ALthough the Iewes, at such time as our saui­our Christ came into y ^e world, had the word of God among thē: & had also the temple & Sina­gogues where they heard y ^e same read & expounded: yet their state was very mi­serable, for Christ saith, they wer as shéep without a shepheard: because their tea­chers, y ^e Scribes & Pharesies, being choa­ked with couetousnes, & puffed vp with vaine glory, were become stark naught, corrupt in manners, and corrupting the word with their fond gloses: their teach­ing also was so cold, & with so litle pow­er euen in y ^t which they taught truly, y ^t the people had no great list to heare thē. But when Iohn Baptist the forerunner of Christ, was raised vp to publish the beginning of the Gospell, & to prepare y ^e way for the Lord: he like a sounding & shrill Trumpet, with the power of his word shooke their hearts, & rowsed their drowsines, so y ^t frō his time y ^e kingdome [Page] of heuen suffered violence. When Christ Iesus himselfe vttered his voice in prea­ching, and his diuine power in working wonders, ther appered such a wonderful maiesty in his person, as did amaze the hearers: whervpon his fame was noised far & néere, so y ^t they came running out of all quarters of y ^e land by heaps, for to sée & heare him, they séemed to forget thē ­selues & their state, in leauing al world­ly affaires, as y ^e husbandmē their plough, y ^e Artificers their craftes & sciences, fol­lowing him into y ^e wildernes with their wiues & their children laggering at their héeles, so great was their zeale. So that, as before almost all did perish in y ^t mi­serable state they were in: now it séemed y ^t the greatest part, or at lest an innume­rable multitude did with such care im­brace y ^e heauēly doctrine▪ as y ^t they shuld be most happy, & come to eternal life: but this was otherwise, for our sauior Christ sheweth héere, y ^t of this gret heap & rable­mēt of people, which wer so zealous & trauelled so far to heare him, ther wer thrée parts which did not profit by his doctrine but cōtinued stil damned & forlorne cre­atures, [Page] onely one parte of foure, are true schollers. And because we be ranke hipo­crits, prone & redie to deceiue our selues, Christ Iesus laieth open the matter so plainly, & in so familiar a kinde of teach­ing, y ^t vnles we wilfully blind our selues we cannot but sée how the case standeth in euery of vs, each man in himselfe: for he taketh a similitude from a sower of corne, which going & casting his séed a­broad, it lighteth vpon sundrie kinds of groūd: some falleth by y ^e way side, where the path is trampled & beaten smooth & hard, by mens féet, & is made like a paue­ment, & there it lieth aboue y ^e ground al­together vncouered, the Fowles come by and by and picke it vp.

Some falleth into stony ground or roc­ky, or as S. Luke saith vpon a rocke: where ther is a little thin crust of earth in y ^e top, & some moisture in which the séed is a little couered: & because y ^e earth which doth couer it is but shallowe, it springeth vp quickly & brauncheth, & is fresh & gréene, & being so good, séemeth to be forward corne, & such as would yéeld to the husbandman a plentifull haruest: [Page] but because the roote can not spreade it selfe déepe inough to sucke iuice out of the ground, for the nourishment of the blade, when the parching heate of the Sunne lighteth vpon it, then it is dry­ed vp, and scorched, and dyeth, and neuer bringeth foorth fruite. Some other doth fall among thornes: there is deapth of earth for the séede to growe, so that it springeth vp, and not onely a blade, but also a stalke, and commeth so farre as to haue the eare: but the thornes growe vp with it, ouershadowe and choake it, insomuch that the Corne in the eare, can not haue the benefit of y ^e Sunne to make it ripe: therefore the fruite that it sée­meth to bring forth commeth to naught. Some other séeds fall into good ground, and grow vp, and bring foorth seasona­ble fruite, one karnell an hundreth, ano­ther sixtie, another thirtie. This is the Parable: Now for the meaning of it, we are not to séeke farre, neither to goe by coniectures, for Christ himselfe doeth expound and interprete euery part of it a little after in this Chapter: I néed not but to lay open his Exposition. [Page] The séede is the word of God: the sow­er of it is the Preacher and publysher of the same: for as the Sower doth fill his hand and so casteth it abroad vppon the ground, not setting it séede by séede, or choosing a place for euerie séede, but where it lighteth: euen so the Preacher doth cast foorth the word among y ^e peo­ple: and looke how the ground is into which it falleth, so doth it prosper: for your hearts are the ground vpon which it is cast: you that are the hearers and among whom the séede is sowen, haue euery one a heart which is one of these foure sorts of grounde, vpon which the séede falleth: & because the séede hath ben & is still daily sowen among ye, I think this parcell of Scripture is verie fit and agréeable: euen as a touchstone for euery one to trie himselfe withall, whether he haue rightly embraced the Gospell, and to his saluation: for what a sottishnesse were this, when we haue so iust & plain a rule, not to measure our selues with it. But going on, on, nothing consider whether we be not one of those thrée euill sorts of ground, which receiue the [Page] séede, but bring foorth no fruite, thinking we be well if we professe the Gospell or heare it, after any sort. Let vs goe for­ward: those which receyue the séede by the waye side, are they which heare the word and doe not vnderstand it, then commeth the euill one, or as Saint Luke saith, the Diuell, and taketh it awaye from their heart. In these first kinde of hearers, we haue to obserue, how that their hearts being hard and smooth lyke a path that is trampled and beaten with mens féete y ^e word hath no entrance, but lieth aboue vncouered: for like as when a man casteth an handful of corne vpon a very hard & smooth path, it is all one as if it were cast vpon a pauement: so also through y ^e custome & deceitfulnes of sin­ning, y ^e diuel hath made y ^e harts of these vnméet to receiue the heuenly séed of the word: & looke how ye sée Crowes & other foules folow the héeles of the Sower, to picke vp & deuoure such karnells as doe lie vncouered: in like manner doe the di­uels come like gréedie foules into the as­semblies, wher y ^e word of God is preach­ed, to take it away from y ^e hearts of the [Page] people, that it may not grow there. This peraduenture will séeme straunge to some, that Satan shoulde haue anye en­traunce into the Church among Gods people, especially when they be about the best and most holy exercises of hearing the word and of prayer. How straunge soeuer it may séeme, and how many so­euer haue bene, or be of that fond & dol­tish opinion, to thinke that the Diuell hath nothing to doe with them, or com­meth not néere them, when they bée a­bout these holye things: we are to be­léeue Christ who telleth vs the contrary: & we are wisely to consider, that when we are nightest that which should do our soules good, then is this enimie readiest at hande, and doeth most busely bestirre him. If this were not vttered by our Sauiour Christ himselfe, we might wō ­der, and for mine owne parte I woulde not cease wondering to see manye hea­rers which carry away almost nothing which is to any purpose: let a man tell a long storie in a worldly matter, they haue wit inough to recite it in order a­gaine, and to kéepe it in remembraunce [Page] a long time after: but let the Preacher speake neuer so plaine, although they sit and looke him in the face, yet if ye en­quire of them so soone as they be out at the Church dores, ye shal easely perceiue that (as the common saieng is) it went in at the one eare, and out at the other. They will say peraduenture, after this manner, It was a good Sermon, I wold we could follow it: he said very well: he is a perfect ready man in the Pul­pet. But aske, what doctrine did he han­dle? Then are they at a pause, and set at a dead lift. They will make this an­swere: we are not able to carry awaye so much as other can, neuerthelesse we hope that we be as good toward God, as they that carry away most. They will also confesse that the word of God is good, and that we should be ruled by it. Let vs therefore déerely beloued, (if we desire not to be of the number of these) marke well the subtill sleights, and pol­licie of the Diuell, how he handeleth & conueyeth the matter with this kinde of people. There is no doubt of this, but that if he can he will drawe awaye the [Page] minde from comming to the Sermon, one pelting let or other must come in the waye: if there be no worldlye busi­nesse to be done: then a paire of cardes or tables or some honest recreation, it should be now no good ciuilitie to parte companye when friendes are met toge­ther: this is the surest waye if it maye be obtained: but what if he faile héere­in? They come to the place where the séede-shall be sowen, sit downe, & minde to heare: then the next way is to come with them, and to attend at their elboe, séeking how to depriue them of y ^e word. Now his best way is to bring them a­sléepe because they were then as good bée absent: or into a slumber, that they maye heare onely a sound and a confused hum­ming, without any perseuerance of the things vttered: or els when they heare any perfect sentence, or a few sentences, they know not why they be vttered, be­cause they hard not that which went be­fore. Such as are not so drousie headed, being wakeful, he séeketh still to conuey some thoughts into their minds, where­abouts they may be occupied, and theyr [Page] vnderstanding drawen away: the minde of a man being light and inconstant, if he can put in but one motion, it often­times draweth with it so manye lynkes as make vp a whole chaine, in y ^e meane time the Preacher goeth on, and he vn­derstandeth not what was sayd, & so whē his minde retourneth, he can haue no sound knowledge of the things vttered, but a confused opinion: into these by thoughts, men are oftentimes brought, euen by occasion of some word or sen­tence which they heard vttered, & are ca­ried so far, that they cannot of long time recouer their minde to bring it again to the matter. Séeing this great danger, we ought when we come to heare Gods word taught, to make accoūt that we go about a very hard worke, y ^t we go to en­coūter w ^t Satā hand to hand, who seketh then most busily to steale away our hart: y ^t he may make y ^e word fruitles in vs, & cause vs to sinne greuously against God. Ther is no one man which maketh cō ­science of hearing y ^e word rightly, which setting these things together, y ^e reuerēce we owe vnto it, y ^e stedines of our mind, [Page] which should be vpon it, and the care to kéepe it, but will easily graunt that it is as hard and painful a trauell to do this, as for the man that worketh in the so­rest bodely labour. Héere is therefore a lesson for euery man to apply to himself when he is going to heare the word, to thinke, I am now going about a great worke, I shall be too weake if the Lorde God doe not mightelye assist me: for I am not to sit down there at ease, but to wrastle and struggle with the Di­uell, & with all the corruptions of mine owne flesh, and hardnesse of my heart: that my minde maye be kept stedfast vpon the word, that I maye receiue it with all reuerence & feare, as the worde of the great and glorious God: not to iudge of it at mine owne pleasure, but to craue wisedome from the Lord: not to heare it and to let it go, but to kéep it as a most precious Iewell locked vp in my heart, that I may guide my selfe there­by. And we shall be a great deale the ra­ther moued to this diligence, if we con­sider what a companion we carie about with vs, and what a guest we lodge [Page] withall, when we he such as heare the word, and doe not kéepe it. For Christ telleth vs that it is the diuell which do­eth this: which as a gréedie Fowle de­uoureth the séede which was sowen in our heart: if any make none account to haue him possessing their minde, & harde­ning their harts against the word: then let them continue in their sloth to heare with drousie minds, to heare & not to vnderstand: to regard the holy word, but as the word of a man: to make little ac­count to kéepe it. But if he thinke it a most miserable thing to haue so filthy a beast, and so foule a spirit to lodge in his brest: if he thinke it to be a most vile sla­uery, to be vanquished & ouercome of so horrible an enimy, to be lead captiue & kept thrall vnder such a tyrant: then let him thinke also how miserable a thing it is to be such a kind of ground as doth receiue the séede by the way side: for vn­doubtedly howsoeuer men seeme to defy the diuell, and curse him as though he should not come nigh them, yet séeing it is no mortall man but the Lord Iesus Christ himselfe, who telleth vs héere y ^t [Page] the diuell is not onely nigh, but in these kinde of hearers, euen hardening theyr heartes, & blinding their eies, we ought most constantly to beléeue it. He that shall déeply weigh y ^e estate of our church at this day, wil soone be brought to con­fesse, that there be many of this first sort of hearers, they shall perceiue it right well by this, that they are not able in any wise to iudge or put difference be­twéene sound and sincere preaching, and vaine pratling: they know not when y ^e Preacher doth minister vnto thē whol­some foode, & when there is nothing but chaffe & winde: ye shal heare them high­ly commend some Sermon, as a matter worthy to be written in letters of gold, when as indéed it deserueth not so much as to be noted with a coale. I speak not of those sily wretches, which were neuer as yet acquainted with preaching, for it is no great maruell, though they be not able to discerne chalke from chéese: or being blind for to iudge of coulours, but to such as long time haue ben hearers, & yet neuer y ^e wiser, because they are not able to iudge when sound and necessary [Page] conclusions are drawne out of y ^e word: but is al one with them, whether y ^e rea­son that is made be good or bad, strong or weake: yea further ye shall perceiue y ^t euen a little shew of a reason although neuer so doltish, being against true god­linesse, doth more preuaile with them, then a multitude of infallible proofes, al­though they be neuer so sure: and that which is so grose & absurd that a childe may laugh at, séemeth to them a verye strong piller to leane vnto. Ther néedeth no more when a man preacheth vnto them, but a glorious shew of learning, a swéet ringing voice, & matters so strange & straungely handeled, that they may be brought into a wonderment of y ^t they know not. And Satan hath many chap­plaines fit for this turne, to serue y ^e vain humor of such people, & to set forth thē ­selues after a pompous sort: more séeking their owne vaine glory, then the glorye of the Gospell, in the conuersion of the people. The second kinde of ground are they which receiue the séed vpon y ^e hard rock, where ther is some entrance, & the word hath a shallow root in them, for as [Page] it were the top of their heart is soft af­ter a sort, and there it is couered a litle, & it groweth vp quickly, and springeth fresh, they séeme to be stout and excellent professours, they brag of great zeale: a man would take them to be sincere, & so they take themselues: but when the Sun ariseth, that is, the firie trial or parching heat of persecution, they stumble & fal a­way, and because the word had no déepe roote in them, it withereth and bringeth forth no fruit: these also are not profited by the word of grace, but are stil cast a­wayes and damned creatures: in this kinde of ground, or in these hearers, if we note well, we shall sée that which is straunge and wonderfull: when Christ sayth and testifieth of them, that they receiue the word with ioy: these hée not blasphemers or persecutors of the word: they be not contemners which regarde not at all to heare it: they come not vn­der a shew or pretence as to a thing which otherwise they haue no care nor féeling of, or which they delight not for to heare, but how? They receiue it with ioy, & take such pleasure therein, that re­turning [Page] they can say, surely this was a very notable péece of worke & wel han­deled, I am glad that I heard it, it doth me euen as much good as my meate, I would go a mile to heare y ^e like again. Is not this then meruailous and feare­full, that a man may goe thus far, & yet be a castaway, and a forlorne wretch? It is not a thing to be wondered at when the holy scriptures giue sentence against those traiterous villaines which set thē ­selues against God, and tread down his laws: but when God vttereth this sharp sentence against this zealous kinde of men, if it cause vs not to wonder, yet it may make vs to tremble, when we see y ^• a man may procéed thus far in religion & yet be damned. When we vnderstand y ^t a man may be zealous, & redy to heare preaching, vnderstandeth, carrieth away, letteth it grow in his hart, hath some ioy in it, and yet neuer the better, abiding still vnder the curse. But there be some which will obiect against me & say, this is no good manner of teaching, for y ^e vse of true teaching is to build vp and edi­fie y ^e faith: but this séemeth to take away [Page] the certeintie of faith from al, so that no man can tell whether he shall be saued: For by what meanes can a man make a better triall & proofe of his faith then this, that he giueth eare to Gods word, vnderstādeth it, carieth it away, & ioyeth in it? If such a mā may be damned, who may not dispaire? I aunīwere with S. Paule. 1. Cor. 10. 12. He that thinketh he standeth, let him take héed he do not fal. If y ^• admonition were necessary to the Corinthes, it is necessary for vs al One of the principall ends & vses of preach­ing, is to giue men warning y ^t they doe not deceiue themselues with euery kind of faith or ioy in the word: but to looke for good & sound triall in themselues: which is not the way to bring men to dispaire, but to bring them to true god­linesse: to cause them to shake of securi­tie & loosenesse in the seruice of God: to beware least their heartes be hard still within: it causeth men to try thēselues least they shuld be deceiued by a vaine shadow of a dead & fruitlesse faith: for Christ saith, y ^t these beléeue (for so it is expressed by S. Luke the 8. 13.) & ioy in [Page] the word, and yet are damned. Then let vs come to the particular applieng of this point: to sée howe wée are to deale with our selues. Whē ye receiue y ^e word take héede y ^t ye giue it depth of earth inough, looke that your heart be not soft and pliable inough a little aboue, and a hard rocke of stone within, but sée y ^t it be digged and softened to the bottome, y ^t the word may take root déepe inough. Alas, what a miserable thing is it, when Christ hath giuen vs warning héere so plainly, for a man to be a zealous Gos­peller, not onelye willing to heare, but hath an earnest desire, and trauelfeth to heare, taketh pleasure & delight when he heareth, yet neuertheles, because he ta­keth no héed therto, his heart within is so stony, y ^t he heareth but to his further increse of damnation. Many think it go­eth well with thē, when as they receiue this testimonie frō men: he is a sound Protestant, he fauoureth & delighteth in y ^e truth, these indéed be great tokens of y ^• feare of god, but yet we are not to rest in thē: our chiefe dealing is betwéene God & our heart: & that in this thing whether [Page] our heart be not hard and rockie. Those are a thousand times happie, which féele melting hearts & soft affections, so that Gods word doth pearse into them, and causeth them to tremble at the maiesty & power of the same: their tender heart doth sigh & mourne for their iniquitie. As on y ^e cōtrary part, they which make no conscience of sinne, but are hardened in their affections, although they séeme to be in good case, yet are they cursed and miserable. Let euery man therefore that goeth from the Sermon, carry this with him: I heare by Christes owne words y ^t there is a stonie ground where the séede falleth: where it groweth but not déep inough, it springeth vp but doth not bring forth fruite, this is a wofull case, if I should be in y ^e number of these, for then all my labour is lost, which I bestow in frequenting Sermons, yea, it were much better y ^t I had neuer heard: I féele that I ioy in it, I would not for any thing but I had heard it: but Christ saith that the reprobate, some of them do heare the word with ioy, so that if I looke not narrowly to mine owne hart, [Page] I may for all this be damned: therfore I must not satisfie my selfe with this, but see that I couer the worde déepe inough, that my heart be softned in such sort, that I féele the roote goeth déepe, yea, so déepe, that it can neuer bée rooted out: And therefore let him continually crie vnto God and say: O Lord make softe my harde and stonie heart: let it be a melting heart, that thy holy worde may growe in it for euer. I woulde to GOD, this doctrine of our Sauiour Christ, might make euerye of vs to tremble and shake (as indéede if it were well weighed, it is so fearfull, that it might cause the haire of our heades to stand vp) for then would we not so loose­ly and securely walke in the hardnes of our hearts: there would not be so ma­nye backsliders in time of persecution: there would not be so many braue boa­sters and praters of Religion, who are ready to pull in their horns, and to kide their heades, so soone as there is anye feare of daunger, or lykelyhoode of per­secution: neither would men beare them­selues in hand that they [...]e iolly Profes­sors, [Page] when they haue but a little tasted of the word, and are no more but emp­tie barrels, which giue a great sounde. Héere then we be set a work with great toyle, to haue this same harde stonye ground made soft, and fit to receiue this heauenlye séede. And he which is not carefull in this poynt, to take paines, ye shall sée him waxe so hard, that euen as a continuall rayne dropping vppon a Rocke of stone maketh it neuer the sof­ter, so nothing can make his heart to relent. This may teach vs then to cease maruelling, when we sée so many which willingly giue themselues to be taught, and haue still little remorre of sinne. The Lord for his mercie sake make vs wise and sharpe sighted to iudge of our selues: not to be leade on forwarde in a carnall profession, but to giue credite to our heauenlye teacher, who hath héere opened his holy mouth to instruct vs so plainlye, and before hande to warne vs of the great daunger: that we may stir vp our selues, and de quickened in our dull spirits, with all humble submission, and boowing downe our neckes, to re­ceiue [Page] the doctrine of our Lorde, and to open our heartes in such sorte that hée may digge in them, and thrust in his spade to the bottome. For otherwise, it cannot goe well with vs. If this wer practised among vs, we shoulde not haue so many olde rustie Protestants: which if a man talk with them from morning to night, they are able to continue speach in reciting stories and places of Scrip­ture, and will vtter matter agaynst the doctrine of the Pope: but let a man vrge them with the doctrine of regene­ration, and stande vpon the necessitie of sincere repentaunce, showing them that they must be trulye humbled vnder the burthen of theyr sinnes, that they must mortifie and subdue their carnall lusts: this is to hard a crust for their old téeth. This matter doth marre all: this doeth robbe them of their glorie: and there­fore they cannot willynglye abide▪ to heare of it. Let vs come now to the third kinde of ground, which receyueth the séed among the thorns: héere is depth inough of earth: so y ^t as the second sort of hearers séemed to go far beyond the first, [Page] so these séeme to goe farre beyond them, and to come nigher to eternall life, for héere the word doth grow and hath roote so déepe, that it springeth foorth so farre, that Christ saith it groweth vp, and the thornes grow vp with it, the stalk doth shoote foorth the eare, and lacketh but ri­ping. For this may be proued by Saint Luke, who saith that they be not (Te­lesphorountes) that is, such as beare ripe and timely fruite: for these profes­sors doe many good workes, and séeme to bring forth the fruites of the Gospell: and that in such wise that men cannot alwayes discerne them, but thinke their déedes to be notable: but Christ Iesus doth shew that their works before God, (who onely cannot be deceyued) are as Corne which lacketh riping, which bée­ing ouershadowed with bushes, withe­reth in the eare and commeth to naught: this is a daungerous case if we looke not to it: That a man may heare the Gospell preached, carrie it away, be mo­ued thereby to doe many good workes: and yet be damned. He is a thousande folde madde therefore, which doeth not [Page] looke to himselfe in this point: to trye what soundnesse there is in the fruits of his faith, and how sincerely he doth im­brace Gods word. As before I sayde, that some would obiect and say, this wil destroy the faith, so am I sure that héere it will be said much more: because this séemeth to take away the surest tryal of faith: if a man may not by and by saye, I haue good workes, therefore I haue the true and lyuely faith: I aunswere, that whosoeuer hath any good worke in him, the same hath the true faith, which hath brought foorth that good worke, be­cause it is impossible without faith to do any good thing, or to haue any good mo­tion or intent: but withall I saye, that it is one thing to séeme good before men, and another thing for to be good indéede before God. In outwarde appearaunce, there is little difference betwéene the good déeds of them which feare God sin­cerely, and the vntimely fruite of world­lyngs: but God whose eye doth not looke vpon the outward shew, but the inward affection, séeth which procéedeth of faith, and which doth procéede of vaine glorie, [Page] or some other sinister respect, & putteth as great difference betwéene them, as he did betwéen the sacrifices of Cayn & A­bel. We must take héed then, y ^t the fruits of our faith be ripe & timely, otherwise they be good but in shew. We must come then to sée first what these thorns are: in S. Mathew they are called, the cares of this world & the deceitfulnes of riches: in Saint Luke: the cares of riches, & plea­sures of this lyfe. And in very deed, these thornes doe grow together. For were it not for the pleasures of this life, there would be no cares of riches: he which doth séeke gréedelye for wealth, it is ey­ther because he woulde be able to haue wherewithall to fill the lusts of y ^• flesh, and to pamper his body delicately: or els to set forth himselfe in pride, & to clyme ambitiously to honour. For so long as a man doth take pleasure in any of these, so long he is couetous & raketh together so much, that as the common saieng is, he raketh vp the Diuell and all. What must we doe then? Our heartes are as a ground that is ranke, & bringeth foorth many wéeds: we are set a work as God [Page] speaketh by his Prophet Ieremy. chap. 4. 4. Plow vp your falow, & sow not a­mong y ^e thorns: we must put all diligēce & care y ^t our hearts may be rid of such noisome wéeds as will choke y ^e word of God, & make that it shal not bring forth fruit in vs. So long as we suffer any of these in vs, either to loue daintie & dely­cate féeding of our flesh, and to fill our selues with y ^e lusts thereof, or to be gal­lant in y ^e eies of men, & hautely to lift vp our selues in our vainglorious mindes, & for y ^e maintenance of these delights bend our care to y ^e world: so long shall we be vnprofitable scholers in y ^e school of Christ. Alas poore men which wold faine come to God, & yet are glewd to y ^e world, they offer one hand to Christ, & the other to y ^e diuel: they can talke of y ^e spirit, & yet are led by y ^e flesh: y ^e gospel is in their mouth, & couetousnesse lodgeth in their hearts: their workes glister & are gréene before men, and are withered before God: they séeme to be faithfull & are faithles, to be heires of glory, & yet are the children of cōfusiō. Ther are great plētie of these he­rers, & specialy in such places, wher ther [Page] is wealth and honours: how many fall away cheked with the world? And yet we are not afraid of our selues to take héede that we stand fast. A great mercie of God it is that we haue not onely the doctrine layed before vs, but also fearfull examples: so that we may buy our wit with other mens cost. For when we sée the world with delights and pleasures, with conetousnesse and ambition, to car­rie away those which professe the Gos­pell, is not our owne matter in hande, are not we made of the same mettall they are, doth not the world assault vs as it doth them? Yes, and we shalbe ouer­come also, if the Lorde haue not mercie vpon vs. The hardnesse of this worke, ought not to discorage or make vs slack, but hearing what Christ saith, whome we ought to beléeue, the more harde, the more we are to stirre vp our selues, vn­lesse we make small reckoning of the saluation of our soules. He y ^t shall yéeld and giue ouer the digging vp of these thornes, because he perceiueth they grow déepe in his heart, and spring as fast as he can cut them: is not worthy to enter [Page] into life: be which will not continually till and wéede this grounde, may well haue the Gospell in some sorte for to grow in him, but not to saue him. Déer­ly beloued we must be surely perswa­ded of this, that as there be many godly men, so haue they atteined it with great labour and toile, yea, they are still set a worke and cannot come to an end, be­cause these thornes cannot be vtterlye ro [...]ted out.

Those are greatly ouerséene which thinke it to be an easie thing to professe Christ vnto saluation: & make no fur­ther account but to bée Gospellers, at ease: if they can vanquish in disputatiō, to thinke they haue won the field: no, no, they haue a heart which is harde to ouercome: they haue thornes which wil not easily be destroied: héere lieth y ^e vic­tory and getting of the spurs: this man shall be crowned because he hath wil­lingly giuen vp himselfe to the power of Gods grace to purge his heart, and to make roome for the holy worde, that it may grow there alone, and not be ouer­shadowed and choaked. [Page] Now let vs marke well that which is sayde héere, both of the stonie and also of the thornie ground, how farre they procéede in professing Christ, and imbra­cing his Gospell: and we shall plainely sée, how greatly those carnal Gospellers which will not haue faith to be tried by the fruits, are deceiued: Faith, faith, (say they) is that which doth iustifie, it is true indéede, but not a fruitlesse faith: whosoeuer beléeueth shal be saued: it is euen so, but not after euery kinde of be­liefe: for then why should not these two sorts of herers be saued, it is meruailous when the Scripture is so euident, & our sauiour Christ speaketh so plainly, that this grose & doltish errour shoulde pos­sesse the minds of so many. But indéed it is a swéet doctrine, when a man may let loose the raines to all the lusts of the slesh, at the least thus farre, not to vere & torment himselfe in subduing them, & yet by faith to be saued. When heauen & hell méete together, and God and the diuel be reconciled, then shal these flesh­ly Epicures, and vaine proude men come to their happinesse. When Christ [Page] shall denie that which he hath héere vttered, then shall these bée true belée­uers.

Let men therfore take héede that they be not deceiued, nor made slacke in look­ing to the fruits of their faith & morti­fication of vaine fleshly lusts, through y ^e prophane pratling of such worldly belly Gods: beléeue not them, but beléeue Ie­sus Christ, who telleth you that it is not inough to heare the word, & to receiue it with ioy, & to let it grow in vs, vnlesse it bring forth reasonable and timelye fruit in vs.

Againe, let vs marke how strong and inuincible an Argument may be gathe­red out of this text against all contem­ners and despisers of the word, such as care not for hearing: these thrée sorts of hearers, are before thē, & néerer to chri­stianitie then they, and yet come short: therefore it must néeds follow, that such ignorant Atheists, as neither know, nor desire to knowe any thing aboue this world, are very far from God, although they would séeme with their mouth & lips to draw néere vnto him. For if this [Page] matter were well obserued, men would not regard nor haue those men in esti­mation to be good & honest, who are very dogs or swine, not regarding y ^e precious pearle of the Gospel, but redy to bark & bite at those which bring it. Let a man inquire thus, not of a few, but of y ^e grea­test part of men, how saie yée to such a man, what thinke ye of him? he is (saye they) a verye good man, a good natured man, a gentle person trustie to his friēd, sure of his word, & doth kéepe as good an house as anye man of his calling in all this shire. But how is he affected vnto Gods word: is he zealous in religiō? Nay surely, I did neuer heare y ^t he did deale y ^• way, he is a very quiet man, no medler at al. O notable honest man, as deuout in y ^e laws of God as the horse which he rideth vpon, as careful to haue gods glo­rie aduaunced, as the swine in the [...]ie, a great deale behinde these vnprofitable hearers, which are [...] waies: & yet for­sooth being very bruit beasts before God (in y ^e state they be in, yet vnlesse y ^e Lord call them to bée zealous of his glorye) they must be reputed for the best men. [Page] Our fieldes are full of such Cattell as these, and if the Lord do not put too his helping hand; our case is very miserable. If any of those which were so zealous to heare, that they woulde to their hin­deraunce in worldly matters leaue off their businesse, and follow preaching, as these which flocked to heare Christ, wer yet neuerthelesse relected, because they did not so sincerely as they should: what shal we say of those which wil not step out at their dores, euen when they haue nothing to do, vnles it be to sit at cards or tables. If such a man maye be dam­ned, as is mooued with some delight, when he heareth the worde preached: What shall we iudge of those woodden blockes and sottish men, who féele no more ioye in it then a post, when it is vttered vnto them? If ther be some go to destruction, which conforme themselues and haue a shew of fruite by the worde: wher shal those wretches appeare, whom the holy word of God cannot moue one whit, to reforme their disordered & beast­ly behauiours. I néede not stande to mueigh out of this place against those [Page] helhounds, which dare opē their mouths to reproch and slaunder the setting forth of the Gospell. The Lord diminish the number of them.

The last kind of ground, are the good hearers, which do not onely receiue the séede, but also bring forth the fruits ther of. Although not euery one a lyke or in the same measure, for some bring forth an hundreth folde, some sixtie fold, some thirtie folde, according to the measure of Gods graces in them.

Although héere be great ods in brin­ging forth the fruits, yet they be all ac­cepted and accompted for good grounde, true Christians, and sincere professors of godlinesse: now as we be taught héere that it is required of all to be doers, as S. Iames saith, and not hearers only cha. 1. ver. 22. so are we also taught, not to de­spise or rashly to condemne those, which do not bring forth so great a measure of fruit as others do: True it is, as Christ saith, héerein is my father glorified, that ye bring forth much fruite. Iohn. 15. 8. But it is also as true which he saith in the second verse of the same chapter, E­uery [Page] braunch that bringeth forth fruite, he purgeth, that it may bring forth more fruite. Then to bring forth most, is most of all to be desired, that God maye haue the greatest glory: to bring forth the least is not to be contemned, because the Lord in time doth purge thē, & make them more fruitfull. I néed not to stand héere for to handle manye things, or to make large exposition, the matter is ex­céeding plaine, ther is no more but this, that all our care in hearing & professing the Gospell, be to receiue it into good ground, and to bring forth the fruites thereof. What should I stand to rip vp the shamefull abuse in the contrary, to vtter how manie euill fruits ther be in many which are Gospellers. This shuld be but as it were to light a candle in the cléere Sun shine, for all men do sée them. I do not speake this, as though it should not be good to crie out against them: but because the former things which I haue now vttered, doe fully disclose them. And therefore I will héere ende, desiring the Lord to write these things in our harts, which we haue heard with our outward [Page] eares, and to make vs good ground, to re­ceiue the heauenly séede, & to bring forth fruites of the same, that glorifieng him in this world, we may be glorified of him in the world to come, through Iesus Christ our Lorde. Amen.