. Such as I speak of, was the faith of these Ninivites, doubting, I confesse, but not despairing. And as Aquinas, to acquite the blessed Virgin from sinne, maketh a double kinde of dubitation,Dubitatio infidelitati [...]. Dubitatio admirationis seu discussio­nis. 3. Quae. 27. 4. ad. 2. Jn quaest. vet. & no [...]. [...]stam. 73. one of infidelity, another of admiration and discus­sion, hovv can this thing be? (for it is not doubted by any man, but the Virgin there doubted, and Augustine so expoundeth the svvorde that shoulde pearse through her soule, Luke the seconde) so may I vvith better reason make a double kinde of infidelity, one of abne­gation, deniall, renouncement, the other of wrastling, combate, contention, which hath not yet subdued the adversarie force, nor gotten the vpper hande. I never knew the soule of any man, no not of the sonne of man, or rather of rhe sonne of woman, though [Page 519] anointed with the oile of gladnesse and spirituall comforte aboue all his fellowes, I never knew the soule so happily garded with the strength and munition of God, that it coulde escape these fightes and terrours of conscience whereof I speake. Looke vpon Abra­ham the father of the faithfull, distrusting the providence of God, as vnable to defend him & his wife from Pharaoh and Abimelech, vn­lesse he committed an vntruth; vpon Moses, when hee was called from Egypt; Gedeon, when the Angell appeared vnto him at the threshing floore; Samuell, when he was willed to anoint David, and he feared the malice of Saul; Elias, when he hid himselfe, and needes would haue died in haste, because of the theatnings of Iezabell; vp­on Mary and Zachary, who asked as doubtfull a question as the Ni­nivites here did, [...]; vpon all the Apostles of Christ, whom hee of­ten vpbraied with little faith, and no faith; and Christ the head of his Apostles, whē he died vpon the crosse, with such passionate outcry­ing, as if all the mercies of God had died with him. And this is the lot of all the members of Christ, thus they totter and and reele in their soules, though the foundation of the Lord standeth sure, 2. Tim. 2. Certainty of salvatiō. Flac. Jlly. de. Controvers. relig pp. Certum posse fieri hominē certitudine, quae licet nō sit aequalis fi­dei catholi­cae, est tamen vera fides. Id (que) lege communi, nempe testi­monio illo &c. Non videri quaestionem hanc satis discussam ad decisionem. Et ipsam sy­nodum bi [...] declarâsse &c. and hath this seale vpon it, the Lorde knoweth who are his. I will more say, they are the happiest soules and dearest vnto God, that are so tried they are as the best gold which hath beene purified in the fire seven times, and the LORDE will heape comfortes and ioies seven­folde into their bosomes. The certainety of election and grace, and our speciall assurance of the mercy of God, is mightily op­pugned by the adversaries. I vvill say for this time no more than what note Catharinus gaue of the decree made against it, by the last Councell of Trent: hee was Archbishop of Minoria, inwarde with the Popes of Rome, and himselfe in person present at that Councell. Besides his owne private opinion, declared at large a­gainst Dominicus of Soto confessour to Charles the fifte, that a man may bee certaine of his salvation by that assurance which although it be not equall to to the catholique faith, yet it is true faith; and that by the common lawe, namely by that testimony vvhich the spirite giveth vnto our spirites that wee are the sonnes of GOD; hee further telleth vs that both the Presidentes of that Synode (one of them afterwarde Iulius the thirde) did protest that the question did not seeme vnto them sufficiently discussed, to decide any thing: and that the Synode it selfe twise declared, that the definition thereof vvas to bee omitted and put of to another time: lastlie, that the title thereof did abundantly manifest as­much; [Page 520] the tenour wherof was against the vaine confidence of heritiques not against the certainty of salvation in sounde and sober beleevers.Contra ina­nem haereti­corum fidu­ciam. Sess. 6. Cap 9. Vaine confidence of heretiques? Vaine, without probability? And in heretiques, not holdinge the trueth of doctrine? Who ever al­lowed it? But, is it vaine confidence which is grounded vpon the promises of God, watered by the bloud of Christ, sealed by sacra­mentes, testified by the spirit, and assertained by the fruites of cha­rity and obedience? that vaine confidence, where, and in whome soever we finde,In 8. Rom. &. 1. Cor. 9. we call by no milder names, than the Rhemist com­menters doe, damnable, false illusion, vnhappy security, presumption, faith­lesse perswasion, and not the faith of Apostles, but the faith of devilles. A­gainst such, wee shut vp the bowelles of charitye, the bosome of the church, the cōmunion of her treasure, and dowry, which are the merites of Christ, and, as far forth as the keyes are committed vnto vs, the gates of everlasting life. Against such, wee say not with the Psalme,Psal. 2. Reioyce and tremble, but tremble without reioycing: nor with the Apostle, 2. Philip. Worke out your salvation with feare & trem­bling, but tremble and feare without any hope of salvation. We vse nothinge but fretters and corrosives against such, to make them smart, be not high minded, but feare: and hee that seemeth to stande, in his owne conceipt,Rom. 11. 1. Cor. 10. let him take heede that hee fall not. Wee will sooner cast pearles to swine, and bread to whelpes, than salvation to such men, who, howsoever they live, having no testimony of a good con­science, vaunting of hope without the love of God, despighting the good spirit of grace, treading the bloud of the new testament vnder their feete, turning grace into wantonnes, and vsing the liberty of the gospell for a cloke of maliciousnesse; yet say, they are sure to bee saved by the mercy of God. Thus far wee both agree, but from the assurance of salvation wisely and substantially held, neither the learning of our adversaries, nor the cunning of devilles shall ever bee able to drawe vs. Wee will saye with Antonius Marinarius in the Counsell before alleadged, If heaven fall, if the earth vanishe avvay,Si coelum ru at &c. Domi [...] if the whole worlde runne headlonge, I vvill looke to the goodnesse of God, and stande vpright: and if an Angell from heaven shall labour to perswade mee otherwise, I will say Anathe­ma vnto him. O happy confidence of a christian heart. If an ho­nest & vertuous man, saith Cyprian, should promise thee any thing, thou wouldest give credit vnto him: now when God speaketh with thee, & promiseth thee immortality, doest thou waver in thy mind? [...] thou so faithles to distrust him? this is not to know God at all: [Page 521] this is to offend Christ the maister of beleevers with the sinne of vn­beleefe. This is to be plāted in the church, that is, in the house of faith without faith. Steuen saw the heavens open vnto him, Hoc est in Ecclesiâ con­stitutum in domo fidei fidem non habere Vbi tuta fir­ma (que) infir­mis sceuritas nisi in vul­nerib. serva­toris &c. Ber ser. 61. in Cant. Quid tā ad mortem quod non morte Chri­sti sanetur? Jbid. Revel. 2. & cōmended his spirit vnto God, though as his body was overwhelmed with stones, so were his eares with contumelies; & as many stones of temptation were cast by the devill against his conscience. For where shoulde the weake haue safty and security, but in the wounds of their saviour? the migh­tier he is to saue me, the more carelesse I dwell there; the worlde rageth, the bodye overbeareth, the devell lyeth in waite, yet I fall not, because I am founded vpon a sure rocke. I haue sinned a huge sinnne, my consci­ence is troubled, but it shall not bee dismaide, for I vvill remember the vvoundes of the Lorde. VVhat is so deadlye thae may not bee cured by the death of Christ? therefore if I call but to minde hovve soveraigne and effectuall a medicine his death is, I cannot bee daunted by the maligni­tye of anye disease. VVherefore, as Christ admonished the church of Thyatira, so I in the name of Christ exhort you, that vvhich you haue alreadye, holde fast till hee come. Let not your hope and con­solations in the mercies of GOD bee taken from you, let o­thers for their pleasure, and for want of better groundes because they leane vpon a staffe of reede, masses, merites, indulgences, & the like, make shipwracke of this sweete article, and bee carued away, as the windes and seaes of their owne opinions shall driue them, till they finde some other haven to rest in. But shall ever raigne and beare the scepter in our consciences, as an article of that price, without the which our liues are not deare vnto vs· The sunne may bee vnder a cloude at times, but feare not, it vvill shine againe: the may fire be buried vnder ashes, but it vvill breake forth: the arke may bee taken by the Philistines, but it shall bee re­stored to Israell: and these heavenlye perswasions may some­times bee assaulted, and battered, but they shall eftsoones returne vnto vs. I dare affirme, that there was never elect soule vpon the earth, redeemed by the bloud, and sanctified by the spirit of God, but hath drunke largelye of these comfortes wherof I speake: and then their largest draught, when they haue most thirsted after it: that howsoever their life hath beene tempered of good & bad daies and good againe, as those that are helde with agues, of honour and dishonour, health and sicknesse, warre and peace, ioy and hea­vinesse; yet the betrer of these two conditions hath ever had the later and the vpper hand: and to haue ended their liues, I say not in their beddes, but vnder a showre of stones, as Steven did, or by [Page 522] the sworde of a tyrant, or amongst the teeth of wilde beastes, hath beene no more vnto them, than if a ripe figge had beene pluckte from the tree which it grewe vpon. For they haue gone avvaye with a sentence of peace in their lippes, as the doue came backe to the arke with an oliue branch, Christ is my life, death mine advantage. Thus much of the Phrase, who knoweth if God will returne? The mat­ter which they hope for (in a worde, and to conclude) is the mercy of God. In the explication whereof they vse an order of wordes,1. Returne. 1. that God must returne: as if hee were nowe absente and had withdrawen himselfe from them;2. Repent. 2. that God must repent, not by changing his minde, but by callinge in the decree vvhich vvas gone forth;3. Turne from his fierce wrath. 3. that the furie of his wrath must be pacified, Lastly, to this ende, that destruction may bee averted from them: as much as to say; if God vouchsafe not his presence vnto vs, or if hee holde his former intendment, or if the heate of his fierce wrath be not quen­ched,4. That we perish no [...]. wee are sure to perish. And so it fareth vvith vs all, that ex­cept the Lorde doe illighten vs with his favourable and gracious countenance; except hee apply himselfe with his whole heart and with all his soule, (as it is in Ieremy) to doe vs good; and vnlesse the fire of his anger bee drowned in the bowelles of compassion,Ier. 32. and his rage burning downe to hell, bee swallowed vp into pitty aboue the cloudes, what else can follow, but the wracke of our bodyes and soules, the eversion of our houses and families, and vtter deso­lation to townes, citties, and entire countries? Therefore let vs be­seech God that hee ever vouchsafe to dwell with vs, as he sometimes dwelt in the bush; to change his cursing into blessings; & to quench his deserved wrath, kindled like a whole river of brimstone, with his streames of grace, that it may bee well with vs, and our children, & our whole land, and our last end may be that, which is the end and conclusion of the kings edict, that wee perish not.

THE XXXIX. LECTVRE.

Chap. 3. vers. 10.‘And God saw their workes that they turned from their evill waies.’

THE grounde which the people of Niniveh tooke for repentance, was faith: which al­though it appeareth by their manner of speech having scruple & vncerteinty in it, to have beene an vnperfect faith, not through­ly strengthned, and fighting as yet against the horrour of their owne sinnes, and terrour of Gods iudgements, yet an vnperfect faith is faith, more or lesse, and the best that ever were, have not escaped such distractions and disquietinges of their soules, and when they have wrastled a time against the adversarye powers, they have returned with the victory, and have set vp their banners of triumph in the name and vertue of the Lord of hostes: their foundations are in the holy hilles, not in the vallies of their owne infirmities, for then they must despaire; but in the might and mer­cye of almightye God which stande for ever. The matter of their faith, consisting of foure members, (three of them appertaining to God, his returne, repentance, and leaving of his fierce wrath, the fourth and last to themselves) I went over in hast, and will briefly repeate vnto you. 1. They beleeved that God might returne, and vouch­safe them his presence and company againe; taken from the man­ner 1 of men, who in their anger and displeasure forsake the verye place where their eye-sore lyeth: and being reconciled, vse it for an argument of their revived frendshippe to returne to those houses which they had forsaken. So saith God, Ose [...] 5. I vvill goe and returne to my place, till they acknowledge their faultes and seeke mee. In their affliction they will seeke mee diligently, and say, come, let vs returne vnto the Lorde. So they depart from God, and God from them. They withdraw their obedience, hee his blessinges: and although he bee in the middest of them, nearer than their flesh to their spirites, yet by any demonstration of love, they cannot perceave his presence. God was ever in Niniveh, no doubt, by his essence, his power, his overlooking providence, for in him they lived, mooved, and alvvaies had their being; but hee vvas not in Niniveh by grace, by the gui­ding and goverment of his holy spirit, neither by speciall favour & assistance: hee had fotsaken their citty and consciences, as thorny, [Page 524] vnprofitable ground fitter for idols and abominations, than for him­selfe 2 to dwell in. 2. They beleeved that God might repent; which is also borrowed from the affections of men, whose māner is, to be so­ry in their harts, for their former displeasure conceived, and to wish it had never bin, and asmuch as possible they may, to revoke vvhat­soever 3 in the heat thereof they had determined. The 3. is consequent to the former: for if he returne and repent, his anger must needes bee re­mooved. Al these motions either of the body, in going from place to place, [...] or of the soule, in altering her passions, are attributed vnto vs truly, but vnto God in no other māner than may stand with the nature and honour of his vnmooueable maiesty. Now lastly, where God is depar­ted, 4 and the light of his countenance, the life of his compassions ta­ken away, his wrath kindled, nay his fierce and furious wrath, the length and breadth whereof, no more than of his mercies, canne be measured, there ensueth an abundance of misery, vvith a diligent traine of all kindes of plagues, having an open field to range in, be­cause there is no wil in God to resist them. Therfore they beleeved in the fourth place, that if his presence were recovered, his decree changed, and his wrath stopt, they should be freed from the danger threatned vnto thē: assuring thēselues otherwise, that the buildings of their city should sinke downe, stone after stone, and that the chil­dren thereof should all be buried and entombed togither in one cō ­mon destruction. Therefore miserable is their estate, who liue within the vapour and heate of Gods displeasure. We are all by nature the children of wrath, borne to inherite it, as we inherite our fathers lands, but Christ hath purchased vs favour by his bloud, & we confirme it to our selues in some sort by making conscience to offend, & walking warily in the feare of the Lord. But such as run on their wicked race without turning, & draw their vnhappy breath vvithout repenting, heaping anger vpon anger, and not caring to pacifie the force ther­of, their ende is the ende of the sentence, that they are sure to pe­rish: not in themselues alone, but in al that appertaineth vnto them; their tabernacles, children, posteriey, memortials; nor onely in the life of their bodies, but in the life and eternity of their soules; nor for an age and generation of time, but whilst God raigneth in heaven able to do iustice. To avoide this danger, it shal be safe for vs all to quēch the anger of God in time, to take the bloud of the Lambe, and cast vpon the flames therof, and through the riches of his merites, to seeke the acceptance, and to hold acquaintance & friendship vvith our God, that we perish not.

[Page 525] And God sawe their workes &c. The deli­verance of Niniveh. We are now come to the fourth part of the chapter, the mercy of God towardes Niniveh, greater than both the former, because it is not exhibited to one, as vnto Io­nas; nor vnto a fewe, as vnto the mariners; but vnto a whole citty, plentifully peopled and stored with inhabitantes. Even so it is; whither one or more many or fewe, man, woman, childe, citties, kingdomes, Empires, worldes, all generations, past, present, and those that are to come, wee drawe out waters of ioy and comfort out of this well of salvation. 1. God saw their works There is a degree also in the wordes of this sentence. For 1. God approoveth their workes, and conceaveth a li­king of their service done: if you will knowe what works, you haue it by explication made plaine, their conversion from their evill waies that is their whole course of repentance. Secondly,2. God re­pented of the evill. vpon that appro­bation, hee repented him of the evill which hee saide hee woulde bringe vpon them. Thirdly, vpon that repentance and change of minde, he doth it not. The words are not greatly obscure,3. He did i [...] not. a little explanation may serue to vnfold them.

God saw. Why? was he a straunger till that time in Niniveh? or did he but then begin to open his eyes, & to take the knowledge of their works? or is ther any thing in heavē, or earth, or in the deepe, that he seeth not with his eies tē thousand times brighter than the sun? yea though it were hid, I say not within the reines & hearts of our bodies, but in the reines and hart of the lowest destruction? Some interpret it thus: he saw, that is, he made thēselves to see, or the world to see,1. Vidit. i. videre fecit▪ 2. Vidit. i. approbavit. that hee was well pleased with their workes: others more simplie and truly, he saw their works, that is, himselfe approved them, as Gen. 1. hee saw that the light was good, that is, he allowed it by his iudgement: so heere hee shewed by his fact & event that followed, that the repētance of Ni­niveh highly cōtented him. Likewise, Gen. 4. God looked vnto the gift of Abel, but not vnto the gift of Cain; he saw thē both with his eie of know­ledge, but not of liking & good affection. Or to say further, God saw that in the works of the Ninivites, which if Ionas, or the whole world had presumed to have seene, they had deceived themselves: he saw their hearts, from whence those works proceeded, how truly & syn­cerely they were done without dissimulatiō. In this sense we say that the church is invisible, & as we are taught in our Creede, we rather beleeve that it is, thā with our eies can behold it: not that we turne men into spirits, not having flesh & bones, or into trāsparēt substāces, such as the aire is, which we cannot see; but because, although we behold the body & the outward appearance, wee cannot search into their [Page 526] spirites, neither are able to discerne them in that, whereby they are Christians, and of the householde of faith. Wee thinke they are myrtles, when they are but netles; lambes when they are but vvoolues; and citizens of Ierusalem, vvhen they are but Ie­busites.

Conditio a [...]ictatis. Their workes. Not onely their workes of ceremony, order, and discipline, as fasting, sackcloth, crying, which are not godlinesse it selfe, but gestures and behaviours setting it forth; nor onely their morall workes, of charity towardes God and man, in forsaking their wicked waies, and making restitution of ill gotten goodes; (for these are most of them outwarde workes,) but hee sawe the workes also of the inward man, and, as it is expounded in the next vvordes, hee saw their perfect and full conversion; which consisted not in fasting and sackcloth alone, or in formall professions, but in the change and alteration of all their powers. Thus to acknowledge the true and immortal God, is a worke, but a worke of the spirit, both because the spirit of God is the author, and because the spirite of man is the actour and administer thereof. To beleeue, is also a worke of the spirit; for when they asked, Ioh 6. What shall wee doe that wee might worke the workes of God? Iesus answered them, this is the worke of God, that yee believe in him whome hee hath sent. GOD sawe all these workes in them, what they thought, howe they be­leeved, which way the purposes of their heartes were bente; hee sawe their faith: as well as their ceremonies, their iustice Evange­licall, aswell as their Legall; hee sawe their whole bodye of repen­tance, wherein there was knowledge, desire, iudgement, affe­ction, faith, hope, and whatsoever else was requisite to bee vsed in that worke.

And God repented. Wee had the worde before, who knoweth if God will repent? But can this bee? Repentance hath ever some griefe annexed vnto it, and an accusation of our selues, of some­thing done amisse, which wee woulde gladly retract: both these are far from God, who sitteth in heaven, having all sufficiencye of pleasure and contentment in himselfe; and for his workes a­broade, they are so exactly done by rule, that wee cannot suspect any errour therein committed. The answere is this: he that dwel­leth in such brightnesse of light, as never eye of mortalitye coulde approach vnto, the sight of whole face, to an earthly man is vnsuffe­rable, and the knowledge of those invisible thinges in the God-head, vnpossible; yet to giue some ayme and coniecture vnto vs what he [Page 527] is, hee appeareth as it were transfigured into the likenesse of our nature; and in our owne familiar tearmes, not departinge from our accustomed manners, speaketh to our carnall senses: and that man may know him in some measure, hee will bee knowne as man, by eyes, eares, handes, feete, other bodily members; by anger, sor­row, repentance, ielousie, with the like spirituall affections. By which hee woulde signifie vnto vs not that which is so indeede, but that which is needefull on our be [...]alfe, so to bee vttered and expressed. Quibus sig­nificare il­lud quod itae non essit, sed quod ita dici opus esset. August. li 1. de Tim. 1. ca. For be­cause wee are not ignorant of the vse, office, effect, of these dailie and naturall thinges in our selues, therefore when wee heare them ascribed to God by translation, we are able partly to ghesse what is meant by them. The rule which Bernard giveth in his 4. Sermon vpon the Canticles, is catholique, and vniversally serveth to the opening of these figures. Haec habet omnia Deus per effectum, non per naturam; All these hath God, not by nature, but by effect. Now what is the effect of anger? revenge. For a man that is angered is desirous to bee satisfied, and to wreake himselfe vpon him that hath provoked him: the passion of anger is not in the nature of God, but the effect is: Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lorde. What is the effect of repen [...]ance? The change or abrogation of some thing formerly done, or at least determined.Non imple­vit quod fuerat com­minatus. vers. 8. Malum cul­pae, Malum poenae. Quo quis malé feci [...] quo (que) mali perpessus est. August. de li▪ arb. Malum naturâ. Malum secundum sensum. Basil. serm. An deus si [...] author mali [...] Against the merit of workes▪ Repentance is not in God, the effect of repentance is; the recallinge or vndooinge of a worke, which in the iudgement of the worlde, was like to haue continued. Thus hee repented the making of man, Gen. 6. and the ad­vancing of Saul to the kingdome, 1. Sam. 15. not that his heart was grie­ved, but his handes, that is, his iustice and power vndid it: and thus hee repented his iudgement aga [...]nst Niniveh, by slayinge the se­quele and fall thereof. So that the easiest exposition indeede of the repentance of God, is in the third member of the verse: for there­fore hee repented him, because hee did it not.

The evill which is heere mentioned, is different from that vvhich went before, where their evill waies are spoken of: for that was cul­pable, this but poenall; that defileth a man, this but chas [...]eneth & afflicteth him; that was evill in dooing, this but in suffering; that in nature, this but in feeling: the latter proceedeth from the iustice of God, the other hee is most free from.

And God sawe their workes, that they turned from their evill waies. When I first tooke in hande to declare the repentance of Niniveh, I desired you to beare in minde, that the first and princi­pall gate whereby they entered into that service towardes God, was [Page 528] faith. The Prophet, who compiled the history, noted no lesse, as appeareth by his placing of it in the heade of the booke, that is in the beginning of the whole narration; They beleeved God, they tooke him to bee a God of truth,Crediderunt deo. and made no question but his worde in the mouth of his servant shoulde bee established. And I as little doubt,Crediderunt in deum but they also beleeved God; not onely assentinge to the truth of the message, but entertaining in their heartes a persuasion of deliverance: in the ninth verse it is very plaine, where the hope of his mercy is that which induceth them to all these workes of pietye. Heere it is saide, that God sawe their workes, and consequentlye repen­ted him of the iudgement, and did it not. The place hath beene abused and a weapon drawne there hence to fight against Gods grace: that these afflictions of the Ninivites, macerating themselues with fast­ing and sackcloth, prepared them aforehand to the easier attaine­ment of their pardon. Such are the pillers which they builde their workes of preparation vpon; that before a man is iustified, his workes may deserue that favour of God: not of condignity, (they say) worth for worth, but of of congruity; as if it stood not with rea­son and conscience that their workes shoulde bee forgotten. If the prophet had trusted our simplicitye herein, and concealed the name of faith, weich heere hee placeth with her open face, as the leader and forerunner to all their other actions, coulde wee ever haue imagined that they woulde haue humbled themselues by re­pentance, and prayed vnto God on whome they had not first be­leeved? and whosoever hee bee that spendeth his wretched dayes in the wildernesse of this worlde, a wildernesse of sinne, as the chil­dren of Israell in that wast and roaring wildernesse of SIN, Exod. 16. without this cloude by day, and piller by night, to guide him the way to his rest, hee walketh hee knoweth not howe, hee strayeth, stumbleth, falleth, because hee hath not light, hee liveth and dieth in darkenesse, his soule is as a fielde vntilled, or as a vineyard growne wilde, which though it haue store of grapes, they are but sowre grapes, his worshippe of God, and workes of common civility, what glasse soever they beare, of honesty and commodity in the eyes of men, they are both vnfruitfull to himselfe, and before the face of God, full of sinne and reprobation. There are two thinges in the vvhole course of this history, wherevnto I will limite my speech: the one what the Ninivites did; they beleeved, proclaimed a fast, repented: the other what God;What the Ninivites did. he sawe their workes, and was satisfied.

In the person of the Ninivites, faith goeth formost, workes follow [Page 529] it. This is the nature of a true and a living faith, it ever worketh by loue, Gal. 5. and by workes it is made perfect, Iam. 2. & faith without these is as an almes of the rich man to the poore, departe in peace, warme thy selfe, fill thy belly; but he giveth him nothing. Or as the body without the spirit, wherin the life & motion thereof consisteth. For even the theefe vpō the crosse, that litle time which he had, he bestowed in good workes: In reproofe of his fellow, condemnation of themselues, iustification of Christ, invocation of his name, and a true confession that he was the king of Israell. And this, although we speake, & write, & imprint, & preach in all our assemblies, & even the pillers of our churches can beare witnes vnto vs, that faith is an idle, vnperfect, verball, & deade faith, where is not sanctity of life to attend it; and wee both receiue it our selues, as a faithfull saying, & confirme it to others, that such as haue beleeved God, must also be carefull to excell in good workes; yet,Tit. 3. if the pens & presses of the Romane faction might passe without controlment, we should be tr [...]duc [...]d as far as the world is christian (for preaching on­ly faith in the iustification of a sinfull man) that our gospell is a gospell of liberty, epicurisme, sensualitie, that we plucke vp good vvorkes as weedes by the rootes, and cast them foorth of the doores, as the chil­dren of the bondwomā, not worthy to inherite with the free-borne. We never said that faith without workes (barren and empty of her fruits) iustified an vnrighteous soule: but that faith so qualified, doth notwithstanding iustifie without those workes, this we mainetaine a­gainst men and angels: so we remooue not workes from faith, but workes from iustifying. Still they followe their mistresse, but in re­mission of sinnes, and cloathing the sinner with the iustice of God, therein they giue her the place, and put the burthen of that worke vpon her shoulders. Let Bilha the handmaide supply the defectes of Rahell, and beare children vnto Iacob, but let her ever remember that Rahel is aboue her, and singular in some respect. And let not Io­seph forget, though he ride in the second chariot of Egypt, & be the next man to the king, yet that the king hath reserved the throne to himselfe. Shall I yet teach you by a more sensible and familiar de­monstration? Bethulia is in danger of Holofernes, the terrour of the East, as we of the iustice of God:Iud. 13. and as the strength of Bethulia was thought too weake to encounter him, so all our obedience to the law of God is weake and vnsufficient to defende vs. Iudith vnderta­keth for the people of her city; faith for vs: Iudith goeth accompani­ed with her handmaides; faith with her works: and though the eies of her handmaid were ever towards her Lady, to carry the scrippe, &c. [Page 530] yet, in performing that act of deliverance, Iudith is alone, her maide standing and waiting at the dore, and not so much as setting her foot within the chamber: So although our loue and obedience bee as at­tendant to faith as ever that servant was to Iudith, yet in performing this mighty act of deliverance, acquiting the conscience frō the curse of the law, pacifying the anger of God, and presenting vs blamelesse before his holy eies, al which standeth in the apprehension of the me­rites of Christ, and a stedfast perswasion that he hath assumed for vs, faith is wholely and solely alone, our workes not claiming any part in that sacred action.

Therefore wee conclude, saith the Apostle, Rom. 3. that a man is iustifi­ed by faith without the workes of the law. An obiecti­on dissol­ved. Therefore you see, saith Iames in the second of his Epistle, that of works a man is iustified, and not of faith only. He is, and he is not? doth the one conclude the former, and doeth the other inferre also by way of conclusion that he hath prooved the latter? What shall we say? is God divided? or is there dissension in the spirit of vnity? or is there more than one truth? Apostle against Apostle, Iames against Paul, in one and the same question deriving a contrary conclusion? Not so. But as the striking of two flintes togi­ther, beateth out fire; so the comparing of these their two opinions, will make the truth more manifest. Surely by faith we are iustified, & without the workes of the law. Meane it of ceremonies as some doe, meane it of morall commandements, the position is both waies true. This rocke we must cleaue vnto, this rocke must be published abroad rockes & stones will publish this rocke if we conceale it. To him that worketh not, but beleeveth on him that iustifieth the vngodly, his faith is ac­counted for righteousnes: Rom. 4. to him that worketh not. I will not say that he worketh not at all, but he worketh not in this action, nor with a­ny intent, either to prepare or further his iustificatiō before the face of God: his workes are not reckoned at that time, nay they with­draw their presence, and hang downe their heades, and are abashed to offer themselues in that service. But here is the point. As I am iu­stified by faith without the workes of the law, so by the workes of the law must my faith be iustified,Exercitatio vel consum­matio iusti­tiae: res enim tum dicitur fieri, quando perficitur vel innotes­ [...]it▪ that is, avouched, made good, and te­stified both to God and man, with effectuall proofe and demonstra­tion that it is not a naked, fruitlesse, hypocriticall faith, but soundlye and substantially conditioned. So Iames ment it. And Thomas A­quinas writing vpon that Epistle, confirmeth that meaning, that the iustification vvhereof he spake, is the exercising or accomplishing of iustice: for a thing is then saide to bee done, either vvhen it is perfected, or [Page 531] when it is made knowne. So then, there is one righteousnesse imputed, favoured, and cast vpon vs, though it bee not ours; there is another righteousnes exercised, or declared; there is one iustice of iustifica­tion, there is another iustice of testification; there is one that acqui­teth before God, another that approveth especially before man; the one without vs and lent, the other within vs, inhabitant and in­herent; the one in Christ, and from him communicated to vs, the o­ther in our selues, and to him in some sort recompenced. For such is the nature of faith and loue, as the Auncientes described their graces: the one is in taking and apprehension, the other is in giving and re­muneration. First, we receiue by our faith, and then by our charitie we returne some-thing. Paule speaketh of the former of these iustifi­cations, Iames of the latter: Paule delivered simply the doctrine, Iames answered an obiection against those that gloried in the name and shadow of faith: Paule instructed the vnderstanding, Iames in­formed the life: Paule as a Doctor and in the schooles lecturing, Iames as a pastour, and in the pulpit applying; the one handling iu­stification properly, the other (to speake as properly) sanctification; the one establishing a reall, christian, iustifying faith, the other con­futing a verball, devilish, falsifying faith. There is now then but one Lord, one spirit, one truth, one gospell, one tongue, one soule in both these Apostles. Consider the state of the question in this present ex­ample of the Ninivites. You know what they were, not only aliantes and strangers f [...]om the covenant and hope of God, but of aliantes & strangers such, whose iniquity streamed into the highest heaven, and called downe vengance vpon them. What should they now doe to redeeme their peace? For if they had fasted till their knees had bowed vnder them, if they had put sacke-cloath about their loines, till the haire and wale thereof had entred even into their soules, if they had spent the day in crying and the night in wailing, and if they had lived besides as iustly to the world, as Aristides did in Athens, who was banished the city for over-much iustice, and had not withall belee­ved, I wil not say, but God might haue spared to haue made them notorious examples of his iustice to the worlde, but surely they had remained as aforetime, children of darknes still, and sonnes of perdi­tion, and the waies of peace they had never knowne. Therefore to conclude on their parte, they are iustified by their faith, This is it that investeth them into the friendship and loue of God: their very beleeving of him is imputed vnto them for righteousnesse, as it was to Abraham: and to testifie that faith to man, to make it perfect [Page 532] before God, to seale it vp to their owne conscience, they are abun­dant also in good workes: which is that other iustification vvhereof Iames disputeth. For as in the temple of Ierusalem, there were 3. di­stinctions of roumes: the entry or porch where the beasts were killed; the altar where they were sacrificed; & the holiest place of al, whither the high priest entred once every yeare: so in this repentance of Ni­niveh, there are 3. sortes of righteousnes: the first of ceremony, in wea­ring sacke-cloath, and fasting; the second of morality in restitution; the third the iustice of faith,Osee. 2. and as it were the dore of hope wherby they first enter into the kingdome of heaven.

2. What God did.We haue heard what the Ninivites did for their partes, let vs nowe consider, what God for his It is said that he saw their workes, and repen­t [...]d him of the plague intended, and brought it not. Nay it is saide, that God saw their workes,Vidit deus. Poeni [...]ui [...] deum. & God repented him of the plague, vvith repe­titiō of that blessed name, to let the world vnderstande, that the mis­chiefe was not turned away for the value and vertue of their workes, but for the acceptance of his own good pleasure; nor for the repen­tance of the city, but for the repentāce of his own heart, a gracious in­clination & propension that he tooke to deliver them. No marvaile it was, if when God saw their workes, he bethought him of their deli­verance. For when the person is once approved, & received to grace (which their faith procured them) his blemishes are not then looked vpon, his infirmities covered, his vnperfect obedience taken in good part, nay cōmēded, honored, rewarded, & daily provoked with pro­mises & invitatiōs of greater blessednes to come. So a father allureth his son; the servāt doth ten times more; yet is the recōpēce of the son ten times greater: for the father respecteth not so much the workes of his child, but because he is a father, tēdreth & followeth him with fatherly affection, wheras the hired servant on the other side, is but a stranger vnto him. Why then were the works of Niniveh acceptable vnto God? not of thēselues, but for their sakes that wrought them, & they for their faith: for this is the root that beareth thē al. In that great cloud of witnesses, Heb. 11. what was the reason that they pleased God (besides the honour of the world,vers. 6. that they vvere vvell reported of) and obtained the promises, which was the garlande they ranne for, (besides their suffering of adversities, subduing of kingdomes, vvorking of righte­ousnesse, vers. 33. with many other famous exploites there ascribed vnto them) what was the reason I say, but their faith, which is the whole burdē of the song in that memorable bead-role? By faith did Abell thus, Enoch thus, and others otherwise. But why not their workes of themselues? [Page 533] For is not charity more than faith? these three remaine, faith, hope and loue, but the greater of these three is loue. 1. Cor. 13.In continu­ance. And the first and the greate commaundemente is this, Thou shalt loue the Lorde thy GOD, &c. Math. the two and twentith. And, the end of the commaundement is loue, 1. Tim. 1. And, loue is the fulfilling of the lawe, Romanes the thirteenth. I graunt all this if thou be able to performe it. Loue the Lorde thy God with all thy heart, &c. and thy neighbour as thy selfe, and there is no­thing wanting vnto thee, thou hast kept the commandement, thou hast fulfilled the law, thou needest not the passion of thy redeemer, thou maiest catch the crowne of life by rightfull desert. But this thou art not able to performe, were thou as righteous as Noe, as obedient as Abraham, as holy as Iob, as faithfull as David, as cleare as the sunne and moone, as pure as the starres in heaven, yet thou must sing and sigh with a better soule than thine owne, who saw and sigh­ed for the impurity of all living flesh, Enter not into iudgement, vvith thy servant, O Lorde, for no flesh living can bee iustified in thy sight. God hath concluded thee and thy fathers before thee, and the fruit of thy body to the last generation of the world, vnder sinne, and be­cause vnder sinne, therefore vnder wrath, and malediction, and death, if thou flie not into the sanctuarie to hide and safegarde thy selfe. But blessed be the name of Christ, the daies are come, where­in this song is sunge in the lande of Iudah, and through all the Israell of God farre and neare, vvee haue a stronge cittie, Esay 26. salvation hath God set for wals and bul-workes about it. Open ye the gates, that the righteous nation, which keepeth faith, may enter in. Which is that righteous nation that shall enter into the citty of God thus walled and fortressed, but that which keepeth faith, or rather faithes, as the Hebrew hath? that is,Fide [...]. all faith, not ceasing to beleeue till their liues end. They that beleeue thus, adding faith vnto faith, the Lord vvill returne them as great a measure of his blessing, even peace vpon peace, in the next wordes, be­cause they trust in him. We neede no better expositour.Pacem p [...] ­cem. The righte­ous man is he that beleeveth, and the beleeving man is he that vvor­keth righteousnes, for these two shall never be sundred; and the onlie key that openeth vnto vs the gates of the citty, is our faith So then when we see good workes, we must know that they are but fruites, and seeke out the root of them, and when we haue the root, we must also haue regarde to the moisture and iuice whereby it is nourished. For as the fruits of the earth grow from their root, & that root liveth not by it selfe, but is fedde and preserved by the fatnes of the soile, warmth of the sun, & benefite of the aire vnder which it standeth; [Page 534] so good workes grow from faith, and that faith liveth in the obiect, the merites and obedience of Iesus Christ, feeding and strengthning it selfe by the sweet influence and sappe of these heavenly conceites, that he came into the worlde to saue sinners, and that he died for her sinne, and rose to life for her iustification. For as we esteeme the worth of a ring of gold not so much in it selfe as in the gemme that it carrieth; so are we iustified & magnified also in the sight of God by faith in Christ, not for this quality of beleeving, which is as vnperfite as our works, but for the obiect of this quality, Christ our mediatour, which is the diamonde and iewell borne therein. The hand of a leper, though never so bloudy and vncleane, yet it may doe the office of an hand, in taking and holding fast the almes that is given. The giver may bee liberall enough, and the gift sufficient to releeue, though the hand that received it, full of impurity. So it is not the weakenesse of our faith, in apprehending and applying the passion of Christ, that can preiudice the bounty of our GOD, and those rich be­nefites of his grace which his beloved sonne hath purchased for vs.

Secundum omnem iusti­tiam tuam. ver. 16. Propter do­minum. 17. Propter mi­seratione [...] [...]uas amplissi mas. 18. Propter [...]e. 19. Non enim propter vllas iustitias no­stras.I nowe conclude. GOD saw the workes of the Ninivites, and in those vvoorkes, not onely their outwarde countenance, but their inwarde and vnfeined affection, and faith the roote from whence they sprang: and as the fruites of their faith, so he accepted them; not for the worth and accounte of the workes, which they dare not themselues rely vpon, but through the riches and abundance of his owne loving kindnesse. This is the plea that Daniell helde in the ninth of his Prophecie, a man of as righteous a spirite as ever the Lateran pallace of Rome helde, according to all thy righteousnesse; for the LORDES sake; for thy greate tender mercies; for thine owne sake; and vvith direct exception to their inherente iustice, for wee doe not present our supplications before thee for our owne righteousnesse. This plea we must all sticke vnto, Gods mercy in his owne gracious dispo­sition, Gods righteousnesse in his promises, Gods goodnesse in the Lorde, his anointed, his Christ, his Messias. And this shal be a blessed testimony vnto vs at the last day, that wee haue stood and fought for the seede of the woman, and for the preciousnesse of his bloud and passion, against the seede of the serpent, that we never gaue place, no not for an instant, to Pharisee, Iew, Pelagian, Papist, Li­bertine, to diminish or discredite the power thereof. Giue mee that soule that breatheth vpon the earth in plight as the soules of these Ninivites were, nowe called to a reckoning of their fore passed [Page 535] liues, their consciences accusing them of hydeous and monstrous iniquities, the law pleading, the anger of GOD flaming against them, the throate of hell gaping wide and ready to swallow them downe, when they were to take their leaue of one worlde, and to enter another of endlesse punishment, vnlesse they coulde finde the meanes to appease the fury of their maker and iudge; Giue me the soule, that dareth for the price of a soule stande in contention with the iustice of GOD vpon the triall of good workes, either to bee iustified the meane-time, or heereafter to be glorified and liue by them. O sweete and comfortable name, nature, operation of grace, (grace and onely grace) blessed bee the wombe that bare thee, and the bowels that ingendered thee. When it commeth to this que­stion, iustificemur simul, Let vs bee iudged togither, Esay 43. if thou haste ought to saie for thy selfe, bring it forth, O happy, heavenly and only grace, that bea­rest thy children safe in thy bosome, and settest them with confidence and ioy before the seat of God; when the clients & followers of their owne righteousnes, be it what it may bee; with the least flash of light­ning that fleeth from the face of God, shal tremble and quake as the popler in the forrest. O the Ocean & maine sea of over-flowing grace, and we drinke at puddles! We sit in our cels and comment, we come into the schooles and dispute about the merit of good workes, with­out trouble. But lie we vpon out beds of sicknes, feele we a troubled & perplexed conscience, wee shal be glad to cry, grace and grace alone, Christ and Christ alone, the bloud of Abell, and Peter, and Thomas, and Paul shall be forgotten, and the bloud of the Lambe shalbe had in price, & as for the merits of our vnprofitable service, we shalbe best at ease when we talke least of them. The only one & fiftith Psalme, Haue mercie vpon me O Lorde &c. (his memory bee blessed that gaue the note) hath saved many distressed soules, and opened the king­dome of heaven vnto them, who if they had stood vpon riches and sufficiencie in themselues, as the church of Laodicea did, they had lost the kingdome.Revel. 3. It is vsually given to our selo [...]s for their necke­verse, when the lawe is disposed to favour them. Wee are all felons and transgressors against the law of God; let it bee our soules-verse, and God will seclude the rigour of his law and take mercy vpon vs. Some of the wordes of that Psalme were the last that Bernarde vt­tered even in the panges of death. Let them also be the last of ours, a brokē & contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Finally, the choise is briefely proposed, and as quickely made: if grace, not workes: if workes, not grace: if this be the choise, let vs humbly beseech God [Page 536] to illighten our eies, to open our vnderstandings, to direct our affecti­ons, and to reach forth our handes to the better part which shall ne­ver be taken from vs: that leaving our workes to his favourable in­terpretation, either to follow vs, or to stay behinde, and either to bee something or nothing in his sight, his mercy may only triumph, and his covenant in the bloud of Christ Iesus may ever be advanced, that we may sing in our Ierusalem, as they sing in the courtes of heaven, worthy is the Lambe that was killed, to receive the glory, and honour and praise, and to beare the name of our whole salvation.

THE XL. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. vers. 1.‘Therefore it displeased Ionas exceedingly, & he was angry.’

THE whole prophecy of Ionas (againe to re­peat that, which ought not to be forgotten) is the preaching of mercy. An history writ­ten to the world, and as a publique evidence & instrument from God delivered vnto vs, in every page & line wherof, his goodnes to­wardes mankind is mervailously expressed. And as the 4. beastes in Ezechiel, were ioy­ned one to the other by their winges, so the 4. Chapters of this booke hang togither by a continuation and suc­cession of Gods loving kindnes. Open this booke, as our Saviour o­pened the booke of the prophecie of Esaias, by chance, and read at your pleasure from the first of it to the last, you shall never vvant a text or example of comforte, whereby a distressed conscience may be relieved. The marriners are delivered from the fury of the elements, Ionas both from those and from the belly of a cruell fishe, the Nini­vites God knoweth from what, whither from fire and brimstone, or from sinkinge into the grounde, or any such like weapons of wrath, which in his armoury of iustice in heaven are stored vp and reserved for the day of the wicked; but all are delivered. Notwithstandinge which rare examples of mercy, as Christ spake in the gospell, beholde, more than Ionas is heere, so though the prophet did his parte before in penninge those discourses, yet in handlinge this last he is more than himselfe, & though the mercy of God abounded before, yet here it excelleth. Then was mercy practised I confesse, but heere it is plea­ded, maintained, prooved by argumēts, apologies, parables, the equi­ty [Page 537] and reasonablenes thereof vpheld, and means made vnto Ionas in some sort, that if God be gracious to Niniveh, hee will bee pleased fa­vourably to interpret it. The distribution of the Chapter is into three partes. 1. The affection of Ionas vpon the deliveraunce of Niniveh, whither revealed, and by a propheticall spirite discovered before the tearme of 40. daies, or to the expiration of them differred, I cannot say. 2. The reprehension & rebuke which God vseth against him for that affection; both by speech, doest thou well to bee angry? and by fact, in confuting him by a reall similitude, of a gourde soone sprunge vp & as easily withered. And as Ionas repeateth his impatience, so God walketh with an even pace by him, & repeateth his reproofes. 3. The conclusion or scope which God referred himselfe vnto. Not the for­bearing of the city, which was already past, but the iustification of his goodnes therein. For first he did it of fact (as they say,) and then de­fended the right of it.

The affection of Ionas is generally recited in the first verse, and more particularly displaied in the rest, touching his speech, gesture, & carriage of himselfe in all pointes.

So it displeased Ionas exceedingly. What displeased him?The affe­ction of Ionas. Malum vi­debatur a­pud Jonam, malum mag­num. Turne backe your eies to the epilogue of the former Chapter. God repented him of the evill, he did it not. This is it, that so much disquieteth Ionas, that see­meth so evill, & very evill (as the Hebrew hath,) in his vnmercifull eies: rather this was evill & very evill in the heart of Ionas. For why is Io­nas so exceedingly displeased, that God hath spared Niniveh? It had beene fault enough in Ionas, not to haue blessed and embraced the mercy of God towards Niniveh, & to haue given testimony vnto it. But to go so far from renowming it, that he condēneth it in his iudge­ment, & so far in condēning it, that he is grieved at the heart, and so far in grieving that he holdeth no measure & stint therein, but doeth exceedingly vexe himselfe, this was a sore offence. Had Ionas recea­ved mercy himselfe, and doth Ionas envy mercy to others? Did hee know by experience in his owne person, what it was to be driven frō the land of the living, to bee cast into the mouth of destruction, to loose the favour of God, and hath he no sparkle of charity lefte,Calamitas sine ratione, quid miser angeris, ni­hil duri passus? no graine of compassion to weigh with himselfe the destruction of this great citty? Avexation, saith Bas [...]l, without all reason. Vnhappy man, why art thou troubled so, having felt no harme? I would rather haue thought if neede had beene, that Ionas would haue stood for Niniveh, being a prophet, and so lately plucked from the fire himselfe, as Abraham did for Sodome: If there shalbe ten righteous men found in Niniveh [Page 538] destroy it not. For what els is the ioy & crowne of a Prophet, Apostle, any messenger of Christ in this service emploide, but the winning & saving of soules, converting men vnto righteousnes, translatinge them from darkenes into light, a blessing frō God vpon his labours, an encrease vpon the seede he hath sowen, which others would spēd their daies, & consume their bodies, & ieopard their liues to obtaine, when Ionas obtained it with ease, & in the compasse of a short time? The parable of the Lord & the labourers which wrought in the vine­yard, thus far accordeth to Ionas. Take that which thine is. I doe thee no wrong, Math. 20. is it not lawfull for me to doe with mine owne as it pleaseth me? Is thine eie evill, because I am good? I will giue to this last, as much as to the first: to this least, as much as to the greatest; to a Gentile, as much as to an Israelite; to Niniveh, as much as to thy selfe. You see the nature of envy: the honour, prosperity, wealth, and whatsoever is good in an o­ther, sometimes life it selfe, it repineth at; fruitfull encrease, & full vd­ders in the fields and beastes of any man, it pineth with. 't filleth men to the eies, and in the eies it sitteth, and by those windowes looketh forth, and whersoever it seeth a blessing, it is sicknes and death vnto it, if God curse it not. And it is true that Basile noteth of envie. A Scythian seldome maliceth an Aegyptian. Aegyptio Scytha non invidet. They spend their despight for the most part within the same countrey, same kinred, same professiō, same benefite: as Ionas envieth Niniveh, for communicatinge vvith him in the mercy of the Lord. According to that vvisedome vvhich God gaue to man to call thinges by their right names, so is the name of envy: Invidia, vel non videt, vel nimis in­tuetur. Cypr. Gen. 4. either because it will not see at all, that which in the blessinges of God is to be seene, or because it prieth too deepe into them. It was the first vemine which the devill powred forth against mankinde. Hince perijt primus & per didit; By this he first perished himselfe & de­stroied others. What els was the cause that Caine lifted vp his hande against his brother Abell, & robbed himselfe almost of his onely com­forte in that new-borne vvorld? But that the gifte of his brother was accepted to God, his owne reiected? vpon this he was very wroth, & his countenāce fell downe, as not able to endure the sight of his brother, & his anger was not satisfied with bloud. Did the brethrē of Ioseph go home to their old father Iacob, and bring him into an errour that a vvicked beast had devoured the childe, Gen. 37. and that Ioseph was surely torne in pieces? A wicked beast had devoured him indeede, and Ioseph was torne in pieces by the envie of his brethren. Israell looved Ioseph more than all his other sonnes, therefore they hated him, and could not speake peace­ably vnto him. And Ioseph dreamed a dreame, and tolde it to his brethren, [Page 539] therefore they hated him so much the more. This vvas the wicked beast that cast him into the pit, where their meaning was to haue sterved him to death, and to haue kept his bloud secret, as appeareth by the speech of Iudah, and but that Reuben perswaded the contrary, with their owne handes they had taken his life from him. Because the wo­men sange in the streetes, Saul hath slaine his thousande, 1. Sam. 18. David his ten thousande, therefore was Saule exceedinglie vvroth, and it is saide, that Saule had an eie to David from that day forwarde. It was a venemous, mis­chievous eie, such as the burning eies of witches, or the Basiliske,Vrentes sculi. Pers. or Gorgon, that he cast towardes him. The elder brother, Luke 15. when he heard melodie and dauncing in his fathers house, and knevve what it ment, and that his father had killed the fat calfe, to wel­come home his lost sonne, he was angry at the matter, and woulde not goe in, but that his father went out and entreated him. He omitted no argu­ment of exprobration, his service for many yeares, without breach of any commaundement, and not the gifte of a kid by vvay of recompence, he saith not, wastfully to spend, but to make merry amongest his friendes: when the other, that had devoured his goodes with harlots, must be enter­tained with the fat calfe. Examine the reason why innocency it selfe was hunted and followed to death, with crucifie him, crucifie him, he is not worthy to liue, and Barrabas set at liberty; and let Pilate be the iudge to pronounce sentence against them: hee knewe (besides the knowledge of their owne consciences) that for envie they had delivered him. Do we looke that envy should favour the honour and well-fare,Math. 27. when it favoureth not the life; or the life of man, when the Lord of life himselfe is vile before it? Poyson, they say, is life to a serpent, death to a man, and that which is life to a man, his spittle and naturall hu­midity, is death to a serpent. I haue found it thus applyed: vertue and felicity, which is life to a good man, is death to the envious; and that which the envious liveth by, is the misery and death of a good man. For envie endevoureth either that hee may not liue at all, as all the former examples declare (for even the prodigall sonne vvas also deade, and it grieved his brother,Luke 15. that he was brought backe to life) or that he may liue such a life, as for the discomfortes thereof, he may cal it happines, to haue ended. [...]. Therefore amongst other the fruites of a reprobate minde, Rom. 1. those two are ioyned togither, [...], envie, and murther: and likewise amongst the workes of the flesh, Galathians the fifte, vvith the same combination, as if they vvere twinnes growing in one body, and could not be put asunder. [...]. It is not namely expressed in the former member of the verse, what perturba­tion [Page 540] it was wherewith Ionas was so overborne. But by the effectes it shewed in him,1. Cor. 13. Miserico [...] ­diae cor mise­rum. Jn quâ mul­ta sunt mala vnum tan­tùm vtile, quod authori incommoda. Basil. Carpit (que) & carpitur vnà Supplicium­ (que) suum est. Metam. 2. Vt AEtna seipsam. Sic se nō ali­o [...] invidus igne coquit. Metamor. 2, Ira optimo loco est donū dei, et magna est ars irasci verbi [...] prae­meditatis et tempore [...]o­portuno. M. Luth. Si deui [...] iras­citur nobis, remediū esse potest, &c. Val Max. lib. 9. cap. 3. Jlla procur­su celerio [...], nocendi cu­pidine hoc pertin [...]ciu [...] vter (que) con­sternatio [...]is plenus affe­ctus, acnun quam sine▪ tormento sui violētus &c in seeking so heartily the overthrow of Niniveh, and wishing to die himselfe, because the Ninivites lived (besides the bid­ding of open battaile to charity, one of whose properties is, that shee envieth not, & setting pitty at naught, which hath ever a miserable heart when it seeth the wretched) we may reasonably suppose it to haue bin envy. The nature whereof is this, that God in his iustice hath apointed it to be a plague to it selfe, and amongst many mischiefes it hath furnished it with one onely profitable quality, that the owner thereof taketh most hurt. He biteth & is bitten againe, & becōmeth his own punishment. And as Aetna consumed it selfe, so the malici­ous man is burnt with the fire of his own hart. And therefore the Poet did notably describe her to haue a pale face without bloud, a leane body without any iuice in it, squint eies, blacke teeth, an heart full of gall, a tongue tipt with poison, never laughing but whē others weepe, never sleeping, because shee studieth and thinketh on mischiefe. It di­spleaseth Ionas exceedingly. But the vexation which he tooke, hurt him­selfe more than Niniveh.

And Ionas was angrie. We haue not ended the affections of Ionas. Wee haue an other companion to adde to envie, which for the most part is coupled with it. For so we read, Genes. 4. Caine vvas excee­dingly vvrath. And, 1. Sam. 18. Saul was wrath at the song of the vvo­men. And, Luke 15. the elder brother was angry, either with the father, or the yonger son. Ange [...] in a fit place is the gift of God, and there is great cunning in being angry, with advised speach, and in a seasona­ble time. But of that hereafter. Meane-while, the time, and cause, and measure of this anger in Ionas, I thinke, are worthy to be bla­med. For with whom is he angry? It seemeth, with himselfe: Take a­way my life from me. Or rather with God; who if he had taken him at his worde, the sun had gone downe vpon his anger, I meane, his life had ended in a froward and furious passion. If God bee angry with vs, there may be some remedy, because God is mercifull. But if we be angry with him, there is no helpe for it. Quis populo Romano irasci sapienter potest? What man of wisedome can be angry with the people of Rome? much lesse with God. And that you may know howe righ­teous the Lord is, in this affection of anger, as before of envie, vvhen we are vnruly and lawlesse therein, Valerius Maximus comparing anger and hatred togither (the one, at the first setting forth, the quic­ker, the other, in desire of revēge, the more obstinate) saith, that both those passions are full of consternation and amasement, and never [Page 541] vse violence without torment to themselues; for where their purpose is to offer wrong, they rather suffer it: as shall better appeare vnto vs here [...]fter in the behaviour of Ionas.

I haue in parte described vnto you the nature and enormitye of these perturbations, from the mouth of naturall & worldly wisdome. VVhat iudgement belongeth vnto them, when they breake their bounds, I learne in a better schoole▪ Math. 5. Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause, shalbe culpable of iudgement. And they are numbred a­mongst the works of the flesh, [...]. Gal. 5. whereof the Apostle gaue them double warning, that they which did such things should not inherit the king­dome of God. Notwithstanding the viciousnes hereof hath beene both opened and condemned by those, who though they had not the law of God by peculiar assignement, as the Iewes had, written in books or in tables of stone, yet the effect of that law was written in their harts, Rom. 2▪ & they were a law to themselues, their thoughts accusing or excusing them in most of their doings. Precepts of moral conversatiō they haue as soundly de­livered, & some as strictly observed, as if Moses had taught and lived among thē. The Apostles precept is, Rom. 12. Giue place to wrath & E­phes. 4. Be angry and sin not. Let not the sun goe downe vpon your wrath. They had the same precepts in Gentility, who sawe no lesse herein by their light of nature, & therefore devised lawes to represse anger: That an angry man should not set hand or hart to any thing til he had recited the Greeke alphabet, for by that time, the heart of choller woulde be alaide; and that he should sing to his passion, as nurses to their babes, [...], hast not, cry not, & anone I will content thee.Occidissem­te nisi iratu [...] essem. And the practise of Plato was according to these rules: for his servant offen­ding him, he said he could haue killed him, but that he was moved, & therefore desired a friend to punish him in his steede. Likewise repre­hensions of all sortes of vices, and commendations of their contrarye vertues, they haue both wisely conceaved, faithfully penned, & ear­nestly perswaded. And although they were ignorant of the ioyes of heaven and hell fire, yet in their Gentile learning the saw reason suf­ficient, that the embracers of these contrary qualities, should be con­trariwise recompensed.In arundin [...] sterili at (que) arida vel alligata sole [...] vnapendere. De bapt. cont. Donat. lib. 6. cap▪ 1. Therfore I am not of opinion with those men who thinke that all secular and prophane learning should be abando­ned from the lips of the preacher, and whither he teach or exhort, he is of necessity to tie himselfe to the sentence and phrase of onely scrip­ture. Good is good wheresoever I finde it. Vpon a vvithered and fruitlesse stalke, saith Augustine, a grape sometimes may hange. Shall I refuse the grape because the stalke is fruitlesse and vvhithered? [Page 542] There is not any knowledge of learning to bee despised, Non vlla dispiciend [...] disciplinae cognitio▪ cùm de ge­nere bonorū scientia si [...] omnis: quin potiùs ipsā spernentes et rusticos & planè igna­vios existima re debemus &c. Greg: Nazi­an. in monod. seeing that all sci­ence whatsoever, is in the nature and kinde of good thinges. Rather those that despite it, vvee must repute rude and vnprofitable altogither, who would bee glad that all men vvere ignoraunt, that their owne ignorance lying in the common heape mighte not be espied. If Philosophie shoulde therefore not be set by, because some haue erred through Philosophie, no more shoulde the sunne and the moone, because some haue made them their Gods, and committed idolatrie vvith them. It seemeth by the preface of M. Luther vpon the Epistle to the Galathians that the Anabaptistes condemned the graces and workes of God, for the indignity of the persons and subiectes in vvhome they were founde. Luther retor­ted vpon them. Then belike matrimony, authority, liberty &c. are not the workes of God, because the men who vse them, are some of them wicked. Wicked men haue the vse of the sun, the moone, the earth, the aire, the water, and other creatures of God. There­fore is not the sunne the sunne, and do the others loose their good­nesse because they are so vsed? The Anabaptistes themselues, when as yet they were not rebaptised, had notwithstanding bodies and soules; now because they were not rebaptized, were not their bodies true bodies, and their soules right soules? Say, that their parents al­so had a time when they were not rebaptized. Were they not ther­fore truly married? If not, it will follow therevpon, that the parentes were adulterers, their children bastardes, and not meete to inherite their fathers landes.

Likewise truth is truth wheresoever I finde it. Whither vvee search in Philosophy, or in the histories of the Gentiles▪ or in Ca­nonicall scriptures, there is but one truth. If Peter, if the Sibylles, if the devilles shall say, that Christ is the sonne of the living GOD, it is not in one a truth, a lie in the other; but though the persons, mo­tiues, and endes bee different, the substance of the confession is in all, the same. It was true which Menander the Poet spake, before the Apostle ever wrote it to the Church of Corinth; Evill wordes cor­rupt good manners. And because it was a truth in Menander, there­fore the Apostle alleadged it, which else hee woulde not. The dif­ference betweene them is,Sic bona sen­tentia man▪ sit, turpis a [...]thor muta­ [...]us est. Aui. Gell. Noc. Att. lib. 18. cap. 3. that as in Lacedaemon sometimes, when in a waighty consultation, an eloquent but an evill man, had set downe a good decree, which they coulde not amende, they caused it to bee pronounced by one of honest name and conversation, and in such simplicity of wordes as hee was able presently to light vpon, by that meanes neither crediting the bad authour so much as to [Page 543] take a iudgement from his mouth, nor reiecting the good sentence: so that which was a truth in the lips of Menander, is not more true, vttered by an Apostles tongue, but it hath gotten a more approo­ved and sanctified author. And surely as in the tilling of the ground, the culter and share are the instrumentes that breake the cloddes, and carry the burthen of the worke, yet the other partes of the plough are not vnnecessary to further it: so for the first breaking vp of the fallow ground of mens heartes, and killing the weedes and brambles that are therein of Adams auncient corruption, or for prea­ching the greate mysterie of pietie, and comfortable spe [...]king to Sion touching the pointes of salvation, the onely worde of God, sharper then culter or share or two edged sword, is onely and absolutely suf­ficient. But a man must dayly builde vpon the former foundation, and not onely teach, but explicate by discoursing, illustrate by exam­ples, exemplifie by parables and similitudes, by arguments confirme, shame the gaine-saiers, convince the adversaries, fashion the life to the doctrine, plant iudgement and iustice insteede of vnrighteousnes, stirre vp the affections,2. Tim. 2. and shewe himselfe every way a vvorke­man not to bee ashamed, and rightly dividing the worde of trueth: from whom if you take his knife, that is, his arte and cunning, he shall rather teare it with his teeth, and pull it asunder with his nailes, than rightly divide it.

But you appeale to the consciences of beleevers, and desire to knowe, vvhither their first conversion to the faith, vvere by reading or hearing of Gentile stories? No. For who ever required that service of prophane learning? which, whatsoever the instrument or meanes be, is principally and almost wholy the worke of the holy Ghost; and wherein is fulfilled vpon every convert that commeth to the knowledge of the trueth, that which Samuell comforted Saule with; The spirite of the Lorde shall come vpon thee, and thou shalt bee turned into an other man. VVho else taketh the stonie hearte out of their bodies, 1. Sam. 10. Ezech. 3 [...]. and giveth them an hearte of flesh? And we know besides, that the con­versions of men to the faith, haue not beene all after one sorte: in some, by the preaching of Christ crucified, as in those that vvere added to the Church by the sermon of Peter: in some,Act. 2. by a word from the mouth of Christ, Follovve mee: in some, by visions and voy­ces from heaven, as Paule, Act. 9. was throwne from his horse, and smitten with blindnesse, and a voice came downe from the clowdes, saying, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou mee? and Saint Augustine re­porteth, Confess. 8.12. that by a voice from heaven, saying, Take [Page 544] vp and reade, To [...]le, lege. take vp and reade, hee was directed to that sentence Rom. 13. Not in chambe [...]ing and wantonnesse &c. Iustine Martyr wit­nesseth of himselfe in his Apology to Antoninus,Euseb. 4.8. that when he saw the innocent Christians, after their slaunderous and false traduce­mentes, carried to their deathes, patient and ioyfull, that they were thought worthy to suffer for the name of Christ, it occasioned his chandge of religion.Socra. 4.15. Sozom. 7.15. Socrates and Sozomene write that many of Alexandria, when the great temple of Serapis was repurdged and made serviceable for the vse of the Christians, finding some mysti­call letters or cyphers therein,Literae Hie­roglyphicae. vvhereby the forme of a crosse was figured, and signification long before given, that the temple shoulde haue an ende, thought it warning enough to forsake their heathe­nish superstitions, and to embrace the gospell of Christ Iesus. Ma­ny other Aegyptians, beeing terrified by the strange inundation of Nilus,Sozom. lib. 7. cap. 20. higher than the wonted manner thereof was, immediatlie condemned their ancient idolatry, and applyed themselues to the worship of the living God. Clodoveus the French King, after manie perswasions of Crotildis his lady, a religious Burgundian, vainelie spent vpon him, having at length receaved a great discomfiture and slaughter in a battaile against the Almannes, and finding himselfe forsaken of all earthly aide,An. Do. 496. vid. Ioan. Pappum hi­stor. de. con­ver. gen [...]iū. cast vp his eies into heaven, and vowed to become a Christian, vpon condition that God would giue him the vi­ctory over his enimies; which he faithfully performed. Now it holdeth not in reason, that because men are converted to the faith by miracles, martyrdoms, visiōs, inundatiōs, hieroglyphicks, & such meanes, there­fore they should alwaies be confirmed by the same; or that those who are converted by the word of faith, should no otherwise be confirmed and strengthened than by that only word. For our owne partes, we cannot worke wonders, we cannot call downe lights & visions from heaven, we must vse such meanes as God hath enabled vs vnto. And therein, tell mee also by experience, If as in former times the Gen­tiles were confuted by the writings of the Gentiles (which is either a parte or at least a preparatiue to conversion, for wee must first re­mooue the preiudices conceaved against the trueth,) by the philo­sophy of Plato, Trismegistus, and others, vvhich Iulian a wise but wicked Emperour saw,Proprij [...] pen­nis consigi­mur. Theodo­ret. tripart. histor. lib. 6. cap. 17. beholde vvee are wonded vvith our owne quilles, out of our bookes they take armour vvhich in fighte they vse against vs, and therefore made a lawe that the children of the Galilaeans shoulde not reade philosophers nor Poets; and as the Iewes in later yeares by the Talmud of the Iewes (for proofe whereof I send you to [Page 545] the Truenes of Christiā religion, written both in Latin & French, & put into English by as honorable a translator as the author was, So in the winning & reclaiming of Papistes at this day, it bee not an ordinary way, to roote vp their errors, besides the scriptures of God, not onlie by consent of Fathers, decisions of Councels, but even by principles of philosophy, by reason & outward sense, from the verdict wherof, in many questiōs amongst them, they are wholy departed.Hoc quod oculi renun­ciant &c. In Tran­substantiatiō, by name, do we not shake & cōvince their in extricable absurdities by evidence of sense, by that which our hands handle, & our eie declareth vnto vs, by natural demensions which a natural bo­dy is subiect vnto, by circūscriptiō of place, & collocatiō in one place at once, & how vnsensible a thing it is, to have accidēts without their subiect, roundnes, whitenes, & the rellish of bread without bread, e­ven as the Lord himselfe proved the truth of his body, by a truth of philosophy, when they tooke him for a spirit, touch me, handle me, Luke 24. Lucre [...]. see me, Tāgere enim & tangi nisi corpus nulla potest res, for nothing cā touch or be touched but a true body? Is it enough in this cōflict to tel a Pa­pist, that Christ is ascended into heaven, & there must sit til al things be restored? doth he not drive thee frō thine holde, & put thee to a further replication? So do they also in many other questions; wherin if we rest vpon scripture alone, we shall send them away vnsatisfied, because they admit not this iudge without other copartners, to sit & give sentence alone in the ending of our controversies. And there­fore they must be vanquished, as Basilides & Saturninus were in Eu­sebius, [...], both by written demonstrations, and by vnwritten redargutions.Lib. 4. cap. 7. bistor. eccles. Is this now to make the pulpit a philosophers schoole or rather the philosophers schoole a foote-stoole to the pulpit, and to vse it as a servant to Divinity that it may the better proceede in the necessarye vvorke? The hi­stories of the Heathen (as lightly as we reckon of them) of Moab and Ammon and all the cuntries of Canaan in former times, of the Me­des & Persians, auncient Romanes & Graecians; & at this day of the Mores, Moscovites, Turkes, and Tartarians, their religion, sacrifices, manners, lawes, leagues, wars, stratagemes, and even the wars of Hā ­niball and Scipio, wherin the providence of God mightily wrought and the pollicy of men carefully bestirred it selfe; have they no­thing in them fit for the vse of the tēple & for the building of Gods house? Then why do we traine vp our children, in poets, orators, hi­stories, Greekc & Latine, old & new, & not presently set thē to the testaments, & everlastingly keepe thē in the reading & conning of [Page 546] only catechismes, if all that elementary learning (for so I confesse with Seneca, rudimenta sunt, non opera, they are rudiments & beginnings, not workes) must be wholy forgotten and laide aside in the exercising of an higher calling? Or is it a point of wisedome, thinke we, to sea­son these new vessels, when their taste of life to come is especially to be framed, with such vnprofitable licour, wherof ther is no good vse to be made in riper yeares, and at sounder discretion? If such were the vanity, and no better fruites of these yonger studies, when an elder profession, and a more settled iudgment hath them in handling, let Licinius be cleared of that infamous speech of▪ his in tearming good Letters, Vir [...] reip. the poison of a cōmō-wealth; & let al our bookes be heaped togi­ther & burnt in the market-place, as those books of curious arts, Act. 19▪ & let their barbarous opinion who cry to pull downe schooles & v­niversities, find favour & good speed in the wishings of al men. But I ever retained, & til I am better informed, wil endevor to maintainea more honorable opiniō of learning; & such poore friendship as I am able to lend to the defence of it, I wil ever be ready to shew as Iona­tha did to David, not only in the field, where no man seeth it, but e­ven to the face of those by whō it is most discredited. Because I have ever found by my little & simple experience, that neither the vse of Grāmer in the proprieties of words, nor of Logicke in distinguishing ambiguities, nor Rhetoricke in following precepts & rules of speech, nor Philosophy in scāning causes & their effects, nor history in cal­culating times, nor of any of these in many other vses and services▪ could at any time be missing to the mistres & Queen of al these arts I meane to the handling of Divinity, which is the sciēce of sciences. S. Austin writing against Petilian, telleth vs, that his adversary some­times with open mouth and full breath would accuse him for a Logi­cian, & bring Logicke it selfe to her triall before the people, as the mistresse of forgery & lying: Lib. 3. co [...]s. Petil. ca. 16. Anhelis pul­monibus, tan quam diale­cticum cri­minatur, &c Jbid. [...]a. 21. & because he shewed some Rhetoricke, would note him by the name of Tertullus the orator, & charge him with the damnable wit of Carne­ades the Academicke: but you must know the reason, Cū ad interroga­tum respondere non posset, when he was not able to answere the question pro­pounded. No doubt, it was some great disgrace to that learned father, to be blamed for good artes, and to beare an obiection and reproach for too much schollership. Thus let ignorance ever be able to obiect to the champians of the true church and propugners of the faith of Christ.The testi­monies of the [...] ▪ And because I am fallē into the testimony of S. Austin let me further acquaint you what hee writeth of this very argument, in his 2. booke of christiā learning. His iudgement is ample & plaine, that [Page 547] if the philosophers, so called, especially the Platonickes,Cap. 40. Tanquam ab iniusti [...] possessori­bu [...]. had spokē a­ny truth consonant to our faith, we should be so far of, from fearing it, that we should bereaue them thereof, as vniust owners, and posses­sioners, & apply it to our owne vse. For as the Egyptians had not on [...]ly idols & burthens which Israel detested, but vessels and ornamēts of silver, & gold, & store of raiment,Non solúm idolae e [...] one­ra &c. which Israel not by their owne authority, but by Gods cōmandement borrowed, & Egypt ignorāt­ly lent, not knowing how to vse thē as they ought: So al the learning of the Gentiles, besides their superstitious & abominable figments, hath also liberal artes, serviceable to the truth, & profitable precepts of civility, & somwhat vnreproueable of the worship of the true God, which is as it were their silver & gold, not which thēselues foūd out, but tooke it frō the mines of Gods heavenly providence, vniversally infused into the minds of al mē living. Likewise the institutiōs of mē, as it were apparel fit for humane society, which the life of man cānot want. He also numbreth the Israelites that went out of Egypt,Suffarci­nati. laden with those spoiles, Cyprian, Lactātius, Victorinus, Optatus, Hilary; & besides those who were then living, an innumerable sight of Graeci­ans; & before al these, the most faithful servant of the Lord, Moses, of whō it is written that he was learned in all the wisedome of the Egyptians. Finally he there concludeth, not preiudicing any other either his e­quall or superiour, that would otherwise vnderstand it, that the po­licy of the children of Israell in robbing the Egyptians, did vndoub­tedly prefigurate this our spoiling of the Gentiles. I wil not conceale withal, his retraction touching this point,Quod mul­tum tribu [...] disciplini [...] liberalib. quas multi­sancti mul­tum nesciūt quidā autem qui sciune eas sancti non sunt. 1. Retrac. 3. Jn can [...]ic. ser. 9. Lib. 1. epist. 82. Si praepare [...] ingenium▪ non detin [...] ­an [...]. in that he had much as­cribed to liberall sciences, which many holy men are much ignorant of, and some that know them, are not holy. Therefore in his first booke of order, he bringeth himselfe into an order & measure therein, that the lear­ning of these liberall sciences must be modesta at (que) succincta, modest & short. Otherwise it is vinum inebrians, as Bernard calleth it, wine that ma­keth a man drunke, implens nō nutriens, inf [...]ans non aedificans, rather glutting than nourishing, and puffing him vp than edifiying him. Therefore Seneca, though he knew not the soveraigne knowledge which we doe, and that which is life everlasting vnto vs, cōcerning the father of lightes; and him whom he hath sent, Christ Iesus, yet in comparison of other more profitable studies and meditations, he ascribeth vtility no far­ther vnto these, than that they prepare the witte, rather than fasten & seize vpon it. Non enim discere debemus ista, sed didicisse. For wee must not ever bee learning these, but haue learned them. Ierome, (or whi­ther it were Valerius) in an epistle to Ruffinus writeth thus: Doest [Page 548] thou mervaile,Tom. 4. or art thou displeased, that I send thee to the imitati­on of Gentiles? a Christian of Idolatours? a lambe of whelpes? the good of the evill? I would haue thee like the witty discoursing Bee, which from a nettle gathereth hony. So do thou sucke hony from the rocke,Volo sis api argumētosae similis &c. Omnis crea­ [...]ura dei ha­bet aliquod exemplar honesti. Crassam illi rusticitatem solùm pro sanctitate habent. Ne vescen­tiū dentibus edentulus in vide at, & oculos capra rum talpa contemnat Epist. 84. Deut. 21. and oile from the hardest stone. I know the superstition of the Gentiles, but every creature of God hath some president of goodnes in it. Many things they do perversly, but some things which haue died with themselues, haue caused fruit to abound in vs. And in his 102. epistle to Marcella, he taxeth some, who held grosse & pal­pable rusticity, (ignorance, lacke of learning) for only sanctity, and bragged that they were disciples of fisher-men, as if they were therefore holy, because they knew nothing. And else-where he wrote to Romanus, that he shoulde admonish Calphurnius, if hee vvan­ted teeth himselfe, not to bee envious against others vvho were a­ble to eate, nor to contemne the eies of goates, himselfe beeing a want and starke blinde. To this purpose hee alleageth and ap­plieth the lawe of the beawtifull captiue vvoman taken in vvarre, wherevnto if a man had a minde, he must cause her heade to bee shaven, her nailes pared, and the garmentes, wherin shee vvas taken, put of, and then he might marry her. VVhat mervaile is it then, saith he, if I take the wisedome of the vvorlde, for the grace of speech and comelinesse of partes that I finde therin, and of a cap­tiue make it an Israelitish woman, and whatsoever it hath dead, ido­latrous voluptuous, erroneous or the like either I cut it away or shaue it, and bring forth lawful children to the Lord of hostes? Thus O see tooke him a wife of fornications, Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, who bare him a sonne,Ose. 1. and he called him Izreel, that is, the seede of God. And towards the end of that epistle, as if he had been exercised with the obiections of our times, hee would not haue him mistake, as if it were not lawfull so to do, saue only in disputations against the Gen­tiles; for almost there is no booke written by any man, excepting E­picurus and his followers,Jn aliis dis­pu [...]ationibus dissimulan­dum. but is very full of learning. Basilius the Great, in a large treatise to his nephewes of this very argumēt, coun­saileth thē, not to cast the ankers of their shipping, nor to fasten their opinions & affections vpon such men, but only to picke out those things that were profitable. To life everlasting he doubteth not but they may be sufficiently furnished out of the sacred volumes. Those other writings: which were not altogither discrepant frō the bookes of God might serue as shadowes & glimpses before hande to pre­pare the sight, and for triall of witte, as those that practise a while in [Page 549] the sense-schoole, before they professe their better skil, and as fullers lay some ground coulour, before they die purple. He addeth, that as to trees laden with fruit, the leaues giue some ornament & grace; so when the excellentest truth is apparelled and compassed with this outward wisedome of the world, it becommeth therby the more de­lightfull & pleasant. Notwithstanding, he wisheth them not to take their choice at rādom, & to esteeme al alike. But as in plucking roses, they are carefull to avoide the prickles; so they giue heed to that only which is good, and eschew the noisome & pestilent. And although he leaveth obscene and wanton Poets to the stage, yet he encoura­geth them to the better sort, vpon the iudegment of a graue man, & well skilled in the Poets, of whom he had heard,Omnis Ho­meri poes [...] virtutis laus. Prolegons in Genes. that Homers whole poetry, was but a praise of vertue. David Chytraeus a little to breake the ranke of the fathers, speaketh as highly in the commendation of phi­losophers & orators: that al their writings of maners are as it were a certaine commentary, vpon the 5. former commaundements of the later table. The knowledge of the former he confesseth, was over­obscure vnto them, and of the last of all touching concupiscence, al­most extinguished. And he honoreth histories no lesse, the common and vniversall argument of all which he affirmeth to bee that which an Heathen spake, Discite iustitiam moniti, & nō temnere divos; Ye Prin­ces & people of the world, take your warning, to do iustice & to fear God. For this cause, to returne backe to the fathers, S. Agustine in one place cleareth philosophy, and philosophers, and telleth his mother that the divine scriptures, which she embraced so earnestly, did not condēne philosophers simply, but the philosophers of this world. 1. De ord. cap. vlt. Colos. 2. And if any man thought that all philosophy was to be shunned▪ his mea­ning was none other thein, than not to haue vs loue wisedome. In an other he speaketh for eloquēce, & thinketh it no reasō, that because some beare armes against their countrey, others should be debarred of armour to defend it; or that Phisitians instruments should bee de­nied to the skilfull,Advers. Crescon. li. 1. Cap 1. Quae vtinā mihi prode­siderio pro­venisse [...]. Jbid. cap. [...]. because the vnlearned haue vsed them to kill with. Eloquence, he saith, is not evill (which for the vttering of his minde, he wisheth had fallen vnto him to his harts desire) but a so­phisticall, malignāt professions, proposing to it selfe, not is it meaneth but either of cōtentiō, or for commodity sake, to speake for al things and against all thinges. What vvere more profitable than the eloquence of Donatus, Parmenian, and others of your secte, if it ranne with as free a streame for the peace, vnity, trueth, and loue of Christ, as it floweth against it? for else it is venenata fa­facundia, [Page 550] a venemous eloquence, Si noxium, ibi dam­natu [...], si vti­le, ibi in ve­nitur. &c. Aug. 2 de doct Chr. 42. August. Ibid Covasrub­dom. 1. ad­vent. ser. 6. Quaecun (que) a pud omnes recté dicta sūt, nostra Chri­stianorū sūt. Iustin. Mart orat. ad Gen­til. & Sen. Rom. Progymnas mata. Tert. in Apol 1. & 5. strom Ioan Langus praefat. in Iustin. Mare ad Gent. Iustin. Mart adver Graec. Praesumpsio ne [...] in iis, in nobi [...] sūmae scientiae. Petrus Ble­sent. Non refert quâ terrâ nata, [...]uius hortulani curâ creverit herba, modò sanet. 2. Sam. 12. Joan. de Bro [...]ardo Ei [...]s igitur exemplo & [...]u [...]ilio &c. as Cyprian wrote of the eloquence of Novatus in his epistle to Cornelius▪ I know there is much amisse both in the matter & in the vse of prophane learning. But this we are sure of, that if wee bring it to the touchstone of scripture, what­soever wee read in forraine authors, if it be vicious, it is there con­demned; if holesome, we sh [...]ll there finde it, and many things besides which we haue founde no where els. For it shall never bee denied, but that here are the riches and treasures of wisedome; and that the knowledge collected out of the bookes of the Gentiles with this of the booke of God compared, is no more, than the treasure carried out of Egypt, which to the riches of Ierusalem, especially when Salomon was the king there, was in a māner as nothing. For as the wine that commeth from the vines of the mountaines, is both finer and pleasanter, than that of the vallies; so the heavenly knowledge which descendeth from the highest hils, & from the throne of God, must needs be sweeter to our tast, than the sowre & vnsavory know­ledge of the world, which groweth in the valley of teares. To con­clude, what things soever, & in what authors soever, were wel spokē, they are ours, I meane the christians; & we may take our own where we find it. Plato is sometimes alter Moses, & Moses Atticus, an other Moses, and Moses at Athens: wheresoever therefore he speaketh as Moses did, that is ours. Orpheus and Sybilla haue delivered certaine introductiōs or assaies of propheticall learning; those are ours. What Poet, what Philosopher is there, that hath not drunke at the well of the Prophets? that is ours. Clemēs Alexandrimus calleth thē theeues, & chargeth them to haue stollen their best opinions from holy wri­ters; those are ours also. Many things they speake at vnawares, & tan­quam per recantationem, at a fit, as it were recanting their errors, many things ingratis, compelled and against their wils, which in them are but ghesses and presumptions, in vs grounded knowledge; these are ours likewise. It skilleth not in what ground the hearbe grew, nor what gardener sowed it, or brought it vp, so it heale. And what mat­ter is it though the crowne were the kings of Ammon, so it be meete for the king of Ierusalem to take away, and to set vpon his ovvne heade? A country-man of our owne, though an obscure author, wrote not obscurely touching this controversie. For in the pro­logue of his tripartite worke, he giveth a reason why he induceth the lawes of the Heathen. The wisedome of God▪ saith hee, hath brought the storke, and the kite, and the swallow to witnesse against sinners. VVherefore by his example and assistance, who hath [Page 551] brought an hony-combe out of the mouth a lion, and abondance of water from an asses iawbones, and who is able of stones to raise vp children to Abraham, I haue endevoured of the lawes of Pagans, to make childrens bread, fit for the information and instruction of a christian life. I haue long troubled you with the opinions of the aun­cient Fathers, & some later Divines, touching these Gentile and ex­ternall helpes. But where shall I seeke patrones, if neede be, for these fatherlesse and friendlesse Fathers themselues? for these we also ac­count to be spottes in our sermons, & our labours seeme the worse, if the names of Augustine, Ierome, & other reverend Doctours do but sound therein. Surely according to that image of the vvorlde, which I haue found pictured with the feete vpwardes, to note that all thinges are turned vpside downe, we the Pūies & proselytes of good learning, controle and correct our fathers: and although in many of vs, there be very small cause, yet we presume to say with David, not speaking from the humble spirit of God, but from a strōg conceite of our owne weaknesse, and a weaker iudgement of the strength of others, I am vviser than my teachers, Psal. 159. I haue more vnder­standing than the auncient ever had. Howsoever we account of them, it is most true, that they haue labored for vs, and we are entred vpon their labours. The fruites whereof if wee reape without ac­knowledgement, we are vnthankfull; or if we passe thē over vvith contempt and disdaine, and thinke it the loosing of good houres, to peruse their bookes, we are too fond of our owne learning. O­ther men as they list. Let them esteeme the light of antiquity no better worth than to be hid vnder a bushell, and quite supprest, that they may set their owne vpon a candlesticke,Senec. lib. 8. Epist. 65. and cause it to blaze to the view of the whole house: Ego vero illos veneror, & tantis no­minibus semper assurgo, But for mine owne parte, I haue them in great reverence, and honour their very names; and I say of their workes in generall, as Theotimus a Bishoppe amongst the Scy­thians spake of the workes of Origen, when Theophilus and E­piphanius vrged him to ioine in the condemnation of them: I vvill neither discredit him,Vt reprobem quae maiores nostri non reprobarunt▪ Socrat. lib. 6. Cap. 12. who is long since happily fallen a sleepe in the LORDE: neither dare I attempt so blasphemous a thing, as to reprooue those writings which our fore-fathers haue not repro­ved. They carried memorable names in former ages. Cyprian called Tertullian his maister. Vincentius Lirinensis saieth of him, that his argumentes were as the lightninges to beate downe here­tickes. The testimonies that Augustine giveth vnto Cyprian, are [Page 552] very large,Inter raro [...] & pauco [...] excellentiss. gra [...]ae viros L [...]. 6 de bapt con [...]. Dona­tist. cap 2. Erasm. prae­fa [...]. in opera Cypriani▪ Haeretico. rum malleus Orbis terra­runt oculus. Magnus A­thanasius. and this amongst the rest, that the Mother Church re­puted him in the number of a verye fevv of most excellent condition, But who can study to spend more honour vpon him, than hee vvho saide, Loquitur a [...]serta, sed magis fo [...]ia quam diserta, ne (que) tam loquitur fortia quam vivit; His speech is eloquent, yet hath more strength in it than eloquence, and his life more strength th [...]n his speech. Au­gustine they termed not vnworthily the hammer of heretickes. A­thanasius called Ambrose the eye of the worlde. Athanasius him­selfe was surnamed the Greate, for his invincible courage in defen­ding the Church. Nazianzen writeth of Basile, that betweene him & his followers, there is no more cōparison than betweene pillers & their shadowes. I omitte the rest. But such are our vnequall iudge­mentes, of those whose equalles wee shall hardelye bee, that if vvee were willed to speake what we thought of Basile, we would reckon him but a shadow and counterfeit to our selues, and great A­thanasius as one of the least amongst vs, and thrust out the eyes of Ambrose, and tearme him a crow and a chough as the Pie of Mi­randula did, & Cyprian should haue a letter of his name changed as sometimes it was,Corvum & corniculam. Cyprianus. Caprianus Lactant. and bee but Caprian vnto vs, one that wrote of trifles and vanities. I omitte the rest, the classicall and principall Doctours of the church (next the Apostles of Christ, and their next succeeders) the starres and ornamentes of learning, the pillers of religion and Christianity in their time, who put their bodyes and soules betwixt Christ and his adversaries, who spake, and vvrote, and lived, and died in defence of his truth, whose labours were then renowned, and GOD in his providence hath reserved their bookes to this day, monumentes to vs of their infatigable paines, and helpes to our studies, if wee bee not enemies to our selues. I could be content to say much for them; because I vse them much. For I never could bee bold to offer mine owne inventions and con­ceiptes to the world when I haue found them such in S. Augustine, and others, as might not bee amended. I would not wish the lear­ned of any sort, that hath but borne a booke, to dispraise learning. She hath enemies enough abroade,Oportet sa­pientiam ab insipienti­bus feriri Diogen▪ though she be iustified by her chil­dren. It is fitter that wisedome be beaten by fooles, than by wise­men:, and that Barbary disgrace artes, rather than Athens the mo­ther and nurse of them. But aboue all other places, a blow given in the pulpit, leaveth a skarre in the face of learning, which cannot ea­sily be removed. It preiudiceth the teaching of others, as if they fed the people with akornes & huskes in steede of bred; & because [Page 553] they gather the mēbers of truth togither, dispersed through oratours, philosophers, poets, fathers, scriptures, & make one body of them all which God is the author of, they are thought in a manner to preach falshod. Or at least, it is vanity, in those that preach, & itching in those that heare, & in neither of both to be allowed. I also condēne it, whē it is so. Vaine & vaine glorious invention let it wither at the braine that sent it forth. And let itching eares fret & consume away with the malignity of their humours. Where we find them itching afte [...] pleā ­sure, it is good to make them smart with the acrimony of severe re­prehension. But where it is otherwise, let not a rash conclusion with­out proofe, be admitted against good learning. If Asclepiodorus will draw with a cole, or chawke alone, I iudge him not; if others will paint with colours, neither let them bee iudged. If some will barely teach, and others proue; if some affect to speake with simpli­city, and others with variety illustrate; If some conferre with men of yester day, others with antiquitye, some binde themselues precise­ly to the words of God, others not refraine the words of men, vsing thē as the words of God; If some stande narrowlye vpon the tearmes and sentences of faith, [...] 1. Pet. 4. others not depart from the proportion of faith nor bring in anye thinge dissonant and disagreeing to the vniformi­ty thereof; both may doe well, but the latter, in mine opinion, doe farre the better. That which concerneth you, in this little dissent of iudgementes, the sheepe of his pasture, by whome wee are set in his house to giue you your portion in due time, is this that you be not dismaied heereat. For wee preach not our selues in such kinde of preachinges, but Christ Iesus the Lorde, not to com­mend our giftes, but to edifie your consciences. And to this ende, I may saye, vvith some alteration of vvordes, as the Apostle to the Corinthians, All thinges are yours, whither it bee Paul, or A­pollos, or Cephas, or the vvorlde, or life, or death, or thinges present, 1. Cor. [...] or thinges to come: so all thinges are yours in our preachinge, whither it be scripture, or nature, or art, all is yours. Yours are Philosophers, Ora­tors, Historigraphers, Poets, Iewes, Gentiles, Grecians, Barbarians, Fa­thers, new-writers, men, angelles, that you may be saved; this only is the end, where vnto our knowledge & learning of what kind soever is directed.

To returne to Ionas discontented, and withall to conclude;The con­clusion. you see the fall, nay you see the relapse of a chosen prophet, a sicknes recovered, and a recidivation into the same or a worse sickenes. Before hee had sinned, and recanted his sinne, and washed his dis­obedience [Page 554] away with the water of the sea, but now is returned to the mire againe: mire indeed, wherein his heart as a troubled & mud­dy spring is so disordered, that he discerneth nothing a right, neither in faith to God, nor charity to man, nor loue to himselfe; accusing the most righteous Lord, envying his innocent brethren, and car­ried away headlong with a kind of detestation towardes his owne person; once angry, and angry againe, and not onely conceaving, but defending anger; angry with the worme in the earth, angry with the sunne in the skie, angry with the winde in the aire, angry with the former and governour of all these, who could haue ended his passion with the least breath of his angry lippes. A daungerous and grievous wound in a Sainte, If I woulde thrust my fingers into it, and thoroughly handle it. But I leaue it to the order of my text, vvor­thy of another sea, and of another whale, and once more of the belly of hell, even of hell indeede, if God would exactly stand to re­pay it, Improbe Neptunum accusat, qui iterum naufragium facit; Hee hath no reason to accuse Neptune, that so presentlye after a late daunger, will hazard himself to take shipwracke againe. God is admirable in his Saintes, not onely in their risinges, but in their fal­lings also. The best amongst them haue fallen. And I loue to re­port their falles, not that I take any pleasure with vngracious Chain to vncover the nakednes of my fathers, but because that mantell and cloke of charity, which God casteth over their sinnes, to cover their weaknesses with, is the comfortablest reading and learninge that the world hath. S. Augustine spake wisely of the errour of Cy­prian:Lib. 1. de baptis, cont. Donat. cap. 18. Propterea non vidit aliquid, ut aliquid per eum supereminentius vi­deretur; There was something which he saw not, that hee might gaine the knowlege of some more excellent thing, That vvhich hee lost in faith, hee gott in charity. So there is somewhat that Io­nas doth not, to make way to the doing of some bettter worke. For if hee gained nothing else, the mercy of God might by this meanes bee the more commended in the forgiuenesse of his trespasse, and that which hee looseth in charity, hee getteth in faith, that is in the assurance and ratification of the loue of God towardes him. Com­missum at (que) conscriptum est: saith Augustine vppon the 51. Psalme. of the adultery and murther of David. So is this fault of Ionas both done and written by one of whome I am sure that his witnesse is true, because hee accuseth himselfe: and it is written for our learning, that those who yet stand, fall not; and those that are fallen, may rise a­gaine. Trust not your armes of flesh, trust not your heartes of a­shes, [Page 555] trust not your purest and vprightest spirits, whilest they have their dwelling in houses of clay, and there is a law in the members striving against them to get the victory. If you have stood a time, yet trust not your legges, you may slide againe; or if you have slipt and recovered, trust not that recovery, for feare of back-sliding. Trust not the prerogative of your calling; Prophets have fallen, Patriar­ches have fallen, Apostles have fallen, starres have fallen, An­gelles have fallen; trust notly your strength, it is infirmitye; trust not wisedome, it is folly; trust not the frendshippe of the world, it is enmity with God; trust not the authority thereof, it is contempti­ble in his sight; trust not the purity of nature, it is defiled; trust not the righteousnesse of your workes, it is vnperfit: trust in the mercy of God, for that onely is absolute; and in the merites of his beloved sonne, for they are all-sufficient. It is I, it is even I, Es. 43. which for mine owne sake put avvay thine iniquities. It is not I, nor thou, nor Abraham, nor Moses, nor Peter at Rome, not Paul at Ierusalem, that can doe this cure: Heare thy Physitian; It is I, even I. Not with the preparation of thine owne nature, nor with the liberty of thine owne will, nor with the cooperation of thine owne iustice: heare him once againe; It is I, even I, which for mine owne sake. If thou thinketh to hire him, thou loosest him. Hee standeth not vpon thy desart, but vpon his owne most holy name, his owne most righ­teous promise, and the obedience of his owne and most only begot­ten sonne, the Lord Christ Iesus.

An admonition to the readers.

IT may seeme strange, that I have vsed so lardge and impertinent a digression in behalfe of good learning. As after a longe orati­on spent in the praise of Hercules, one asked, quis vituperavit? Who dispraised Hercules? So you may desire to know, vvho dis­praised learning. Let it suffice you to vnderstand, that one of my fellow-labourers in this worke of the Lorde, whome neither I iudge in the freedome of his conscience for speaking what hee thought, neither can free from the community of erring with my selfe and o­thers, because wee are all vnperfite in knowledge, vpon the best day of the seven, in the best place, and before not the meanest as­sembly, handling the wordes of the Apostle, 1. Cor. 16.13. watch yee, stand fast in the faith; tooke occasion therevpon, to stande for the onelye worde of faith in sermons, with vehement exception a­gainst [Page 556] the histories of the Gentiles, Orators, Poets, & other prophane knowledge. Wherein, let it be his commendation, that according to the warning of his text, he was diligent in his watch, and being iea­lous for the truth, suspected those for enemies which were not, and shewed his fidelity to the faith, though he went a litle too far, & mis­sed in the iust measure of applying it. For mine owne part, I woulde have spared mine answer, especially in publicke, but that I perceived the speech to bee bent to some marke of a few that laboured in that calling, and the eares of the people dranke it in with earnest attēti­on, because it was heartily spoken, and some were perplexed, others offended therewith, and learning was wounded, which not to have salved had beene a wrong, and the arrow flew from her side, & glan­ced vpon vs all without exception in that church, who in our man­ner of teaching held no other course.

THE XLI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. ver. 2.‘And he praied vnto the Lord, and said; I pray thee, O Lord, was not this my saying when I was yet in my country? &c.’

THe first part of this chapter is spent in decla­ring the fault of Ionas, his vnmerciful affecti­on towards this poore people freed from the wrath of God, to whō he should have wished wel if they had beene enemies, as now they were friends & reconciled by apparāt repen­tance, & rather thē have missed this successe which fell out, not only have doubled and trebled his paines, but even have pulled out his eies, & laid downe his life to have saved their lives. Ionas in liew hereof, envieth their mercy received, and is angry against God, the dispenser & carver of that mercy, & angry against himselfe, that hee liveth to behold his expectatiō so contraried. A wound in a prophet so much the more intollerable, that it was but greene after his late re­covery. For being newly raised vp from falling, he dasheth his foote presently against the same stone; rebelling before against the ex­presse commandement of God, and now, repining, fretting, expo­stulating, & not much lesse then rebelling againe. One would have thought that the salte sea should have purged and washed away all his cholericke distemperatures, and that his daunger so nevvly [Page 557] endured and eschewed, farther than his hope coulde see into, shoulde wholye have transformed him into a man of mercye. But you see it is otherwise. For the goodnes of God displeaseth Ionas exceedingly, and hee is angry. The impatience of Ionas consisting of envy implied, and probably coniectured, (it displeased Ionas) & of an­ger openly expressed, wee haue in generall laide downe in the first verse, & are particularly to pursue in those that follow. Thē were na­med the affections onely, now we come to the effectes of those affe­ctions, with what gesture & speech he came before God. Surely the effects are such, that they deserue to bee smitten with the censure of the wise man; A stone is heavy, & the sand weighty, but yet a fooles heart is heavier than thē both. Prov. 27. Ballance the iustice of God in his righteous dea­ling with the penitent city of Niniveh, against the anger of Ionas fi­red & enraged, doth not Ionas impeach it? as if the Lord had done some iniury, for which he were iustly to be taunted & brought into question? O I beseech thee, was not this my saying? &c. Pōder his owne of­fence, which if Saul, or some other aliant had cōmitted, hee should haue borne his trespasse, doth he not iustifie it? therfore I prevented it, that is, I did not amisse to flie vnto Tharsis. The state of this mighty city to be desolate & overthrown he regardeth no more, than to see a grasse in the field mowen downe. For I knew thee to be a mercifull God; that which I feared is fallen vpon me, the exhibition of thy grace to Niniveh. Yea the price of his owne life is but vile in his owne eies, so he may wreake his anger, & satisfy his discontēted mind, by any ei­ther lawfull or vnlawfull meanes: Now therfore, I pray thee, take my life frō me &c. Neither did he onely conceaue anger in his minde, but he followeth, feedeth, maintaineth it, that we haue iust cause to strike him againe with another sentence of the same wise man, Be not thou of an hasty spirit to be angry for anger resteth in the bosome of fooles. Eccles. 7. Lib. 2. cap. 16. de fide orthod. Damas­cen maketh three degrees; of anger, bilem, iracund [...]ā, infensionē, Choler, wrath, & heavy displeasure. The one he sayeth, hath beginning & mo­tion, but presently ceaseth; the other taketh deeper hold in the me­mory; the third desisteth not without revenge. Gregory Nyssen kee­ping the same number, calleth the 1. anger, the [...]. lightnes of the braine, Iram, mani­om, furorem. Comment. in Damas. 4 Ethic. 11. [...]. the 3. starke staring madnes. Clichtoveus compareth the first to fire in stubble, which is soone kindled, & soone put out; the secōd, to fire in iron, which hardly taketh & longer abideth; the third, to fire that is hid & never bewraieth it selfe, but with the ruine & wast of that mat­ter wherin it hath caught. Some are sharp, saith Aristotle, others are bit­ter, a 3. kind is implacable. The anger of Ionas may seeme to haue beene [Page 558] in the third place; it cannot bee mitigated. Hee desireth nothing so much as that Niniveh may bee overthrowen. Hee complaineth, persisteth, replieth, and by no perswasions can bee brought from shewing his displeasure both against God, and against his ovvne life. To come to my purpose; the particulars to bee examined, for the better searching out of his fault, are, 1. that hee prayed vnto the Lord: 2. what hee prayed: and therein both the substance of his petiton in the 3. verse, therefore I beeseech thee take my life from mee; and the causes that mooved him so to pray, for that, the mercy of God had disapointed him, I knew that thou art a gratious God &c. togither with an exprobration, that hee suspected so much when hee was at home.

1 That hee praied. And hee prayed vnto the Lorde. That Ionas prayed, or that he prayed vnto the Lorde, I dislike not. Happy is that man who ei­ther in the midst of anger, or of any other offence can pray. Hee ever obtaineth either that which hee prayeth for,Aut hoc quod orat. aut quod melius est, [...]ut quod suf­ficit. or that which is better, or that which is sufficient, If Ionas had restinguished and choked the fervour of his wrath, with the fervency of the spirit, hee had done beyond exception: but it is well that he remembreth him­selfe any way to bee a prophet, and doth not quite forget God and his whole duty towardes him. For anger hath a company of most pestilent daughters;Aquin. 2.2. quae. 158. tumor men­ [...]is. swelling of the minde, so high and so full, that there is no roume for any good motion to dwell by it: contumely, to­wardes men; blasphemy, towardes God; indignation of heart, im­patience and clamour of speech; violence of handes, with other sa­vage and monstrous demeanour, as far forth as strength will giue it leaue.Prover. 27. Anger is cruell, (saith the Proverbe) and wrath is raging, but who can stande before Envy? I know that the effectes of anger haue beene such as I named before.Genes. 49. They were such in Simeon and Le­vi, whome Iacob their father vppon his death-bed, when all dis­pleasure shoulde haue died with him, detested in his verye soule, and insteede of blessing, cursed them. They were such in Saul a­gainst Ionathan his owne flesh, for excvsing the absence of David, and making no more than a iust defence of his innocency, where­fore shall hee die? 1 Sam. 20. What hath hee done? When hee tooke vp a iaveling in his hande, and woulde haue nailed him to the wall, if his marke had not shunned him· It appeareth by that which followeth, that if it had beene possible for Ionas to haue commanded fire from hea­ven, as the disciples woulde haue done, Luke 9. against a towne of Samaria, hee would not haue spared it. But anger exerciseth the [Page 559] armes of the stronge, ths tongue of the weake. Therefore,Jra forti producit la­certos, imbel­li linguam. Scaliger. sith­ence hee hath not power over the thunders and lightnings of God, he occupieth but his tongue, but whatsoever may be done by the in­temperatnes therof, he dissembleth it not.

It is no great commendation to Ionas that hee prayed, because hee prayed in choler, with a spirit troubled and disordered, measu­ring all thinges, not by the wil of God, but by the fansies thereof; because with such distraction of minde, the founteine of his hearte powring forth sweete and sowre togither; the words of his lippes directed vnto God, but his inward cogitations altogither bestow­ed in purging himselfe, wishing revenge, accusing God, and other such like forreigne and improper intentions. It might haue bene saide to Ionas, bending himselfe to prayer in this sort, as the prophet spake to Ierusalem, wash thy heart from malice, Ierem. 4. Mat. 9. how long shall thy wicked thoughts remaine within thee? Or as it was said to the Scribes in the gospell, why thinke yee evill in your heartes? Our saviour coun­sailed his disciples, Mat. 6. when they prayed, not to bee as the hy­pocrites, standing at the heades of the streetes, but to enter into their chambers, and shut the dores vnto them, and to pray to their father in secrett, that hee might openly reward them. Now to what purpose is it, to remooue the body from the eies of men, to close it vp in a private chamber, within walles and dores,Molesta in­tus familia. Senec. Turbam in­tus sustinet. Gregor. if the soule haue a trou­blesome and vnquiet company within, anger, impacience, envie to disturbe her meditations with noise? for these must also be put forth as Christ put forth the minstrelles and mourners, all the affections of the heart must be repressed, the whole strength and might of the soule kept nearely togither, without wandering abroade, that by their forces vnited in one, the goodnesse of the Lorde may the soo­ner be obtained. The oracle gaue aunswere to a man desirous to knowe what art he shoulde vse in praying, thou must giue the halfe moone, the whole sunne, and the anger of a dogge, that is, cor, Da media [...] lunam, solem simul, & ca­nis iram. thy whole heart, with every affection belonging vnto it. In that introduction of prayer, which our Saviour setteth downe in the gospell, though there bee sundry branches of requests to God, as the sanctifieing of his name, the enlardginge of his kingdome, or whatsoever else is meete, either for the body or the soule of man, yet all the rest are passed over with their onely first reciting, and the onely exposition which hee leaveth vnto vs, is vpon the fift petition, wherein wee desire pardon of our owne debts, as wee pardon others.Math. [...]. For there our Saviour addeth, culling this one from amidst all the rest, and [Page 560] setting his speciall marke vpon it, if you forgiue men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgiue you; if not, looke accordinglye to bee dealt with. His meaning, no doubt, was, that when we bring our gift to the altar, the oblation of our lippes and heartes, and come not in charity, whatsoever we make request for, is returned backe a­gaine, and our whole offeringirefused, as an vnsavory thing which the Lorde hath no pleasure in.1. Cor. 13. Though I speake with the tongues of men & angelles, and haue not charity, I am as sounding brasse, or a tinckling cym­ball: & though I had the gift of prophecy, and knew all secrets and knowledge, yea, if I had all faith, so that I coulde remooue mountaines, and had not cha­rity, [...]; before I was little, I was but a sound, now I am nothinge, What can we lesse pronounce of the prayer of Ionas? though one that spake with the tongue of a man, & in cōparison of other men, the tongue of an angell, a tongue of the learned, a tongue refined like silver, though one that had the gift of prophecy, and knewe as many misteries of knowledge as was expedient for flesh and bloud to be acquainted with, one that had faith enough to saue him in the bottome of the seas, the bottome of the mountaines, the bottome & belly of a monstrous fish, but that the want of loue was sufficient to haue lost the blessing & grace of all his hearts desires?

2. What he prayed. And said, I pray thee, O Lorde, was not this my saying &c. Consider now I beseech you what he prayed, and therein, howe long it is be­fore hee commeth to the matter intended, a foolish and vnnecessa­ry discourse interposed of his owne praise, but his subiection to the wil of God not thought vpon. For what is the substāce of his prayer? that which is inferred, after a lōg preface, therfore I pray thee, take away my life from mee; hee strengthneth it by reason, for it is better for me to die than to liue. Why better? the cause of this commodiousnes and convenience are contained in the prolocution, in those frivolous & vaine speeches that are first laide downe, I beseech thee, was not this my saying &c. Asmuch as to say, I was thrust forth into a charge, which from the first houre I had never liking vnto, & wherin I thought, & said, and resolved to my selfe from the very beginning, that I should be deceived. Admit all this. Say thou foresawest it, and that the end would bee other than thou lookedest for, oughtest thou therfore to haue refused thy message? a necessity was laid vpon thee, and thou mightest well assure thy selfe, that woes would haue lighted vpon thee as many as the haires of thy head, if thou didst it not. Leaue the event to God, let him vse his floore at his pleasure, whither hee gather into the barne, or skatter as the dust of the earth, do thou the [Page 561] office of a prophet. Againe, thou sentest me to denounce a iudgment, & thou meantest nothing but wel vnto thē; I preached righteousnes and severity, & thou art a gracious God, and full of pitty; I made their ac­counts perfect and straight, that destruction should fal vpon them at the end of forty daies, thou takest a pen of thy mercy, and dashest thy former writing, & writest thē a longer day, yeares and generations to come, I know not how many. Vpon this he concludeth, therefore now O Lord, take away my life &c. But we will weigh the conclusion when we come to it. Mean-time, we must rip vp his former speaches, which were of preparatiō, making the way to his suit before hād. Peruse thē who will, he shal finde them fuller of affections than words: and such a bundell of errors wrapt togither, as one would hardly haue imagi­ned in a prophet. Wherein by a blind selfe-liking, & loue to his owne wit & iudgement, he is carried from reason, truth, obedience, & from that reverent estimation which he should haue had of God. For howe often in so short a space doth he challendge wisedome to himselfe? I beseech thee, O Lord, I appeale to thine own cōsciēce, speake but truth, & be not partiall in thine owne cause, was not this my saying? I am able to alleadge particulars, I can remember the time and the place when I was yet in my countrey; therefore I prevented it: If I had had mine own will, I had stopt this inconvenience, for I was not to learne that thou vvast a gracious God, there was no pointe of fore-sight wherein I mi­stooke. Thus his saying, his providence, his prevention, his knowledge, these are the thinges that hee standeth to much and to long vpon. Thy saying, Ionas, or my saying, or the saying of any mortall man? what are the wordes of our lippes, or the imaginations of our harts, but naughtie, foolish, peruerse from our youth vp, if God direct them not? or vvhat thy prevention and forecast, or of all thy com­panions, prophets, or prophets children in the world, to knowe what to morrow will bring vpon you, or the closing vp of the present day, vnlesse some wisdome from heaven cast beames into your mindes to [...]llighten them?2. King. 13. As Elizeus directed the hand of Ioash the king of Is­raell to shoote, and the arrow of Gods deliverance followed vpon it, and so often as he smote the ground, by the apointment of the pro­phet, so often, and no longer, he had likelihoode of good successe: so the Lord must direct our tongues & hearts in all that proceedeth frō them; and where his holy Spirit ceaseth to guide vs, there it vvill bee verified that the prophet hath, Surelie, everie man is a beast by his owne knowledge. Therefore the advise of Salomon is good;Prover. 3. Trust in the Lorde vvith all thine hearte, and leane not vnto thy vvisedome: in all [Page 562] thy waies acknovvledge him, and he shall direct thy pathes. Be not wise in thine owne eies, and feare the Lorde, and departe from evill, so shall health bee to thy navell, and marrow to thy bones. You haue heard the counsaile of the wise: nowe ioine vnto it for conclusion, the iudgment of the most righteous,Esay 5. W [...]e vnto them that are wise in their owne eies, and prudent in their owne sight. Wisedome presumed, you see, and drawne from the cisterne of our owne braine, is, in the reputation of God, as the sinnes of covetousnesse, oppression, drunkennes, and such like, and standeth in the crew of those damned and wretched iniquities which God accur­seth.

Querelam temporat, quòd iniu­stitiae quodā modo Deum arguat. I pray thee. I like the note that Ierome giveth vpon this place, he tempereth his complaint, because in some sort he accuseth God of in­iustice. For this cause he sweetneth the accusatiō with faire & flatte­ring speach. For, to haue challendged God, in grosse & blunt tearms, had bin to apparant; therfore he commeth with a plausible & glosing insinuation vnto him, I pray thee, O Lord; for, remembring that fearful name of his, Iehova, wherein he saw nothing but maiesty & dreadful­nes, could he do lesse than entreate him? if he had spoken but to the king of Niniveh, in whose dominions he was, or to Ieroboam the se­cond, who raigned in his own natiue coūtry, the very regard of their persons and place would haue enforced him so much. It was the coū ­saile that AEsop gaue to Solon, enquiring what speach he should vse before Croesus,A [...]t quàm minima aut quàm dulcis­sima. Pro. 25. & 15. Osser [...]m. Qu [...]so Ie­hova. Pauper cum obse [...]ratio. nibus loquit [...]r. Pr. 18. Iob. 21. either verye little, or very sweete. For a prince is pacified with curtesie, and a softe answere turneth away wrath, & a gentle tongue brea­keth a man of bones, that is, of the hardest and toughest disposition that can be. If such then be our vsage before the princes of the earth, who are but smoake and vanity, much more doth the presence of the most high God require it.

I pray thee. The forme of speach, I haue else-where noted, be­fitteth suiters, The poore speaketh with praiers, but the rich speaketh rough­lie: for those that are rich, are full and sufficient, as they thinke, in themselues, and therefore they say vnto God, in the vaine trust of their owne abundance, who is the Almightie that wee shoulde serue him? and what profite shall we haue, if we pray vnto him? The Iewes, Esas 58. were so filled & blowne vp with the opinion of their own merits, that they thought perhappes God was little able to stand them in steede, and therfore they come not vnto him, we beseech thee, but vpbraiding, chal­lendging, provoking, vvherefore haue we fasted, and punished our selues, and thou regardest it not? As if God were bounde vnto them to heare them for their service sake. Such vvere the Scribes and the Phari­sees [Page 563] in the Gospell; why eateth your master vvith Publicanes and sinners? and, this man is a friend to Publicanes and sinners; and, if this man vvere a prophet, he would haue knowne who had touched him, for she is a sinner. Them­selues, what were they in this eying and pointing at sinners so much? Angels, or men? Saintes, or sinners? One of that schoole, though hee went into the temple to pray, yet he praied not as if he founde want, but rather gaue thankes for that which he had received: and gloried in himselfe before all other men, & especially with scorneful demō ­stration, before that Publican. Luke 18. Let them swell with their ful conceiptes till they breake, and let their eies stand out with fatnes, let them beare the collopes of presumption and disdaine in their flankes: but the voice of the gospell of Christ, which is the rod of our comfort, The poore receiue the gospell, and, Blessed are the poore in spirit, is smally to the comfort of these stately and stout guestes. I came not to call the righteous, but the sinners to repentance; This is the sparre of the gate; if ever thy thinke to enter into the supper of the Lambe, their righteousnes fasly supposed kee­peth them out. They haue purchased a farme of righteousnesse, they thinke their dwellings safe enough without the house of God, and therefore they desire to be excused; they plough with the oxen of their owne imagined righteousnes, and haue married themselues vnto it as vnto a wife, and therefore they cannot come. To him that is full, hony is vnpleasant, but emptines and sinfulnes lieth at his gates who is rich in mercy, as Lazarus at the gates of the Rich man, with al her vlcers and sores laid open, all her infirmities detected, craving, begging, besee­ching to be refreshed with the crums that fall from his boarde, even with the smallest pittance of mercy that God is authour of. Therefore he saith, I pray thee, Lord.

In the praier of the Mariners before, I commended their humility, vpon occasion of the like tearme,Chap. 1. in that they vsed the right forme of supplication: it shall not be amisse to commend humility vnto you, & you vnto it once againe, there is so hard getting, harder keeping of it. We haue all hawty, & Pharisaicall eie-browes, whether we talke with God or man: & as all vices are against humility, either openly or pri­vately; so especially pride of heart is a sworne, & profest enemy vn­to it in the open field. Yea all vertues are against humility; for wee are prowd of giving almes, tithing, fasting, praying, learning, wisedome,Saepe [...]tiam homo de ipso vanae gloriae contemp [...]s vanus glori­atur. knowledge, and loue to be seene of men. To say further; humility hath an hand against humility, against her owne person, & by an vn­naturall prodigious birth, bringeth forth pride: For the humble some­times is as prowde of his lowlines, as Digones of his ragges. Even [Page 564] for that difficulty sake, we are to desire the teacher & actor of humi­lity, who both delivered it by precept, Math. 11. and declared it by the example of his whole life, when we send our praiers into heaven, not only to bow▪ the knees of our bodies, but the knees of our hartes; yea even to humble and bow the very phrase of our words, that wee may vtter thē, as if the smallest grashopper of the earth were to speak with feare & reverence before that dreadfull Maiesty, I beseech thee, Lord; without vpbraiding, challēdging, covenāting, for any our high­est service that hath bin, or shalbe done. If we wel examine our selues, we shall finde somwhat without vs to teach vs humility,Extra nos. not only the better vertues of other men, who haue more deserved, and received lesse at Gods handes, but even their falles in the midst of those ver­tues;Jnfra nos. somewhat beneath vs, the obedience of beasts and birdes, who in their kindes glorifie their maker, & God hath enabled them with strength & comelines of nature more thā our selues; somewhat with­in vs,Intra nos. the conscience of our own vnworthines, & deformity of sinne wherewith we are spotted;Supra nos. somwhat aboue vs, the maiesty, iustice & vengance of an angry God; finally, somewhat against vs, enemies of al sorts,Contra nos. outward, inward, carnal, spiritual, many, mighty, deadly, both in heavenly and in earthly places. Boughes of trees, the more they are laden with fruit, the nearer they hang to the earth: the best golde goeth downe in the ballance, the lighter staieth aboue: good corne lieth in the bottome of the heape, the chaffe keepeth on high: so the more fruitfull, precious, & vertuous the soule is, the more it abaseth & vilifieth it selfe; that he who hath chosen the weake to confounde the mighty, may the more exalt it.

Was not this my saying? Ionas began well, if he had continued it: but he stumbleth at the thresholde; and in the first entry of his speach starteth backe. I should haue thought, by the hope which he gaue in the greeting and salutation of GOD in his formost vvordes, I pray thee, LORD; that he would haue proceeded to an humble recapi­tulation and recitall of his rash both speaches and actions before past: pardon, O Lord, mine vnadvised vvoordes which I vsed in mine owne countrey, forgiue my purpose of preventing thy vvill, bury my fly­ing to Tharsis and all my transgressions in the bottome of the sea, vvhere thou buriedst me; thus hee shoulde haue done: but he in a different moode, as if he had gotten a victory against God, beginneth gloriously to triumph, litle esteeming to set his foote vpon the necke of iustice it selfe, so the credite of his doinges and sayings may be iustified: Loe Lorde, this, this vvas the cause vvhy I plaide the fugitiue: [Page 565] vvas not this my word? had I not reason to do as I did? to run vnto Thar­sis? did I not say thus much before?Eià domine, illud verò▪ illud erat cur fierem tran [...]fug [...]. Luth. Verbum. was I not wise to presage the event that would fall out? if my counsaile had beene followed, all these in­cōveniences of falsifying my message, of bringing thy truth into que­stion, had beene avoided.

Was not this my word? his word? that is, his thought, the worde that his soule spake: for the tongue is but servant and messenger from the soule in this action. When Iesus healed the man sicke of the palsey, Mat. 9. willing him to bee of good comfort, and adding moreover, that his sinnes were forgiven him: Behold, certaine of the Scribes, not thought, but said within themselues, this man blasphemeth. They thought there vvere no witnesses present to their speach: but when Iesus saw their thoughts, [...]. hee saide, vvherefore thinke yee evill thinges in your heartes? That which the Gospell sayeth they saide, Christ calleth thoughtes: because the tongue is but the instrumente, it is the soule that speaketh: and Christ is as neare to the speach of the one, as the voice of the o­ther. I touch it in a worde. The thoughtes of our heartes (vvee thinke, as the Scribes did) are close and private to our selues; but the Lord hath spies and watchmen over them. The birdes of the aire shall bewray the counsailes and conspiracies of thy bed-cham­ber, but the God of heaven beholdeth thy thoughtes in the midst of thy bosome. Say not within thy selfe, I did it not, I spake it not, I onely thought it in my heart, and vvhat more free than thought? mistake not. Thy thoughtes are not onely thoughtes, they giue their sounde without, they goe for words and actions to, in the sight of God.

The speach of Ionas in every part thereof,Annon. savoureth of much pre­sumption. 1. He demandeth, was not this my saying? which is the man­ner of checking and controlling for the most parte, Art thou a mai­ster in Israell, and knowest not these thinges? aunswerest thou the high Priest thus? knowest thou not that I haue power to kill thee, and povver to let thee goe? thou sittest to iudge according to the lawe, and smitest thou me contrary to the law? I spare the rest. My meaning is but to let you vnderstande, that it had beene a milder maner of speach thus to haue delivered it, this was my saying, &c.

2 He magnifieth his worde, as if there were more than winde in it.Verbum meum. Was not this my worde? What is the worde of Ionas, or of any mor­tall man? what vertue? what power? what trueth? what edge? what authority? what spirite? vvhat life hath it in it? By the vvorde of GOD the heavens vvere formed, and they are reserved for fire by the [Page 566] power of the same vvord. By the word of God is man turned to destruction, & by the power of the same word is it commanded, returne yee sonnes of Adam. By the word of God Niniveh is warned, and Niniveh is spared by the power of the same word:Num. 22. but as touching the word of Ionas, vnlesse he obserue the rule that Balaam did, the word that God putteth into my mouth, that shall I speake, it is as weake as water, and as easie to be dispersed as the mist in the aire.

Dum in pa­triâ me [...]. In terr [...] meâ.3 He bringeth in a kalender of the time and place, amplifying his complaint against God by singular circumstances: vvhen I vvas in my countrey, I told thee this. He saith not in Iury, but in mine owne countrey: as who should say; what needed my travaile and paines into Assyria, a country vnknowne vnto me, the going from mine own home wher I was best at ease, and the compassing of seas and landes, to lose the fruites of my labours?

4 VVhen I was yet in Iudaea; if I had spoken to late, I had spent my speech in vaine:Ad huc. but I spake in season, when I was first called, before e­ver I stirred my foot, when all these troubles & mishaps might haue beene eschewed.

Jdcirc [...]. Therefore: as if he had wonne the field, and evicted it by plaine ar­gument and proofe. Thus he insolently disputeth, and concludeth against God,Iob 9. Ante verte­ram. Tharsum fugiendo. as if he reasoned with his neighbour: yet God is not as man that vvee should answere him. And he doth not only resist, but prevent, as if the wisedome and providence of the most High were inferiour to his; and not by staying in Israell, but by going to Tharsis, nay by flying to Tharsis: as one that meant to leaue the Lord behinde him by the swiftnesse of his pace. If this bee not sinne and sinnes, pre­sumptuous, high minded, high speaking sinnes, I know not what sin is: and those that labour to assoile the Prophet from sinne in this his disobedience, what doe they else, but cover a naked body with figge leaues, which either the heate of the day will vvither, or the least blast of winde pull from it? If we wash his faulte with snow-wa­ter, and purdge his handes and his heart never so cleane by our chari­table defence of him, yet hee hath plunged himselfe in the pit, and his owne cloathes, his owne wordes haue laid open his imperfections vnto vs.

The remembrance of his natiue countrey, I doubt not, was sweete vnto him.The Appli­cation. Gen. [...]0. It was one of Iacobs conditions in his vowe to God, when he was sent to Haran, that if God vvoulde bee vvith him in iourney which hee wente, and giue him bread to eate, and cloathes to put on, so that he came a­gaine to his fathers house in safetye, then should the LORDE bee his God. It [Page 567] was also a greate probation and triall of Abrahams obedience,Gen. 12. vvhen God sent him word to goe from his owne countrey, and from his fa­thers house. And it seemeth vnto mee by this speach of Ionas, that hee had some longing after the lande of Israell, and thus spake to himselfe; O that I were as in the monthes past, when I stoode vpon mine owne grounde; that corner of the world best pleased me;Jlle terra­rum mihi praeter om­nes, Angu­lus ridet. there I was in the midst of my friendes and companions; heere I am a stran­ger to strangers, with men of a forraine tongue, and forraine conditi­tions. But he remembreth that with pride and ostentation of him­selfe, and to iustifie a fault, which without griefe of hearte, and shame of face, and stammering of tongue hee should not haue remembred. VVere those thy vvords in thine owne countrey? the more thy sinne, and thy shame to; thou spakest against thy life, if God had not favou­red thee, if his mercy had not helde the bridle of thy tongue when it was in motion, insteede of speaking folly, thou wouldest haue pro­ceeded to meere blasphemy. Canst thou remember the time and the place vvithout blushing? vvithout smiting thy selfe vpon thy thigh, and asking forgiuenes [...] wretched man that I am, what haue I done? thou shouldest rather haue cursed the grounde in thine heart, which thou then stoodest vpon, than remembred it vvith vaunting, and bitterly condemned thy tongue for sending out such wordes of folly and indiscretion. But so [...]s the manner of vs all: wee sinne as we breath, sinne as we eate and drinke, as daily, and with asmuch de­light. Wee commit sinne with greedines, we are drunke with sinne, and againe thirst after it: yet wee will iustifie our selues, whether God be iustified, yea or no; we will double sinne, and binde two togither, by hiding, excusing, translating sinne: if there bee any meanes in the world, and bush in paradise to flie vnto, wee will shrovvde our selues. If wee can put it to the vvoman, or rather by rebound to God, the wo­man, not of mine owne choosing, but which thou gavest me, whereas [...]n­deed it was a woman of his owne choosing, even the concupiscence of his hart, or if we can lay it vpon the serpent; if we can cover it with lying as Gehazi did, thy servant went no whither; or colour it with pre­tence, as Saul did, I kept the best for the sacrifice; if there be good inten­tion, I meant well, or happy event, it succeeded well;2. King. 5. or any other thing to bee alleadged, we will not omit it. Brethren, forsake these▪ waies, of dissembling, diminishing, selfe-liking, and set your desires wholy vpon that which our Saviour prayed for, Ioh. 12. father, glorifie thy name. His owne name he would not say, that had a name aboue al names; & shal we seeke to glorifie & set forth ours? Whither we seeke [Page 568] the glory of his name or not, the voice that came from heaven at that time, shallbe fulfilled, I haue both glorified it, and will glorifie it againe. God is true, the vnfaithfulnesse of man shall never bee able to dimi­nish his truth; his iustice shalbe iustified in heaven and earth, and his name shalbe sanctified, even when we study most to blaspheme it. Therefore let vs conclude with that generall dischardge and manu­mission that the blesse Prophet giveth to the whole honour of man­kinde:Psal. 115. Not vnto vs, O Lord, but vnto thy name giue the glorie: not we to our owne earthly, corrupt, rotten names. And let it not repent vs once to haue given it away from our selues, but againe, and for ever­more, Not vnto vs, not vnto vs. And rather than thou shalt loose any part of thy glory, losse of credite and reputation be to all our doinges and sayings, losse to our goods and good names, landes and liues, and whatsoever in this world is more deare vnto vs. This is the way to be iustified, to iustifie God in his words and workes, & to condemne our selues; to cast away our righteousnes as stained clowtes, to renounce our wisedome as foolishnesse, our strength as weakenes, our knowe­ledge as ignorance, and to asc [...]ibe all vnto him, who is all in all, righ­teousnes, wisedome, sanctification, glory, and peace vnto vs.

THE XLII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. vers. 2.‘Therefore I prevented it to flee vnto Tharsis: For I knewe that thou art a gracious God.’

IN distributing the matter in hand, I haue al­readie acquainted you, both that Ionas prai­ed, and what hee praied. In the latter of these two, 1. the substance of his petition, togither with the reason subioyned; 2. the causes im­pulsiue, that mooved him to make it. In those impulsiues we weighed every moment: 1. his smooth insinuation, I pray thee, O Lord: where­in, I doubte no [...], was hid some secret murmu­ring and repyning; but all the rest bewray a manifest imperfection: 2. his speaking by demand, which is the manner of vpbraiders: 3. the ad­vancing of his owne worde & thought: 4. his fighting against God with circumstaunces of time and place: 5. his malapert concluding, as if hee had overthrowen God by plaine argumēt, 6. his endevour to prevent, [Page 569] as if he had beene able to do it: & lastly not by going, but by flying to Tharsis, as if by the swiftnes of his feete he could haue out-run him, who rideth vpon the wings of the Cherubins. That which angred & discōtented Ionas so much, was the mercy of God, which Ionas knewe, and vpon that knowledge concluded with himselfe, that hee was to decline the cōmandement, howsoever it fared the meane-time, either with his owne safety, or with the honour & will of him that sent him. But admit that the Lord was a merciful God, and woulde deale vvith the Ninivites otherwise than Ionas had preached: what then? was this a iust cause to refuse the errand? surely it seemeth so: for thervpon Io­nas inferreth, Therefore I prevented &c.

There are two reasons broughte why Ionas assaied to prevent this busines. 1. Because he was loth to be accōpted a false prophet,Idcir [...]o. 1. Reason of refusall▪ to haue his credit impaired, to haue his name called into question, as if he had run not being sent, and to be mistrusted in whatsoever hee should after­wards speake. The cause, I confesse, is vehement & weighty. For the least suspition of heresie and falshood, if any thing in the world, ma­keth a man impatient; & he that dissembleth or putteth vp one note of heresie without clearing himselfe, is not a Christian.Suspicio hae­reseos impa­tientem fa­cit. Vnam notam haereseos qui dissimulat, non est Chri­stianus. Zach. 13. It is required of a dispenser that he be found faithfull, 2. Cor. 4. and the maister of the house Luk. 12. asketh for a faithfull servaunt vvhom he may set over his housholde. The law of God is strict against false prophets, Deut. 13. & 18. his fa­ther and mother that begate him, shal say vnto him, thou shalt not liue: for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lorde: yea his father and mother that begate him, shall thrust him through, when hee thus prophecieth. One shall saie vnto him, what are these wounds in thine handes? then he shall answere, thus was I vvounded in the house of my friendes. The admonitions of Christ in the gospell, and his disciples, are frequent against false prophets, false Apostles, false Christes, wolues in sheepes clothing, lying spirites, Anti­christes, mockers, seducers. How carefull was Samuell towardes the ende of his life, to approue his innocency both to God and man, through the whole course of his forepassed administration? first in the integrity of his life, whome haue I ever wronged?1. Sam. 12. afterwardes in the syncerity of his office, God forbid that I should sin vnto the Lorde, and cease praying for you; but I will shew you the good and the right way. When Ieremy saw that the word of the Lorde was in reproch & derision, & that every man mocked him, his familiar friendes watching for his halting, & saying, It maie be he is deceived, so shall we prevaile against him, Ier. 20. you know what perplex­ities it draue him vnto. First, he would not make mention of the Lorde, nor speake any more in his name; afterward, he curseth the day of his birth & [Page 570] the messenger that carryed worde of it. It is a memorable apolo­gie which Paul maketh in the Actes,Act. 20. for himselfe and his Apostleship vnto the clergie of Asia: appealing to their owne knowledge, that hee had taught both Iewes and Graecians, openlie, and throughout every house, and that hee had kept nothing backe vvhich vvas profitable, but shewed them all the counsailes of GOD: he careth not for bondes, afflictions, death it selfe, so hee may fulfill his course vvith ioy, and the ministration which hee had received of the Lorde Iesus. Consonant heerevnto was that which hee did in other Churches:2. Cor. 2. VVee are not as manie, vvho make marchandize of the vvorde of God, but as of syncerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speake we in Christ. 2. Cor. 4. [...]. Againe, vvee walke not in craftinesse, neither handle vvee the worde of God deceiptfullie, but in the declaration of the truth, vvee approoue our selues to every mans conscience in the sighte of God. Nay to every conscience of men, that is, bee the conscience good or bad, light, or darkenesse, they shall haue no iust cause against vs. What needeth longer discourse? the sonne of God himselfe, Ioh. 18. confesseth before Pilate, For this cause am I borne, and for this cause came I into the vvorlde, that I mighte beare vvitnesse vnto the truth. For when the truth of God is wronged, then the advise of Cy­prian taketh place:Tacere non oportes ne iam non ve­recundiae sed dissidentiae incipiat esse quod tace­mus &c. Trac contra Demetr. Jncompara biliter pul­chrior est ve­ritas christi­anorum quā Helena Grae­corum. Aug. ad Hyeron. 1. King. [...].2. wee must not holde our peace, least it begin to savour not of modestie and shamefastnesse, but distrust of our cause, that wee keepe silence: And vvhilst vvee are carelesse to refute false criminations, vvee seeme to ac­knowledge the crime. The trueth of Christians is comparably fairer than that Helen of the Greekes, and the Martyres of our Church haue foughte more constantly in her quarrell against Sodome, than ever those nobles and Princes for Helen against the Troianes. There was never prophet, true nor false, in Israell nor Canaan, but tooke it a greate reproach and stayne vnto them, to bee toucht with falshood. Micheas, whome neither the court-like perswasions of the Eunuch that went for him, nor the consent of foure hundred prophetes, nor the favour of tvvo kings, nor danger of his owne heade, coulde drawe from the word of God, standeth firmely in defence of the trueth; Zedechias the false prophet, (in seeming) as earnestly for the trueth likevvise: yet these as contrary one to the other, as Hiena and the dogge: the one saieth, goe to Ramoth Gilead and prosper; the other sayth, if thou re­turne in saftie, the LORDE hath not sent mee. The one, to ex­presse it in life, and by a visible signe maketh hornes of yron, and tel­leth Ahab, vvith these thou shalt push at Aram till thou haste destroyed him: the other hath also an Image, and a vision whereby to describe it, I savv all Israell scattered vpon the mountaines like sheepe that had no shep­hearde. [Page 571] Yet both for the truth. Ieremy and Hanany, agree­ing like fire and vvater,Ier. 28. the one bidding the king to goe vnto Ba­bylon, the other advising the contrary, the one sending fetters to the king and the nobles, the other, pulling the yoke from the necke of Ieremy, and saying, thus shall the yoke of Babell bee broken; the one affirming, the other denying, yet both are champians for the trueth. The devill a lyar, and the father of lyes, vvho abode not in the trueth, because there is no trueth in him, vvho vvhen he spea­keth a lye, speaketh of his ovvne, that is, his naturall and mother tongue is lying, Ioh. 8. yet hee transformeth himselfe into an Angell of lighte: therefore it is no greate thinge, sayeth the Apostle,2. Cor. 11. though his ministers transforme themselues, as though they vvere the ministers of righ­teousnesse, vvhose ende shall bee according to their workes. Christ is truth indeede, Antichrist truth pretended.Veritas Chr [...]stus: simula­ta veritas Antichri­stus. Origen. Sacrorum librorum traditores. Non convi­cti sed cōfict [...] traditores. 2. de bapt. con [...]. Donat 6. Ego defendo dogmata S. pairū &c. Non obiter nec in trans­cursu. Novatianus simiarum more arripi [...] sibi authori­tatē ecclesiae. August. li. 2. cap. 16. de morib. M [...] ­nich. The dayly exclamations of the Donatistes in Africke against the Orthodoxe and sounde belee­vers, was, that they vvere traitours against the holy bookes and them­selues the propugners of them. Augustine answereth, traitours, not by conviction, but by confiction and false accusation of their enemies. Di­oscorus crieth out, himselfe an heretique, in the Councell of Chal­cedon. I defende the opinions of the holy fathers, I haue their testimonies, not by snatches, or at the seconde hande, but vttered in their owne bookes, I am cast out vvith the holy fathers; as if truth it selfe had beene condemned in the condemnation of Dioscorus. So is it at this day; the Prophets of Babylō, though they haue received the marke of the beast in their foreheades, that all the worlde may knowe them to bee such, yet as Cyprian in his Epistle to Iubaianus wrote of the Novatian heretique, that after an apish manner hee taketh vnto him the authority of the Church, so these, by the like imitation, take vnto them the Church, trueth, Scriptures, Fathers, all antiquity, consent, perpetuity vnto the ende of the world, and rather than the worlde shall thinke that they deale not truely in defense of truth, they spend both conscience, and sometime life vpon it. O quantum tegmen est falsitatis? O howe greate a shew doth falshod make?

For our owne partes, vvho by the grace of God are that wee are, put in chardge for the gathering togither of Gods Saintes, if we be harmed in our goodes, or good names, or in the carriage of our liues, or in our wiues and children, as sometimes the maner is, we accompt them our private wronges, and easilye may digest them. It hath beene done in the greene, in all the times that haue beene ever of olde, much more in the drie: they haue called the maister of the house, [Page 572] Belzebub, much more those of the housholde. We preach not our selues, but Christ Iesus the Lorde, 1. Cor. 4. and our selues your servauntes for Iesus sake, and for his sake we will endure it. We are fooles for Christs sake, and you are wise, wee are weake and you are strong, 1. Cor. 4. you are honourable and we despised. Be it so. But we will never abide that the honour of Christ Iesus himselfe shal be wounded through our loines, that the rebukes which fall vpon vs, shal redound to his disgrace, that his gospell and truth shall be de­famed, the doctrine which we preach, discredited our calling reproa­ched, which, though in vessels of earth, yet he hath sanctified and blessed to such a worke, (I meane the saving of soules) as by the pol­licy of man, & all forcible engins, could never haue beene cōpassed. How vsual a thing it is, vpon every light surmise not only to chardge vs for false prophets, but because we are prophets at al to cōtēne vs, & to disdain vs for that, wherin we are most to be [...], I report me to that common phrase of speech, when if men will shoo [...] [...]oor [...]h ar­rowes against vs with poisoned heads, even bitter & sharpe wor [...]es, they thinke it the greatest ignominy, to cal vs Priests or Ministers. Herein if the zeale of gods house & his holy ordināce cōsume vs, if the main­tenance of his cause & our calling beare vs away, & make vs forget the spirit of gentlenes for a time, let no man blame vs. For is our office dishonored amongst you? We tel them whosoever they be, as David told Michol, who scorned him for dancing before the Arke, it was be­fore the Lord which chose me rather than thy father and all his house, [...]. Sam. [...]. & com­maunded mee to be ruler over the people. And therefore I will play before the Lord, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will bee low in mine owne sighte. It is before the Lord that we are Priestes and Ministers, to serue in his house and at his table, who hath chosen vs rather than their fathers and whole stocke to serue in this office. And therefore we will yet be more vile and low in our owne eies, and rather than these names shall die and be out of vse, we will weare them vpon our garments, and if you were sparing to yeeld them vnto vs, we would desire you for Christes sake, and as you tender our credite, not to tearme vs other­wise. The Iewes, who thought they mocked Christ, vvhen they bowed their knees, and cried, Haile king of the Iewes, they knew not vvhat they did, they did him an honour and favour against their willes, for he was king of the Iewes and of the Gentiles also: whatsoever their meaning is, who thinke to nicke-name vs by obiecting these names, (which we will leaue to the censuring of the righteous Iudge in hea­ven) vve embrace them, honour them, and heartily thanke God for them, and desire that they may be read and published in the eares [Page 573] of the world, as the most glorious titles of our commission. The An­gelles of God are ministring spirites, Heb. 1. [...] &c. Math. 20. [...]. O praeclarum ministeriū! quo non id gloriosius magistratus Bern. ad Eugen. 2. Cor. 10. and sent forth to minister for the elects sake. Christ Iesus himselfe came to minister, not to bee ministred vnto. We will therefore say as the Apostle said, 2. Cor. 11. Ministri sunt? plus ego. Are Christ, and his Angels, and all the Apostles of Christ, mini­sters? we speake like fooles in the deeming of the world, we also will be ministers of the gospell, and if it were possible, we would bee more than ministers. O honourable ministerie! what government, rule, and domini­on is it not superiour vnto? I conclude with the same Apostle, though I shoulde boast somevvhat more of our authoritie vvhich is given vnto vs for e­dification and not for destruction, I shoulde haue no shame. By this dis­course it may appeare vnto you, if this were a motiue in the minde of Ionas, as some both Iewes and Christians conceiue, how grievous it seemed vnto him to be held in iealousie, for deceipt in his calling, that any in the world should be able iustly to taxe him for a false pro­phet, and one that prophecied lies in the name of GOD. Not­withstanding, the matter is quickely aunswered: For whatsoever the event had beene, the voice of the Lorde was in reason to haue beene obeyed. 1. It was no new thing to be so accompted of: it 1 was the portion of Moses, and Samuell, and Elias before him, and thence-forth as many as ever spake, vnto the daies of Iohn Baptist which came with the spirit of Elias, they haue drunke of the same cuppe: and not onely the servauntes, but the sonne and heire hath beene dealt with in like manner. A Prophet is not without honour saue in his owne countrey. Ionas might haue said to himselfe, as Elias in another case, I am no better than my fathers. Thus were we borne and ordained to approoue our selues in all kinde of patience, by honour and dishonour, by good reporte and evill reporte, as deceavers, and yet beholde, 2. Cor. 6. vvee are true, and deceiue not. The world was never more fortunate for prophets than thus to reward them: flatterers may breake the heades of men with their smooth oiles, but the woundes that prophets giue, haue never escaped the hardest iudgements. 2. Why should Ionas feare the opinion of men? his duty being done, the very conscience 2 of his fact, simply and truely performed, would haue beene a towre of defence and a castle vnto him. It is a verie small thinge for me to be iudged of you, or of mans iudgemente, for I knowe nothinge by my selfe &c.1. Cor. 4. Non ait, pr [...] nihilo est, sed pro mi­nimo. 2. Cor. 1. Hee doth not say, It is nothing vnto mee, but it is a very small thing: I esteeme my name somevvhat, but I stande more vpon my con­science. This is our reioycing, the testimony of our conscience, that in sim­plicitie and puritie vvee haue beene conversant in the vvorlde, VVhen [Page 574] the princes had given sentence vpon Ieremy, this man is vvorthie to die, Ier. 26. hee aunswered them, the Lorde hath sent mee to prophecy against this house, therefore amende your vvaies, that the Lorde may repente him of the plague vvhich hee hath pronounced against you: as for mee, beholde, I am in your handes, doe vvith mee as you please, but knovve yee for cer­tainty, that if you put mee to death, you shall bring innocent bloude vpon your selues; for of a trueth the Lorde hath sent mee vnto you to speake all these wordes in your eares. This is the brasen wall, the soundnes of the cause, and the assurance of the conscience, which all the malignant tongues cannot pearse through. Let the worlde be offended with vs in these latest and sinnefullest times, because the tenour of our message is either to sharpe or to sweete, to hote or to colde, for it can hardelie bee such as may please this way-warde wotld; let Satan accuse vs be­fore God and man daie and night; yet if wee can say for our selues, as the Apostle did, Rom. 9. Wee speake the trueth in Christ, wee lie not, our consciences bearing vs witnes in the holy Ghost, who is not onlye the wit­nesse, but the guide and inspirer of our consciences; it is a greater re­compence, than if al the kingdomes of the earth were given vnto vs. 3 3. He coulde not bee ignoraunt that the truth of God mighte stande, though the event followed not, because many of the iudgementes of God, as I haue else-where said, are denoūced with condition. In the place of Ieremy before mentioned, when the priestes and people so greedily thirsted after his death, some of the elders stoode vp and spake to the assembly in this sort: Chap. 26. Micah the Morashite prophecied in the daies of He­zekiah king of Iuda, saying, thus saith the Lord of hostes, Sion shalbee ploughed like a fielde &c. Did Hezekiah put him to death? did hee not rather feare the Lorde, and prayed before the Lorde, and the Lorde repented him of the plague? thus vvee mighte procure greate evill against our selues. You know the collection those elders make; that the iudgement vvas conditional, and vpon their vnfeigned repentaunce mighte bee otherwise inter­preted. Thus much Ionas vvas not to learne: for why did he knovv that God vvas a mercifull God, but to shew the effects of mercy? and the Ninivites themselues had an happye presumption thereof, as appeareth by their former speech. 4. He was not to stay longe in 4 Assyria, if hee had suspected their suspicions. Lastly, there was 5 no such thinge to bee feared: for by that publique acte of conversi­on which all the orders and states of the citty agreed vpon, it is manifest that they received the preaching of Ionas as the oracle of almightie God: they beleeved God, and his Prophet, as the children of Israell 1. Sam. 12. feared the Lorde and Samuell exceedinglie. For [Page 575] what greater argument touching their good and reverente opinion of Ionas coulde they giue, than their speedy and hearty repentance? whereby they assured him that they esteemed not his vvorde as a fable, or as a iestinge songe; but as a man sent from God, and fallen downe from heaven, bringing a two edged sworde in his lippes, ei­ther to kill or to saue, so they received him. And surely I rather thinke, that they blessed Ionas in their heartes, and that the dust of his feete was welcome and precious vnto them, who by his travaile and paines had taught them to flie from the anger of God that was now falling.

Others conceaue the reason heere implyed,The second reason of refusall. therefore I preven­ted, to be this. Hee saw that the conversion of the Gentiles vvas by consequence an introduction of the overthrow and castinge out of the Iewes: and that it woulde bee fulfilled vpon them which is written in Deuteronomy. They haue mooved mee to iealousie with that which is not God, they haue provoked mee to anger with their vanities, Deut. 3 [...]. and I mooue them to iealousie with those which are no people, I vvill provoke them to anger vvith a foolish nation. That is, if wee vvill interpret it by this present subiect, Niniveh shall repente, and condemne Is­raell the more, for not hearkning to the voice of so many Prophets. Ierome brieflie thus; It grieveth him, not that the Gentiles are sa­ved, but that Israell perisheth. Our Saviour (we all know) would not giue the breade of children to dogges:Dolet quòd pereat Isra­el, non quòd Gentes ser­ventur. and hee vvas not sent but to the lost sheepe of the house of Israell: and he vvepte over Ierusalem, which hee never did over Tyre and Sidon: and the prerogatiue of the Iews was, either onely or principally, that repentance and remission of sinnes should be preached vnto them. I remit you to the 10. of the Actes, to see what labour was made to drawe Peter to the Gen­tiles, whome hee called common and vncleane thinges. And in the 11. of the same booke, they of the circumcision contended with him a­boute it, sayinge, thou vventest in vnto the vncircumcised, and hast ea­ten with them. It might be his further griefe, that he onely amongst so many Prophets, should bee singled out to declare the ruine of his people by the vprising of straungers; to beare the envy of the facte, and to bee the messenger of the vnwelcomest newes that ever Israll received. For he is the first that must bring Iudaisme in contempt, and make it manifest to the vvorlde, that his country-men at home are vnfruitfully occupied, and troubled about many things, sacrifices, sacramentes, washinges, cleansinges, and the like, when others a­broade, observing that one thing that is necessarie, with lesse labour [Page 576] and businesse came to be saved. Luther, comparing the times wherein Ionas and himselfe lived, openeth the case by familiar explication thus. The Iewes accompted themselues by a constant opinion and claime, the peculiar people of God; the Romish themselues the onely Catholiques: they thought there could be no salvation without observing the law of Moses, and the rites of the Iewish Synagogue; nor these without observing the ordinances and ceremonies of the Romish Church: they cried, powre out thy wrath vp­on the nations and vpon the people that haue not called vpon thy name; these held them for hereticks, not worthy the aire they drew, that ioyned not themselues vnto them. Nowe lastlie, as it was an odious office in these latter daies to preach vnto any nation or city vnder heaven, that the foolishnesse of preaching, and onely Christ crucified was able to saue soules, without creeping to crosses, kneeling, knocking, kis­sing, sprinckling, censing, ringing, fasting, gadding, with such like toyes, and the conversion of any parte of Christendome vvith lesse circumstaunce, coulde not but bee a shame, preiudice, and condem­nation vnto Rome in some sorte, that having greater helpes and fur­therances to God, went further from him: so the reclaiminge of Niniveh, by one, when Iury had many prophetes; by the denounce­ment of one, when Iury had many prophecies; by a single and short commination, when Iury had the whole law and testimonies; by a compendious course of repentance, when they fasted, and tithed, and sacrificed, and cryed, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, and I know not what; coulde not lesse be than a reproach to the peo­ple which was so backwarde, and an exception to their whole forme of religion wherein they no better profited. It had beene no mar­vaile, if, when Ionas returned into Israell, the hand of his own fa­ther and mother had beene first against him, for doing that wrong to his people, as they adiudged their bodies to the fire, and their souls they delivered to Satan, who opened their mouth against the church of Rome. Whatsoever his reasons were, whither the care of his cre­dite, or whither affection to his country-men drew him away to that recusancie, (both which are but particular and partiall respects, when God commandeth otherwise) his fault is no way excusable by reason, but that God of his grace, is ready to giue pardon and relaxation to al kinde of sinne.

Therefore I prevented. Thy grounde is vnstable, Ionas▪ thy ar­gumente vnsounde, thou vsest but a fallacie to deceiue thy selfe, thou hadst no reason so to do, the will of the Lord of hostes, which is abso­lute [Page 577] righteousnes, a reason beyond all reasons withstoode it. Thou thoughtest to prevent the Lord, thou couldest not: the vvindes saw thy hast & staied thee, the sea held thee backe, the fish made resistāce a­gainst thee, the bars of the earth shut thee vp, & if these had failed in their misteries, the wisedome of God would haue invented other staies. He could haue stopped thee in thy course, as he stopped Paule in his iourney, by dazeling thine eies that thou shouldest not haue foūd thy way; or as he stopped Lots wife in her way, by making thee a pillar of salt, or some other rocke of stone, a monument of contra­diction to the latest age of the world. He could haue dried vp thy hands, tied vp thy feete in iron? no, but in the bands of death, never to haue stirred againe. Let all the wisdome of man beware of the like preventiō; least it prevent it selfe thereby of all the blessings of God, vse of natiue country, comfort of kinsmen & friendes, life of bodie, happines of soule, as Ionas might haue done, if the mercies of God had not fauoured him. When we are ignorant of the wil of God, let vs lay our hands vpon our mouthes, & vpon our hearts too, till God grant wisdome, that we may descry it: when we are doubtfull, let vs enquire, deliberate, aske counsaile, of the lawe & testimony of God: but when it is clearley revealed by open and expresse comm [...]unde­ment, let vs not then pawse vpon the matter, & much lesse resist, & least of al prevent, vnlesse by making a proofe & experiment of our own wit as Ionas did, we wil hazard that losse which the gain of the whole world shall never be able to recompence.

For I knew that thou art a gracious God and mercifull slow to anger, The ground of his peti­tion. and of great kindnesse and repentest thee of the evill· Ionas proceedeth to that which was the ground & inducement to his rebellion. For the order of the scripture is this: God is a mercifull God for many respectes: & one part of office of that mercy is to repēt him of the evill, that is, to change his sentence, in the last vvordes of the sentence; this Ionas knevv, hee saieth, and vpon that knowledge resolved long since, vpon his resolution, laboured to prevent it. We are now come to that which if Ionas had rightly conceived of, it would never haue grieved him to see the bowels of pitty opened & enlarged towards his poore brethren. Did Ionas know, that God was gracious, mercifull, slow to an­ger, of greate goodnesse, repenting him of the evill? (I will render these variations in as many wordes more) did Ionas knovve,Benignu [...] affectis, mi­sericors effectu, &c. Glossa in Joel. 2. that God was gracious in affection, mercifull in effecte, longe suf­fering in vvayting for the conversion of sinners, of greate kinde­nesse in striking shorte of their sinnes, repenting him of the evill, in [Page 578] vouchsafing mercy to sinners, and remitting their misdeeds? Did Io­nas know, that God was graciois, in himselfe by nature; mercifull, to­wards his creatures by comunicatiō; long suffering, before he inflicteth vengeance; of great goodnes, in the number & measure of his stripes, pe­nitent, in the stay & intermission thereof; & is it so strange & offēsiue vnto him, that God should spare Niniveh, a thing, which his nature & māner was so inured vnto? The words, though different in sound, & the power & signification of them not all one, yet in the principal they all agree, & knit their soules togither in the commendation of Gods mercy. The 1. importeth a liberall disposition, franknesse of heart,Gracious. gratuitall, vndeserved benevolence, not hyred, and much lesse constrained, but voluntarily, and freely bestowed. The 2. a commi­seration over other mens miseries,Mercifull. motherly bowels, tender compas­sion towardes those that suffer affliction: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? We haue not a high Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; I would not the death of a sinner. It goeth to his heart when he is driven and inforced to take punishment.Long suf­fring. Of great goodnes. The 3. bewrai­eth a nature, hard to conceiue & not willing to retaine wrath; and when it seemeth to be angry, not angry indeede, & vsing rather a fa­therly scourge of correction, than a rod of revenge. The 4. decla­reth that there is no end of his goodnes; & although he is somewhat in all things, nay all in all, yet he is much more in mercy & more than in other his properties:Maior est propretas bonitatis, quant pro­prietas vlti­onis. Hebrae­orum sapien­tes· Repenting him of the evill. [...]. Act. [...]7. for his mercy is over all his workes, to the good, evill, friendes, enemies; & that when he giveth, he giveth with an o­pen hand, not sparingly, more than our tongues haue asked; or our hearts ever thought of. Lastly, he repenteth him of the evill, that is, alte­reth the word that is gone out of his lips, & sheweth how easie hee is to be intreated, that the rod may be pulled forth of his handes even when he is smiting vs. Paul in his voiage towards Rome, speaketh of a certain place which was called the faire havens. We are now arrived at the faire havens; they are in number many, & for the harbour and rode of a wearied, sea-beaten conscience, which hath long bin tossed in a sea of wretchednes, more comfortable and safe, than ever was the bosome of a mother to her yong infant. Happy is the soule that landeth at these havens: and blessed be the God of heaven which hath given vs a carde of direction, to leade vs there vnto, the wit­nesse of his holy word, written and sealed, that can never deceiue vs. For these are the words of the ignorant, but hee that knew them, bare record, and his witnes is true: they are the wordes of a prophet, who spake not by his private motion, but as he was mooved by the holie Ghost. [Page 579] Nay, they are not the wordes of one, but of many prophets, that in the mouthes of sufficient witnesses they might be confirmed. Ionas reciteth them in this place. Ioel repeateth them in the second of his prophecy. David hath the same thrise in his Psalmes, either al, or the most part of them.Psal. 86.103. & 145. Moses in the 14. of Num. bringeth in their perfect catalogue. Nay they are not the words either of Moses, or David, or the prophets, but of God himselfe. The fountaine and well-head frō whence they haue all drawne them, as Moses there confesseth,Num. 14. is the proclamation which God made, Exod. 34. whē he descended in the cloud▪ & delivered his name in this manner: the Lord, the Lord, strong, mercifull, and gracious, slow to anger, and abundant in goodnes, in truth; re­serving mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquites, transgression, and sinne. Ho▪ all yee that thirst, come to the waters of comfort. Heare are welles enough to be drawen at: drinke at the first fountaine, the Lord is gracious; and if your appetite be not there quenched, go to the second, the Lorde is mercifull; & if you be yet thirsty, go to the thirde, the Lord is slow to an­ger; & thence to the fourth and fifth, bibite, & inebriamin [...], drinke, til your seules are more thā satisfied. Doe you not read 1. Sam. 17, of fiue smooth stones which David chose out of a brooke to fling at Golias? here is the brooke (my brethren) the history of this prophet, and these are the fiue smooth stones, which are now proposed. Let them not lie in the brooke vnhandled, & vnoccupied, but put thē in your scrip as David did beare thē in your minds, lay thē vp in your hearts, apply thē to your cōsciences, that they may be ready at hand against the face of the Philistine, against the force of Satan, if ever he steppe forth to de [...]e the Lord of hostes, or any Israelite in his campe. We finde but 3. temptations Mat. 4. that Satan bent against the sonne of God, differing both in the place, & in their strength. The 1. was vpō the ground, of turning stones into bread; the 2. vpō the pinacle of the tēple, of casting his body downe; the 3. vpon an exceeding high mountaine, of cōmitting idolatry. The 1. concerned his power, the 2. his life, the 3. his conscience. And our Saviour refelled him in al these with 3. several answers. But here we haue matter & answere enough for more than 3. tēptations: for if Satan obiect vnto vs lower & vpon the ground as it were, that God is a righteous iudge, full of indigna­tion & impatience, & not making the wicked innocent, answer him, that withal he is a gracious God, & cānot deny himselfe If he climbe high­er in temptatiō, as it were to the pinnacle of the temple, & reply vpō thee, but thou art vnworthy of that grace because thou art full of ini­quity & vnrighteousnes, answere him, that withal he is a mercifull God [Page 580] and sheweth greatest pitty where there is most need of it. If he as­sault thee a third time, & thinke to overthrow thee as it were vpon the toppe of a mountaine, by telling thee that thou hast long conti­nued in thy sinnes, that thou broughtest them from the wombe, and they haue dwelt with thee to thy gray haires, answere him that God is as much commended for his longe sufferance. If yet his mouth be not stopt, but he maintaine a further plea against thee, that thy sins are as the sins of Manasses, more than the sands of the sea in number, and their burthen such that they are gone over thine head, like mighty wa­ters, answer him that the goodnes of the Lord is as much, & that there is no comprehension of his loving kindes. If lastly he obiect, that iudgmēt hath begun at thine house, &, to put thee out of doubt that thou art not in the favour of God, he hath smittē thy body with sore diseases, thy soule with agonies, thy family with orbities & privati­ons, tell him for full conclusion, that he can also repent him of the evil, and cease to punish, and leaue as many blessings behinde him when his pleasure is. It was never the meaning of God that these vvordes should be spokē in the winds, & blowne away like empty bladders. They were spoken & written no doubt for the vse of sinners. This is the name which God hath proclaimed to the world, and whereby he would be knowne to mē, that if ever we came before him, we might speake our mindes in the confidence & trust of that amiable name. Thus Moses vnderstoode it. For assone as the Lord had ended his speach, Moses applied it to the present purpose, for he bowed to the earth, and worshipped God and said, O Lorde, I beseech thee, pardon our iniquities and sinnes; Exod. 34. and take vs for thine inheritance, Likewise in the 14. of Num. And now I beseech thee, let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken, saying, The Lord is slow to anger, &c. re­ferring himselfe to the speach and proclamation which God had v­sed vpō the mount. We are the childrē of our father which is in hea­vē. If therefore it be an honor vnto vs to be reputed his sons, let vs follow our fathers steps, & beare some part of his heavenly image. Let vs not seeke to be like vnto him in the arme of his strēgth, nor in the braine of his wisedome, nor in the finger of his miracles, but in his bowels of pi [...]y & tender compassion. Let Lions and Beares and Tigers in the forrest be [...] towardes their companions, let them bi [...]e & be bitten, devour & be devouted againe; let dogges grinne, let Vnicornes push with their hornes, let Scythians and Canni­bals because they knowe not GOD, (not knovve vvhat belon­geth to humanity and gentlenesse; but let Christians loue their [Page 581] brethren even as God hath loved them, and remitte one the other their offences, as Christ hath freely forgiven the sinnes of his church. Let those reprobate-minded, Rom. 1. carry to their graves with them and to the bottome of hell, where all hatred must end, that marke which the holy Ghost hath scored vpon their browes, that they are [...], without naturall affection, not fit for societie, voide of pitty; but let the example of the most holy Trinity, the God of peace, the prince of peace, the spirit of peace, that one God of all conso­lation, rich in mercies, bee ever before our eies, that as wee have recei­ved freely, so we may freely returne grace, mercy, long-suffering, a­bundance of kindnes, revocation of our wronges and iniuries be­gun, to all our brethren in the flesh, but especially to Christes chosen and peculiar members.

THE XLIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. vers. 3.‘Therefore now, O Lord, take I beseech thee my life, &c.’

THat Ionas praied, & how he praied, in what sort expostulating with God, iustifying his offence, and abusing his knowledge of the mercy of God to vtter the malice and cruel­ty of his owne heart, wee have already seene, & considered the reasons which are suppo­sed to have moved him to that vndutifull & vncharitable course. Either the care of his own credite, which he should not have stood vpon to the derogatiō of the honor of God, when the angels of hea­ven sing glory vnto him; or affection to his country, which perswasi­on was as weake to have drawne him to obedience, seeing that the Israell of God might have bin in Niniveh aswell as in Iury, because there are Iewes inwardly and in the spirit as truly as outwardly and in the letter, and those that heare the word of Christ are more kindly his bre­thren and sisters, than those that are affined vnto him in the flesh, Vp­on these premisses, be they stronge or weake, is inferred the con­clusion, including his request to God, Therefore now O Lord, &c. A mā so contraried & crossed in mine expectation, how can I ever satisfie my discontented mind, but by ending my life? and he addeth a rea­son or confirmation drawne from vtility, and amplified by compari­son, It is not only good for me to die, but better to die than to live.

[Page 582]The force of anger we have in part declared before. It rageth not only against men made of the same mold, but against God. Let the bloud of Iulian throwne vp into the aire, and togither with his bloud, blasphemy against the son of God, witnes it. Nor only against those that haue sense and vnderstanding, but against vnreasonable & vn­sensible creatures. As Xerxes wrote a defying letter to Athos a moū ­taine of Thrace; Mischievous Athos, lifted vp to heaven, make thy quar­ries and veines of stone passable to my travaile, Plutarc de [...]ohiben. irac. or I will cut thee downe and cast thee into the midst of the sea. Nor only against those things which are without vs, but against our selves. As in this place, the anger of Ionas beginneth to take fire against the Ninivites, Proceedeth as far as it dareth against God, and endeth in it selfe.

In one worde, that which Ionas requesteth, though spoken by cir­cumlocution,Auf [...]r ani­mam meam and more wordes than one, is, that he may die. Take away my soule from me. For what is life, but, as the philosopher defi­neth it, the composition and colligation of the soule to the body? In the 2. of Gen. the Lord formed man of the dust of the ground; there is his matter: [...]. Arist and breathed in his face the breath of life, and the man was a living soule; there is his forme and perfection. And what is death on the other side, but the dissociation, and severing of these two partes? or the taking of the soule from the body, according to the forme of words in this place? God telleth the rich man in the gospell, who was talking of lardger buildinges, when the building within him vvas neare pulling downe, and thought he had goods enough for his soule to delight in, when he had not soule enough to delight in his goods, Thou foole, this night [...], doe they require, and rede­maunde thy soule that is, this night thou must die. Elias, in the first of Kinges and nineteenth, vseth the same phrase in the wildarnesse, It sufficeth Lorde, take away my soule from me. Let me not longer live to see the misery that Iezabell hath threatned vnto me. As when you take away structure and fashion from an house, temple, or taberna­cle, there remaineth none of all these, but a confused and disorde­red heape of stones, timber, iron, morter, and the like; so vvhen the soule is taken from the body either of man or beast, there remai­neth but a carkas. Therefore the Apostle calleth death the dissolu­tion or pulling downe of our earthly house;2 Cor. 5. [...]. 2 Pe [...] 1. [...]ohn 2. Peter the deposition or laying a­long of a tabernacle. And our saviour bade the Iewes, speaking of his bodilie death, Destroie this temple, and in three daies I vvill reare it vp againe.

There are many phrases throughout the scripture abroad, wher­by [Page 583] the terrour of death is lenified and tempered vnto vs, and the very nature thereof wholy changed. For whereas the nature of death is to kil, and to spoile the being of living things, by these we may ga­ther, that touching the elect, death it selfe is slaine, and deprived of it owne being. God telleth Abraham, Gen. 15. that his seed should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs, but himselfe shoulde goe to his fathers in peace. What is that? shall hee travaile againe, as hee did to Chanaan, or Egypt? no, but hee shall bee buried in a good age, not prevented by vmtimely death, nor carried into captivity, but laide in the graue amongst his auncient friendes and acquaintance. A thing, vvhich a man vvoulde desire with much suite if hee were held from it. To Moses his servant hee altereth the phrase. For, Numb. 27. hee shall bee gathered to his people, as one that were scat­tered and straied from the rest of the flocke; and Deut. 31. he must sleepe vvith his fathers, and take a comfortable rest wi [...]h others that haue laboured in their times. David beginning as it vvere vvhere Moses leaveth, calleth it the rest of the flesh in hope, Psalme the six­teenth. Esay addeth the place, and noteth where that rest shall bee; They shall enter into their chambers, and shutte the dores vnto them, Es. 26. and hide themselues for a time. But in the fifty and seventh of his prophecie, more perfitely, speaking of the deliverance of the righteous, they rest in their beddes. So first they go to their fathers, as men left behinde to the company of strangers; after their going, they are gathered vnto them, that as there vvas but one folde of the living, so there may bee but one folde and condition of the deade; after their gathering vnto them, they sleepe and take their rest, the visions of their heades not making them afraide, nor breaking their quiet, as in their life time; not vpon a stone, as Iacob did, nor in the tent of an enemy, as Sisera but in their chambers and vpon their beddes, the dores beeing close about them, and their bones de­livered from former disturbances. But all these concerne the bodie alone. The sweetest and ioyfullest of them all (I meane to the Lordes inheritance) is the surrendring of the soule into the LORDES custodie and protection, and the resigning vp of the spirit to him that is the LORDE of the spirite of all flesh, Numbers the sixteenth. So was the praier, or rather bequest of Da­vid, Psalme 31. leaving his crowne to Salomon, his body to wormes and rottennesse, or to their lodging in darkenesse, as Iob called it; Lorde, into thy handes I lay downe or pavvne my spirite. And CHRIST of the seede of David,D [...]pon [...] commended his spirite to none other [Page 584] keeper nor in other tearmes, [...]. Luke 23. [...]. And that you may know, how vniforme & like it selfe the Spirit of God is, the blessed Apostle keepeth the same stile, 2. Tim. 1. These things I suffer, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I haue trusted, & I am perswaded that he is able to keepe my pledge, that I haue cōmitted vnto him against that day. To those that must die, more surely than they liue (for Iosuah calleth it the way & custōe of the whole earth) can there be a greater cōfort than this,Ios. 23. that when the dust shall re­turne to the earth as it was, & yet in fulnesse of time to be formed in­to a new Adam as that first originall dust,Eccles. 12. the spirit returneth to God that gaue it? & that we may as boldly go to our maker, as ever Paul wēt to Carpus at Troas to leaue his cloke & bookes & parchments in his handes, so we to commend the richest iewels we haue vnto his fideli­ty, & to say with his holy martyr, Lord Iesu receaue our spirtes?

Act. 7.But to cease from farther discussion of the phrase, wee may a little enquire, whither it were lawfulll for Ionas to wishe for death. Ma­ny I graunt, oppressed with misery, and not able or willing to beare their crosse, doe little les [...]e than call to mountaines and rockes to fall vp­on them, and to end their wretched daies. I am sure they complaine that light shoulde bee giuen vnto those men, whome God hath hedged in, and they reioyce for gladnes when they can finde the graue. Iob 3 For then, they say, wee shoulde haue lien and beene in quiet, vvee shoulde haue slept then and beene at rest. Mors mise­ [...]rū portus. Caesar▪ [...]. Theophrast. Ephes. 6. [...]. 2. The [...]. 3. Parum etsi multos āno [...]. Infantes sumu [...] & se­nes videmur Mars. As if they had beene borne with any other cōdition thē to walke a pilgrimage of few & evill daies: or as if the evill day which the Apostle warneth vs of, were not the whole course of our life, partely through him who is principally evill, breathing out his malice against vs, partly through evill men infesting and disturbing our peace but rather through the evill of sinne procuring wrath and the evill of ad­versity ensuing thervpon. In consideration of which troubles of life it was, that Simonides being asked, as Iacob was by Pharaoh, how long he had lived, made answere, but a little, though many yeares. For if wee remember, how much of our better and vitall life, goeth away in agues, and feeblenesse, and other the like annoiances, we may seeme perhappes olde men, and are indeede but children. It was a worthy aunswere that Artabanus gaue to Xerexes the mighty Emperour of Persia, when viewing his huge army of at least a thou­sand thousand men, drinking whole rivers dry as they vvent, and commaundinge both hilles and seas to giue vvay vnto them, hee vvepte, because it came to his minde, that vvithin the space of an hundreth yeares not one of that goodlye companye shoulde bee founde aliue: I vvoulde that vvere the vvorst, saith hee. For [Page 585] vvee endure much more sorrowe by retayning life. Neither is there any one of these, nor of all men living besides, so hap­pye vpon the earth, that hee doth not once, and often cast in his minde, how much more pleasure there were in dyinge than in li­ving. As our life is replenished with all kinde of misery, so death by nature is an enemy to life: which both man and beast flye from. All thinges desire being. And God never created death amongst his good workes. It came partlye through the envye of the devill, vvho lied vnto man, saying, yee shall not die; partely through the transgression of Adam, and partlye through the anger of God ren­dring the right stipend due to sinne. VVherefore hee threatned it as a punishment, Genesis the second, The day vvherein thou shalt eate of the forbiedden fruite, thou shalt dye the death. Afterwardes vvhen the Lawe had beene given. Moses in the name of GOD protesteth vnto them by heaven and earth, that hee had set before them life and death, and wisheth them to choose life, that they might liue, they and their seede. Death is called an enimy in open tearmes, 1. Cor. 15, The last enimie that shall bee subdued, is death. Deut. 30. [...]. De verb. apost ser. 33. [...]. Act 2. 1. King. 19 But who loveth an enimy simply and for his owne sake? And amongst orher blessings betrothed to the elect of God, one is, that Death shalbe no more, Revelation 21. And to reason with Augustine, Si nulla esset mortis a­maritudo, non esset magna matyrum fortitudo; If there vvere no bitternesse and discontentment in death, the constancy of martyrs were not great. Therefore when Elias heard the worde of Iezabell, The Gods doe so and much more vnto mee, if to morrowe by this time I make not thy life as the life of one of those vvhome thou hast slaine, it is saide, that he arose, and went for his life to Beer-sheba. Howe did Da­vid pleade for his life. Psalm. 30. What profit is there in my bloude, when? I goe downe into the pit? shall the dust giue thankes vnto thee? or shall it declare thy truth? as if hee vvoulde mooue the Lorde for his owne good and glorye sake, not to cut him of: but aftervvardes vvith respecte to himselfe, Staye thine anger a vvhile, that I may recover my strength, before I goe hence and am no more seene, And being assured elswhere of that request graunted him, hee sange ioyfullye to his soule vvithin▪ Returne vnto thy rest, Psal. 39, O my soule, the LORDE hath beene mercifull or beneficiall vnto thee. Be­cause thou hast delivered my soule from death, mine eies from teares, Psal. 116, Esa. 38, and my feete from falling; and I shall walke before the Lord in the land of the living. I speake not of the moane that Ezechias made, howe hee tur­ned his face to the vva [...], after the Prophet gaue him vvarninge [Page 586] of his death, and prayed vnto the Lorde, and wept sore, and like a crane or a svvallovv so did hee chatter, and mourne like a doue, and lifting his eyes vp on high, said, O Lorde, it hath oppressed mee, comfort mee; and after his life was freed from the pit of corruption, as it were leapt for ioy; the li­ving, the living hee shall confesse thee, as I doe this day: when the beloved and blessed sonne of God, hee that had power to lay downe his life, and to take it vp againe, against that time, began to bee verye sad and grievously vexed; [...]. Mat. 26. and in the presence of Peter and the two sonnes of Zebedee, let not to disclose his passion, My soule is vvonderfullye heavy vnto death. And but that the will of his father was in the midst of his bowelles, and his obedience stronger than death, hee vvould haue begged three times more, that the cup might haue passed from his lippes. Likewise Ioh. 12. vvhen Andrew and Philip tolde him of certaine Greekes that were desirous to see him, hee seeing an image of his death before his eies, witnessed vnto them, saying. Now is my soule troubled: And what shall I say? father saue mee from this howre: and but that an other respect called him backe, therefore I came and father glorifie thy name, hee would still haue continued in that prai­er· Quis enim vult mori? prorsus nemo; & ita memo &c. For who is wil­ling simply to die? surely no man. And so vndoubtedly no man, that it vvas said to blessed Peter, August. de verb. apost. ser. 33. John. 21. [...]. Salve crux. Veniat ig­nis. An other shall guide thee and leade thee to the place whither thou wouldest not goe. Peter would not vnlesse he were car­ried. But what then was the reason that the Apostle desired to bee dissolved and to be with Christ, which hee said, was best of all? Philip▪ 1. & that the Saintes which were racked, Heb. 11. cared not to be delivered, that they might obtaine a beetter resurrection? that Peter and Andrew welcommed their crosses, as they were wont their dearest friendes, & embraced thē in their armes, & saluted them with kisses of peace? that Ignatius called for fire & sworde and the teeth of wilde beasts? and other martyrs of Christ went to their deathes with cheerefull­nes reioycing and singing, and not lesse than ran to the stake, as if they had run for a garland? Wee may easily answere, partly from the former authorities; that they might bee with christ, and that they might obtaine a better resurrection. But the Apostle in excellent tearms decideth the question in the 2. to the Corinthians,2. Cor. 5. [...], VVee will not be vnclothed and stripte of our liues, we take no pleasure or ioy therein; but wee woulde bee clothed vppon: wee haue no other meanes to get that better clothing, than by putting of this, or that vpon this, that mortality may bee svv [...]llow­ed vp of life, and corruption of incorruption. So that their thoughts [Page 587] subsist not in death, but haue a further reach, because they know it to bee the high way which must bring them to felicitie. And it is no small perswasion vnto them, when they thinke that by the en­ding of their liues they make an end of sinning. For whilest they are in the flesh, they see a law in their members striving against the lawe of their minde, and subiecting them to the lawe of sinne. Therefore they cry, as hee did, VVretched man that I am, Rom. 7. who shall deliver me from the body of this death? In which postulations not witstandinge they evermore submit themselues to the straigtest and equallest rule of the will of God, desiring no otherwise to haue their wishes acom­plished, than with that safe and wary condition, Si dominus volet, If the Lorde bee pleased with them. Iam. 4. And as they regarde their owne good therein, so because the bloud of Martyrs is the seede of the Church, and that which is fire to their flesh & bones, is water to the gospell to make it florish,1. Tim. 6. & a good [...]onfession witnessed before the vvick­ed tyrants of the world, doth good service to the truth,Philip. 1. in this respect also they are not sparing of themselues, that Christ may be magnified in their bodies, whither it bee by their life or death. Now Ionas hath more of all these fore-named endes to alleage for himselfe, why hee desi­reth to die, neither the glory of God, nor the good of his brethren, nor profit of his owne soule; but in a peevish and froward moode, because his minde is not satisfied, and to avoide some little shame, or to rid himselfe from the grievances of life, which are not reasons sufficient, hee will needes die, and followe the streame of his foolish appetite, with some such like affection, as Dido at her departure ex­presseth. Sic sic iuvat ire sub vmbras, Thus I am disposed to dye & not otherwise.

But to leaue generalities, let vs looke a while into the partes of his wishe. 1. It is his greate fault, as Ioab offered his trechery to Abner vnder the pretence of a friendly and peaceable parle, and Iudas his treason to Christ vnder the colour of a kisse, so to tender his impatient fittes vnto the Lord, the searcher of his heart & reines, vnder the nature and forme of prayer. His anger at an other time, and in another action,Tolle quaeso. when hee had sequestred his soule from the king of heaven and heavenly things, had beene more sufferable. But then to pray, vvhen hee vvas thus angry, or then to bee angry vvhen hee came to pray, and not to slake the heate thereof, but still to heape on outragious wordes, as hote as Iuniper coles, can no way bee excused. Yet thus hee doth. The fire is kindled in his heart, and the sparkles fly forth of the chimney, as Salamon spake [Page 588] vndutifull speaches towards the maiesty of God, and most vnatu­rall against his owne life. Surely the wrath of man doth not accomplish the righteousnes of God;Iam. 1. it is very far form it.

2 Consider his haste, how headlong hee goeth in his rash and vn­advised request. For as if the case required some such speede, as the prophet had in chardge for the annointing of Iehu, powre the boxe vpō his head, and say, thus saith the Lord, and then open the dore, and flee without tarrying, 2 King. 9. no sooner hath he opened his lippes, or conceived his suit in his minde, but the Lord must presently and without delay effect it. It appeareth in that he vrdgeth the matter so closely at Gods hands.Nune erg [...]. Now therefore, since I haue prooved it, and I am not able to beare the burthen of my griefe, nor longer endure the tediousnes of my life, doe it without protraction of time. It was a goodly and sober orati­on that Iudith made to her people of Bethulia, touching their oath to deliver the cittie to the enemie vvithin fiue daies vnlesse the LORDE sent helpe,Jud. 8. And novve vvho are you that haue tempted God this daie, and set your selues in the place of GOD amonge the chil­dren of men? Nay my brethren, provoke not the Lorde our God to anger. For if hee vvill not helpe vs vvithin these fiue daies, hee hath povver to defend vs vvhen hee vvill, even every day, or to destroy vs before our e­nemies. Doe not you therefore binde the counsailes of the LORDE. for God is not as man that hee may bee threatned, neither as the sonne of man that hee may bee called to iudgement. Therefore let vs waite for sal­vation of him, and call vppon him to helpe vs, and hee vvill heare our voice if it please him. Thus we should teach and exhorte our selues in all our praiers; not to set him a time, as the disciples did about the kingdome of Israell, vvhen LORDE? or as Ionas doeth in this place, novve Lorde; or then Lorde; but vvhen it pleaseth him And as the Psalme adviseth vs, O tarrie the LORDES leasure, hope in the Lorde, Psal. 17. and bee stronge: and hee shall comforte thine hearte, when hee thinketh good. There are many reasons why God dif­ferreth to graunt our petitions: 1. to prooue our faith, vvhither we will seeke vnlawfull meanes, by gadding to the woman of Endor, or the idoll of Ekron,Desideria nostra dilati one exten­duntur. Desiderata di [...] dulcius obtinentur. or such like heathenish devises: 2. to make vs thoroughly privie to our own infirmities and disabilities, that wee may the more heartily embrace his strengh: 3. to strength­en and confirme our devotion towardes him; for delay exten­deth our desires: 4. to make his giftes the more welcome and accep­table to vs: or 5. it is not expedient for vs to haue them granted too soone: Or lastly, there is some other cause which God hath reserved [Page 589] to his owne knowledge. Now this petition which Ionas is so forward & hasty in, is contrary to all reason. For are not the daies of man deter­mined? Iob. 14. is not the number of his monethes with the Lord? and hath not the Lord set him boundes which he cannot passe? Doth not an other say; My times are in thine handes O Lord? Psalm. 31. why then doth Ionas so greedi­ly desire to shorten his race,Aufer. & to abridge that number of time which his Creator hath set him? 3. We commonly pray that it wil please the Lord to give, not to take away, & to bestow something vpon vs, not 3 to bereave vs of any blessing of his. Salomō 1. Kin. 3. beseecheth him for wisedome, Giue vnto thy servant an vnderstanding heart: &, Psal. 119▪ da mihi intellectum, giue me vnderstanding, was the vsuall request of his father David. We say in our daily praier, giue vs this day our daily bread, & for­giue vs our trespasses, that is, give vs remission of all our sins. That that is said to descend from above, from the father of lights, is [...] and [...], giving and gift, not taking away.Iam. 1. For God hath a bountifull nature, and as liberall an hand: he openeth it at lardge, and filleth every living thing with his blessing. Hee asketh of every creature in the world, what hast thou, that thou hast not receaved? and of vs that have receaved the first fruites of his spirite, and to whome he hath given his sonne ▪ what is there in the world that you may not receaue? But Ionas is earnest with God, against the accustomed manner of prayer, and the course of Gods mercies, to take something from him. 4. But what? Aufer-opprobrium? take from mee shame and re­buke,4 vvhereof I am afraide? as David besought.Animam. Psal. 119. 1. Chro. 21. Vanitatem & ver­ba mendacia longè fac à me? vanitye and lyinge vvordes put farre from mee? Aufer iniquitatem servi tui? take avvay the sinne of thy servant, when hee had numbred the people? Or as Iob prayed,Iob 9. Aufer at à me virgam suam, let him take avvay his rodde from mee? Or as Pharaoh requested Moses and Aaron to pray to the Lord for him, to take avvay the frogges? Exod 8. Exod. 10. Vir fortis e­tiam cum moritur do­le [...]. and afterwardes vvhen the grassehoppers vvere sent, to take avvay frow him that one death onelye? No, his life. His dearling that lived and laye within his bosome. VVhich be­cause it is the blessing of God, good in nature, and fit [...] for the ex­ercise of goodnesse, the strongest man living is loth to depart from. The other which I spake of, were plagues to the land, banes to the conscience, hinderances [...]o salvation, and therefore it was no mar­vaile, if God were humbly entreated to remove them. But Pharaoh in his right wittes, nor skarsely Orestes beinge madde, vvoulde ever have desired that his life shoulde bee taken from him. Who ever became a suter to GOD, to take avvaye the life of his [Page 590] oxe or asse? because they were given him for labour. Much lesse of his wife, which was made an helper vnto him; or his childe, a com­forter. Or who ever hath entreated him to give him evill for good, a scorpion for a fish, a serpent for an egge, stones for bread? Ionas is found thus senselesse, skant worthy of that soule which he setteth so light by. He should have desired God to have taken away the sto­ny heart out of the middest of him, and not scelus de terra, Ezech. 23. or spiritum immundum de terrâ, Ezech. 36. Zach. 13. wickednesse out of the land, or an vncleane spirit from the earth, but a wicked and vncleane spirit from out his owne breast, whereby hee was driven to so franticke a pas­sion. 5. Hee will also proove (which is the reason annexed to the 5 petition) that it is better for him to die than to live, 5 Praestat mori. and he prooveth it by comparing two opposites, death and life, the horrour of one of which he shoulde rather have commended the svveetenesse, and comfort of the other. Thales on a time giving forth incredibly and strangely enough, that there was no difference betweene life and death, one presently closed vpon him, Cur ergo non moreris? why then di [...]st thou not? because, saith hee, there is no difference. Albeit, it appeareth sufficiently that hee sh [...]wed a difference by refusing it▪ But the paradoxe which Ionas heare alleadgeth, addeth much to that of Thales. For hee affirmeth in peremptory tearmes, havinge them laide before his eies to compare togither, and to make his choice, Death is better than life. Howbeit, hee saith not simply, it is better to die than to live,Melius mihi mori. but better for mee. One as wise as ever Ionas was, who had beene taken vp into the third heavens, & seene revelations, in this very question betweene life and death, gave no o­ther answere or solution vnto it, but per hoc verbum Nescio, by this word I knowe not; [...], & what to choose I knowe not. And hee confessed that hee vvas streightened or pinched betweene these two, Philip. 1. whither it were better for him, to abide in the flesh, or to be with Christ. No doubt, simply to bee with Christ. For that is [...], but onely better, but much and very much better: but to abide in the flesh, was [...], more needefull and profi­table for the Church. For wee were not borne to our selves, but for the good of our parents, countrey, kinred, and friendes, saide Plato, and much more for the flocke of Christ which he hath pur­chased with his bloud, whither they bee Iewes or Gentiles, weake or stronge, Israelites or Ninivites, to further their faith, and to helpe them to salvation: for thus we are debters to all men. The speeches of Caesar were wont to be, that hee had lived long enough▪ [Page 591] whither hee respected nature or honour. Tully aunswered him,Naturae for­tassi [...] & glo­riae; a [...], quod maximum est▪ patriae cerié parum Sed tum id audirem, si tibi soli vi­veres &c. It may bee for honour and nature longe enough, but that vvhich is chiefest of all, not for the common wealth. Againe, I haue heard thee say, that thou hast lived longe enough to thy selfe. I beleeue it. But then I would also heare, If thou livedst to thy selfe alone, or to thy selfe alone wert borne. Wee are all placed and pitched in our stations, and haue our watches and services apointed vs. Let vs not offer to depart thence, till it bee the pleasure of our God to dis­misse vs. Vnlesse wee haue learned that vndutifull lesson, which the messenger vsed at the dores of Elizeus 2. of Kinges and the 6. Beholde, this evill commeth of the Lorde, should I attend on the Lord any longer? Si consilium vis, Permite ip­sis expendere numinibus &c. Iuvenal Nam pro iu­cundis aptis­sima &c. Valer max. lib. 7. cap. 2. Quia qui iribuere bona ex fa­cili solem, etiam eligere aptissima possunt

It is better for mee to die than to liue. Say not so, for how know­est thou? If thou wilt harken to counsaile, leaue it to the wisedome of God to iudge what is best for thee: for he will not giue that which is most pleasant, but most convenient: Charior est illis homo quam sibi, A man is dearer to God than to himselfe. Socrates in Alci­biades, woulde not haue any man aske ought at Gods handes in particular, but in generality, to giue him good thinges. Because he knew what was most behoofe-full for each one, whereas our selues craue many thinges, which not to haue obteined had bene greater ease. At length hee concludeth. For hee that is vvont to giue good thinges so easily, is also able to choose the fittest. The promises in the gospell, I graunt, are verye lardge; Whatsoever you shall aske in my name, that will I doe. Ioh. 14: And, Aske, and it shall bee gi­ven you, Math. 7. For every one that asketh receaveth. Howe com­meth it to passe then that the sonnes of Zebedee aske and receave not? Wee woulde that thou shouldest doe for vs, that that we desire, Marke 10. The reason is given there by our Saviour▪ Nescitis quid petatis You knowe not what you aske. This is also the cause that Ionas receaveth not his asking: he knoweth not what hee asketh. You haue not, because you aske not, Iam. 4. that is one cause. Yea but you aske and haue not [...], Because you aske amisse; both concerning the end to consume it on your lusts; and touching the māner, because without faith; and for the matter it it selfe, because it is hurtfull vnto you. And if you obserue it,Mat. 7. you shall espie a condition conveyed into the promise of Christ; If you being evill, giue good thinges to your children, how much more shall your father in beaven giue good things to them that aske him? [...] good thinges ▪ not such as may doe you hurt. Another evangelist faith for [...], or [...], the holy or good Spirite. Which is all [Page 562] in all, able & ready to rectifie your mindes, order your affections, & set you to craue more holesome and profitable giftes. For if vvee aske the contrary, (except when the Lorde is pleased to lay a curse vpon our praiers) though wee call never so loude and impatientlye in his eares Vs (que) quó domine clamabo & non exau [...]ies? Hab. 1. O Lorde hovve longe shall I cry vnto thee, and thou wilt not heare me? he answereth, at least by his silence and deniall, even as long as a man in a burning ague shall say to his Phisitian, vs (que) quó, how longe shall I cry for colde wa­ter? I burne, I am vexed, I am tormented, I am almost out of breath; and hee answereth againe,Voluntas tua contra te p [...]it Hieron. in Habbac. Non misereor modo, I cannot yet pittye thee. Such mercy were cruelty, and thine owne will and wishe is daungerously bent against thee. This is the cause, to conclude, that Ionas his suite speedeth not. Ionas thinketh it better to die. It is onely better in seeming, as a distasted palate is soonest pleased with the worst meate. God thinketh the contrary. Naye Ionas thinketh, God knoweth, that hee dieth indeede if he die out of cha­rity, and that if hee shoulde giue his bodie to the fire, or againe to the water, or a thousand deathes more, without loue, it could not profite him. Therefore hee is not suffered to dye when he would, but by another mercy of God, not inferiour to that in his former deliverye, is reserved to an other repentance, and to more peace­able dayes. Saint Augustine vpon the wordes of the Evangelist, If thou wilt enter into life, Math. 19. keepe the commaundementes, (where hee pro­veth that there is no true life, but that which is blessed, nor blessed but that which is eternall) noteth the manner of men to be in their mise­ries, to call for death rather than life. Deus mitte mihi mortem, accelera dies meos, O LORDE send death vnto mee, shorten my daies. And sometimes sicknesse commeth indeede, but then there is coursinge to and fro, Phisitians are brought, mony and giftes are promised▪ and death it selfe perhappes speaketh vnto them, Ecce adsum, beholde here am I; Thou calledst for mee: thou desiredest the LORDE not longe since to sende mee. VVherefore doest thou flye mee now? I haue founde thee a deceaver, Invenite falsatorem. and a lover of this vvretched life, notvvithstandinge thy shew to the contrary. It is the vse of vs all, with the like forme of petitiō, rather o [...] banning and imprecation, to wish for death: yea strange and accursed kindes of death, wherein God sheweth a iudgement. Let mee sinke as I stande, let the earth open vnto mee, let mee never speake worde more; And every crosse and vexation of life, make it irkesome and vnsavoury vnto vs, vvoulde God I vvere dead. If God shoulde then answere vs, Ex [...]re tuo, out of your [Page 593] owne mouthes, I graunte your requestes, Be it vnto you accor­ding to your wordes, howe miserable and desperate were our case? But as olde Chremes in the Comedy, tolde Clitipho his sonne, a younge man, and without discretion, vvho because hee coulde not wringe from his father tenne poundes, to bestowe vpon Bac­chis his lover, had none other speach in his mouth, but Em [...]ricupio, Priùi queso disce quid sit vivere, tum &c. I desire to die: First knovve, I praie thee, vvhat it is to liue▪ vvhen thou haste learned that, then if thy life displease thee, vse these vvordes; so first knowe, my brethren, you that are so hastye to pronounce the sentence of death against your selues, vvhat belongeth to the life of a Christian,Quid sumu [...] & quidnam victuri gig­nimus▪ Pers. vvhy it vvas given you by the LORDE of life, to vvhat endes hee hath made you living soules, what duties and offices hee requireth at your handes; these thinges rightlye weighed, if you thinke good, call for death; for by that time, I thinke, you vvill learne more vvisedome than to doe it. It is good for you to see to the vvhole course and transaction of your liues, they shoulde bee prelusions and preparations for a better life to come. Beginne not then to liue,Quidam in­cipiūt vive­re cum desi­nendum est: quidam ant [...] desierunt quàm ince­perint. vvhen you must giue o­ver, vvhich is the follie of most men: or rather take heede, that you giue not over life, before you haue begunne it. As one haire shall not fall from your heades vvithout GODS provi­dence, so nor the least haire and minute of time from your yeares vvithout his account taken. But especially remember your end, looke to the fallinge of the tree, consider hovv the sunne go­eth dovvne vppon you: Novve, if ever before, cast your ac­countes, you builde for heaven; now, if ever before, bring forth your armies, you fight for a kingdome. Lay not more burthen of sinne vppon your soules at their going forth. Let the last of your vvay be rest, and the closing vppe of the day a sweete and quiet sleepe vnto you. My meaninge is, vvish not for death, before you bee very ready for it. Nay rather desire GOD to spare you a time, that you may recover, I say not your strength, and bodilye abilitie, but his favour and grace, before hee plucke you away and you bee no more seene. It is not comforte enough vnto you, to saie, Vixi▪ & quem dederat cursum natura, peregi, I haue li­ved indeede, and finished some time vpon the earth; vnlesse you can also adde, your consciences bearing you vvitnesse, and mini­string ioy to the end of your daies, [...], the seconde to Timothy and 4. chapter; I haue finished my race, I haue not onelye broughte it to an end, but to a perfection; though I haue died soone, [Page 594] yet I haue fulfilled much time, my life hath beene profitable to my countrye and to the Church of God, and nowe I depart in his peace.

THE XLIIII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. ver. 4.‘Then saide the Lord, Doest thou well to be angry?’

The first of those 3. parts wherinto this chapter was devided, touching the impatience & dis­contentment of Ionas, we haue in part disco­vered out of the former verses: reserving a remnant thereof to be handled afterwardes. The reprehension of God, which was the 2. beginneth at these wordes, and is repeated a­gaine in the 9. verse, vpon the like occasiō gi­ven by Ionas. The mercy of God towardes his prophet, manifesteth it selfe in this fatherly obiurgation many waies. 1. That the Potter vouchsafeth & hūbleth himselfe to dispute with his Clay: 2. that he is ready to giue a reason of all his actions, as a righteous Lord, who doth not enforce any thing by his absolute and meere authority, but dealeth reasonably and iustly; much more, that the Lord speaketh vnto him who spake & fretted against the Lorde, & giveth an accoūt vnto him why he spared Niniveh, of whō no mā wisely durst to haue demāded, what dost thou? that hee that dwelleth in light vnapproachable, & his counsailes are so high in the cloudes as who cā finde thē out? placeth thē notwithstanding in the eies of the world, to be examined & sifted by the reason of man; But most of all, that he ministreth a word in season vnto Ionas, & whē the streame of his anger was so violent, that it bare him into an hearty desire & longing after death, then, that the Lord intercepteth him, & aunswereth in his course as Elihu answered Iob,Iob 32. Beholde, I haue waited vpon thy wordes, and harkened vnto thy speach, whilst thou soughtest out reasons, I will now speake in my turne, & shew thee mine opinion, Doest thou well to be angry? It is the sin­gular wisedome of God, & without which pollicy, it were hard for a­ny flesh living to be saved, that when we are running on in our sinnes, & wearying our selues in the waies of wickednes, amongst other his retentiues & stops, he hath the hooke of reprehension to thrust into our noses, & pull vs backe againe. Our iniquities would wander with out measure, & become rottennes in our bones, our wounds woulde [Page 595] dwell for ever in our bowels, and fester to the day of iudgement, with out this medicine. So wisedome began her lore, Pro. 1. O yee foolish, how long will ye loue foolishnes? & the scorner take pleasure in scorning? & the fooles hate knowledge? She giveth vs our right names, according to our corrupt natures; for wisdome is able to iudge of fooles, & knoweth that with­out her instructiō we are wedded to our follies, therefore she addeth, turne ye at my correction, loe, I will powre out my minde vnto you, & make you vnderstand my words. In pro [...]rept. Clemēs Alexandrinus compareth our Saviour to an expert Musitian, such, as Terpander or Capito never were, for hee singeth new songs, & hath sundry kindes of moodes and varieties to worke the salvation of man. Sometimes he hath spoken by a burning bush vnto him, sometimes by a cloude of water, sometimes by a piller of fire, that is, he hath beene light to those that were obedient, & fire to those that rebelled; and because flesh is more precious than either bushes, or fire, or water, therefore he hath spoken vnto him by flesh: it was he that spake in Esaias, in Elias, and in all the prophetes, and at length, though he were equall to the Father in maiesty, yet he was founde in the shape of a servaunt, and spake vvith his owne lippes. This gracious instrument of almighty God, to shew the chandges of his notes, both pittieth and chasteneth, entreateth and threatneth, and by threatning best admonisheth, and by speaking roughly, soo­nest converteth. He that called Adam out of the thicker, (which was the first elementes of this learning whereof I speake) he hath produ­ced the same through all the ages of the world; hee sent Angels to Sodome, Noah to the old world, Nathan to David, Samuell to Saul, Elias to Ahab, prophets to Iudah and Ierusalem, Iohn Baptist to the Scribes and Pharisees; he reprooved the elders and Princes with many taunting parables, corrected Peter with looking backe, retracted Paule with a vision from heaven, advertised the seaven Churches with epistles sent vnto them. Leprosie, vnto Miryam was a vvriting and skrolle vpon her flesh, engraven in her skinne to teach her obedience; dumbnesse, vnto Zachary was not a dumbe instructour, it taughte him faith against another time; blindnesse, sent vpon Paule, tooke away his blindnesse, and opened the eies of his minde, making him to see more in the vvaies of life, than all his learning gathered at the feete of Gamaliell could haue revealed vnto him. Such are the admonitions that God sometimes vseth, to mollifie our hard heartes, least we shoulde freeze too long in the dregges of our sinnes, and because wee proceede with impunity, and freedome, claime them for inheritance. Beholde therefore, as [Page 596] Eliphaz comforted Iob, Blessed is the man vvhome the Lorde corre­cteth; therefore refuse not the chastising of the Almightie, for hee ma­keth the vvounde, Iob. 5. and bindeth it vp, hee smiteth and his hande maketh it vvhole, hee shall deliver thee in sixe troubles, and in the seventh the evill shall not touch thee. Nay he findeth a wound, and bindeth it vp, he espi­eth a blow, and his hands heale it, he letteth thee alone in sixe iniqui­ties, but in the seventh he will pull thee by the garment, & thou shalt no more offend. On the other side, wretched is the man, whom the Lord correcteth not; whose first messenger and monitioner is the first borne of death: that is, his life is taken from him before hee seeth his sins. This were (as Augustine calleth it) len [...]ty full of horrour, and sparinge cruelty;Ye [...]ribilis lenitas, cru­delita [...] par­cens. such precious balmes, breake the head, nay wound the consci­ence, when bitter and biting corrosiues were more holesome for vs. This is also one parte of our duety, who are to gather the sheepe into the sheepe fold of Christ, we must not only teach, but reprooue for o­therwise (as Origen noteth vpon Exodus) we offerred, but not scarlet: the colour and die of our preaching goeth not deepe enough:Obtulisti coccu [...], sed non bis tinctum, nō du­plicatum. Jgnis noster illumina [...], non accēdit. 1. The mā ­ner of re­prehensiō. our fire gi­veth light and shining, but kindleth not: we lead men the righte vvay vnto knowledge, but wee bring them not to the practicke and better part of divinity, to feele a pricking in their consciences, and to be dri­ven to say, men and brethren what shall we doe?

In the reprehension which God heere vseth, 2. thinges come to be handled. The manner thereof, which is milde, curteous, and peace­able; and the matter, which altogither concerneth his anger. The manner is as kinde and familiar, and with asmuch indulgence, as if Eli, or the kindest father in the world were to deale with his childe whom hee most favoured; no anger or gall vttered in the reprooving of his anger, no vnpleasant expostulation, and neither bitternesse nor length of spe [...]ch, but as fewe and as friendlye wordes as lenitye it selfe mighte devise. Doest thou vvill to be angry? I should haue loo­ked for burning from his lippes, and coales of fire from his nostrels, that one who dwelt at his foote-stoole should dare to assault heaven with his indignation, and crosse the doings of his dreadfull iudge: but that the thoughtes of the LORDE are peace, and of an other dis­position than the thoughtes of man. Doubtlesse, if one of his brethren, the prophetes of Israell, out of his owne tribe and family, had taken the cause in hande, I cannot conceiue how he should haue vsed him with so favourable and sparing an increpation, Doest thou wel to be angry?

If there bee any amongst you that taketh advauntage heere-at▪ [Page 597] to say in your harts, what meane our prophets and preachers to make such bitter invectiues, declamations, out-cries, against the sinnes of our age? their salte is too quicke, and we are over-much seasoned with it, our eares are not able to beare their vvordes; we cannot of­fende in the wearinge of a garment, in the vse of our money, in ea­ting our bread, and drinking our drinke, but the pulpits must present­ly ring, our ears tingle, and the world wonder at it. God never taught them such roughnesse of speach; it had beene an happier thing for vs to haue lived and sinned in former times, and then to haue beene an adulterer, then a drunkard or extortioner, when God spake himselfe, who knew how to temper his wordes, and to shape his reprehensi­ons in milder sort. He would haue said but thus, Dost thou wel to be angry? well to be prowd, well to be covetous, well to giue thy mony vpō vsury? he would not haue threatned & stormed as the māner of our preachers is. Surely (my brethren) God is the maister of his owne, both speaches & actions: his wisdome is as the great deepe, I cannot finde it out; it may be he saw amendmēt in the hart & reines of Ionas, which we cannot do: or he was able by his power to create his spirit a new, & to chādge his hart, that it should be rectified in an instante, as well by one worde, as if he had tyred, and torne his eares with tenne thousand; and hee dealt with a prophet, an anointed servaunt of his, one that was deare in his eies: or he kept him for another time, when his anger should be past, and his heart more capable of discipline and correction: or hee qualified his speach, to schoole and scourdge him the more with actions. Behold then, and rest satisfied with vs: our tongues should be still enough, if we had wormes to cōmaund to eate vp your plantes and fruites, or if we could chardge the sun in the sky, or the east winde in the aire to beate vpon your heades, and to grieue your soules, as God grieved Ionas; he spareth him in words, but he paieth him in fact, and though he vexe not his eares, as wee doe, hee vexeth his heade by taking away his shelter, the onelye temporall comforte which he then enioyed. I would we might see those daies wherein our speach might never exceede this compasse, Doe you well to doe thus? It is no pleasure to vs, to sharpen our tongues like ra­zors against you, to speake by the pounde or talent,Grauissimus nodus in lig­no non potest expelli nisi gravissimo oppressorio. Ambros. mightye and fearefull vvordes, if softer mighte suffice. But if vvee be briars in your coates and flesh, it is because wee dwell with briars; if vvee be perverse, it is because wee dwell in the midst of a perverse generati­on. An hard knot in the timber cannot be driven out, vvithout heavy blowes: sundry diseases require sundry kinds of cures, & as the [Page 598] dispositions of men are varied,Hic lavacra mollia, ille ferrum quae­rit ad vul­nera. Cassiod. Raban. in Matth. 9. so must wee vary our teachings: one must be washt with gentle bathes, another must haue his woundes cut with lancers: and as the damsell, Matth. 9. was raised vp in her fa­thers house, the widowes sonne of Naim without his mothers gates, Lazarus before a greate multitude of all sorts; so some must be hand­led privately, others openly, a thirde kinde publiquely: some must be held for weake,Varium pos­cit remediū diversa qualitas passionum. Subesse de­bet iracun­dia, non prae­esse. Non vt dominando praeveniat, sed simulan­do subsequa­tur. others accounted Publicanes vnto vs; some, their in­firmities supported, others delivered vnto Satan; some chastised with a rod, others warned in the spirit of meeknes; some pulled out of the fire, others left to be burnt; some saved by feare, others by loue; some must be vsed as our owne bowels, others as rotten members, vvhose cure is despaired, cut of from the body, that they do no more hurt. In all which reprehensions, (except where all hope is past) that sin­gular precept of Gregory taketh place. In the controlling of faultes, there must be some anger, rather to attend vpon reprehension, than to commaund it; so that in the execution of this charitable and merci­full iustice, it beare not a sway by going before, but rather make a shew by comming after. And Leo hath the like counsaile, that it must bee vsed, non saevientis animo, sed medentis, not with the minde of a tirant or persecutor,Gala [...]. 6. 2. The mat­ter reproo­ved. Num quid benefacit ira tibi? Oeco­lamp. Num putas quòd iustè irasceris? An factum bene, i. rati­onabiliter? Lyra. An valdè irasceris R. Kimhi. Jonathan verti [...], ad­modum. Nonné ve­hemens est ira tibi? Optimè. Deut. 9. but of an helper. Considering thy selfe (saith the A­postle) least thou also be tempted. For a man may once, and often in his life time, say to him that reprooveth another, as Eliphaz did to Iob. Behold, thou haste taught many, and strengthened the weary hands, thy words haue confirmed him that was falling, and thou haste vphelde the weake knees; but now, it is come vpon thee, and thou art grieved, it toucheth thee, and thou art troubled.

The matter reproved by God is anger, Dost thou well to be angry? or, as some render it, doth anger helpe thee? or, art thou angry iustly? and vpon reasonable cause? or, as some of the Hebrewes expounde it, art thou very angry? is not thy wrath vehement? interpreting bene by valdè, as Moses did Deut. 9. when he told the children of Israell that he tooke the sinne, the calfe which they had made, & ground it verie well, that is, sufficiently; till he had brought it to the smallest dust. So some interpret well, in this place, by the quality, & goodnes of anger, whether it may be iustified; others by the quantity and greatnes, no­ting the excesse and immoderation thereof. They come both to one: for whether God aske of the qualitie, he seemeth to imply a secret subiection, it is not well done of thee, thou hast no iust cause to be angrie; or whether of the quantity, he thinketh that there is as little reason that the sparing of penitent sinners, shoulde mooue such [Page 599] stomacke in Ionas. The question is disputed throughout the whole chapter, betweene God & the prophet, God the opposer, Ionas the defender, whether he do well to be angry; God confuteth him both by word & deed, & Ionas contendeth for it to the death. I will not trouble you with the aunswering of the question till we come to the ninth verse, where the Lord doth demaund againe in the same words, and Ionas, though he be silent in this place, yet there dissembleth not his minde, for he aunswereth, I do well to be angry, and addeth measure sufficient, even vnto death. Meane-while, because this is the time, wher­in a generall forgetting of wrongs, and laying malice a sleepe, [...]. is pro­fessed, so far as the world is christened, partly the Canōs of the church, & partly devotion it selfe, leading vs al to a thankfull commemorati­on of the death and resurrection of Christ, and to the communion of his body & bloud, which is a badge of our Christian loue & fellowship; the time inviting me therevnto, which S. Austen calleth the solēnity of solemnities, & the vncurteousnes of these our times, requiring no lesse; giue mee leaue in few wordes to convert my speech vnto that which the celebration of the feast it selfe doth easily exhort you vn­to. The blessed Apostle, thought not that any more effectuall persua­sion to charity could be gathered, than from the example of the son of God himselfe, whose dying & rising againe is now solēnized. For so he frameth his exhortation to the Colossians: Now therefore, Coloss. 3. as the elect of God, holy & beloved, as you haue any part in these graces, electiō, sanctification, & the loue of God, if you haue any argument & seale to your own consciences, that you are a part of his inheritāce, (for they are not marked for his chosen which are without these markes) put on the bowels of mercy, kindnes, humblenes of minde, meekenes, long suffering, for­bearing one another, & forgiving one another, [...]. let these bee your robes and coverings, weare thē as you weare your garments, & let them bee as tender & inward vnto you as your own principal & most vitall parts: even as Christ freely & bountifully forgaue you, even so do ye. How that was, [...]. I neede not recite. The Apostle Rom. 5. collecteth sundry arguments to shew how far forth that substātiall & saving grace of God hath gra­tified vs. 1. We were weake, 2. godlesse, 3. sinners, 4. enemies; [...]. [...]. 1. Pet. 3. we had nei­ther strength to endevour, neither piety to procure, nor righteousnes to satisfie, nor acquaintaunce and friendshippe to deserue in the fight of God; yet, notwithstanding all these impediments and deficiencies, Christ died for vs. So the other Apostle speaketh; Christ suffered for sinnes, the iust for the vniust, that hee might bringe vs to God. The cause most odious, the persons most vnequall, the end most absolute. How [Page 600] thē cā I better exhort you,Philip. 2. [...]. to an imitatiō of the loue of Christ, than as S. Paul exhorteth the Philippians; If there bee any consolation in Christ, so we may rēder it, or if there be any advocation in Christ, (as all the con­solation and advocation that we looke for, must [...] drawne from that fountaine) If any comfort of loue, (as who feeleth not the vse of loue that hath not beene nursed vp with the tygers of the wildernes?) If any communion of the spirit, by whom we are al knit togither in the bo­dy of Christ, [...] &c. lastly, if any bowelles of mercy; surely he meaneth that there is or should be much of al this, much consolation in Christ, much cō ­fort of loue &c. But if there bee any remnant and seede left, if all bee not spent & exhausted to satisfie your rancorous malice, fulfill my ioie, and your owne ioy, and the ioy of the angels in heaven, and the ioy of the bride and bridegroome, to whom it is a good and pleasant thinge to see brethren dwelling togither in vnity, [...]. minding the same thing, not the like, but the same, and having the same loue, not equal but the same, and having the same soules, growing togither like twins, concorporate, coanimate, and being of one iudgement. Lastly, he forgetteth not the most exquisite patterne of all loving kindnesses, let the same minde be in you that vvas in Christ Iesus. The same minde? I am out of hope of it; his loue was as stronge as death, water could not quench it, yea water and bloud could not put it out. He cried vpon his crosse for the Iewes, when hee hung vpon the top of a mountaine, in the open face of heaven, God, and angelles, and men beholding, hearing, wonde­ring at it,Luke 23. father, forgiue them, they know not what they doe. Let not that minde be in you which is in lions and leopardes; and good enough. I haue heard of such peaceable times prophecied, that swordes shoulde bee turned into fishes, and speares into mattockes, but never of so warlike & furious, wherein the tongues of men should be turned into swords, and their heartes into wounding and slaying instrumentes: yet, though this were never prophecied, we haue fulfilled it. To make an ende, the best remedy against iniuries, is forgetfulnes: Marcus Cato on a time, being smitten in the bath, to him that had done the wrong, & was desirous to make him amendes,Non memi­ni me per­cussum. aunswered, I remember not that I was smitten. Shal Cato be wiser and patienter in his generation than wee in ours? If wee cannot forget the time wherein wee haue beene smitten, or otherwise iniuried, at least let vs follow the coūsaile of the Psalme, to bee angry without sinning: that is, if wee doe that which is naturall and vsuall, and can hardly be stayed, let vs avoide the other which can never be iustified.Psalm. 4. Or if we sinne in our anger, (as who in the world is angry and sinneth not?) let the monition of the spirite of [Page 601] God in another place, quickly temper our heat, & let vs beware that the sun goe not downe vpon it. Ephes. 4. It was one part of the epitaphe written vp­on Sylla his tombe, Nemo me inimicus inferēdâ iniuriâ superavit; I never had enimy that went beyond me in doing wrong. Let not our liues or deaths bee testified vnto the world by such monumentes. It was an honour fitter for Sylla of Rome, an heathen & a tyrant, who died the chānels of the streetes with bloud, than for any Christian. I will, by your pati­ence, enter a little way into the next verse, & send as it were a spie to view at least the borders thereof, before I proceede to examine the whole contentes.

So Ionas went out of the cittie. vers. 5. It is thought by some that he offen­ded no lesse in going foorth, than when he first refused to come thi­ther. For he should haue continued amongst them to haue given them more warning. The reason why Ionas went out, I cannot right­ly set downe. Some coniecture, and it is not vnlikely, to avoide the company of wicked men, for so he accompted the Ninivites, and hee was afraide to beare a parte of their plagues. The rule is good, for can a man take coles in his bosome, and not bee burnt? or handle pitch and not bee defiled? or flie with the Ostriches and Pellicans, and not grow wild? or dwell in the tents of wickednesse, and not learne to be wicked? or if Rahab abide still in Iericho, Lot and his kindred in Sodome, Noah and his family in the wast world, Israell in Babylon, shall those exe­crable places and people be punished by the hand of God, and these not partake the punishmēt? One place for many, Iosh. 23. If yee cleaue vnto these nations, & make marriages with thē, & go vnto them, & they vnto you, the Lord will no more cast them out, but they shalbe a snare and destruction vnto you, & a whip on your sides, & thornes in your eies, vntill yee perish out of this good land which the Lord your God hath given you: but his errour vvas in the applicatiō of the rule; for if the Ninivites were so penitēt as be­fore we heard, the worst man (for ought I know) was within his owne bosome.

And sate on the East side of the city. His purpose in chosing his groūd can­not certainly be perceived. Ar. Mōt. giveth this gesse,Why on the east-side. that he thought if any plague were sent frō God, it was likely to come from West and South, because Iudaea in respect of Niniveh was so placed; & therfore, because God was only knowne in Iudaea, & seemed to dwel no where els, he wold surely punish thē out of those quarters: for this cause, as if he had decreed with himselfe, if a scourge come frō God, it shall not cōe neare me, he taketh vp his lodging in that part of the city which was most safe. Others make this supposition; they say Tigris the river [Page 602] ranne on the west side of Niniveh, vvhere by reason of their haven there was daily concourse of marchantes and passengers to and fro. This frequencie Ionas avoided, and betooke himselfe to that parte where the vvalkes were most solitaire, and his heart might least be troubled. Others thinke that hee shunned the heate of the sunne, which in those countryes is farre more fervent than in ours; and be­cause in the mourning, it is more remisse than at the heigth of the day when it is in the south, or betweene the heigth and the declination when it draweth to the west; therefore hee seated himselfe on the east side of the citie where hee might be freest from it. Happily he vvent vnto that side by adventure, quòpes tulit, as his minde and feete bare him, and it had beene indifferent vnto him to haue appli­ed his body to any other side. Or it may bee hee was thither brought by the especiall commandement and providence of almigh­ty God. As when Elias had prophecied of the drought for three yeares, he was willed to goe towardes the East, where he should finde a brooke to drinke of,1. King 17. and the ravens were apointed to feede him. It is not vnlawfull for mee to adde my surmise amongst other men. In the East, because of the sunne-rising, there seemeth to bee greatest comforte; and I nothing doubt but in this banishment of his, Ionas sought out al the comfortes he might. The garden in Eden, which the Lorde God planted for man,Genes. 2. was planted Eastwarde. Some say Eastwarde in respect of the place where Moses wrote the story, that is, of the wildernesse where Israell then was. Others with more pro­babilitie, in the Easterne part of Eden; the whole tract wherof was not taken in for the garden, but the choicest and fruitfullest parte, which was to the East. It is true in nature, which some applyed to policie, and to the state of kingdomes and families; That more wor­shippe the sunne in his rising than at his going downe.Pl [...]res ori­entem solem quàm occi­dentem ado­rant. I saw all men living, saith the Preacher, ioyning themselues with the seconde childe which shall stande vp in the place of the other. Our Saviour, vvho was evermore prophecied to bee the light of the Gentiles, is by none o­ther name figured Malach. 4, than of the sunne rising; Vnto you that feare my name, shall the sunne of righteousnesse arise: and in the song of Za­chary, Luke 1. he is called the day spring from an high. Many religious a­ctions wee rather doe towardes the East, than any other pointe of heaven. We bury our dead commonly, as the Athenians did, their faces laide and as it vvere lookinge Eastwarde. And for the most part, especially in our temples, wee pray Eastward. So did the ido­latours Ezech. 8. turning their backes to the temple of the Lorde, [Page 603] and their faces to the East. Will you haue the reason heereof? Why was Aaron willed, Levitic. 16. to take the bloud of the bullocke, and to sprinckle it with his finger vpon the mercie-seate Eastwarde? It was the pleasure of God so to haue it. And vnlesse nature direct vs to these observations, whereof I haue spoken, I know not how we are mo­ved. The rising of our sunne, whose resurrection wee now celebrate, the true and onely begotten sonne of God, was in the Morninge. Mathew saith, in the dawning of the day; Marke, very early, Math. 18. Mar. 16. Ioh. 20. when the sun was risen, not that hee had yet appeared in their hemisphere, but his light hee sent before him: Iohn saith, when there was yet dark­nesse, that is, the body of the sunne was not yet come foorth. And Thomas Aquinas thinketh it probable enough, that our resurrection shalbee very early in the morning, the sunne being in the East,In Supplem▪ quaest. 77. [...] 2. and the moone in the West, because, saith hee, in these opposite pointes▪ they were first created. You may happily mervaile what the event of my speech will be. I haue seldome times carried you away from the simplicity of the prophecy which I entreate of, by allegories and enforced collections. Yet I am not ignorant, that many mens in­terpretations in that kinde, are of many men gladly and plausibly re­ceaved.Easter day. I hope it shall bee no greate offence in mee to fit and ho­nour this feast of the resurrection of the Lorde of life, with one alle­gory. We are now walking into the West, as the sunne in his course doth; Beholde, we are entring into the way of the whole worlde. And as the sun goeth downe & is taken from our sight by the interpositiō of the earth, so into the body of the earth shall wee likewise descend,Ios. 23. and be taken from the company of the living. Christ our Saviour, [...]. Revel. 1. [...]. Ioh. 11. who was both the living and life it selfe, and had the keies of hell & of death, & whose manner of protestation is Vivo in saecula, I liue for ever and ever, yet touching his humane nature, when hee soiourned vpon the face of the earth, had his setting and going downe. In this sense we might aske the Spouse in the Canticles, O thou fairest amongest vvomen, what is thy wellbeloved more than other men? And though shee aunswere,Cantic. 5. my vvelbeloved is white, and ruddy, the chiefest of ten thousand, yet in this condition of mortall and naturall descent, he is equall vnto his bre­thren. This Passe-over we must all keepe, and therefore let vs trusse vp our loynes, and take our staues in our hands, that wee may vvalke forwardes towardes the West: in steede of other precious ointments, let vs anointe our bodies to their buriall, and for costly garmentes, let vs lay foorth shrowdes for our flesh, and napkins to binde about our heades; that is, let vs remember our ende, and the evening of [Page 604] our liues, & wee shall offende the lesse. The death of the Son of God if ever any mans, vvas ratified and assured as farre forth, as either the iustice of his Father, or the malice of men might devise. If his body had beene quickend with seven soules, and they had all ministred life vnto it in their courses, yet such vvas the anger of GOD against sinne, and the cruelty of man against that iust one, that they would all haue failed him. And his buriall and descen­sion into the lower partes of the ground, was as certainly confir­med For you knovve vvhat caution the providence of GOD tooke therein to prevent all suspicion of the contrary. For his bo­dy being taken downe from the crosse, vvas not only embalmed, and vvrapt in a linen cloath, but laide in a nevve sepulcher, vvhere never corpse had lien before, least they might haue saide, that the body of some other man was risen; and in a sepulcher of stone, be­cause the dust and softer matter of the earth might easily haue been digged into; and in a sepulcher of rocke or one entire stone, least if there had beene seames and fissures therein, they might that way haue vsed some cavil against his resurrection. Besides a stone at the mouth of that stone, and a seale, and a watch, and as sufficient pro­vision besides, as the vvisedome of vvordlye and ill-minded men coulde thinke vpon. Notwithstanding, as the brute of his death was vniversallie spread and beleeved, for the very aire range with this sounde, Magnus Pan mortuus est, The greate and principall shephearde is deade, and the sunne in the skye set, or did more, at his setting, and the graues opened and sent foorth their deade to receiue him; so the newes of his resurrection vvas as plentifullye and clearely vvitnessed, by Angelles, men, women, disciples, ad­versaries, and by such sensible conversation vpon earth, as that not onely their eies but their fingers and nayles were satisfied. Be­holde then once againe the sunne of righteousnesse is risen vnto vs and the daie-springe from an high, or rather from belowe hath visited vs; for then vvhen Zachary prophecied hee vvas to descende from the highest heavens, but novve hee ascended from the hearte of the earth. Once againe, vvee haue seene our brighte morninge starre, vvhich was obscured and darkened by death, shining in the east with so glorious a countenaunce of maiesty and power, as shall neuer more bee defaced. Even so, the daies shall come, when after our vanishing and disparition for a time vnder the globe of the earth, wee shall arise againe, and the LORDE shall bringe vs out of darkenesse into the lighte of his countenance. Our nighte [Page 605] wherein vvee sleepe a while, shalbee chandged into a morninge, and after obscuritie in the pitte of forgetfulnesse, we shall appeare and shine as the starres of GOD in their happiest season. VVee shal goe out of Niniveh as Ionas did, a Gentile and straunge citty, a place vvhere wee are not knowne, a lande where all thinges are forgotten (for vvhither wee bee in the flesh, vvee are strangers from GOD, or whither in our graues, we are not with our best acquain­taunce, both these are a Niniveh to right Israelites) and vvee shall fit in the East, that is, wee shall meete our Saviour in the clouds, and bee received vp with him into glory, and dwell in everlasting daie, vvhere wee shall never knowe the West more, because all parts are beautifull alike, nor feare the decay of our bodies, because corrup­tion hath put on incorruption, and neither feele the horrour of dark­nesse, nor misse the comforte of the sunne, because the presence of eternall and substantiall lighte illighteneth all places. My purpose was not vpon so easie an occasion, to prooue the resurrection either of Christ (which I haue else-where assayed to doe) or of his mem­bers that belonge vnto him. For as it reioyced Paule that hee was to speake before kinge Agrippa,Act. [...] vvho had knovvledge of all the cu­stomes and questions amongest the Ievves, so it is the happier for mee, that I speake to those vvho are not vnskilled in the questions of Christianity, and neither are Sadducees, nor Atheistes, nor Epi­cures, to denye the faith of these liuelye mysteries. Onelye my meaning vvas, vpon the LORDES day, whereon hee rose to life, and chandged the longe continued sabboth of the Iewes, and sanctified a newe day of rest vnto vs, to leaue some little comforte amongst you, aunswerable to the feast which wee nowe celebrate. Surelie the angelicall spirites aboue, keepe these paschall solemnities, Agunt in coelestibus haec pascha­lia gaudia ipsi angeli [...] spiritus &c. Cyprian. Delectantum in eo quod forma serva reversa fit in formā De [...] Jd. this Easter with greate ioye. They wonder at the glorye of that most victorious Lion who hath triumphed over death and hell. It doeth them good, that the shape of a servaunt is againe returned into the shape of GOD. They never thought▪ to haue seene that starre in the East, vvith so fresh and beautifull a hewe, which was so lowe declined to the VVest, and past hope of gettinge vp. VVee al­so reioyce in the memorye, and are most blessed for the bene­fite and fruite of this daye, the sabboth of the newe vvorlde, our Passe-over from everlastinge death to life, our true Iubilee, the first daye of our weeke, and chiefe in our kalender to be accoun­ted of, whereon our Phoenix rose from his ashes, our eagle renevv­ed his bill, the first fruites of sleepers avvoke, the first begotten [Page 606] of the dead was borne from the wombe of the earth, and made a bles­sed world, in that it was able to say, The man-childe is brought forth; the seede of Abraham which seemed to haue perished vnder the clods, fructified, not by proportiōs of thirty, or sixty, or an hundreth, but with infinite measure of glory, both to himselfe, & to all those that liue in his root. Him we looke for shortly in the cloudes of heaven, to raise our bodies of humility out of the dust, & to fashion them like to his owne, to performe his promise, to finish faith vpon the earth, to perfite our glory, and to draw vs vp to himselfe, where he raigneth in the heaven of heavens, our blessed redeemer and advocate.

THE XLV. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4: vers. 5.‘And there made him a booth, and sate vnder it in the shadowe.’

BEfore, the Lorde hath begunne to reprehend Ionas in wordes, nowe hee addresseth him­selfe to reprooue him also by a sensible signe; and because his eares vvere vncapable, spea­keth vnto his eies, and shevveth him a life glasse, wherein hee may see himselfe and his blemishes, Words are oftentimes received as riddles, and precepte vpon precept hath not prevailed, when a familiar and actuall demonstration hath done good. So Ah [...]iah the Prophet rent the new garment of Ieroboam the king in twelue peeces, and bade him reserve ten to himselfe, in signe, that the kingdome was rent out of the handes of Salomon,1. King. 11. Es. 20. Ier. 27. and ten tribes given to Ieroboam. So Esay, by going bare-foote, teacheth Egypte and AEthiopia that they shall also go into captivity in the like sort. Ieremy, by wearing yokes a­bout his necke, and sending yokes, and giues, to the kings of E­dom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, Sydon, Iudah, giveth them a visible sacrament, and representation of their captivity in Babylon. Thus Ezechiell portrayed the siedge of Ierusalem vpon a bricke;Ezech. 4. Act. 21. thus A­gabus taketh the girdle of Paule, and bindeth himselfe handes and feete, and saith, so shall the man bee bound that oweth this girdle. And thus doth the Lorde admonish Ionas by a reall Apophthegme, a liuelie subiection to his eies, vvhat it is that hee hath iust cause to dislike in [Page 607] him. But before wee come to the very pointe and winding of the matter, wherein vvee may see the minde of God, there are many Antecedents and preparatiues before hande to be viewed. 1. That Ionas goeth out of the citty, 2. buildeth him a booth, 3. that God provideth him a gourd, 4. sendeth a worme to consume it, 5. that the sunne and the winde bet vpon the heade of Ionas till hee fainted. All this, is but the Prota­sis, an onely proposition; so farre wee perceiue not whitherto the purpose of God tendeth: then followeth the narration, the anger of Ionas once againe, and once againe Gods increpation, first tou­ching the type or image, which was the gourd, (for the gourd stan­ding and flourishing, was an image of Niniveh in her prime and pros­perity, the gourd withered, of Niniveh overthowen) then touching the truth represented by that figure; which was the city it selfe. For the meaning of God was, to laye open the iniquity of Ionas before his face, in that he was angry for the withering of an hearbe, and had no pitty in his hearte, vpon a mighty and populous citty. The or­der of the words from this present verse to the end of the prophecy, is this: in this fifth, Ionas buildeth for himselfe, in the 6. GOD planteth for him, in the 7. he destroyeth his planting, in the 8. Io­nas is vexed and angry to the death, in the 9. God reprooveth him in the figure, in the 10. and 11. in the trueth, by that figure exem­plified.

Of the Antecedentes, I haue already tasted two members, 1. his goinge out of the cittie, to shunne their company who did not so wel like him; 2. his sitting on the East-side of the citty; either to bee farther from the iudgement of God, which was likely to come Westward, because Ierusalem stoode that way; or to bee out of the trade and thorough-fare of the people, which was likeliest to bee at their kaie, for the river laye also vpon the West-side; or to bee freer from the heate and parching of the sunne, vvhich in the morning, and to­wardes the East, is lesse fervent; or lastly, I tolde you, to take the comfort and benefite of the sunne rising. Now the 3. in the num­ber of those Antecedentes is, that hee maketh himselfe a booth. Made him a booth. Where­in I mighte obserue vnto you, that a Prophet is enforced to labour with his handes for the provision of necessaries. And surely, if it were not worthy the notinge, the Apostle woulde never haue said, Act. 20. You know that these handes haue ministred vnto my necessities, and to those that were with mee. [...], these verye handes that breake the breade of the Lord, these handes that baptize, and that are laide vpon the heades of Gods servauntes, these haue ministred [Page 608] vnto my necessities. Likeweise the first to the Corinthians and fourth VVee labour, [...]. 1. Thes. 2. & 2▪ 3. vvorking vvith our owne bandes. And in his Epistles to the Thessalonians, twise hee maketh mention of his labour and tra­vaile day and night. But I rather chardge you at this time with these particulars: 1. what Ionas made, a booth; 2. for what vse, to sit vnder the shadowe of it; 3. how long to continue, till hee mighte see vvhat vvas done in the cittie. The 1. and the 2. shew vnto vs, the one the na­ture, [...]. The na­ [...]ure of houses. Esa. 1. Iob 8. & 27. the other the vse of all buildinges. By nature, they are but boothes and tabernacles, and such as the Prophet reporteth of Sion, that shee shoulde remaine as a cottage in a vineyarde, and like a lodge in a garden of cucumbers. Or as Iob speaketh in the 27. of his booke, like a lodge that the watchman maketh, no longer to abide than till that service is ended. I would be loth to tearme them the houses of spiders and moathes, as Iob doth, but compared with eternity, such they are. The patriarches and people of auncienter times dwelt but in tentes, easily pight, and as easily remooved; and as many other things in antiquity▪ so this amongst the rest, was a figure to all the ages of the world to come, that so long as they dwell vpon the earth, they haue but a temporall and transitory habitation. The earth which we dwel vpon, is but our place of soiourning, and wherein vvee are strangers, as God tolde Abraham, Gen. 17. In the 47 of the same booke, Phara­oh asked Iacob howe many were the daies of the yeares of his life: Iacob, to expresse our condition of travailing and flitting vpon the earth to and fro, aunswered the king, the whole time, not of my life, but of my pil­grimage or rather pilgrimages (by reason of often remooues) is an hun­dreth and thirty yeares. Few and evill haue the daies of my life beene, and I haue not attained vnto the yeares of the life of my fathers, in the daies of their pilgrimages. David, 1. Chron. 29. giveth thankes vnto the Lord in be­halfe of himselfe and his people, that they were able to offer so willingly to­wards the building of the temple, because all thinges came of him, and from his owne hande or liberalitie they had given vnto him. For (saith he) we are stran­gers before thee and soiourners like all our fathers: our daies are as the shadowe vpon the earth, and there is none abiding. Thus Iacob and his fathers, Da­vid and his Princes and his people, and their fathers al were pilgrimes. Let vs see nowe, what vse the Apostle maketh hereof. Hee saith of Abell,Hebr. 11. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, and the rest, that all these di­ed in faith, and received not the promises, but sawe them a farre of, and be­leeved them, and receaved them thankefullie, and confessed, that they vvere strangers & pilgrimes on the earth. For they that say such things, declare plain­ly that they seeke a country. It may bee, their owne, from whence they [Page 609] were exiled; the Apostle aunswereth, no. For if they had beene mindefull of that countrey frō whence they came out, they had leasure to haue returned. But now they desire a better, that is, an heavenly▪ Wherefore God is not asha­med of them to be called their God, for he hath prepared for thē a citty. Like­wise he exhorteth vs, Heb. 13. As Iesus, to sanctifie the people vvith his owne bloud, suffered without the gate, so that we should goe forth of the campe, bearing his reproach, for here we haue no continuing citty, but wee seeke one to come. And our Saviour told his disciples, Ioh. 4. that in his fathers house there were many mansions, or settled dwellings, for here wee haue but tabernacles. Houses, I confesse, we haue, as foxes haue thtir holes, & birdes their nestes, and bees their hiues, to be chased and driven from them: but till the promise be fulfille, which is mentioned,Deut. 2▪ Revel. 21. that the tabernacle of God shalbe with men, that is, men shalbe with the tabernacle of God; and God dwell with vs, and we with him in hea­venly Ierusalem; we must trust to that other prophecie, Mich. 2. sur­gite, & ite, arise, and depart, for this is not your rest.

The vse of buildings is, that we may sit vnder the shadowe thereof. 2. The vse▪ The posterity of Noah, Gen. 11. having foūd out a place in the plāie of Si­nar, said go to, let vs build vs a citty & towre to get vs a name. Was that the end of buildings? Nabuchodonosor, Dan. 4. built them a palace for the house of his kingdome, and for the honour of his maiesty, to vaunt of the mightines of his power, and to forget the God of heaven. Was that the end of building? It seemeth by the wordes of Salomon, Eccles. 2. that hee made him great worke, and built him houses, to prooue his hearte vvith ioie, and to take pleasure in pleasant thinges. Or was that the end of buil­ding? Some build wonders of the world, as the walles of Babylon set vp by Semiramis, the house of Cyrus, the tombe of M [...]usolus. All which buildings, whither they be summer-parlours, as Eglons, Iud. 3. or winter-cāhbers, houses in the citty, or Tusculā farmes in the coū ­try, were they as stately for heigth, as the spires of Egypt, or as the tē ­ple of the great Diana of the Ephesians, which as they were wōdred at for their buildings, so for their ruine & dissipation; or were they as sumptuous for cost, as that pallace of king Alcinous, the wals wherof were of brasse, the gates of gold, the entries of silver; they are all but vanity, and vvhen vvee haue all done, there is none other vse of building, than to sit, and shadovve our selues, and to defend our bo­dies from the violence of the weather, and other forreigne iniuries.Martial. Dum tamen adifice [...] quidlibet il [...] facie▪ It is a sickenesse that some men haue, to spend their time in buil­ding, as the Epigramme noted Gellius, Gellius aedificat semper, Gel­lius is alvvaies building, or repayring, or chaunging, or doing [Page 610] somewhat, to keepe his hand in. If a friend come to borrowe money of him,Vnum illud verbū Gel­lius, [...]difico. Gellius hath no other word in his mouth, but I am in buil­ding.

Alas to what purpose are these lardge and spacious houses without inhabitants? chimneyes without smoake, windowes, not for prospect but for martins to breed, and owles to sing in? Such are the tenants, insteed of families heretofore kept, & hospitality maintained, nowe hedge-hogs lying vnder the walles, & wesels dwelling in the parlo­urs, Ieremy doth notably taxe the vanity of a great builder. Hee saith, I wil build me a wide house and lardge chambers; Ier. 22. so he wil make himselfe gre­ate windowes, and seele thē with Cedar, & paint them with Vemi [...]ton. But shalt thou raigne, (saith the prophet) because thou closest thy selfe in Cedar? did not thy father, & thy grandfather eate, and drinke, and prosper, when they executed iudgement and iustice, kept houses & relieved the poore? but thine eies & thy heart are but only for covetuousnes & oppression, & for vainglory, & to cōmaund and over-looke the country round about, and to leaue a name behind thee, even to do this, and according to the endes thou proposest herein, so shall the Lord visite thee.

Till he might see what should be done in the citty. But the proofe hereof may seeme to haue bin already past,3. How long. & the forty daies fully accōpli­shed.Rabbini pu­tant die. 36. vel 37. Some thinke that Ionas went out of the citty, some 3. or 4. daies before that tearme expired, & there waited the event, & that he was not displeased with God, till after the time fulfilled. Which seemeth not probable vnto me, that Ionas so lately & seriously, with so much daūger of his life, admonished of his duety neglected before, would now againe forsake the Ninivites, & giue over his preaching, before the accōplishment of those daies which God hath nūbred vnto him. Others are of iudgmēt that the time was fully elasped, & that Ionas knew wel enough that God was minded to spare Niniveh, touching their finall & vtter overthrow; yet not to pardō thē altogither, with­out the irrogatiō of some lighter punishment vpō them. As he dealt with Israel, Exod. 23. when they worshipped the moltē calfe, saying, these be thy gods, O Israel &c. He threatned to cōsume thē, yet afterwards, though by the intercession of Moses he changed his minde from the evil which he threatned vnto them; yet he forgaue thē not wholy, but puni­shed thē by the slaughter of three thousand men. Lastly it is thought by a third cōpany that Ionas saw by revelarion the sparing of Niniveh. In such variety of opinions, I abridge not your liberty to take which best liketh you. But howsoever you take it, Ionas, (you see) hath the thirstiest nature after the destructiō of Niniveh, that might be. If Io­nas [Page 611] had bin armed vvith povver (for in this respect he wanted not the spirit and wish of Elias) to haue commaunded fire against the Ni­nivites, as Elias did against the captaines and their bandes,2. King. 1. Niniveh had lien in ashes at the end of fourty daies, for nothing can please Io­nas, vnlesse somewhat be done against the people of that place.Vsque dur [...] But his message being ended, why returneth he not towards Israel again? No: he wil take an homely, & comfortlesse habitation, he wil labour with his hands, & put them to base service, he wil lie abroade in the field, bearing the heate and burden of the day, & wet with the dew of the night, and happily not fed in that solitary place, but with the waters from the brooke, and fruites of the earth of his owne provisi­on and dressing, only to stay the time, and not to misse that oppor­tunity when God should plague Niniveh,Videre [...] Qui andi­unt audita referunt; qui vident, plane sciunt. the bruite and report whereof might not content, but he wil see with his eies his desire vp­on his enemies. for they that heare, are able to speak but of hear-say; they that see, are out of doubt. There was some reasō that Moses was so sharply bent against an Egyptiā, offering wrong to one of his coū ­try-men, Phinees against adulterers, Peter against Malchus, a servāt to his masters ēemies. Paul against Elymas a sorcerer, other Apostles against a village of Samaria, for refusing to entertaine Christ: but Io­nas, vpon smal reason, a prophet of the Lord, & but lately his oratour & bead-mā in a capitall daūger of his own, you heare how his heart & eies are fixed in a mercilesse affection against penitent and refor­med men.

And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come vp over Ionas. vers. 6. It seemeth that the booth was withered, being built but of boughes or reedes, or some other stuffe which the heate of the sun did easily worke vpon. For when the gourd was afterward smitten, the sun and the wind beat vpon the head of Ionas, which argueth that his booth was defaced. Before, you haue heard of the building of Ionas, novv God buildeth; the one by art, the other by nature; the one a taberna­cle of boughs, the other an arbor or boure of a living or growing tree, which the fatnes of the earth nourished, having seed & bud in it ac­cording to the kind therof; the one withereth, because it is but propt vp, having no iuice in it, the other spreadeth her rootes and strings in the ground, having whereby to encrease. I need not say how vnpro­fitable and barren the labour of man is, being left to it selfe, without the favour of God to supply the imperfectiōs therof. This very place doth sufficiently iustifie that of the Psalme,Psal 127. Except the Lorde build the house, they labor in vaine that build it. The fruites of the body, fruites of the [Page 612] field, fruits of cattle, encrease of kine, flockes of sheepe, the basket, & the store in the basket, Deuter. 28. they make a number & shew of goodly cōmodities: but vnlesse you giue them their blessing which is their annexed, benedict us fructus vētris, blessed shalbe the fruit of thy body, and blessed al the rest mourne as Esau did when Iacob had prevented him of the blessing, & as the grasse vpon the house tops which no man taketh in his hād or blesseth in his hearte, so doe they languish, pine away, & come to nothing. The Lord must cōmaund his blessings to be with vs in our store­houses, Jbid. & in al that we set our hād vnto, as it is there added, or our labour dieth betweene on [...] fingers. Zophar, Iob 20. speaketh many things of the ioy of an hypocrite, his excellency mounting vnto heavē & his head reaching vp vnto the clouds; yet he shal perish (saith Zophar) like the dunge, & they that haue seene him shal say, where is he? he shal flee away as a dream [...] & passe away as a vision of the night; there is nothing left of his meate, and no man shal hope for his good: yea when he shall haue filled his belly, God shall send downe his fierce wrath, & raine even vpon his meate. You see there is no­thing prospereth with him, because he is an hypocrite, and when he went to his worke, the blessing of the Lorde was cōmaunded to stay behind. The blessing of the Lord must be vpon the building of our houses, watching of our citties, tilling of our ground, filling of our bel­lies, training vp of our children, or whatsoever paines we bestow in al these, falleth into emptines. This was it that secōded & supplied the labour of Ionas: hee built him a booth which withered, but God pre­pared him a gourd, an house of a better foundation, because it lived by the moisture of the earth, which the other was destitute of.

There is a great question & cōtentiō betweene writers, touching the plāt that was here provided, what it was by kind, & how to be ter­med. The wisdōe which God gaue vnto Adā, Gen. 2. was yery great in the morning of all those creatures that God brought before him But concerning the hearbe or tree heere mētioned, the most learned & wise amōgst the Hebrews, Greciās, Latines, Spanish, Frēch, Ger­manes, Hetruriās, haue labored & beatē their braines to giue it a nāc, but hitherto haue not found it: and vnlesse there be some second A­dam to speake his mind, or an other Salomon, who was able to speake of the trees frō the Cedar to the Hysope, I thinke the controversie wil never be ended. Notwithstanding, as the best wine is that which is farthest brought, for the more it is shaken in carriage, the more it is fined and made fit for vse; so there is both pleasure & profit to heare any point of learning▪ sifted & moved to & fro by the diverse iudgmēts of lear­ned men. If I were as skilfull in simpling as some are, I woulde [Page 613] giue you my simple opiniō. But now I must speake frō mine authors. R. Esdras saith, that the wise of Spain called it Cucurbita, or Cucumer, which is in English a gourd or cucūber: but withal he addeth, ratio iniri non potest, vt sciatur quid sit, we cānot finde out the meanes to knovv what it was. The Latin vular trāslatiō calleth it Hedera, which in our English signifieth Ivy, Ierome disprooveth that, evē against himselfe, & saith that the Latines haue no name for it: for Ivy and gourds, and cucumers (he saith) creepe vpon the groūd, & haue need of tendrels & props to beare thē vp; but this tree sustained her selfe with her owne truncke, & had broad leaues like a vine, & the shadow which it cast was very thicke. Some called it Bryonia, bryony or wild nep & the white vine which groweth in the hedges with red berries, & blistereth his skin that hādleth it. Sōe, rapū siluestre, the wilde rape roote. The He­brews & the Chaldees name it Kikaiō: the Greciās [...], & [...]: the Arabians Elkerva, whereof ye haue the oile of kerva in the Apotheca­ries shops. Sometimes they cal it Cataputia maior, great spourdge, & Pen­dactylum, for the similitude which it hath with the 5. fingers of the hād Whervpon the French, by reason of the ioints & knots which are in the leaues therof. name it Palme de Christ, that is to say, Christes hande. The Hetrurians call it Phaseolum, faselles, or long pease, a kinde of pulse, rising so high, that it served them for arbours. Lastly, the Germanes, for the admirable heigth of it call it wonder boome, that is the wōderful tree. Thus every nation, as it could get any tree, which in their ima­gination came nearest vnto it, so they lent it a name. But we may cō ­clude vvith Oecolampadius, according to that of Esdras before, In­certum qualis frutex vel arbor, It is not knowne what bush or tree it was. Animal c [...] ­nibus infe­stum. Similem fi­cul sed mino­rem, folia h [...]bētem simil [...]lima platano sed maiora &c. Lib. 15. na [...]. hist▪ cap. 7· [...]clnium. Croton, [...]rix▪ i [...], sesamum silvestre. &c. Pla [...]anu [...] [...] At length the Latines, the latest, and in my iudgment the skilfullest a­mongst them, haue all agreed to call it rici [...]us, which in propriety of speach signifieth a tike, a creature noisome to dogs; & for the likenes of the seed or grain that it beareth, is applied to this tree. Dioscorides calleth it arborosum fruticē, a bush, yet a tree; like vnto a figge-tree but lesse; with leaues like to a plane, but greater, soft, & blackish, and bea­ring seed like vnto tikes. We may read of it in Pliny and of the oyle that cōmeth therhence; togither with the variety of names that are givē vnto it. But al with one cōsent agree, that it sodainly springeth to the heigth of an Oliue, & diffuseth it selfe like Ivy, & that it hath scattering boughes, & broad leaues, like the plane tree wher-vnder they were wont to feast, & most cōmodious to giue a shadow. For which cause, R. Kimhi noteth, they vsed to place it before tavern do­res. Whither wee haue lighted vpon the name or not, it sufficeth [Page 614] for the history to vnderstand, that God provided a tree, wonderful­ly tall, plentifully stored with boughes & leaues, & such as was most convenient to give comfort vnto Ionas. O how admirable are the works of God, the least wherof may challenge so many cōmentaries & expositions to be spent vpō it? what shall we then thinke of all na­ture, if the whole table & book therof were set before our eies to be viewed & cōsidered, when one plant of the ground findeth not lear­ning enough, amongst Iews, Barbarians, nor Christians to vnfolde it? When we behold the heavēs, Presentem que refert quaelibet [...]erba Deū. the works of his fingers, the moone and the stars which he hath ordained, I say not then as the Psalmist doth Lord, what is man or the son of man that thou shouldest so visite him? but what is man, or the son of man, that he should iudge, or giue sentence of the? and we may both begin, & end that Psalme, as the prophet doth, O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the world, & in the great buildinges & treasures therof, when one small creature, & parcell of thy workes breedeth such confusion in the wits of man? Much more deepely might the Lord oppose vs, as he did his servant Iob, with the greater wonders of nature, whē we straine at gnats, & cannot cōceiue of lit­tle things;Iob 38. hast thou entred into the bottomes of the sea, or walked to seeke out the depth? haue the gates of death ben opened vnto thee? or hast thou seene the gates of the shadow of death? hast thou perceived the breadth of the earth ? tell if thou knowest al this; & where is the way that light dwelleth? & where is the place of darknes? Anaxagoras being askt why mā was made, aūswered▪ to behold the heavēs, & to magnifie God in his creatures. Surely, as our Saviour cōmēded the smal mites which the widow cast into the trea­sury, so there is not the least worke that God doth, but deserveth the greatest admiratiō that our hearts can cōprehend. And therefore the enchaūters of Pharoah, whē they were come to try their cunning in lice, the basest & contēptiblest creatures, they were enforced to cry out,Exod. 8. this is the finger of God. To conclude, as Christ made the cōparison betweene the lillies & his servants, if God so cloath the grasse of the field, which to day is standing, Math. 6. & to morrow is cast into the ovē, how much more shal he do vnto you, O ye of little faith? so may we say; if God be so glorious in a meāe plāt of the field, which in a night cāe vp, & in a night perished again; much more are his mightier works highly to be marvailed at.

But in this 6. verse, (to bring it into order) there are two parts 1. the creation of the gourd, by the hands of God, 2. the acceptation of Io­nas. The former hath 4. ioints & divisions, in it: 1. the gourd was prepa­red by the Lord God, for who els was able to create? some haue gone about to imitate the workes of creation, as to make thunders and [Page 615] lightnings, and to fly in the aire, but they haue paid the price of say­ing in their foolish harts, I wil be like the most high. 2. It was made to ascend; 3. to be a shadow over the head of Ionas; 4. to deliver him frō his griefe. The preparing of the gourd had little pleasured Ionas, vnlesse it had ascended to some height; nor the ascending on high, vnlesse it had beene flexible, and bowed it selfe over his heade; nor the hanging over his head, without such quantity of boughes and leaues as were sufficient to shadow it: all these grow and ascend in my text higher & higher as the tree it selfe doth; that we may know how wisely the workes of God are done, and they never misse the end, whereunto they were addressed. Two of these foure mem­bers, to weete, the springing and climbing of the gourd, that in a moment of time it was over the head of Ionas, shew the omnipotēt power and providence of the Almighty, who contrary to the rule of the philosophers, that nothing is made of nothing, [...] gigni. De nibil [...] nihil. without some matter praeexistent, causeth a tree to arise, without either seede or stocke to produce it; & hasteneth the worke in such sort, that wereas other plantes require the chādges and seasons of the yeare to make them sprout, & yeeld their encrease, not without the kindnes of the groūd, dropping of the aire, influence of the sunne and starres, & other na­turall concurrences, this by the extraordinary hand of God, present­ly and immediately came to a full growth. For I like not their opini­on, who think that the gourd was there before, & therfore Ionas ap­plied himselfe to that place, and there erected his booth, vvhen the iudgements of so many learned, and the letter of the text,Pullulare f [...] cit eo mo­mento. R. Kimhi. Repente a [...] ­cto frutice. Ar. Mont. Nocte exti­tit. 10. vers. is flatly a­gainst them. Besides the word of preparing that is here and elsewhere vsed (for who but the same Lord God, prepared the fish before, or who the worme and the East-winde hereafter?) noteth a quicke & speedy expeditiō in the working of God, when his pleasure is, & that al things in the world great & smal, the winds in the aire, the fishes in the water, the plants in the earth, and vnder the earth wormes and creeping things are subiected to his mighty providence. The latter two declare the goodnes of God towards Ionas in his application of the gourd to so acceptable an end. For by that meanes his body was shadowed, and his soule eased. I knovve there is misery enough in nature, and that iudgemente sometimes beginneth at the house of GOD, Ier. 49. and they drinke deepely of the cuppe to whome it vvas not meant. And the griefe vvhich Ionas here feeleth, is but a portion of that griefe, which corruption and mortality hath addicted vs vn­to. And the farther we goe from GOD, the nearer vvee ever [Page 616] approch to misery: for neither land, nor sea, nor citty, nor field, nor aire, nor earth, nor any worme of the earth shall favour vs, no more than they favoured Ionas. I am not ignorant on the other side, that all nature is provided for the comfort of Gods elect. And nature shall even be chandged, and made to runne faster than her manner is, to doe them good. The Lord shal not only doe it, but doe it with speed, whē we haue little reasō to looke after it, sometimes by rule, & sometimes at liberty, sometimes by law, & sometimes by priviledge and aboue his law, sometimes by nature, and sometimes by miracle, but doe it he will, rather than his helpe shall faile. Who thought of the ramme in the bush, when Isaac lay vpon the fagots? the good will of him that dwelt in the burning bush, sent it. Hee came not vpon his feete, but was brought by speciall providence. Who dreamed that an Eastwind should haue filled the campe of Israell with quailes? It had blowne often before, and sometimes hurtfull and vnprosperous blastes, but never quailes. VVho looked for Manna from heaven, when they wanted bread in the wildernesse? Many a dew and frost had they seene vpon the ground, but never with such effecte. Who durst presume to thinke, that Iordan would runne backe, or the red sea divide it selfe, till they saw it fulfilled? Or woulde not haue sworne that the lions woulde haue rent Dani­ell in pieces, and bruised every bone, and the fire of that oven in Babylon, haue burned those three Salamanders to powder, till they saw it otherwise? But these thinges haue bene done, vvee know, and done on the suddaine; the LORDE hath risen ear­lye to doe them, that is, hastned his acte, and set vvheele as it were to his power and goodnesse, to make them speede. And thus was this gourd provided, to the growing whereof were requi­red a spring and sommer at the least, but to such augmentation and largenesse, the space of many yeares. These two companions, the might and mercy of God, betweene which, as before I saide, those 4. members of my text divide themselues, are his two wings, vnder the shadowe whereof wee shall bee safe. And as the disci­ples of Christ were sent into the worlde two and two before his face, to preach the gospel, and to heale diseases; so these two hath the Lord ioyned togither, and they goe before his face as farre as the earth is bounded, to assist his chosen in all their griefes. And rather than any temptation shal waxe too stronge for them, and put them in ha­zard, hee will be Adonai, Adonai, twice a God as it were, and double his spirite stronge and, stronge, mercifull and mercifull: [Page 617] and as his goodnesse is infinite, so it shall draw forwards his infinite power to some extraordinary and vntimely worke, which nature without leasure and tracte of time could not have produced.

THE XLVI. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. vers. 6.‘So Ionas was exceeding glad of the gourd.’

IN the building of God, after the building of Ionas withered and defaced, I noted, 1. the provision that the Lord made for him, 2. his owne acceptation. The former with the brā ­ches thereto belonging, namely the creation and propagation of the gourd, wherein the power of God was manifested, togither with the shadow, and end of the shadow wherin his goodnes shewed it selfe, we have already treated of; and are now to consider the acceptance and applause that Ionas gave vnto it. It offereth vnto vs these two thinges:1. Ionas was glad. 1. his affection, ioye; 2. the measure of that affection,The cause of his ioy. exceedinge great ioy.

Many things there were which might provoke the reioycing of Ionas. 1. The fāning of the leaves, which was a great comfort to a man 1 that sate in the sun, and was parched with the heate, as a cake in the hearth; for the sunne is a marveilous instrument, as the sonne of Syrach speaketh,Eccles. 43. it burneth the mountaines three times more than one that kee­peth a fornace, it casteth out fierie vapours, and with shining beames blindeth the eies: & we know that burning heate is in the number of the plagues threatned, Deut. 28. & Revel. 16.Ardor & aestus. The fourth Angell powred out his vi­all vpon the sunne, and it was given him to torment men with heate of fire, and men boyled in greate heate, and blasphemed the name of God for it. This was the griefe wherewith it is saide before that Ionas was perplexed; for it is not a meane plague to lie open to the skorching of the sunne without shadow and protection: so much the rather, if (as the Rab­bines imagine) the skinne of Ionas were waxen more tender, since his inclosure in the bowelles of the fish than before. 2. The gourd sa­ved him the continuall renewing of his booth: for it was likelye e­nough that his naturall house, built by the hands of God, should lon­ger have continued, thā that artificial tabernacle which himselfe had erected of such slender stuffe. 3. It is thought that the colour of his [Page 618] arbour being greene and fresh, pleased well his eies. 4. That the sent 4 of the leaves was not vnwelcome to his nostrelles. Paulus de Palatio addeth other reasons of his ioy. 1. He thinketh that Ionas was sicke 5 through griefe of heart▪ and that it much revived his soule, to see 6 the care which God had over him. 2. He imagineth that Ionas per­swaded himselfe even for this miracles sake, that the people of Ni­niveh 7 would not esteeme him as a false prophet. Lastly hee accor­deth to Saint Ierome, and supposeth this tree to have beene com­mon in Iudaea, and therefore it much delighted Ionas to behold a 8 tree of his owne countrey. They adde moreover the sodainnesse of the miracle, and that the gourd was so much the more gratefull vnto Ionas, because it came vnlooked for. But the most of these before alleadged, are but sensible pleasures: and there is no question but that which most affecteth him, was the presence and favour of God, so miraculously, and extraordinarily shewed. For that argument which Gedeon asked of God, if God be with vs, where are his miracles? Iudg. 6. to seale vp his mercies towardes him; the same doth the Lord bring in this place for the confirmation of Ionas. That Ionas reioyced for the gourd, I cannot dislike: it argueth that he weighed and esteemed the blessings of God as they deserved. Many, though they fall vpon their heades, as the dew of heaven vpon their ground, yet are more senselesse in them: and as they meete the motes in the sunne-beames, so they entertaine the giftes of God, as if they came by chance, skarsely lending a thought to consider them. Others are ioyfull enough of that which they are possessed of; sometimes inso­lent and prowde, their lookes and their gate have maiesty and dis­daine in them against those who are not so plentifully visited; but they litle regard the authour of those benefites, who hath sent this ticket or remembrance to every man, vpon the face of the earth, what hast thou, that thou hast not receaved? Let Naball be the person and parable in whome I report (onely chandging the name,) the history of all worldly men, who having the riches of the earth, take them as inheritance or due debt, and spend them like Lords, to fulfill their lustes; meane-while, not minding either sacrifice to God, or reliefe to the poore, or any way applying themselves to those endes for which they were enriched. Naball, 1. Sam. 25. had riches enough, and mirth enough, hee made a feast after his shearing like a king, and his heart was merry within him; the reason was, for hee was ve­ry drunken: there is the vse of his riches. Besides, the opinion of his mightines and wealth, made him as drunke otherwise. For the v­sage [Page 619] of himselfe in the dispensation of his riches, was so base every way, that neither servant, nor wife, nor stranger gaue good re­port of him. The servant vttereth his complaint, he is so wicked that a man cannot speake vnto him: the wife concealeth not hirs, let not my Lorde regarde this wicked man, for as his name is so is hee; Naball is his name, and folly is with him. David oftentimes fretteth at his churlishnesse, he hath requited mee evill for good, who would not be­stow a little portion of his substance, to refresh the servants of Da­vid, that walked at the feete of their Lord, though they were a wall vnto him, by day, and by night, and safegarded all that he had in the wildernes. But his end was aūswerable to his deserving; for it is said in the text, the Lord smote him within ten daies that hee died, and before that death of his body, his heart died within him, and hee was like a stone. The best instruction is, as we reioyce in these temporall blessings of God, so to vse them, that they may be our ioy (for to some they are snares and destructions) to receiue them with thanksgiving, embrace them in measure, and dispense them with wisedome, to the honour of our bountifull God, reliefe of afflicted Ioseph, and a furtherance vnto vs to dischardge those Christian dueties wherevnto wee are bound.

Besides the acknowledging of the author, the pleasure which Ionas tooke in the gourd, was a signe that hee felt the sweetnsse and vse of the benefite, which (if you obserue) is a blessing vpon a blessing: for as the wise Preacher noted,Riches, & power to vse them Eccles. 5. to every man to whome God hath given riches and treasure, and giveth him power to eate thereof, and to take his parte, and to enioy his labour, this is the gift of God: the o­ther are his giftes, but this is a double gift. Surely hee will not much remember the daies of his life, because God aunswereth to the ioy of his heart: Without which ioy and comfort of heart, he will remember, not onely the daies, but the houres and minutes of his life; and everye one is more bitter than other vnto him: all the meate that hee ea­teth, seemeth to be mingled with gall, and his drinke spiced vvith worm-wood; his clothes sit to straight vpon his body, his body is a prison to his soule, and his soule a burden & clogg to it selfe. Ther­fore the Preacher addeth, ther is an evill which I haue seene vnder the sunne, and it is much amongst men, Eccles. 6▪ a man to whome God hath given ri­ches, and treasure, and honour, and hee wanteth nothing for his soule of all that it desireth, but God giveth him not power to eate thereof, but a stranger shall eate it vp: this is a vanity, and this is an evill sickenesse. Io­nas was not sicke of this disease: for hee both enioyed the gourd, & [Page 620] perceived those comfortes and pleasures for which it was provi­ded.

Exceed­ing glad. Dum vitant stulti vitia, in contraria [...]urrunt. Norat. in. Sat. Quicquid agit valdé agit. Maguum est hominem agere: de ali­quo quem vid isti heri. meri [...]o po [...]est diei, hic quic est? [...]anta muta [...]tio est iram Colligit et poni [...] tem ere &c. Horat. in ar. poet. Es. 8. Vitae discon­venit ordine toto. Hor. in Epist Ibid.But what meaneth the immoderate and excessiue ioy that Ionas tooke therin? for I come now to the measure of his affection. It is true oftentimes which the Poet hath, So foolish are we, that while wee avoide one fault, wee fall into the contrary. Ionas is quickely angry, and quickely pleased, and very angry, and very well pleased. Whatsoever he is, or doth, he putteth full strength vnto it. It is a great maistery, saith Seneca, to play a man kindly. Of one whome thou sawest but ye­sterday, thou maist aske the next, who is this? he is so much chan­ged. VVould a man know Ionas to be Ionas, that had seene him before in his exceeding wrath, and now should finde him so ex­ceedingly well pleased? This vvere enough for a childe, whose limber and inconstant passions are every howre altered. Yet Ionas bewraieth his weakenesse in the like mutability of māners: some­times boyling like a sea, or like the river in Esay, mightie and greate, with abundance of choler, sometimes as strongly over-borne vvith a contrary affection; constant in nothing but in his inconstan­cie, and never moderating himselfe with a milde and sober cari­age, as those vvaters of Shiloah, that ranne softly. Peter Martyr vvriting of the affections of man, sorowe, ioy, hope, feare, an­ger, and the rest, compared them to the vvinds vvherewith a shippe is driven: they may bee helpes to the shippe, and they may over­throvv it. The passions, I thinke, wherewith Ionas was driven too and fro, vvere more vehement than that winde, vvhich ray­sed the former tempest. For vvhen hee is angry, hee is sore grie­ved; vvhen he is glad, he is over-much apaide; and when he is angry againe, he is angry to the death. So he is not only variable in his affe­ction, as Proteus was in his shapes, wrought like vvaxe vpon a suddaine, but he is also as intemperate in them, not able to containe himselfe within the listes of any moderation.

That you may knovve what vesselles they are vvhich GOD doeth vse in the mninistration of his holiest vvorke, in bearing his name before the vvorlde, and preaching the gospell of Christ the richest treasure that ever the earth received: they are earthly vesselles, made of clay, and shaped of the selfe-same moulde, vvhereof all mankinde is fashioned. Prophetes they are, but as Moses spake, like vnto their brethren, not onely in similitude of flesh, as CHRIST onely vvas, but in similitude of sinnefull and infirme flesh; Apostles they are, and CHRIST chose [Page 621] twelve of them, but Iudas was a divell incarnate, and Peter was a Sa­tan in his kinde, and none were Angels; they are also the men of God, yet men; or if they be Angels by a more honourable style than their nature can beare, Revel. 1 behold, he hath not found stedfastnes in his An­gels, Iob. 4. or if they be stars, in the same vision, beholde the stars are not pure in his sight, Iob. 25. From both which places of Iob, is inferred by way of comparison; much lesse they that dwell in houses of clay, whose foun­dation is in the dust, and they are consumed before the mothe: much lesse man that is but rottennes, and the sonne of man that is a worme. He skarsely bea­reth a tongue in these daies, that frameth not this, or such like obie­ctions against vs. They say, and doe not: Physitian, first heale thy selfe: Math. 23. you that preach that a man should keepe the law, by breaking the law dishonour you God? what then? if we be not worse in your opinions than the Scribes, and Pharisees, doe you the part of dutifull auditors; all that vvee shall bid you observe, that observe and doe: so long as wee sit in the chaire of Moses, and Christ, and his Apostles, and teach you no other doctrine and precepts than they have delivered, you neede not feare vs. If we live well, it is our owne, I meane not onelye oure praise,Si bene vi [...] erimus, no­strum est. Si bene dix­erimus, ve­strum &c. but our crowne also: if we teach well, it is yours; take you the portion which belongeth vnto you, and leave the other to our selves. If we be care­lesse of our owne sores, when your wounds are healed and bound vp by vs; if wee, as vnprofitable salt, good for nothing but to be throw­en to the dung-hill, be throwne out indeede, and you seasoned; if we be cast into darkenes, and you illuminated by our light; if when we have preached vnto you, our selves become reprobates; if when we have shone like lampes and candles in the house, our selves goe out in smoke; if when we have built you an arke, our selves be drow­ned; if when we have guided you into the land of promise, our selves die short of it; if when we have served in the temple of the Lord, as that plate of silver and gold, our selves be carried captive into Baby­lon, or some stranger land; if when we have sowed you fieldes vvee reape them not; and planted you vineyardes, we drinke not of the wine; and when we had preached salvation vnto you, we tast not of the fruites thereof; be it vnto vs as we have deserved. Be not you our iudges▪ leave vs to stand or fall to our owne Lord; onely, vse you the benefite of our labour and travaile as God hath apointed it, Ionas (to apply my speech) when he rebelled, he rebelled without measure, & when he slept▪ he slept without measure, his anger before,Nil fuit [...] quam. Sic impa [...] sibi. [...] and after­wards, is without measure, & his ioy in this place asmuch without measure. There was never any thing so vnlike it selfe. Behold (as the gos­pell [Page 622] spake) more than Ionas is here. I meane, worse than Ionas is a­mongst vs, if you come to examine the lives of ministers. We trans­gresse the commandement of God more than ever Ionas did, and we are more sleepie than hee was, in the hazard of the ship, that is, in the danger of Christes Church: and our passions of anger, envie, and ioy, beare vs away with more violence. If any be offended with vs for such infirmity and frailty graffed in our flesh, let them aske the reason of the Potter, quare fecisti sic? why hast thou done it thus, and not rather apointed that the perfitting of our salvation shoulde have bene wrought by stronger instruments? But I turne to my matter in hand. How exceeding and vnmeasurable the ioy of Io­nas was, appeareth, 1. by doubling the affection, laetabatur laetitiâ, hee reioyced with ioy; 2. by adding an attribute, magnâ, laetitiâ, with great ioy: so it was ioy, and ioy, and great ioy. Such as Esay describeth in the 9. of his prophecy, according to the ioy of harvest, and as men reioyce when they divide a spoile: or as one that commeth with a pipe, to go vnto the mount of the Lorde. The nature of ioy, as also of love and liking to any thing,Esa. 30. is, to dilate and stretch out the heart; for vvhen it taketh pleasure in the obiect, it openeth it selfe as a friend his bosome and armes to embrace a friend, so this, the chambers and roumes there­of to welcome that pleasure which is come vnto it. So doth Esaye prophecy vnto Ierusalem of the ioy that shalbe vnto her for the cō ­ming of the Gentiles, thine heart shalbe astonied and enlardged, because the multitude of the sea shalbe converted vnto thee &c. Esa. 60· The Apostle v­seth the same kinde of speech to the Corinthians,2. Cor. 6. O yee Corinthians, our mouth is open vnto you, our hart is made lardge, you are not kept streight in vs, but you are kept streight in your owne bowelles: now, for a recom­pence (I speake as to my children) bee you also enlardged. That is, as I have opened all the affections of my soule to receive you; so bee you as willing and ioyfull on the other side to receave me againe. And af­terwards, receive vs, for I have said that yee are in our heartes to die and to live togither: 2. Cor. 7. I reioice greatly in you, I am filled with comfort, and am excee­ding ioyous in all our tribulation. In effabile gaudium mente conci­pirur, quod ne [...] abscondi po [...]est, nec sermonib. aperiri. &c. Lib. Moral. 24. Such is the force of ioy, it so possesseth & replenisheth the heart, that while a man liveth, he cannot forsake the thing which he is fond of. I leave it to Physitians to examine the cause, but if histories deceave vs not, some have died through immoderate ioy, as Diagoras of Rhodes in the armes of his three sonnes, returning victorers from the games of Olympus. The highest degree of ioy, is that vvhich they call Iubilee, described by Gregory thus, vvhen an vnspeakeable gladnesse is con [...]eaved in the mind, [Page 623] which neither can bee hidde, nor speech vttered; and although it be not expressed by any proprieties, yet it is signified by some kindes of gesture: Or when the abundance of the heart is not answered by sufficiency of wordes, Cum cordis laetitia oris efficaci â non exple [...]ur &c. Ibid. 28. but he which reioyceth is neither able to rule his ioye, nor to fulfill it. I thinke the ioy of Ionas was a Iubilee, he is so ravished and over­come with the pleasure of the gourd, that hee knoweth not hovve to containe himselfe. Alas, a gourd was not worth thus much,Mensurae laetitiae de magnitu­dine nuntii veniat. Cassiod. epist, Lib. 1. if the rule be true, that the measure of our ioy should be according to the newes that is brought, & the cherefulnesse of the minde no more than is the thing which wee reioyce for. If Ionas had receaved tydinges of de­liverance from the belly of the fish, or of redemption from eternall death; if a Prophet had sung vnto him, as hee did vnto Sion, re­ioyce, and bee glad Ionas, beholde thy King commeth; or Angelles had brought him worde, as they did the shephardes, beholde, we bring thee news of great ioy that shalbee to all people; what coulde Ionas more haue done? For these, and such like are the thinges wherein our greatest ioy should bee placed: and there can bee no intemperan­cy of reioycing, where these are affected. So witnessed one Apo­stle, God forbid that I should reioyce in any thing but in the crosse of Christ: Gal. 6. 1. Pet. 1. illud est ve­rum gaudi­um quod non de creaturâ sed de Crea­tore concipī ­tur &c. Bern. and the other agreeth vnto him, in whome, though you see him not, yet doe you beleeue, and reioyce with ioy vnspeakable and glorious. For that is the true and principall ioy which is conceaved not from the crea­ture, but from the Creator: which when thou hast receaved, no man can take from thee: wherewith compare what pleasure soever, it is griefe; all sweete, is sowre vnto it, and there is nothing that may delight, but seemeth troublesome, and offensiue. There are many that say, who will shew vs any good? they are aūswered by the pro­phet in one word, Lorde, lift thou vp the light of thy countenance vpon vs: open but our eies, that they may beholde thy merices, For thou hast given mee more ioy of heart by the light of thy face, than wordlinges haue felt when their wheate and their wine hath most abounded. And therefore blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, Psal. 4. Psal. 84. whose heart is in thy waies, who going through the vale of this worlde, make welles therin: that is, vse such commodities as this valley of teares affordeth them to re­lieue their present wantes, but stay themselues vppon the hope and expectation of better thinges to come. The Scripture doth everye where call vs to higher pleasures: so doth wisedome Prov. 8. vvith mee are dureable riches, the riches of this worlde are uariable. So doth Esay in the 55. of his prophecie, vvhy lay you out your money, and not for bread, but bestow it vpon akorns and branne that cannot feede? [Page 624] So doth the sonne of God, Mat. 6. Lay vp treasures for your selues in heaven. And Ioh. [...] labour not for the meate vvhich perisheth, but for the meate which endureth vnto everlasting life. So likewise hee adviseth the Church of Laodicaea, Revel. 3. I counsaile thee to buy golde of mee, that thou maiest bee made rich, and white rayment that thou mayest bee clothed, and that thy filthinesse appeare not. As for the mutable and transitorye either pleasures or profittes of this life, which are ever comming & going,A [...]e [...] tan­quā osurus. it shalbee good for a man so to loue them▪ as that he may find in his heart to leaue them, vvhen neede requireth. And as Fabricius told Pyrrhus, who one day tempted him with golde, another day terrified him with an Elephant, which hee had never seene before, yesterday I was not mooved with thy money, nor to day with thy beast; so whe­ther wee were tempted with the gaine, or terrifi [...]d with the losse of these wordly commodities, wee doe not trouble ou [...] selues either way, because they vvere given vs but for vse, and not everlastingly to enioy. [...] mundo frui­ [...]ur Deo. August. Eccles. 9. No man knoweth either loue or hatred by all that is before him: for all thinges come alike to all, & the same condition (I meane in these out­ward things) is both to the iust and the wicked. And therefore, happy are wee if therein we can compose our selues to that indifferent re­solution, that David had when hee fled from Absalon his sonne, tou­ching his comming or not comming backe againe to Ierusalem to take his former comforts, behold, here am I, let him do to me as it seemeth good in his eies. 2. Sam. 15.

But God prepared a worme when the morning rose the next day, and it smo [...]e the gourd that it withered. ver. 7 The pleasure of Ionas is quite dasht, hee lit [...]le thought of so speedie an alteration; who seemed to say in his heart not longe before, I shall never bee grieved; but the Lorde hath given, and the Lorde hath taken away: and he that hath power o­ver the blessings, hath power also over the plagues, Rev. 6, And as eve­ry good gift commeth downe from aboue, so there is not an evil in the cittie, nor in the world, that the Lord doth not. And his providēce is as migh­tie in vsing rhe service of a worme as of Leviathan. I neede not trou­ble you either with the author,1. The Lord whome I haue often mentioned be­fore;2. Prepared or with his manner of working▪ for hee doth not onely create al thinges▪ but hee ordereth and fitteth them in such sorte, that they are readie at all times to worke his will. There is nothing sodaine, or new, or vnprovided vnto him, but all his creatures, both greate and small, as if they watched their turnes, stand forth to giue their atten­dance.3 [...] worme. The instrument that God vseth to afflict Ionas with, is very vile & cōtēptible: he that could haue sent a wind, to haue turned th [...] [Page 625] gourd vpside down, or lightning to haue blasted it, or an whole army of wormes & caterpillers to haue devoured it, or withered it with his word, as Christ did the figtree, never beare leaues henceforth, prepareth a worme, & but one worme to execute that busines. The scripture no where speaketh of wormes, but with a kinde of cōtēpt, as of a base and silly creature: as Psa. 22. but I am a worme, & no mā, the reproach of mē, & the scorne of people; where the later expoūdeth the former: & Esay 41. feare not, worme Iacob, though thou art the least amōgst the nations, & al the people of the earth set themselues against thee.Jn ijs quae sun [...] minora granohordei▪ The Hebrewes haue an opinion, that enchāters cannot shew their skill in litle things, if they be lesse, they say, thā a barly corne, & therefore the sorcerers of Egypt failed in producing lyce. But our God is as cunning and artifi­cial in the smallest creature of the world, as in the greatest: the organi­cal body of a litle Ant, is no lesse to be wondered at, thā the huge bo­dy of Behemoth. And as Vulcane is cōmēded in the Poet, for beating out chaines & nets so thin, that the eie could not see thē,Quae lumi­na fallere possint. Non illud opus ten [...]is­sima vincū [...] Stamina. smaller than the smallest thred, or thā the web of the spider: so the smaller the cre­ature is, the more is the workmanship of God to bee admired, both in the shaping & in the vsing therof. We al know, that God hath scour­ged the mightiest tyrāt in the earth, as much with worms, as if he had sent out whole armies against him. As he plagued Zenacharib with an Angel frō heaven, the Sodomites with fire & brimstone, Corah & his conspiratours with the opening of the earth: so, he destroied Herode with wormes, Antiochus with wormes, & against many other bloudy persecutours of his church vsed none other executioners. And bee it spokē to the daūting of all flesh, to pull downe the pride thereof, that the day shal come, when wormes shall cover them, & they shall say to the wormes, you are our brethren & sisters; & to the cōfusion of all the wick­ed & dāned of the earth, that their worme dieth not; wherby though an infinite tormēt be meant, yet the gnawing of a poore worme is made to expresse it. The time which God chose for smiting the gourd,4. When the mor­ning rose. was, in the rising of the morning; a litle before the sun cāe forth of his chāber, when the shadow of the gourd should most haue pleasured him; for in the night season, the aire was cold enough, & Ionas passed it with sleepe, so that the covering of the boughes was superfluous for that time. But when the morning arose, the rightest houre that the crosse could haue fallē vpō Ionas, the worme is sent. They say in Esay, Esa. 5. let the coūsell of the holy one come: what need they cal for it? it shal not only cōe, but come in a time which God hath apointed fittest for their smarte. Al the iudgmēts of the Lord are nūber & measure, he reckoneth the [Page 626] houre and the minute of the houre when it is most convenient to in­flict them. Sisera shall not die in an army, nor by the handes of a man, nor any bow bent, nor sword drawne against him, the Lord hath reserved him to a tent, & to a ten-penny nayle to be driven in to his head by the hands of a feeble woman. This was the time, & these the meanes which the Lord made choise of to punish him. Zenacherib shall not be slaine in the field, nor by the Angell of the Lord▪ which smote a greate part of his army, but at home, in his owne citty, and in the temple of his idoll, and by the handes of his sonnes that sprange from his bowels. This is the time, and these the meanes that the Lord hath kept him vnto, to shew his iustice. Therefore the day of ven­gance and destruction, is evermore called the day of the Lord; not that the rest are not his, but these he hath specially marked out, and allot­ted to exercise his iudgementes in.Ierem. 51. There is a time to plant, and a time to roote vp that that hath beene planted. Babylon is as a threshing floore, saith the prophet, the time of her threshing is come, yet a little while and her harvest is come: so Babylon (you see) hath a time for her threshing. Our Saviour Revel. 3. speaketh of an houre of temptation which shall come vpon all the world, to try them that dwell vpon the earth. And in the fourteenth of the same booke, the Angell flyeth in the midst of heaven, saying with a lowd voice, feare God, & giue glory to him, for the houre of his iudgment is come. And another Angel cried vnto him that sate vpon the clovvd, thrust in thy sickle, and reape the harvest of the earth, for the time is come to reape it. God suffered the gourd in the night time, when Ionas had litle benefite by it; but when the mor­ning arose, and when his soule most desired the comfort thereof, then it vvithered. Rich men shall haue riches when they haue least vse of them, but when the evill day commeth, they shall cast them avvaye to the mowles of the earth: and Epicures shall haue their pleasures for a time, but when they shall say vnto pleasures, stand vp and helpe vs, they shall flie away from them.5. The next day. And as he chose the vnhappiest time for the plaguing of Ionas, so he made speede to plague him: for how shorte a time did Ionas enioy the pleasure of the gourd? God prepa­red a worme the very next day to smite it. Where are those greedie dogges that never haue enough of pleasure? Who say, come, wee vvill bring wine, and wee will fill our selues vvith strong drinke, and to morrow shall bee as this day, Esa. 56. and much more abundant. What els is this drunkennesse of yours,Vnius hor [...] hilaris insa­nia. Iam. [...]. in wine & strong drinke, and fulfill of pleasures, but the mer­ry madnes of one houre to be recompenced with sorrow for ever and ever? Go to, you that say to daie, and to morrow wee will doe this and that, and [Page 627] yet yee cannot tell what shall be to morrow: for what is your life? or what is your pleasure intended? It is even a vapour that appeareth for a litle time, and aftervvarde vanisheth away. Boast not thy selfe of to morrowe, Prover. 7. [...] ▪ for thou knowest not what a day may bring foorth! Nescis quid serus vesper ferat, thou knowest not what a chandge the next evening may make.1. King. 16. Did E­lah the king of Israell thinke, vvhen he was feasting in his stewardes house, that his time had beene so shorte? and that a capitaine of his own should haue slaine him? Did the sonnes and daughters of Iob, vvhen they were banqueting in their eldest brothers house, dreame of the winde that came from the wildernesse, & smote the foure cor­ners of the house that it overwhelmed them? Did Babylon,Iob 1. which was called tender and delicate, and the Lady of kingdomes, Esay 47. which assumed to her selfe, I am, and there is none else; I shall not [...]it a vvidowe, nor know the losse of children; shee that trusted in her wickednesse, and said, none seeth mee; did shee imagine how neare they were that came with a contrary newes, Advenit finis tuus, Thine ende is come?Ier. 51. Dumah cal­leth to the prophet in scorne, Esa. 21. watch-man, vvhat is in the nighte? watch-man, vvhat is in the night? The watch-man aunswereth, The morning commeth and also the night; that is, thou hast had a time of light, and delightes, thou shalt also haue a time of darknes. Thus the Edo­mites and Epicures of our daies mocke their prophetes, and watch-men. You speake of a night, yee watch-men, and of a day of iudge­ment▪ but when commeth that night? or where is the promise of his comming? We tell you againe, The morning commeth, and also the night. If yee will aske, aske to amendement of life, aske not to scoffe vs and to deceiue your selues; enquire, returne, and come, that is, continue not still in your former abominations. The time is verie shorte, it is but manè and vesperè which is the measure of one day. Yet a very little vvhile, and he that commeth, commeth:1. Thess. 5. Psalm. 73. suddaine destru­ction shall come vpon the wicked, as feare vpon a vvoman that travaileth with childe. Howe suddainelie are they destroyed, perish, 6. It smote the gourd. and come to a feare­full ende? The service that God put the worme vnto, was to smite the gourde: as a messenger sent from heaven, like his Angell to Nabu­chodonosors tree, with this commission, Hew downe the tree. The little worme with his teeth, or rather no teeth, but such feeble grin­ders as nature had armed it with, smiteth the gourde, and giveth it a mortall stroake, as if a workeman had come of purpose to lay an axe to the roote of it. Consider, I beseech you, the miraculous wor­king of God, as in the plāting of this creature, so in the overthrow of it. It dieth not with age, or continuance of time, as annosa quercus, the lōg [Page 628] lasting oke, or for lacke of soile and mould to the roote, or because the spowtes of the aire restrained their dew from it: but a little and base messenger with weapons of no power, but that it was strengthe­ned by the wil and might of God, giveth it a blow, and taketh the ve­getation and life from it.7. It withe­red. For the effect of all is, that it withered. So the authour of all is God; the readinesse of his working, preparation, as of one never vnstored; the minister, a vvorme; the time, the morning; the speede, the next daie; the worke, smiting the gourd; the effect, vvithering. Thus is the life of man tempered, as the condition of Ionas was without the vvalles of Niniveh, like a garment pieced to­gither of olde and newe cloath, so this of sower and svveete, and there are many and sore rentes in it. Sometimes pleasure asswageth paine, but most commonly paine killeth pleasure. If our dayes were distinguished, the good with white, the evill with blackestones, at the ende of our liues wee shoulde finde more blacke than vvhite. Take a patterne from Ionas, and see howe the blessings and scour­ges of God kisse one the other, in this his banishment; and ra­ther the scourdges exceede. Hee buildeth a tabernacle, but it falleth; is provided of a gourde, but it withereth. And insteed of that little momentanie ioye vvhich hee tooke therein, commeth a vvorme, and the sunne, and a fervent vvinde, and faintinge in his body, and in his minde most intolerable languishment. Be­holde this image of alteration in the state of Ionas, especiallye this of the gourde, and tell mee if all the pleasures of our life are not fit­ly exemplified by it. The pleasure in the dayes of Noah, their ea­ting, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, what was it but a gourde? and came there not a worme from God that smote it,Math. 24. a flowde that tooke them all away? The mirth of the Philistines, Iudges the sixteenth, when Sampson was their laughing stocke, and must bee called in to make them pa­stime, was it more than a gourde, vvherewith their hearts were merry for a while, and they exceedingly reioiced? And how quickely came a worme that smoate it, vvhen the pillers of the house were shaken, and fell vpon the Princes and all the people that vvere therein? The peaceable daies of the wicked, Iob the one and twentith, their free­dome from the rod of God, their dauncing to the tabret and harpe, all is but a gourd: in an instant of time they goe downe to hell; there is the vvorme that smiteth it. But in the foure and twentith of Iob, they shalbe bro­kèn like a tree: they come nearer to the smiting of the gourde heere spoken of. And in the fifteenth before, their branches shall not be greene, but they shall bee cut of before their daie: God shall destroie them as the vine [Page 629] her sower grape, and shall cast them of as the Oliue doth her flower: there are the right gourdes and their vvormes expressed. The young-man hath his gourde to reioyce in, Eccles. 11. The daies of his youth, the cheerefulnesse of his hearte, the lustes of his ovvne eies; but let him re­member the vvorme of iudgemente, that shall smite that gourde. The rich man hath his gourde, Luke 16. purple and fine linnen, and delicious fare every day, and hee reioyceth vnmeasurably in this gourde, for hee knovveth not vvhat the griefe of Lazarus meaneth; but hee hath a vvorme that smiteth his gourde: his pleasure vvithereth vvith himselfe, hee dyeth, and lyeth in the graue, and crieth in hel, for one droppe of raine to cherish his decayed gourd, but hee is aun­swered by Abraham, [...], thou hadst thy gourde in thy life time, novve it is deade and can never bee revived. The goodly tabernacle of King Assuerus, Esther. 1. in the garden of his pallace, vnder an hanginge of vvhite, greene, and blewe cloathes, fastened vvith cordes of silke and purple, in silver ringes and pillers of mar­ble, the beddes of golde and silver vpon a pauemente of porphyre, and mar­ble, and alabast [...]r, and blevve colour, vvas but a tabernacle like the tabernable of Ionas. His hundreth and seven and twenty provinces, and his princes and capitaines thereof, his throne in the pallace of Sushan, his fea­sting according to the power of a king, and to shew the glory of his kingdome, his abundance of royall wine, and chandges of vessels of gold, & the beawty of Vash­t [...] his Queene, all these were but a gourd, and had their worme to con­sume them. The treasures of Ezechias, his silver, and golde, and spices, and precious ointment, and armory, and all the store of his house, which hee and his fathers had laid vp; the souldiours of David,Esa. 39. 1. Chro. 21. a millian and halfe of figh­ting men; Balthazar his thousand Princes, wiues and concubines; Assuerus his hundreth, and seven and twenty provinces, &c. O what glorious sha­dowes do they cast over the heades of men, with their hundreths, and thousands, and millians of branches to giue comfort vnto them? how willingly do they say within themselues, vnder the covert of these gourdes we wil sit and be at rest? But they forget the worme, some mes­senger from the Lord, either sicknes, or bands, or death to smite these gourdes; ‘Medio de fonte leporum Surgit amari aliquid.’ From the fullest fountaine of vvorldlye ioies, floweth some bit­ternesse. Adam vvanted not a serpent in the garden of God, nor Ionas a worme on the East side of the citty, [...]. Tit. 3. where hee rathest deligh­ted. Harken vnto it, yee that are bonde-slaues to the sundrie pleasures of this worlde, you that suffer the good seede of admonition and instru­ction [Page 630] to bee choaked vvith these thornes, the pleasures of this life, Luke 8. for this is one of the thornes there spoken against; you who esteeme to bee called the sonnes of Pharaohs daughter, to be the dearlings of the pleasure of Egypt, and bee set vpon the knees of the Delilah of this worlde, [...]. 2. Tim. 3. and to enioy the reioycing of sinne for a season, or rather as the Apostle in the spirit of prophecie long since [...]noted you, you that are [...], lovers of pleasure more than of God, or if you loue it no more, than that it maketh you to forget God, in whose pre­sence is the fulnesse of ioie, and at his right hande pleasure for evermore, Psa. 16. and vvho giveth vs drinke out of a vvhole river of pleasures, Psalme 36. contemne these transitory gourdes, and reserue your selues for a bet­ter building in heaven, vvhere is neither sunne nor winde to beate vpon your heades, nor vvorme to alter your happinesse: VVhere your ioye shall ever be present, yet can you not be filled, rather you shall be filled, but cannot be satisfied. Or if I say, that you cannot be satisfied,August. homil. 3. in Ioa. then there is hunger; or that you may, then there is loa­thing. I know not what to say; Deus habet quod exhibeat, God hath somewhat both to reveale and to bestow vpon you, which I know not; but [...] beata vita in [...]onte, there is blessednesse at the heade of the spring, not in cisternes, or brookes, that I am sure of. Were you a­ble to drinke vp the pleasures of the worlde in as plentifull manner as Cleopatra dranke the riches, (the value of fiftye thousand pounde at a draught,) yet remember that it is but a draught, and quickely downe the throate. The length of the throate (saith Bernard) is but two or three inches at the most: or if it were as long as a cranes necke, which Philoxenus the Epicure wished, that the sweetnes of his meats and drinkes might the longer abide with him, the matter were not much. But when they are drunke and digested, then what becom­meth of them, more than of your meates and drinkes, to bee cast out into the draught, so these to perish with their vse, & not without shame and sorrow of heart to bee throwne away as vnhappy superfluities? whereas the pleasures of aeternity, before the face of God, deserue that commendation which Booz gaue to Ruth, (and with his words wee may blesse it) blessed art thou my daughter, Ruth 3. for thou haste shewed me more goodnesse in the latter e [...]de, than at the beginning. To conclude, the blessedst tree is in the midst of the paradise of God, neither on the East nor on the West side of Niniveh, nor any other city of the world. And the leaues of the tree are not only for shadow, as these of the gourd, but to heale the nations with, Revel. 22. and it hath both leaues and fruites to satisfie our hunger, and twelue manner of fruites, every month brought forth, to satis­fie [Page 631] our pleasure. And it groweth by a river side, cleare as christall, pro­ceeding out of the throne of God, that it cannot possibly wither. For it, let vs keepe our better appetites, and let vs beseech him who hath plan­ted it with his owne right hand, that we may liue to taste, how hole­some and pleasant that tree is.

THE XLVII. LECTVRE.

Chap. 4. ver. 1.‘And when the sun did arise, God also prepared a fervent East­winde, and the sunne beat vpon the head of Ionas, &c.’

THe temporary ioy which Ionas entertained for the gou [...]d, is as quite forgotten as if it had never beene; and buried vnder an heape of succeeding griefes as the fruitfull years Gen. 41. were buried vnder the yeares of famine; for so said Ioseph, the famine shall bee so greate, that the yeares of plentie shall not be thought vpon. It followeth in the line of those afflictions which God stretched out vpon the heade of Ionas, that when the sunne did arise, God prepared also a fervent East-winde, &c. For it did not suffice him to haue sent a worme which smote the gourd; but he adioineth new corrosiues and calamities to afflict the soule of Ionas. For as his blessings, when he watcheth to do vs good, (as the prophet speaketh) the foote of the one shall ever bee treading vpon the heele of the other; so also in his castisements and corrections, he doth not desist to inflict thē, till he haue left an inwarde sense in those who are his patients. Thus he dealt in the scourdging of Iob, though a servant dearly beloved, as appeareth by his complaints: how long will it be ere thou depart from me? Iob 7. thou wilt not let me alone while I maie swallow my spittle. Againe, thou renuest thy witnesses, that is, thy plagues,Iob 10. Vices & ex­ercitus. witnesses of thy displeasure against me; changes, & armies of sorrow are against me. Surely God is wiser in handling our sins, thā any Physitian in dealing with sicknesses: therfore he best knoweth both what medicine is fittest, & how long to be applied.

1 The sun ariseth, as a gyant refreshed with wine to run his race;1. When the sunne arose. or rather as an enemy prepared to the battaile: the only enemy vvhich Ionas had cause to feare, his fortresse & castle of boughes being takē frō him. 2, After the sun, a winde; and that fighting vnder the banner [Page 632] of the sun, & confaederate with him, an East-winde: & for the quality of it, a fervent East-winde. 3. The sunne is not sent to shine, & to cast forth his beames, but to beate. 4. Not any inferiour part, but that which was highest & next to heaven, the head of Ionas. 5. The effectes that follow al these, are, 1. his fainting in his body; 2. in his soule, wishing to die; 3. pro­fessing it with his tongue; it is better for me to die than to liue.

And when the sunne did arise. The arising of the sun, noteth no more than the opportunity of time which God taketh to punish Ionas. He beginneth with the beginning of the day; the shadowes of the night are gone, the fresh dews of the morning sone dispersed, and the sunne at his first discovery hath a chardge from God to assault the heade of Ionas: no part of the day (& as it seemeth) not the coolenesse & tēpe­rature of the morning are friendly vnto him. He rather wished in his heart, [...]ob 3. as Iob did, let the day be darkenes still, and let not God regarde it from aboue, nor the light shine vpon it; but let darkenes & clowdes & the shadowe of death staine it; that is, let there be an everlasting night, rather than the beams of the sun should come forth to do me this violence: & as the sun did once go backe in the daies of Hezekias vpon the diall of A­haz;2. King. 20. so it would haue reioiced him, if it had gone backe againe to the North; or stoode vnmoueable in a place, that the earth might haue beene as a piller betweene him and the heate thereof.

2. God pre­pared also a winde. God prepared also a feruent East-wind. I should but roule the same stone once again & too oftē, to speak of the author of this whole busines, & his speedy expedition therin▪ which I haue told you before is noted in the word of preparatiō: whose mighty & over▪spreading providence is as the soule of the world, as inward & familiar to al the actions ther­in, great & small, as the spirit to our reines; & better may a body liue without breath, than any counsaile or worke vnder heaven proceede without it. But I leaue those repetitions. The sun & the wind (we see) rise togither,Esay 7. & set thēselues against Ionas; as the two smoaking fire-brāds, Rezin & Pekah against Ierusalē: cōbining, & binding thēselues not to giue over til they haue both done their part in the vexing of the pro­phet. The wind here mentioned, is described by 2. attributes; the one of the quarter or coast from whence it blew, an East-wind: the other of the quality which it had,3. An East winde. a fervēt East-wind. The cardinall & principal windes, as appeareth both in many places of the scripture, and in for­reine authours, are but 4. breathing from the 4. quarters or divisions of heaven:Plinie. as in the 37. of Ezechi, come from the 4. vvindes O breath. And Math. 24. God shall gather his elect from the foure windes. After­wardes they added 4. more, which they cal collateral or side-windes, [Page 633] subordinate to the principal: & thence proceeded to the nūber of 12. In these daies we distinguish 32. Betweene every two cardinal winds, seven inferiour. We may read Act. 27. that Paul was very skilful of the sea-card, vsed in those daies: for, describing his voiadge to Rome, he maketh mention, not only of East, & West, & South, but of South-west & by West, & of North-west & by West, as the Westerne winde blew either nearer or further of. But not to trouble you with these things, the winde that is here spokē of, some take to be Eurus, or Vulturnus, which is the Southeast & by East, & followeth the sun in his winter rising; o­thers, to be the principal & high East-winde, [...]. Subsolanu [...] ▪ Serenator. following the sun when he ri­seth in the Equinoctial. Now the nature of an East-wind in any point therof is to be hote & dry, & for the most part a clearer of the aire: but this of al the rest, being so serviceable to the sun going forth so righte with it, & walking in the same path which the sunne walketh in, must needs be an hoter wind thā if it had crossed or sided the sun any way. 2. Touching the quality or the effect which it wrought,4. Ferven [...] ▪ it is called a fervent East-wind; some turne it vehement, not for the sound and noyse that it maketh, but for the excessiue heat. For no doubt it is distingui­shed frō Caecias, North-east & by East, which is a more soūding & blu­stering wind, & not so fit for the purpose of God in this place. Of that ye haue mention Exod. 14. where it is said, that the Lorde made the sea run backe with a strong East [...] ▪winde all the night, & made it dry land. Some translate it silent & quiet, to put a differēce betwixt this & the former East-wind: albeit others giue the reason because it maketh mē silent & deafe with the soūd that it hath: others,Silentes & surdo [...] homi­nes facit ob­strependo. Silere facit reliquos vē ­tos a conspe­ctu suo. because it maketh the rest of the winds silent & quiet when it selfe bloweth. Howsoever they vary other­wise, they al agree in the heate; for it is a gētle & soft wind; which whē the aire is enflamed by the sun, is so far frō correcting the extremitie therof, that it rather helpeth it forwarde, & becōmeth as a waggon to carry the beames of the sun forth-right. It is manifest by many places of scripture, that it is an easterne wind which burneth with his heate, not only the fruites, but the people of the earth. The 7. thin eares of corne, Gen. 41. were burnt with an East-winde; so are the fruites withered Ezek. 19. so is the fountaine dried vp, Ose 13. The vulgar edition doth evermore translate it, vrentē ventum, by the name of a burning winde: and whersoever it is mentioned in the booke of God the property of it is to exiccate and dry vp. Columella writeth that at some time of the yeare, & especially in the dog-daies,Vento vru [...] ­tur velut halitu flam­meo. mē are so parched with the East winde, that vnles they shade thēselues vnder vines, it burneth them like the reaking of flames of fire. I haue now shewed you both the [Page 634] nature and the quarter of this winde, that albeit it were a winde, yet you may know it was not prepared to refrigerate, but to afflicte the head of Ionas. When the sunne and the winde are vp, what do they? the sunne (not vvithout the helpe of the vvinde, vvhich vvas in man­ner of a sling or other instrumente to cast the beames of the sun more violently vpon them) although created for another end,5. The sun bet. Gen. 1. to governe the daie, and to separate it from the night, and to giue light in the earth, yet here receiveth a new commaundement,6. Vpon the head. and is sent to beate, (all other inferiour partes omitted) even the head of Ionas: wherein is the govern­ment of the vvhole creature, Jn quo regi­nem totius animalis. Vbi sedes mentis. Totius divi­ni operis qua si culmen. Lactant. de opi [...]ic. dei. Caput, quòd hin [...] capiant initium sen­su [...] & n [...]rvi. Varro. the seate of the minde, the top of Gods workman­shippe, from vvhence the senses and nerves take their beginning. In this assault of the principall part, the danger was no lesse to the body of Ionas, than if an enimy had besiedged the Capitoll of Rome, or the Mount Sion, and Anthonies towre in Ierusalem. But we shall the better conceaue the vexation of Ionas, if we ioyne the effectes which these two enimies draue him vnto. 1. It is saide hee fainted; I marvell not: for the force of heate is vntolerable vvhen the pleasure of God is to vse that rod. So hee telleth them, Amos 4. Percussi vos vre­dine, I haue smitten you with blasting or burning, and you returned not. On the other side, it is numbered amongst the blessings of God which Christ shall bring vnto his people, Esay 49. they shall not bee hungrie, neither shall they thirst, neither shall the heate smite them, nor the sunne: which is spoken (I graunt) by translation,7. He fain­ted. & 2. Aggai. [...]. but that from whence it is transferred, in the naturall sense, must needes be very commodious, because it is applyed to the highest mercies. So likewise in the 3. of Act. the state of everlasting life is called the times of refreshing or respira­tion. 8. Wished in his hart &c. 2. Hee wishte in his hearte to die: my text saith not so in tearmes, though in effect; but he desired his soule, or he made petition and suite to his soule to die, Expetivit animam suā mori. Petivi [...] ani­mae suae mor­tem. Alloquutus est animam suam. that is, to relinquish and giue over his bodie; or hee desired death to his soule, as a man forlorne and forsaken, having no friend to make his moane vnto, he vttereth his griefe to his private spirit; spea­king therevnto, that if it vvere possible, some remedy might be had. 3. Though the eare of ielousie, which heareth all thinges, heard the wishes and desires of his hearte; yet hee is not contente with secret rebellion, vnlesse his tongue also proclaime it: for he saith, it is bet­ter for mee to die than to liue. I shewed the madnes of Ionas before in this very wish;9. And said, it is better &c. It was not better for Ionas to die than to liue, nor for any other in his case: a milstone about their necks to haue drowned them in the bottome of the sea, had beene lesse vnhappinesse. When they die, let them pray to the Lord of life to close vp their eies [Page 635] and to take them to his mercy in peace, let them agree with their adversarie in the vvaie, much more bee at one vvith God, that nei­ther their heartes nor tongues murmure at his iudgementes. Death (I confesse) is an advantage to some men▪ but such as with an obsti­nate heart, and sinewes in their forehead, striue against the Lorde their maker, and goe to lavve vvith one mightier than themselues, not caring to make an ende in time, of the controversies betweene them, their death is a death indeede, and litle profit or ease to bee founde in it. The purpose of this verse in hand, vvas none other than to set forth vnto vs the afflictions of Ionas: and vndoubtedlye they are very great. For as Nahomi aunsvvered her people in the first of Ruth, vvhen they asked, is not this Nahomi? call me not Na­homi, that is, beawtifull or pleasaunt, but call mee Marah, for the Al­mightie hath given mee much bitternesse; I went out full, and the Lord hath caused me to returne empty; why then cal ye me Nahomi, seeing the Lord hath humbled mee, and the Almightie hath brought mee to adversitie? So Io­nas might have aunswered to those that had asked, is not this Ionas? call me not Ionas, a doue, but call mee a Pellican, or owle in the desarte; I vvas full of pleasure and amaenity, and my heart reple­nished vvith exceeding ioy, but the Lorde hath emptied me. Ma­ny things there are in our liues for which vve may change our names, (as Nahomi did) from beawty or pleasure to bitternesse. But if we remember withall, that it is the worke of the Lord to humble vs, and the hand of the Almighty that bringeth vs to adversitie, that one co­gitation will suffice to teach vs patience. For to whome doe we ra­ther owe the quietnes and subiection of our spirites, than vnto him, who, as Theodorite somevvhere excellently spake, both giveth his benefites vnto vs, to teach vs how easily hee can bestow them, and taketh them away, that we may know how litle we deserue thē. Thus haue the childrē of God evermore begunne their consultations in their daies of tempation, and as it were beckoned to themselues for silence, Dominus est, it is the Lorde, take heede of repining at his iudgementes; it is not mine enimie, for then I vvoulde haue hid my selfe; it is not the sonne of man, for then I vvoulde haue resisted him; it is not any creature of God, I vvoulde then haue devised some meanes to redresse my griefe: it is the Lorde himselfe, vvho hath more right to my soule, than that he may be contraried: for both he hath beene beneficial vn­to me here-tofore, & may againe hereafter.Ille operar [...]us victoria [...]rum dei▪ Tertull. Patience was the shielde vvherewith that notable atchiever of the victories of God repelled all those venemous dartes which either in the death of his children, [Page 636] or in the losse of his substance, or in the runnings & sores of his bodie, or in the cursed perswasions of his wife, miserable comfortes of his friends, malicious & importunate accusations of Satan, were throw­en against him.Oqual [...] vex­illum tulit &c. Terrul. O what a glorious banner set he vp against the ene­my both of God and man, when for every calamity that was cast vp­on him, there came nothing from his mouth, but thankes bee vnto God? Sathan expected that he should haue accursed God; and his vvife, a­nother Satan in his bosome, so perswaded him: but the witnes is true, which is there given, non peccavit labijs suis, he offended not with his lippes. I conclude therefore with Tertullian, totum licet seculum pereat, dum pa­tientiam lucrifaciam, I care not though all the world perish vnto me, so I maie gaine patience.

Vers. 9. And God said to Ionas, doest thou well to be angrie for the gourd? &c. The gourd prepared by God, had a double vse: the one natural and open, to cast a shadow over the head of Ionas: the other typicall and secret, to demonstrate the iniquity of his iudgement, which vse we are nowe comming vnto. In this actual reprehension, which God is framing a­gainst him, there were many antecedents (I told you) which made the way thervnto: al which we haue already examined. Now we are des­cended to that end wherevnto God disposed them.

The words here spoken by God, Doest thou well to be angry? are the same which were vsed in the former insimulation: and the same pro­vocation of the words, to weete, the anger of Ionas. Who would not haue thought but one reprehēsiō might haue served one kind of sin? but so is sin to the soule of man, in some part of comparison, as Iacob was vnto Esau, Gen. 27. of whom Esau complained, was he not rightlie called Iacob? For he hath deceived me these two times, first he tooke my birth-right from me, and loe now hath he taken my blessing. And surely sinne will supplant vs twise and tenne times togither, vnlesse God preserue vs. Ionas offendeth once more in the same perturbation, and the Lorde reproveth him once more in the same forme of reprehension. What else shall I say heereof, but as Ioseph said to Pharaoh touching his two dreames, the one of the kine, the other of the eares of corne, both Pharaohs dreames are one; therefore the dreame is doubled to Pharaoh the second time, Gen. 41. because the thing is established by God, and God hasteth to per­fourme it? So, both Gods reprehensions are one, and therefore is the reprehension doubled vnto Ionas the second time, that Ionas mighte beware to offende in the like transgression. Nehemias tolde the mer­chants that abode about the walles of the citty, vvhy do you stay here, all night? Nehem. 31. si iter [...]m feceritis, inijciam in vos manus; if you shall doe it againe, I [Page 637] I will lay hands vpon you. It is marvaile, that God laid not hands vpon Io­nas, nor at leastwise corrected him with some sharper castigation, whō he had taken and warned before for the same offence.

To that which heretofore I haue said of reprehēsion,Vbi reso [...] vtrimque modestia, dulce est col­loquium, ubi vel ex parte alterâ, vtile, vbi ex neu­trâ, p [...]rnicio­sum, vbi hinc inde duritia so­nat, iurgium &c. Cedenti insi­stere, cedere resistenti. I wil adde no more than the rule & practise of Bernard, as I finde it mētioned in his life. His rule or observation is this. Where there resoūdeth on both sides, be­tweene the reprover, & him that is reproved, modesty, & mildnes of speech, it is a sweet cōferēce; where it is held on the one side only, it is profitable; where both partes lay it aside, it is pernicious; but where there is hardnes & bitternes frō thē both, iurgiū est, non correctio, nec disciplina, sedrixa, it is not correction & instruction, but chiding & brawling: & (to adioine the wordes of Anselme,) tunc nō veritas quaeritur, sed animositas fatigatur, thē is not the truth sought for, but men exercise & weary their stouts harts. Therfore the maner of S. Bernard, because he would be sure to retaine this mo­desty on the one side, was, to be very vrgent vpon him that yeelded, & as yeelding another time to him that resisted. Albeit, Ionas behaue himselfe very vnmodestly & vndutifully towardes God, yet God is otherwise affected towardes Ionas; & rather than the strife betweene thē shall vanish without profite, sheweth more mildnesse than Ionas had deserved. His kindnes appeareth in 3. things. 1. In reprooving, & repressing his rage; for which cause David blessed Abigaill, blessed bee the Lord God of Israell which sent thee this day to meete me, 1. Sam. 25. and blessed be thy counsaile, & blessed be thou which haste kept me this day from comming to shed bloud. 2. In reprooving him twise for owne thing; who with one an­gry word of his lips could so haue abated his passion at the first, that there should haue beene no place for a second; as Abisai spake to Da­vid of smiting Saul, let me smite him once to the earth with a speare, 1. Sam. 26. and I will not smite him againe. 3. In reprooving him so friendly. I am sure, ser­vants with their fellow servantes haue dealt otherwise. Iohn Baptist with the Pharises, Peter with Ananias and Saphira, and with Simon Magus, Paul with Elimas, and Ananias the High Priest, Steven with the rulers of the Iewes, O yee of harde neckes, and vncircumcised hearts; yet God the Creatour of all thinges, with his sinnefull creature, or more properly, as David tearmed himselfe before Saul, vvith a dead flie, demeaneth himselfe vvith favourable speeches. Doest thou vvell to bee angrie for a gourd? The interrogation ariseth by degrees, and accuseth Ionas in many over-sightes. 1. Art thou angrie, Ionas? thou shouldest rather humble thy selfe, acknovvledge thine igno­raunce and weakenesse, presume the iudgementes of thy iudge to be righteous; thou shouldest rather blesse, and pray, and giue thankes, [Page 638] (for this is the manner of Prophetes) and art thou angry? vvhat is anger,Appetitue vltionis propter contemp­tionem. A­rist. & A­quin. Bene. but a desire of revendge for contempt or wronge done? and whome desirest thou to be revendged of? the worme? or the sunne? or God that hath sent them? 2. Art thou not onely angry, but art thou very angry? For if (well) doe note the measure of his anger, the exprobration is the greater; because passions offende not commonly, but in excesses and extremities: or if the quality, Doest thou vvell and iustly to be angry? wilt thou defende and patronage thy wrath? it is then a greater fault than the former.Absit à ser­vo Christi [...] ­le in quina­mentum, vt patientia maiorib. prae­parata in frivolis ex­ [...]idat. Tertul. 3. And art thou angry for a gourde? so small a matter? farre bee such corruption from the servant of Christ, that his patience prepared for greater thinges, shoulde fall awaie in trifles. Thou hast lost but a poore gourde, a little plante of the earth; what if thou hadst lost a vineyarde full of trees, as Naboth did, of farre greater value than a gourd? or thy life, more deare than a vineyard? what if thine one and onelye sheepe, as Vrias did, the wife of thy bosome? or thy life, more precious than thy wife? Art thou angrie for a gourd?

Ionas answered▪ I doe well to be angry vnto the death. Thou hadst done better if thou hadst held thy peace, if (as before) thou hadst passed the demaund of God without answere. Was Balaam fit to speake vnto an Angell of the Lord, being so blinded and overcast with the clovvds of wrath, that he saw not so much as the dumbe asse vnder him? is Io­nas fit to speake vnto the Lord, himselfe? rather as Plato said to his ser­vant, I would haue killed thee but that I am angry; so he shoulde haue said vnto the Lorde, I woulde haue aunswered thee, but that my passions haue set mee besides my selfe.Qui peccare senescit, cor­rigi nō vult. Epicurus. Hee that knoweth not his fault, will ne­ver bee amended. There is litle hope that the speech of God can doe good vpon Ionas, who rather becommeth a patrone of his sin, than a suiter for pardon.

The aunswere iustly followeth the steppes of the interrogation, and indeede over-runneth it. Art thou angry? I am angry, I dis­semble not, I blush not to confesse it, though I concealed it before, at thy first asking,Causa pa [...]ro cinio non bo­na peior erit. Quoties in­stantia facta est deterior causis suis? Tertulli. Pro. 9. yet now bee it knowne vnto thee, I am angrye. Art thou very angry? yea, I put not a counterfeit person vpon me, I am on fire with my vvrath, I burne like re [...]in or pitch that cannot bee quenched. Dost thou well to bee angry? I do well to be angry. It doth not repent mee, and more than before thou ever hast demaun­ded, I doe vvell to be angry vnto death. Thus an evil cause is made much worse by evill handling: and the defence of the fault, vvaxeth more vnpardonable than the fault it selfe. Giue admonition to the wise, and [Page 639] hee vvill bee the vviser; teach a righteous man, and hee vvill encrease in learning: but he that reprooveth a skorner, purchaseth vnto himselfe shame: and hee that rebuketh an angry man,Perver [...] corripere, est stimulare in­sanum, & o­leum camin [...] adhibere. Petr. Rauen. Nihil impa­tientiâ sus­ceptum, sine impetu tran­sigi novit quicquid impetu fit, aut offendit, aut corruit aut praeceps. abiit. Tert. Whether lawfull to be angry. heapeth more coles of anger vpon him. To admonish the frovvarde, is to set goades to one that is mad enough alreadie, and to powre oile into the chimney. Nothing vndertaken vvith impatience, can bee done vvithout violence: and whatsoever is violently done, either miscarrieth, or falleth, or flieth headlong away. Hitherto I haue deferred to handle a question which this whole contention betweene God and Ionas leadeth mee vnto, whi­ther it be lawfull to be angry? For aunswere whereof, wee must knowe, that anger is in the number of those affections vvhich God hath en­graffed in nature, and given them their seates in man, and fitted them with their instruments, and both ministred their matter from whence they proceede, and provided them h [...]mours wherewith they are nourished. They were ordained to be spurres vnto vs for the pro­secution of vertue; and as the body hath his nerves, so hath the soule hers, whereby shee is moved, either with a slower, or speedier ca­riadge.

The Stoicke Philosophers holde a vacuity of affections, and condemne them all as vicious: why? Because they driue vs to dis­order, and exceede their compasse. I graunte it. [...]. But this is not the nature of the affections themselues, but the affection of our cor­rupt natures. Christ himselfe was not without affections; hee was angry, vvhen hee cast the merchantes out of the temple; pitifull,Jra cos for­titudinis. Nervus ani­mae quidam, & cav [...] velu­ti ferro durā efficiens. Ba­sil. serm. de Jra. Jrasci est ho­minis. Epist. ad Salin. Nec doctri­nae proficiūt. nec iudicia stant &c. Homil. 11. in Math. [...]. Paulus & 70. interpr [...]. when hee sawe the people scattered like sheepe vvithout a sheepe­hearde; sorrowfull, when he shed teares over Ierusalem: and wee knovve, that anger, repentance, mercie, hatred, and the like, are attributed to GOD in the Scriptures; vvhich, if they vvere simply and by nature evill, shoulde never haue beene ascribed vnto him.

Touching anger in particular, the Philosopher saide truely, that anger is the whet-stone vnto fortitude: and Basill called it a nerve or ten­don of the soule, giving it courage and constancie, and that vvhich is remisse and tender otherwise, hardening it as it vvere vvith iron and steele, to make it goe thorough vvith her businesse. To bee angrie (saith Ierome) is the part of a man. And if anger were not (by the suffrage of Chrysostome) neither would teaching availe, nor iudge­ments stande, neither coulde sinnes bee repressed. Wherefore the counsaile of David in the 4. Psalme (and of the Apostle to the Ephe­sians) is, bee angry, but sinne not. Wherevpon the glosse noted, Be [Page 640] angrie, [...]. ex Hieron. Infirmitates non iniqui­tates, ex Ambro. Jrascimini primi [...] [...]oti­bus & ne ducati [...] ad actum. Quod est consuetudi­nis permisit, quod culpae prohibuit. Respectio 1. appetibili [...] 2. Modi. Aquin. 2.2. quaest. 158. artic. 2. Ira tyranni­cus affectus. Chrysost. Jrae & insa niae nihil medium. Ira­ti non magis compescūtur quàm demo­niaci. Servatur ira tam diu in vase & sua­vitas vindi­ctae. donec a­cescat. Jn Math. homil. [...]1. op. imperf. [...]. Non irarum dia sed iudi­cium, sim­plex motus voluntatis ex praescripto rationis &c. Aquin. 2.2. quae. 158. art. 8. Conclus. as touching the first motions, (which they accounted not sinnes, because they were rather propassions and entrances into pas­sion than passions, rather infirmities than iniquities) but bring them not to action. As much as to say, I knowe that the motion of anger is not in your power, but take heede of consenting vnto it. Cassiodore expoundeth it thus: the blessed Prophet permitted that which is vsual and accustomable vnto man, (which is to bee angry) but forbad that vvhich in anger is sinnefull. Others are of opinion, that hee rather counsailed that which is naturall, (allowing it to bee good) than permitted that which is vsuall. Surely to bee angry, is not sinne, but in the cir­cumstance wee may offende; either in regarde of the obiect, vvhich is revendge; as if wee desire revendge against him who hath not de­served it, or more than hee hath deserved, or not holding a lavve­full course therein, or not observing the right ende; that is, if wee bende not our selues to the preservation of iustice, and the corre­ction of offences, but to execute our malice: either in regard of the measure, when we are angry over-much. For anger is a tyranni­call affection, if it bee not stayed with lawes; and there is litle oddes betweene it and madnesse. And as hardely are they ordered and pacified, that are throughly possessed vvith a fitte thereof, as men possessed with divels. To the measure of affection we may also adde the length of time. For anger and a sweete conceite of re­vendge may so long bee kept in the vessels of our hearts, til it waxe eager and sower, and bee turned into malice. For anger and ma­lice differ but in age, as newe and olde wine. Chrysostome conclu­deth vpon the wordes of our Saviour Math. 5. VVhosoever is angry with his brother without a cause &c. Qui cum causâ non irascitur, peccat. Therefore hee that is not angry, when there is iust cause, sinneth; for vn­reasonable and supine patience, soweth vice, nourisheth negligence, and in­viteth not onely the bad and ill disposed, but the good to naughtinesse. The iustest cause is the cause of God, rather than of man, publique ra­ther than private, when the gospell of Christ is dishonoured, iustice troden vnder foote, falshod extolled, not when our proper iniu­ries are pursued. For as anger in the former place conceaved, is not anger but iudgemente, and a simple or advised motion of the will, in the vpper part of the soule arising by the prescripte and rule of rea­son, not a suddaine and troublesome passion of the sensitiue and lower part: so, apprehended in the later place for private and per­sonall grudges, whither vniustly, or vpon deserte, it never findeth [Page 641] toleration in the sight of God. Cain was angry with Abell vnde­servedly, and sinned: Esau with Iacob vpon the receipt of iniurie, & yet sinned. Vter (que) punietur, & in iusté irascens, quia in iusté, & iustà, Chrysost. quia iniuriarum memor, Both shalbe punished, the one for being angry without cause, because without; the other for cause given, because he remembreth wrongs. Wherefore the schoole-men and divines,Cum man­dato Dei. Contra man­datum. Wel­lerus. Ira per zeli [...] Ira per vt­tium. Gregor. & Aquin. Ira privat [...] Jra officii. Bucer. Genes. 4. to keepe vs within our markes, haue distinguished anger into two sortes. The one agreeing with the commaundement of GOD and lawfull, the other flatly against wis will, The former, zealous, of­ficious, grounded vpon cause, having both radicem bonam & finem bonum, as Bucer requireth, a good roote and a good end, such as the anger of Moses was, Exodus the two and thirteeth, for the golden calfe that was made, when hee avendged the quarrell of GOD vpon a fewe, and spared the multitude to shevve that hee hated the sinne, loved their persons: The other vicious, affe­ctionate, private, lightly accepted, forgetting iniuries done to God, and proposing to please it selfe as Lamech did, Truely La­mech shall be avendged seventy times seven-folde; and not regarding so much the offense, as desirous that the offendour himselfe may bee rooted not. The former of these two a little troubleth the eie of reason, as eye-salue at the first causeth smarting. and hindereth sight, but aftervvardes the eye is cleared and amended thereby; the other putteth it quite out. By this shorte discourse,Turbat [...] ­lum. Excaecat. Hugo card. in Psal. 4. you per­ceiue vvhat kinde of anger is not onely allowable, but necessarie and requisite, in those that are zealously zealous for the LORD of hostes, as Elias vvas, and cannot abide that his name and ho­nour shoulde take harme; vvhat kinde vtterlye condemned, the originall vvhereof is in the sandes, that is, for trifles and gourdes; the proceeding rest-lesse, till a moate becommeth a beame, vvhich difference Augustine noteth betvveene anger and hatred; the marke, the person not the crime; and the end, not to amende but to destroye him.Conclusiō. Serm. de ira▪ Alius qui instigat. Alius qui instigatur. Ambros. [...] offic. I conclude therefore with Saint Basile, if you vvill bee angry vvithout sinning, and shew forth the righte vse of this naturall and lavvefull affection, knovve that one is allured to sinne, another allureth him. Con­verte your anger against the latter of these tvvo, a murtherer of the brethren, and the father of lies, maligne not the other. Irascimui vbi est culpa cui irasci debetatis, Bee angrie vvhere there is a faulte that maye beare anger. VVhich cannot bee private displeasure; but a faulte openlye tendinge to the prophanation [Page 642] of Gods fearefull name, pollution of his service and sacramentes, a publicke, scandalous, enormous, incorrigible, and vnsufferable fault, whereby his Christ is dishonoured, his good Spirit of grace despighted, and the whole congregation or family that is named in heaven and earth, wounded, blasphemed. Be angry with those that are angry with God vpon every light occasion; for every crosse wherewith they are tried, ready to goe backe & to walke no longer with him: or if their mouthes be not filled with laughter and plea­sure to their heartes desire, or their bellies with garlicke and onions, and flesh-pots, as in the daies of darknes, breaking forth into tearmes of highest vndutifulnes, what profit haue wee by him? Be angry vvith those that are angry with the prophets for prophecying right things vnto them, and freeing their soules. Be angry with Ionas and your prophets, if they goe out of the citty, to sit and shadow themselves vnder bowers, and preach not; and be angry with the citty, if it repent not at the preaching of her prophets, rather when they have pronounced the threatnings and iudgments of the most High, take them to be but fables, and like the sayings and doings of the madde man, Prov. 26. who casteth fire-brands, arrowes, and mortall things, and then saith, Am I not in sport? Be angry with dogges, who returne con­tinually to their vomit, though they have bene purdged ten times. And finally, to knit vp all in one with the wordes of Ludolphus vp­on the fourth Psalme, irascimini vitijs, diabolo, vanit atibur, mendacijs, vobis ipsis &c. Be ye angry with sinnes, the devill, vanities, lies, your selves: with hearty repentaunce for your former misdeedes, and zealous indignation, that ever you have fallen into so base and beast­ly corruption: & nolite peccare vlteriùs, and take heede that you fall not the second time, as Ionas did, into the same faultes.

THE XLVIII. LECTVRE.

Cha. 4. ve. 10.11.‘Then said the Lord thou hast had pitty on the gourd &c.’

WE are at length come to the last parte of the Chapter, which was the scope whereunto all the sayings & doinges of God were referred, cōprehended in these 2. last verses, & contai­ning generally an earnest contentiō & plea, for the iustification of his goodnes in sparing Niniveh. For what other purpose had God in the whole course of his speaches & actiōs, by the words of his mouth once & againe itera­ted, & by the sensible image of the gourd, obiected to the eies of Io­nas, than by irrefragable demonstration, & by the concession of the adversary himselfe, to cleare & deliver his mercy from iust reproofe? God first drew him by demaūds, & as it were by captious, Socraticall interrogations, whither he would; & when he had him in snares, thē inferreth vpon him, which no mā could deny, that were not too pre­fract and obstinate, thou hast had pitty on the gourd &c. & shall not I spare Niniveh? thou on a light, tēporary plant which was not thine, wherin there was neither value, nor cōtinuance, nor any propriety belōging vnto thee, & shal not I much more spare Niniveth? &c. The argumēt standeth in cōparison frō the lesse to the greater, & both the mēbers thereof cōpared, are so strengthned & set forth, that he must needes shew himselfe forsaken of cōmon sense, that doth not assent vnto it. Ionas hath not now to deale with Chrysippus, who was able to speak probably of any thing brought in question, but with the most expert schoole-man that ever spake with tongue, with the God of heaven, who bindeth with arguments as with chaines of iron, & leaveth no evasiō. For vnlesse Ionas would except against the reasōing of God, as those whōe Tully scoffeth at, who whē they were brought to an in­cōvenience in disputatiō,Hoc extre­mem eorum est; postulan [...] vt excipian­ [...]ur haec in explicabilia. Tribunum aliquem, cēseo, ade [...]n [...] &c. Jn Aca­dem. had no other refuge but to craue that those inexplicable argumēts might be left out; & Tully answered thē again that then they must goe to an officer, for they should never obtaine that exception at his hands: what should he do to rid himselfe of this strong opposition? Before, you haue heard, 1. of the affliction of Ionas, the sun, & the East-winde following the sunne the same tract, pace by pace, confederate with him, working his woe, a fervent East-winde, beating, vpon his backe & sides? no, but vpon his head, the most dainty & dāgerous place by reason of the senses; his fainting & wishing in his soule to die, & professing in open tearmes that it was better for him so to than to liue: 2. of the reproofe of God in controlling that impatience: 3. of [Page 644] his obfirmed & hereticall maintaining of it,Nullum ma­lum punicū in quo non granum ali­quod putres­cie. Culpam de­prehensam pertinaciter [...]ueri culpa altera est. Mitior poena debetur ve­recundiae. Errare humanum, perse­verare in errore bellui­num. Bi [...] pecca [...] qui peccanti obsequium accommodat Hebr. 2. which was his greater of­fence; for there is no man that falleth not, as there is no pomegranate wherein there is not some kernel amisse: but when a fault is espied & conuicted, then to defend it with pertinacy, is another fault. And the milder punishmēt is evermore due to modesty. It is the fact of mē to erre, but of beasts to persist & persevere in error. Thē said the Lord, by way of conclusion, inferred vpō the aūswer & grant of Ionas, vouch­safing to reply vpon him, whose aūswere before was more worthy of stripes than speach; & by continued remembrances as by bandes of loue, pulling his prophet out of the fire, who had burnt to ashes in the coales of his indignation, if God had not staied him: even that mercifull and patient Lord, who when he beginneth to loue, loveth to the end; who spake within himselfe, though he haue often refused my word, and dealt vnfaithfully with my commaūdement, yet once more will I shake the heavens and speake vnto him, I wil not loose a soul for want of admonition. It is true in men, that he twise sinneth who is over-indulgent & favourable to a sinner. God is a debter to no man, yet of his grace and benignity he doth often admonish vs.

Then the Lord said. The dignity of the person addeth great autho­rity to the speach: the Apostle vrdgeth the credite of the speaker strongly in his epistle to the Hebrews, If the word spoken by Angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobed [...]ence receiued a iust recompence of reward, how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation? which at the first beganne to be preached by the Lord, and afterwardes was confirmed vn­to vs by them that heard him, God bearing witnesse thereunto by signes &c. Againe, see that you despise not him that speaketh, for if they escaped not vvhich refused him that spake on earth, Ibid. 12. shall vvee escape if vvee turne avvaie from him that speaketh from heaven? Therefore doe the prophetes, Haback aub Zacharie, becken with the hand as it were to the whole earth, and to all flesh to giue eare when the Lord spea­keth, the Lord is in his holy temple, let all the oerth keepe silence before him: and let all flesh be stil before the LORD, Habb. [...]. Zech. 2. for he is raised vp out of his holy place.

Thou hast had pitty, tu parcis, thou favourest, or desirest that it maie bee preserved, Conversari cupis. tu doles, thou art grieved, all vvhich constructions are inclu­ded in the demaund that went before, Dost thou well to be angry? For whereas other affections are simple, anger is compounded and mixed of divers; partly of griefe, for the iniurie received, partely of commiseration of the thing iniured, partely of desire and plea­sure to revendge the wronges. But I sticke not in the vvordes. I [Page 645] I proceed rather to the argument which is so mightily & invincibly shaped, that Ionas frameth no aūswere vnto it. It must needs be,Necesse est vt lancem in libra ponde­ribus imposi­ti [...] deprimi sic animum perspicuis cedere. Tull. in Academ, Geomesrae se profiten [...] non persua­dere sed co­gere. The text devided. that as the plate sincketh down in the ballāce, when waight is put into it; so the mind must yeeld it selfe captiue vnto the truth, when things are evidently & perspicuously proved. Geometricians professe, that their art stādeth not vpon perswasion, but vpon coaction & inforce­ment, their principles & theoremes are so firmely groūded. But let all artes giue place, al actions bow, all Logicke submit it selfe vnto him who is admirable in coūsaile, excellēt in his works, incomparable for his wisdōe. The māner of speach which God vseth, being not plaine & affirmatiue, I wil spare Niniveh as thou pitiest the gourd, but by inter­rogation & negation shall not I spare Niniveh? sheweth what indignity is offered vnto him, as if sōe right of his were kept backe. To set some order in my speach, the comparison here formed, consisteth of 2. parts the antecedent or that which goeth before, the lesser, inferiour & wea­ker part in the 10. verse; & the consequēt or stronger in the 11. The persons ballāced togither, thou & I, thou art moved; & shal not I pit­tie? The things weighted one against the other, are for their substāce a gourd, & Niniveh. For their accidents, 1. of the gourd, Ionas had not la­bored for it, Ionas had not brought it vp, it was neither of his making nor of his cherishing, Ionas had not right in it, it was not his worke; be­sides, the continuance was so small, that he had no reason to be fond of it; for it came vp in a night, and in a night perished. 2. for Niniveh, it was not a bush or a tree, but a citty, and not a little, but a great cittie; and had not onely those of riper yeares, but infantes, and not a few, but sixe score thousande infantes, and as they vvere in age to be pittied, so for their innocencie, because they kn [...]vv not their right hand from their lefte, and not only men, but cattle, and not in a sparing quantitie, but much catle: all vvhich, both in nature and vse are better than the gourd for which thou contendest. These things considered, be thou the iudge, whither it be not lawfull & reasonable for me me in a far greater matter to take vpon me that right, & to put on me that affe­ction which thou challengest vnto thy selfe in a much lesse. The mē ­bers of the comparison must be matched together as I goe▪ to giue the more light one to the other; for beeing severed, we shal not so wel perceiue the force of them.

Thou & I, as differēt as heavē & earth, light & darknes, thou a mā,1 The per­son [...]. I a God, thou flesh, I spirit, thou dust & ashes, I the Lord of hosts, thou a creature, I thy maker, thou the clay, I the potter, thou sitting at my foot-stoole, I inhabiting eternite, thou creeping as a worme vpō the [Page 646] circle of the earth, I spanning heavē & earth in my fist, weighing the moūtaines & hils in a ballance, finally & especially, thou an vnmer­ciful man, cruel, hard-hearted, without natural affection, whose kind­nes to mine is not so much as a gravell stone to the whole sea-sand, nor as a minute of time to the daies everlasting; yet thou takest pitty, & shal not I much more be moved, whome thou hast both preached & knowne to be a mercifull, gracious, long-suffering God? The inequali­ty of the persons is very emphaticall & forcible: thou sparest & shall not I spare, who haue more wisedome in my purposes, more libertie in my actions, more goodnes in my nature than al the sōnes of Adā? so doth our Saviour reason Mat. 7. from this disparity of persons, if you which are evill can giue to your children good giftes, how much more shall your father which is in heaven giue good thinges to them that aske him? So did the famous Orator reason against Catiline; Did Pu. Scipio, a pri­vate man, kil Tib. Gracchus, but lightly weakning the state of the cō ­mon weale; and shall we that are Consuls let Catiline alone, desirous to lay wast the world with slaughterings and fierings? So did Iuno reason in the Poet; Could Pallas burne the navy of the Grecians, but I that am the Queene of the GODS,Pallasne exurere clas­sem. Asi ego quae divûm ince­do regina &c. the sister and wife of Iu­piter, shall I be able to do nothing against mine enemies? So likewise it holdeth strongly on the other side, from the greater to the lesse; as Luke 11. If I through Belzebub cast out devilles, by whome doe your childrē cast thē out? they are far inferiour to me in righteousnes & innocēcy. But in the 18 of Mat. beyond al exception, O thou evill servant, I for­gaue thee al that debt because thou praiest me; a Lord my servāt, not mine equall, I did not respite & giue time for, but forgiue a greater debt, yea all that debt vpon thine owne entreaty: Oughtest not thou then to haue had pitty on thy fellow even as I hed on thee?

2 The same affection.Secondly these persons are cōpared, as the nature of comparisons requireth in some third thing common to them both: thou sparest, shal not I spare?Petimus (que) da [...]us (que) vi [...]issim. A [...]quum est pe [...]cati [...] ve­ [...]ium poscen [...] &c. I depart not from thine own affection▪ the law is equall to vs both; if we take leave, we must also giue leaue, and it is meete that he that craveth pardon for a fault, should also yeeld pardon for the same fault. If thou hadst favoured, & I maliced, thou pittied▪ & I ha­ted, thy complaint perhappes had carried some colour of Iustice: but both our dispositions are alike, & thou accusest me of that vvhereof thy selfe art not free, thine own deeds, & thine own mouth witnesse against thee.T [...]rius ma [...]e [...] rectâ in [...]cae. Is it a fault in me to pitty? begin at thine owne howse, & there correct it first, go thou vpright before thou accuse me of going crooked. But this is the fashion of vs all: in f [...]r [...] v [...]x decimus quis (que) est qui [Page 647] s [...]ipsum noverit, scarsely every tenth man amongst vs knoweth him­selfe. And we haue need of censurers to make vs more careful of our own doings who are so privy & severe to others mens, as Diogenes sometimes was to the Gramatians, whom he much laughed at, for taking diligent paines in searching after the faults of Vlysses, & not seeing their owne.

Thirdly,3. More a­greeable to God. sparing was more agreeable to the nature of God thā of Ionas: & therefore he might better contend for it. Never was it more liuely expressed thā when David made his choice of a third plague, which came immediately from the hands of God, man not working therein: O let me not fall into the handes of man. 2. Sam. 24▪ He praieth to be delive­red from his own kinde, more than from lionesse and shee-beares. A man may play at the hole of an Aspe, and handle a Cockatrice vvith more safety than fal into the danger of his owne brother. The finger of God hath signed it, the Apostle hath concluded it, of vs all, Iewes & Gentiles, there is none righteous, no not one; Rom. 3. their throat is an open sepul­chre, they haue vsed their tongues to deceit, the poison of Aspes is vnder their lippes, their mouth is full of cursing & bitternes, their feete are swift to shed bloud, calamity & destructiō are in their waies, & the way of peace they haue not knowne. This is the glasse wherein we may all behold our natures. If there were neede of proofe, I would aske the generations both past and present, and they should make report vnto you, that neither the maister hath beene safe from the servant of his owne tabernacle, nor the king from the subiect that hath lived by the salt of the pal­lace, nor the father from the son of his owne loines, nor the brother from his brother of the same wombe, nor the husband from the wife of his owne bosome; and that not only nature hath beene dissolved and vnknit in private families, by treacheries, poisonings, slaughte­ring, and such like Scythian kindnesse; but policie, and communi­tie of life cut a sunder, torne, and dismembred by sacking of townes and citties, depopulations and wastes of whole countries, through the vntractable and vnpeaceable nature that man is fallen into. But on the other side the mercy of GOD is so infinite, that no affection in nature, no dimention or proportion in the whole creature hath beene fitte to expresse it. The height of heaven a­boue the earth, the distance of the East from the West, the loue of fathers tovvardes their sonnes, of mothers towardes the latest fruite of their vvombes, of nurses tovvardes their sucking babes, Eagles tovvardes their younge ones, hennes towardes their chickens, haue beene shadovves and kennings in some sort, [Page 648] but not sufficient measures to skanne it by. It is well observed by Cassiodore vpon the 51. Psalme, that the beginning thereof, Have mercy vpon me O Lord, is the onely voice, quae nunquam discutitur, sed tranquille semper auditur, which is never examined, suspended, delai­ed, deliberated vpon, but evermore heard with peace and tranquilli­ty from God. And in the Psalme 136. you shall finde his mercye, both the mother that bread, and the nurse that to this day feedeth, and to the end of the world shal cherish and maintaine al the workes of God.For his mercy en­dureth for ever. It standeth there like a piller or bounder at the end of eve­ry verse, an endlesse and durable mercy, not onely to beautifie the Psalme, but to note that the whole frame of the world, and every content thereof in particular, touching both creation and govern­ment, oweth not onely their being, but their preservation and suste­nance to Gods goodnes.

4. The thinges4. To leave the persons, and to examine the thinges themselves, what was a gourd? a matter of nothing, and in nature but a vulgar & ordinary plant: for there is a difference in trees, as Deut. 20. there is a law made that in besieging a citty, they shall not destroy the trees there­of by smiting an axe into them: the reason is, for thou mayest eate of them, therefore thou shalt not cut them downe. For the tree of the fielde is mans life. Onelye those trees vvhich thou knowest are not for meate, those thou shalt destroy, and make fortes against the citty Nowe of this tree there vvas none other vse, either for meate, or for ought besides that he knew, save onely for shadow. From this difference of things, our Saviour argueth Luke 14. when hee healed the man sicke of the dropsy, vpon the sabboth day, vvhich of you shall have an asse or an oxe fallen into a pit, and will not straight way pull him our on the sabboth day? For if they tendered the welfare of their beastes, much more might he re­gard the life of man, which was far more precious. And it is there said, that they were not able to aunswere him againe in those things, they were so plainely evicted.

5. Touching the accidents of this gourd, if Ionas had planted & nur­sed it vp, 3. The acci­dents of the gourd▪ which he did not, he should have regarded it none otherwise than as a gourd; he should not have doted vpon it, as Xerxes is re­ported to have loved a plane-tree in Lydia, and he could hardly be drawne away from it, and Passienus Crispus, twise Consul of Rome, a mulberry tree; they seeme to have beene some notable bovvers which they fel so in love with. The nature of man is to love the works of his owne handes. The Poet describeth it in the fable of Pigmali­on, arte suâ miratur, hee is surprised with the liking of his owne arte. [Page 649] Who planteth a vineyard, saith the Apostle,1. Cor. 9. and eateth not of the fruite thereof? For this is the ende why he planted it. It is confessed, Eccles. 2. to be the hand of God that wee eate and drinke, and delight our soules with the profit of our labours. Nabuchadonozor, Dan. 4. boasteth of his greate pallace, not which his fathers and progenitours had left vnto him, but himselfe had built for the honour of his kingdome. The A­postle telleth the Corinthians that hee had laid the foundation amongst them: and that others did but builde vpon his beginninges: 1. Cor. 3. and that al­though they had tenne thousand maisters in Christ, yet had they not many fa­thers, for in Christ Iesus hee had begotten them through the gospell. Wher­fore he requireth them in equity, to be followers of him, be­cause they were his building and children, and he had a right in their consciences, which other men coulde not challendge. Novv this vvas a tree wherein Ionas bestowed no labour, nec arans, nec se­rens, nec rigans, neither in preparing the ground, nor in setting, nor in dressing, it was not his worke, whereas the Ninivites were Gods creatures; neither belonged that to his tuition or chardge, to see it preserved, whereas that people had evermore lived vnder Gods providence,

6. If the continuance and diuturnity of time had bred any liking in Ionas towards the gourd,6 It quick­ly perished (because we cōmonly loue those things wherwith we are acquainted) his passion might the better haue bene tolerated. Nathan doth the rather amplifie the fault of David, in taking away the poore mans sheepe, because he had had bought it, and nourished it vp, and it grew vp with him and vvith his children. Length of time commendeth many things. It commendeth vvine,2. Sam. 1 [...]. Consila se­num has [...]ae iuvenū sū [...] Proverb. 22 Prover. 27. Eccle. 9· vvee say, the olde is better. It commendeth wisedome, Counsaile must be handled by the aged, speres by the young. It commendeth truth, Id verius quod prius, The first is truest. It commendeth custome, thou shalt not remoue the aunc [...]ent boundes which thy fathers haue set. It com­mendeth friendshippe, thine owne friend, and thy fathers friend forsake thou not: forsake not an olde friend, for a new will not bee like vnto him. It commendeth service in the fielde, dost thou despise the souldi­ours of thy father Philippe? saith Clytus to Alexander;Nisi hic Atharia [...] senex. Curt. and hast thou forgotten that vnlesse this olde Atharias had called backe the young men when they refused to fight; wee had yet stucke at Halicarnassus? Lastly, it commendeth our dwellinge places & possessions. Barzillai telleth David vvho vvoulde faigne haue drawne him alonge vvith him; I am foure-skore yearee olde, 2. Sam. 1 [...] ▪ let mee returne to mine ovvne cit [...]ye, and be buryed in the graue of [Page 650] my father and mother. 1. King. 21. And Nabo [...]h telleth Ahab, the Lorde keepe me from giving the inheritance of my father vnto thee. It would somwhat more haue commended the gourd, if Ionas had long enioyed the vse thereof, which he did not: it was but the child of a night, both in ri­sing and falling;Filiu [...] nocti [...]. sodainely sprung vp, and sodainely dead againe. So there is neither price in it, because it is but a gourd; nor propriety, be­cause he had not laboured for it; nor prescription of long acquaintance because it was soone dead.

Now, that which is set against the gourd on the other side, is by name,7. Niniveh. Niniveh; by forme, a citty; by quantity, a great citty; and shall not I spare Niniveh that great citty? Niniveh. A Citty. Vrb [...] ab vr­vo. Vel ab orbe. Niniveh, at this time the heade of Assiria, the fame and bruite wherof filleth the world, and holdeth the people in awe by reason of her soveraigne government? Nini­veh, no villadge or hamlet of the East, but a citty that had walles & gates: for so is the nature of a citty described, we haue a strong citty salvation shall God set for our walles and bulwarks, Esay 26. and the people wherof are inclosed within orders and lawes,A great Citty. as the buildinges with­in fences? Niniveh, no small citty in Assiria, as Bethlehem was in Iudah, or as the litle city of Zoar which Lot fled into; but a lardge and spacious citty, in circuite of ground, but for the number of inhabitants most populous and abundant? Now the greater the place is, the more matter is ministred for pitty to worke vpon. Ierusalem vvas more laboured and applied by Christ in the daies of his flesh, than either Bethania a country towne, or any other cittye of Iudah or Samaria lesse than Ierusalem. Agesilaus a renowned Lacedaemo­nian was grieved in his heart, when he had slaine tenne thousand of his enemies; and when many of the rest that were left aliue had with­drawne themselues within the citty of Corinth, his friends advising him to lay siedge vnto it, he answered, that it was not fit for him so to do, for he was a man which would compell offendours to do their duety,Se [...]um esse qui ad offici­um peccato­re [...] cogeret, non qui vr­bes vastares. Non missura [...]tem &c. but not pull downe citties. The ruinating and overthrow­ing of citties, are miserable either spectacles or histories to those that vvith any humanity shall consider them. Nero may sing and tri­umph when Rome is on fire, a bloudy horse-leach, feedinge vpō the spoiles of men and townes; but Abraham will pray for Sodome, though the sinke of the earth; and not onely Ieremy will lament. & write lamentations, but Christ will mourne for the downe-fall of Ie­rusalem. And Titus whilste he lieth in siedge, when hee shall see such slaughter of the Iewes, will throw vp his hands to heaven, and lay the massacre vpon God to cleare himselfe. That Sodome wher­of [Page 651] I [...]pake, consider but the raine that fell vpon it,Genes. 19. brimstone and fire from the Lord in heaven, it selfe overthrowne with her sisters, and all the plaine, and all the inhabitants of the cittie, and all that grevv vpon the earth turned into ashes; and whatsoever came vp afterwards from that ground, vnholsome and vnprofitable fruite, pestelent vines, & bitter clusters, Deuter. 32. Esdr. 2. Iude. the whole lande mingled with cloudes of pitch and heapes of ashes, the people suffering the vengeance of eternall fire, and notwith­standing all this, it selfe made a by-word to all ages that came after it, as we read in Esay 1. and Rom. 9. vnlesse the Lorde had left vs a seede, wee shoulde haue bene as Sodome I say, consider but these thinges, and pitty her ruine and desolation though she be Sodome,Iosuah. 6. because she was a citty. Though Iericho were Iericho, a citty of the vncircum­cised, idolatrous in the worshippe of God, and hostile towards his people, can it sincke into your eares without pittying and bemoa­ning the gate therof, to heare that her walles fell flat, and all that was therein, was vtterly destroyed, both man and woman, young and olde, oxe and sheepe, and asse, with the edge of the sworde, and the citty burnt with fire, & all that was in the citty, except some silver and gold that was reserved? Though Iericho be suncke so low that it shall never rise againe, to stand long (for it is sealed with a curse to his person that should ad­venture to reedifie Iericho, & with the bloud of his eldest and yon­gest sonnne) yet say to your selues when you reade that lamentable narration, alas for Iericho, because it was a citty sometimes, girded with walles, fortified with bulwarkes, stored with treasure and wealth, peopled with men, and furnished with other such habilities, as the very name of a citty presently implieth. But that Ierusalem wherof I also spake, Ierusalem, the sanctified citty, and the cittye of the everlasting God, Ierusalem, builte in vnitye, Ierusalem, the Queene and Empresse of the provinces, so defaced and levelled with the ground that not a stone was left standing vpon a stone, neither in their houses, walles, bulwarkes, turrets, no nor in the altars, sanctuary, temple of Ierusalem, the old and young, ma­trones, virgins, mothers, infants, princes, priests, prophets, Na­zarites▪ all slaine, famished, fettered, skattered abroade, vtterlye consumed; If it come into the minde of any man, either by reading or hearing, vvithout commiseration, I say that his heart is more bar­barous and rude than the very fragments and rubbell wherein Ieru­salem is lodged. Who can expresse those havockes, by speech,Quis funerā findo Explice [...] &c. Lam. 4. or finde teares enough to equall their miseries? For this cause I vveepe, faith the Prophet, mine eye, even mine eye casteth out water, which it [Page 652] draweth vp from the fountaine of my over-flowing heart; and he calleth to the daughter of Sion, to let teares run downe, like a river, daie & night, to take no rest, neither to suffer the apple of her eie to cease, to arise & cry in the night, Lament. [...]. in the beginning of the watches, to power out her heart like water before the Lord. Aeneas Silvius in his oration (of the spoile of Cō ­stātinople) against the Turke, with great compassion relateth the murdering of their children before the faces of their parents, the no­ble mē slaughtered like beasts, the Priests torne in pieces, the religious flead; the holy virgins incestuously defiled, the mothers & their da­ughters despightfully vsed, & at lēgth he crieth out: O miserā vrbis fa­ciem, O the miserable face of that citty O vnhappy people, O wicked Mahomet. Who is able to report such things without tears? there was nothing to be seene,Qui [...] talia fand [...] Tempere [...] á lachrymis? Nam (que) ani­mus memi­nisse horre [...] &c. but ful of mourning, murder, bloud-shed, dead carkasses. At last converting himselfe to Greece, (his mind evē quaking & starting backe with sorrow) he thus bewaileth it. O famous & renowmed Greece, behold now thy end, now thou art dead, alas, how many mighty & wealthy citties haue heretofore bin extingui­shed? what is become of Thebes? of Athens? of Micene? of Larissa? of Lacedemon? of Corinth? of other memorable townes? whose wals if thou seekest for thou canst not find so much as their ruines: no mā cā shew the groūd werein they are are laid along, our mē do oftentimes look for Greece in Greece it selfe; only Cōstātinople is no remaining of the carkasses of so many citties. Such & so lamentabl hath ever been the devastation of citties to mē of any affection,Sola ex t [...]t c [...]d [...]veribus civiratum &c. & such it see­med to God in this place, shall not I spare Niniveh that great city? Ionas could haue found in his hearte to haue seene it in the dust, & corne fieldes ploughed vp where the walles & buildinge stood, or rather an heape of nettles and salt-pits in the place thereof; the smoake of the fire waving in the aire, & hiding away the light of the sun, & the flames spiring vp into heavē the king & his senatours, marchants & people, those that walked with staues for age, & those that were nourished at the breasts for weaknes, their flocks of sheepe & heards of cattle, all wasted and consumed in the sāe pile, if God would haue yelded to the madnes of his cruel appetite. But he aunswereth with more clemency, shall not I spare Niniveh that great citty? Hitherto were but titles & names, the proofe followeth.

Wherein are sixe thousand persons that cannot discerne &c. It may easily be ghessed,Hieron. [...] ▪ many. quantus sit numerus alteriu [...] aetatis, cúm tantus sit par­vul [...]rū, how great the number of other ages, when there were so many infants. The prophecie was here fulfilled vvhich vvas given to Israel & [Page 653] Iudah, Ier. 31. Behold, the daies come, that I vvill sowe the house of Israell, & the house of Iudah, with the seede of man, and the seede of beast. So was the house of Niniveh sowen, for her inhabitants were multiplied as the gras­hoppers, her marchāts as the stars of heaven, her princes and captaines as the locustes, Nah. 3. Shall not I spare Niniveh,2 Infante [...] wherein there is such a mul­titude? Or if thou art not mooved with a multitude, doth not the age of infants and suckelings touch thy heart? that cannot speake, cānot stand, cannot helpe themselves, that sticke to their mothers as apples to their trees & if thou plucke them away before their time, they pe­rish? Is this thy welcome of babes into the world? is this the milke thou wilt feede them with? Is this thy stilling and pacifying of them to quiet thē with death? Is this thy nursing of their tēder & vngrown limmes? to wrap thē vp in flames of fire as in swath-bādes, & to rocke thē a sleepe with pittiles destructiō? can thine eares endure that la­mentable & confused harmony of so many young musitiās singing in their kind, & as nature hath taught them, crying vp togither into heavē, & wilt not thou cry for cōpany, & say, O Lord stay thine hād & forbeare thē? or can thine eies behold the shrinking of their soft members at every pull of griefe, their sprawling vpon the ground, their flesh scorched with heat as a scrole of partchmēt, & not be mo­ved? I stay not vpō this point: but the age of yoūg infants hath ever­more bin pittied. The midwives of Egypt, Ex. 1. though strāgers and chardged with the kings cōmaūdement, yet would not slay the chil­drē of the Hebrews. Even the daughter of Pharaoh himselfe Exo. 2. finding Moses hid in the bulrushes, had compassion on the babe, for it was a goodly child, & wept. One of the properties of an impudēt, bar­barous, cruell nation, described Deut. 28. is, it shall not regard the per­son of the olde, nor have compassion vpō the young. There is a notable place to this purpose 2. King. 8. where it is saide that Elizaeus looked vpon Hazael a servant and messenger vnto him from Benhadad the king, till he was ashamed, & the man of God wept, & Hazael demaūding why weepeth my Lord? he aūswered, because I know the evill that thou shalt doe vnto the children of Israell: for their strong cities shalt thou set on fire, and their young men shalt thou slay with the sword, and shalt dash their infants a­gainst the stones, and rend in pieces the women with child: then Hazaell said, what? is thy servant a dogge, that I should doe this great thing? So bru­tish a part he held it, to doe such villany vpon the mothers, and their infants. Or if thou regardest not their age, doth not their innocency affect thee? say that the elder sort have sinned,3. Innoc [...] because they have iudgment and election in them: but what have these infantes [Page 654] done, who know not their right hand from their left? nor haue attain­ned to their yeares of discretion, nor able to distinguish betvveene straight and crooked, good and evill, but are altogither innocent? It is a circumlocution of their ignorance & simplicity: the like wher­of we haue, Esay 8. before the childe shall haue knowledge to crye my fa­ther or my mother: that is, before he can speake, or discerne the one from the other▪ Which was no more than went before in the 7. of the same prophecy, before the childe shall haue knowledge to eschewe the evill and choose the good. Eccle. 10. The sonne of Syrach speaketh of a foole in the same manner, hee knoweth not the way into the citty, that is, ordina­ry and common things which every man knoweth. We shall reade that God hath evermore had a speciall regard to the infant, because of his harmelesnesse and innocency: he commaunded Deut. 21. that they shoulde bee spared in warre: and the women, and the cattle: excep­ting those of the Ammonites in the same place, and of those citties which were altogither execrable in the sight of God, as of Iericho. Iosh. [...]. and of Edom and Babylon, Psalme 137. Their innocencye is every where proposed as a patterne for the riper ages to imitate: Our Saviour tolde his disciples Mat. 18, having first placed a little child in the midst of them, except yee bee converted and become as this little childe yee shall not enter into the kingdome of heaven. And in the 19. of the same Evangelist, suffer little children to come vnto mee, for to such as these are belongeth the kingdome of God. The Apostles of Christ fra­med their exhortations from the same presidents: [...]. brethren, be not chil­dren in your mindes, [...], But in malice be you in­fants; 1. Cor. 14. 1. Pet. 2. and as new borne babes, desire the sincere milke of the worde that yee may grow therby. But if thou hatest the children, togither with their parents, as wee destroy the whelpes of wolues even for their kinde sake, & because the fathers haue eaten the sowre grape, the childrens teeth must needes be set on edge, and the infants smart for their of­fences,4. Cattell. shall I not spare Niniveh wherin there is much cattle? What haue the dumbe beasts deserved, that they shoulde also perish? Sa­lomon in the 12. of the Proverbs sheweth what the practise of the iust is even in this case, A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast, but the mercies of the wicked are cruell. And his rule agreeth with that practise Prov. 27. Bee diligent to kn [...]w the state of thy flockes, and take heede to thy heardes. Genes. 33. Iacob hath pitty vpon the children, and vpon the ewes, and the kire with yong vvhich were vnder his hand, for hee saide to his brother Esau if I should over-driue them one day, all the flocke would die. The errand that he sent Ioseph in, Genes. 37. was, goe see whe­ther [Page 655] it bee well with thy brethren, and how the flockes prosper. David 1. Sam. 17. obiecteth his life vnto a Lion, afterwards to a beare ra­ther than on sheepe should miscarry. Howsoever Philip complay­ned, cuiusmodt est vita nostra, cum ad as [...]llorum occasiionem videndum est? how basely is our life conditioned, vvhen we must liue to make pro­vision for asses? (to one in his army, who told him that there wan­ted foode for their beasts) yet it is true, that some part of our care & forecast must this way be imployed. We also know that the lavv of God favoureth them, Deut. 25· Thou shalt not muzzle vp the mouth of the oxe that treadeth out the corne; and the Sabboth, though made for man, yet it extended to the resting of the beast. And either nature or profit, or something else mooved the hard hearted Iewes, if their oxe or asse were fallen into a pit, even vpon the sabboth day to pull him out. Moses kept lethroes sheepe, Iacob Labans, the Patriarches his sonnes were all sheepheardes, David followed the ewes, Saul sought asses, Amos was taken from the heardes, that you may know the care of these vnreasonable creatures not to haue bene small in former times.

The last branch of amplificatiō which God vseth against Ionas,5. Much cattell. was the store of the cattell; the respect wherof did somwhat moue him to withdraw his iudgment. And surely the abundance of cattle, is no meane blessing of God. He promiseth it vnto Israell, Beholde, I will multiply vpon you man and beast, & they shall encrease & bring forth. Abraham and Lot were very rich in cattle Gen. 13. so were Iacob and Esau,Ezech. 36 Gen. 36. the land could not beare them both togither because of their flockes. So was Vzzah the king, 2. Chr. 26. he built towers in the wildernesse, and digged many cisternes, for hee had much cat­tle both in the valleyes and plaines. The substance of Iob, in the first of that booke, was seuen thousand sheepe, and three thousand cammelles, and fiue hundred yoke of oxen, and fiue hunered shee-asses, & towardes the end of his daies, all these were doubled vnto him.

You see then what reasons the Lord hath vsed in this second member of the comparison, for the sparing Niniveh. 1. It was populous with all kind of men, 2. there were infants in it, 3. sixe score thou­sands, 4. they were innocent, 5. there was cattle, 6▪ much cattle. I do not finde that Ionas ever aunswered this argument; but yeelding the victory to God and his blessed truth, he leaveth a testimony of his silence and submission to the whole world in this writing vvhich he afterward compiled. Such honour did Turnus giue to Aeneas when he vanquished him,

vicisti, & victum tendere palmas,
[Page 656]Ausonii videre:

thou hast overcome me, and the people can beare witnes that I acknowledge thy victo­ry. With this most sweete and victorious sentence doth Ionas con­clude, or rather breake of his prophecy, as if hee had said, great is thy truth, and prevaileth. Thy mercy triumpheth against iustice, much more shall it triumph against dust and ashes. Let the corrupt affections of man, giue place to thy righteous iudgements, let both greate and small, the infant, and dumbe beast sing of thy lovinge kindnes, and let every thing that hath breath, say, the Lorde bee praised. And let this be the end of my labours for this time, The meditatiō of that mercy of God, wherin this prophcy is ended, & let the labours of my whole life know non other end. Thus let me end the day & begin the night, end the night and begin the day againe; whither I read or write, thinke or speak, or whatsoever else I do, let me doe it all with this conclusion; & when I haue run out the race of my sin­ful daies let me rest at that happy marke, wherin the Lord doth giue over his argument, I these paines.

I haue at lengrh finished, by the grace of God & your patient au­dience, my simple expositions vpon the prophecy of Ionas: an argu­ment & narration, you see, of onely mercy: the 4. Chapters whereof, as those 4. beasts in the Revelation,Revel. 4. full of eies both before and behind, I meane in every part opening and discovering vnto vs the invisible God in the sweetest propriety of his nature, that is, in the abundance of his loue, cease not day and night, & for al eternity to sing, gracious gra­cious, gracious Lord God almighty, which was, which is & which is to come, thy mercy is over all thy works, & thy faithfulnes endureth frō gene­ration to generation: but the last of the 4. is the flying Eagle to all the rest, as the fourth beast there, having an higher reach, & loftier de­monstration than the other had. For where the mercy of God was then but exemplified in fact, 1. to the mariners, 2. to Ionas, 3. to Ni­niveh in the 3. first chapters, here it is pleaded, maintained, propug­ned touching the right & reasonablenes therof, with arguments so strong, as that, I say not the tongue of man, but not the gates of the nethermost hell shall ever be able to prevaile against it. Whilst there is a difference betwixt day and night, & when the covenant of day and night shall be broken, this indifferency betwixt God and man shall stand in force, shalt thou spare, and shall not I spare? or rather this difference, if thou sparest not, yet will I spare. Though man can bee cōtent to see multitudes of his owne kind to be murdered like tatte [...] or mice, pittying neither infant in age, neither innocent in cōditions, [Page 657] nor the harmelesse beast, yet GOD the Creator of all will cast a mercifull eye over all his creatures, and both man and beast, aged and suckling, maugre the malice of Satan and opposition of his owne flesh, shall finde grace in his eyes. If I haue profited any man by putting Gods talente to vse in this exercise, and beene, as my hearty vvish was, a sweete smelling sacrifice and a savour of life vn­to him, let God haue the honour, the father and giver of all good and perfite giftes, there shall none of his glory cleaue to my fingers. I take nothinge to my selfe but weakenesse and shame; vvho though I haue broken my maisters bread vnto you vvith mine earthly and vn­vvorthy handes, yet vvas I but the instrumente, the blessing and povver his alone, vvho giveth both seede to the sovver, and breade to him that eateth. That I haue beene chardgeable vnto any man, it repenteth mee; it is more blessed to giue than to take; and although it standeth vvith the libertye and leaue of the gospell so to doe; (For vvho feedeth a flocke, and eateth not of the milke of the flocke? And if vvee haue sovven vnto you spirituall thinges, is it a greate matter if vvee reape your carnall?) yet I vvill modestlye confesse, it hardely stoode vvith the libertye and freedome of mine ovvne disposition; and I am able to affirme it from a pure conscience as Paule did in the tvventieth of the Actes, though I received some thinge, [...], yet I haue not coveted the silver, or golde, or apparell of anie man. I speake not in anie sorte (my vvit­nesses are in heaven and in mine owne bosome) to diminishe the credite of your benevolence tovvardes me. The LORDE requite it vnto you seaven folde. I hate ingratitude as witch-crafte, my mouth vvere vvorthy to bee muzzelled vppe, if I vvoulde not freely and fully professe your kindenesse: for you vvere vn­to me as the house of Stephanas was vnto Paule and his compa­nie, the first fruites of Achaia, (he meante the first of that region that gaue themselues to minister vnto the Saintes) so you,1. Cor. 26. the first fruites of Englande that haue given mee anie maintenance by voluntarie contribution. I hope your cruise shall the more abounde, & your cup be the fuller for it. Yet, let me saie vvith patience, what­soever hath bee done in this behalfe, I was rather sought & motio­ned therevnto, than my selfe ever sought it. And during the greater time of my continuance therein, if I had not rather desired to satis­fie others than mine owne heart, feeling more burden in my paines, than sweetenesse in my recompence, I had longe since eased both my selfe of my labour, and you of your chardges. Though some are [Page 658] ignorant, & others will not know, & some are loath to feele it; I haue both knowne and felt what to read a lecture is. For if to read alecture, be not onely to read (as the name soundeth) or onely to speake by an houre glasse,Declama [...]e ad clepsy­dram. and to spend the time; if more than to talke and con­ferre vvith some single commentary; and not onely to search transla­tions as the brookes, but to examine the original as the wel-spring; & both to peruse and compare the expositions of the learned (for the spirites of prophets are subiect to prophets; and wee all prophecie one by one in severall ages, that we all may haue comfort one by anothers labours,) and not as drones to liue by the hony which Bees haue gathered,Nam illi quo (que) nō in­venta▪ sed quaerenda nobis reli­querunt. Faciamus amp [...]iora quae accepi­mus. but our selues to make hony, and to adde to the travaile of others, for the building and perfecting of Gods church; (for as they haue found out many thinges, so they haue left many to be sought by vs) and to plaie the partes of thrifty and good husbandes in making our patrimonie lardger which we haue received from our fathers; togither with studi­ous meditation, discreete application to the time, persons, and place, endlesse succession of paines after paines: then I am sure, that to read a lecture is a greater labour than some in opinion wil conceiue, others demonstrate and make proofe of by practise. There be that run awaie with a lecture, as horses with an empty cart; I cannot do it. It is but a moate with them to read thrise in a weeke, and twise in a day some­times. I will not dissemble my wantes, It was a beame to my backe to make it my weekely exercise. For if ever my handes were manicled, and my feete bounde vp before, I say not from taking pleasure, which I little regarde, but from follovving the course of my necessarie and gravest studies, then did I purchase that bondage vnto my selfe, vvhen I offered my necke to this yoke. How often haue I said with­in my selfe. ‘Beatus ille qui procul negotijs Paterna rura bobus exercet suis,’ as Horace commended a country life; howe happy is that man in comparison (if to liue in ease be any part of happines) who hath a ru­ral chardge? That I leaue no man to succeed me as Moses left Iosuah, Elias Elizaeus, and such like, though it be my griefe, yet I cannot re­medie it. It is threatned for a curse in Ieremy, there shall bee none to saie, leaue thy fatherlesse children vnto me. Ier. 49. Tull. de ami­ciria. Mihi non minori curae est qualis Res­publica post mortem meam futura sit, quàm qualis bodie, My care is as great for your church when I am departed, as whilst I am present. For I hate the improvident and importunate nature of Heliogabalus, who wished to bee heire to himselfe, and to see an ending and dying of all things with his owne person. But your benevolence is your owne, [Page 659] and I cannot commende it as inheritaunce to any otherman. Onely my comfort is,Gen. 21. that which Abraham gaue to Isaac when hee savv not the sacrifice, Deus providebit; God will provide for you, if you bee not wanting to your selues. For let me say with your favourable constru­ction; there are many vvithin these walles, that know not their right handes from the left, children in vnderstanding, and much cattle, take them in that sense that Peter and Iude meane them,2. Pet. 2 beastes vvithout reason, men vvithout humanity, as bad as the horse and the mule in whome is none vnderstanding. For these, there are not preachers e­nough, or rather to saie the truth, authority hath not edge and vi­gour enough to compell them to come in, that the house of God may bee fil­led. They walke in the fieldes, in the streetes at their pleasure, they lie at their dores, vpon their beddes, they sit downe to eate & drinke and to be drunken, and rise vp to play. They may doe worse than all this, in chambering, in wantonnes, in vntolerable filthines, even vp­on the best daies, and in the best houres of the day, and who suth vn­to them, what do yee? They haue lived a part by themselues a long time, and sung with their own muses, whome I would haue besought now lastly even in the bowels of Christ, and for conscience towardes God, to haue redressed this blot to their cittie. But so they haue lived and dwelt, as if Iordan had lien betweene them and vs, that they could not come at vs. I mislike not their absence, for they are provi­ded of their owne; and as the women said in Esay, we will eate our owne bread, and vveare our owne garmentes, so may they iustly excuse them­selues, we haue a peculiar vineyard, and a labourer of our owne to see it kept and manured. I say so, but if there were more than this, (for­giue my Christan iealousie) that some of purpose would not, and o­thers might not come because of offence, God forgiue it. I never of­fended thē, vnlesse I committed that fault which the Apostle spea­keth of, 2. Cor. 12. that I was not chardgeable, or burthensome vnto them. [...], hee desired them to forgiue him that wrong: and if mine be the same trespasse, I aske the same pardon. I preached not Christ of envy, I preached not Christ for glory. I prea­ched not Christ for gaine, and neither to please, nor iustly to offende any man. I preached Christ in vprightnes and simplicity of heart, and walked with the evenest foote that I could, by all meanes labouringe if it were possible to saue some. Which if I haue obtained, though it be my great ioy, and a crowne vnto me, yet I glory in him that hath enabled me therevnto, and cast my crowne at his feet by whom I had grace to performe it.

[Page 660]Lastlie, it is my comforte, and ever may it be, to see such an hap­pie and friendlie aspect,The Lord Archbish L. Lieu­tenant. L. Warden. of so manie principall planets togither in one place: I hope they shall ever bee founde in that mutuall correspon­dence vvherein I now leaue them. For whilest I liue, I shall pray for the peace of our Ierusalem. Which peace of our Ierusalem, if either praiers to God, or petitions to men, if travaile of body, or contention of minde, if sheading of teares, or spending of bloude may purchase to our Church or common-wealth, it is not dearely bought. Divisi­on had well-nigh broken of late the heart-strings of religiō amongst vs. O let the head and the heart with other the soveraigne parts ever­more accord, that the inferiour members may bee the better gover­ned.

Finallie, my brethren fare yee well; (It is the Apostles farewell to the Corinthians, [...]. Cor. 16.) be perfite; sticke not alwaies in the rudimentes and first beginnings. Bee of good comforte; you know who hath overcome the world. Be of one minde, and liue in peace, and the God of loue and peace shall bee with you. And so I leaue you to the mercy of God, neither greater nor lesse, than this prophecie doth record: beseeching the God both of Israell and Niniveh, and al the endes of the earth, that his blessings may bee powred downe in as abundant measure vpon you all, your cittie and people, aged, infants, and cattell, and whatsoever is vvithin your gates or possession, as my faithfull purpose hath beene, truelie and effectuallie to preach his mercy, according to the matter and scope of this present historie. To him that is able to keepe you that you fall not, and to present you faultlesse before the presence of his glorie vvith ioie, that is, to God only vvise and our saviour, Inde. be glory, and maiesty, and dominion, and pow­er, both now and for ever, Amen.

A SERMON PREACHED AT …

A SERMON PREACHED AT THE FVNERALLES OF THE MOST REVEREND FATHER, JOHN, LATE Arch-bishoppe of Yorke, No­vem. the 17. in the yeare of our Lorde, 1494.

Printed at Oxford by Ioseph Barnes. 1599.

Psalme 146. ‘Trust not i [...] Princes, nor in anie sonne of man, for there is no helpe in him; his breath departeth, and he returneth to his earth, then his thoughtes perish.’

THat precept of the sonne of Syrach (though I never were willing to neglect) I vvoulde most gladly haue observed at this time:Eccle. 38. thou that arte younge, speake if neede bee, and yet scarsly when thou art twise asked. For that which Euripides in Hecuba, Eadem ora­tio aequa non aequè val [...], Enn. spake of a noble and vnnoble man, I holde to bee true of an olde and young man, delivering the same speech; though it bee all one in wordes, it is not so in force and authoritie. The rule I am sure is ever for the most parte against the younger. No man when hee hath tasted old wine, desireth new, Magnum futurum si senescere [...]. Bo [...] lassus fortiùs figi [...] pedem▪ for hee saith, the olde is better. Antigonus gaue his iudgement of Pyr­rhus, that he woulde prooue to be some great man if he lived to bee olde. The wearie oxe treadeth surer, a proverbe which Ierome vsed a­gainst Augustine being short of his yeares. Omnia ferte aetas, animum quo (que), Age bringeth all thinges, and with all thinges vvisedome. Surely for mine owne part I never thought it conveniēt, that the gravity of this present busines should not be aunswered with gravity both of person and speach: and my witnesses are both in heaven and earth, how iust­ly I can excuse my selfe, as Elihu did, Iob 32 Beholde, I did waite vp­on the wordes of the auncient, and harkened for their knowledge; I stayed the time til some elder and riper iudgement might haue acquited me from this presumption. For as I wished all honour, bounded with­in sobrietie, to the name of my living maister; so this to his memo­rie being deade, that these last accomplishments of our christian hu­manitie towardes him, might haue beene honoured both vvith the presence and paines of some honourable person. And that amongst other his felicities, it might haue beene one more which Alexander pronounced at the tombe of Achilles, when he put a garland about his statue, or piller, O te foelicem, cui mortuo talis praeco contigerit, O happie Achilles, who being deade haste gotten thee such a trumpeter of thy praises as Homer vvas. Howbeit, vnder that name and nature where in it commeth vnto me, beeing imposed, not sought, and rather a burthen than either suite or desire of mine, & as an end of my service, which for that vertuous spirites sake, that sometimes dwelt in it, I owe [Page 662] to the deade corpse; I haue adventured the chardge, that vvhat­soever my vvantes othervvise bee, no man mighte say I vvan­ted duetye. And as one besides, not vnvvilling to take this ad­vantage, though of a most vnhappye and vnwelcome time, to seale vp my former affections, and to publish to the worlde what my losse is.

It was saide of olde time, and in some case it may be true, Animo dolent [...], nihil oportet credere, that a man shoulde never beleeue a grieved or troubled minde. I thinke the contrary: animo dolenti magis oportet credere, a man shoulde rather beleeue a minde in the griefe thereof. And it is the best excuse for my bolde endevours at this time, that beeing no straunger either to his death, the eyes of vvhose body (and vnder God of mine owne hope) I holpe to close vp▪ either to that sorrow which his death hath divided amongst vs his skattered flocke, I am able to say that by my hearing, vvhich others but by heare-saie, and vvith a tongue fired at the altar of my hearte, quickened and enlived, I meane, from the sense of that inwarde sorrow which I haue conceaved.

I haue laide the foundation of my speech from the wordes of the Psalme; Put not your trust in Princes, nor in any sonne of man, for there is no helpe in him &c.

1 Princes are an honourable callinge, but they are the sonnes of men.

2 The sonnes of men are creatures not farre inferiour to Angelles, but there is no helpe in them.

3 There is no helpe in them, because not onely their puissaunce and strength, but also the verye breath of their nostrelles depar­teth.

4 When their breath is departed, they are not placed amongst the starres, but returne to their earth.

5 Their devises are not canonized and kept for eternity, for their thoughtes perish. You see the first and the last, highest and lowest of all the sonnes of Adam. They may be made honorable, Princes, but they are borne sinfull, the sonnes of men, borne weake, there is no helpe in them, borne mortall, their breath departeth, borne corruptible, they returne to their earth, and lastlye, th [...]t mortalitye and corruption is not onely in their flesh, but in some parte or remnaunt of their spirites, for their thou [...]htes perish. The Prophet (if you marke it) climbeth vp by degrees to the disabling of the best men amongest vs, and in them of all the rest. For if Princes deserue not confidence, the argu­ment [Page 663] must needes holde by comparison, much lesse meaner men. The order of the vvordes is so set, that the members follovving are evermore either the reason or some confirmation to that that wente before. Trust not in Princes, VVhy? because they are the sonnes of men. VVhy not in the sonnes of men? because there is no helpe in them. Why is there no helpe in them? because when their breath goeth foorth, they turne againe to their earth. What if their fleshe bee corrupted? Nay their thoughtes also come to no­thing.

For first,Trust not in princes. this first order and rancke vvhich the Prophet hath heere placed, the Princes and GODS of the earth, are, by birth men; secondelie vveake men, and such in vvhome no helpe is; third­ly, not onely weake, but dyinge, their breath goeth out; fourthlye, not onelye dying, but subiect to dissolution, they turne to the earth; fiftelye, if onely their bodies vvere dissolved, and their intend­mentes or actes mighte stande, there vvere lesse cause to di­struste them; but their thoughtes are as transitorye as their bo­dies.

Chrysostome deriveth it thus. Trust not in Princes, either be­cause they are menne, or because helpelesse, or because mor­tall, or because corruptible, both in the frames of their bodies, and in the cogitations of their heartes, or lastelye, Si dicendum est aliquid mirabile, if a manne maye speake that vvhich the vvorlde maye iustlie vvonder at, Trust not in Princes even for this very cause because they are Princes, and in least safetye themselues.Mihi crediti mori malem quam imp [...]re. Othe. O happye governours (sayeth one) if they knevve their miseries, more vnhappye if they knovve them not. Tam ille timere co­gitat quàm timeri, it vvas Cyprians iudgement of one in govern­mente, that hee hath as greate cause to feare as to bee feared. The authoritye or preheminence of Princes amongst menne is great: if the kinge saie kill, they kill; if spare, they spare: and, but that it is the ordinaunce of GOD, a thinge vvhich his ovvne righte hande hath planted, not possible to stande: for they maie all saye, It is thou that subduest my people vnder mee; and their promo­tion commeth neither from the East, nor from the VVest, Psal. 144▪ nor from the suffrages of the people, nor from the line of their auncient proge­nitours, nor from the conquest of their swordes, but from the Lord of hoastes.

GOD telleth Cyrus, Esay the fiue and fortieth, his servant, his anointed, to vvhome hee had opened the dores of the kingdome, and [Page 664] whose hande hee helde, I haue called thee by thy name, and surnamed thee▪ though thou hast not knowne mee. I finde it noted vpon that place, that his name was Spaco before, which by the testimony of Herodotus and Iustine, in the language of the Medes signifieth a dogge: but God chandged that name, and called him Coresch, or Cirus, which in the Persian language soundeth a Lorde. Iob in his ovvne per­son describeth the state of Princes and rulers:Iob. 29. That vvhen he vvente out of the gate, to the seate of iudgemente, the young men sawe him and hid themselves, the aged arose and stoode vp, the princes stayed their talke, and laide their handes vpon their mouthes; vvhen the eare hearde him, it blessed him, and when the eie sawe him, it gaue witnesse vnto him: after his wordes they replied not, and his talke dropped vpon them, and they waited for him as for the raine: neither did they suffer the light of his countenance to fall to the ground. This is the reason that men are so willing to seeke the face of the ruler: for, being in the highest places, they are able to gratifie their followers vvith highest pleasures. They that haue power are called benefactours, Luke 22. Elizaeus asked the woman of Shunem, 2. Kings 4. in whose house he had lodged, what he might do for her is there any thing for thee to bee spoken for to the king, or to the capitaine of the host? as the greatest remuneration that his heart could then thinke vpon. Now, as their port and presence is very glorious vpon the earth, so neither is it permanent, and vvhilst it hath beeing, it is dai­lie assaulted both with domesticall and forreigne daungers. He that created great lightes, a greater to rule the day and a lesse the night, he hath also created great rulers on the earth, some to be Emperours, some kings, some subordinate governours, some in Continents, some in Ilands, some in provinces &c. And as he shall chandge the glory of the former, that the sunne shall bee darkened and lose his shining, and the moone shall bee turned into bloude; so hee shall staine the beauty of the latter, and lay their honour in the dust, and those that haue beene clothed in purple, maie happe to embrace the dunghill. Hee saith in the Psalme,Psalm. 82. I haue saide that yee are Gods, and the children of the most High, but yee shall die like men▪ and f [...]ll like the rest of the princes ▪ It is a pre­rogatiue that God hath▪ to call thinges that are not as if they were: but if they themselues shall take vpon them to bee Gods vvhen they are but men, the Lord will quickely abase them. Zenacharib is in his ruffe for a time,Esa. 37. vvhere is the King of H [...]math? and the King of Arpad? (Kings which he had destroyed) and haue the Gods of the nations deli­vered their clients and oratours out of my handes? and Hezechias, let not thy God deceaue thee: prowde challendges. But a man might soone [Page 665] haue asked him, where is the King of Assur? and hath Nisroch the God of Assyria delivered Zenacharib himselfe out of the handes of God? and Zenacharib, let not thy God deceaue thee; nay take heede that thine owne sonnes deceaue thee not: thy bowelles, thy flesh and bones shall murther thee, vvhere thou art most devoute. Herod is content at the first to admit the perswasion of the people, the [...]oice of God, not of man:Act. 1 [...]. but as hee receaved his glory and pride in a theatre, so his shame and downefall in a theatre; the people show­ted not so fast in his eares, but another people sent from God, gnaw­eth as fast within his bowelles, and maketh him alter the stile of his oration; I that but lately vvas called a God, Qui modò immortalis vocabar &c. Euseb. and thought to be immor­tall by you, am now going to my death. But take them in their happi­est and fortunatest courses, both kings and kingdomes; as they haue their beginnings and their full strength, so they haue their climacte­rical & dangerous years, (as he spake of France) so also their periodes and determinations.La nove. And these are the lottes they must all dravve in their courses, as I haue found them recited, regnabo, regno, regnavi, sum sine regno, I shall reigne, I doe reigne, I haue reigned, I haue nowe done reigning.

Surely, those that are good princes indeede, whose thrones are e­stablished with mercy & iudgemēt, they haue neede daily & hourely to be commended vnto God; Good lucke haue yee with your honour, vvee wish you prosperity: O Lord giue thy iudgementes vnto the King, and thy righ­teousnesse vnto the Kings son: send them helpe from thy sanctuary, and streng­then them out of Sion; for their honour is dearely bought, they drinke worme-wood in a cup of gold, they lie in a bed of Ivory,Timeo incu­stoditos adi­tus, timeo ip­so [...] custodet Tiber [...]us. trimmed with carpets of Egypt, but over their heads hangeth a naked sworde, the point down ward, by a small horse-haire threatning their conti­nual slaughter. They might al pronounce, but that they are strength­ned with the arme of God, of their honourablest robe, and ensigne of their maiesty, O nobilem magis quàm foelicem pannum, Stob. ser. 47▪ O rather noble than happy garment; if men did throughly know, how many disquietments, daungers, and miseries it is replenished with, if it lay vpon the ground before their face, they would hardly take it vp. That which seemeth high to others, is steepe and headlong to them. Quae alii [...] excelsa vi­denter, ips [...] praeruptae sunt. Sen [...]. Isboseth never wanteth a mā in his owne campe, nor Elah a servant in his owne house, nor David a sonne from his owne loines, besides Doegs, and Shemeis, and Achi­tophels, wicked counsailours, blasphemous railers, traiterous spies, to doe them mischiefe.

To conclude therefore, our duety to princes is not confidence and [Page 666] faith in them, but faithfulnesse and obedience towards them. Giue vn­to Caesar that which is Caesars, giue him tribute, custome, honour, feare, serue him with your fieldes and vineyardes for his maintenance, with your liues, and the liues of your sonnes for his defence; & pray for the life of Nabuchodonozor or the king of Babylon, Baruch. and of Balthasar his son, that their daies may be as the daies of heaven vpon the earth. This the Apostle requireth of vs,1. Tim. [...]. that praiers and supplications be made for all men, namely & especially for kings, and all that are in authority: and that we be subiect, one saith, to the creature or constitution of man, another saith, to the ordinance of God, 1. Pet. 2. Rom. 13. Ibid. because God hath ordained it by the hands of man; whither it be to the king or his officer, higher or lower; One saith, for conscience sake, another, for the Lordes sake, because conscience is then assured, when it goeth after his direction. This is their right: but that confidence which my text speaketh of, belongeth onely to the hope of Israell, & to him is fully reserved.

VVill you knovve a farther reason to exclude both princes and all others vvho haue their dwellinges with mortall flesh,Not in any sonne of man. Augustine. from this affiance of ours? they are the sonnes of men. I except but one: in vno filio hominis salus, in one, and that onely sonne of man there vvas salvation: not because hee was meerely the sonne of man, but the sonne of God also. Amongst those that vvere begotten of vvomen, there never arose a greater than Iohn Baptist: yet hee tolde his disciples that claue vnto him,Non sum. I am not hee, and sent them away vnto a grea­ter, and pointed at him with his finger, Beholde the lambe of God. When Cornelius fell downe at the feete of Peter to vvorshippe him, Actes the tenth, [...]. [...]. Act. 1 [...]. Peter tooke him vppe and aunswered, I my selfe am also a man. VVhen the priest of Iupiter brought bulles and garlandes to sacrifice to Paule and Barnabas, it set them in a passion, they rent their clothes, and ranne in amongest the people, crying and saying, O men, vvhy doe yee these thinges, for vvee are also men subiect to the like passions that yee bee. They mighte haue added for further explication sake, that vvhich is vvritten Esay the seconde, Cease from the man whose breath is in his nostrelles, for wherein is hee to bee esteemed? and in the 51. of the same prophecie, VVho art thou that thou shouldest feare a mortall man, and the sonne of man that shall bee made like grasse? and a lit­tle before. The moth shall devoure him like a garmente, and the vvorme devoure him like woll, Jbid. but my righteousnesse shall bee for ever, and my sal­vation from generation to generation. A man of vvhat condition so ever he be (saith Lactantius) Si sibi credit, hoc est, fi homini credit, if he trust himselfe,Lib. 3. cap. 3. that is, if hee trust man, besides his folly in not seeing his [Page 667] errour, he is very arrogant and audicious to challendge that vnto himselfe, which the nature of man is not capable of▪ when the Is­raelites, Esay 31. waited vpon the helpe of Egypt, trusting in their chariotes because they were many, and their horses because they were strong, God gaue them none other aunswere than this, the E­gyptians are men and not God, their horses flesh and not spirit, and therfore when the Lorde shall stretch out his hand, the helpe shall fall, and hee that is holpen, and both shall faile togither. The nature of man at the first cre­ation, before that lumpe was sowred with the leaven of sinne, was full of glory and grace: as God expostulated with David,2. Sam. [...]. I made thee king over Israell, and if that had beene too little, I would haue done much more; so man vvas made king, and put in Lord-like dominion and posses­sion, not over cantons and corners of the worlde, but over the aire, the sea, the earth, and every beast and fish, and feathered foule therein created. All thinges were made for vs: [...]. 2. Physic. Propter ho­minem homo deus factus est. for in a manner we are the ende and perfection of all thinges. And if this bee to little, God hath yet done more for vs. For our sakes were the heavens cre­ated, and for our sakes were the heavens bowed, and God vvas made man to pleasure man: so that all is ours, and wee are Christs, and Christ is Gods. The wise men of the worlde, who never loo­ked so far into the honours of man as we do, yet evermore advanced that creature aboue all others. One called him a little worlde, the vvorlde a great man; another a mortall God, God an immortall man; ano­ther, all thinges; because he partaketh the nature of plants, of beasts, and of spirituall creatures. Phavorinus mervailed at nothing in the world besides man, at nothing in man besides his mind. Abdala the Saracen, being asked what hee most wondred at vpon the stage of this world, aunswered, man; and Saint Augustine saith that man is a greater miracle than all the miracles that ever haue beene wrought amongst men. VVhatsoever our prerogatiues are (as they haue beene grea­ter in times past, fuimus Troes, vvee haue beene Trotanes, and it hath beene an happy thing to be borne man,) wee cannot nowe forgoe our nature, our generation is knowne to the worlde, our foundation is in the dust; vvee were fashioned beneath in the earth, wee were brought to­gither to bee flesh in our mothers wombes in ten monethes, Wisd. 7. and when we vvere borne, vvee receaved no more than the common aire, and fell vpon the earth, vvhich is of like nature. Our father is prooved to bee an Am­morite, neither Angell nor God, and our mother an Hittite, and vve the vncleane children of an vncleane seede. Let Alexander perswade himselfe that he was the sonne of Iupiter Hammon, till he [Page 668] see his bloud; let Sapor the king of Persia write himselfe king of kinges, brother to the sunne and moone, Rex regum, frater solis et lunae▪ parti­ceps syderū. Nec deus est nec homo. partner with the stars; let the canonistes of Rome make a new canon to transfigure their Pope into a new nature, writing him neither God, nor man, but somewhat betweene both; let Antiochus thinke to saile vpon the mountaines, Zenacharib to dry vp the rivers with the plant of his foote; let Edom exalt himselfe like an Eagle, and build his nest amongest the starres, and say in the swelling of his heart, who shall bring me downe to the ground? yet, when they haue all done,Obadiah. let them looke backe to their tribe, & their fathers poore house, and the pit from whence they were hewen, let them examine their pedegree and descent, and they shal finde that they are but the sonnes of men: and that the Lord hath laid this iudgement vpon them, man that is borne of a woman hath want of daies and store of miseries, I end with that ex­cellent admonition of Scaliger to Cardan: I woulde ever haue thee re­member that thou, Exerc. 148. and I, and others, are but men, for if thou knowest what man is, thou wilt easilie vnderstande thy selfe to bee nothing. For mine owne part, I am not wont to say that wee are so much as men, but pieces of man: of al which put togither, Partes ho­minis. Penè minus quàm nihil. There is no helpe in them. something may be made, not great, but of each of them sundred, almost lesse than nothing.

If you vvill novve learne the reason vvhy you must not trust in the sonnes of men, there is no helpe in them: that is not so; for Eue was made an helper to the man: but there is no salvation in them; or salvation there may bee, such as it is, for a moment of time, not finall, as Iosuah was a Saviour vnto Israell; and salvation of the body, but not of the soule, whereas the salvation of the Lorde is never but sal­vation; for he is the same God, and his yeares faile not: and it reacheth to all partes, for his arme is not shortened. Plinie observeth in his natu­rall historie,Lib. 7. that nature hath given armour and covering to all o­ther living thinges; shelles, crustes, hides, prickles, haires, feathers, fleeces, skales, Chrysostome addeth, talents, tuskes, hornes; onely man vpon his birth day shee doth cast forth naked, Hominem [...]antùm nu­dum & nu­dâ humo na­ [...]ali die abii­cit ad vagi­ [...]um. Hominem so­lùm sic disposui [...] vt vir­ [...]us ipsius sit deus ipse. and vpon the naked grounde to weeping and howling. Chrysostome giveth the reason, God hath so dis­posed of man, that himselfe might bee his onelie protection. He confessed in the person of all mankinde, who sawe it experienced in his owne, na­ked I came from my mothers wombe, and naked I shall returne thither a­gaine. VVe heare their beginning and their ending. But say, that in the course of his life, man shall haue girded himselfe with strength, and decked him with maiesty, vvhat is hee then more than a vaine man? For what did it helpe the children of Canaan that the sonnes of Anak, Gyants of the earth, dwelt amongst them? of whome the [Page 669] children of Israell saide, vvee haue seene the sonnes of Anak there. They were all destroyed by Iosuah, they and their citties, Deut. 1. Iosu. 11. Deut. 3. and not one Anakim left in the mountaines of Israell and Iudah. VVee reade of Og the King of Basan, the onely remnaunt of those Gyants, that his bed was a bed of yron, the length of it 9. cubits, the breadth 4. after the cubite of a man: yet how often doth the Psalmist sing, hee hath slaine mightie kings, Sehon king of the Amorites, and Og the king of Basan? VVhat did it profit the Philistines, that the monster Golias was amongst thē?1. Sam. 17. or the monster himselfe, that his stature was so huge, his helmet, his greues, his corslet, his shield, all of brasse? the staffe of his speare like a weavers beame? hee vvas smitten by a childe in comparison, who came with a sheepheards staffe, and sling in his hand, & a few smooth stones in his skrippe; but (that which was the safest munition of all o­thers) in the name of the Lorde of hostes, the God of Israell whom he had rayled vpon.

These and the like experimentes made him so bolde afterwardes, that hee defied all men, I will not feare what man can doe vnto mee; Psalm. 56. Psalm. 3. Psalm. 27. Psalm. 118. I will not feare for tenne thousandes of people that shall beset mee round about; though an host were pitched against mee, my heart shoulde not bee afraide; all nations compassed mee about, but in the name of the Lorde will I destroy them. They haue compassed mee about, I say, they haue compassed mee about, but in the name of the Lorde shall I destroy them. They came aebout mee like Bees, and are extinct even as a fire of thornes, for in the name of the Lorde shall I destroy them. The reason is, for thou Lorde hast holpen mee, thou art my strength and my song, thou haste beene my deliverance. Exod. 15. Deut. 26. The Lord is a man of warre, his name is Iehovah: the eternall God is thy refuge, and vnder his armes thou art for ever, hee shall cast out the enemie before thee, and vvill say, destroy them. The one was the songe of Moses after the drow­ning of Pharaoh and his host; the other a part of his blessing given to the tribes of Israell not long before his death. It was not the sword of Gedeon that overthrew the Madianites, Iudg. 7. but the sword of the Lorde and Gedeon; and therefore hee chose rather to giue that o­verthrow by few, than by many, least Israell might make their vaunt against him and saie, my hande hath saved mee. Afterwardes, when they saide to Gedeon, raigne thou over vs, both thou and thy sonne, and thy sonnes sonne, for thou haste delivered vs out the hande of Madian; he an­swered them, I will not raigne over you, neither shall my childe raigne over you, but the Lorde shall raigne over you. You heare what our strength is. And for other helpes, seeke them farre and neare, they are so weake, that they are not able to chandge the colour of one haire to [Page 670] our bodies, nor adde one cubite to our stature, nor one minute of time to those daies which God hath assigned vs. Why then doe we flatter our selues that wee shall multiplie our daies as the sand? or vvhat triacle is there at Gilead, vvhat Physitian there, that can cure the gowte in Asa his legges, or lay a right plaister to the boyle of Ezechi­as, or ease the king of the head which the Shunamites child complai­ned of, or heale a fever, a dropsie, an issue of bloud, or anie one of a thousande diseases more wherewith the body of man is oppugned, if the Lorde instruct and assist him not? I reade that Socrates never needed physitian in his life time; that Pompey a poet, and a noble man borne, was so sound that he never belched; Anthonia the wife of Drusus never spit, vt perhibent qui de magnis maior a loquuntur, as they say who of greate matters vse greater wordes: their times belike were more temperate, and therefore lesse rheumatike than ours. We desire to haue strong bodies, able to doe vs service in our olde age, sed prohi­bent grandes patinae, but wee eate and drinke so much that it cannot be. Asclepiades a Physitian indented with fortune that if ever hee should happen to fall sicke, hee would no longer bee a Physitian: E [...] quid opus Cratero, magnos promittere montes? vvhat neede Asclepia­des (vvho with a sodaine fall of a ladder prevented sickenesse, and ended his dayes,) or Craterus, or any other Physitian promise such mountaines to himselfe or others? A Physitian is to be honoured with that honour that is due vnto him, but of the most High commeth healing; his knowledge lifteth vp the head, Eccles. 38. hee receaveth giftes of the king, and in the sight of great men hee shall bee had in admiration, but the Lord hath crea­ted the medicines of the earth; the Apothecarie maketh a confection, and yet hee cannot finish his owne worke. Let the Physitian do his part with an vpright and faithfull minde, in the sighte of God who hath crea­ted him, let him not lie to his patient and thrall, nor draw him into errour, as Abraham did Abemelech in saying that Sara was but his sister, when shee was his wife; hee had well-nigh caused him to sinne by that false suggestion: so these may deceaue their patientes, and make them the more carelesse, by telling them that their disease is further of in degree, when it is incorporate into them, and lyeth so neare to their body (even like a wife) that it may not bee severed, when the sicke man and his sickenesse are duo in carne vnà, as it were two in one flesh. Some are vnskilfull in their profession, such as Plinie speaketh of, experimenta per mortes agunt: they kill men to gaine experience. And Seneca noteth the like, officiosissimè multos occîdunt, they are very busie to cast many men away. Others are vnfaithfull, [Page 671] & these in my iudgment) are moe to be eschewed than the former; evil coūsailors, healing the hurts of the people with sweet words, crying peace, peace, al is wel, whē behold, Annibal is at the gates, death is entered in at the windowes and at the dores, and hath taken the fort of the bo­dy into her handes. Such are very vnlikely to make found bodies, because they come with vnsound hearts; and of these is the proverbe verified, tituli pharmaca habent, pyxides venena, al their titles, pretences, and promises, are health, health, but their drugges and receiptes are poyson; I meane not so much to the bodies as the soules of men. Trust not in man therefore, neither in his strength, nor in his skil, & fidelity, for there is no helpe in him. Why no help?

His spirit departeth; not only his strength, his health, his agilitie,His breath de parteth, &c. his liuelihood; but his breath. I wil ioine the residue of my thxt all in one; nor only his breath, but his flesh, bloud, bones, marrow, sinewes, ar­teries, al must goe. There is a resolution of his whole substance, his last garment, which is his skin, shalbe pulled of: he hath here no abiding place,Destrahetu [...] novissimum velamentum cutis. Ad terram suam. nor any state of perpetuity, but returneth; not immediatly to heaven, but to the earth; nor to the earth as a strāger vnto him, or an vnknown place, but to his earth, as his familiar friend & of old acquaintāce. Nei­ther is there only an end of these materiall partes, but part of his in­ward man also perisheth, so farre as his carnall and wordly designe­ments went, which he fansied to himselfe in his life time.

Here is the end of al flesh; they soiourne vpon the face of the earth,And thē his thoughts perish & their spirit also soiourneth within their bodies. It cōmeth & retur­neth as a ttavailer by the way, & staieth perhaps for an houre, a daie, a yeare, a decade of yeares, more or lesse, & thē exit spiritus, our breath departeth from vs. And God called Abraham, [...]xi de terra tua, goe out of thy countrey vvherein thou wert borne & bred; so he calleth to our spirites come out of your houses wherein you haue long dwelt. There is but one manner of entering into the world,Vnus in [...]roi­tus inume­ri exitus. but many waies of go­ing out: we are full of holes, wee take water at a thousand breaches; one dyeth younge, another in a good age, some in their full strength vvhen their breasts are full of milke, some by the hande of God, some by sicknes & infirmity, some by violence. The infants of Bethelem are slaine in their cradles, Eglon in his parlour, Saule in the field, Is­boseth vpon his bed, Zenacharib in the tēple, Ioab at the very altar; some die by famine as the cildren of Ierusalem, some by saturitie and surfetting as the children of Sodome, some by beares as the boies that mocked Elizeus, some by liōs as the disobedient prophet, some by wormes as Herod, some by dogges as Euripides, but Lucian [Page 672] better deserved that death and he also sustained it: The sonnes and daughters of Iob, in the middest of their leasting with the fall of an house, Chore & his complices with the opening of the arth, the cap­taines and their fifties with fire from heaven, the coles whereof were never blowne, Zimri with fire from earth which himselfe kindled; eos­dem penates hahuit & regiam, & rogum, & sepulchrum, as Val. Maximus writeth of Tullus Hostilius who was smitten with lightning, the same house was both his pallace, & pile; & graue to be buried in. I adde that which is more admirable: Homer died of griefe, because he coulde not aun­swere a riddle which fisher-men proposed vnto him,Plutar. Sophocles with ioy, because in a prize of learning, after long expectation, he got the victory of his adversary, but by one voice. Behold ye despisers' & wō ­der at the hād of God: you that are in league with death, & make a truce with the graue, you that say to your soules, take thine ease & bee at rest for many yeares, & to morrow shalbe as this day & much better with whō there is nothing but as in the daies of Noah, eate drinke, marry, vntill the floud cōmeth; Seeing that both sorrow & ioy are able to kil you, and your life hangeth vpon so small a thread, that the least gnat in the aire can choke you as it choked a Pope of Rome, a little haire in your milke strangle you as it did a counsailour in Rome, a stone of a raisin stop your breath as it did the breath of Anacreon; put not the e­vill daie far frō you, which the ordināce of God hath put so neare; remē ­ber your Creator in time before the day come wherin you shal say we haue no pleasure in them; walke not alwaies with your faces to the East, som­times haue an eie to the West, where the sun goeth downe; sit not e­ver in the prow of the ship, sometimes goe to the sterne; stand in your watch-towres as the creature doth Rom. 8. and waite for the houre of your deliverance; provide your armies before that dreadful king cō ­meth to fight against you with his greater forces; order your houses be­fore you die, that is, dispose of your bodies and soules, and all the im­plements of them both; let not your eies be gadding after pleasure, nor your eare itching after rumors, nor your mindes wandering in the fields, when death is in your houses; your bodies are not brasse, no [...] your strength the strength of stones, your life none inheritance, your breath no more than as the vapour and smoake of the chimny within your nostrels, or as a stranger within your gates, comming & going againe, not to returne any more til the day of finall redempti­on. It is a wonder that there should be need of any such exhortation after so long experience. If we were as Adam was, who never saw the example of any precedent death,Ciprian. de sing. Cleric. we might the more iustly be excu­sed: [Page 673] for as Christ spake in the gospell, of the vertues done in Chora­zin & Bethsaida, if the vertues wrought amongst you had beene wrought elsewhere &c. So if those innumerable deathes which haue bin shew­ed amongst vs, had beene shewed in the daies of Adam before his fall, he would never haue runne into that contempt. We know that we must die, and as Calvus spake againg Vatinius,Factum esse ambitum scitis, et ho [...] vo [...] scire omnes sciun [...] you know that he hath practised ambition, and there is no man but knoweth that you know so much; so we know the certainety of our death, as we knovv our names, and the iointes of our fingers, and yet we regard it not. What are all the citties and townes of the earth, so farre as the line thereof is stretched, but humanarum cladium miseranda consepta, Valer. Max. the la­mentable pinfoldes of the deathes of men? O pray that the flight & departure of this spirit which must depart, be not vpon the sabbath day, in the rest and tranquility of your sinnes, nor in the winter and frost of your hard hearts, nor in the midnight of your security when you least looke for it. VVoe worth the man whome the Lorde when hee commeth shall finde sleeping. I say the vntimely fruite is better than that man, & it had bin good for that man if he had never bin borne: the theeues shall break through his house, the daungerous theeues of the soule, Satā & his Angels, spirituall wickednesse shal rob not his coffers, but his con­science of a treasure which he had, but lost with carelesnes. The bride-grome shal come by with a noise, but behold, his light is out, his oile spēt, that is, both his matter & oportunity of wel-doing is gone, & he cannot supply either by borrowing or by by buying, though he woulde giue his heart bloud for it. What shall become of him, but that he shall knocke at the gates of heaven while those gates are standing, & cry vpon the Lord while he hath his being, to no purpose?

The instruction serveth vs all. For the prophet was willed to crye, Esa. 40 that those which were farthest of from hearing the sound and belee­ving the report of the voice, might be made partakers of it, All flesh is grasse, and all the goodlines thereof as the flower of the field. And to shevve how strange it seemed vnto him, that any should bee ignorant of their mortall condition, and strangers in Ierusalem (as the disciple spake to Christ, Luke 24.) or rather in the world, not knowing the things vvhich ordinarily come to passe, from the first creation, till time shall bee no more▪ he continueth his crie: Know yee nothing? haue yee not heard it? hath it not beene tolde you from the beginning? Haue yee not learned it from the foundations of the earth? That it is hee that sitteth vpon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitantes in comparison of him are but gras­hoppers? That hee maketh the Princes of the earth as nothinge and the [Page 674] iudges as vanitie? as though they were never planted never sowen, and their stocke had taken no roote vpon the earth? For he doth but blow vpon them, and they wither, and the whirle-winde taketh them away like strawe. Statutum est omnibus semel mori, Hebr. 9. It is apointed vnto all men once to die, nay twise to die; (Moriendo morter is, God threatned Adam, that he shoulde die the the death,) so the Apostle here saieth, first death, and aftervvardes iudgement, If we looke into it. But the statute touching the for­mer branch shall never be repealed, till destruction be throwne into the lake of fire, and it be fulfilled which the Apostle hath revealed vnto him, Mors non erit vltra, death shall be no more. Let vs take heed therefore,Revel. 21. least whilest we are carefull to doe al other things in time, to set our trees, [...]ow our fieldes, gather our fruites, wee loose or lay vp in the napkin of security, and bury in the earth of forgetful­nesse, the most precious talent of time committed vnto vs, in the or­dering and framing of our liues to salvation, as if nothing were viler vnto vs than our selues. Let vs beware to offer the dregs of our life, to him that inspired it, least we drinke the dregs of his anger. If wee wish with Balaam, that our latter endes may be like the endes of the righte­ous, let vs not be negligent to fashion our beginnings & middles like theirs.Vita brevi [...] ar [...] l [...]nga. Let vs know that life is short, and the art of salvation requireth a long time of learning, and the way into heaven is long and cannot be troden in a short time. Astronomers say, that the space betweene heaven & earth if one should climbe vnto it by ladders, is nine hun­dreth thousand miles: but the distance whereof I speake, betweene corruption and incorruption, mortality and immortality, wretched­nes and glory; can by no measure be comprehended

He retur­neth to the earth Deut. 28.Let the prowde by name remember that they must turne to the earth which now they set their feete vpon. Rather those tender and dainty vvomen, that never adventure to set the soule of their foote vpon the grounde, but as if the face of the earth vvere not provided for the daughters of men, they must be alwaies carried like the fowles of the aire betweene heaven and earth; Let them remember, that the earth shall set her foote vpon their heades, and their lippes shall kisse the dust of the grounde, and the very gravell and slime of the grave shall dwell betweene their hawty eye-liddes. Why doe they kill the prophets [...]nd builde vp tombes? kill their soules and garnish their bodies? Doe they fore-thinke vvhat shall become of them? whē after al their labour & cost bestowed, in whiting & painting the outward wals, there remaineth nothing but putidū & putridū cadaver, [...] stinking and rotten carkas? when; though now they say to their sisters [Page 675] in the flesh, Touch me not, I am of purer mould thā thou art, yet the bones of Agamemnon and Thersites, shalbe mingled togither, of Vashti the most beautifull Queene, and the blackest Egyptian bond-wo­man, shall not be found asunder? I haue not leasure to say much vn­to our prowde dust and ashes. But if purple and fine linnen vvere an opprobrious note (for lacke of an inwarde cloathing) to the rich man in the gospell, if that parable were to be written in these daies, purple & fine linnen, were nothing. And what the burthēs & cariages of pride in the age of Clemens Alexandrinus were, I know not: but if it were a wonder to him, that they killed not themselues vnder those burthens, Mihi mira­bi [...]e fi [...] quòd non enec [...]n­tur, cum t [...]n­tum onus b [...]iulent. 2 Paedag▪ I am sure, if the measure were then full, it is now heaped vpon the high­est, and shaken togither and pressed downe againe. We are mad to forget nature. Adam hath wisdome to call all the beasts of the fielde by their proper names, but he forgetteth his owne name, that he was called Adam, & that there is an affinity betweene the earth and him. For hee shall returne to the earth, his earth. He was not made of that substance vvhereof the Angelles and starres,His earth. no not of that matter vvhereof the aire and the vvater, inferiour creatures. The earth was the wombe that bredde him, and the earth the wombe that must receiue him againe. For let him play the Alchymist while he will, and striue to turne earth into silver and golde and pearles, by making shew to the world, vnder his glorious adornations, that he is of some better substance, yet the time is not farre of, that the earth shall challendge him for her naturall childe, and say, he is my bowelles. Neither can his rich apparrell so disguise him in his life time, nor fear-clothes, spices and balmes, so preserue him after his death, nor immuring stone or lead, hide him so close, but that his originall mother will both know him againe, and take him into her possession.

Let the covetous also remember this. Nature shal as narrowly ex­amine them, at their going out, as at their first entring.Excutit re­deunt [...]m na­turae, sicu [...] intrantem▪ Senec. They brought nothing with them into this world, but skin over their teeth, and o­ver the other partes of their bodie, and it is as certaine, they shall car­ry avvay nothing. They ioine house to house, field to field, by dis­ioyning the companies and societies of men, they vvill dwell alone vpon the earth, & leaue the inheritance of the worlde to their babes after them. And as they vvere happy common-weales heretofore, wherein these speaches Mine & Thine were least heard, so are we fallē into these vnhappy and vnrighteous daies, wherein there is small care taken, what communities bee overthrowne, and dispersed, [Page 676] so all may acrue to a fewe Lordes. Socrates carried Alcibiades, bragging of his landes, to a map of the world, and bade him demon­strate where his land lay. He could not espie it, for Athens it selfe, was but a smal thing. I will not deale so sparinglie with you, ye rich men of this world; (for the Apostle distinguisheth you, to shew that there are both riches, and a worlde to come:) I will tell you where your lande lieth,Nonné tellu­ris [...]res tan­ [...]ùm cubiti te expectāt? Basil. and vvhat is truely mine and thine, and belong­ing to every man. So much measure of ground, to the length and breadth of your bodies as maie serue to burie them in, or so manie handfulles of dust as your bodies goe into after their consumption. This is terra mea, & terra sua, & terra vestra, my earth, and his earth, and your earth, & more than this we connot claime. Therefore as the son of Sirach asked the prowd, Quid superbis terra & c [...]is? so I the cove­tous, quid concupiscis terra & cinis? VVhy doest thou covet, earth and ashes? vvhen if it vvere possible for thee, to possesse as much grounde as ever the devill shewed vnto the sonne of GOD from that high mountaine, yet in the ende thou shalt be driven from all this, as the people of Canaan vvere driven from that lande, vvhich they thought their everlasting inheritance, and thou must betake thy selfe to thine ovvne earth, to that little quantitie and rod of groūd which nature hath proportioned unto thee. ‘Ecce vix totam Hercules Implevit vruam,’ Behold, great and victorious Hercules, the subduer of the monsters of the world, when he was dead, and his bodie resolved into ashes, scarselie filled an earthen pitcher. Amongst other thy purchases, for­get not to buy a field (as Abrahā did) to bury thy dead in; a potters field, such as they had at Ierusalem, bought with the price of bloude vvherein thy bones and the bones of thy sonnes and nephewes may be bestowed·

His thoughte [...] perish.Now the thoughtes of man are endlesse. Aboue all things, man hath an vnfaithfull hearte, saieth the Prophet, as deepe as the sea, vvho can finde it out? I leaue it to the searcher of all hartes to exa­mine. The ambitious hath his thoughtes, as lardge as hell, such as Pyrrhus had, from Macedon to Greece, from Greece to Italy &c. The voluptuous his thoughtes, let vs eate and drinke. Better is a living dogge than a dead lion. The malicious his thoughtes, vvho vvill giue mee of his flesh to eate?Iam. 4. The covetous his thoughtes; soule, take thy rest: to daie or to morrovve wee will goe into such a cittie, and there continue a yeare, and buy and sel, and gaine. Such are the purposes and supposals of men minding earthlie things. But the Lord knoweth the thoughts of mē [Page 677] that they are but vanity. I would they were not grosse impiety. And they imagine such counsailes as they are not able to bring to passe, Psal. 94. Psal. 19. Cyprian. for their thoughts perish. Plus proficitur cum in rem praesentem venitur, there is more good done by one example than by manie preceptes. Perhaps I haue told you a tale as to men a sleepe, and novve I haue done, you aske me vvhat is the matter? This is the matter, if there vvere none other explication, the present spectacle before your eies is the example of this precept, the life of this letter; & this precept the sen­tence or moral of this spectacle. For if you will aske me of the person proposed to your view what he was, surely he was a Prince, & a great state of the land, and I maie saie of him as David said of Abner, hoa [...]e princeps cecidit in Israele, this daie is there a chiefe man fallen in Eng­land. If you demaūd further what he was by generatiō, I aūswer, one of the sonnes of men. If, what by impotencie and imperfection; vnable to helpe either himselfe or others, there is no salvatiō in him ▪ If, whither he were mortall or no; yea. for his spirit is departed from him. If, what be­commeth of his body; you see▪ we haue brought it to the earth, and thither [...] must returne. If, what of his minde; his thoughtes are also gone. Lastly, if you wil know the vse, & take an advise and counsaile out of all these, put not your trust in him, nor in anie the like fraile & mutable creatures. Blessed is the man whose helpe is in the Lord, Non [...]lle homo, aut ille homo, non ille angelus, aut ille ange [...]u, not this man, or that man, Augustine. not this An­gell nor that Angell, but the God of Iacob the Lorde of hostes vvhich made heaven & earth, the sea and all that therein is, and keepeth his promise for ever. He that not long since, was a glorious tree amongst vs, like the Cedar of Libanus, & his boughes were a shadow to these North partes, hath had the message of the Lord by his angell accomplished vpon him, hew downe the tree; and there is but a stumpe left, a remnant of that substance now to be hid and buried in the earth, till the daie­spring frō an high, the light of Gods coūtenance shal againe visite it. Do you doubt of the fal of Princes? handle, & see his body that here lieth, examine his nostrels if there be any breath in them his eies, if they haue any sight, his cheeks, if any colour, his veines, if any warme bloud; and then beleeue (as the Samaritans did) not because of my word, but because your selues are witnesses vnto it. And as his body in life hath givē you many an instructiō; so let his dead & breathlesse corpse, adde one more vnto you of cōmō & vnevitable mortalitie. It hath bin the māner of aūcient times to cōmēd their dead; rather to testifie their good affection, & bemoane their losse, & to hold out the lampe of their vertuous liues to others left aliue, than to gratifie the [Page 678] deceased.2. Sam. 1. 2 Sam. 3. 2. King. 2. Jn Monod. Thus David commended Saul and Abner; Elizaeus Eli­as; the Apostles those Sainctes whome the worlde was not worthy of; Na­zianzen Basil, making his followers, in comparison with him for his excellent parts, no more than an Eccho to the true voice. Thus Ber­nard lamented Malachy, complayning that his very bovvells were pulled from him,S [...]r. de tran­si [...]u Malach. and he could not but feele the wounde. Our Sa­viour praysed the living, Iohn Baptist, the Centurion, Nathana­el. Though wisedome it selfe could not erre in iudgement, yet it is safer for vs to praise the dead than the living, the complement and periode of whose daies we haue seene expired; quando nec laudan­tem adulatio movet, August. nec lavdatum tentat elatio, vvhen neither hee that praiseth is mooved with flattery, nor he that is praised can be [...]empted or swell with vaine glory. Praise a sea-man when he is come to the haven, and praise a warriour when he is brought to his triumph,Lauda navi­gantem cum perveneri [...] ad por [...]um. Testimonium veritati non amicitiae. [...]ern. not before. Such are the dead: whome we should favour generally, if there were none other cause, tantùm quia praecesserunt, onely because they haue ledde the way vnto vs; but those who haue bene honourable in their life time, we must follow with our amplest testimonies, not of friend­ship and affection, but of truth, and fulfill the blessing of God vpō them, what in vs lyeth, that the righteous may be had in everlasting re­membrance. For mine owne part, I come not at this time to giue ti­tles to any man either living or dead, contrary to desert, nor to pronounce a sentence with my lippes vvhich mine heart gaine-saith. I know that the nature of praise is not benigna hominum verba sed iu­dicia, the curteous speech of men but their sound iudgements; and the seate of subiect therof, is not the praiser (for then the credit of the iust must stand to the mercy of flatterers) but hee that is praised: as Pindarus aunswered one, who told him that he deserved thankes for cōmen­ding him, Efficio vt vera dicas, the cause is in mee not in thy selfe, that thou speakest truth. According therfore to these rules, I haue thought it my duty to breake a boxe of spikenard amongst you, & to fill the house with some part of that sweete perfume, which his good name & memory hath left behind him.

In few wordes, this honourable shadow, presented vpon this stage of mortalitye, and now concluding his laste acte vpon the face of the earth, as hee was not great by parentage, so it was his greater commendation that hee became great by vertues. Stemmata quid faciunt? Meūgenus à me incipit, tuum i [...] te desinit. [...]phicrates. Auncient and noble pedigrees are of little vvorth, where the line of well-doing continueth not. And it is much more glo­rye to a man to begin the honour of his howse, than either to ende [Page 679] or not to encrease it. VVhat did it profit Cham that hee vvas the sonne of Noah? or hurt.Chrysost. in illud Math. Pat [...]ē habe­mus Abrah. Abraham that Thara his father wor­shipped Gods of clay? or disparage Timothee, that hee was borne in Gentilitye? Ingenuitas non recepit contumeliam, honesty and ver­tuousnesse, how base soever the birth bee, is free from disgrace. It vvas no preiudice to Socrates, that his father wrought in Marble, and that his mother was a mid-wife; to Demosthenes, that his fa­ther was a cutler; or Euripides, that his mother solde garden hearbs. Tullus Hostilius spent his infancy in a cottage, his youth in keeping sheepe, his mans estate in governing the kingdome of Rome,Incunabula Tulli hostilij agreste tu­gurium ce­pit. &c. but his olde age vvas so beautified vvith most excellent giftes, that it reached to the toppe of highest maiestye. Moses though hee vvere hid in a basket of flagges, and cast a side amongst bulrushes, yet became a terrour to Princes. Ioseph the sonne of Iacob, vvho kept sheepe for wiues, vvas exalted to bee the second ruler of E­gypt. Saul sought asses, and David followed the ewes great with yonge, yet the Lord hath lifted them both out of the dust, and set them amongst the Kings of the earth. It leaueth an encouradge­ment to those that are left behinde, ‘Summos posse viros & magna exempla daturos &c.Iuvenal. Potest vi [...] magnu [...] è casa exir [...].’ that most rare men, and able to bequeath to the world great examples, both of ver­tue and learning, may be borne of meane parents.

For the rest of his life, as Cesar in three words abridged that service of his, veni, vidi, vici, I came, I viewed, I vanquished; so three other words shall summe and comprehend the whole course of it, Aca­demta, Aula, Ecclesia, the Vniversity, the Court, and the Church of God. The Vniversity tried his learning, The Court his manners, the Church his wisedome.

Touching the first as Petrus Chrysologus said, that if in this pre­sent life there be any where a paradise, it is either in a Cloister, or in 1 the schoole: so if there be any where a probation of learning, it is a­mongst scholers. For popular iudgemēt is very sufficient, satis pau­ci, satis vnus, satis nullus, A few are enough, one enough, none enough, to heare and determine of such matters. Therin how well he proved, let the transplanting of him from colledge to colledge, not by chāce, or suite of friends, but advised choice, and not onely his sittieg at the feete of Gamalael to heare, but his sitting in a chaire to teach, be ar­guments 2 vnto vs.Bonos reci­pere magis quàm facer [...] cons [...]u [...]vi [...].

The manner of a court is rather to take, than to make goodmen. There­fore Bernard admonished Eugenius the Pope, to choose men vnto [Page 680] him already approoved, V [...]r [...]s probae­t [...]s [...]portere deligi, non proband [...]s 4. de Consid. not to bee approoved after they were come. I will not censure the court of England. The Lord prosper both the roote and branches of it, and cause the light of his countenance to shine vpon the sun and starres of that firmament. But I am sure, in that Court whilest he lived therin, non fuit vnus é multis, hee was not a common man for his deserts, and yet for his paines, fuit vnus é mul­tis, he made himselfe a common man, in keeping as orderly and ordinary a course of preaching, as whosoever was most bound to doe that service. And as hee had an office therein besides to waite vp­pon, so he dischardged it with fidelity, not bearing the bag like a theefe, but vvith such vprightnesse of conscience, that in the sight of GOD and men hee might iustlye purdge himselfe, vvitnesse against mee if you canne, VVhome have I ever defrau­ded?

Lastly, the Church had a long experience of his government. He 3 was thrice a Deane, and because he was faithfull [...]n a little, he vvas made a ruler over much; for he was thrice also Bishop In the mena­ging of which weighty chardges, malice it selfe spared him. Even that malice which blotted and blemished the names of most of the lights of this land, never accused him. But I call this the least credite of a thousand. One told Menedemus that Alex [...]us praised him, (an evill man;Plutar. de vitios. veres) Mendemus aunswered, but I will never be brought to praise Alexius.

Concerning his last service in these his ecclesiasticall prefectures, As Paul told the elders of Ephesus Act. 20. You all know from the first houre that I came into Asia &c. so from the first houre that he came in­to this province, you know his behaviour amongst you at al seasons, how he kept nothing backe that was profitable, but taught you o­penly and throughout every Church, witnessing both to Iewes and Grecians, Protestants and Papists repentance towards God, & faith towards Iesus Christ.

Shall I yet draw my speech into a narrower cōpasse? As Paul wit­nesseth of himselfe 2. Cor. 12. so he both spent and was spent amongst you. You cānnot truly say of him, Ditavimus Abrahamum, we haue made Abraham rich, he hath not a shoe-thread, more thā he brought at his first comming.He spent. Nihi [...] ex eâ quod meum diceretur praeter cog­nomē retuli. Val. Max.

P. Scipio being called by the Senate to giue an account of his ad­ministration in Af [...]icke, made aunswere thus for himselfe. Whereas I haue subdued all Africke to your government, I haue brought away nothing therehence, that may bee called mine, but onely a sirname. What hath this [Page 681] reverend Prelate gained and carried away vvith him by continuing amongst you these many yeares, saue onely the name of an Archbi­shope? In the consideration of whose estate, I cannot but remem­ber a speech that Cato vsed in A. Gellius; I haue neither house, nor plate, nor any garment of price in mine handes. If I have any thinge I vse it; Si quid est quo v [...]ar, vtor: si non ego sum, Vitio ver­tunt quiae multis [...] & ego illis quia neque [...]unt egere. Lib. 13. Cap. 22. Hieron. if not, I know who I am. The worlde blameth mee for wantinge manye thinges; and I them, that they know not hovv to want. I neede not ap­ply the speech. But vvill you haue the reason of all this? Nepotia­nus noster aurum calcans, schedulas consectatur; Our Nepotian contē ­ned gold and wholy gaue himselfe to follow his study. And I am sure the commendation is that which Bernard gaue to Martin in his 4. of consideration: Nonne alterius sec [...]res est transire per terram auri sine auro? Is it not an heavenly disposition, and fit for the other vvorld, to liue in a countrey where a man may be rich, and not gather riches;

Now touching the other member of my speech, his travaile and paines in his function, hee delt both the gospell of Christ and him­selfe amongst you, whose saying ever was, that which hee also tooke from a famous light of this land, One that was Iulium sydus, a Ie­well of his age, vvhere shoulde a preacher die but in the pulpit? Oporte [...] imperator [...]m in acie stantem mori, a Generall must die in the field vpon his feete; and surely hee thoroughly perfourmed it. For when the infirmity of his body was such, that the least moving and stirring thereof by travaile, drew his bloud from him, even then he drew out his breasts, and fed you with the milke of Gods most ho­lye vvorde, whereas the Dragons of the vvildernesse are cruell in their best health, and regard not their young ones. Lastly (which is the last of all, because the end is both triall and perfection, and in this sense, Vnus dies par omni, One day is as much as all the rest, for it is aterninatalis; the birth day of eternity: and as the tree falleth,Qua [...] exi [...]ris e [...] hàc vità. talis redde [...] illi vitae. so it lyeth, and as we goe out of this life, so wee shalbee restored to that other) that you may not thinke he did, as the manner of feastes is, at the beginning set forth good wine, and then that which is worse; or that he kept one hoofe backe from the full sacrifice, I will shortly repeat vnto you, what his end was. Wherein I must vse that protestati­on before, that Seneca somwhere vsed;Semper citra veritatem & minor est similitudo. Nunquam par fuit imita­tor authori, There is no equality betwixt one that imitateth and the author himselfe: and a thing done by way of repetition and rememoration, must needes come short of the truth. Notwithstanding, this I can constant­ly affirme in generall, that all other cares and consultations, which [Page 682] the world might haue drawne him vnto, laid aside, and not so much as named, he only applied himselfe to make some profession & pro­mulgation of his faith. Which he rathest chose to doe, as the Apostle speaketh Act. 10. not to all the people, but [...], to vs witnesses. then Chaplaines in his house, chosen of God, to the same dispensation of the faith, wherein himselfe had beene. His speach was to this ef­fect.

I haue sent for you, to this end, that before my departure, I might giue some testimony of that faith wherein I haue hitherto lived, and am now to die. What I haue received of the Lord, that I haue ever delive­red. I haue red much, written much, often disputed, preached often, yet never could I finde in the booke of God any groūd for Popery: neither haue I knowne any point of doctrine received in the church of England, that is not consonant vnto the word of God. VVhere­fore he exhorted me (my colleague beeing then absent) to continue in that building, wherein I had already laide my foundation; and because I was nowe his ghostly father (which was the vnworthy name, a father bestowed vpon me a childe in comparison) required that I would not neglect to repaire vnto him twise or thrise before his ending. I told him, that having often in his life ministred so good comfortes to others, he could not want comfort to himselfe. He grā ­ted it; but because omnis homo mendax, (wherein we tooke his mea­ning to be, that a man might flatter and beguile himselfe) therefore he a gaine required my resort vnto him. I replied, that I thought it the best, and I feared would be the last service, that ever I shoulde doe vnto him. Howbeit, the comfortes which I had to giue, I coulde but powre into the outwarde eares; and that it must be the spirit of God, which inwardly comforteth the conscience. To this his aūswere was, The spirit of God doth assure my spirit that I am the childe of God. I yet proceeded. You haue seene long peace, and many good daies in Is­raell, I hope also, shall depart in peace, and leaue peace behinde you; Neither know I any thing in the world, wherewith your conscience should be troubled. He finally concluded, I die in perfite peace of conscience both with God and man. So he licensed me to depart, not wil­ling (he said) to trouble me any more at that time. Indeede it was the last trouble, that ever in breath he put me vnto. For the next entrāce I made, was iustly to receiue his last and deepest gaspe. Of whome, what concerneth mine owne private estate, I say no more, but as Phillip said of Hipparchus being gone; He died in good time for himselfe, but to me to soone. Sibi maturè, a [...] mi [...]i citò. Thus he that was ever honourable in the vvhole [Page 683] race of his life, was not without honour at his death. For, [...]. as Sopho­cles commēded Philoctetes, at what time he was killed himselfe, he killed others gloriously. Hee fought a good fight both in defence of the faith, and in expugnation of heresies, schismes, seditions, which infest the Church. I call that labour of his, because hee made none other at that time, his last will and testament. Wherein the particular lega­cies which he bequeathed were these. 1. To my selfe (which I holde more precious than the finest gold) fatherly exhortation to go for­ward in plāting the gospel of Christ which I had begun. 2. To the Pa­pists wholsōe admonitiō to relinquish their errours having no groūd in the scriptures. And let thē wel advise thēselues, that at such a time, when there is no cause to suspect favour and partiality to the religi­on established, no place lefte to dissemble with God or man, Tanti meriti, tanti pectoris, tāti oris, tantae virtutis episcopu. (as Augustine spake of Cypriā) so worthy, so wise, so well spoken, so vertuous, so learned a Byshope, gaue such counsaile vnto them. 3. To all the members of the Church of England, vnity of soule and heart, to embrace the do­ctrine authorized. And lastly to himselfe, peace and rest in the assu­red mercies of God. This peace he hath plentifull fruition of vvith the God of peace. For though he seemeth in the eies of the foolish to be dead, yet is he in peace. And like a true Hebrew, he hath eaten his last passeover amongst vs, and it is past from death to life, where with vnspeakable ioy of heart, he recompteth betweene himselfe and his soule, Sicut audivimus, sic et vidimus, As I haue heard, so now haue I seeene and felt in the citty of our God; and with the blessed Angells of heaven, and all the congregation of first borne, singeth the songue of Moses, a songue of victory and thanksgiving, rendring all blessing, honour, glo­ry, & power to him that sitteth vpon the throne, and the Lambe that was kil­led, and that vndefiled Spirit which proceedeth from them both, by whome hee was sealed vp at his death to his everlasting redemp­tion.

A SERMON PREACHED IN …

A SERMON PREACHED IN YORKE THE SEVEN­TEENTH DAY OF NO­VEMBER IN THE YEARE OF our Lorde 1595. being the Queenes day.

Printed at Oxford by Ioseph Barnes. 1599.

2. King. 23, 25. ‘Like vnto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soule, &c.’

THE remembrance of Iosias is like the perfume that is made by the arte of the Apothecarie, Eccles. 40. it is svveete as hony in all mouthes, and as musicke at a banquet of vvine: he behaued himselfe vprightly in the reformation of the people, and tooke away all abominations of iniquitie: hee directed his hearte vnto the Lorde, and in the time of the vngodlie hee established religion: vvhich to haue done in a better season, the zeale of the people, and fa­vour of the time advauntaging him, had beene lesse praise: The lande vvas sowen with none other seede saue idolatrie and iniqui­tie, vvhen he came vnto it. For by that vvhich is written of him we may know what he reformed. All idolatrous both Priestes and monuments, whether Chemarims or blacke friars, Priestes of Baal, of the sun, moone, or planets, though founded and authorized by both ancient and late kings before him; namely in these recordes, by Sa­lomon, Ahaz, Manasses, Ieroboam, togither with their high places or valleyes, their groues, altars, vesselles, vvheresoever hee found them, either in Ierusalem, or Iudah, in Samaria, or Bethel, in the temple, or in the courtes of the temple, vpon the gates, or in the kings cham­bers, not sparing the bones of the Priestes either living or deade, but raking them out of their graues, besides the impure Sodomites and their houses, sooth-sayers and men of familiar spirites; he destroyed, defiled, cut downe, burnt to ashes, bet to powder, threwe into the brooke, and left no signe of them. Hee followed both a good rule and a good example. His rule is here specified,2. Kings [...]3. according to all the law of Moses: his example in the chapter before, hee did vprightly in the sight of the Lord, an [...] walked in all the waies of David his father, and bowed neither to the right hande nor to the lefte. Hee was prophecied of three hundred yeares & vpward, before his birth: a rare & singular honour, that both his name should be memorable after his death, as heere we finde it, and written in the booke of GOD before ever his partes were fa­shioned. His actes are exactelye set downe in this and the for­mer Chapters: and in the second of Chronicles and foure and thir­teeth, vpon the recital wherof is this speach brought in by waie of an Epiphoneme or acclamation, advancing Iosias aboue all other kings, and setting his head amongst the stars of God. The testimonie is very [Page 686] ample which is here given vnto him, that for the space almost of fiue hundred yeares, from the first erection of the kingdome to the capti­vity of Babylon vnder the government of 40. kings of Iudah and Is­raell, there was not one found who either gaue or tooke the like ex­ample of perfection. In the catalogue of which kings, though there were some, not many vertuous and religious, (David, Salomon, Asa, Iehosaphat, Iehu, Ioash, Amasia, Iothan, Hezekias) yet they haue all their staines, & their names are not mentioned without some touch. The wisdome, honor, riches, happines of Salomon every way, were so great,1. King. 10. that the Queene of Saba worthily pronounced of him, Blessed be the Lord thy God which loved thee &c. Will you know his blemish? but Salomon loved many out-landish women, and they broughte him to the loue of many out-landish Gods: so he is noted both for his corporall & spiritual whordomes. Asa, the son of Abiam did right in the eies of the Lord as did David his father 1. King. 15. his heart was vpright with the Lord all his daies, he put downe Maachah his mother for idolatrie? The bit­ter hearbe that marreth al this, is, but he put not downe the high places. Ie­hosaphat did well, hee walked in all the waies of Asa his father, & declined not ther-from, but did that which was right in the eies of the Lord, 1. Kin. 22. neverthelesse the high places were not taken away. Iehu did well, God gaue him this testimony 2. King. 10. because thou haste diligently executed that which was right in mine eies, therefore shall thy sonnes vnto the fourth genera­tion sit on the seate of Israell: but Iehu regarded not to vvalke in the vvaies of the Lorde God of Israell vvith all his heart. Amafiah did well, he did vprightlie in the sight of the Lord, 2. King. 14. yet not like David his father. David himselfe so much renowned as the principall patterne of that royall line to be imitated by them; yet hath a scarre vpon his memo­ry, hee did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and turned from nothinge that hee commaunded him all the daies of his life, 1. King. 15. thus farre good, saue onelie in the matter of Vriah the Hittire. Onelie Iosi­as is without spotte or vvrinckle, like vnto him was there no king. And as in the number of bad kinges, Rehoboam did ill, Ieroboam worse; for hee sinned and made Israell to sinne: but Omri vvorse than all that went before him, 1. King. 16. & yet Ahab worse than all before him in the same place; so in the number of the good, though Salomon did wel, & Iehosaphat perhaps better, & David best of al, yet Iosias is be­yonde the vvhole companie vvhich either went before or came af­ter him.

Like vnto him was there no king. It had beene a great praise to Iosias, to haue had none better than himselfe: to haue matched the vertues [Page 687] and godlines of his progenitours; but he is better thā they all, though they all were equall in dignitie and authority, and had power in their hands, and counsaile by their sides; yet were they inferiour vnto him in the care of Gods service. To haue compared him with Manasses his grand-father, or Amon his father who went next before him, and whose steps he declined, contrary to the maner of childrē, (for vvho would haue thought when Manasses did ill, and worse than the Amorites, and Amon no better, that Iosias would not haue followed them?) or to haue matched him with a few, & given him preheminence within some limited time, say for an age, or two, or three, had sufficientlie magnified him. But all times examined, chronicles and recordes sought out, the liues and doings of kings narrowly repeated, Iosias hath the garland from them all, the paragon to all that went before him, and a preiudice to as many as came after him. The reason is,Who tur­ned be­cause he turned. His father & grandfather went awry, they ranne like Dromedaries in the waies of idolatry, but Iosias pulled back his foot. David turned to his armed men & strength of souldiours,To the Lord. Salomon to the daughters of Pharao & Moab, Rehoboā to his young coūsailers, Ieroboam to his golden calues, Ezechias to the treasures of his house, (contrary to the word of the Lord, Deut. 17. hee shall not provide him many horses, neither shall he take him many wiues, neither shall he gather him much silver and gold:) Some had even solde themselues to worke vvic­kednes, & had so turned after the lusts of their owne hearts, that they asked who is the Lord? but Iosias turned to the Lord, the onely strength of Israell, as to the Cynosure and load-starre of his life, as that which is defectiue & maimed to his end & perfectiō, as to his chiefest good, as to the soule of his soule, as to his center and proper place to rest in. They said like harlots, we will goe after our lovers that giue vs breade and water, & wooll & flax; but Iosias as a chast and advised wife,Osee 2▪ I will goe and returne to my first husband.

The maner & measure of his turning to the Lorde was with all his heart, & withall his soule &c. With al his heart &c. You seeme to tell me of an Angell of hea­ven, not of a man that hath his dwelling with mortall flesh: and that which God spake in derision of the king of Tyrus, is true in Iosias, thou art that anointed Cherub; for what fault is there in Iosias?Ezech. 28. or how is he guilty in the breach of any the least commandement of the law, which requireth no more than is here perfourmed? Least you may thinke Iosias immaculate and without spot, vvhich is the onely privi­ledge of the sonne of GOD, know that he died for sinne, because he cōsulted not with the mouth of the Lord, he was therfore slaine at [Page 688] Megiddo by the king of Egypt. But that which was possible for flesh & bloud to do, in an vnperfect perfection, & rather in habite thā act, endevor than accomplishment, or compared with his forerunners & followers, & not in his private carriage so much as in his publike ad­ministration, in governing his people, and reforming religion, all ter­rors & difficulties in so weighty a cause as the chandge of religion is (for chandge it selfe bringeth a mischiefe) all reference to his forefa­thers, enmity of the world, loue to his quiet set apart, he turneth to the Lord with all his hart &c. So doth the law of loue require: God is a iea­lous God, & cannot endure rivals; hee admitteth no division and par­ [...]ing betweene himselfe & Baal, himselfe & Mammon, himselfe and Melchō, his Christ & Beliall, his table, & the table of devils, his righ­teousnes & the worlds vnrighteousnes, his light and hellish darknes. I saie more, he that forsaketh not, I say not Baal & Mammon, & Mel­chom, & Beliall, but father, mother, wife, brethren, sisters, landes, life, for his sake, loveth not sufficiently. For as God himselfe ought to bee the cause why we loue God, so the measure of our loue ought to bee vvithout mea­sure: Causa dili­gendi deum, deus est, mo­dus, sine modo diligere. Bern. tract. de dilig. Deo. Min [...] te a­mat qui te­cum aliquid amat. Aug. in solil [...]q. For hee loveth him lesse than he shoulde, vvho loveth any thing with him. What? not our wiues, children, friendes, neighbours, yea and enemies to? Yes, but in a kinde of obliquity; our friendes, and the necessaries of this life in God as his blessings, our enemies for god as his creatures so that whatsoever we loue besides God, maie be carried in the streame of his loue; our loue to him going in a right line, and as a direct sun­beame bent to a certaine scope, our loue to other, either persons or things, comming as broken & reflexed beames frō our loue to God. You see the integritie of Iosias in every respect, a perfect anatomy of the whole man; every part he had consenting to honour God: and that which the Apostle wished to the Thessalonians,1. Thes. 5. that they might be sanctified throughout, and that their whole spirite, soule and body might be kept blamelesse vnto the comming of Iesus Christ, their spirit as the rea­sonable and abstract part, their soule as the sensuall, their bodie as the ministeriall and organicall, is no way wanting in Iosias. For whatsoe­ver was in the hart of Iosias, which [...]yra vpon the sixth of Deut. & S. Augustine in his first booke of Christian Learning expound the will, because as the hart moveth the members of the body, so the will in­clineth the partes of the soule; whatsoever in his soule, vnderstanding, & sense, which Mat. 22. is holpen with another word, for there is soule & minde both; [...]. whatsoever in his strength for outward attempt & per­formance, all the affection of his heart, all the election of his soule, all the administration of his bodie, the iudgment & vnderstāding of the [Page 689] soule as the Lady to the rest, prosecution of his will, excecution of his strength; he wholy converteth it to shew his service and obedience to almighty God. Bernard in a sermon of Loving God, & in his 20. vpō the Canticles, expoundeth those words of the law thus, thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart, that is, kindly, & affectionately;Dulciter. affectuos [...]. [...]r [...]denter▪ fortiter, con­stanter, &c. with all thy soule, that is, wisely & discreetly; with all thy might, that is, sted­fastly & constātly. Let the loue of thy heart enflame thy zeale towards [...], let the knowledge of thy soule guide it, let the constancie of thy might conf [...]me it. Let it be fervent, let it be circumspect, let it be invincible.

Lastly, the rule which he fastneth his eie vpon, was the law of Moses, According to all the law. and the whole law of Moses; other rules are crooked and [...], this only is straight: & as many as minde to please God, must [...] them­selues wholy to be directed thereby, not turning eith [...] to the right hand or to the left.

This history considered, I pray you what hindereth the commaū ­dement & government of the king both in causes and over persons of the church? For 1. in the building of the temple,See the 2. of King. 22. & 23. and the 2. of Chron. 34. and 35. Iosias giveth dire­ction both to Shaphan & Hilkiah what should be done: 2. the booke of the law is presented vnto him; he commaūdeth both the priests & princes to enquire of Huldah the prophetesse about it; he weepeth, & rēdeth his cloathes as the principall person whō that dāger & care doth principally cōcerne: 3. he assembleth all the people both in Iu­dah & Ierusalē, the Chronicles adde Ierusalem & Beniamin & al the coūtries that pertained to the childrē of Israel, throughout his whole dominion, both small & great, elders, priests, prophets, levites, both laity & Clergy: 4. he readeth the law in the house of the Lord: 5. he maketh a covenāt himselfe: 6. taketh a covenāt of the people to keep it: 7. he causeth al to stād vnto it, 2. Ch. 34. & cōpelleth al in Israel to serue the Lord: 8. he ordaineth & holdeth a passeover, the like wher­of was never seene since the daie of the Iudges, nor in al the daies of the Kings of Israel, & the kings of Iudah, & he apointeth the priests to their chardges 2. Chr. 35. & chādgeth the office of the levites, that they should not beare the arke any more; so the priests stood in their places, also the levites in their orders, iuxta regis imperium, according to the cōmaūdemnt of the king: 9. in the purdging of Idolatry, & removing those swarmes of idolatrous priests, with al their abominable service, he cōmaundeth Hilkith the high priest, & the priests of the secōd order to do thus or thus. Meane while, the levite, the priest, the prophet, are not wronged by the king in their callings. The king doth the office of a king in commaunding, and they their offices in administring. Hee [Page 690] readeth the booke of the covenant, (doubtlesse in person) and in the house of the Lorde, but he standeth not on a pulpit of wood made for preaching, to giue the sense of the law, and to cause the people to vnderstand it: for that be­lōgeth to Ezra the Priest & to the Levites, Neh. 8. Again, he causeth a passeover to be helde, but he neither killeth the passeover, nor prepa­reth the people, nor sprinckleth the bloud, nor fleaeth the breast, nor offereth burnt offerings: for all this he leaveth to the sonnes of Aa­ron, yet is nothing done but iuxta praeceptum regis Iosiae, according to the commaūdement of king Iosias. Moreover, the booke of the Lorde was his counsailour and instructour in all this reformation. For so is the wil of God, Deuteronomie the seventeenth, that a booke of the law shoulde be written to lie by the king, to reade therein all the daies of his life, that he might learne to feare the Lord his God, and to keepe all his lawes. And in a matter of scruple he sendeth to Huldah the prophetesse to be resolved by her: and she doth the part of a prophetesse, though to her king & liege Lord, tell the man that sent you vnto me, thus saith the Lord, beholde, I will bring evill vpon this place, 2. King. 22.

By this it is easie to define, if the spirit of peace be not quite gone from vs, a question vnnecessary to be moved, dangerous and costlie to Christendome, (the triall whereof hath not lien in the endes of mens tongues, but in the pointes of swordes; and happy were these Westerne partes of the world, if so much bloud already effused, so many Emperours, Kings, Princes defeated, deprived, their liues by poison, by treason, and other vndutifull meanes vnder-mined, their state deturbed & overthrowen, might yet haue purchased an ende thereof; but the question still standeth, and threatneth more trage­dies to the earth,) Whither the king may vse his authority in ecclesi­astical causes & persons? Who doubteth it, that hath an eare to heare the doings of Iosias? He is the first in all this busines; his art, facultie, professiō, authority, immediate & next vnto God, held frō him in ca­pite: not derived frō beneath, is architectonicall, supreme, Queene & cōmaūder of al other functions & vocations; not reaching so far as to decree against the decrees of God, to make lawes cōtrary to his law, to erect sacraments or service fighting with his orders, nor to [...]surpe priestly & propheticall offices, nor to stop the mouthes of prophets, and to say vnto them prophecy not right thinges: but having the booke of the law to direct him, himselfe to direct others by that rule, and as the Priestes instruct, the prophets admonish him in his place, so him­selfe to apoint and commaund them in their doings. VVhat should I trouble you? Iosias as their Lord, maister and king [...], assem­bleth, [Page 691] commaundeth, causeth, compelleth, buildeth, pulleth downe, planteth, rooteth vp, killeth, burneth, destroyeth. VVhat doth Hilkiah in all this but obey? though higher than al the priests because he was the high priest, yet lower than I [...]sias. Or vvhat doeth Huldah the prophe­tesse, but pronounce the worde of the Lorde, her person, possessi­ons, family, liberty, life, all that shee had, being otherwise at the kings commaundement? So let Samuel tell Saul of his faultes, Nathan tell David of his, Ahia Ieroboam, Elias & Micheas Ahab, Elizeus Iehoram, Ieremie Zedekias, Iohn Baptist Herod, Ambrose Theo­dosius, and al Christian Bishops and priests their princes offendours. The state of the questiō (me seemeth) is very significantly laid down in that speach of Constantine the Emperour to his Bishoppes, you are Bishoppes within the church, and I a Bishoppe without the church. Vo [...] intra ec­clesiam epis­copi, ego ex­tra ecclesia. Euseb. de vita Const. 4. [...]. Heb. 13. [...]. 1. Thess. 5. [...]. They in the proper and internall offices, of the worde, sacramentes, eccle­siastical censures, & he for outward authority and presidence; they as over seers of the flocke of Christ, he an over-seer of over-seers; they as pastours and fathers, he as a maister and Lord to commaund their service; they rulers and superiours in their kinde, but it is rather in the Lord, than that they are Lordes over Gods inheritance; and their rule is limited to the soule, not to the body, and consisteth in preaching the vvorde, not in bearing the sword: but he the most excellent, having more to doe than any man. Lastly, to them is due obedience and submission rather offered by their chardges than en­forced; to the other a subiection compelling & ordering the people whither they will or no.

I will drawe the substance of mine intended speach to these tvvo heads: [...]. 1. That the greatest honour and happinesse to kings is to vp­hold religion: 2. That the greatest dishonour and harme to religion is to pull downe kings.

The former I need not stand to prooue: they are happy realmes in the middest whereof standeth not the capitol,The honor of kings is to vphold religion. but the temple of the Lord. If this lie wast, vnfurnished, vnregarded, and men be willing to cry, the time is not yet come, that the house of the Lorde shoulde bee builte or beautified, the plagues that ensue are without nūber: heaven shal giue no dew, earth no fruite, drought shalbe vpon mountaines & valleyes, much shall be sowne, little brought in, Hagg. [...]. and that little shall bee blowne vpon and brought to nothinge. But vvhere the prophecie is fulfilled kings shall bee thy nursing fathers and Queenes thy nurses, in the nine & fortieth of Esay, there, as the Queene of Saba blessed both the people of Salo­mon and the king himselfe, so, happy is the church for drawing her [Page 692] milke and sustenance from such heroicall breasts, and happye are those breasts that foster and nurse vp the Church of Christ. They giue milke and receiue milke, they maintaine the Church and the Church maintaineth them, they bestow favour, honour, patronage, protection, they are favoured, honoured, patronaged and prote­cted againe. I will not stay to alleage the fortunate and happy go­vernments of well disposed kings. The decrees of the king of Persia and Babylon for repairing the temple, worshipping the God of the three children, or the God of Daniel, brought more honour vnto them than all their other lawes. The pietie of Antonius Prus is very commendable for his gracious decree, that none shoulde accuse a christian because hee was a christian. Constantius the father of Con­statifie the great,Si quis christiano quia christi. [...]nus &▪c made more reckoning (hee said) of those that professed christianitie, then full treasures. Iovianus after Iulian, refused to be Em­perour, albeit elected and sought to the Empire, vnlesse he might go­verne christians. Great Coustantine and Charles the great, had their names of greatnes not so much for authoritie as for godlines. But on the other side, the bookes are full of the miserable falles ofir­religious princes, their seede, posteritie, whole race and Image for their sakes overturned and wiped from the earth, at one woulde wipe a dish,2. Mach 9. and turne it vpside-downe. The name of Antiochus the tyrant stinketh vpon the earth as his bovveles sometimes stuncke; and as then the vvormes devoured his lothsome car­kasse, so his other vvorme yet liveth and ceaseth not, crying to all the persecutors vnder heaven, take heede. Hee thought to haue made the holy city a burying place, but vvhen hee savve his misery, then he vvoulde set it at liberty. The Iewes vvhome hee thought not worthy to bee buried, he vvoulde make like the citi­zens of Athens, and the temple vvhich he spoiled before, he would garnish with great giftes. Likewise Galerius lying sicke of a wretched disease, crieth to haue the Christians spared, and that temples and oratories should be allovved them, that they might pray for the life of the Emperour. The vnripe, vnseasonabl, vnnaturall deathes, of men more vnnaturall in their liues, the monsters and curses of the earth they trode vpon, the bane of the ayre they drewe, the rulers of the Ievves and Romanes, high Priestes, Princes, Empe­rours, and their deputies, that murthered the Lord of the vineyard, the sonne and the servantes in the time of Christ and his Apostles, and by the space of three hundred yeares, the workers of the tenne persecutions, no meanes plagues to the Christian faith than those [Page 693] tenne plagues were to Egypt, or rather tenne times tenne persecu­tions, for they were multiplied like Hydraes heades, proclaimed to the Princes of succeeding ages, not to heave at Ierusalem, it is to heavie a stone, lapis comminuens, a stone that vvhere it falleth will bruise to peeces; nor to warre against the Sainctes, to bande themselves a­gainst the Lordes anointed, and against his anointed, the Church, vn­lesse they take pleasure to buy it with the same price vvherevvith o­thers have done before them, to have their flesh stincke▪ vpon their backes, and rotte from their bodies, to be eaten vp with lice and vvormes, to bee slaine, strangled, or burnt, some by their owne handes, some of their servantes, children, and wives, as is most ea­sie to proove in the race of 40. Emperours, the Lord getting honour vpon them, as hee did vpon Pharaoh by some vnwonted and in­famous destruction. Heliogabalus thought by the pollicy of his head, to have prevented the extraordinary hand of God, providing him ropes of silke, swordes of gold, poison in Iacinthes, a turtet plated with gold, and bordered with precious stones: thinking by one of these to have ended his life. Notwithstanding hee died that death which the Lord had apointed.

The 2. thing which I limited my selfe vnto,The disho­nour of re­ligion is to pull downe Kinges. that it is the greatest dishonour to religion to pull downe princes, is as easy to be declared. A thing which neither Moses in the old, nor Christ in the new testa­ment▪ & neither Priest high nor low, nor Levite, Prophet, Evāgelist, Apostle, christian Bishop, ever hath taught, counsailed, & much lesse practised, I say not against lawfull magistrates, but not against hea­thenish, infidell, idolatrous, tyrannous rulers, though by the manifest and expresse sentence of God reprobated & cast of. Samuell offered it not to Saul, a cast-away, he lived and died a king; after the sentēce pronounced against him of an higher excommunication, than ever came from Rome▪ Samuel both honoured & mourned for him.1. Sam. 15. Baruch. [...]. The captive Iewes in Babilō wrote to their brethren at Ierusalē to pray for the life of Nabuchodonozor; answerable to that advise which Ieremy gi­veth the captives in the 29. of his prophecy, though in words some­what different, seeke the prosperity of the city, whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, & pray vnto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall you have peace. Daniel never spake to the king of Babylon, but his speech savoured of most perfect obedience: my Lord, the dreame bee to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies: Dan. 4 [...] his wordes had none other season to Darius, though having cast him in­to the Lyons denne, O King, live for ever. Dan. [...] I never coulde suspect [Page 694] that in the commission of Christ given to his disciples, there is one word of encouragement to these lawlesse attemptes; go into the worlde, preach, baptize, loose, retaine, remit, feede, take the keyes, receaue the holy Ghost, what one syllable soundeth that way? vnlesse to go in­to the worlde be to go and overrunne the world, to shake the pillers and foundations thereof with mutinies and seditions, to replenish it with more than Catilanary conspiracies, to make one Diocesse, or rather one dominion & monarchie subiect to the Bishop of Rome; vnlesse preaching may be interpreted proclaiming of war and hosti­litie, sending out bulles, thundering and lightning against Caesar and other states; vnlesse to baptize bee to wash the people of the world in their owne bloud; vnlesse binding and loosing be meant of fet­ters and shackles; retaining and remitting of prisons and wardes; vn­lesse the feeding of lambes and sheepe bee fleecing fleaing, murthering the king and the subiect, old and young; taking the keyes, be taking of crownes and scepters; and receiving the holy Ghost, bee receiving that fiery and trubulent spirit which our Saviovr liked not. Yea let them answere that saying (these priestes and successours of Romu­lus, Giants of the earth, incend [...]aries of the Christian world) you shall bee brought before governours and kings, and skouraged in their Councelles, if ever our Saviour had meāing, governours & kings shalbe brought before you, Emperours shall kisse your feete, waite at your gates in frost and colde, resigne their crownes into your handes, and take their crownes I saye not at your handes but at your feete, & to your feete submitte their neckes, and hold your stirrops, or that Princes shoulde eate bread vnder your tables like dogges. I shame almost to report, that a skar-crow in an hedge should thus terrifie Eagles. Wher was then the effect of that praier which David made in the Psalme, O Lord giue thy iudgement vnto the king, whē the kings of the earth were so bewitched and enchanted with that cup of fornicatiō? Christ, though the iudge of the quicke and dead, re­fused to be a iudge in a private inheritance, who made me a iudge or divider over you?Luke 12. these wilbe iudges and disposers of Kingdomes, Em­pires, Dukedomes, and put Rodolph for Henry, Pipin for Childe­ricke, one for another at their pleasures. And when they haue so done no man must iudge of their actions: why? because the disciple is not aboue his maister. Let not a priest giue an accusation against a Bishop, not a Deacon against a priest, Mass [...]nut in vitâ S [...]lve. stri. [...]. not a sub-deacon against a Deacon, not an Acolyth against a sub-deacon, not an exorcist against an Acolyth, but as for the highest prelate hee shalbe iudged by no man, because it is vvritten, [Page 695] non est discipulus &c. So did the Devill apply the scriptures.Rom. 13. The A­postles all concurre in one manner of teaching; let every soule be sub­iect to the higher powers: hee meaneth of temporall powers, because they beare the sword, & require tribute: & Chrysostome expoun­deth it of all sortes of soules, both secular & religious. Submit your selues to every ordinance of man, feare God, honour the king: 1. Pet. 1. 1. Tim. 2. let pray­er and supplcation bee made for all men, for kinges & those that are in au­thority, that wee may leade a quiet and peaceable life vnder them. This is the summe of their doctrine. Now either the Bishop of Rome hath not a soule to be subiect, or he is a power aboue all powers, and must commaund others. And so in deede he vsurpeth; abusing that place of the Psalme, Omnia subiecisti sub pedibus eius, thou hast put all thinges in subiection vnder his feete, all sheepe and oxen, yea and the beasts of the field. Where by oxen are meant Iewes and heretiques,An [...]oninus▪ by beast of the field Pagans and infidelles, by sheepe Christian both kings and sub­iects, by birdes of the aire, Angelles in heaven, by fishes in the sea, soules in purgatory. I do wrong to your sober eares to fill them with such fables; but subiection I am sure they deny, if the whole world should be filled with bookes legall & Evangelicall to admonish them. Nay they will take both the law and gospell, and make them speake va­nity, blasphemy, meere contradiction, rather than want authori­ties to vphold their kingdome. Thus when Adrian set his foote in the necke of the Emperour, he alleaged the words of the Psalme, thou shalt tread vpon the adder & the basiliske &c. The Emperour high­ly sinned that he had not a sting to thrust forth against him, and to tame his pride. Iohn the 22. perverted the words of Christ to this pur­pose, behold, I haue set theeover kingdomes &c. Innocentius the 3. fet­cheth a prophecy of his vsurped Hierachie from the first creation: God created two light in the firmament of heaven; so in the firmament of the earth two rulers; a greater light, and a lesser light, that is, the Pope and the Emperour; the one to governe the day, the other the night, that is, the Pope to governe the Clergie, the Emperour the laitie: & for this cause, they say, to shew the difference, the Pope hath his vn­ction on the head, the Emperour but on his armes· To leaue their glosses and devises, let vs harken to their practise. What a strange commaūdement was that which Gregory the 7. sent forth? we com­maund, that no man of what condition soever he be, Mandanus· ne quisqua [...] Audeat. Platina i [...] his life. either king or Archbi­shop, Bishop, Duke, Earle, Marques, or Knight be so hardly to resist our le­gates: if any man do it, we binde him with the bond of a curse, not onely in his spirit, but in his body and all his goods. In excommunicating the Empe­rour [Page 696] then being,Imperatoris administra­tione, regia [...] deiicio &c. he vsed this forme, Henry the king, sonne of Henry late Emperour, I throw downe from all both imperiall and royall administration: and I absolue from their othe of obedience all christians subiect to his authori­ty: and being requested to vse more mildnes in proceeding to ex­communicate him, answered for himselfe, when Christ committed his church to Peter, and said, feed my sheepe, did he exempte kinges? after­ward he calleth vpon Peter & Paul,Excipitu [...] eges? & saith vnto them, go to now, & so vse the matter, that all men may vnderstand, if your selues haue power to binde & loose in heaven, that we may haue also power on earth, both to take a­waye and to giue, Empires, kingdomes, principalities, and whatsoever mor­tall men may haue. Et quic quid habere mor­ [...]ale [...] possunt. Tyraenu [...] sacerdotum. Regum ter­ [...]. Boniface the 8. whome Benevenutus called the tyrant over Priests. Petrarch the terrour of kings, n [...]m [...]d himselfe the Lord not only of Frāce, but of the whole world, Philip sirnamed the faire, thē king of Frāce advised him not to vse that kind of speech to the overthrow of his kingdome. Hence grew all those stirres and tumultes betweene them. It is a notable admonition which Mas­sonus there giveth in the knitting vp of his life, I vvoulde wish the Bishoppes of the cittie not to make kings their enemies, who are willing to be their friendes; for let them not thinke that they are sent from GOD as bridles vnto kinges, Velu [...] equos [...]tractatos. Minari, ter­refacere. arm [...] ciere, episcopos non dec [...]t. to maister them at their pleasure as wilde and vn­broken horses; let them admonish and pray them and ther harty prai­ers shall bee insteede of commanding: but to threaten, terrifie, raise vp armes, is not beseeming Bishoppes. Platina concludeth him almost to the same effect; thus dieth Boniface, vvhose endevours evermore were, rather to bring in terrour than religion vpon Emperours, kinges, princes, nations, and peoples.

This Platina was a professed catholique, living within a colledge at Rome, that you may the lesse thinke the author willing to s [...]aunder them. On a time, vvhen Paul the seconde vvent about to pull downe that colledge, hee besought the Pope that the matter might first bee hearde before the maisters of the rowels or other like iudges:Jn vitâ Pauli 2. itané, a [...]t? nos ad iudices revocas? What? Is it come to this, saieth hee? doest thou call vs backe vnto iudges? doest thou not knovvs that all the lavves are placed in the shrine of my breast? Inno­centius the sixt sendeth Carilas a Spanish Cardinall, but withall a cardinall warriour, into Italie to recover Saint Peters parrimonie if praiers were vnavaileable,Arma son [...] po [...]ificum pe [...]fug [...]a, cū p [...]eés non servi [...]nt. Massonut. by force of armes: for armes are the suc­cours of Popes, vvhen praiers vvill not serue. Innocentius the seventh had a meeker spirite, of vvhome Bap [...]ista Fulgosus vvrireth, that such idle houres as hee had, he bestowed in pruning his orcharde, [Page 697] and wisheth that other Popes had done the like, vvho vvere better pleased with making warre; for it is fitter for the Bishopes of Rome to prune orchardes than men. Iulius the 2. who from Iulianus turned his name to Iulius,Hort [...]s enim putare non homines epi, Rom. decet. Vt referret Julium. Jndignum Levitas ser­vire &c. Summus pontifex Julius belli­geratur, vin cit, trium­phat, etplanè Iulium agit. Si Caesaer po­tiùs quàm Pont. Max. fuisset. Massonus. Summi pon­tificatus ar­cem rego. Solebant primi ex hoc statu ad martyrium peti &c. Brevis est hominum vita, regum brevior, pontificum brevissima. that hee might somewhat match himselfe with Iuli­us Caesar, was wont to say, It is a base thing that the Levites shoulde serue and bee in subiection, vvho rather are meete to governe other men, Erasmus being at Bonony in his time, thus writeth to his friende; At this present, studies are very colde in Italie, warres verie hote: Iulius the highest Bishoppe, fighteth, vanquisheth, triumpheth, and playeth the part of Iulius indeede. VVorthy of immortall fame (saith the au­thour of the history) if hee had beene the Emperour, rather than the Pope of Rome.

To conclude, I will but adde what Petrarch an Italian, and coun­trie-man of their ovvne, and one vvhome Innocentius woulde faine haue had to haue beene his secretarie, writeth of the Pope by waie of dialogue. Pope. I holde the towre or sway the honour of the high­est prelacie. Petrarke. The first were wont to bee taken from this estate to Martyrdome, novve they thinke they are called to pleasure, therefore they striue so much for the place. Pope. I am the Pope of Rome. Petr. Thou art called the servaunt of servauntes, take heede thou make not thy selfe the Lorde of Lordes, remember thy profession, remember thy debt, re­member thy Lorde, vvho iustlie is angrie vvith none more than vvith his Vicar or deputie: VVith manie other free and friendlie exhortati­ons of the like force. Nowe if their spirites bee so mightie and vn­tamed, let them exercise them at home, with mutuall insidiations, contentions, depositions, murtheringes, poysonings, and other vn­priestly and violent supplantations amongst themselues. And if e­ver that iudgement vvere true vvhich Petrarch gaue, that the life of men is shorte, of kinges shorter, of Popes shortest of all, let it bee true still; yea let all Babylon fall and let the seate of Antichrist be razed to the grounde; but God for his owne glorie, and for his gospel and Chur­ches sake, establish the thrones, strengthen the handes, lengthen the daies, preserue the liues, honour the faces of all religious and ver­tuous Princes.

Because my texte standeth wholie in comparison betwixte Iosias and other kinges, giue mee leaue, I beseech you, in few wordes, for the advauncement of Gods blessed name, whose goodnesse we are highly bounde to acknowledge, a testimonie of mine owne dutifull hearte, and a further animation, to you my brethren, and the chil­dren of this lande to continue your obedience and faith, to make [Page 698] some little comparison, betwixte good king Iosias, and gracious 1 Queene Elizabeth. 1. They both interpret their names, in rendring and expressing by action the force thereof. Iosias, of the fire of the Lorde, with whose zeale he was enflamed, Elizabeth of his rest, both because shee reposeth her selfe in his strength, and for that the quiet & tranquillity of this Land was by her happy governement restored. 2 2. Iosias was prophecied of long before his birth, 1. Kings 13. O altar altar &c. Beholde, a childe shalbe borne to the house of David, Iosias by name; and vpon thee shall hee offer the priestes of the high places &c. and vndoubtedly they presaged much of the abolishinge of altars and priestes, vnder the raigne of Queene Elizabeth, vvho laboured to 3 prevent her government by such manifold practises. 3. Iosias at the age of 16. yeares sought the God of his father David: I never red or heard to the contrarie, but that the child-hoode and prime of our soveraigne Lady, and that glorious blossome her brother of blessed 4 memorie, were dedicated to true religion. 4. Iosias forsaketh the i­dolatry of Amon and Manasses that went next before him, and re­turneth backe to the faith of David: Elizabeth declineth the path which her sister Mary had troden, the foote-steppes whereof were yet very fresh, and reneweth the waies of her father and brother al­most 5 worne out. 5. Iosias had a good priest, a good prophet, a good chauncellour, a good nobility, faithfull vvorkemen. The king com­maunded that no accompte shoulde bee taken of them for they did their worke faithfullie. It had not beene possible to haue repaired the ruines of de­faced religion within this land, without the advise and assistaunce of as faithfull a Counsaile, and as zealous Priests: of which though ma­ny were cast out for a time from their natiue countrey, into Germa­ny and other forreigne partes, as a distempered stomake cannot en­dure to keepe holesome meates in it, yet they vvere brought home againe with honour as banished Ieptha was, and deservedly prefer­red to the highest dignities of our Church. Such Nobles and priests, as shee then had,Centum ad­ministrant negotia reip­sed vix. 5. aut 8. promo­vent, caeteri impediunt. the Lord for ever blesse her vvith; least it bee saide of this kingdome, as sometimes of the Court of Maximilian, An hundreth haue to deale in the affaires of the common vvealth, but skarsely fiue or but eight at the most helpe them forwardes, all the rest are hinderers. 6. Iosias pulled downe altars, priestes, groues, high places, houses of 6 Sodomites: Queene Elizabeth left neither colledge nor cloister, nor any other cage of Idolatrous birdes, and neither Monke nor Frier to 7 feede her people with errours. 7. Iosias found & restored the booke of the lawe hidden in obscurity: Queene Elizabeth delivered from [Page 699] darkenes and banishmente the testamentes of her God, not onelie hidden and buried in an vnknowne tongue, but in corners and holes laide vppe, and forbidden the light of heaven; restoring both the letter of the booke to a vulgar language, & her people to freedome of conscience, who might not read before, but privily an [...] by stealth,8 as men eat stollen breade. Finally, Iosias vvas directed in al [...]is waies by the booke of the lawe: and no other starre guided the heart of our gracious Esther. Iosias caused the booke of the lawe to bee openly 9 red: shee the everlasting gospell to bee preached throughout all her realmes and dominions. Iosias maketh a covenant himselfe, and 10 taketh a covenant of his people to obserue it: shee also bindeth her people by statutes and lawes, to the true worshippe of God, herselfe not second to any in rendring her vowes. Iosias holdeth a famous 11 passeover, the like whereof, from the daies of the iudges & through­out all the daies of the kinges, had never beene seene: And her Ma­iesty hath purdged the sacraments of Christ, & reduced thē to their right forme, vvhich I saie not from the time of the Conquerour, but almost since the daies of the Apostles, they vvere never happie e­nough to obtaine. And as Iosias turned to the Lorde, with all his hearte 12 &c. So whither her beautifull feete haue not taken a contrary course to that vvherein others had walked before her, & turned like the wa­ters of Iordan, vvhen Israell vvent over it, not onely the people of this land, but almost of whole Christendome swimming away apace in a full floud of Popish superstition; and vvhither to the Lorde a­lone, Angelles and Saintes omitted, who in the consciences and opinions of men had set their seates by the seate of Almightie God, & said, we will be like vnto him in worship; and vvhither with all her hearte and vvith all her soule, and vvith all her mighte &c. whom neither the curses of Popes, nor the banding of the Princes of the earth cry­ing a confederarcie, a confedeacie against her, nor practises vvithout her realme, nor rebellions within, nor the dissoialtie of male-conten­ted subiectes, nor trecherie vvithin her Courte and almost in her bo­some, did ever affright, at least not shake from her first loue, as they haue done other princes, and cause to deale vnfaithfullye vvith the covenants of God; let all the people of the earth so far as the fame of her constancy might be blowne, vvitnesse with me. Now there are also some differences, heaping more honour and favour vpon the head of our Soveraigne Lady, than befell Iosias. For albeit Iosias began to raigne sooner, yet shee hath longer continued. And where Iosias raigned but 31. yeares, shee hath accomplished the full num­ber [Page 700] of 37. within few moneths of her fathers time. And whereas Io­sias but in the eighthy eare of his raigne, began to seeke the God of his father David, in the twelfth to purdge Ierusalem, and in the eigh­tenth to repare the house of the Lord; this chosen handmaid of the most High, [...]ith the first beginning of her kingdome began to set vp the kingdome of God, and so incontinently proceeded to a full re­formation. Lastly, Iosias was slaine in battaile for not hearkening to the words of the Lorde out of the mouth of Necho the king of E­gypt.2. Chro. 35.22. But long and long may it be before Her eies wax dimme in her head, [...] her naturall force bee abated. And when shee is gathered to her fathers, (the burthen and woe whereof, if the will of God bee, fall vpon an other age) let her goe to rest with greater tokens of his favour, than ever to haue fallen into the hands of the king of Spaine, or any the like enimy, as Iosias fell into the handes of the king of E­gypt. But vvhen that daie shall come, vvhich God hath decreed, and nature his faithfull minister written downe in her booke iustly to obserue; then (to go backe againe to an other member of comparison as Iosias vvas mourned for by all Iudah and Ierusalem, 2. Chro. 35. and Ieremy mour­ned for Iosias, and all singing men and singing women mourned for Iosias in their lamentations to this daie, and made the same lamentations an ordinance in Israell, and they vvere also written in their lamentations, and became a common worde amongest them: for whensoever afterwardes, there was taken vp any greate lamentation, it was sampled and matched with that of Hadadrimmon, Zach. 12. in the fielde of Megiddo: so looke for mour­ning from all the endes of our land, complaining in the streetes of every cittie, and crying in the chambers of every house, alas for the day of the Lord; it is come, it is come; then shall the kindred of the house of David, Ibid. and their vviues mourne aparte by themselues. The kindred of the houses of Nathan and Levi and their wiues apart by themselues. Then shal al the orders and companies of this Realme from the honorable counsailour to him that draweth water to the campe, from the man of gray haires to the young childe, that knovveth but the righte hand from the left, plentifully water their cheekes, and giue as iust an occasion of Chronicles and Proverbes to future times, as the mourning for Iosias. For to fold vp all other comparisons in one, and to draw them home to my text, not only betwixt her & Iosias, but o­ther her noble progenitours and Lords of this Island▪ Like vnto her, was there no King or Queene before her. And those that shall write heereaf­ter in the generations to come, shall bee able as iustly to supply the other part, Neither arose there after her, any that was like vnto her. And [Page 701] I verily perswade my selfe, that as the Lord was angry with Iudah and Ierusalem, and threatned to bring evill vpon them, yet differred to ex­ecute that iudgement, in the daies of Iosias, with promise of a peaceable bu­riall, and that his eies shoulde not see that evill; so he spareth our coun­try for his anointed sake, and reserveth his iust and determinate plagues against vs to the daies of some of her successours, and vvhen he hath shut vp her eies in peace, then will begin to open our iudge­ments.

I vvill not put you in feare with the fatall periode of kingdomes, vvhich many both Philosophers and Divines more than imagine▪ conceaving by reason, that as in the bodies of men and other living creatures, so these politicke bodies of Monarchies, Empires, king­domes and other states, there is a beginning and a strong age, a de­clination and full point; and by many experiments bearing them­selues in hand, that their alterations haue commonly fallen out not much over or vnder 500. yeares. From the erecting of the kingdome of Israell vnder the hand of Saul, to their going into Babylon, they saie, were foure hundreth and nineteene yeares. The Consuls of Rome continued 462. the Monarchy flourished 454. Constantino­ple vvas the seate of the Roman Emperour 489. La Noue vvhen he wrote his military and politicke discourses observed the like number of time in their kingdome of France from the daies of Hugh Capetz. The stay of the Saxons in England is esteemed there abouts. And since the time of the Norman conquest the seventy and seven weeks of Daniell, that is, 70. times 7. yeares are fulfilled, and God hath ad­ded therevnto, as the fifteene yeares of Ezechias, and as the surplu­sage of his loue, onely the happy raigne of our liege Lady and Mi­stresse that now ruleth. But as the Apostle spake in his Revelation, Heere is wisedome, If any man may haue wisedome enough, let him accompte the number of kingdomes in this sorte. For it may bee the number of God himselfe, and hee hath reserved it to his owne knowledge. But in open and simple tearmes, I will shew you what the periods and stoppes of kingdomes are. Propter peccata populi erunt multi principes, For the sinnes of the people the prince shall often bee chandged;Prov. 28. and in like­lyhoode the people it selfe for the same cause. The Lord hath tied himselfe no farther to the kinges sonnes and seede after him, than with this reasonable and dutifull condition, if they shall keepe my testi­monies. And he often threatned his people, if they provoked him vvith straunge Gods, to provoke them againe vvith a strange people and to driue them out of the good lande, vvhither hee sent them [Page 702] to dwell, as hee had driven out others. All those remooues and chandges that wee reade of in the booke of God, and in other histo­ries, the emptying of the land of Canaan from her naturall inhabi­tantes, deposing of one state and setting vp an other, deviding the tribes, raising kingdome against kingdome, the vntimely deathes & deprivations of princes, the disinheriting and displacing of the eighte line, leading into captivity from country to country as it were povv­ring from vessell to vessel, sometimes no king at all, sometimes many, sometimes wicked, sometimes a babe, sometimes a stranger of a fierce countenance and vnknowne language, all the commo [...]ions and per­turbations of kingdomes, invasions of kings one vpon the others do­minions, rebellions of subiectes, and so much of Christendome at this day buried in the very bowels of Turcisme and infidelity, yea, the ex­tirpation of the Iews, and planting of the Gentiles vpon their stocke, and hereafter the casting out of the Gentiles, and filling of the Iewes againe, they are al rightly and orderly derived from the former cause. For the sins of the people, the princes, the people themselues, the govern­ment, the policy, the religion, the peace, the plenty of the land shal of­ten be chandged.

We haue long and faithfully preached against your sinnes, the dis­solvers, you see, of kingdomes & common weales, that if it were pos­sible, we might bring them also to their periode, and set some num­ber and end of them. VVill you not be made cleane? when shall it once be? But if our preachings cannot mooue you, he that in times past at sundry times and in sundry manners spake vnto our fathers, hath also sundry voices, and sundry kindes of preachers to speake vnto you. You heare, that the chandge of a Prince is one of his Preachers. It shall preach more sorrow vnto you, more wringing of your hands & ren­ding of your harts, than ever erst you were acquainted with. Remem­ber the vision that Michaeas saw, all Israell scattered like sheepe, because their king was taken from them; and thinke how wofull a day it will bee, when this faithfull shepheard of ours, which hath fed her Iacob with a true heart;

Formosi pecoris Custos form [...]sior ipsa, an happy Queene of an happy people (the Lord yet saving both her & vs with the healthfull power of his right hand) shall be pulled from vs. Wee haue hitherto lived in peace, equall to that in the daies of Augustus, such, as our fathers never sawe the like, and vvhen wee shall tell our childrens children to come thereof, they will not beleeue it. VVe haue sitten at ease vnder the shaddowe of our vines: nay, vnder the shaddow of this [Page 703] vine wee haue shaded & solaced our selues, and lived by her sweet­nes. But it may fall out, that as when the Emperour Pertinax was dead, they cried with redoubled showtes into the aire, till they were able to cry no longer, while Pertinax lived and governed, Vsque ad de­fectum. Pertina [...]e Jmperante securi vixi­mus▪ nemi­nem timui­mus. Aure­lius Victor. wee lived in safety, and feared no man; so wee may send our late and helpelesse complaintes into heaven, O well were wee in the daies of Queene Elizabeth, when perfite peace was the walles of our coun­try, and the malice of the enemy prevailed not against vs. The sword of a forrein foe, bandes, and captivitye is an other of his prea­chers. Will you not feele the warnings of Gods wrath, till the y­ron haue entred into your soules and drawne bloud after it? you knovv vvho it is that hangeth over your heades; of vvhome and other princes I may say as they said in Athens of Demades and De­mosthenes their oratours, Demosthenes is meete for Athens,Demosthene [...] par Atheni [...] Demades maior. iust­ly assised and fitted to the city, Demades over-great; so vvhen other kinges holde themselues contended vvith their kingdomes, he is too greate for Spaine, and many other kingdomes and Duke­domes cannot suffice him, but he yet devoureth in hope all the do­minions of Christendome, and drinketh downe with vnsatiable thirst the conceipt of a Monarch: and for this cause there is a busye spirite gone forth in the mouthes of all his Prophets, Vnus Deus, v­nus Papa, vnus rex Christianismi, Magnus rex Catholicus, & vniversalis: There is but one God, one Po [...]e, one King of Christendome, the greate and Catholicke and vniversall Kinge. Hee hath once already buckled his harnesse vnto him with ioye, and assured presumption of vi­ctory. But they that pulled it of (by out-stretched arme of one more mighty than himselfe) more reioyced. God graunt that they bee not found in England, vvho haue saide vpon that hap­pye and miraculous event in discomfiting his forces, vvee vvill trust in our bovves, and our svvordes and speares shall heereafter deli­ver vs. There touching of late in Cornevvale, the vtmost skirt of our lande, no doubt, vvas some little vvarning from God. But it vvas no more vnto vs▪ than if the skirt of our cloake had beene cutte avvay, as it vvas to Saule; vvee say our skinne is not yet rased. The commotion in Irelande, thoughe a quicker and more sensible admonition, is but a dagger held to our side, and till the pointe thereof sticke in our heart, till there bee firing of our tovvnes, ransackinge of our houses, dashinge of our infants against the stones in the streetes, vvee vvill not regarde. O cease to incense the iealous God of heaven. Turne not his grace and mer­cie [Page 704] into wantonnes. Let not his strength bee an occasion vnto you to make you vainely confident; nor his peace, licenciouslye secure, nor the abundance of his goodnesse, abundant and intolerable in transgressing his lawes. And if there were no other reason to make you tremble before his face, yet do it for your owne politicke good (because you are threatned by a deadly enimy,1. Chr. 25. vvho accompteth himselfe the cedar, and vs but the thistle in Libanon, and whose povver is not contemptible, though God hath often cast him downe) Neve­uiant Romani & auferant regnum à nobis, at least that the Romanes and Spaniardes, for they are brethren in this case, come not vpon vs by the righteous sufferaunce of our God, and take away our king­dome. Surely our sinnes call for a skourdge, and they shall receaue one. For they even whip and torment the patience of God. The ar­rowes of death are prepared against vs, and they shall shine with our gall, if with humble repentance we prevent them not. Our pride calleth for humiliation, shee is ascended on high, and asketh, who shall fetch me downe? yet I haue red of those whose wimples, and calles, and pere­wigges haue beene turned into nakednes and baldnes, and they haue run too and fro, smiting their breastes, and tearing the haire of their heades, suffering it to be blowne about their eares with the wind, and not regarding to bind it vp so much as with an haire-lace. Our clocks are not vvell kept,Horologium bene ordina­tum, camini boni. nor our chimneyes good (which I haue heard to be two signes of a well ordered common wealth,) that is, our hours are mispent, our callings not followed, and the breathing of the chimneies is choked vp, hospitalitie and reliefe to the poore almost banished. The poorer haue had their plagues already, skarsitie of bread within these few yeares often renewed. Their teeth haue beene clean [...] and white through want of food, when yours haue beene furred with excesse of meats and drinkes. But rich men & gentlemen, looke also for your draught in the cup of the Lord, either some mortal sicke­nes to your bodies to eate vp your flesh, as you haue eaten others, and then whose shall these thinges bee, which with so much sweat of your browes, carefulnes of heart, wracke of conscience, breach of charitie, wrong to humane societies, you haue laid togither [...]or some barbarous and vnmercifull souldior, to lay open your hedges, reape your fields, rifle your coffers,Barbarus has segetes. levell your houses with the ground, and empty you and yours out of all your possessions, as you haue emptied your poore neighbours.

Your mercilesse mony exactions, you the infamous vsurers of the North of England, you the Iewes & Iudases of our land that would [Page 705] sell Christ for mony if hee were amongst you, you the engrossers of graine in this time of death, and withall the engrossers of your owne woes, on whom the curse of the poore lighteth, ratified in heaven, for not bringing forth your corne, you that adde affliction to affliction, and strengthen the hand of penury amongst vs, vse the talents of the Lord not your owne pounds, to the honourable advauntage of your maister and the durable gaine of your soules, least ye become the vsu­rers of his vengance, and receiue the wages of your vnfaithfulnesse, an hundreth-fold.

The land mourneth because of other, and they shall mourne that cause her heavinesse. Contēpt of God, will take away our Gods of the earth, atheisme & anarchy, confusion of all estates, mingling of heade and foote, will goe togither.

O pray for the peace of Ierusalem. Pray for the peace of England. Let praiers and supplications be made for all people, especially for Christian kings, most especiallie for our soveraigne Lady and Mi­stresse. Let vs feare God, and all the enemies of the world, even the kingdome of darknes, shall feare vs. Let not our sinnes reigne, and our Queene shall long reigne over vs. Buy the length of her life with your silver and gold, you that are rich in this world, rich in this lande, distribute to the poore, scatter for Gods sake, & God that seeth from aboue, will be mindfull of your good deedes, and prolong her Maie­sties daies. Humble your selues in time you high-minded, and high-lookt, that her horne may be exalted, and her roote flourish amongst vs, yet manie yeares. Traitours, forbeare at length to plot your trea­sons, which haue long bred, never brought forth. The Lord is king, and his hand-maide is Queene, bee the earth never so impatient. Time-serving hypocrites, lay downe your dissimulations. How long will you halt betweene Rome and England? Rebels, forsake and re­signe your vnlawfull armes. Say not, as those seditious did, vvhat parte haue we in the sonne of David? the sonne of David shall prevaile, & the daughter of King Henry prosper in all her waies, vvhen your heades shall lie low enough, and your swordes shall haue drunke their fill of your owne flesh. Let it suffice, you the vntamed broode of our lande, to haue blotted your memories with none other censure, than that which is written in the booke of God, that a band of souldiours follovved Saul whose harts the Lorde had touched, 1. Sam. 10. but they were wicked that cried, howe shall he save vs?

And you, my beloved brethren, and the true children of Eng­land, knit your soules and tongues togither, as if you were one [Page 706] man, & say with a strong vnited cry, & a perfite heart, that God may regard it from aboue, O Lord preserue Queene Elizabeth▪ And let AMEN even the faithfull witnes of heaven, the worde & truth of his father say Amen vnto it. Even so Lord Iesu, Amē, A­men, harken to the praiers of they servants that goe not our from fained lippes; let her ever be as neam vnto thee as the signet vpon thy finger, as deare as the apple of thine eie, as tender as thine owne bowels, water her with thē deaw of heaven as the goodliest plant that ever our country bare, hide her like a chosen shafte in the quiver of thy carefullest providence, and giue her a long life ever for e­ver and ever, Amen.

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