OF the wound, & cure of sinne; or rather of the death of sinne in the soale, & the life of righteousnesse by Iesus Christ, His Lord­ships Chaplaine that day preached of such matter. Iohn. 5.15. we haue heard alreadie. Of the which our Sauiour saith in the 5. of Iohn, Verilie verilie I say vnto you, the houre shall come and now is, when the dead shal heare the voice of the son of God: and they that heare it shall liue. And wee haue heard, and be­leeued, and liue in God. Of the course of which life in godlinesse, and the bles­sed benefite of the same, wee haue nowe to heare farther out of this sentence of the Apostle: which depending on the for­mer, as a reason of his exhortation there [Page 8]vnto Godlinesse, containeth doctrine, & admonition: Doctrine, for the whole Church; as admonition likewise for the same: but, properlie for Timothie; a man, and a minister, young in yeares, but graue and austere in manners, verie much, if not too much: hauing alwaies before his eies that dutie, which this our Apostle himselfe otherwise embra­ced, 1. Cor. 9.27. where hee saith, I beate downe my body, and bring into subiection, least by anye meanes vvhen I haue preached vnto others, I my selfe should bee reiected. Yet missing the rule, of too much superstitiō, or too little descre­tion, in going too far, (as Nimium, and Parum, Too much, & too litle, are still in our way for every godly duty:) the Apo­stle calleth him back, as els where by spe­cial admonishment to look vnto his sto­macke; so here by these generall wordes, Bodily exercise profiteth litle: and lesse in deede he meaneth, then Timothy took it. Wherein to bleare his eies a litle, who stared to much on it, he setteth before him another obiect, so much more greate & [Page 9]excellent, that, because it swalloweth vp the first, wee also will stay our selues in the cōsideratiō of this, in these words, but godlinesse is profitable vnto all thinges, as having the promise of the life present, and of that that is to come. Wherein wee haue two pointes, a doc­trine, and the same assured by a reason to vs: the doctrine, in these wordes, God­linesse is profitable vnto all thinges: the Reason, in these, as having the pro­mise of the life present, and of that that is to come.

Of the which wee may note, first, how the Apostle speaketh, which is, abstra­ctive, as they say, in the Abstract, and not in the concrets; schoole-rearmes, but of easie vnderstanding; the one, no­ting the qualitie alone and by it selfe considered; the other, the subiect, or per­son with the qualitie, or in whome is that qualitie. And this no doubt also but the Apostle meaneth, namelie, that the godlie person hath the promise; and yet hee both not so speake, but saith, that Godlines hath the promise: and why? [Page 10]because the godlie person, for his godli­nesse, and not else; but godlinesse, for it selfe; it being such a thing, and so like vnto God himselfe, that hee cannot but blesse it, euen now in this life present, & especiallie in that that is to come; and thereof hath made and given his pro­mise to vs, that wee not onely shoulde haue it, and take it, when it commeth; but also shoulde hope and waite for it; e­ven when we haue it not. From whence ariseth the truth of this sentence or pro­position, that Godlinesse is profitable vnto all thinges, as that which giveth vs al thinges either in present possession, or expectation.

Many dispute many thinges; & many desires, & purposes haue wee: but in no­thing our mindes more corrupt & desti­tute of the truth, then in this, if without, or beside godlines, wee count any thing to be gaine or profite. Whose minds not­withstanding are so corrupt, & so desti­tute of the truth, that any thinge (almost) we account gaine & profite without god­lines: or at the least all the godlines we [Page 11]haue or doe besire, is gaine & profite. For if other gaine we haue, we haue godlines enough, though we haue none in deede; & yet haue as much, as wee desire. Men of this making altogether this out Apostle painteth out in the 6. Chap. of this Epist. the 5. & 6. verses; whome he saith to bee men of corrupt mindes, 1. Tim. 6.5.6. & destitute of the truth, which thinke gaine to be godlines. What is that? in wit, this: their godlines, or al the godlines they care for, is gaine, according to their corrupte mindes, & destitute of the truth; embra­cing any in the world, as good & profita­ble, and letting godlines alone: of which the passe not a pin, and care nothing of it, as nothing worth, if so they may attaine their other desires. And that this is the meaning, it is plaine, in that the Apostle contradicteth it in these wordes follow­ing, but, saith he, Godlines is greate gaine. Not onely gaine, but great gaine, and if we will haue that expounded too, the Apostle saith in our Text, that God­nes is profitable vnto all thinges.

Wherfore we neede goe no further for [Page 12]weapōs, to slay the madnes of Atheisme, that is, vngodlines it selfe, which setteth godlines at naught, and teacheth men to mocke at it, as a thing of nothing: and a thousand things we desire as good & pro­fitable; but godlines with thousandes is good for nothing. And Religion, though it selfe honourable, yet if, as it hath the nature, so the name of goodlines (euen as this is her name also; for what is religi­on, but godlines; and what is godlines, but religion?) yet, in this other name of hers wee cannot abide her; and re­ligion in the name of godlinesse, is a derision. For I tell you, he hath a fine wit, and hitteth his neighbour home, as he thinketh, which can hang the lip, and say, O you are very godly, O tempora, ô mores, ô times ô manners, saith he, who saw the discipline of the city of Rome so weake, that one Catelin, a seditious rakehel, could sit, and be seene in the Se­nate amongst them. And we must swal­low our griefe and say nothing, to see the Church of God defiled with thousandes of those, & sitting almost in the Senate, [Page 13]and chiefest roomes amongst vs, who not only secretly vndermine, but euen bid o­pen battaile (almost) vnto the name of godlines: these being, I feare, the times, of which Peter by a special remēbrance vnto the faithful, foretold, saying, 2. Pet. 3.3.4 This first vnderstand, that there shall come in the last daies mockers, walking af­ter their owne lusts, and saying, when is the promise of his comming? such, as even stowted the Lord, and grieued the godly, and gaue complainte before vnto the Prophet Malachie in the 3. Chap­ter: Your wordes haue beene stoute a­gainst me, saith the Lord: yet yee saie, Mal. 3.13.14.15. what haue we spoken against thee? ye haue saide, it is in vaine to serue God; and what profit is it that we haue kept his commandement, and that we wal­ked humbly before the Lord of hosts. Yea now we counte the prowde bles­sed: euen they that worke wickednes are set vp; and they that tempt God, yea they are deliuered. And they had e­uen wearied the Lord herewith, as the Prophete complaineth in the former [Page 14]Chapter, Mal. 2.17. Yee haue wearied the Lorde with your wordes, saith he, yet yee saie, wherein haue we wearied him? in that yee say, euery one that doth euill, is good in the sight of the Lord, and hee delighteth in them: or, where is the God of iudgement? and these haue euen wearied the Lord, and vs; as many, as at this time embrace godlines: and yet they saie, wherin haue we wearied you? in that ye say, and say lowdly, and lewd­ly, with the greatest skorne, we are foo­lish and busie fellowes.

But the vomit of these men is loath­some, and we will leaue it: and for the praise, and price of godlines, wil come to the proofe of that, which the Apostle hath saide of it, as we haue heard, namely, that Godlines is profitable vnto all things. And this proofe is cōtained in the words next following, implying a reason of the former speech or sentēce in these words, as having the promise of the life pre­sent, and of that that is to come. And this reason is strong from a sufficient di­vision of all thinges. For all thinges are [Page 15]contained in this life present, and in that that is to come. And therefore godlines must needs be profitable vnto al things, sith nothing, neither here, nor heereafter can be wished, which it bringes not with it. For though the Apostle only saieth, it hath the promise of this life, & that life, he meaneth, as also he speaketh in the 17 of the Actes, Life and breath, Acts 17.25. and all things; and as the Philosopher speaketh, all things ad benè beate (que) vivendum, to liue well and blessedly. For life else were nothing, if wee shoulde want those things that pertaine to blessednes. And though some maie thinke that the Apo­stle commeth short of the matter, & spea­keth not home enough, saying, that god­lines hath the promise, & not the thing; yet this is al one in deede, cōsidering who is the promiser, God that cannot lie, Tit. 1. [...]. as other where he saith. And because wee cannot haue al our happines at once, but some is here in this life present, and more hereafter in the life to come; for assurāce of the whole we haue his promise, which is alwaies as good as performaunce it [Page 16]selfe. For whosoeuer, saith the sonne of Siracke, trusted in the Lord, and was confounded? Eccle. 2.11. O then, who is wise, & wil be rich, and honourable, and haue true strength, and beauty, and health, & peace, and blessednes with God? euen the man, that is godly; which walketh with God, yea and talketh with him: as it is saide of Henoch, Gen. 5.22. & 6.9. & 17.1. Noah, and Abraham, that they were iust and vpright men in their time, and walked with God. Euen as this is the ende of our deliuerance, that we, Luke 1.74.75. as Zacherie saith, being deliuered out of the hands of our enemies, might serue him without feare, in holines, & righteousnesse before him, or in his sight, all the daies of our life: that wee should walke, and talke with God; and hauing our delighte in the lawe of the Lorde, Psal. 1.2. shoulde meditate therein day and night; that we should loue, feare, and ho­nour him in all our waies, and so wante nothing, which we would & should haue, either in this life present, or in that that is to come.

But here groweth a question: what it [Page 17]meaneth then, that euen vngodlinesse it selfe hath, or seemeth to haue our portiō, at least in the things of this life present: of which Dauid in the seuēteenth Psalm speaking, maketh his praier, thus, Psal. 17.13.14. Vppe Lord, saith he, disappoint him, cast him down: deliuer my soule from the wic­ked with thy sword: frō men by thine hand O Lord, from men of the world, who haue their portion in this life, whose bellies thou fillest with thine hidde treasures: their children haue e­nough, and leaue the rest of their sub­stance for their children. Where hee speaketh, as he meaneth, of the wicked, namelie, that they haue their portion in this life, and no where else; and that they haue already, as much as they shal haue, in this life present: for in the life to come they haue no portion. Answerably vnto that that Christ also warned those good almes-men, forsooth, in the 6. of Mat­thew, which trumpetted the thing for the praise of men, Therefore, saith hee, when thou giuest thine almes, thou shalt not make a trumpet to be blown [Page 18]before thee, as the hypocrites do in the Synagogues, & in the streets to be prai­sed of men. Verily I say vnto you, they haue their reward. That is, they haue already that they desired, to witte, the praise of men; and this is all they shall haue: for besides this verilie they shall haue nothing. And what then shal it pro­fite the vngodly that they were wise, and rich, and honourable, and had peace, and prosperitie in this life, when this life is gone, and their portion ended, & nothing remaineth for the life to come? the bitter­nes of which estate answered his doubt, who in beholding the prosperitie of the wicked, had almost denied providence, till at the laste, in acknowledgement of that which here is taught, Claud. he saith, Tol­luntur in altum, vt lapsu graviore ruant, They are lifted vppe aloft, to haue the greater fall. As Dauid, to expresse his greatest misery, saith, He taketh me vp, and casteth me downe againe. Psal. 102. Euen as that we lift vp to cast downe, we dash all in pieces. And the beggers wo is no­thing to the Prince his want. But, as he [Page 19]saith, Sen. Theb. In servitutem cadere de regno graue est. Of king to become a caitife, that cuts the heart.

Yea, but the wicked and vngodlie of the world haue wealth and welfare: and while they haue it, will some say, they are wel and happy. But this their happines, what euer they haue, in spite of all the wicked we deny, for first it should be kno­wen how they haue any thing. Not by promise: for that pertaineth vnto godli­nes, by testimony of our Text, which saith significantlie, that godlines hath the promise, and not vngodlines. How them? without promise. O miserable theues & robbers, which haue an heape of goodes so ill gotten. Psal. 24. v. 1. For the earth is the Lords, & he hath promised the same vnto the godlie, and againe, Math. 5.5. Blessed are the meeke, for they shall inherit the earth. And everie creature of God is good, 1. Tim. 4.5. & nothing to be refused, if it be recea­ved with thanksgiving. For it is sancti­fied, saith the Apostle, by the worde of God, and prayer. But who giveth thankes, and who so receaueth the good [Page 20]creatures of God, as good and lawfull; and [...]ome are they sanctified by the ordinance and will of God, but to those, as before he saith, which beleeue, and know the truth, that is, the godlie. For all the vngodlie of the world are yet in their pollution, and are deprived of all the creatures of the earth; polluting to themselues everie good creature of God, in the abuse, liue in the verie vse of them▪ and polluting thēselues▪ I say not now, because stricto iure, as they say, by direct law, they haue no right in them. So Na­boths vinyard was good: 1. King. 21. Levit. 25.23. & Num. 36.9. & seq. & 1. King. 21. and Ahab had it. But, because he was not of the tribe, besides the intrusion, the forgerie, per­iurie, and murther committed, hee de­filed himselfe in the vnlawfull vse of it. And this is the case of all the vngodlye: who, because they are not of his tribe, who hath the right of inheritance in all these thinges, besides the manifold abu­ses they put them vnto after, they euen defile themselues in the having of them. And so, not this, and that, as in the for­mer division of the legal pollutiō, which [Page 21]taught vs that out right in all thinges through our attainder was so taken a­way, that by touching; almost, and ta­king wee defiled our selues in them: but even the breath of their bodies, their life it selfe, & all things are defiled to them? because, to speake the same thing againe, as light is come into the world, & men loue darkenesse, roote the light: Ioan. 3 19. so liberty is come into the world, and men loue bondage, more then it: and the grace of adoption, whereby we become sonnes ( and if sonnes, saith the Apostle from a ground of their law; for in the Ci­vell law of the Romans all the sonnes succeeded together; then heyres, and heyres annexed with Iesus Christ;) is refused of the vngodlie and vnbeleevers: who if they haue no part in Christ, Heb. 1.2. who is the heyre of al thinges, as the Apostle teacheth to the Hebrewes; how woulde they haue right in any thing, and not still remaine as children, and heires of the first Adam, cast out of Paradise with his children, the verie blessing of the earth this day being turned into a curse vnto [Page 22]them, euen because they haue no part in the second Adam. Wherefore, let all the vngodlie of the world here learne to looke west vnto their theevish handes, & care how to haue their hartes purified by faith, Act. 15.9. 2. Tim. 3.12. & to liue godly in Iesus Christ; that so they may be heires of the promise; and that, in the rich vngodlie especiallie it may be seene for a wounder to the world how the camel creapeth through the nee­dles eye, and that which is impossible with men, Psal. 22.30. is yet possible with God, the prophesie of Davis in 22. Psalme bee­ing fulfilled in them. All the fat of the earth, & those that are filled with earth­lie felicitie, shall eate, as being nouri­shed in the Church, vers. 28. and shal bow them­selues. As before hee saith, All the endes of the earth shall remember thē ­selues and bee turned vnto the Lorde, & all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before him.

Which lowly submission vnto Iesus Christ, and to the septer of his worde in the kingdome of his Church, if once we might see in the greate vngodlye of the [Page 23]world, Lord, how manye sinnes also would so be cut of, which dailie are com­mitted in the good thinges of God, through the manifold abuse of them vn­to sinne and wickednes. And if wee see it not, as to seldome in deede is seene, so many sinnes remaine of this sort also, that better for them it were if beggers they had beene borne, and so had conti­nued to their liues end, then to answere this account before the great Iudge; the riches also of whose bountifulnes and patience they haue abused, not know­ing, Rom. 2 4.5.6. as the Apostle saith, that the boun­tifulnes of God leadeth them to repen­tance: but they after their hardnes, & hart that cannot repent, heape vnto themselues wrath against the daye of wrath, and declaration of the iust iudg­ment of God, who shall reward everie man according to his workes: open, or secret; to himselfe, or others. And there­fore then, and there also shall bee revea­led touching their title of possession, how it faileth with God, which holdeth with men: which is a secret to the world, and [Page 24]to worldlie mans hartes, but knowen vnto Gods; Rom. 2.16. who shall iudge, as Paul saieth, the secrets of mē by Iesus Christ according to my gospell. And there­fore the good natured man also, and of greater ingenuitie, cannot escape with all his colours of naturall honestie and vertue, amiable in it selfe, and before the world, Mark. 10.21. but despised of God, because it wanteth godlines. According as our Saviour saith in the sixteenth of Luke, namely, Luk. 15.16. that that, which is loftie be­fore men, is abhomination in the sight of God. And to say the verie truth, why should God esteeme them, or any thing in them, who never esteemed him, but them selues, in all their liues? for looke we in­to these men with godlie wisedome, and whither shal we see al their desires, pur­poses counsailes, and endevours direc­ted, but vnto themselues; and to their owne pleasures, praise, and profit, or to the profit of men like vnto themselues. against whome, and whose workes, the former sentence of Christ is as good, as against the praiers and almes of painted [Page 25]hypocrites. Mat. 6.5. Verilie I say vnto you they haue their reward: to wit, in this world, and with men; and they are fowlie de­ceaved if they looke for more. Where­fore to conclude this point, if the wicked and vngodly, being empty and having nothing, haue no promise or hope of any things or having all thinges of the world, haue with God no lawful tenure and oc­cupation of the same; and farther, cor­rupting themselues in the greate abuse of them haue a heavier iudgment in time to come, the best of the vngodly not here excepted: what matterreth it what they haue, and what they are here for a while in this world, sith at the last they loose all, & themselues by a fearefull destruc­tion; and nothing in the ende is founde gaine, but godlinesse, which is profita­ble vnto all thinges, and at all times, as having the promise of this life pre­sent, and of that that is to come.

But here we must stay a little, at the least to examine this, how the promise holdeth with the godly for the things of of this life: for of the things of the life to [Page 26]come there is no question: the Apostle himselfe in the 15. of the first to the Co­rinthians vsing these words, 1. Cor. 25.29. If in this life only we haue hope in Christ, wee are of al mē the most miserable. Where albeit he gathereth a most sound conclu­sion for his present purpose, the handling of which I now omit, yet thus much he saieth withall by way of comparison be­tweene the godly and the vngodly, that we in this life are more miserable then they. And if we looke vpon the afflictiōs themselues in their own nature, & nūber, and see no more, I grant it too. And be­cause the Saints themselues are weak-sighted herein, and tender vpon the sense of present sorrows, no chastising for the present, Heb. 12.11. as saith the Apostle, seeming ioyous, but grieuous; they speake some­times in their hast they know not what; as if they were miserable, Psal. 31.23. & psal. 116.11. and others blessed; and they will reason this matter with God aboute the trueth of his pro­mise. So Ieremie, but with leaue, and verie modestlie, in the 12, O Lord, saith he, Ier. 12.1. if I dispute with thee, thou art righ­teous: [Page 27]yet let me talke with thee of thy iudgements: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? why are al they in wealth that rebelliously trāsgresse? and Abacuk in the first Chapter, Abac. ca. 1. spea­king vnto God, cānot tel how to set these togither, namely, the purity of Gods na­ture, the prosperity of transgressours, and the misery of the righteous. Thou art, saith he; of pure eies, and canst not see euill: thou canst not beholde wick­ednes. Wherefore dost thou looke vp­on the transgressours, vers. 13. and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous then he? and Iob, and Dauid, two excellente personages, but much afflicted, were more impatient; and Iob, euen terrified, in the 21: Euen when I remember, saith he, I am afraide, and feare taketh holde on my flesh. Wherefore do the wicked liue, and waxe old, & grow in wealth? Iob. 21.6, & seq. their seede is established in their sight with them, and their generation be­fore their eies: Their houses are peace­able without feare and the rod of God [Page 28]is not vpon them. And so foorth with a long and tedious narration vnto him­selfe of the great prosperity of the wick­ed. And David pathetically and abrupt­lie, as newly delivered out of this temp­tation, beginneth his Psalme thus, Yet God is good to Israell, even vnto such as are of a cleane hart. Verily as for me my feete were almost gone; Psal. 73. my trea­dings had well nigh slipt: and why? I was grieved at the wicked; I did see all the vngodly in such prosperitie. For there are not knots vnto their death: but they are lusty and strong. They are not in toile as other folke, neither are they plagued like other men. And then setting out more at large both their impiety and prosperity, as thinges not so agreeable in his iudgement, at the last he vseth this Acclamation, vers. 12. Lo, these are the vngodly, these prosper in the world, & these haue riches in pos­session. And then he sheweth how weake he was, and how ill at the first hee tooke this matter. vers. 13. And I saide, saith this good man, then haue I cleansed my heart in [Page 29]vaine, and washed my hands in inno­cencie. All the day long haue I beene punished, and chastened every mor­ning. And so cleare is this thing, the god­ly, which haue the promise, sometime, & for the most part in such aduersitie; and the vngodly, which haue no promise, in such prosperitie, that heereby they euen insult ouer God, and his children, as in the 15. verse, Ecce generationem filiorum tuorum: Behold the generation of thy children: as if they should say, who neede care much to be of the number, and their case no better. And yet stil, my brethren, we holde fast this trueth, which heere is taught vs, namely, that godlinesse hath the promise, not only of the life that is to come, but of this life present also. And the performance is good.

But everie promise is kept, as it is made. And though this promise here is meant vnto the godlie, yet the same in precise tearmes is made vnto godlinesse, as at the first was noted. That so the godlie might bee taught to assure them selues of the truth hereof, onely with [Page 30] Quatenus, and clause of restraint, and no otherwise, to wit, thus, so far as the are godlie; because the godlie do want of their godlines. And as Paul saith of knowledge, which is a part of godlines, our knowledge is in part: 1. Cor. 13.12. so much more is it true of the whole, that our godlines is in part: & it were a dangerous dreame to thinke otherwise. Wherefore wee accuse not the purietie and sincerity, but the perfection of godlines: and the most godlie wee say againe doe want of then godlines. So far therefore as wee are godlie, and doe keepe with God, so far he keepeth with vs, but when we breake with him, as too often we do, this alte­reth the case with vs, but yet not with God. For then he taketh the rod in hand, which otherwise should lie long enough, but for very neede: and, so that godlines might go with all, his delighte is in the prosperitie of his servants. Oh, saith he, in the 48. of Esaie, Oh that thou hadest harkened to my commaunde­mentes: Isa. 48.18. then had thy prosperity bene as the floud, and thy righteousnes as [Page 31]the waues of the sea. That is, they should haue followed one vpon the other, as one waue of the sea followeth an other, and gone alonge together as companions vnseperable. And in the fourskore and first Psalme, Oh that my people had harkened vnto mee, and Israell had walked in my waies: I woulde soone haue humbled their enemies, and tur­ned my hand against their adversaries: the haters of the Lorde shoulde haue beene subiect vnto him: but their time (to wit, time of the prosperitye of his people) this their time should haue en­dured for ever. And God would haue fed them with the fatte of wheate; and with honey out of the rocke woulde I haue satisfied thee. But if wee harken not vnto God, & walke not in his waies, what then [...] then thus, and it is inchided in the condition of the promise vnto Da­vid, and all the faithfull, in the fourskore and ninth Psalme, thus, But if his chil­dren forsake my law, and walke not in my iudgementes; if they breake my statutes, and keepe not my comman­dements: [Page 32]dementes. I will visite their offences with the rodde, and their sinne vvith scourges. Neverthelesse my lovinge kindnes will I not vtterly take frō him: not suffer my truth to faile. So that e­ven hee, which also punisheth our vngod­linesse, is true in his promise, and his lo­ving kindnesse remaineth still, with it, shall I say? yea, in it. Heere is a myste­rie: and yet no mysterie vnto the godlye; which feele and finde their vngodlinesse so to bee chastened by the hande of God, with such a fatherlie good will and care of them, that hee turneth them hereby from their vngodlines, to stād fast in the covenant; and al that furthereth this in­tent is therefore blessed. Blessed is the sickenesse, blessed are the sores, blessed are the woundes of such a friend, Prov. 27.6. yea, better then the kisses of an enemie. This I take it is the meaninge of that league and Covenaunt in the second of Hosea, And in that day, saith the Lord, will I make a Covenant for them, Hos. 2.18. with the wilde beastes, and with the fowles of the heauen, and with that that cree­peth [Page 33]vpon the earth: and I will breake the bow, and the swoord, and the battail out of the earth, and will make them to sleepe safely. Not that there shall not bee annoyances to these confederates in heauē, & in earth, aboue, & below, & rounde about them; nor that the sword shall not be whet, & bow bent, & the battail set against them in all the earth; for who in the earth more afflicced then wee? but, that the intent of the enemy shall be defeated, & these instrumēts of mischiefe, prepared for their hurt, shal be found in the end to do them good. O Ashur, the rod of my wrath, saith the Lord by the Prophet, and the staffe in their handes is mine indignation. Isa. 10.5.6.7. I will sende him to a dissembling nation, and I will giue him a charge, against the people of my wrath, to take the spoile, and to take the pray, & to tread them vnder feete, as the mire in the streete. But he thinketh not so: but hee imagineth to destroy and to cut of not a few nations. The purpose of the Lord, & his worke was, by the rod of the Assirians in iustice, & iudgement, to punish the sinnes of Ierusalem & Iuda for their amendment: as Ieremie saith, Let thine owne wic­ked. [Page 34]correct thee, Ierem. 2.19. and thy turninges back reprooue thee; know therefore, & behold that it is an evill thing and bitter that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God and that my feare is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hostes. But the bent of the Assirian was barely to destroy, and to set vp his great name by mighty destructions. Thus the enimies shall whet their swoord, and bend their bow, & make readie the bat­tail for our destruction; they shall kill, and leade captiue, & devide the spoiles; & yet no harme doone: for the Prophecie of Esaias shall be fulfilled, Isa. 11.9. They shall not hurt, nor destroy in al the moūtaine of my holines. The reason, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters that couer the sea. This plentifull know­ledge doth keepe all safe. Which Paul also ascribeth to our loue of God; who cannot but loue him, after that we haue knowen him, and his loue towardes vs; according as hee hath chosen vs before, and called vs with an holy calling, [...]. Tim. 1.9. to know, loue, and ho­nour him in all true holines. Wherefore in the 8. to the Romans most comfortablie & most plainely to this purpose he saieth, Al­so [Page 35]we know that all thinges worke toge­ther for the best vnto thē that loue God, Rom. 8.28. euen to them that are called of purpose. Where doubtlesse the Apostle meaneth not so chiefelie of the thinges which properlie are good, as of those, which might be hurt­full, if the purpose of men, and the nature of the things should be respected. But such is the worke of godlines, or rather of God for the godly, whome he hath loued, & called ac­cording to purpose; & they know him, & loue him, & serue him in holines; that for their sakes according to the warking, as the A­postle saith, Philip. 3.21. whereby he is able to subdue all things vnto himselfe; & to co­maund the light to shine out of darkenes, 2. Cor. 4.6. he also subdueth vnto himselfe, & his, the nature of these evill thinges, and turneth them vnto their good, so bringing light out of darknes, ioy out of griefe, grace out of sin, delive­rance out of destruction, & life out of death it selfe: that the true cause of our rejoycing may so appeare, as Paul in the third of the first to the Corinthians sheweth, 1. Cor. 3.21.22. Therefore saith he; let no man reioyce in men: for all thinges are yours: whether it be Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world: or life [Page 36]or death; whether they be things present, or things to come, all are yours, & yee are Christes, & Christ is Gods. Wherefore, my deare brethren, let vs be Christs, as Christ is Gods; that is, Christians in deede, as in name we are, & all things are ours, to serue vs, Psal. 91.13. & to minister vnto our good, & nothing shall hurt vs: we shall walke, as he saieth, vpon the lion & aspe, the young lion & the dragon shall he treade vnder feete; & this miracle in a sort shal stil be seene & felt of vs, of which out saviour saith, They shall take away serpents, Mark. 16.19. & if they shall drinke of any deadly thing, if shall not hurt thē. And such reioicing hath godlines. And why thē should we fear a flout, to be called godly of the vngodly, beggers brats, & no better, w ^c haue nothing, or y ^e promise of nothing: neither in this life, nor in the life to come.

And yet least heere they may stande at a bay with vs, and say againe that wee haue nothing; as many of vs, yea most of vs, haue lesse in the things of this life; yet this is not true, that we haue nothing, and fewe of the godly, not Lazarus himselfe, but hath some thing, according to the trueth of this which the Apostle teatheth vs, that Godlines hath [Page 37]the promise of this life also. For if he haue nothing else, yet he hath life it selfe, and the same more perfectly, then any of the vngod­ly in the worlde. For euery thing may be said to be had, according to the vse, & perfec­tion of the vse. For if I holde a treasure in my hande, which is fast sealed to mee in a bagge, I may rather be saide to handle it, then to haue it. Or, if I be in an house, with­out any comfortable vse of that house, in which I am; it may better bee saide to haue me, then I it. And so likewise according to the perfection and excellencie of each vse, e­very thing may be saide to be more, or lesse perfectly had of vs. So Lazarus, with his trumbes and rags, because he had a godlie life, and a comfortable life with God, and a sweet expectation of the life to come, he was more aliue, then the rich, with his robes, depriued of all true comforte in all his life. And I know not how; yes, it is the blessing of God, which can multiplie in vse a little, and so make it much, much better, and so and in this sense, much bigger, then the far and large portion of the wicked. And in this sense I doubt not but Dauid saith in the 37 Psalme, Better is a little, Psal. 37.16. which each righ­teous [...] [Page 40]deeds, which they haue vngodly cōmit­ted, and of al their cruel speakings, which wicked sinners haue spoken against him. I adde, and his: for he, and his must go togi­ther. And therefore let vs also, my brethren, as ioine-workers with God, for the glory of God, & honour of godlines, speake against them, and do against them, euery man, as he can do most: that al the vngodly of the earth like drosse may be consumed, Psal. 119. vers. 119. the godlie in Iesus Christ increased and comforted, Re­ligion maintained, and God aboue al glori­fied. To whom be glory, dominion, and ma­iestie both now, and euer. Amen.