CONCERNING the publishing of Workes and writings (besides the commonly exploded Issues of obscoene and friuolous Braines) there is a twofold Errour and Infirmi­tie. [Page 2] One is of those that loue to publish as much as they can write; and a second is, of them that loue to publish nothing. The first sort, commonly pas­seth into their extremity by an ouer-flowing Conceit of their owne Abilitie, which makes them to loue whatsoeuer is theirs; or perchance for want of Iudgement, which teacheth Proportion, and sayes, that e­uen of things louely & good, there must be a stint and mea­sure; and that an excellence in Qualitie, may bee a fault in Quantity. Now that men may free themselues of this euill, which is selfe-deceit, out of selfe conceit, let them chuse Witnesses for the Issues of their Soules, as the custome is for those of their Bodies. Let vs inuite some of our most sin­cere [Page 3] and seuere Friends, to giue testimonie of the Ingenuitie & Vtilitie of those spirituall chil­dren, and so in the mouth of two or three Witnesses, let the words of such Writings stand. Surely such haue a great ad­uantage aboue the Authour in censuring his Workes, their Iudgments being free from the spectacles of selfe-loue, which make al our own things seeme great in our owne eyes. But wee ought to know, that these must bee men of Iustice and Valour, as well as of Iudge­ment to execute, as well as to know; for such only will not feare to displease their Friend, that they may profit him, they will saue a publique reproofe by a priuate, and by the Cha­stisement of a Friend, will pre­uent the torturing of an Ene­mie. [Page 4] And Writers in this case must be more then patient, for they must bee thankfull vnto to Censure, which squareth & fashioneth their Workes vnto their true end; the common good. And now, that both the Authour and his Witnes­ses may haue a Rule and Re­medie for the Riot and Ex­cesse of writing, euen of things of worth; let them harken to an order alreadie set forth, that new writings should still bring forth some new Addition to their subiect. And indeed if this were obserued, it wold stop the mouth of Detraction, euen at the widest. For in this case there is nothing left for Detra­ction to say, but that it is offen­ded with the increase of those Workes which increase either Knowledge or Vertue. And [Page 5] if heere the Reader tell mee, Physician heale thy selfe, I an­swere him againe, That except the Readers bee all healthy, I am not sicke: for he is not sick of writing, that by writing cures the sicke. Besides it must be confessed, that when Diui­nitie is the subiect, this Rule though it may not wholy bee broken, yet it doth sometimes receiue Dispensations and In­largements, for in some cases there may bee a great vse of re­petitions and doublings.

And first, this is very requi­site in things chiefly necessary; whereof the retention is high­ly profitable, and the neglect and ignorance full of danger.

Secondly, when the thing is full of difficultie, eyther in re­gard of apprehension, or pra­ctise, so that it is not easily [Page 6] known or performed. In these cases the saying of the Apostle is most true, That to write the same things, is for vs a most sure thing; for euen heere also Detraction it selfe shall be for­ced to confesse, that repetition is not vnnecessary where the matters repeated are not suffi­ciently conceiued or receiued, neyther hath beene enough taught which hath not beene well heard. No more then that man hath knockt e­nough to whome the doore was not yet opened.

Therefore if men would finde a fault about this kinde of repetition, let them seeke it in themselues, and then they cannot misse it; for it is their owne dulnesse, their neglect, or at least their infirmitie that causeth it, and [Page 7] vntill these faults be amended, they cannot well lay a fault vpon repetition; yet withal we may still remēber that euen in these Patents of Licence there is a measure and reseruation; for if the transcendent workes and words of our Sauiour Christ were in part suppressed, because the World could not beare them, I think thence doth plainely arise this Doc­trine, That the Capacitie of Mankind is the most commen­dable measure of writing. Man may carry away for his vse that which is within his strength of bearing; but a bur­then greater then his strength, spoyleth his strength and fal­leth it selfe to the ground. Therefore fiue words remem­bred, are better then a thou­sand forgotten; and it is for [Page 8] losse, and not for profit, when so much is deliuered, as the plentie destroyeth the memo­rie, or tyreth the indeuours of the Learner. Yet, I confesse, that a little redundance is safer and better, then a little want. For in outward vses, we desire that a streame should carrie more water then we vse, rather then to [...]arrie till the springs rise. It is easie to let the super­fluous water to slide away, & it is easie for a man to read no farther then he reades for a tryal. But here I cannot but speake to the nicensse and cloyednesse of this time, a disease of Rea­ders. Plenty of knowledge hath beene turned into an oc­casion of lothing: and know­ledge only by plenty is be­come a light and dry meate, as Manna to Israel. Surely we [Page 9] are in an extreme faultinesse, when in steed of thankfulnesse to God for plentie, we returne lothsomnesse; & the blessings which he recheth to vs in mer­cie, we put backe to him with neglect and scorne. When thy friend inuiteth thee to a Feast, and sets before thee plentie of Dishes, thou takest kindly his abundance as a signe of his loue, and except thou art a Glutton, thou art not angry with him nor his meate, be­cause some of it is left vn­eaten. Surely God heere gi­ueth thee the foode and deli­cates of Heauen in the sundry dishes of the seuerall expres­sions and labours of his Ser­uants: And why art thou not as thankfull to God as thou art to thy Neighbor? Though there bee more then enough, [Page 10] thou mayest take but enough, the plentie forceth nothing vpon thee, but only giueth thee choice; Take therefore but that which sit [...]eth thee, & so much as thou mayest well ouercome, and bee not angry, but thankfull for that which is left, for that may serue ano­ther as fitly as thy choice ser­ueth thee. A miserable dispro­portion it is, that Gods plenty of goodnesse to vs, should be made an occasion of dimini­shing our goodensse to him, & the more hee giues the lesse thankes hee should receiue. Yea, much rather let the abun­dance of his blessings procure an abundance of Thankesgi­uing, for this is verily the right duty of proportion, to increase our thankes as God increaseth his blessings. Now [Page 11] for the disease of not publish­ing (I meane only of such things as haue worth in them) this proceedes commonly of two causes. The one is an er­rour in Iudgement, when men being wisely mad, they thinke it an especiall piece of reason to sit down in a selfe content­ment, and to delight them­selues, in themselues, by them­selues. These men are their owne ends, and indeed are no other then Churles in know­ledge; for as wretches keepe their Gold only for sight and not for vse, so these hoarders of Knowledge make their Knowledge but a selfe-recrea­tion, & not a matter of profit to others. They are Fathers, Nurses, and Murderers of their owne Children, hauing begotten them, they kisse [Page 12] them, and then burie them. But these high-spirited men in their owne behalfe haue as they thinke a generous obie­ction: What (say they) shall wee prostitute our high con­ceptions, and heauenly rap­tures, to the common vse and censure of the vulgar? Here the word Common is the most emphaticall part of the que­stion. And surely in that very word I thinke lyes the best part of the answere. For as these singulars make com­monnesse the reason of their distaste of publishing; So com­municatiue men and louers of the publike haue thought that goodnesse doth grow more good by commonnes. Indeed if knowledge were a fether, or a hat, or a beard, or in summe, a thing of fashiō, it were a reason [Page 13] very receiueable (though not very reasonable) to say, The fa­shion is common, and therfore contemptible & to be suppres­sed. But knowledge is a thing of vse, and that of the highest nature, it is the food of Spirits, and food may not bee taken away from the hungry, though there be a common plenty of it; and fulnesse in many hath bred loathing. And indeed if thou hast any thing that may adde vnto knowledge or ver­tue, there is a hunger and need of it, and thou art farre from that Noblenesse which thou pretendest, if thou doest not commiserate necessitie, neither resemblest the chiefest paterne of Maiestie and Honour, who filleth the hungry with good things. It is indeed a mat­ter of Pusillanimitie, not to [Page 14] bee able to indure a false and witlesse aspersion; and such is that censure which con­demnes thee for being publik­ly profitable. And if there be any spot or griefe in this taxe of vulgaritie, vndergoe it pa­tiently for the good of the publike, and so become a Confessor for pietie and ver­tue. And if yet thou be asha­med to be knowne for a pub­licke well-doer, giue vs thy workes and keepe thy name to thy selfe.

But if all this cannot draw thee out of thy denne of singu­laritie, I wish thou mayest be famished out of it, by the re­turne of thine owne reason and dealing vpon thee. For it is a rule of Iustice, that which men do, they should suffer; and yet I would haue thee suffer it [Page 15] no longer, but till thou doest it no more. Now that which thou doest and thy fellowes doe, is this: yee are a world by your selues, and the rest are left as a world by themselues; Now as yee are men of ano­ther world, to this world, by the way of retribution should this world be a diuers world vnto you. As your litle world keepes his worth to it selfe, so should the great world keepe his worth to it selfe. And then I doubt not, but hunger, and thirst, and labour, would teach you the lawes of Trafficke, and force you out of your Cels of separation. Then would nature teach to giue, where there is a receiuing, as grace hath already taught vs. That it is more blessed to giue, then to receiue; And indeed where [Page 16] hath any man gotten this high priuiledge, to be so excellent a part of the whole, that the whole should onely bee a ser­uant of that part. That a part is inferiour to the whole, euen as a member to the bo­die, the ancient doctrines and examples of Heathens will teach thee if thou art a Hea­then, for they haue beene pro­digall of their liues to bring their words of this kind into Actions. But if thou art a Christian, the Word is neere thee, euen in thy mouth. That the members of Christ must loue and cherish each other, as the members of a bodie. To this end, excellēt is the exhor­tation of the great GREGORY, Qui audit dicat veni, &c. Let him that inwardly heares the voyce of grace, outwardly call [Page 17] men by the voyce of exhorta­tion. But especially remark­able is that in his Pastorall Cure; Christ our elder bro­ther being dead, we are bound to rayse vp seed vnto our elder brother. And if any that are enriched with gifts, yet dote on the priuatnesse of contem­plation, and neglect the profit of the publike, surely in the strictnesse of iudgement, how much they may profit, so much they are guiltie.

Now a second cause of this mysterie of silence, is a distem­per of the bodie, when man are chayned vp with Melan­cholie, and durst not breake prison. These loue not the light, but inioy darknesse, and bring vp their children, and burie them in the dungeon with them. To these I wish a [Page 18] bodily cure and outward phy­sicke. Yet with all the phy­sicke of grace, by which wee are stirred vp to resist and o­uercome the whole flesh, in the different vices of his se­uerall humors and complexi­ons.

D. Char. in his preface of Wisdome. THere is a certaine Wi­zard whose Morali­tie outstrippeth his Diuinitie, that accordingly preferreth the practice of Mo­ralitie before the practice of Diuinitie. He sayth the ver­tue [Page 19] and honestie of Diuines is deiect, sad, fearfull, and vulgar, but that of the Philosophers is pleasant, puissant, noble, and rare. These words haue an vnmannerly sound, though some of his Sectaries will per­chance say they haue a sound meaning, but if his meaning were good it had not beene amisse in so waightie a matter to haue bestowed other or more words vpon vs, that a­mong some of them we might haue found out the goodnesse of his meaning. For my part, I cannot perceiue any iustifia­ble sence in them, but hold them being radically and fun­damentally examined full of danger and vntruth. Dange­rous they are especially to the vnwritten Tables of young braines; for by the Proclama­tion [Page 20] of such notable excel­lence and transcendence in humane wisdome, the affecti­ons of such are lifted vp to the more noble knowledge, and they looke downe with con­tempt on a lower and meaner Learning. But let those who by that Authour are brought into danger know, that they are brought into danger by an vntruth, & then perchance the knowledge of the vntruth may preuent the hurt of the danger.

And though to some it may seeme, that because there are profitable truthes to be found in this Authour, therefore a few errours should be pardo­ned; I confesse, I am euen for this reason the more vnwil­ling to pardon them. For ther­fore are the errours more dan­gerous, [Page 21] because they come in the company of some notable Truths, it being a readie and common course, that Errours accompanyed with Truthes are the more easily swallowed, the excellence of the Truthes speaking for the Errours, and strongly perswading, that the Authour of such Truthes can hardly be also the Authour of Errours. Besides it were far safer that he had kept both his Truths and Errours in silence, then that they should both haue an equall acceptance. For hee that learneth not those Truths from him, may learne most of them from others, for others haue spoken much of that which hee teacheth: and yet if they faile of a great part of them, there is truth enough besides to bee had to make a [Page 22] man temporally and eternally happie. But hee that recei­ueth these Errours, though ac­companied with his notable Truths, the Errours will make him miserable, if beleeued, euen in spite of the Truths. For certainly it is the most fearfull miserie of all to con­fine Mankind, within such a dungeon of wickednesse and wretchednesse as this world is, and though these Wizards charme their Disciples with their wittiest inchantments, yet they shall still be but wret­ches, the naughtinesse of the world, and the crasie infirmi­ties of their owne bodies shall torment them, & the blacknes of darknesse, euen the shadow of death shall terrifie them. For that darknesse is naturally fearfull to Man, and the fear­fulnesse [Page 23] of Moralitie may as­swage or put off by fittes, but it will still returne vpon them. Againe, it brings a man to an amazement, and makes him to quarrell with his Creator, and to aske this question of that highest Wisedome, Hast thou made al men for nought? or in other words, Hast thou beene wise in making Man to no purpose? For Man consi­dered only in this life is meer­ly vanitie, and his life after death being cast vp amoun­teth to nothing. Besides, such subtill and cunning Doctors picke not away the lower sort of wits, but the higher; in whom naturall vnderstanding being high, claspeth strongly with the chiefest naturall rea­sons. For Nature without grace, the wiser it is, the more [Page 24] mad it growes vpon naturall reason. And now that I may rightly performe the cure of this Euill, I will take his owne titles from Philosophie, and giue them to Diuinitie, and I doubt not but to make the ve­ry same good on Diuinitie which he speaketh of Philoso­phie; euen that Diuinitie is more noble, pleasant, puissant, and rare then Philosophie. And first for Nobilitie. That Nobilitie which this Man especially condemneth in Phi­losophie, I thinke to bee the freedome and vndependance thereof, euen a meere practice of vertue for vertues sake, without the respect of an higher Rule, Iudge, or End. But this which hee termeth Nobility I beleeue to be base­nesse, and doubt not to proue [Page 25] it. For Diuinitie though it goes with Philosophie a little, yet it leaues it behind in the latter and higher degrees of Vertue. For Diuinitie com­mendeth goodnesse because it is good, but then it goes far­ther and iudgeth it to bee good, because it is confor­mable to the highest Rule of goodnesse; and so it teacheth the practiser to make God the Rule & Square of Vertue. It resteth not in this that goodnesse is supposed to bee goodnesse, but it fetcheth the practice of goodnesse from God, and hauing fetched it from God it returnes it to God; It borrowed it of God and therefore payes it to him from whom it was borrowed; It knowing it to bee good be­cause it is agreeable to the [Page 26] Highest goodnesse, for the same reason it doth it, euen be­cause it is agreeable to him. So the Diuine in his highest degree is farre aboue the Phi­losopher, for hee practiseth goodnesse for the same reason by which it came to be good­nesse, euen because by a con­formitie it proues it selfe to be descended from the Highest goodnesse. And surely let them deceiue themselues as much as they list. It is the happiest and rightest estate of a Creature to bee conformed vnto his Creator, to fetch de­riuatiue goodnesse from the primatiue, and to examine it thereby, and finally to returne the deriuatiue to the vse of the primatiue. And heere I might encounter another Gentilisme of this Authour, [Page 27] which is an opinion, that all vertues are not branches of pietie, but pietie is a branch of a vertue. True it is indeed in a Heathen, that vertue is not a branch of pietie, both because he hath no true pietie, and because his vertue and his pietie issue both ioyntly and not subordinately, from dis­tinct considerations of his na­turall reason. And euen there­fore his pietie is not pietie, nor his vertue, vertue. For true pietie alone is the mother of true vertue, neither is there a­ny true vertue that is not the true child of pietie. For the Creator is the patterne and rule of vertue to his Creature, and the end of it. It is fetched from him, it is referred to him. By God wee proue and iustifi [...] our vertue, of God wee haue [Page 28] strength to performe it, and what by God wee know to be good, and knowing were ena­bled to performe, that wee iustly returne to God. So true vertue lookes in all her actions toward God; it learnes of him what pleaseth him, that which pleaseth him it knowes to be vertue, and then it doth it, be­cause it pleaseth him. The true pious man acknowledgeth God to be the beginning and Authour both of his beeing and of vertue, and therefore he referres his beeing and his actions of vertue to the Au­thour and Owner of both. So he doth vertue because it is Gods and because he is Gods. He is Gods and therefore iust­ly indeauours to please God whose hee is, and vertue is Gods, and therefore he wisely [Page 29] indeauours to please God by that which is his. Gods wise­dome and Dispensation, gaue to Man both the seedes and lawes of vertue, and there­fore the pious man doth them with an eye to the Authour, Rule, and End of them. And whosoeuer doth any vertue, without an eye to God as the Authour and Rule of vertue, (both to enable and to ap­proue it) or to the same God as the Owner and End of both, this man is a traitor to his Maker, and guiltie of im­pietie, because hee robs God of his Creatures, and the Crea­ture of their true End. For hee doth not his actions by whom nor for whom hee should doe them. But to true Christians it shall be a stedfast Rule of their actions, That by [Page 30] God and for God are all things, and therefore their ver­tues; And if all their vertues bee fetched from God and done for God, then are all their vertues fruits of pietie, euen of the worship and ser­uice of their Maker. But now hauing found out these pre­misses, let vs by their light dis­couer & examin who is baser, the Philosopher or the Diuine.

And first I say that the Di­uine is more noble in his Rule of vertue then the Philoso­pher. For the Philosopher hath got a Soule hee knowes not how, with some measure of reason in it (but I must tell him terribly ruined and dege­nerate) and hauing got it hee hugges it, lookes on it, and sets his rest, and contentment in the sight and operation of it, [Page 31] and compares it only with itselfe. But the soule hauing a deriuatiue goodnesse, the true tryer and touchstone thereof must bee the primatiue good­nesse. Therefore they doe foolishly that examine their soules by their soules, and their Reasons by their Rea­sons, especially in this state of corruption, for if the soule be crooked it cannot serue for a Rule to rectifie it selfe. But the primatiue Rule and good­nesse ought to bee the Rule of the deriuatiue, and to it must it haue recourse to know whether it haue swarued or no.

Therefore the Philosopher while hee dwels in himselfe, fayles in Iudgement as well as in honestie. But the Diuine (I meane the practiser of Diui­nitie) escapeth these faults; and [Page 32] ennobles himselfe farre aboue the Philosopher, by a continu­all recourse to his original. For perceiuing that from God hee hath his knowledge & good­nesse, hee lookes vp vnto God as vnto the highest Rule of all created goodnesse. Therefore hee reasons not foolishly with the Philosopher, It is true, or it is good because I who am frayle and imperfect thinke it to bee so, but because the highest perfection, truth and goodnesse hath declared it to bee so. For (as before) good­nesse is goodnesse, euen be­cause it is vniforme vnto God.

Secondly, the Diuine is more noble then the Philoso­pher in the meanes of acting vertue; for knowing that from God proceedeth all strength, he seekes strength for the acti­on [Page 33] on of Vertue from the Author of strength: whereas the Phi­losopher makes vse of an olde decayed strength, which is the remaynder of the gift of God, without eyther petition or thankes to God. The Diuine indeed commends Vertue for the sparke that it hath of the first Image of the Maker, but yet acknowledgeth great de­fects in it, and therefore de­sires to perfect it by the re­nuing of the same Maker, and then hauing renued it by him, hee referres it to him. So the vertue of a Christian, doubly acknowledgeth God the Au­thor of it, and with double strength returnes vnto him; both as it came first from God by Creation, and after the Creation being defaced, as it was renued by Regeneration.

[Page 34]Thirdly, the Diuine is more noble then Philosopher, in gi­uing the Creatour his right in his Creature; for knowing that his whole person came from God, hee voluntarily, freely, and ioyfully returnes himselfe wholly to God, hee giues the Creatue to the Crea­tour, and makes him his end who is his true Owner by be­ing his beginning. But the Philosopher cuts off the Crea­ture from the Creator, eyther by denying the Creation (and yet he sees no man now adaies spring out of the Earth) or o­therwise by denying all traf­fique betweene the Creatour and his Creature. As if God had cast out caresly from his hand, so admirable a Creati­on, and willingly lost it, and so became a Creatour to no pur­pose, [Page 35] or else regardeth it only as a Spectator of Gladiators and Fighters with beasts, euen as one that delighteth to be­hold the miseries that Man­kinde wreaketh on it selfe, which is a blasphemy against the Fountayne of Goodnesse. But farre bee it from vs to ac­count our selues our own, but his, euen his Creatures, Chil­dren and Seruants. Indeed, if our selues & our Vertues were originally ours, then might we rest in our selues, & loue both our own selues & our own ver­tues by themselues and for themselues. But God hath a propertie in vs and our ver­tues, and therefore as to a fa­ther we ought to offer the ser­uice of Children. For a iust & vpright soule cannot but take delight in pleasing him who is [Page 36] to her the Authour of being.

Wherefore, I desire hereaf­ter that the Philosopher will not despise the Sonne for a cheerfull pleasing his Father; nor the Seruant for a comfor­table practice of Vertue, be­cause it is acceptable to his Lord the true Owner both of him and his Vertues. For al­though himselfe bee a fugitiue Seruant, and hath turned his Liuerie into a Sute of Appa­rell, and swaggers it vp and downe in his run-away free­dome, yet the Masters proper­tie lyes as a heauie burthen & accusation vpon him, and shal one day bring him to the Bar of the highest Iustice, and in the meane time he stands heere be­low indicted for a Vagabond, and so is far worse in his stolne Gallantry, then a Seruant is in [Page 37] a iust & voluntary obedience. The seruice of a Christian is a seruice of loue, and therefore it is a noble seruice. A Chri­stian loues God, and therefore pleaseth him by doing that which God loues. Now this seruice of loue is noble because it is voluntary, pleasant, and cheerfull.

Loue casteth out feare, and takes delight in pleasing him whom it loues; and therefore it cheerfully obeyes him, and indeed, such cheerfull obeyers doth God only loue; There­fore such should only bee cal­led Diuines, and their vertue the only vertue of Diuines. Which if it be granted, then is the slander of the deiection, sadnesse, and basenesse, of the Diuines wholly ouerthrowne.

Lastly, the Diuine is more [Page 38] noble then the Philosopher in his Marke or End. For the fruition of God is proposed by the Diuines in their prac­tice of vertue, but that by these is turned to an obiection while themselues haue no o­ther end but some transitorie vse of vertue. True it is, that Christians beholding the beautie of vertue, they loue the looke of it, and highly e­steeme it. But yet more Rea­sons of estimation doe binde more, and the adding of strength doth not weaken but strengthen; else a threefold cord were easier to be broken, then a single one.

Therefore, God knowing the corruption of mans na­ture, and that few men in this state of deprauation haue ey­ther vnderstanding or worth [Page 39] to value goodnesse sufficient­ly, and accordingly to practise it, he hedgeth in the frailtie of man with the double inclo­sure of punishment and re­ward, and all little enough (and too little as Experience shewes) to keepe him in his way.

Though vertue bee lonely to a clarified vnderstanding, yet mans vnderstanding being in the most pudled by the fall, and in euery one sometimes dimmed by passions the fruits of the fall, the beautie of ver­tue then shines not to an vn­seeing eye, but the will by feare or benefit is then most to be wrought on. If therefore to ayde so great a weaknesse, there bee a supplement of strength by the proposition of danger and profit, the nature [Page 40] of man is hereby the more suc­coured, and we are to blame, if we blame our helpes. But they will say, they are most noble, that haue no need of them; and that tread the path of vertue, neither for feare nor couetousnesse. I answere, that Goodnesse and Happinesse being naturally linked toge­ther, and wickednesse and mi­serie, the vnderstanding and will, more readily imploy and bend themselues to the good, and from the euill by reason of that Vnion. And surely, Happinesse beeing tyed to Goodnesse by the Chayne of Prouidence, wee cannot but mend our pace to goodnesse, by the sight of annexed Hap­pinesse: and it were folly not to looke on that which may both delight & incourage vs.

[Page 41]Our will desireth good na­turally, and therefore good being tyed to goodnesse, giues more appetite to the will. And surely heerein was the same kinde of Action in the Hea­then, though by mistaking. For these did seek a souereigne good in vertue; and euen for that sought it the more fer­uently. Now the ods is this, that wee haue a souereigne good with vertue, though not in vertue, conioyned but not confounded. So vertue is loue­ly to vs, but God the Foun­taine of vertue is farre more louely, and to him wee walke in the path of vertue. Now there is no basenesse in louing vertue well for it selfe, neither in louing the Authour of ver­tue better then it, neyther in louing vertue the more for [Page 42] leading vs to the Authour of vertue. So we may not be bla­med but rather should bee commended (vertue being the way to the Author of vertue) if we make this vse of this lit­tle streame of goodnesse, by the guiding thereof to come to the infinite ocean of Good­nesse.

Surely, we then loue vertue best, when not contented with the drops of it, we labour ear­nestly to come to the foun­tayne and sulnesse of it; and by practizing a little vertue to come to the perfection of it. If one poore sparke of vertue be to bee loued for it selfe, much more is that infinite Rocke of Orient and most shining ver­tue to be loued in God, and it is a most reasonable purpose and resolution to loue the [Page 43] Higher Excellence more then the lower, and to loue the lower the better if it leade to the Higher.

When wee find gold Oare in the top of the Earth, we va­lue it highly, but wee value it the more, because it leades vs to the Gold Mine it selfe. Therefore the Philosophers were children in this, that ha­uing found a Myne-stone, they played with it, and sought no farther, but the Christians are truly wise, who hauing found it, follow the Veine vntill they come to enioy the very Roote and Treasurie thereof. Ano­ther spot which is cast on Di­uinitie, by the odious compa­rison or preferment of Philo­sophie, is this, That the vertue of Diuines is more vulgar, and that of Philosophy more rare. [Page 44] Heere I cannot but stand still and wonder, how this man came to vse speeches so flatly contrary to the speeches of Christ, and hauing spoken them, to propose them to Chri­stians. Eyther he thinkes him­selfe herein wiser then Christ, or that wee are no Christians, and therefore apt to beleeue him before Christ the Author and Finisher of our Faith: But it is an ancient truth, The narurall man is blinde in the things of God, Christ hath said, The way to Heauen is narrow, and few there bee that finde it, and I take it, that is rare which but a few doe find. Israel was but a drop to the Ocean of Mankinde, and Is­rael only had for a long time the Statutes and Iudgements of God.

[Page 45]Againe, at this time when Religion is let out into the World, how is it beyonded by Turcisme, Atheisme, Gen­tilisme, Heresies, and Epicu­risme? Surely, a true Christian is a rare thing, and if it were not so, this man could not well haue hoped to bee gene­rally beleeued that they are common. And if hee meanes by vulgar (besides the com­monnesse) to intimate that Christianitie is incident to meanenesse, and so is fit for the common people, as well in that they are base, as in that they are many, I vtterly gain­say him; For if Diuinitie bee truly examined, it requireth the highest vnderstandings to search it, the mightiest and no­blest indeauours to performe it, for in Diuinitie they are [Page 46] Mysteries which are taught, and excellent things which are commanded. Therfore Christ telles things hidden and vn­searchable to the very wise of the world, and enioyneth ver­tues excelling the ambitious holinesse of the very Scribes and Pharises. Yea, he wyteth his hearers that contented themselues with ordinarie ver­tues, saying, What great or excellent thing doe yee? yet the truth is, that to sundrie of the meane ones, God impar­teth the light and grace of Christianitie, but not because meannesse is fitter to appre­hend it, but because by mean­nesse God best expresseth his owne excellence, and shewes his power chiefly in infirmi­tie, and his light in darknesse. Therefore for his owne glorie [Page 47] hee chuseth them and not for their abilitie toward Religion, but rather for their not-abili­tie in some respect. For where­as by their natural vnablenes, they were altogether vncapa­ble of Diuine Mysteries, God is sure to get glorie to his Spi­rit, which entring into men so full of darknesse and mean­nesse, makes them lightsome, wise, able, and truely noble, For from henceforth being re­generate, They vnderstand se­crets, performe difficult ver­tues, aspire vnto eternitie, and despise tēporall, though glori­ous vanity. Thus meane men receiu grace not by their mean­nesse, but for their meannes, & receiuing it are no lōger mean, but are made excellent and noble. This is it which Dauid sayes: Psalm 19. That God by [Page 48] his Word giues vnderstanding to the simple. And Psal. 119. That by the feare of God hee became wiser then his Tea­chers: And if wee looke for examples to omit those anci­ent Fisher-men (a profession commonly most ignorant) whose words and writings cannot bee matched by the world in spirituall, that is in the best wisdome: I wil speake of our times, that in them I haue seene Men admirable in Simplicity for worldly things, but miraculous in Diuine knowledge, so that their spee­ches in the one kind haue bin contemptible, and in the o­ther haue sounded like Ora­cles. So that a great know­ledge beeing found in a great simplicitie, it may not bee thought, That simplicitie is [Page 49] the cause of Knowledge, but wee must looke a higher cause, euen that the Crea­tor is the cause of a new Cre­ation. And the fountaine of Wisdome is the cause of these droppes of new and super­naturall wisedome, powred into naturall simplicitie. And this hits right with Christs speach vnto Peter, Flesh and bloud hath not reuealed it to thee, but my Father in Hea­uen. And that Diuinitie is not a shallow knowledge fit to be waded through by dwarfish ignorance, the experience of the Fathers may confirme. For the chiefest of them were men of admirable wisedome, great learning, and vnwearied studie, and yet they found in Diuinitie Wisedome beyond their Vnderstanding, Lear­ning [Page 50] aboue their Learning, and Worke beyond their Time. Therefore it shall re­maine a certaine Truth, That Religion ordinarily requires Wisedome, and therefore though it often lights on them that lacke it, yet then it brings Wisedome with it. And in­deed Religion brings with it the best Wisedome. For that is the best Wisedome which teacheth vs the most perfect vertues, and leades vs to the most perfect, absolute, and eternall Happinesse. Lastly, though God doe shew most often his strength in weake­nesse, yet that Grace of God is no common worke, neither, among the common people. But surely I thinke this man deceiued himselfe thus; Hee saw in the blind Religion of [Page 51] his Countrie, the common people led with Ignorance and Superstition, and out of that superstitious Ignorance, to doe many seeming workes of Charitie and Pietie, and on these he bestowth the title of the vertue of Diuines. But it is a great errour to make Su­perstition the Roote and Mo­ther of Theologicall vertue; for Superstition is a Bastard begotten by an informed and ignorant feare of the Deitie. Such people are as farre from true Diuinity, as he is from the true commendation of it. And himselfe in his chapter of Pie­tie, hath truly shewed pietie to be of so high a Nature, vniting Man to his Root the God­head, that I wonder he could here make the superstitious dotage of the ignorant vulgar, [Page 52] to bee the high and transcen­dent vertue of the Diuines. For let him confesse ingeni­ously, how many of the vulgar hath hee knowne truly to re­turne to their originall, and to knit themselues vnto it.

Surely, it seemes he forgate at last what he had written at first, or knew not at first what he would write at last. But say what hee list, Theologicall vertue is of no base stampe, it containeth in it an vnion with God, and from hence issueth an Image of God, and from this Image the Loue of God, Charitie to our Neighbour, and Sobrietie in our selues. And in this path of vertue, it leades vs to Felicitie. And when hee hath magnified his Philosophie to the highest, Diuinitie chalengeth all the [Page 53] Goodnesse it hath as her ser­uant, and addes more vnto it. Now for the other two Epi­thites wherewith hee decketh Philosophie, and whereof he robbeth Diuinitie, Pleasant­nesse and Power; I haue fit­ted seuerall discourses for them, yet withall respecting other faults. But the Reader may set such pieces of them together, as being inlayd in his memorie iointly with this, may serue for an intire Confu­tation of these errours. And that his memorie may not tra­uaile farre for the doing of it, I heere immediatly adioyne them.

THere are some that thinke on Religion, as vpon some fearfull Apparition, and accordingly receiue the Image thereof into their Mindes; in the likenesse of a sowre, grim, and austere visage. And surely some Pha­risies haue giuen a Confirma­tion hereunto. But this is an especiall deceit and fraud of the Deuill, to rob vs of the greatest ioy by a false feare of the greatest sadnesse. Is there any more comfortable thing, then the vnion of Man with [Page 55] his Souereigne Good? Is there any thing more pleasant then light, and true Christians haue in them the beames of the vp­permost Light? Is there any thing more rauishing then Beautie, and these are deligh­ted with the highest Beautie of the Creatour, and with the lower Beauties of iust and ho­ly men, resembling the higher? What delights Man more then to loue and to bee belo­ued, and behold a Christian is the best louer, and loued of the best? Vertue was glori­ous in the eyes of the Hea­then, so that in regard of her they despised all labours and sufferings, yea, life it selfe. Yet their Vertue was but of a bounded Nature, & as a stan­ding Poole, whose waters are by measure. But the Vertues [Page 56] of Christianitie are continuall streames flowing from the e­ternall Fountaine of the Dei­tie; and haue an vnlimited power of daily increasing. I cannot, I would not say all that the ioy of Christians can afford me, I haue Arté of Happ [...]nesse. elsewhere saued this labour. Neither let men thinke but that these are matters of Fact, and not of meere Speculation, for the hearts of true Christians are at this day liuing Witnesses, and the Sayings of the Dead cry aloud to confirme it. Reade DAVID reioycing in his Psalmes, and you will thinke him a man rauished, so doth e­uery word swell with ioy, prayse, and exultation. See him dancing before the Arke, and if you bee no wiser then a very woman, you will [Page 57] thinke him out of his wits, but if you bee so wise as a good woman, you will say, his soule did magnifie the Lord, and his Spirit reioyced in God his Sauiour.

Againe, reade the Song of Dauid, describing the extasies of loue and delight, wherein the Church almost loseth her selfe, as vnable to contayne them, and you cannot but say, that there is a ioy entered into the heart of man which can­not get it selfe wholy into it by comprehension; nor get out of it by expression. All the Instruments of Musicke, all the Creatures both sensi­ble and insensible, are summo­ned together to helpe forth the vtterance of an vnvttera­ble ioy. And how can you blame him, for his soule is in [Page 58] the Courts of Heauen, Where to be a doore-keeper for one day, is better then to bee a thousand yeares in the Courts of Princes, and yet most men thinke that Courtiers haue great ioy of their places.

Againe, Gods Words are sweeter to him then the hony, and you know, Sweetnesse is the God of the Epicure. Yea, it is more precious then fine Gold, and Gold is the God of the Worldling. Thus a Chri­stians ioy surmounteth the ioyes of the Naturallist, euen Honour, Pleasure, and Profit. But if this bee true, you will say, how comes it that so few seeke heauenly, and almost all seeke earthly ioyes? and per­chance thou which readest it art also of the same minde. Hereunto I answere, That the [Page 59] fault is in the Taste, not in the Meate; in the folly of the Iudgement, not in the Pearle; when a graine of Corne is pre­ferred before it. To taste spi­rituall ioyes a man must bee spirituall, for the spirit rellish­eth only the things of the spi­rit, and like loueth his like. Be­tweene a spirituall man and spirituall ioyes, there is as mighty an appetite and enioy­ing, as betweene fleshly meate and a carnall stomack. There­fore the want of this taste and apprehension condemneth the World to be carnall, but mag­nifies the ioyes spirituall, as being aboue a grosse and car­nall apprehension.

Surely, the face of this world at the first view, shewes vs a plaine euidence of its vn­acquaintāce with these ioyes, [Page 60] it is so willingly soyled with the sweat of worldly labours, so defiled with wallowing in the mire of voluptuousnesse, so wrinkled with the cares of this perishing life. They still cry out, who will shew vs any good, but they would haue this good shewed them in their Corne, and Wine, and Oyle.

But on the otherside, if men did fully taste the sweet­nesse, and rightly value the preciousnesse of heauenly ioyes, the World would run so fast from the World, and presse so violently into the Kingdome of God, that wee should extremely neede Ser­mons to perswade to the la­bours of the six dayes, where­as now all Exhortations are too little toward the sanct [...]fy­ing [Page 61] of the Seuenth. And in­deed, the Primitiue times gaue examples hereof, when there was plaine need of dehortati­on, to keepe men from too much haste toward Persecuti­on, and too much flying from the World. If thou therefore be as they were thou shalt bee readie to doe as they did. Doe not as Fooles do, who because they cannot taste the ioyes of a Christian, therefore leaue to be Christians. But euen be­cause thou canst not tast them, be thou more vehemently de­sirous to bee a Christian, that thou mayest taste them. For by being a Christian thou shalt taste the ioyes of a Christian, whereas else thou losest thy selfe and them, and sinkest downe to the base degree of a grosse and transitory creature, [Page 62] and so of base and transitorie ioyes: yea, below them a­gaine into a bottomlesse pit of endlesse darknesse. But rather striue thou by earnest Prayer to the Father of Spirits, to make thee spirituall, that so spirituall things may be plea­sing to thee, and thou pleasing to him who is the chiefe of Spirits, for Conformitie and Harmonie is the Law of Plea­sure and Delight. Therefore, also on the otherside tread downe thy flesh and the taste thereof, whose exaltation is the abatement of spirituall Life, Taste, and Feeling, and whose abatement is the exal­tation of spirituall fauour and discerning.

Another Obiection is fra­med by the World, that Re­ligion cannot bee pleasant, be­cause [Page 63] none speak more against Mirth and good Fellowship, then these forward Chri­stians, and great Religiona­ries.

To this I answere, That men truely wise and holy doe not preach against Mirth, but Madnesse; and not against that Fellowship which is truely good, but against that which passing vnder the name of good, is full of all vice and wickednesse. There is an ho­nest and cleane Mirth, which Oyle to the bones, as the Wiseman sayth, and this if the World could find, the Salt of the World would not correct and chasten. And indeed, this alone deserues the Name of Mirth, for the sport of sinne is a laughter at things lamenta­ble, and a ioy in stead of sor­row, [Page 64] and is so vnseparable from sorrow, that if it haue not the sorrow of temporall Repentance, it shall haue a far greater sorrow of endlesse pe­nance. True it is, that God at first gaue his creatures to man to be inioyed, and now especi­ally to Christians is that right renued, so that Christianitie is so far from taking them from vs, that it only giues them tru­ly to vs.

Againe, God delighteth not in the sowrenesse of face, in hanging downe the head like a Bul-rush, in tormenting the body, which though with some they may be esteemed as good out-sides of Religion, and as Paul termes them, shewes of Godlinesse, yet of themselues they are of no va­lue with God.

[Page 65]There is nothing in vs loue­ly to God, but righteousnesse, and that which aduanceth it, and there is nothing odious to God but sinne, and that which serueth it. If therefore the Creatures of God be vsed to­ward the aduancement, and incouragement of Gods ser­uice in vs, wee please him in their vse, yea, wee offend him in their neglect. And the speech of Ionathan concerning Sauls forbidding of meate, will God himselfe vse against vs; these men haue troubled the Land, for if they had eaten, they had done greater seruice against the Enemies of God.

And for ioy it selfe we may see that God hateth it not, For hee himselfe in the old Law appointed many feastes, in which there was a plaine pre­cept [Page 66] of Reioycing. And in the new Law. Paul telles Ti­mothie that God giues vs all things abundantly to inioy, and in the Acts hee testifieth that God filleth vs with food and gladnesse. But our Mirth must bee wise and reasonable, as becommeth those that are men, and not Apes, euen Crea­tures stamped with the Image and Character of God. And too true it is that the Mirth of Man, as the Wrath of Man seldome keepes such a mea­sure that it fulfills the will of God. Yet this cals for Watch­fulnesse and measure vnto Mirth, but sets not vnlawful­nesse on it, if it bee measured and decent.

I denie not but Sadnesse is sometimes necessarie in Reli­gion, but not as it is Sadnesse, [Page 67] but as Sadnesse is a Rod vnto Vice, and as by humbling the Flesh it aduanceth the Spirit. Sadnesse hath no worth by it selfe, neither is it in Religion the end of it selfe, but euen Sadnesse it selfe tendeth to Ioy. Religious men by Sad­nesse walke vnto Comfort, and indeed Comfort is an as­sured fruit of Spirituall Sad­nesse. Sorrow for sinne en­deth in the ioy of forgiuenesse, and sadnesse of meditation en­deth in the ioy of Diuine con­templations. So are we made merrie by Sadnesse, and the weed of sorrow changeth it selfe vpon vs into the garment of gladnesse.

And this high priuiledge of Ioy hath a Christian aboue a Carnall man, that whereas the Man of earth being sad is one­ly [Page 68] sad, and sad vnto sadnesse, the Christian being sad is sad vnto ioy. How must not then a Christian bee a most ioyfull Creature, whose very sadnesse endeth in ioy, yea, it is a means of procuring and making ioy. Fleshly mirth endeth in sad­nesse, and spirituall sadnesse endeth in mirth, and so if that be well that ends well, the sad­nesse of a Christian is better then the mirth of a Heathen.

There is yet a third Obie­ction. That Religion is atten­ded with opposition and per­secution, and these are terri­ble things to flesh and bloud. I answere, that if this bee so, yet is Religion a ioyfull thing. For these are not in Religion, but after Religion, and indeed they are qualities of Irreligi­on. Religion it selfe is busied [Page 69] about excellent things, as v­nion with God, conformitie to God, fruition of God; and persecution and opposition comes from Irreligion, Athe­isme and Malice.

Religion must needs be the more excellent because it hath such Enemies, as wicked men and wicked spirits, as one commended Christianitie be­cause Nero persecuted it.

If great Armies come to conquer a Land, it is likely to be a Land of pleasure and fer­tilitie, for barrennesse and worthlesnesse seldome call for Conquerors. Enuie the De­uills torment and pleasure, seeth some invaluable ioy, which he would take from vs by outward vexations, but certayne it is, that as it is a ioy whose fulnesse is beyond the [Page 70] reach of Mans heart, so the fastning of it is aboue the reach of the Deuills hand, for nothing can reach high e­nough to take it from vs. Yea, when he reacheth to it by the persecutions of the bodie, hee increaseth the ioyes of our soules, for as tribulations a­bound, so doe consolations abound also. So in this point is a Christian also a most ioyfull Creature, whose afflictions breed consolations, and whose enemies are instruments of comforting them, euen by af­flicting them. So in all things are wee more then Conque­rors; Ioy is our part which nothing may take from vs, but all changes by an vnchange­able Law, doe worke our Ioy. Therefore doth the Christian enioy tribulations and takes [Page 71] them for aduancements; yea, the disciples of Christ reioyce in their sufferings for Christs sake, as testimonies of worth and estimation with their Lord. So a Souldier takes pleasure in that which to an ordinarie man is a terrour, yea hee inioyeth his scarres and wounds as markes of valour, and steps vnto Honour. And as the sight of future aduance­ment doth cheere vp the Hea­uenly Souldier, so doe the pre­sent ioyes of the Spirit of con­solation. As the bodie is pric­ked or scourged without the heart, is bathed within in the celestiall oyle of ioy and glad­nesse. The comforts within rise according to the suffrings without; yea with them, by them, and aboue them. God the Creator is within comfor­ting, [Page 72] and they are but Crea­tures that are without affli­cting, and how shall wee not bee full of Courage, of Com­fort, since hee that is in vs and with vs, is so infinitly greater then hee and all they that are without vs and against vs?

But as the Carnall Man hath had leaue for his obie­ctions against Religion, so I desire leaue of him a little to question the ioyes of his Car­nality. For I am in great doubt that many sinners haue more trouble and worke to be dam­ned then many Christians to be saued. I say it falleth out by Diuine Mercie on the one, and Iustice on the other, that if some righteous men haue the Deuill for a hard Enemie, some sinners haue him also for a cruell Master. Generally the [Page 73] peace of the wicked is feare­full, hollow, interrupted, and finally ending in sorrow. If Affliction come to him (as the first Curse giues some taste of it selfe vnto all) hee recei­ueth the Curse with Cursing, hee takes his Soule and teares it to pieces, by raging and re­pining, and, (contrarie to Paul that reioyceth) hee raueth in Tribulations. The great pur­suer of Vertue, whose loue to his Countrie was admirable, though the fruits of it scarse iustifiable, at his death defies Vertue it selfe, and in discon­tent renounceth her as a Vas­sall of Fortune. The end of pleasure is Lothsomnesse, and the apprehension of an End saddeth the mids of it. Yea, in the mayne course of his Life he is in bondage by the fea [...] [Page 74] of Death, and that feare of Death bittereth his Life. Ac­cordingly haue I heard one to fall out with his Life, because of Death, speaking in the playne, but pittifull language of a meere Naturallist, what auayles mee any thing that I doe, since whatsoeuer I doe I must dye? And indeed if Death end the whole Man, by that end the workes of Man are to no end; for what can any workes auayle the Man that is not?

And now if we consider an­other way the Carnall mans life, wee shall find that very often hee is put to hard serui­ces, and hath but a bad Master of the Deuill. Take out some one of the chiefest and set him for a Patterne, and you shall see his Life to be a perpetuall [Page 75] Drudgerie, and hee is no other then a Gally-slaue, rowing hard for the execution of his beastly lusts. And if hee sinke downe into some rest, the De­uil spurres him vp againe with one Concupiscence or other, that he must needs goe being Deuill-driuen. Perchance he hath a piece of whordome in his head, and the house of his flesh is on fire about his eares, and hee can neuer be quiet be­fore he hath quenched it; and then also hee is not quiet, but euen by quenching growes more fiery. Before his beast­ly satisfaction, he hath the la­bour of watching, sending, gi­uing and contriuing, he feares the harlots husband, or his owne Wife, the parents, the friends of both, and generally the eyes of Men. Sometimes [Page 76] the Necke it selfe must be ad­uentured in cruell Murders for the remoouall of Impedi­ments, and sometimes for re­moouing the Fruits. And if you marke what basenes such people put on in this snea­king Vice, somtimes equalling themselues with base persons, sometimes couering their fil­thinesse with base shifts, a no­ble heart would scorne it for meere Nobilitie. But it is an excellent piece of Iustice that filthinesse and shame are fast tyed together, and he that will haue one, must needs take the other for his labour. And af­ter Satisfaction he is not satis­fied, for one sinne satisfieth but one lust; and the roote of lust assoone as that one is satis­fied, is readie to bud forth a new.

[Page 77]Yea, Lust the more it is o­beyed, the more it commands, the more fewell is brought to it the more it burneth, and when vpon a call it is vsed to satisfaction, it will call the oft­ner for satisfaction. It is like a Childe (begotten and taught by the same Lust) whom you doe not still by giuing that it cryes for, but by giuing you inuite it to cry for more. Ther­fore denyall is the best reme­die for Lust, and the next way to quietnesse. For Lust vsed to denyall, will grow fainter in asking, that which it hath of­ten beene denyed. But your common granter of Lusts is a Dogge in the wheele of Lust, still fetching downe the top of satisfaction, and when that is vnder his feete, there is still another top aboue him to bee [Page 78] fetched downe againe. So is his businesse neuer at an end, vntill the wheele be rotten, or the Dogge old, and notable to trauell any more. But per­chance hee is no Whoremon­ger, but he is a couetous man, and surely that man aboue the rest, is the Deuils Post-horse: his braines, or his bodie, or his eyes, or his Letters, are euer trotting abroad for bargaines and sales, and sometimes he is tormented, because he cannot be more tormented by being in many places at once. Hee could gladly bee scattered a­broad into those diuers pla­ces, where are diuers good bargaines, or diuers dangers of losse. One man had need to be wrought out of his Li­uing for enlarging the Terri­tory, the other must bee ten­tred [Page 79] with a forfeiture, that the most may be made of him, a third must bee vexed in Law for a profitable composition. And if any of these misse; our Ahab is heart-sick, and can­not be cured but by a Playster of Naboths bloud, of Iezebels, (of the Deuils) owne making. And still his head is full of Bullockes and Sheepe, Hed­ges and Closes, Townes and Tenements, Markets and Fayres, Siluer and Gold, Ob­ligations and Feoffments. O­uer and aboue all this, hee ser­ueth his God Mammon, in great and painfull Deuotions, euen in long Watchings, most abstinent Fastings, earnest Prayers for Profit, and hearty Repentance for a good Bar­gaine lost; I wonder what greater paines would Grace [Page 80] haue asked vnto Saluation, then here sin hath voluntarily vndertaken vnto damnation.

But if Ambition bee the disease of the man of flesh, then doth hee lye perpetually in a bed of Thornes, and too true it is for him, that Honour and Miserie walke often toge­ther in the same path. He is like a short Man still standing on tip-toe to looke ouer a tall Mans shoulder, and sure hee cannot but bee in much paine by his stretching. Hee hates them aboue, yet croucheth to them, and desires to be one of them whom hee hates; hee loues them below, yet lookes bigge vpon them, and cannot abide to bee one of them whom hee loues. So an Am­bitious man may well be pain­ted with two Faces or As­pects, [Page 81] the one looking vp­ward and making many curte­sies, the other looking down­ward, and making many Frownes and Terrifications. His life is full of labour, for he will neuer suffer his worke to be done: for he proposeth ends, which when he hath at­tayned, he suffers them to bee ends no more. This man and the rest of his fellowes I hold to bee very miserable, because they buy Misery with Misery, and with temporall paines purchase eternall torments. And herein is there Miserie more miserable, that they de­light in their Miserie, and this delight makes them willing to be still miserable.

These are truly those Egyp­tian Israelites, that for loue of the Flesh-pots and Onyons; [Page 82] can bee contented to carry straw, and make bricke all the the dayes of their liues; yea, they preferre the labours of Egypt, before the freedome & rest of Canaan; they had ra­ther to bee set on worke by lust, then to enioy the rest and peace, and ioy of the Holy Ghost.

But I could wish those men would learne of the West In­dia [...]s, whome perchance in scorne they will terme Saua­ges and Barbarians, but the worse thou callest them, the worse thou callest thy selfe, if thou be worse then they. It is recorded of some of these Indians, that they were wearie of their gods, and willing to change them, because they had so much labour to please them. For their Deuill-gods [Page 83] would not bee pleased but with many Sacrifices of men, which cost them much warre and bloudshed. Surely the Deuill is the same heere, that he is in the Indies, he sets as heauie taskes on them that will bee so kinde as to beare them; for euen here also men must sacrifice to him the best endeauours and affections both of soule and bodie, in Ambition, Couetousnesse, and other toylsome Vices, and at last the very soule and bodie themselues must bee sacrificed in an eternall fire. But bee yee weary of your gods, O yee Heathen Christans, and serue the true God, who desires no other businesse but Holinesse and Righteousnesse, and hath ioyned there with the ioyes of his heauenly and most com­fortable [Page 84] Spirit, and hath an­nexed thereunto the ioyes of an eternall and most glorious Kingdome.

And let no man hereafter be afraid of Religion, because of sadnesse, for by so doing he may condemne his sight or taste, that discernes or rellish­eth not the ioyes thereof, but then whiles Religion is still one and the same, euen a most glorious and comfortable thing.

Therefore let the Nouice or Apprentice of Religion; especially, desire the grace of that Spirit which is the Au­thor of Religion, to open his closed eyes to lighten his darknesse, that hee may see the brightnesse and beautie of Re­ligion: and withall let him in­treat the strength and suppor­tance [Page 85] of the same Spirit, to support & stablish him in the beginnings of this new Arte and Science of Ioy, both be­cause the beginnings of all new Sciences require labour and constancie, and because our Enemie the Deuill know­ing the excellencie of these ioyes, grudgeth them to Man­kind, and therefore mightily striues to tyre men in the verie entrance thereof. But bee yee assured, that if yee once come to be freemen in Religion, be­ing made free by the Spirit of Christ Iesus, you will be raui­shed with the sweetnesse of God, and your hearts wil pant for his ioyes as the Hart doth for the streames of waters; you will bee inforced to say, That the strongest is the sweetest, & that his ioyes alone are pure [Page 86] and cleare, and that the ioyes of the flesh which you dranke so greedily heretofore, are but puddle and mudde; Though the laughter of folly perchance were lowder, as the fire of Thornes, yet the solid and massie ioyes of the Spirit are stronger, and giue more true and kindly heate to the heart and soule.

For certain it is in Diuinitie, as it hath beene discouered by her seruant Morallity, sound ioy is a solemne thing. And conuertibly may wee say, So­lemne ioy is your only sound ioy. Wherefore let solid, wise, and sound Spirits seek this so­lid, pure and weightie ioy, suffering these light, loose and muddie ioyes to bee (as most often they are) the compani­ons of folly and brutish sen­suality. [Page 87] And herewith let your sowre Pharisies, and Monkish Heraclites, receiue an admo­nition, that they doe not act Religion in the Vizard of vg­ly sowrenesse, nor dogged au­sterity.

Religion is a louing and a louely thing, and the Picture of it ought to bee like it selfe. It is made all of light & loue, and light and loue are com­fortable and amiable things, cheerefully communicating themselues to others, and allu­ring the eyes and hearts of o­thers to behold and partake them. If Religion then bee a drawer, bee not thou a driuer, neyther doe thou scarre away with thy grimnes, those whom Religion would allure with her beauties. There is a cheer­full grauitie as well as a light [Page 88] mirth, or a lumpish terrible­nesse, and it were good for the paternes of Religion to looke as like it as they may. I con­fesse, one looke fitteth not all occasions, but I ayme a gene­rall seemlinesse, leauing par­ticular changes to bee framed by their particular occasions. And though sorrow for sinne bee a vertue, yet the publike shew of it, except it bee in a publike cause, is not still a ver­tue, for it is a vertue many time to couer this Vertue, Christ himselfe counselling to couer the humiliation of Fa­sting, with the anoynting of the face. But due exceptions being allowed, the Christians charge is, Reioyce continual­ly, he is enioyned to be amia­ble, and of a winning conuer­sation, that without the word, [Page 89] some may bee wonne by their Eyes, that are not yet by their Eares.

THere hath bin an an­cient slander cast vp­on the Christian Re­ligion, and it is now eyther nourished or reuiued, that Christianity begets cowardize and kills fortitude. And that it is a slander, I hope it shall plainly appeare; but in the meane time, I desire the carnall gallant to wipe his eyes clou­ded with the myst of fleshly [Page 90] Humour, that what doth ap­peare may also appeare to him, for except he bring sight, it is to no purpose for mee to bring Light. As for the Phi­losopher hee is so wise alrea­dy and broad-sighted like the bird of the Night, that if I should perswade him to looke wider and clearer, hee would become blinder by Anger then he was before by Error, and therefore leauing him as being wise, if his owne con­ceit bee true, I beginne with the description of Fortitude.

True Fortitude, is an habi­tuall strength and resolution of the Minde, which eyther leades a man constantly to a iust and reasonable aduenture of danger; or when he is ouer­taken by them, sustaynes him constantly in them. Now this [Page 91] true Resolution doth spring from Reason, and by Reason is brought forth into Action. So is true Valour wise and not blind, for it is the Valour of a Man and not of a Beast.

Then heere are cut off all those rash Braueries, and bru­tish Valours, that bestow their owners vpon euery Swagge­rer, when hee pleaseth to call for their liues, by some wilde looke or verball Iniurie. Sure­ly the reasonable Man is led into dangers eyther by Diuine prouidence or precept, when GOD bids him vndertake dangers, or bids dangers o­uertake him. Hee acknow­ledgeth no owner of his life but the giuer of it, and he will then onely aduenture it when hee may shew the warrant of the giuer: for he knowes him­selfe [Page 92] to bee accountable, and therefore will so carrie him­selfe in dangers, that hee may fayrely passe his account. And surely a strange thing it is, be­cause some wilde beast is rude and vnmannerly, therefore some honest and ciuill Man must hazard his Life, or else the Countrie will not be con­tented: For what hath the ci­uill Man done why he should set his life in a ballance with a Russian? If the Ruffian hath wronged him he ought to bee punished, and the wronged ought not to hazard him­selfe in an equall subiection to punishment with the doer of wrong; neither because he is wronged in his Name, is it Reason he should bee farther wronged in his Limbes or Life; for in these Recreations [Page 93] the blind sword doth as often punish the wronged as the the wronger. The wager is vnequall to lay the life of a Christian against the life of a Ruffian, and farre more then an hundred to one; and there­fore hee may well leaue him vpon that oddes, and referre him ouer to fight with one of his fellowes which is as well worth the killing as himselfe. If hee rayle giue him an ad­monition for his rayling, and doe thou beeing a Vine beare grapes, though a Crab-tree close by thy side beare crabs. To see a religious Man breake out into an equalitie of Furie with a Mad-man, is iust as I haue sometimes seene a dogge of the Land run into the Sea, when hee hath seene a water-spaniell (the Embleme of a [Page 94] Ruffian) to leape in before him; Diuersos diuersa decent. But if you aske wherein this excellent Valour of Christia­nitie doth expresse it selfe, I will shew foure glorious, ver­tuous, and comendable kinds of fighting, wherein Christi­ans excell all other, and can­not be matched.

The first is the fight of Confession or Martyrdome, wherein the fire of the Spirit fighteth for God and his Truth, against bodily fire, and all other torments inuented by the spirit of darknesse. And herein is the very strength of God in a chiefe degree ex­pressed, when by the suppor­tation and incouragement thereof, flesh and bloud stands still patiently, yea, ioyfully to be tormented, yea, consumed [Page 95] for his sake who made and re­deemed it.

A noble and heauenly cou­rage inspired from God, and ayming to God, who is the beginning and end of all solid worth and excellence. In this fight man riseth aboue him­selfe, and being ouercome by the animating spirit, he ceaseth in a manner to bee flesh and bloud, and is all spirit, and the spirit feeleth not torments, neyther is the heauenly fire passiue to the earthly, but ac­tiue vpon it.

A second fight, is a fight, of Constancie and Patience in the ordinary Crosses and losses of this life, or in those extraordinary which (o­pen Persecution ceasing) cease not to be cast on true Christi­ans by the Law of the first en­acted [Page 96] enmity betweene them, and the seed of the Serpent. Philosophers had the applause of their Sectaries, and many times of the People, but a Christian is sure to haue the enmity of the world, to whose fashions his course is a profes­sed enmity.

Hee had need of courage not to bee ashamed of Religi­on among Ruffians, & Mam­monists, and Epicures; to whom, not to sweare, not to coozen for profit, not to bee drunke is called a Vice, and the Vice is called Purita­nisme. But euen heerein the Spirit of God hardeneth and steeleth his Seruants, that their faces are like Flint, and them­selues like brazen Walles and defenced Cities, though other­wise soft in affection, and true [Page 97] professors of meeknesse.

A third fight, is a fight a­gainst Lusts and Passions, wherein the Battaile is terrible and difficult, and the Victorie more glorious then a Con­quest of the World. Salomon saith, That he which ruleth his desires, is greater then hee that winneth a Citie. And humane Reason hath sayd, that he that ouercomes himselfe, is stron­ger then hee that ouercomes the strongest walles. And a se­cret Reason there is that ag­grauates the difficulty of this fight, and that is, because with the Armie of Lusts is conioy­ned an Hoast of Spirituall Principalities and Powers, and he had need of a supernatural courage and power, that must make warre with a King of Spirits. Surely the greatest [Page 98] King of Spirits must bee in vs to resist and ouercome this lesser King. And indeed, ac­cordingly greater is hee that is in vs, then hee that is in the World. And if the greater be in vs, surely then are we grea­ter then they in whom is the lesser.

Now let the Ruffian or Fencerly Gallant talke of his bold aduentures on the grasse and stubble, and let him glory in beeing rashly or foolishly hazardous, but in these sub­iects of wise valour, he is but a Run-away, and your true Christian is your only man. I will fetch a Boy or a Woman that shall challenge the field of him, and the place of mee­ting sh [...]ll bee in a fire, and the quarrell shall be for the honor of his Maker and Redeemer, [Page 99] but I tell you before, there is no hope of the Swaggerer, [...]hat he will come thither, but if he came there is great hope he will certainly runne away, if hee bee not bound the faster. Yet it is wel knowne that ma­ny youthes and women in this fight, haue right valiantly ad­uentured, and giuen away their liues vnto death.

Againe, for crosses and los­ses, fetch mee one among all Philosophers and Heathens, that can match Iob for misery and constancie: the greatnesse of his misery, magnifying the greatnes of his constancie, be­cause though it was excessiue, yet it was exceeded by it. And if you examine the third kind of sighting, your Christian hath no fellow, for noble and valiant Conquests obtained a­gainst [Page 100] himselfe, and the infer­nall hoast of tempting spirits. The slaughter of his owne lusts is his continuall exercise, and hee is well skilled in that difficult Art, wherein no Hea­then euer could match him, nor any man of one only birth, and that is euen of ex­pelling Generation by Rege­neration; the arte of driuing himselfe out of himselfe. Hee sets one foot on the Spirit, and with the other kickes the flesh out of doores, and by spiritual flames consumeth carnall sug­gestions.

Againe, if the Deuill offer him the Kingdomes of the Earth, he despiseth them; if he threaten to set open the gates of Hell vpon him, he is confi­dent hee shall not preuaile a­gainst him. But take the Swag­gerer [Page 101] at this fight, and hee is most commonly a Beast and a Drudge to that Enemy, against whom (indeed) hee should e­specially fight. Hee is led vp and downe by the Nose like a Swine, or a Beare by euery base Lust and Concupiscence, as a Cup, a Whore, a Play, and a Pipe, and hee durst not but follow them. Y [...]a, hee is so very a slaue vnto Lusts, that in s [...]eed of fighting against them, he fights for them, and the poore counterfeit valour hee hath, is at no seruice rea­dier, then in defence of one of his Concupiscences. Therfore if you meddle with his Har­lot or his Cup, his Scabbard is instantly pregnant, and your life, (if you please) may bee at his command.

But to leaue these Duellists, [Page 102] and to come to Conquerours, which is to come from the kil­lers of men to the killers of Mankind; surely in leauing them, I doe not leaue them; for I finde their slauery and basenes, euen in Alexander & Nabuchodonozer. Slaues they are of Drinke, of Ambition, of Pride▪ and thereby most e­uidently appeares the excel­lence of Christians, and the basenesse of the sonnes of na­ture.

The naturall Man conque­ring the World, is himselfe conquered of his affections; and the Christian Conquerors that which conquers the Con­querors of the World.

But now wee talke of Con­quests, perchance some mar­tiall man wil call me into que­stion, because hee findes not [Page 103] heere the commendable kinde of fighting for our Countrey and Nation; or some cunning Arithmetician, that being able to tel foure, finds yet but three of my foure promised kindes of valour.

Wherefore to giue an An­swere to any such Question, I affirme, that no man hath more Reason to bee valiant in the defence of his Country, or a lawfull cause then a Christi­an. The greatest abatement of Valour, commonly ariseth from a fearfull apprehension of death. But the Christian hath least Reason of any to feare death, for by it he is sure to gaine the aduantage of an eternall felicitie. And there­fore hath he most reason to be valiant.

This beliefe of eternitie, e­uen [Page 104] a Heathen Poet commen­ded as a principall root of va­lour, and he commended it in the ancient Brittons, for (saith he) it is a foolish thing among them to be sparing of that life which will returne againe, and he calls them happy in this er­rour, whereby they are freed from that greatest feare of death. And by common rea­son, He that beleeues nothing to be beyond life, should feare more to lose life, which is all that he knowes, then another which knowes a second life to follow this, which farre excel­leth it.

Againe, as the Christian hath least cause of feare, so hee hath most cause of valour, and where is more cause, there is to be expected a greater effect. Now it doth plainly appeare, [Page 105] that a Christian hath more cause then a Heathen to bee valiant. For besides the loue of his Countrey, and the pre­seruation and enlargement of Fame, which are reasons com­mon to both, the Christian hath for his aduantage, the highest Essence commanding him, confirming him and stan­ding before him as his reward. God is his warrant for his acti­on, he is his strength in the ac­tion, he is his happinesse if he dye in the action. So many aduantages hath a Christian of a Heathen, and therefore his valour should by so many de­grees be more excellent then a Heathen.

Therefore if a Christian be not so valiant as a Heathen, it is not because he is a Christian, but because he is not Christian [Page 106] enough; and no question but hee that is fearefull beeing a Christian, would bee much more fearefull if hee were a Heathen.

For let the Philosopher rack vp his wits to the highest tenters, to see if hee can reach to higher causes of valour then these of a Cristian. I am sure hee can propose no greater re­ward then eternall felicitie, he can conceiue no higher incou­ragement then the word of the highest, & he can imagine no valour more full of force and vertue, then that which is infused by the originall Foun­tayne and Roote of all might and power, who alone is iustly termed the Almighty, and the Lord of Hoasts, and the God of Battailes. Who should be stronger then hee that hath [Page 107] the Author of strength on his side? and who can feare that hath a greater with him then against him? Therefore Paul sendes a chalenge to swords and famines, and persecutions, crying out, if God bee on our side who shall bee against vs? and though all things bee a­gainst vs, yet wee be sure to bee more then Conquerours through him that loueth vs. So wee need not to feare ex­cept we will feare to conquer.

And indeed the patent of our saluation runnes in those very words; Wee are deliue­red from our Enemies that we may serue God without feare. Accordingly Dauid professeth that, because God is on his side, hee doth not feare what Man can doe vnto him, and he would not be afraid if ten [Page 108] thousand inclosed him. And the true Roote of his inuinci­blenesse hee discouers in the eighteenth Psalme, which is this, Because hee is backt and supported by the Deity. And since I am now met with him, I will set him foorth to chal­lenge the Ethnickes, to giue vs one like him that being a boy slew a Beare, a Lyon, and a Gyant. Herein I thinke they will bee farre short of Dauid, and it wil be well if they come to his thirties and his threes. And as the Heathen magna­nimitie comes short of Dauid, so I thinke will the Doctors Philosophie.

And indeede the Doctour meant to steale away the que­stion, while vnder the name of Diuines he intends certaine Scholasticall Rauens, that are [Page 109] themselues growne fearefull with Melancholie, and vnder the title of Priesthood picke out the eyes of the sheep, com­mitted to them by an impli­cite Faith, a slauish Ignorance. They pull out their eyes, and then leade them in the darke, bound vp in the chaynes of scrupulous Superstition and timerous Deuotion. And you know darknesse of it selfe is fearefull, and rayseth vp in a man fearfull Images and per­petuall doubts.

Surely the doctrine of such Diuines is far inferiour to that of the Philosopher. But the Doctour must know (though he professe not to equiuocate, yet) these are but equiuocall Diuines, and from his equiuo­call Antecedent, hee shall ne­uer deduce an vniuocall con­sequent. [Page 110] Hee might as well goe into the house of a Pain­ter, and beholding there the picture of an eloquent Orator, returne to his schollers, and tell them that hee saw such a man of late, and hee hath the worst vtterance of any man in the Citie.

But renouncing these scru­pulous and paynted Diuines, I will haue Dauid to be a true patterne of a true Diuine, and let the Doctor take his Cha­racter from him, euen of that wh [...]ch is written, both of him and by him, and then let him consider whither there bee a more noble, puissant, confi­dent, and free spirit then that of Dauid. His Valour hath before beene appr [...]oued, and his cheerfulnesse in vertue and bolde confidence, are readie to [Page 111] be manifest. Hee danceth be­fore God with all his might, the lawes of God are sweeter to him then honie, and more precious then gold, and he is confident beyond exception, for hee calls God his Rocke, his Fortresse and his Refuge. His faith and holinesse make him familiar with God, and hee is bold to fetch from mer­cifull Omnipotence whatso­euer he wanteth; Now from this Diuine let the Doctour fetch the patterne of Diuini­tie, and see if hee can ground thereon the basenesse and de­iection of his Monkish super­stition. But the Doctors Epi­stle had forgotten the Doctors own Chapter of Pietie, for the one confuteth the other, while in the Chapter hee sayth, tha [...] God is not to be imagined as [Page 112] some terrible spectre, whose imagination frighteth men from him. Againe, That Re­ligion setleth a man in peace and rest, and lodgeth in a free liberall and generous Soule. Againe, That the office of Re­ligion is to reunite Man to his first cause as to his Roote, wherein so long as hee conti­nueth firme and setled, hee preserueth himselfe in his own perfection.

Now if this Doctrine bee more truly the doctrine of the Diuines then his, then hath hee vainly condemned it; for this doctrine agrees excellent­ly with Nobilitie and Puis­sance, and reiecteth basenesse and feare.

This therefore I thinke was not meant to bee censured by him, but it remaynes the [...] that [Page 113] the Religion of the Diuines which he censured was not his Religion, but some other, and so they were not both Catho­likes; or else this difference a­rose because he could not knit his diuers common-places in­to an harmonious Vnitie. And indeed eyther of these may be true. For first where hee dis­courseth of Superstition, hee strongly consutes the practi­call religion of the Church of Rome, and so seemes to differ from them, though hee after creepe againe into their good­will, vnder the couert of com­manding an obseruation of Ceremonies, Customes and Ordinances. Secondly, I haue heard it constantly affirmed in France by a Gascoigne, Mon­tagnes country-man, and one that was himselfe an Author, [Page 114] that his Doctor was a great acquaintance of Montagne, and that his booke was Mon­tagnes pieces brought into a Methode. And sure I cannot much blame the Doctor for not doing an impossibilitie; for it is a matter neere impossi­ble, handsomly to inlay all the [...]agged pieces of Montagne, [...]nd to reduce his infinite wan­drings into the order of a stea­die path; for hee seemed alto­gether to runne after his owne wit, and to take vp whatsoe­uer it did let fall; but the wit [...]t selfe did seldome runne after any Marke, nor walke by any Rule. And so might his Fol­lower by the intricatenesse of the labour, well forget the dif­ferent colours of some of the pieces, which hee ioyned into one Bodie.

[Page 115]And if we consider but this Chapter of Piety, we may find many contradictions in it. He maketh the Religion of Pale­stine, (which is the Religion of the Iewes) to teach this belief, that the cutting and punishing of our selues & the massacring of beasts, is a most precious pre­sent vnto God, as if God tooke pleasure in the torment of his Creatures. And yet after, out of the one and fiftieth Psalme, he sayth, That the most accep­table Sacrifice vnto God is a pure, free, and humble heart, And againe, out of the fiftieth Psalme, Non accipiam de do­mo tua vitulos. Besides hee sayth, the Iudaicall Religion retayneth many things of the [...]ose [...]us in his first book against Apion writes, that the Egypti­ans and the Iewes, could not agree because of the diuersi­tie of their Religion. And Plessis in his 21. chapt. of Christian Religion, shewes that the Oracles of A [...]o [...]o and the [...]i­billes pre­f [...]rred the Iew [...]s▪ as the best wor­shippers of God. Egyptian Gentile, which is a great blasphemie, eyther in this sence, That the Iewish [Page 116] Religion had any thing in it not deliuered by God him­selfe, or that God tooke his copie out of some of that Gen­tile-Egyptian Religion, there­out to make vp a Religion for the Iewes. And herein is al­so an implyed contradiction. For hee that commendes the Christian Religion, and con­demnes the Iewes Religion as parcell heathen, contradicts himselfe, for the Iewes Reli­gion established by God and the Christians are all one in substance of Faith, and if they differ in the manner, I hope that manner was not borrow­ed of the Heathen, but the Heathen rather counterfeite the Iewes. Againe, hee spea­keth of Religion as of some Arte or Confection, saying, That Religion is so fitted, that [Page 117] it may be respected and had in admiration, yet hee sayth, It is composed of parts, some base, whereat high Spirits doe scorne, and some high and mysticall, whereat low Spirits are offended. So politickely is Religion framed to intrap all men, that it is fashioned to offend all men.

But yet there remains an ob­iection of the Heathen Mar­tialists, who may tell vs now as heretofore, That Rome be­ing Hethen raised an Empire, and being Christian lost it. To this I answere that it was not Romes Hethenisme that won it, nor her Christianitie that lost it, but rather it might bee sayd that Christianitie won it, and want of Christianitie lost it. There were three Empires before this, and they being all [Page 118] Heathen arose, and Heathen fell, and why should wee not thinke that this would also fal if it had still beene Heathen.

It hath long bin obserued, that Kingdomes and Empires haue Ier. 27.7. Ages, and Periods as­well as priuate men. And when an Empire shall rise, there comes a spirit of Valour on Armies, and of Heroicall Vertue on Chieftaynes; which the Empire being ripe depar­teth away, and then are they like Samson when his Lockes are shauen, and Samson is said then to bee like another man. And that Christianity raysed the Empire, it may be iustified in diuers senses. The first is, That God raised this Empire by the vniuersality thereof, to spread his vniuersall and Ca­tholike Truth. The hedges and [Page 119] partitions of the World were broken downe, that Christian Religion might haue a free walke throughout the whole World.

Againe, this huge King­dome was raysed iust to meet with Christs Kingdome, that by the hugenesse of the oppo­sition, the greatnesse of the vi­ctorie might bee magnified. The spirit of Antichrist was mounted on this Beast, and fought then in the Emperors, and now fights in the Popes, against Christ & his Church, but the Dragon or the Beast, or the false Prophet may not preuayle, [...]or the Kingdome is the Lord Christs, and his is glory, and honour, and domi­nion for euermore. This resi­sting and aduersarious Em­pire, while it fought against [Page 120] Christ it serued Christ, while it killed his Church it increa­sed his Church, and while it fought against Religion, it be­came a meanes to spread and inlarge it. And that it was ra­ther Heathenisme then Chri­stianity that lost the Empire, may appeare by the Stories of the Degeneration, both of the Church and of the Empe­rours Pride, Couetousnesse, contempt of Religion, deser­uing the remouall of the Can­dlesticke, which long afore was threatned to the Church of Ephesus, and in them to a­ny other like parts of the whole Church. The time and worke of the Empire was ex­pired, it had fought against Christ and was ouercome by it, and now (the sinnes and corruptions ioyntly requiring [Page 121] it) he that hindred was to bee taken away, euen the Empe­rour, and the man of Sin was to step in his place, by whom Antichrists second part was to be acted. And against him also doth the Kingdome of Christ preuayle, though fighting a­gainst Christ by the old wea­pons of the Heathen Empire, euen fire and sword. And now small States and Kingdomes are animated & strengthened by the hand of Omnipotence, so that they stand the shock of his greatest fury; yea, they gaine and grow vpon him.

A little bordering Country, that is but a piece of a former state, and the most despicable piece of it, standing in water, and therefore participating, left of the actiuity of fire, yet [...]ow by the disposition of the [Page 122] Almightie, partakes of the wisdome and power of a fierie Spirit, and hath often consu­med both the aduerse policies and forces, preseruing mighti­ly; yea, in larging that Religi­on, which should haue beene taken from it by the cruell ta­lents of the Inquisition. Wher­fore be wise, O ye Kings, and be instructed O yee Iudges of the Earth. Kisse the Sonne and re­sist him not, lest he be angrie, and ye perish in the mid-way. Make not your Hoasts and Nauies the vaine Bulwarkes of declining Antichrist, ney­ther wrap your selues in the ruines of him that is appoin­ted to fall. When Christ will ouercome an Hoast, is con­temptible before him, and the greatnesse of your opposition can only magnifie his Victo­ry [Page 123] and your owne ruine. And bee yee rather of that ioyfull side, which shall say with tri­umph, It is fallen, It is fallen; Then of that sorrowfull com­pany, that shall cry with sor­row, Alas, Alas; that great Citie, clothed in fine Linnen, Purple and Scarlet.

YOur ordinary Swea­rers, wrongs GOD, wrongs his friends, and wrongs himselfe. For the wronging of God, hee cares little, because he hath sworne [Page 124] so long, and the patience of God hath deferred his punish­ment, though Medit. (as elsewhere I haue shewed) God wil right his owne wrongs in his owne time, and the length of delay shall bee requited with the weight of the punishment. Yet not guiltie of Diuinity, he is somewhat touched with hu­manity, and so out of the Rea­son of Manhood, he starts at the accusations of himselfe and his Friend.

For first for himselfe, which selfe is first in his owne eyes, and is indeed his owne God, hee hath no malice in the World to himselfe; yea, as he giues out, hee is readie to ad­uenture his life to do himselfe right; yea, his swearing is most commonly in his owne de­fence, and thereby to make [Page 125] Ridiculum acri, Fortius & melius magnas ple­rumque se­cat res. men beleeue hee will fight, & so saue himselfe from fight­ing; for indeede it falles out most often, that where solid Magnanimity is wanting in the heart, there it must be sup­plyed by the valour of the tongue. But yet hee harkens still how it may be, & I doubt not, hath alreadie sworn some oaths that it cannot be. But if it please him to lay his Ca­nons aside, that wee may talke of swearing without swearing, I will plainly proue it to him, and will ground my proofe on the Rules of the most honou­rable Swearers. And thus I begin. To giue a man the Lye, doth him an especiall wrong and dishonor, (so that in some Countries it is punished by death, if the Iron bee prompt and nimble.) But the Swearer [Page 126] giues himselfe the Lye; yea, makes himselfe a perpetuall Lyar. Therefore the Swearer doth himselfe a great wrong and dishonour.

Now I know hee is angry with the lesser Proposition, or that he may vnderstand it the yonger; for he sweares that he hath no intent in the World to make himselfe a Lyar when he sweares. For a reply, I might stand vpon a receiued Axiom, That hee that will sweare will Lye; because that hee who hath not conscience enough to forbeare swearing, hath seldome any more to for­beare lying, and if I would stand vpon it, I think he could hardly remooue mee but by swearing. But I will leaue these collaterall proofes, and will draw my Reasons from [Page 127] the very roote of Swearing, that withall if it be possible, I may draw vp swearing by the rootes. This then shall be the ground, That swearing is for a confirmation of things doubt­full; Now things are doubt­full, either in regard of them­selues or of the speaker. But ordinary swearing is most cō ­monly employed vpon things plaine & friuolous, wherin can bee no doubt, (as sometimes in a question what a clock it is, and sometimes in an vndoub­ted Affirmation that yester­day hee drunke such a one vn­der the board, and that he was at such a Play, and such a Bro­thell.) Therefore it now only remaynes, that the swearing must bee in regard of the doubtfulnesse of the speaker, or if you will, Swearer.

[Page 128]Now if a man bring him­selfe into doubt and suspicion of a common Lyer, by being a common Swearer, surely he bestowes the Lye on himselfe by swearing; yea, the habituall Lye, and hath wronged his most deare, though most slight Reputation.

But that wee may walke a little aside out of this Logick (and indeed the Swearer may spare Logick, as the Logician may spare swearing, for the Swearer prooues all by Oath without Reason, and the Lo­gician all by Reason without Oath) wee will goe into the larger Field of Questions and Answeres, an exercise which in his Vniuersity of Recreati­on, it may be he hath heard of.

And first I aske him, why he doth strengthen his euident [Page 129] matter with such a multitude of Oaths? eyther he must be a brute Beast (which hee will by no meanes grant, though I cannot altogether deny it) to doe things wholly without Reason, or if there bee a Rea­son, it must be this, That a rot­ten Tree must haue a leaning Post, and a lying Man must be kept vp in credit and beliefe by swearing. And then I may well brandish against him this forked Argument: If thou mayest be beleeued, why dost thou sweare? And if thou canst not bee beleeued (which thy swearing imports) then thou goest for a Lyar. There­fore I perswade thee hereafter to leaue thy swearing, that thou mayst bee thought to haue left thy lying; and if thou art not an ordinary Lyer, be­leeue [Page 130] it, thou hast no need to be an ordinary Swearer. Vse but a while to speak the truth without Oaths, and thou shalt finde no lacke of thy Oaths, for thy word shall bee taken by it selfe. Otherwise thou art like an ill credited Borrower, thou ridest vp and downe the Countrey with Sureties, be­cause thy owne Band will not bee taken. And surely such Bankrupt securitie, rather dis­graceth then helpeth thee, Oaths beeing the common Sureties of the basest people, euen the scumme of high­wayes and Ale-houses.

Now, for the third point, That the Swearer wrongs his Friend, I confesse, my first proofe is much preuented, and returnes to me, leauing the bu­sinesse vndone.

[Page 131]For I had thought to haue argued thus. It is a great wrong for a man idlely to put his Friend to great paine: but the idle Swearer, idlely puts an honest man to great paine by his idle swearing. But heere the mischiefe of the matter is, that there is an honest man in the middle Proposition, and the Swearers friend in the for­mer, which will not become one in the Conclusion; Now, if the Swearers Friend were an honest Man, it might saue the life of the Syllogisme, and perchance his owne too. But there being little hope of such a mans honesty, I doubt mee, that a towardly Syllogisme is cast away. Wherefore giuing him time to amend his honesty (& I wish hee take not to long a day) I retyre from him to re­inforce [Page 132] my assault with some new Reasons, which thus marcheth towards him. He that often sweares to his friend in trifles, giues cause to the World to beleeue, that his Friend wil not beleeue him in trifles without an Oath, But hee that giues cause to the World to beleeue, that his Friend will not beleeue him in trifles without an Oath, wrongs his Friend. Therefore hee that often sweares to his Friend in trifles, wrongs his Friend.

Now it is certayne to all Mankinde, that there is no greater scandall to Friendship, then want of Trust; mutuall Confidence being the mayne sinew and ligament of Friend­ship, and yet by swearing this scandal most vnhappily lights [Page 133] on the Swearers sworne Bro­ther. But perchance the Swea­rer hath a malice to the Vaunt­gard of my Syllogisme, and flyes in the face of the first Proposition by a strong deny­all, that he sweares not because he distrusts his friends beliefe, but to procure grace to his words in the eare of his friend. A filthy Grace, and I doubt a beastly Friend, in whom such a Grace hopes for entertaine­ment.

But first I will answere, That howsoeuer his Friend may take it, yet the wifest part of of the World will not be per­swaded, that hee can haue any other probable cause but Feare and Distrust, and so a­mong Wisemen (which I know hee doth not much re­spect) his Friend is subiect to [Page 134] scandall. And secondly, if it be for a Grace (though indeed it is for want of Grace) in rid­ding his friend from the lesser dirt of Distrust, hee casts him into the sinke of the suspition of Folly; and so that hee may not be false, hee is content to make him a Foole. And sure­ly as I cannot much excuse him from want of wit, in being a Friend to a Swearer, yet it is a great wrong for men equally foolish, to call each o­ther Fooles. But hee will ex­amine mee how hee calls his Friend Foole? To this I can­not but answere with a Que­stion, Is not hee a very Foole, in whose opinion his Friend is graced by Foolishnesse? And is there more Foolishnes, then for a man to bumbaste his speeches continually with vn­necessary, [Page 135] impertinent, incon­sequent, or to speake English, not-concerning, not-agreea­ble, not-sensible, not-reasona­ble words, and for which it is thought among some of the simplest sort, a man may chāce to bee damned? And yet by this madnesse, the Swearer thinkes to grace himselfe with his Friend, which hee cannot hope for, except hee hold his Friend to bee as mad as him­selfe. Wherefore to take my leaue of him, (which I much desire) I wish him in good wil to his Friend to forbeare this, and all the rest of his Follies together, or if hee will needs whether I will or no, keepe the rest of his (as he thinkes) more necessary Vices, yet to giue o­uer this superfluous and very spareable Vice, and to breake [Page 136] out to his Friend in these pas­sionate parts of speech, I. or T. thou hast knowne mee long, many times haue wee beene drunke together, and beeing drunke, haue drawen our Swords together, we haue bin together on the Plaines, in the Dice-house, the Play-house, & the other house, and I neuer yet fayled thee in any lawfull Action; by these euidences thou knowest my heart to bee true to thee, and where there are such reall poofes, there needs no verball confirmati­on. Wherefore wee will set vp the Prouerbe for a Rule, Few words among Friends: & that the words may bee the fewer, we will bate the Oaths, and so put a difference betweene our substantial Friendship, & that [...]rothy, and mouthy Conuer­sation [Page 137] of the Country-Swag­gerers.

Lastly, If this will not worke for a priuate Reformation, yet in the Name of Ciuilitie, I be­seech the Swearer to keepe in his Oathes when hee lights a­mong good Companie. Hee can but procure this fruit by his swearing, that he shall vexe them, and they shall hate him. He will confesse himselfe that it is a great vnciuilitie, when Men are met together for ho­nest Society and Comfort, to come in and throwe stones, cups, or candlestickes, amidst the Companie: yet so doth the Swearer, and he strikes not so much the head, as the heart of a Religious Man. And so he is the spoiler of true Mirth, though he thinke himselfe ne­uer so much to be a good-fel­low. [Page 138] But if all this will not serue to perswade thee to leaue some words, that may well bee left without marring the sence, I must leaue thee to bee confuted by Fire and Brim­stone. The Deuill that now sets thee on worke, will here­after pay thee thy wages; and God whose name now serues thee but onely for swearing, shall then make thee to serue his Iustice, in gnashing and weeping; Howling and cur­sing, shall be thy chiefe ease in Hell, to whom Blasphemie was an especiall recreation on Earth.

In the meane time, I would to God there were not onely a strict Law against Blasphemie, but a strict obseruation of that Law, since if the Scripture be true, Blasphemy is very Trea­son [Page 139] to a State. For if the Scripture bee true, Hose. 4. then hath God a controuersie with a Land for swearing, and when God and a Land fall out, the Land must needs haue the worst. So the Swearers betray the Coun­trie they liue in, and bring it into a quarrel with God, and I wish much rather that the land would haue a quarrell with them, that so by quarrelling with them we may be at peace with God; for the Almightie hath spoken it, and that in Thunder and Lightning, That he will not hold them guiltlesse that taketh his name in vaine. And though they should es­cape the penalty of a tempo­rall Law, yet it were pitty they should escape from Ecclesia­sticall Censures, which I wish may seize on Swearers as well [Page 140] as Adulterers; swearing being indeed the spirituall Adulte­ry of the Tongue: for in swea­ring, eyther Gods pure and holy name is polluted, by the fleshly touch of a prophane carnall and sensuall Tongue, or if some other thing is set in Gods stead to sweare by, that is Idolatry, and Idolatry is knowne to be spirituall Adul­terie: Now spirituall Adul­terie is also knowne to make a diuorce betweene God and Soules, yea between God and Nations.

THere is gone forth a saying, but it is a­mong the brethren of Errour, (and I take it the foresaid Doctors writings are not cleare of it) That the Em­pire of Authority is in Religi­on, and that a blind Credo is a fundamentall Law of it. But that this is a blasphemous vn­truth, both the experimentall and documentall knowledge of Religion can plainly mani­fest. Let morall and naturall Men bragge of their Arts and Sciences, their demonstrations and reasons, and I will yet [Page 142] maintaine, wee hold Religion by a more Reasonable hand, and clearer Wisedome, then they doe their Arts and Sci­ences.

And first, I giue them to know that the true liuely and substantiall Faith of a Christi­an is not an effect of blindnes, nor a meere worke of the will, that beleeues because it will beleeue; but therein the vn­derstanding plainly, cleerly; yea, by the highest kinde of sight discerneth that which it deliuereth ouer to the Will and Affections to bee embra­ced and depended on. And if Religion see and know that whereunto it trusteth, and trusteth to that which it seeth and knoweth, and if she know by the purest and Diuinest knowledge, what more reaso­nable [Page 143] thing can bee imagined then this, That a man should trust in that which by a most excellent Knowledge hee knowes most worthy to bee trusted in.

Now that a true Faith is grounded in Knowledge, Re­ligion both by word and ex­perience teacheth. The A­postle describing Faith, sayth plainly of it, That it is the E­uidence of things not seene, that is, by Faith wee see Spiri­tually things vnseene Carnal­ly. Now I hope, where is sight and euidence, there is not blindnesse and darknesse. A­gaine, when Peter confessed Ie­sus to be the Christ, Christ tells him that flesh and bloud hath not reuealed it to him, but his Father in Heauen, and I trow had not Peter reason to be­leeue [Page 144] in Christ, when the Fa­ther in Heauen had reuealed him; and haue the Artists any such euidences of the ground of their Arts. Againe, Ioh. 17. This is life eternall to know thee to be very God, and hee whom thou hast sent, Christ Iesus▪ So Christ must be knowen before he become our Life eternall. And Ioh. 10. I know my sheepe and I am knowne of mine. And 1. Cor. 2.10. The reason of this our Knowledge is shewed, God hath reuealed to vs by his Spirit the things that hee hath prepared for vs. And ver. 12. Wee haue receiued the Spirit of God by which wee know the things that are freely giuen vs of God. And Vers. 15. A man made Spirituall discerneth all things; and himselfe is iudged of no man that is not Spirituall, [Page 145] for how can a blind man iudge the sight of a seer? And there­fore euen in this point which I now defend, wee may well scorne to be iudged by blinde naturall Men, that know not our fight, and therefore know not the things which they gainsay, but euen for that cause deny them to bee. Fur­thermore, Paul, Eph. 1. speakes of the Spirit of Wisdome and Reuelation, by which the eies of our vnderstandings may be inlightned, to know the riches of our calling, and the great Power of God in the resurre­ction of Christ. And to con­clude (excluding many more) with an euident testimony; let vs consider that of the second to the Cor. 3.18. We all with open Face beholding as in a Glasse, the glory of the Lord, are chan­ged [Page 146] vnto the same Image, from glory to glory as by the Spirit of the Lord: which is presently followed in the next Chapter with these words: That God who commanded Light to shine out of Darknesse, hath shined in our hearts to giue the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the Face of Iesus Christ: which indeed is but a Comen­tarie of Christs short words, Ioh. 14.21. He that loues mee; I will shew my selfe visibly vnto him. Now if God haue so shi­ned visibly in our hearts, that by the beames of his light we haue a knowledge of his glo­rious worke of our Redemp­tion in Christ Iesus; yea, if Christ hath shewed himselfe plainly to vs, who can hinder vs to beleeue that wee know, euen to beleeue in an all-suffi­cient [Page 147] Sauiour, reuealed to vs by the transcendent Light of an omnipotent Creator. Ther­fore will wee triumph in the reasonablenesse of our Be­leefe, wee will boldly tell the naturall Man, Quod vidimus testamur, and we worship that which we know. We will an­swere with Peter (Ioh. 8. ) Wee beleeue and know that thou art Christ the Sonne of the liuing God. And let the heart of eue­ry true Christian speake what it sees, and it cannot but af­firme that it seeth an admira­ble wisedome in the mysterie of Saluation, it beholdeth Christ a most absolute Redee­mer, and Christ shines to him in an incomparable Beauty as the fayrest of Men; And this euidence is not without a seale, for hee feeles power [Page 148] accompanying Light. A new Light hee hath, which some yeeres before he had not, and a new power hee hath felt to follow that Light. The things which now seeme glorious to him and are his chiefest Trea­sures, were before contempti­ble, and holinesse which be­fore was loathsome, is now his chiefest delight. And whence can such a change come, that a man should be cleane turned out of himselfe, but by a hand that turneth hearts as Riuers of waters. Therefore truely may it be said, that the Light of Faith is sealed by the Spirit of Promise: Ephes. 1.13. So that we beleeue the Truth, not only by a single promise but euen with a witnesse.

But the naturall Man will obiect two things. First, That [Page 149] this Sight of ours is but an I­magination, and wee see only because we thinke we doe see; but we answere first, That he that denyes our sight is him­selfe blind, and therefore can­not see that wee doe not see. Salomon sayth, the Foole wal­keth in darknesse, but a Wise man hath his eyes in his head. Now Salomons Foole is a Na­turall man, and the Wise man is a man Sanctified, and how can the Foole finde by his darknesse that the Wise man finds nothing by his Light? It is no argument that I doe not see, because his blindnesse can­not perceiue my Sight. But he will haue mee prooue it to him that I see, But I answere, that though I should prooue it, he cannot conceiue it. For my selfe is Spirituall and he is [Page 150] Carnall; and if I describe to him a Spirituall sight or ob­iect, his carnalitie cannot con­ceiue a Spirituall kind of see­ing, but euen the sight of the Spirituall man is folly to the Carnall man. If there were a people of perpetuall blind­nesse, and a seeing man should come among them, and tell them what glory there is in the Sunne, the Moone, and the Starres, I wonder by what Ar­gument his sight can proue it to their blindnesse, for what­soeuer his sight affirmeth, their blindnesse will eyther doubt or deny. And indeed except a man can communicate sight, hee can hardly communicate an Image of his seeing. And as a blind man on the one side cannot receiue vndenyable proofes of Light and sight, [Page 151] but the beliefe thereof must bee fundamentally grounded vpon a trust of the Reporter, (and this indeed may be the blind belief which he meanes, which is indeed the beliefe of the blind beleeuers, and not of the seeing, and therefore is not true beliefe.) So on the other side to proue the bright­nesse and beauty of Light to one that sees, is as friuolous and vaine as the other impossi­ble. If hee should come to a man of sight in a cleare and cloudlesse day, and beginne with him thus, S ^r, I assure you the Sunne shines, and I can proue it by most euident rea­sons: the hearer would doubt more of the Speakers discre­tion then of his assertion. So it is among the Children of Light. Christ Iesus the Sonne [Page 152] of Righteousnes, the Obiect of their Faith shines on their hearts with an open face, and for one of these to come to a­nother, and to tell him that Christ Iesus is the Sonne of God, the head of the Church, and the Sauiour of his body, that in him are hid the trea­sures of true wisedome and happinesse, he would answere as Elisha to the Prophets, spea­king of the translation of his Master: I know it well, hold you your peace.

And this was long agone prophesied, that such Demon­strations should bee needlesse among the sonnes of GOD: For it was foretold, that true Beleeuers should be all taught of God, and his teaching should saue the neede of hu­mane Inforcements: Againe, [Page 153] this is an excellent proofe, that there is one generall Teacher by a Diuine Light, illumina­ting the Church (and it giues great comfort to the members of it) that in some matters of Religion, one man beeing ma­ny hundred myles distant, or borne many hundred yeares after another, receiueth some bright euident and glorious Truth, which he seeth plainly to bee true and heauenly, but receiueth it not of man by hearing or reading, but of God alone by Meditation, and yet he shall meet with another man so farre from him, or with some workes of one so farre a­fore him, which will tell the same Truths, as being by that one Teacher also reuealed vn­to them.

Againe, there were among [Page 154] the Martyrs and Fathers, men of as great and sound vnder­standing as any of these Wi­zards are; yea, they haue at first as much contemned and reiected Christ by their natu­rall knowledge, yet at length they haue changed their minds and haue sought him as ar­dently as before they contem­ned him despitefully. Now you cannot imagine that they would haue forsaken the light of their naturall Reason, but that they saw a more glorious Light, neyther would they haue spared their Candle, but vpon the rising of the Sunne. And surely these Seers doe as much wonder at the naturall mans, not seeing as the not-seers at the seeing. But the God of this World hath blinded their eyes that the [Page 155] glorious Light of the Gos­pell should not shine vnto them, and this blindnesse can­not bee taken away by Argu­ments, and being taken away, Arguments are needlesse. And this must bee thought the true Reason why in the Councell of Nice, the Reasons of the learned Fathers could not pre­uayle with the Heathen Phi­losopher, yet the playne nar­ration of the Faith by a simple Priest preuayled. The vayle of the flesh lay on his heart, and their Reasons could not take it away, but the Spirit of God tooke it away, & then the eui­dēce of a plain proposed truth perwaded him. And indeed God only hath the Key which vnlockes the heart, and that is the spirit; Eloquence and Lo­gicall Demonstration are not [Page 156] those Keyes which may o­pen the Soule. That which is fastned in our generation, must be loosed by Regeneration, & the remedie must bee equiua­lent; yea, preualent to the Dis­ease. It may not bee a naked, bare and vnactiue word, that may cure the deed of exceca­tion done to the heart, but it must be an operatiue forcible and effectual word that speaks what it does, and does what it speakes. If such a Word say, let there bee light there shall be light; and then the light of our soules shall see the great Obiect of our Soules, the per­fect Light Christ Iesus. But before this light and sight bee created in vs, let that Infinite Light shine right into the eyes of blindnesse and darknesse, the darknesse will neuer com­prehend [Page 157] it: And euen to them that see they will deny their sight, and sweare that they are blind also. But whither it be fit for vs to beleeue their blindnesse, or our owne sight, let e­uery man iudge. In their owne wisdome they will hold, That Sensus non fallitur circa obiec­tum, And by that will prooue the Sunne shines, or the Swan is white, because the vnhin­dered fence hath apprehen­ded it to be so.

And why should not wee enioy the same priuiledge, and say much more? That a soule clarified and illuminated by the purest spirit, is not decei­ued in spirituall Obiects, but as Salomon saith, it seeth more and more truely then seuen men on a Watch-towre, and as Paul saith, The spirituall [Page 158] man discerneth spiritual things. Surely the spiritual eye as pro­perly and as naturally seeth spirituall things, as the bodily eye doth bodily things; yea, it should doe it better and more assuredly, because this spiritu­all sight came more newly & immediately from the Maker, but our fight comes from him to vs through many men, and many infirmities of those men much soyled and dimmed.

And here comes in fitly to be answered a second Obiec­tion, which is an Imputation of captiuitie, vndergone by our vnderstandings in the mat­ter of Faith. To this I answere, That in true Religion it is not a brutish captiuitie, by which the vnderstanding yeelds vp her eyes to be put out, & her­selfe to bee blindfold; but the [Page 159] vnderstanding receiuing a bet­ter sight, yeelds vp the worse, and so doth not loose her light, but change it for a bet­ter; yea, it changeth captiuitie for freedome; for euen that blindnesse that captiuated is, is led into captiuity, but the vnderstanding is more free then before, as an eye that is freed from blindnesse. For the Sonne by his Spirit hath freed vs from that naturall darknesse wherein we were borne, 2. Cor. 3 16, 17. But they will re-inforce this Obiection from the vsuall forme of teaching young or new Christians. Their first in­struction they say, is to be­leeue, and they take Credo for their beginning. But do Chri­stians herein otherwise then o­ther Teachers of Sciences. It is knowne for a Maxime, with­out [Page 160] the bonds of Religion, O­portet discentem credere, Hee that learnes an Arte must at first beleeue the Teacher of the Arte, and then after being skilfull in his Arte, hee may looke himselfe into the truth of his Art. So in Christianity, at first Religion must be recei­ued vpon trust, but this is by Learners only, not true and formed Christians.

The Church must at first teach her Children vntill they be taught by Christ, and then indeed they are only true and formed Christians when Christ himselfe hath taught them. Some of the Samari­tans beleeued the woman at first concerning Christ, but be­ing taught by Christ, they went beyond that beliefe, and beleeued himselfe: and they [Page 161] adde their Reason, Wee now know that he is the Christ. So is Knowledge still the kindly foundation of our Religion, which heerein out-strips other Arts. For the yong beginners must at first beleeue the Artists themselues, and proceeding farther, must generally vpon trust beleeue principles (which they hold most from Aristotle, who as the Doctor saith in his Preface, is often contrary to himselfe, and exceeds in grosse absurdities all them that went before him.) And if some tran­scendent spirits shake off trust and authority, and search the Fountaines of things, they find that the Principles them­selues are indemonstrable, and what cannot be demonstrated I hope must bee taken vpon blind beliefe. But this fauour [Page 162] they will not allow vnto Chri­stians, neyther doe wee much desire it, for we see and know our selues what we beleeue, & whereof wee affirme, and wee see by the highest, purest, and most vndeceiueable light, and we want not the Glow-worm of demonstration to tell vs, that wee see the chiefest Light Christ Iesus by our Faith, and the light which wee see is the same Light by which wee see. Herein only is the trouble, that we cannot communicate our sight vnto blindesse, and they will not allow vs to be­leeue by seeing, what for want of seeing they cannot beleeue. Therfore when with Stephen, we say, that we see Christ Iesus sitting at the right hand of God: the blinde Wizards are ready to throw stones at vs for [Page 163] confessing what we see, or for seeing that which is hid from them.

But though our Reasons cannot open their eyes, yet God who brought Light out of Darknesse can doe it, and therefore wee pray vnto him with the Prophet for his Ser­uant, Lord open their eyes, and then with Balaam, that illumi­nated Wizard falling into a trance, with their eyes opened they may vtter their Parable; There comes a Starre out of Ia­cob, and a Scepter out of Israel, out of Iacob shall he come that shall haue Dominion.

THE root of Predesti­nation is vnsearcha­ble, the wit of man is shor [...] and shallow, contenti­ousnesse is endlesse, because doubts are manifold, and hu­mours incompatible; there­fore I thinke it best in a perple­xed matter to set downe short and euident Tru [...]hes, by light to chase away the errours of those that deceiue beeing de­ceiued, and by breuitie to make knowledge portable, & so eyther easie or pleasant to the knower.

First, it is fit for man to know, That no man doth [Page] know the secrets of God, but by the Reuelation of GOD. Therefore, iust as they are re­uealed, so they are to bee con­ceiued and beleeued. The re­uelation of Gods secrets must informe and teach our vnder­standings & iudgements what they are, but our vnderstand­ings or iudgements must not tell themselues what these se­crets are; so we must be passiue in a submissiue receiuing them not actiue in an inuentiue con­triuing of them. Therefore, mans reason must lye still, and meerly suffer when the highest Reason and Wisdome spea­keth vndiscouerable Myste­ries, it must heare and beleeue as a Learner, and not instruct as a Teacher. For who hath knowne by his owne wit the inward minde of the Lord? [Page 166] for his secrets are only known to his own Spirit, and to those to whom that Spirit reueales them. Therefore, iust as the Scriptures speake, let vs heare; and learne this secret of Pre­destination, especially, where it is handled, ex proposito, for in such places good Teachers set downe plainly the state of the Question, and an especiall place of that kind is the 9. and the 11. to the Romanes.

Secondly I affirme, or ra­ther the Scripture before me, that though God discouers to vs that hee chuseth some and leaueth others, yet the reason of Gods will in chusing or leauing is hidden from vs. Paul cryes out, O depth, and how vnsearchable are his coun­sels, and his wayes past finding out. And againe, he worketh all [Page 167] according to the pleasure of his owne will, which indeed be the very words of one that hides his reasons of doing, referring vs only the knowledge of his pleasure. Againe, Where he will, he hardeneth; where hee will, he sheweth mercie. So his wil is the Horizon and vtmost extent of our reuealed know­ledge in this point.

Thirdly, the will of God hath euer ioyned with it Wis­dome and Iustice: it is not a rash Will without Know­ledge, but whom he knew be­fore those he predestinated, & Pharaoh is hardened not with­out aduice, but that God may get glory vpon him, and Paul thus expresseth the wisedome of this businesse in generall; To shew the riches of his mercy on some, and the seuerity of his [Page 168] wrath on others. Againe, His will is iust, for else how should God iudge the World, for how can the Iudge of the World but doe iustly? but I say, some part of Gods Iustice is to man in this life vnsoundable; and is kept for the day of the decla­ration of the iust Iudgement of God, and yet some part of his wayes in this are discerna­ble to haue euident Iustice.

Fourthly, the Iustice of God is thus far euident, That man being made righteous & freely falling, and in his fall ru­ining & corrupting his whole House, Family and Posterity, God, who by mans free falling is free from the fault of his falling, hath power to punish sinne in all men, in whom hee finds it. As sinne it is contrary to him, and so punishable, as [Page 169] sin contracted by mans free-will without Gods inforce­ment or cooperation ( quate­nus sin) God is left free to bee a Iudge, and not to be excep­ted at as a party.

Fiftly, Man being in this state of misery & corruption with­out Gods fault or partaking, and God knowing that it would bee so euen before the foundations of the World, be­fore the same foundations of the World, might wel and iust­ly resolue to leaue some part of man in this selfe-purchased misery, who cannot clayme any right or merit of restoring, and hee might chuse another part to Mercie, God being by mans free act of sinning left free eyther to Iustice or Mer­cie, to leauing or chusing. And being free, he chuseth or lea­ueth [Page 170] as in his secret Wisdome he knowes most aduantagable to his glory.

Sixthly, true it is that God fore-appointed Christ Iesus to be the Sauiour of his Elect, & his Elect to be saued by Christ Iesus, and all these from eter­nitie. Christ was a Lambe flaine before the beginning of World, and the Elect were cho­sen to Saluation before the be­ginning of the World: though the Election purposed to exe­cute it selfe by Adams fall, yet the fall of Adam in it selfe was voluntary and not necessary; I say in it selfe it was not ne­cessary, for the certaintie of Gods Decree did not lay any necessitie on the freedome of Adams will, and yet neyther did the freedome of Adams will, in danger the certaintie [Page 171] of the Decree; yea, the free­dome of Adams will both cleares God from necessita­ting it, and yet certainly and infallibly effects Gods Decree. For in that Adams will is free, God doth not incline it to fall, and so therein is God cleared from inforcing his sinne. And in that Adams will is free, A­dam will certainly fall, and certainly effect the Diuine De­cree. Adam left to himselfe, cannot accuse God for mo­uing him to sinne. Sure God is the stability of all his Crea­tures, & particularly of mans will, and if God purpose to get himselfe glory on mans fall, hee need no other meanes to bring it to effect, but by gi­uing him free will. For the will left free to it selfe, as it is [...]ree from God tempting, so it [Page 172] is free from God supporting, & wher God doth not support though the will might make man to stand if it would, yet it will not do it though it might. Therefore when Adam by his free-will will certainly fall, we ought rather to speake of a vo­luntary & certainty then an in­ward necessitie. And indeed, Gods Decree hath as cleare & sure a passage to his marke by a voluntary certainty, as by a a necessity; yea, by coaction it selfe. For where God leaues the will free, this free-will will freely but certainly fall, and where it will certainly fall, by that certainty the certaintie of the Decree passeth safely to his assured marke. So likewise to doe right to Gods purity, and that he is not the author of sin, it sufficeth that we find the fal [Page 173] of Adam, to bee voluntarily certain. As for Necessity there is not a Necessitas actina, and therefore, if there bee any, it must be Necessitas ociosa, and surely it seemes idle to talke of an idle Necessitie. For as causa sine qua non is called sto­lida causa, so I see not why Ne­cessitas per quam non, may not bee called stolida Necessi­tas.

Seuenthly, God is free to make Adam free; euen to leaue him in an aequilibrious estate, with a possibilitie to bee ouer [...]eighed by temptation is hee listed; Hee might by his free-will haue taken the Tree of Life and Stability, as well as the Tree of Death and Apo­stasie, and so he was thereby as neere to Happinesse as to Mi­serie. But that God should [Page 174] stablish him as he doth the E­lect, he was not bound, for he that binds God must giue first vnto God; now the Creature cannot giue first vnto the Cre­ator, for he must be before he can giue, and euen that being (which is mans first) hee must first receiue from his Creator. So is hee first a Debter in his very being, and a man by one Debt cannot make title to another.

Eightly, though God is said to harden, yet hee doth it not by influence of corrup­tion, or supply of vice, but God herein is most absolutely cleere, for hee doth it by not-doing. And if God doe not in sinne, how can hee be accused of doing sinne? if God will that Pharaoh shal be hardned, let him but keep in his breath, [Page 175] euen his blessed Spirit, by which hearts of stone are made hearts of flesh, and then fle [...]h will of it selfe and by the helpe of Satan, turn into stone. God is not the cause of sin no more then the Sunne is the cause of Ice. The Sunne is properly a destroyer and dis­soluer of Ice, and God is a dis­soluer of the sinfull workes of the Deuill. But when the Sun withdrawes his beames by his nightly and winterly depar­tures, the cold hardens the waters which the Sunne for­sakes. So where God hideth his face, and contracts his spi­rit, there temptation hardens. He doth not put the hardnes into the heart, but hee leaues the heart and hath nothing to doe with it, and then where God doth nothing to soften, [Page 176] there will quickly enough be done by sinne and Satan to harden. Therefore when we are hardened, Let vs rather complaine that God doth no­thing, then that he doth some­thing in vs.

Ninthly, though the Chil­dren of Adam be necessarily sinfull, yet they may be iustly punished, because necessary sinning came from voluntary sinning. For this necessitie of sinning came not from God, but from their owne Father, but this free-will brought vp­on them this necessity. And surely if they had beene in his place they would likewise haue done the same, for A­dams Children would haue beene no better then their Fa­ther, the print no better then the stampe. When God gaue [Page 177] a power of leauing a righte­ous seede, hee may call into Iudgement the seed which he finds vnrighteous, and he may be angry with sinne whereso­euer he findes it, because he gaue a power that there shold bee no sinne at all. Wee doe the same and allow the same, and yet question what we doe and allow; In a Snake and Toade, we make no question whither they could chuse but bee venomous, but without any question we kill them on­ly for being venomous: ney­ther may we excuse it because we made not their venome, for neyther did God make the venome of sinne. And surely sinne is like poison in the sight of God, and wee may rather wonder how his mercy can indure it in so many, then how [Page 178] his Iustice should punish it in any. A Traytors children are impouerished by Lawes for the offence of his parents, and when wee see an oppressor, murderer, or extortioner, we exspect it as a necessary piece of Diuine Iustice, That his third heire inioy not his estate. This is the summe. God is pure and righteous, Man is sinfull without Gods parta­king, a Righteous God may punish sinfull men, whose sin he hath nothing to doe with, but he findes it contrary and offensiue to him.

Lastly, in these and the like depthes of God, let no man wade aboue his stature. Eue­ry Man should vnderstand ac­cording to sobriety, that is, ac­cording to the measure which he contayneth. Let not the [Page 179] Homer teare it selfe in pieces by stretching it selfe to be an Ephah: but let euery member (for the members are diffe­rent) aspire to his proper ful­nesse, and though they reach not to such Mysteries, they may conuerse in poynts of more absolute necessity to sal­uation, and larger edification, as our graffing into Christ Ie­sus by Faith, and our growth in him by Loue, the stabli­shing of our hearts in the hope suggested by the earnest and testimonie of the sanctifying Spirit.

These things are maine, ge­nerall, and absolutely necessa­ry imployments, and concern­ments in our way to Heauen, and in them especially must wee spend our meditations. And for the rest no doubt to [Page 180] their vnderstanders, they are full of edification, yet all men cannot ceceiue them. There­fore let euery man receiue that which is meet for his measure, according to that which hee hath, & not according to that which he hath not, nor cannot haue. Miserable it is to see (as I haue seene it) a man pos­sessed by pieces of this secret, rather then possessing them, and so vttering his distractions rather then resolutions, that one might pitty his amaze­ment sooner then conceiue his meaning. But I haue shewed you a more excellent way.

WHosoeuer doth con­sideratly behold the mayne body of the Romish Church, may finde therein three sorts of Religi­on. The first may bee called Religio Curialis, the Religion of the Court, which is indeed nothing else but Pollicy, para­phrasing Diuinity, and an vn­kindly & froward Alchymie, by which grosse things are drawne out of pure things, the flesh is limbecked out of the Spirit, and worldly pompe and supremacie is extracted [Page 182] out of a doctrine that prea­cheth sufferings, patience, and humility. An inconsequent conclusion, and farre vasu­table to the premisses; and like (though contrary) to the ancient Centones, where­in out of the Heathen workes of Virgill, is gathered the Christian story of our Saui­ours incarnation and passion. But these, contrarily, though in the same way out of the Christian and Spirituall Do­ctrine of the Gospell, draw a Heathen, Secular and Carnall Empire, euen a perfect story of a Man of sinne, and of one that sitteth as God in the Temple of God. The Pope hath gotten a Monopoly of of heauen and earth, and none may trade in eyther without some tribute to his suprema­cie. [Page 183] Thus is the Scripture brought to speake the Lan­guage of Babell; by a most cru­ell racke it is forced to deny it selfe, Christ is set on worke to set vp Antichrist. And whereas it is openly sayd, Vos autem non sic, by distinctions, metaphors, and inferences as loudly though not so truly it shall say, Vos autem sic. You shall not be as the kings of the Nations sayth one Text, yet other Texts with their glosses will bring it so about, that the Kings of the Nations shall be but your Vassals, and shall be metamorphosed into Brutes, euen Aspes and Basi­liskes for Popes to tread on. And hither tend the mayn en­deuors of diuers later Popes, euen to settle a principality by the Gospell. Yea, and when [Page 184] the Gospell would not helpe them (for it will not) they striue to establish it by warres, by tumults, by treasons, things meerly repugnant and forbid­den by the Gospell. So neces­sary it is that the Pope must bee the Head of the World, that he had rather kill the bo­dy then not be the Head; So is hee a true and liuely Anti­christ, euen an opposite to Christ; For Christ being the true Head of the Church, gaue himselfe to death for the life of his body. But this Man being (as his owne say) but a Ministeriall head, giueth the body of Christ to distraction, for the life of this imaginary Head.

On this Theme are spent the huge labours of Baronius. And to this end is the Popes autho­ritie [Page 185] ouer Princes maintayned by Bellarmine and others: and to this end is the doctrine of Treasons against excommuni­cated Princes taught, & prin­ted by many of the Popes Pa­risites, so that euery Prote­stant Prince may truly be cal­led a Confessor, for he confes­seth the Christian Religion with the danger of his life. Which transcendence both of pride and sinne, though the Court of Rome maintayne, yet because some members of the same Church haue confu­ted and disclaymed it, I may the more truely call it a diffe­rent kind of Religion.

Another sort shall bee ter­med Religio Theologorum, the Religion of the Diuines, or that doctrine which is ordina­rily taught or acknowledged [Page 186] for the sauing of learned souls: of this also there are three de­grees. The first is Crassa do­ctrina, the grosser or lesse refi­ned doctrine, which was both more common & more grosse before Luther, and yet hath large entertaynment among [...]hem: such is the doctrine of Merits, of condignity; of Pre­destination, ex praeuisis operi­bus; of worshipping of Ima­ges with the worship due to the sampler, &c. which asser­tions if any would farther learne, he shall finde them in the confutation of their owne [...]eater Writers, who among the Heretic [...]es confute also their fellows grosser opinions. And those confuters are those which teach the second degree of Doctrine, which is Doctrina limita, a refined kind of Do­ctrine [Page 187] conceiued by the ge­nuine interpretation of Scrip­tures; yea, inforced by the e­uident light of the Word, and approcheth very neere to that of the Reformed, so that though not out of one, yet out of all, our Doctrine may bee proued and deduced. And this is that which yeelds the matter of such workes as the Catholick Apologie, Papa non Papa, and such other, which by the Romanists haue confu­ted the Romane Religion. A third degree is Doctrina Spi­ritus aut Conscientia, the Do­ctrine of the Spirit or Con­science, which is, when Men taught by the Spirit of God, or enforced by the Light of their own Conscience, confesse their owne vnworthinesse, and wholly extoll as the surest Re­fuge [Page 188] the mercy of God in the merits of Christ. This former is frequently seen in Barnard, Thomas Campensis and others, that liued in that Church; Men as I hope sanctified and taught by the Spirit. Others also, by the terror or conuicti­on of their Conscience, haue acknowledged the same as Stephan Gardiner at his end, and Bellarmine when after dis­putation of merits, he confes­seth this affiance in Gods mer­cy to bee the safest rest of the soule. And no doubt when men are approching by death to the barre of a supreme Iu­stice; before a perfect God with pure eyes, if they haue any portion of the Spirit, they abhorre themselues with Iob, and doe so see and feare their own corruption, that they can­not [Page 189] find rest but in perfect me­rits, and a perfect satisfaction. So that I doubt not but of these there is a reserued num­ber, euen a number reserued by Gods election, which is truly Ecclesia Electorum; ha­uing washed their robes white in the bloud of the Lambe.

A third and last sort of Re­ligion, may be called Doctrina Idiotarum, euen that Doctrine which is taught to the com­mon people, apprehended and accordingly practised by them as sufficient to saue their igno­rant Soules. This is general­ly a Religion very neere fit­ted to brute beasts, for it tea­cheth them to be saued in ig­norance, and by beleeuing as the Church beleeues. Which is vpon the matter by belee­uing that which they know [Page 190] not, and by not knowing what they beleeue. So is the Soule, which should bee the princi­pall agent in Religion, left out in Religion, and lyes like the first Chaos, voyd and full of darknesse, And the body is principally instructed. Accor­dingly they are taught by I­mages & Pictures more then by preaching, as men that haue fiue senses without, but no sense within. They must confesse they must doe pe­nance, they must say Creeds and Aue-Maries in Latine, and those they must mistake for prayers, they must worship Images, and adore the Sacra­ment; They must bring their bodies to the Church; & leaue behind their vnderstandings, for in their Liturgie there is only worke for the eare, and [Page 191] none through the eare for the vnderstāding. And as this teaching of Religion is brutish, so is the practice Mechanical. They worke it out with their limbes, and the poore Soule stands by, and knowes not a iot of the busines. The mouth speakes, the knee bowes, the hand mooues on the beades, or knocks vpon the breast, the eye lookes vp, the eare heares, and yet the soule and spirit which giue the onely life and beeing to the worship, that God a Spirit loues, knowes nothing, vnderstands nothing what the body is doing. And as for the Images, the poore wretches must needs commit flat Idolatry; for I neuer heard that any of their Doctors, did perfectly teach their common people to distinguish between [Page 192] Doulia and Latria, but as one of their owne sayth, If they worship them with all their heart, they thinke they haue done it excellently. Surely it cannot be conceiued, that the ignorant Papists who haue no Commandement against Ima­ges, should in this point doe better then the Iewes who had a plaine Commandement against them. But the Iewes fell to Idolatrie against an eui­dent Commandement, yet these Doctors think that their people shall be held from Ido­latrie, onely by a distinction: Surely they little regard the infirmity of miserable Man, fallen into so great an Igno­rance and Corruption, that he is apt to learne Lyes of a stock, and to be inflamed with Images vnder euery greene [Page 193] [...]ree. Neither doe they con­sider the strictnesse of Ielousy, which in the Lord Almigh­tie is as perfect and infinite as himselfe. Now perfect Iea­lousie cannot abide to haue a known Adulterer come neere to his spouse, neither can it indure to haue any thing come neer to the worshipper, which hath beene knowne to haue drawn the worship aside from God to it selfe. And accor­dingly God in his Iealousie was very carefull that no I­mage should bee seene in Ho­reb, lest what had beene seene, should haue been represented, & what had been represented, should haue beene worship­ped. But these Men presu­ming beyond their Maker, haue apprehended and con­demned this his needlesse Iea­lousie, [Page 194] & abandoning all feare, in their Horebs, euen in the places where the Law is or should be published, haue set vp many Images before their ignorant and vntaught peo­ple; euen [...]tumbling blockes before the blind. And all the remedie or satisfaction we can haue from them, is this, that they teach the people a distin­ction whereby they need not bee Idolaters. But to what purpose is this, when this di­stinction is not so vniuersally taught as the Images are seen: neyther (as before) so vniuer­sally vnderstood; neyther if vnderstood, so generally fol­lowed by reason of Mans corruption, which not being limited heretofore by a Di­uine Commandement, will lesse be limited by a humane [Page 195] Distinction. Therefore should these offences bee wholly ta­ken away from the places of worship, yea if they were as vsefull as the brazen Serpent it selfe, which was the Image of Christ; yea for their sakes must let them be taken down, for whom they are most set vp; euen for the Lay and ig­norant people, for to these are they intended to giue most in­struction, and to these being least capable of the distinction, they bring most destruction.

And here as we passe, let vs take notice of a great danger in that Mystery of Iniquitie. For the Teachers and Masters of that Art, pretend at first to make good Christians, but they endeuour at last to make ill subiects; so that except there be some stop in the Dis­ciples [Page 196] (which can hardly bee when the eare is open to all that which the Church tea­cheth, and the Priests are the mouth of the Church) it is ve­ry hard to stay themselues within the iust bonds of Reli­gion and subiection. For if the Popes temporall power o­uer Princes be both taught & beleeued, as it commonly is, the more zealous he is that be­leeues it, the more dangerous hee is to the State where hee liues. And lamentable pat­ternes hereof may bee. seene, since ingenuous and good dis­position haue bin Instruments in most barbarous Treasons, and particularly in the greatest of all Treasons.

Thus I haue somewhat de­lineated the portrature of the Romish Church, whereby it [Page 197] may be knowne both what a small Church of God is a­mong them, and what a large Synagogue of Satan, what Temple of God, and what false god sits therein. So may wee distinguish betweene the good and the euill, not con­demning the good for euill, neyther louing the euill for the good. For such is the craf [...] of the Romish Circumcelli­ons and Proselite makers, that they goe about to make men euill by that which is good, & by the best of their Religion bring men to the worst. Ac­cordingly they do very much fish for men, to the first sort of Religion by the second, and sometimes by the best degree of the second, though among the vulgar where the third wil serue, they saue the labour of [Page 198] the second. Yea, many good soules seeing such Holinesse in some of the Workes of that Church (as before in the se­cond and third of the second) they haue of themselues con­ueyed themselues into the first, and so while they desired to bee made fellow-members of the Saints by vnion, they haue with the same become sub­iects of the Popes Monarchy, and so warfared at once to Christ and Antichrist, which cannot be but by great losse & danger. We therfore to whom God hath shewed the deceit­fulnesse of these strong Delu­sions, though louing the ver­tues, truthes and persons of those which among them re­ceiue a iustifying and sanctify­ing Religion, yet let vs not for loue of them cast our selues in­to [Page 199] a yoke of Tyranny, Errour and Ignorance, neyther for Si­ons sake thrust our selues into Babylon, but rather flye from it.

It hath pleased Christ the true Head of the Church to set vs free from the counter­feit head, and the cruell bur­dens thereof, both spirituall and temporall. Let vs there­fore stand fast in the libertie wherewith Christ hath freed vs, and not returne willingly into the yoke of bondage. Whatsoeuer vertue and what­soeuer Holinesse is among them, the same is heere open to vs, and with a great aduan­tage of freedome from abun­dance of Errours, Superstiti­ons and Deceits. Now who would be so foolish, rather to seeke Corne among a heape of [Page 200] Chaffe, then to take it win­nowed and clensed? And who would seeke Relgion among a heape of Errours, when hee may haue one purged and winnowed by the Fanne of Christ, euen the breath and Word of God? And let this be taken for a certayne truth, That if we goe but by a gene­rall experience, and without an inquiring of this particular case, we may find that in one thousand and fiue hundred yeares, any Church will ga­ther rust, and mosse, and tares. For certayne it is, that in all that time, the Husbandman doth sometimes sleepe, and as certainly as the Husbandman sleepes, so certainly doth the Enemie sow his Tares. The Church of the Iewes before Christ, (if we giue Rome her owne asking) was as very a [Page 201] Church, and as infallible a Church, & as only a Church as the Church of Rome. In Iury was God only knowne, to them were only committed the Oracles, and to them were the promises made; yet we see what drosse and Tares grew vpon that Church, euen in short re­turnes, and if you will see it, do but marke what scouring and clensing fell to the lot of the two good Kings, Hezekiah and Iosiah, and at last to our Sauiour Christ himselfe, who was fayne to sweepe the Tem­ple with a Whip, and to smite the Doctors of the Temple (euen the Scribes and Phari­sies) with the rod of his mouth, Mat. 5. yet this while the Church of Rome is pure and spotlesse, neyther in all these yeares since Christ is [Page 202] there any Errour in their Doc­trine. But the truth is, that she is no other then the Church of Iudea, yea, of Laodicea. She is blind, miserable and naked, but only shee saith and will haue it said, That shee is rich, and hath need of nothing. She is not without faults, but shee will bee without correction. Hauing faults, she will haue them to bee no faults, that where there be no faults, there may be no amendment. Sure­ly this is the top of the misery of that Church (as it is to vs a chiefe Iustification of our de­parture from them) that they haue left themselues no leaue, or power of amendment. For they haue sealed their errors, first vnto them by a Councel, the seale of the Popes infalli­bility being set thereto. So are they bound eternally to the [Page 203] loue and defence of their Er­rours; and must still erre, that they may not seeme to haue erred. But this carnall policie is likely to bee their destructi­on; for the Church of God see­ing her desperatenes, hath no­thing left but to cry continu­ally, Come out of her my peo­ple, that yee bee not partaker of her plagues; And God himselfe seeing her in the same remedi­lesse case, that he saw Iuda and Israel, 2. Chron. 36.16. beeing still the same God, will no doubt vse the same Iustice, and according to his owne Word, will send downe that Angell of Power which shall lighten the Earth with his Glory, and cry mightily with a loud voyce, Babylon the great is fal­len, is fallen, and become the habitation of Deuils; and this [Page 204] is the reason of her torments, because she faith, I sit as a Queene and am no Widdow, and shall see no sorrow. But if with­all some plaine particulars bee desired by which men with­out labour may see that they haue erred, who cannot erre; and therefore erre againe in saying they did not erre be­fore; not to referre them to the large Treatises of these Con­trouersies) let them consider some few positions which are direct Oppositions to the Word of God. S. Iohn sayth, 1. Ioh. 1.7. The bloud of Christ purgeth vs from all sin. Bellar­mine sayth, Iudic. de lib. con­cord. That good Workes de­serue remission of sinnes. Saint Paul sayth, 1. Cor. 1.15. That when the people vnderstan­deth not, he cannot say, Amen, [Page 205] neyther is edified, Vers. 16, 17. and withall commands, That all things should bee done to e­difying, and to that end, that when a strange tongue is spo­ken one should interprete, or otherwise the speaker in an vnknown tongue should hold his peace, Verse 16, 17, 18. But the Councell of Trent sayth, (in the Decree of the Sacra­ment, cap. 9) That whosoeuer holds that Masse should bee said in the vulgar Tongue, let him be accursed. Againe, the Commandement saith, That no Image shall bee worshipped, but Bellarmine sayes, they may be worshipped; and Azorius sayes, with the worship of the sampler, and so the Crucifixe with the worship of Christ. Christ sayth, That the Apostles shall not bee like the Princes of [Page 206] the Earth in Dominion, but the Papists say, That to the Pope is giuen all power, and the vse of both Swords; yea, they are set aboue Princes. And surely to sum vp these foure points together, Idolatry, magnify­ing of their owne Merits, star­uing of Soules, and intolera­ble Pride, their Corruption is abominablyeminent, so that it must bee a blinde man that seeth it not, and a Whores fore-head that confesseth it not. And assuredly for foure transgressions and for fiue, if not fiftie, God will certaine punish them, especially for these crying ones, by which God himselfe hath his honor communicated to Stockes, the Son of God hath this honour diuided with the sonnes of men; Those which are called [Page 207] Gods are subiected to the pride of the Man of Sinne, and the Church of God for whom Christ dyed and shed his bloud, hath their bloud spilt by ignorance, and not knowing the Councell of God, Acts 20.27. So by these short patternes we may know what kind of stuffe their Reli­gion is made of; yea, to what a Religion they haue tied them­selues, by the sacred and feare­full bands of Canons & Cur­ses. Since then they haue bound themselues to their dis­eases, what remaynes to vs but this? Curauimus Babylo­nem, & non est sanata abeamus quisque in terram suam: Come out of her, come out of her my people, that ye be not prtakers of her sinnes, and that yee receiue not of her Plagues.

CHrysostome speaking comparatiuely of an actiue & contempla­tiue life, De Sacer. lib. 6. preferreth [...]he vertue of the actiue before the contēplatiue, of the Priest, before the Monke; as of a King before a priuate Man. For hee saith, the contempla­tiue Man sayleth in the Har­bour and passeth a good life, but it is in safety and quiet­nesse: But the actiue Man goes through the World, and yet is none of the World, he meetes with tentations, fights with them, and ouercomes them, [Page 209] he steereth his course aright, through stormie and tempe­stuous Oppositions. Againe, he sayth, that the Minister la­bours with his minde, the Monke with his bodie. On the other side, Gregory Moral. in Iob l. 6. c. 18. & Ezek. l. 2. Hom. 3. pre­ferreth the Contemplatiue be­fore the Actiue, and to prooue it, saith, that the Contempla­tiue Man enioyeth his Crea­tor, is already in Heauen, the World is trodden vnder him, and he feasteth on Blessednes, so that he is as farre aboue the Actiue, as Heauen is aboue Earth, as blisse is aboue this miserable and sinfull World.

Now there beeing but one Truth, how shall wee find this one Truth in this seeming di­uersitie of Opinions? For Truth is only to bee found in Vnity, and not in contrarietie. [Page 210] Yet by the Candle of Gods Spirit and Word, let vs seeke this Groat of Truth, that o­therwise may bee lost in the darke.

First, true it is which Grego­rie sayth, That Contemplati­on is heerein more excellent then Action, That Contem­plation seemes to gather the fruit and Action but to sow it. So as gathering is more excel­lent then sowing, so Contem­plation seemes to exceed Acti­on. And as attayning the Ha­uen, is more comfortable then tossing in the Sea, so Contem­plation is farre sweeter then Action. But yet on the be­halfe of Action, must we con­sider two assured Truthes; First, that this World is made for another World, and it is not the place of Rest, but the [Page 211] way to Rest, and our busines in this World is to prouide for a happinesse to be enioyed in another World. Then though enioying in it selfe bee better then working, yet vpon this consideration of circum­stances, it may bee better to worke then to enioy; For if working here increase our en­ioying hereafter, and enioying heere diminish our enioying hereafter, doubtlesse, it is bet­ter to worke in this place of working, that wee may enioy in the place of enioying, then by imperfect enioying here in a place of working, hereafter to diminish our ioyes in the place of perfect enioying. To gather fruit in an vndue time, abateth of the bignesse and sweetnesse. We must not think to haue our Heauen here, but [Page 212] wee must labour in the sixe dayes of this life to enioy an e­ternall Sabbath hereafter. We must heere bee turners of our Talent, that being faithfull in little, we may rule ouer much, and not thinke that binding vp our Talent we may be idle heere and glorious hereafter: we may not imagine that man had a body giuen him to liue only in his soule, but the Ma­ker of the body will also haue the seruice of the body, and that not in workes of Pietie a­lone, but of Charity also; euen of mutuall helpe and benefit, as being part not of a Separa­tion, but of a Communion of Saints.

Therefore though Peter thought it good to bee still in the contemplation of Glorie, and would faine haue built [Page 213] Tabernacles therein. Yet Christ carries him downe a­gaine from the Mountaine of Vision, into the World of Ac­tion, into the company of per­secuting Iewes, seducing and hypocriticall Pharisies, yea, into the winnowing of Satan himselfe. And indeed, gene­rally the Apostles liues were liues of Action, and liues of Passion. And if these Apo­stles bee the foundation, and Christ the Corner stone, then are Actiue men the chiefest in Heauen, as beeing next vnto Christ, and no Contemplatiue men may euer sit aboue them: for the foundation will still be neerest to the corner stone, and nothing may goe betweene them.

Contemplation indeed is absolutely necessary, and in [Page 214] her owne turne and time more necessary then Action, as Ma­ries hearing in the time of Christs preaching, was more necessary then Marthaes ser­uing; but the same Maries ac­tion of anoynting Christ in a due season, is as famous as her hearing of Christ. Con­templation must not end in it selfe, but it must proceed, and the due proceeding of it, is to end in Action. When Con­templation ends in it selfe, we may reape some pleasure to our selues, but nothing is rea­ped to God. But so it may not bee, for the end of our life is the seruice of God, and the seruice of God is Faith, wor­king by Loue, and the fruits of Loue are good Workes; therefore we must proceed as farre as these good Workes, or else [Page 215] wee are short of the end and scope of our life appointed by God.

And Gregory himselfe con­fesseth, that the Contempla­tiue Life is barren like Rahel, and the Actiue fruitfull like Leah, euen fruitfull in sauing of soules. Now Rahel pleased not herselfe in her barrennesse, nor should the Church of God, but it should cry as hear­tily, though not so impatient­ly, Giue me Children or else I dye. Neyther doth Christ the Husband of the Church, loue or reward barrennesse, but hee desires that wee beare much fruit, and the especiall fruit, especially crowned with the glory of Starres, is sauing of soules. Accordingly, Christ when thrise he had questioned Peter of his louing him, & Pe­ter [Page 216] had thrise affirmed it, Christ doth not say to Peter, If thou louest mee, be thou still looking on mee, sit still and en­ioy mee, and reade and thinke only of me, But Peter, If thou louest me, feed my Sheepe, Feed my Lambes; which shewes that a life of Action and Edifi­cation is the most noble Fruit, & notable Effect which Christ expects from his Louers. And accordingly shall the last Sen­tence be pronounced: Come ye blessed of my Father, not who haue continually carryed me in your thoughts, and be­held mee with your Contem­plations, but yee who haue spiritually and corporally fed me, clothed me, visited me in my members.

Therefore let vs take heed that wee take not heauen too [Page 217] soone, neyther spend so much ou [...] time, in enioying the ear­nest that we abate the inheri­tance assured vs by that ear­nest. And indeed (which is the second thing) God deales so with vs in this life, that con­templation cannot be a whole imployment to Man. There­fore as before it appeared to be vnlawfull, now it also ap­peares to be impossible: For well doth euery Saint of God know, that the glory and com­fort of contemplation lasts but some turnes, and then comes an ebbe of grace, a night of vision, and perchance a long storme of Satans buffet­tings. Eyther the Spirit with­drawes his glorious beames from the soule, or the soule it selfe is forsaken of the body, as not able to endure a long [Page 218] bent of high Meditations; or else the flesh hath leaue to take vs downe by temptation, that the height of Contemplation may not hurt vs by an equall height of Pride. For the height of Contemplation, is made most safe and profitable to vs by the lownesse of Humilitie, and Infirmity is a chiefe pre­seruer of Humilitie. And euen in these times though we haue not the ioy & ability of Con­templation, yet are wee out­wardly able for Action, and we can profit others when we seeme wholly vnprofitable to our selues. Therefore to fall into a true moderation and in­differency betweene Contem­plation and Action, let this be our Rule, that Contemplation nourish and feed Action but not deuoure it; that we con­template [Page 219] to know God and to loue God, that we know and loue him to please him, and serue him in the Actions of some profitable vocation. We may not quench Contempla­tion, for it warmes the soule, cheereth and heateth her to action; Againe, wee must not exclude Action, for that is to water the roote and to pull a­way the buds, and so to pre­uent the fruit.

The excellency of Con­templation and Action is the Concord of them, therefore let vs bee contemplatiue that wee may bee actiue, and in our actiuenesse striue verily to expresse our Contemplation. For Contemplation is then most commendable when it is expressed in deeds, and not when it is meerly borne and [Page 220] buried in thoughts. And it shall be more true glory to a true Christian, amid the world to despise the world, to resist it, to ouercome it, then whol­ly to runne away from it. Yet briefly for caution, let no man take any more to his taske, then he is duely called to, and his strength can beare: let not the horse take on him the bur­den of an Elephant, neither let men indanger themselues far­ther in secular imployments, then grace giues them good hope to returne with safety.

I will conclude in the say­ing of Gregor. in Ezek. ho [...]il▪ [...]. & in Iob. lib. 10. c. 11. Gregorie. The holy beasts did goe and returne, and did goe and not returne: So the Saints they goe from their sinnes, and returne no more to them, but in another kind of going, they goe from Contem­plation; [Page 221] to Action, and returne again from Action to Cōtem­plation; for these continuall returnes nourish and refresh each other, and it is vnprofi­table or vnpossible for a Chri­stian to continue still in one without returning to the o­ther. Thus doing, we shall be those labouring Contempla­tors, who onely are the blessed ones that dye in the Lord, wee shall rest from our labours of Action, and our workes shall follow vs; and then our good Actions shall bee turned into the ioyes of an eternall Con­templation.

IT is a lamentable thing to see, not so much how the men of the world, but how some men of Religion doe fit their seruice for God. For in these men is the greatest wonder, who professe friendship and familiarity with God, and yet deale deceitfully with Him. So stedily doth Nature worke on her worke of Corruption in the Children of Nature, though hauing vndertaken a profession of Grace; yea, euen [Page 223] in the very Children of Grace, though not wholly or finally, for euen Peter in something is to be blamed, and Barnabas is seduced. Gal. 2. Nature I say continues her old worke, euen the same which in the dayes of old shee wrought in the in­habitants of the Land of Is­rael, who being taught by the Priest to serue the God of hea­uen, were also led by Nature to ioyne the worship of their owne Idols to the seruice of the true God. The same doe wee too much at this day, we haue giuen our names to God, wee will needs be Citizens of of the new Ierusalem, and be Pilgrims to the heauenly Ca­naan, yet wee striue to build houses in Egypt, and spend our mayne strength for the things of that world, wherein [Page 224] wee professe our selues to bee strangers.

So doe wee ioyne two in­compatible ends together, as our marke and scope, East and West, God and the World; wee ioyne together what God hath put asunder, which is as bad as to put asunder what God hath ioyned together. And as those Inhabitants of Iudea, which serued God and Idolls, did neyther serue God nor Idolls, so these men ser­uing God and the world, yet cannot be perfect seruants of both; For true is that of our Sauiour, No man can serue two Masters. But of these men which weare a double badge of a two fold seruice, there are diuers degrees.

One is the palpable and grosse professor, that weareth [Page 225] the badge of the world on the right side, and the badge of God on the left. This man in his heart writes the world first, and God after; yet as long as they two goe one way, hee will walke on among the foremost; He will heare and pray, and say as other Chri­stians doe, (I meane out­wardly) as long as Iobs hedge which the Deuill spake of is safe and sound, or as long as the glorie and wealth which the Deuill offered to Christ, doe not call him aside. But if the hedge be broken vp, and the wild beasts of crosses or losses rush in vpon him, then he falls to the language of Iobs Wife, Curse God and dye: or to that of the King of Israel, Why shall I serue God any lon­ger? and the keyes of Peter [Page 226] euen of Deuotion being cast into the riuer, the sword of Peter euen of a carnall wit cut­ting and hewing with shifts and deuises, is drawen and brandished forth: or if that hedge remayning strong, the Deuill doe but take him vp into his Mountayne of wret­ched preferment, and there shew him this mans liuing, or that mans goods, which may bee had with a little straying from the path of Holinesse, he presently takes leaue of his Master, and steps aside to fetch the two Talents of gold and the two changes of Rayment; and eftsoones comes againe, wipes his mouth like an Har­lot, and stands before his Ma­ster as afore-time. Miserable Creature that he is, being con­tented with the bare shew of [Page 227] happinesse; but though it please him to bee contented with shewes, yet substantial­ly, really, and without dissi­mulation to him belong all the woes pronounced on the Scribes and Pharisies, Hypocrites. Yet this benefit hee doth the Church, that he can hardly scandal her to any man of vnderstanding. For his workes bewray him that he is not of vs, and his prickles being very sensible make it knowne that hee is a Thorne, and therefore a Vine, though growing by him cannot well in a slander, be ioyned with him. But let such a one bee assured, that betweene his two Masters hee shall be without a Master; for his chiefe Ma­ster the World will turne him out of seruice, and then God [Page 228] his pretended Master will not receiue him. Death shall strip him of the Worlds fauour and aduancement, and God shall strip him of his shew and vi­zard of Religion, and so be­ing starke naked, poore, and miserable, hee shall be thrust out of the gates of the Ci­tie, and shall haue his portion with Hypocrites, there shall bee weeping and gnashing of teeth.

A second sort is, of those that in earnest propose to them­selues the seruice of God, yea they thinke not to serue the World, but yet they study and striue how to serue God most thriftily, and to please him as good cheape as they can.

These men indeauour migh­tily to finde out the vtmost Confines of good, and to see [Page 229] how farre honestie may possi­bly be brought to reach. For they haue resolued not to doe euill, though they may get by it, but they are resolued to goe for gayne, as neere euill as they can possibly, and misse it. So can wee outwardly perceiue Gods badge on their sleeue, yet I must needs say, that in the lining and inwards of the same, there is a secret badge of the World. And surely I doubt the World is their chief end, and only that they make some reuerence to God as they passe by Him to the World. Toward the disco­uery hereof, let vs lay the rule or leuell to this doubtful man: If wee looke on a face of per­fect proportion, and presently behold another, though but of a little disproportion, wee [Page 230] shall soone finde the fault by the comparison.

So let vs here behold the beauty of a sanctified Man, of a man crucified to the World, of a man of Heauen, and then shall wee find euen the lesser blemishes of a man of Earth. The man truly renewed hath his treasure in Heauen. There is his Rest, there is his Hap­pinesse, there is his Countrie. This heauenly Man looks vp­on his earthly Gods, and casts with himselfe, how much hee may in good spirituall Hus­bandrie lawfully returne for Heauen, how much hee may fitly giue vnto God, and lay vp in the hands of his Saui­our, and being a good Steward (though like that vniust one) by all lawfull diminutions, he prouides for the increase of his [Page 231] welcome and wel-fare in the place of his last and eternall Residence. Therefore doth this Man also seeke out the bounds of goodnesse, but it is to another end, euen to finde how farre he may righteously conuert his temporall Riches to the glory of God, and ad­uancement of his Soule. Hee casts with himselfe how much hee may well spare for holy and charitable vses, and withall not bee worse then an Infidell that prouides not for his Familie.

Now hauing found out the right purpose of this Man, thereby as by a Rule may wee find the crookednesse of the other. Whereas the man of heauen hath God for his main end, and therefore leuells the World vnto God, studying to [Page 232] conuert the world to the most glory and pleasure of God; the other mainly studies and intends the World, desiring to haue Gods good will to­wards the most obtayning of the World. One striues to re­turne as much as hee may, for Heauen, the other striues to returne as little as hee may, so hee doe not wholly lose Hea­uen; one indeauours most to please God, the other rather not to offend him then to please him.

In summe, one striues how much good hee may doe, by a lawfull conuer­sion of his riches into good workes; the other striues how much he may purchase, & how much riches hee may increase by a lawfull diminution of his good workes.

[Page 233]Now the man striues to that increase in riches rather then good Workes, can hardly be that good Christian whose duty is to bring forth much fruit, Iohn 15.8. Besides Ex­perience shewes, that such as stretch their actions to all pos­sible lawfulnesse, many times offend in doing things not ex­pedient, and in leauing vndone things commendable & excel­lent. For things in themselues lawfull, grow to be vnlawfull by such circumstances as make them inexpedient. This Saint Paul proueth strongly, and examples it in the lawfulnesse of eating meate, and in the vnlawfulnesse of eating with scandall. But these hungry Christians too readily digest the Scandall.

Againe, they offend often [Page 134] in the sinnes of omission, lea­uing good things vndone, and contenting themselues in the absence of positiue euill: yea, many times they please them­selues well, when they haue done a lesse good worke, when they might very well haue done a greater. If money bee not taken for a Presentation yet it may be taken for an Ad­uowson, though the greatnes of the price plainly shewes, that it is not all giuen for the liberty of choice, but part of it with an eye to the annuall value: And yet this annuall value is the very wages of the Labourer, and I hope wages should be bought by nothing but labour.

Againe, when thou sellest thy Aduowson, thou puttest from thy selfe an excellent pri­uiledge, [Page 235] by which thou mights doe God an especiall seruice, and thou wilt giue another leaue to doe God the seruice, so thou mayst serue and please thy Mammon. I wish this traffick of Aduowsons would ceasse, except when they bee bestowed on Colledges, or some such persons as would a­mend, not impayre the dispo­sing of them.

Another perchance is no Patron, but a Purchaser, and this man hath conscience e­nough, not to worke his Neighbours out of their Li­uings. But his Neighbours pouertie hath need of money, and his need can coyne no mo­ney but out of his Liuing. Therefore the poore mans Li­uing comes and offers it selfe for the rich mans money.

[Page 236]And here first we may ob­serue, that to strengthen the hand of the poore when it shakes, is thing commanded in the old Law, but perchance by this man scarce thought to bee Morall: Next hee sees the liuing come a begging to him, hee hath not wrested it from him, but it walkes voluntarily toward him; and therefore he thinkes it not vnlawfull to take a good Bargaine, when it offers it selfe to him. So the man that is thriuing, gets by the man that is vndoing, and the poore mans neede makes him poorer, and the rich man richer.

As for Almes, though the wants of many doe call for them, and the reward of sup­plyed wants doth perswade to them, yet the yeerly surplusa­ges [Page 237] shall bee conuerted in­to an vnnecessary increase of the HEIRES Estate, (which perchance is to great already) rather then into the satisfaction of necessities; and so Ambition shall haue more seruice then Charity, though Charity promise a reward in Heauen.

The Sabbath perchance, is kept by the minute, and the question maynely disputed when it beginnes and ends, But the great Sabbath of San­ctification, which should be­gin and neuer end, euen a rest from sinne, from the workes of the flesh, from laying on yokes and burdens on our Brethren (which are indeed the mayneayme of the other) is farre lesse respected, and by many minutes, if not houres [Page 238] prophaned. Worldly cares and carnall desires, like the Oxe and the Asse are euer toy­ling in the minds of many, and with their feet, trouble and de­file the pure waters of Sancti­fication, which then are espe­cially waters of puritie, when they are waters of rest. But let vs hasten from the Disease to the Remedies.

And first let those that a­bate Gods seruice, for the seruice of the World, know that the World was made by God to serue man, and man to serue God; So is the World Gods Seruants Seruant; but then how crooked and per­uerse a course doe they take, that will seeme to bee Gods Seruants, and yet take their Seruant, and make him a Cō ­petitor with their Master? Yea [Page 239] sometimes they will doe more for their Seruant then for their Master. But God is a Iealous God, and his Iealousie burnes like fire, when he is not loued in his right place and degree, his Creature being put into a comparison with him. God will bee loued, chiefly, and wholly, not secondly and nig­gardly. The cretures may haue their due regard when GOD comes not in place, but when God coms to be serued, let the whole Creation, stoope, yeeld, and bow vnto him. Yea, he is so farre displeased with the di­uiding of his place vnto ri­ches, that hee hath sealed it with the indissoluble seale of Impossibility, when he sayes, ye cannot, or it is not possible for you to ioyn in one seruice, God and Riches. Let there­fore [Page 240] our hearts giue the mayn [...]oome [...]to God, and let the Creature [...] th [...]ein way [...]e vpon the Creat [...].

Secondly, Let not men content themselues in the for­bearing of both good and e­uill, for neyther can these bee knit together in one man. For if thou forbearest good, thou art guilty of euill, not to wa­ter a Plant when it is day, is to kill it, and the last sentence of condemnation layes hold on men, not for taking away Christs clothes and meat, but for not giuing them to him when he needed them.

Thirdly, let not men ap­proch to neare to the confines of euill, because it is both dan­gerous and odious. Dange­rous it is, for it is no other then the walking on Turrets, on the [Page 241] brinkes of Bridges, and the edges of Praecipices. And it is a true saying of the Wiseman, He that loueth danger shall pe­rish therein. When a man walkes in such extremities of good, the least slip of his foot makes him fall into Euill, and the falling into Euill, is the way of falling into Hell.

Therefore the wisest of men ( Prou. 14.15.) aduiseth thee, Auoyd the way of the wic­ked, passe not by it, turne from it, and passe away. And in the Chapter following, hee adui­seth the Children of Wisdom, to remoue their way farre from the Harlot, and not to come nigh the doore of her house.

Againe, it is odious for this neighbour-hood with E­uill, makes a man a doubtfull Christian, as the borderers be­tweene [Page 242] two Countries, are not perfectly knowne what Coun­trymen they be. God cannot abide a Twilight of Righte­ousnesse; hee loueth not a doubtfull Holinesse, for hee commands a shining Light, an eminent Goodnes, and there­fore askes his Seruants, What excellent thing doe ye? God will bee euidently glorified in his Saints, and hee cannot be euidently glorified but in eui­dent good workes. As God loseth his glory, when good workes are done for ostenta­tion, so hee loseth his glory when the goodnesse of works cannot well be discerned: So worthlesse is a worke when it is wholly done to be seene, and when it is done so slightly or scantly, that it can scarce bee seene at all.

[Page 243]Let men therefore do good works not because they should be seene, yet such as may bee seene by their frequence, by their bignesse, by their lustre and excellence. This is to walke as patternes and examples, 1. Tim. 4.12. This is to prouide things honest in the sight of all men, Rom. 13.17. This is to haue an euident Holinesse, Mat. 5.16.

Fourthly, let men know & renounce as an extreme folly, that temporall Thrift which causeth an eternall losse. Sure­ly if that Lord who is Wise­dome it selfe, commended the Steward for a Wiseman, that abated his temporall Recko­nings, to increase his eternall Rewards, hee cannot but dis­prayse for a Foole, that man that wil increase a little perish­ing [Page 244] vanity, that hee may de­crease an exceeding weight of eternall glory. Whereas a hundred abated heere would increase a thousand hereafter, this man by a most foolish thrift will saue fifty here, that hee may lose fiue hundred hereafter. Ill Husbands they are in the midst of their good husbandry, and the Husband­men of this generation shall rise in iudgment against them, for these will not sow sparing­ly, that they may reape spa­ringly, but with a full hand do sow, that with a full hand they may mow. Let vs therefore pray the Lord of the Haruest, he that as he increseth our seed will also increase our sowing; that as he outwardly ladeth vs with the bounty of his bles­sings, he will inwardly fill vs [Page 245] with the bountie that giueth these blessings, that partaking of his good things, wee may also partake of the goodnesse that bestoweth them. Then by the same goodnesse which gaue vnto vs, shall we giue vn­to others; the goodnes of God supplying vs both within and without; inwardly giuing vs the power of giuing, and out­wardly giuing vs the matter of giuing. And to these men that are filled with this good­nesse (the Mother of good Workes) is especially recom­mended that saying of S. Paul, Hee that prouides not for his owne, is worse then an Infidell. To such I say it belongs, who are likely to stray too farre on the right hand of Bounty, and not to such who most com­monly abuse it for the defence [Page 246] of their left-handed Parsimo­nie. This place is to limit those that are excessiuely good, not to stop and bound those that are not yet good enough. Wherefore goe on boldly a good way farther, for there is yet a good distance betweene this place and thee, except thou art in doubt of being too good.

There is yet a third sort, which I would only name, and I wish that there might be no Examples of such hereafter knowne in Gath, nor spoken of in Ashd [...]d ▪ and that is, when they that beare the true marke of God in their foreheads, and haue ript off the Badge of worldly loue from their harts, yet in some sleepe of their con­sciences, the enemie soweth some Tares of worldly Lust, [Page 247] Couetousnesse or Ambition. Dauid sinned in one kind, and no doubt, men of perfect hearts sinne in other kindes, and single Actions of sinne, issue from them that haue an habite, or rather a nature of Grace. God hath left the Ca­naanite in vs to exercise vs, to humble vs, that wee may haue an Enemy to fight against, be­fore we weare the Crownes of Glory, and that we may haue a patterne of our corruption to humble vs as the Valleyes, before we receiue his showres of Grace and Mercy from those hils from whence com­meth our Saluation. What re­maynes but that we fight like men, for the killing of that old man which fighteth to kill vs? While we stand, let vs stand in humility, taking heed lest wee [Page 248] fall; and this humilitie which makes vs take heed lest wee fall, will best keepe vs from that falling whereof wee are to take heed. And if wee doe fall (as what man lineth that sinneth not) let vs rise by gi­uing our hand to Christ in Faith and Repentance, who by his bloud washing vs, and by his Spirit quickning vs, will raise vs againe & set vs on our feet, That we may run the way of his Cōmandements. Neyther let the wicked in the fals of the Godly magnifie themselues, and despise the other, as such Pharisies vse to do, for though these two did the same kinde of fact, yet the fact is different. The godly man fals by infir­mitie, as by the weight of his body, or slip of his foote, the wicked fals with the swinge of [Page 249] his will, as if hee ran his head against the Rockes. The god­ly man hates his owne fault and ariseth from it, the wicked man neuer truly hates it, ne­uer heartily forsakes it. Yea, the godly man is bettred by his fals, and by falling stands the more strongly, because the more humbly and warily. And finally, though hee passe by some particular frailties, yet vpon the whole he is still bet­ter, and growes from strength to strength vntill he appeares before God in Sion.

THere is an Errour, which though it pos­sesseth not many, yet some it possesseth strongly; and this is a great mischiefe belonging to it, that they thinke themselues better then others for being deceiued, and so they become angry with those that would cure them, because they seeme to indea­uour, not to take away an Er­rour from them, but to depriue them of their Eminence.

Their misbeliefe is this, That none but sanctified Prea­chers can teach vnto Sanctifi­cation [Page 251] and Saluation. And first for a generall remedie, I desire these men to consider, that as in naturall, so in spiri­tuall fi [...]e, there are two things of especiall and inseparable vse, the one is Light, the other Heate.

Let the heate of Nature make a mans body neuer so ac­tiue and able, yet if the eyes be shut vp so that this heate by the inward light which it makes, cannot entertayne the outward light, the more actiue and stirring this man is, the more hee stumbles, and the more hee fals. Euen so in the things of Grace, if a man will separate heate from light, hee diuorceth those [...]hat in the spi­rit are ioyned together, and therefore it is likely that such are Saint Iudes men; separa­ters, [Page 252] sensuall, not hauing the spirit. For where the spirit is, there light is the guide of heate, and such are led by eui­dent Truth, not by blind vio­lence.

But to meete with their Er­rour more particularly, I will first lay my foundation, and it is this, An assured discouery of the true cause of mans Salua­tion. Not to runne into by­wayes, the true way to life, is Christ, The Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ our life shall appeare, saith Paul, and a­gaine, Our life is hid with Christ in God. More particu­larly, Christ entring into man, doth abolish the olde man, which is the bodie of Sinne & Death, and giues vs the new man, wherein is included a right of Inheritance vnto Life [Page 253] Eternall. The bodie of sinne, by sinne had bound vs vnto death, and by Dominon had bound vs to sinne, but Christ Iesus entring into vs by his Spirit, by his Death freeth vs from the Death, to which we were bound, and by his sanc­tifying Grace, freeth vs from that Dominion by which wee were bound vnto sinne. So from henceforth, neyther sinne nor death haue dominion ouer vs, but the free and freeing Spi­rit of Christ dwels in vs, where­by we are sonnes and heires of Life Eternall, Rom. 8.14. &c. I will summe all vp in the words of Saint Peter, 1.1.1. We are elect by God the Father, through the sanctification of the Spirit, and the sprinkling of the bloud of Iesus Christ. But this, thou wilt say, thou doubtest [Page 254] not, but confessest that the Trinitie by Christs humanity saueth vs, but thou sayst, that this Saluation is imparted to vs by the Ministery, and the defect of the Preacher may stop the benefit of the hearer. I confesse indeed if his defect be in preaching, then there is an abatement of the benefit of hearing, but if his preaching be sound and sufficient, Gods Word soundly vttered by him is able to saue vs, without the Preachers Goodnesse or San­ctification. The Preacher is Vehiculum verbi, & verbum is vehiculum Christi, & Chri­stus est fons vitae; The Prea­cher brings the Word, and the Word brings Christ, and Christ brings Saluation. If now the heart of man doe but open that the King of Glorie [Page 255] may enter in, saluation is come into his house. And surely if the spirit within open, when the Word without knockes, or Christ in the Word, there is an entrance of Life eternall:

So is it brought to this nar­row poynt, That when the Spirit meets the Word in the heart, and opens to it, Christ enters in the Word, and there is but this left to say, That the Spirit hath so tyed himselfe to the goodnesse of the Minister, that he will not open the heart of the hearer, except he heare a holy Teacher. But this is a fearfull saying, and worthie of detestation. This is to tye the free Spirit of God vnto Man whose libertie Christ hath taught, saying, The Spi­rit bloweth where it listeth. This were to make the Spirit [Page 256] to stand in need of his owne graces, and to bee beholding to the grace of the speaker, to giue grace to the hearer. This were to bring Christians not to receiue their saluation from the fulnesse of Christ, but part­ly from the fulnesse of the Mi­nister. Then it might be tru­ly sayd, that Paul were some­thing, and Apollo something, whereas S ^t Paul sayth, they were nothing, but God onely that gaue the increase. Then might we be baptized into the name of Paul, for from whom wee receiue the grace of Bap­tisme, in his Name may wee receiue Baptisme. This were to ouerthrow S ^t Pauls Asser­tion, and to breake his golden chayne in pieces, who sayth, that Faith commeth by hea­ring, and hearing by preaching, [Page 257] for by this noueltie hearing, doth not saue vs except the Preacher bee also saued; so where Paul tyeth Faith to hea­ring, these haue vntyed Faith from hearing, except the Prea­chers goodnesse tye it vp a­gaine. But what did our Saui­our Christ meane to cause his Disciples to heare the Scribes and Pharises in Moses chayre, whom he termed Hypocrites, and on whom he heaped his woes? Either Christ comman­ded them to doe that which was vnprofitable, or these men vainly condemne that which Christ commanded. And Paul reioyceth that Christ was pre­ched by enuious and persecu­ting Preachers, and I hope persecutors are not likely to be sanctified. Surely it is the beauty of Christ Iesus, that [Page 258] rauisheth a soule, touched and warmed by the Spirit. It is not essentiall to the moouing of Loue, that the Painter him­selfe be handsome, so his pi­cture bee euident and liuely, and the comlinesse of the per­son represented admirable. If the Painter be vnlike his owne picture, the beauty of the pi­cture disgraceth his vglinesse, but remaynes louely it selfe. Who is there, that if he were condemned to death (as wee are all naturally to death eter­nall) but would gladly receiue a pardon from the king by the hands of a condemned man? Surely the eye of a man tou­ched by the Spirit, doth looke more stedily on the happinesse of the message, then the mise­rie of the Messenger. For God sends sometimes a message of [Page 259] happinesse, by a Messenger that is miserable, as hee sent blessings to Israel by the mouth of cursed Balaam.

This is true, though it bee obiected, that vnsanctified men are not called, and not being called, are not sent. For Iudas (a worse then Balaam) had the calling of an Apostle, was ordayned to preach, and to cast out deuils. Mark. 3.14. and obtayned part of the Mi­nisterie. Act. 1.17. God giueth not his gifts in vaine, but they are for the edification of the Church. So is the gift of Pro­phecie. 1. Cor. 14.4. Eph. 4.12. yet many that haue this gift of edification shall be comman­ded to So it seemes the promise of shining like the stars for conuersion of soules, Dan. 12.3. hath an im­plicite con­dition of godlinesse which hath the promises of this life and that to come. 1. Tim 4.8. depart for want of Sanctification. Though they loose the priuate benefit of the gift of God, yet God will [Page 260] not loose the fruit of his owne gift which hee gaue for the publike.

Wherfore let not the Prea­cher looke into the soule of his Hearer, to find his salua­tion in his Hearers conuer­sion, for hee shall not find it there, but in his owne Soule, if there he find Sanctification. Neither let the Hearer looke into the soule of the Preacher, in his Sanctification to finde his owne Saluation, for hee shall not find it there, but in his owne Soule, if therein he can find Faith and Holinesse. Surely the dayes of persecu­tion had not this wantonnesse of Hearing, but they reioyced (as the Spouse in the Canticles) by any meanes to heare newes of him whom their Soule lo­ued.

[Page 261]But whereto doth all this tend? To giue encouragement to a wicked Ministery? God forbid. I wish verily that all the gatherers of Saints were Saints, and that those who ex­presse a scandalous Tit. 1.7. S. Gregor. de past. cu­ra. lib. 1.2. Hooker lib. 5. see. 81. contra­riety to Sanctification were remoued, if incorrigible. For no doubt, though such may quicken some by their do­ctrine, yet they kill others by their example, and a man-kil­ler is not fit to be a Minister, whose very Trade is Salua­tion. Besides, though a Mi­nisters goodnesse giue not the esse of Saluation, yet no doubt it giues the melius esse. For a Minister that liues well, is a double Preacher, hee prea­cheth both by words and workes; so he preacheth with a witnesse, and his life is a wit­nessing [Page 162] or Martyrdome of his doctrine. But the good Prea­cher and euill Liuer, is but a single Preacher; yea, he labors by his Life to confute his Doctrine.

Now where the Spirit spea­keth twice by Illumination and Sanctification, he is more heard then where he speaketh but once. Surely the liues of Saints and especially of Mini­sters are the liuely bookes of the Ignorant, and in them should they reade the Cha­racters of Vertue and Holi­nesse.

But my purpose is this; First, that God alone may haue the glory of our Saluation, and that with the Virgin, our spi­rits may reioyce in God our Sauiour. It is the singer of the Spirit, issuing from Christ [Page 263] Iesus that giues life to the Let­ter, and brings the aduantage of the New Couenant aboue the Old, by writing Gods Word in our hearts, which the old Law could not per­forme.

Secondly, I desire that the Ministers would turne away the eyes of the people from their goodnesse as the cause of their Saluation, saying with the Apostles, Why gaze ye on vs, as if we by our owne power or vertu had made you whole. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Iacob, hath glorified his Sonne Christ Iesus, and his power, not our goodnes doth giue this perfect soundnesse.

Thirdly, I desire that Hea­rers would not refuse Christ Iesus, liuely offered and descri­bed vnto them, though they [Page 264] know not the holinesse of the Preacher. Let not any turne the Church into a Iudgement seat, and censure their Mini­sters Life, while they should heare his Doctrine. This is to bee Iudges and not Hearers. I wonder what such Hearers would doe, if they had beene in Israel when Salomon prea­ched after his many scanda­lous sinnes, which made his Sanctification doubtfull to many. But let the same Salo­mon aduise thee, Bee not rash with thy mouth, but bee more neere to heare, then to offer the sacrifice of fooles. Say with Samuel, Speake Lord, for thy seruant heareth; and not Heare Lord, for thy seruant spea­keth; and what speakes hee? damnation of the Preacher. Let vs rather looke on our [Page 265] own miseries and defects, then on the Ministers, and then we shall haue more mind to seeke our own cure from the Word: then to examine whether hee bee sicke that would cure vs. Let vs not doubt but if the seed be good, and the ground bee good, it will bring forth much fruit whatsoeuer becom of the Sower.

IT hath beene a great cause of the miserie of the Church in ge­nerall, and of the members of the same Church in particu­lar, that spirituall exaltations [Page 266] haue begotten carnall gloria­tions, and that the Flesh hath lifted it selfe vp by the increa­ses of the Spirit, as the Froth mounts by the flowing of the Water. And how can it chuse but draw Misery, when it pro­cures an Almightie Wrath, which Wrath is attended with an equall Vengeance. And if any would doubt how it should procure so terrible a Wrath, let him but behold the mis-shapen vglinesse and ab­surd inconsequence of this Sinne, and it cannot but anger his eyes, and much more the pure eyes of a most holy God, who cannot abide to sowe good seed and to reape Tares, to plant the noblest Vines and to gather the sowrest grapes. But first let vs consider this sin how it growes, and then how [Page 267] vgly it is when it is growne. This Sin comes to his growth thus. When God out of the riches of his Grace, powreth on man the gifts of his Spirit, by which he riseth vnto a spi­rituall excellence, and per­chance thereby to some out­ward dignitie, then the Flesh mounts vp straight to man­nage and enioy the fruits and issues of the Spirit; So what hath beene gotten by the Spi­rit, hath beene eaten and di­gested by the Flesh, and so Grace haue beene brought to nourish her whom she should chiefly haue slayne. This is the infirmitie of wretched Man­kind. Sinne is so fast wouen into our Flesh, and among sinnes especially Pride, that the Flesh most vnsensibly will bee proud, when her Foe the [Page 268] Spirit prospers, though indeed the prosperitie of the Spirit by the kindly operation of it, should bee the destruction of the flesh. Occidat modo impe­ret, sayth the Flesh, I will ad­uenture my life, so there may bee that excellence by which I may aduance my Pride. And as this is strong in the Roote, so it hath beene generall in the Fruit, it hath spred his effects from the Cedar of Lebanon, to the Hisfop on the wal, frō him that ascends aboue the clouds and will be like vnto the most High, to the lowly shrub that growes in the humble Vale. For this very Sinne hath puft vp the Man of sinne vnto his monstrous hugenesse, that he is growne to hee the king of the children of Pride, and this infirmitie indangered the most [Page 269] humble S ^t Paul, who gloried in distresses, so that hee had need of buffetting. In the one the Hornes of the Lambe de­fend and maintaine the mouth of the Dragon, and in the o­ther the transcendence and abundance of Reuelations, which were aboue the vtte­rance of Man might haue lif­ted vp his conceit to haue thought himselfe to bee more then a man. And as I can hardly thinke any prouder then the king of Pride, so I can scarse thinke any humbler then S ^t Paul, and therefore I thinke all men haue a degree of this Corruption, and that more or lesse as they approch i [...] likenesse to the pride of the man of sin, or as they com neer to the humilitie of blessed S ^t Paul. And let not men altoge­ther [Page 270] look vpward or outward, to find this sinne either aboue or without them, but let them looke into themselues, and they may find as much Geo­metricall Pride in themselues as they doe Arithmeticall Pride in others, as much Pride proportionably to their Low places and Graces, as others haue to their Higher gifts and Dignities. Yea, it was not true only in the Time of Dio­genes, but it is true now al­so, That sometimes a greater Pride below, goes about to pull downe a lesser Pride a­boue. Yet I must needs con­fesse that a little Pride aboue is in this more offensiue, be­cause more conspicuous, and there an example of Pride doth most harme, where a pat­terne of Humility would haue [Page 271] done most good. But now let vs goe aside to behold the vg­linesse of it, and perchance the very sight of it may serue for a Remedie. What is more monstrous then that which is most vnreasonable, and what is more vnreasonable then on Christ to build Antichrist, on the Spirit to graffe the Flesh, and vpon Grace to mount the corruption of Nature. What agreement hath a carnall tu­mour with Spirituall excel­lence, what interest hath Cor­ruption in Sanctity, the Old Man in the New? Wherefore let the house of Israel bee the Flesh, and the house of Dauid the Spirit, and then Israel may truly say, What portion haue wee in DAVID, and what inhe­ritance in the Sonne of ISHAI? Neyther let any thinke that [Page 272] the height of the Flesh can be any grace or preseruatiue to the eminences and dignities of the Spirit. For Pride cannot procure safety or prospe­rity, since it drawes the resi­stance of God and the hatred of men. But there is a Spiri­tuall vigour and authoritie, which agrees both with humi­litie and eminence, and this keepes men in a true state of minde, free from that Pride which makes a man the ene­mie of God, and free from that basenesse which makes a man the scorne of men. For wee may not thinke of an humili­tie which is opposite to the dignitie of the Spirit (yee true Nobilitie of the Soule) nor to dispensatiue vigor; (for ver­tues are not contrary) but on that which is contrarie to a [Page 273] carnall Tumour, a needlesse swelling, a weed of the Flesh. And surely (that we may far­ther see the absurditie of this Pride) wee can vse no better meanes for the begetting of Humility, then the considera­tion of those excellencies on which the Flesh vsually be­getteth Pride. For doest thou enioy a great measure of Gods chiefe Graces? Doe but as Iacob did, Take but one of the least of these Graces and set them in one balance, and thy selfe in the other, and the voice of Humility cannot but break out of thy mouth, Lord I am lesse then the least of thy bles­sings. If with Dauid in one sight thou beholdest thy own naturall corruption & misery, and the great workes which God hath wrought both in [Page 274] thee and for thee, Humility must speake out of thy mouth as it did out of Dauids, Lord what is man that thou art mind­full of him, and the sonne of man that thou regardest him? And thy Psalme shall beginne and end not in thy owne ex­cellence, but in the excellence Psal. 8. of God; Lord how excellent is thy Name in all the Earth? Surely if thou takest a true ac­count of what thou hast recei­ued of God, thou hast taken a true account of what thou owest him; now the more thou hast receiued, the more thou owest, and the more thou ow­est, I hope thou wilt not bee the more proud, but the more humble. Though God allow­eth thee enioying of his gra­ces, yet thou owest him the seruice & glory of them, there­fore [Page 275] think as well of the great­nesse of thy obligement as of the greatnesse of thy exaltati­on by them. The more graces thou hast receiued, the more seruice doth God exspect, and a larger account. And though the man that sits downe and swells in Spirituall excellen­cies, seemes to be at his Rest and iourneys End, yet be not thou emulous of him, for hee hath taken his reward before his time. The true and kindly reward of Spirituall graces is a Spirituall happinesse, which being put ouer to another life (which also is Spirituall) he is altogether short of it, who in this life indeauours to find it. Hee that in Spirituall graces aymes at temporall rewards as his chiefe ends, this man makes the Spirit a drudge to [Page 276] the Flesh, he makes the Israe­lite to build Towers for the Egyptian, he hath begunne in the Spirit and ends in the flesh, and woe be to him whose end is worse then his beginning. 2. Pet. 2.20. But let Spirituall honour and aduancement, be vsed and employed by the same Graces by which they were gotten, and let Grace then florish and fortifie most, when it is most manured, dres­sed and encouraged. The high­er Grace is aduanced and re­warded, the more power, and the more matter it hath for good workes. A man tru­ly Spirituall knowes his owne dignitie and nobililie, that he is a sonne of God, a Citizen of Heauen, an inheritour of a kingdome, and hee doth not value any worldly honour e­quall [Page 277] with this. Therefore for any outward additions, hee will not abate his inward ex­cellence, neither will he giue away the greater for the mea­ner. But he sayth to outward dignities as God sayd to the Prophet; Let them returne to thee, but returne not thou to them. He will haue outward things by a Spirituall vse to become Spirituall, but he will not suffer himselfe who is Spi­rituall, by Carnall things to be made carnall. If Religion beget wealth, he will not suf­fer the daughter to eat vp the mother, but the mother commands the daughter & keepes her in obedience to that which bare her; otherwise it were a most notable sacriledge, to take the things of the Spirit from the Spirit, and to giue [Page 278] them to the flesh, and the very prophanenesse of Belshazzar, to drinke carnall carowses in the spirituall Vessels of the Temple.

But let vs remember the hand of God was against him on the Wall, and the hand of God was quickly vpon him with a finall ouerthrow. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, let vs striue to please him, let vs feare to of­fend him, and this shall wee doe if we follow our Sauiours counsell, by giuing the things of God vnto God. Neyther let any man thinke it an easie thing in outward aduance­ments, to continue inwardly spirituall, or to vse outward things in a spirituall manner. For prosperity hath bin found a most dangerous temptation, [Page 279] and it requires great care and a strong spirit rightly to mannage it. There is ancient league betweene our flesh and the World, the knot where of though it bee cut by the Circumcision of the spirit, yet the smiles and glan­ces which the World casts on vs in outward glory and pro­sperity, doe easily awake the loue that was layd to sleepe, and entise the flesh to renew her first Friendship with the World. Therefore hath hee need of the faith of Moses, that will refuse the pleasures of sinne, and change them for the coldnes and abstinence of Mortificatiō. But let him▪ with Moses haue an eye to the re­compence of the reward; and that sight will make him reso­lute. Let him remember the [Page 280] good Seruant, who the more Talents hee receiued of his Master the more hee increased (not to himselfe) but to his Master, And the more Talents he increased to him, the more Cities he receiued of him. Let him, with Saint Paul, not looke on the things that are seene, but on the things that are not seene, because the things seene are but temporall, but the things not seene eternall; and then if hee be wise hee will vse things temporall for the aduance­ment of things eternall, and not lose things eternall by a carnall fruition of things tem­porall.

To conclude, if the man that hath inward Graces, by those Graces haue gotten a spirituall Eminence, that hee shines as a greater Starre from [Page 281] which the lesser differ in Glo­rie, let him indeauour to pre­serue and increase his excel­lence, as well as to obtayne it. This shall he doe if hee adde one Grace more to the rest of his Graces, and that is Humi­lity. For Humility is a Grace that is the keeper of Graces, yea, it is an increaser of them. So a Christians chiefe way of aspiring is by Humility, and by lownesse to be exalted. On the otherside, if Grace be fol­lowed by Pride, Pride lessens that wherein it seekes to fasten her rootes, so that the more proud a man is of Grace, the lesse cause of Pride he is likely to haue, for Grace will lessen as Pride increaseth.

Againe, hath thy inward excellence receiued the addi­tion of some outward Digni­tie, [Page 282] let the spirit that got it command it, doe thou make it spirituall, and let it not make thee carnall. Doe not thou lose that which thou art, for that which thou hast, but bee thou still thy selfe, and let the things of Nature bee the ser­uants of Grace. Be thou still spirituall in thy affections, in thy actions, for if thou abide in the spirit, thou abidest in thy excellence, and if thou goe from the spirit to the flesh, thou goest downe really, though thou mountest imagi­narily, for the top of the flesh is too bad to be the footstoole of the spirit. But if thou abide constant in the spirit, & there­by art possessor of thy owne soule, and a commander of things transitorie, thy sowing to the spirit shall make thee [Page 283] to reape of the spirit, and thy Haruest shall bee life euerla­sting.

Thou shalt also stop the mouthes of them that speake euill of Dignities, and for the abuse would take away the vse. Thou shalt bee called a builder of Sion, and a repay­rer of the breaches of Ierusa­lem. But on the otherside, They that sow to the flesh, shall of the flesh reape corruption. They that build vp a Babell, shal be stricken with confusion. They that partake with the Harlot in her sinnes, shall partake with her in her plagues: and Reu [...]. 18 7, 8. one of her chiefe sinnes is Pride, and her plagues are Mourning, Famine, Death and Fire. Their soules shall be banished from the Tree of Life, which is the extremity of hunger, [Page 284] They shall be sent into weeping and gnashing of teeth, which is the most bitter mourning, and to the second Death, where the Worme dyeth not, and the fire neuer shall be quenched.

OVr Sauiour CHRIST sayth, W [...] to you when all men speake well of you: and Saint Paul sayth, I seeke to please all, that by all meanes I may winne some. In [Page 285] these two Sayings, there is a shew of Contrariety between the Master and the Seruant. Christ accounts them accursed with whom all are pleased; and yet Paul striues to please all, though those with whom all are pleased bee accursed. And according to the misin­terpretation of these two pla­ces, haue risen two Errours, the one of them that thinke their Ministery neuer well set on worke, or sufficiently con­firmed, vntill it hath stirred vp the whole World against them: The other of them, that thinke it the chiefe discretion of their Ministery, not to speake any thing which by a reproofe of euident sins may hazard the loue of any of their hearers.

But Verity being euer the [Page 186] Companion of Vnity, and Christ and Paul speaking both infallible Verity, they are cer­tainly at Vnity. Now this Ve­rity like a right Line will plainly shew the crookednes of both these Errours: and this Vnity will condemne their contentiousnesse that fal out about the defence of Er­rours.

Christ speakes not to this end that the Ministers should labour for hatred, or striue that men should speake ill of them but he sayth; That the ill spee­ches of men, are ordinary con­sequents of a faithfull Mini­ster, yea, a faithfull man. Hee doth not tell the Ministers that they should follow ha­tred, but he tels the Ministers that hatred will follow them Hee doth not set the Minister [Page 287] by the eares with the World, but hee saith, the World will take the Minister by the eares. Hee is of Saint Pauls minde, that he would haue the Mini­ster in all indifferent things to please all, but yet he denoun­ceth that, though such courses be taken of pleasing, yet the very exercise of the Ministery will mostly get displeasure. And heereof no better exam­ple then Paul himselfe, with whom though striuing to please all, yet the most of all were much displeased. So that both these Sayings may bee harmoniously contracted into one sentence, Striue to please all that you profit some, yet striuing to please all be ye sure that some will bee displeased; For the Seed of the Serpent will hate Seed of the Woman [Page 288] and the World that only loues her own, will hate them that are not of the World. But that we wander not on eyther hand into these diuers Errors, let vs find out the right paths of truth, euen the true Lawes of pleasing and displeasing. In pleasing let this bee the first Law, That Ministers are to propose a good end in their pleasing; they must not please men to their damnation, nor please them to Gods disho­nour, nor for their owne vaine glory; but they must please them to saue them, and to bring them to serue and glori­fie their Creator.

Secondly, they must please them in things lawfull; euen in things good, or at least in­different. They may not please them in euill, that good [Page 289] may come thereof, neyther may they sooth them in their sinnes, which is to edifie the Kindome of Satan, but if there bee at anytime a conni­uencie (at no hand may there be a combination, nor incou­ragement) it must bee for the more profit; euen to watch a better oportunity; And still be it prouided, that no perfect peace by any meanes be made with sinne. Aboue all, let a Minister striue to please in ho­linesse of life; for the beautie thereof hath often stolne away the hearts of the gain-sayers, and gained their affections e­uen against their wils. Yea, let his Gesture haue an amiable comelinesse, befitting one that is a Man of God. And such is a graue Humility euen with­out Pride or Basenes, not car­nally [Page 290] but spiritually, both con­fident and humble.

Thirdly, let them please them in the wisdome and dis­cretion of their Dispensation. Let them giue the great Ones their Honours and Respects, let Festus be called Noble, and let King Agrippa haue his commendations of beleeuing the Prophets, for this is not to giue Titles or to call good e­uill, but to speake truth and to giue honour to whom honour belongeth.

A wicked Man may be out­wardly honorable, and thou mayst not rob him without, because hee is alreadie robbed within. Thou mayst cast him downe by spirituall iudge­ment, but not degrade him of his temporall dignity; thy weapons are spirituall not car­nall, [Page 291] and thy Masters King­dome is not of this World. If thou doe otherwise, rayle on the Pope as much as thou wilt, thou art surely a limbe of him; for he robs men who­ly of temporall honour, for spirituall offences, and thou robbest them in part. Eccl. 12.12. But thou shalt prooue thy selfe an ill Fisher for soules, if thou wilt not bayte thy doctrine or be­hauiour, with that sweetnesse or ceremony by which the fish will byte the better, and be the sooner caught.

In summe, know the estate of thy Flocke in particular, & to bee to euery one a seuerall Man in thy priuate conuersa­tion, and still one man in the publike. Be that to euery Man by which thou mayest winne him most; For thou must bee [Page 292] all for gaine, a true Worldling, but of another World.

Thirdly, in indifferent things, as lawfull and decent recreations allow them; yea, sometimes therein ioyne with them. God that filleth vs with food and gladnesse, allowes these blessings especially to his blessed ones, the rest haue it by stealth. Let vs not make the gate of Heauen narrower then God hath made it, ney­ther let vs make Religion a ghastly thing by vnnecessary opposing of Nature, for the businesse of Religion is not to crosse Nature created, but Nature corrupted; euen our Corruption, not our Creation. Yet in Recreation both De­cency and Sobriety must bee regarded. Besides, thy pre­sence may restraine or reform [Page 293] sinne; But indeed if there bee anvnreformable course of sin, as blsphemy, &c. I know not well how to allow any pati­ence of wickednesse, neyther how the conuersation of the Sodomites can be at the same time vnto Lot both a recreati­on vnto his minde, and a vexa­tion to his soule.

Lastly, please them by out­ward profiting them. If almes, hospitality, a milde exaction of dues may winne them, shew with Paul, that thou seekest not theirs, but them. And now as concerning a generall displeasing, farre be it from vs to make it eyther a vertue or a touchstone. It is not to be pro­secuted as a businesse, nor ta­ken for a marke. Christ indeed makes generall pleasing an ill signe, but generall displeasing [Page 294] hee makes not an infallible good signe, for euen the wic­ked Iewes, as Paul sayth, are contrary to all men, Yea to all men they are a reproch. But the true and laudable displeasing must bee imposed, not sought and imposed for duties abso­lutely necessary, and perfor­med in due manner. It must be for the profession or prac­tise of that Truth, which to conceale will be to the losse of Gods glory, or for the re­proofe of those sinnes which the same glory cannot suffer to bee vnreprooued. Yet must these things bee done with a hearty desire, that they may please since it is a true Rule, That it is a foolish kinde of Rhetoricke to alien his affec­tions, whose iudgement thou seekest to gaine; And most [Page 295] That a Christian ought to seeke peace with all men, and to doe all things in loue. Vn­auoydable and imposed per­secution is the Crowne and re­ioycing of a Christian, and he is neerest the twelue Thrones, that is neerest the Apostles in necessary losses for Christs sake. But let vs not snatch such glory out of Gods hands, nor with the sonnes of Zebedee, intrude our selues into the right and left hands of Christ, for they only shall haue these seates to whom they are ap­pointed of the Father. If God call vs to Confession or Mar­tyrdome, let vs runne to it, or at least run to him by Prayer that he will enable vs to run, and that so wee may obtayne. But if God call not, but wee runne without his call, let vs [Page 296] know, That that running makes Confessors and Mar­tyrs of the Deuill.

IT was a cleere Truth which the Poet said; That pierceth deeper into the heart which enters by the eye, then that which enters by the eare. Heereupon growes the excellence of re­presentation, which as it hath beene vsefull, so it hath beene also in great vse, and the vse­fulnesse of it hath beene so e­minent, that men haue im­ployed the strength of their [Page 297] wits, to turne Eares into Eyes, euen to fasten on their imagi­nations, the same character & shape by hearing which hath bin beheld by seeing. So that though the outward gates were diuers, yet by that diuer­sity, almost the same inward apprehension and knowledge, eyther of persons or actions are receiued into our mindes. Hence is it that the Poet, Ora­tor, or Historian, describes a person or a quality, with such lif, that though the Eare heare but words, yet the Eye sees the things, at least thinkes it sees them.

And by this liuely portra­ture of wit, the matter is so e­uidently presented to the ima­gination, and so stedily riuit­ted to the memory, that it is our owne, and pregnantly rea­die [Page 298] for vse vpon euery occasi­on. But this vse hath bin like­wise poysoned with abuse, and that excellent Pensill of the Soule, wit and conception, which should haue paterned and fastned vertue to our affe­ctions, in her truely amiable feature, and haue stripped vice before our eyes into her natu­ral vglinesse; contrarily it hath giuen a painting of Pleasure vnto Vice, and made it louely by the adornment of wit, which of it selfe is most foule and abominable. So in steed of being helpfull to the minde, by a vigorious impression of vertue, it hath beene made a stampe of the Deuill, mighti­ly to print vice into our soules, by representing the Images of Death vnto Life.

Another kind of represen­tation [Page 299] of the manuall Pensill, hath also beene vsefull for the liuely expression of persons, actions and stories. In the Hi­stories of Martyrs, this hath conueyed their sufferings to the mindes of men with a mighty current, that the dead similitude hath set life in the affections, and that which mo­ued not it selfe, yet moued the beholder both to compassion and indignation. But this kind also hath bin abused and that most grossely vnto spirituall & corporall vncleannesse. It hath been abused to Idolatry, eyther while that which is worshipped is painted, or that which is painted is worship­ped.

To paint the God-head (which only for it selfe is to bee worshipped) is a dumbe [Page 300] blasphemy, and a silent Lye. It sayes, God can bee represen­ted by colours, or that hee is visible to the Eye, and so makes vs beleeue we see what indeed cannot be seene. So to speake truth, it shewes to vs what God is not, and not what he is, not a likenesse but an vn­likenesse of God; and where­as they pretend it to bee Gods Picture, it is meerly a Picture of not God.

A grosse fault it is also, to worship that which is pain­ted; For though the body of Christ himselfe to be pictured, (and yet I neuer knew any sound proofes that hee hath a true Picture) yet may not the Picture bee worshipped with the honour due to Christ. Though his Humanity may be worshipped, yet that is for [Page 301] his vnion with the Deity, euen a true reall and hipostaticall v­nion; But the vnion betweene the Image and the patterne, is only Imaginary, not reall or hypostaticall, so that while we may well say wee worship Christ because he is God, wee cannot say wee worship the I­mage because he is Christ. A farre more reall vnion there is betweene the Saints & Christ, euen the members and the head, for Christ sayes, The Father is in him, and hee in them; yea, if Christs Prayer be heard, we are one with him, yet because it is not a personal and hypostaticall vnion with the God-head, euen Peter himselfe forbids Cornelius to worship him.

Therefore farre be it that a bare likenesse should deserue [Page 302] worship, when a reall and par­ticipating vnion doth not, This Pensill of the hand hath bin also a Factor for vnclean­nesse, while it presenteth in­cendiary spectacles to the eies of humane frailty. Surely Concupiscence is a free horse, and wanteth not sharpe spurs but a strong bitte, it is readie of it selfe to carry away the soule and breake her necke, by a high fall into a low place, e­uen as low as Hell. But these men, least damnation should not be swift enough, set wings on her armes and spurres on her sides, that shee may flye a­way with the soule, by an ex­treame and irreuocable cele­ritie.

Thus are they quite con­trary to the Spirit of God, for that sees and pitties the blind [Page 303] fury of our lusts, it comes into vs to quench their heat, and to abate their rage. It giues vs also sober counsels, by restray­ning our senses vnder disci­pline and custody, so to put off the dangerous temptations which by the senses would breake in vpon vs. But these men haue a contrary busines, they kindle that which the Spirit quencheth, they set fire on the body which is the house of the soule, they giue life vnto that which is mans death, and striue to kill men better that are already too much dead in sinnes and con­cupiscences, Brokers for the Deuill that make wares for hell, and the returne of their merchandise is the soules of men. But leaue off this need­lesse as well as wicked Trade, [Page 304] Lust is as good an euill Pain­ter as your selues, it needs no obiects nor representations, for it selfe chuseth obiects fast enough, and makes to it selfe too many imaginations and pictures. But if you will shew the excellence of skill, doe something of rarity, and make such Images that may fright away Lust, by the apparition of torments and miseries at­tending it, or may perswade Temperance by some liuely patternes and characters of Sobriety, and the excellent benefits following it. Ano­ther kinde of Representation, and which is done most to the life, is that which is done most by the liuing, so that life it selfe dwells in that Represen­tation. Hence things so re­presented, though past, are [Page 305] freshly animated by the spirits of others, and liue in them a­gaine, and that so naturally that they seeme not to be o­thers but the same, and not so much to bee the second as the first. And surely if this Representation were of profi­table & commendable things, in a profitable and commen­dable manner, I doe not see how it can be condemned, ex­cept a thing may be condem­ned for being profitable, or for being a Representation. The first, no man will affirme, and I thinke the latter can hardly bee defended, for the personating of others may be patterned, euen by Diuine examples. One Prophet takes to him the representation of a foolish Shepheard, another of a man wounded by him whose [Page 306] prisoner he set free, a third of a man fettered in chaines; and all these to teach more liuely, and to mooue more forcibly. But such great abuses, haue defiled this kind of Represen­tation, that it hath not onely left the true and naturall pro­fit of it, but it hath seemed to many graue and godly men rather fit to bee taken away then hopefull to be cured. On the other side, I see no hope of the taking away, and therefore I desire it may bee cured, and to that end am willing to shew the chiefe corruptions of it, so that eyther the diseases may bee healed, or the whole may abstaine from being infected.

A first Abuse of this kind of Representation, is in the per­son represented, when such are represented for pleasure, [Page 307] whose representation to wise men is lothsome, or to weake men is dangerous. I should here beginne with the transfi­guring of men into fooles, so to make men merry with the deprauation and abasement of a Creature made to Gods I­mage, yea of the very Image of God in that Creature. For this feeds that euill humour and condition of foolish men, that vseth to reioyce in folly, and make it selfe merry with that which makes a wise man eyther angry or sorry. But the world is inexorable in this point, and they will not haue the foole taken from them, but wil needs delight in their like, and therefore I will passe to points of more hope and grea­ter possibilitie.

A second Fault in this kind [Page 308] is the Representation of Wo­men by Men, which I thinke is a most dangerous▪ and pesti­lent Spectacle. I need not goe to the old Law for proofe, but only appeale to new and la­mentable experience, and de­sire the confession of them that know the times, whether the shape of a woman hath not made masculine loues, and whether the maide hath not procured loue to the boy. I am loth to speak of that wher­of the very speech is lothsome, but it may not bee that sinnes should haue priuiledge to prosper, because they are loth­some to be mentioned, but e­uen because they are lothsome they should the more terribly be reprooued. But I will goe a middle-way betweene say­ing all and nothing, and wish [Page 309] that there were not so much merchandize of Play-boyes, nor so much counterfeiting intisement to that trafficke. Sure I am in some Countries at some times, the purchase and attendance of a play-boy, hath been a speciall ornament: and if there bee faults issuing of this fountaine, I onely say thus much, That for such, Lands vse to spew out their Inhabitants, Heauen raynes down Hell on Earth, and men of Earth goe downe aliue to Hell.

A third Fault is, when the persons of men eyther holy by profession or conuersati­on, are brought forth to the mockes and scornes of pro­phane Herods. In such God himselfe is sacrilegiously deri­ded, while eyther his functi­ons [Page 310] or graces are turned into laughing stockes. It is a cursed laughter that laughs at him by whom we laugh; and he who made laughter doth also make weeping, and as certainly as they now laugh, and his Spi­rit is grieued, so hereafter will hee laugh and they for griefe shall weepe, and that weeping shall be eternall, for it shall be caused by a worme that dieth not, and a fire that neuer shall be quenched.

A second sort of Abuse is, when euill speaches (that cor­rupt good manners) are repre­sented. Of these I will name three sorts.

A first is rotten and filthy language, wherein one defiles his owne tongue that he may defile another mans eares, he takes the fire of his owne lust, [Page 311] and by his tongue flings it in at the windowes of the eare, to set young or youthful souls on fire. And left this poyson should doe no harme, filthi­nesse very often is conserued and sugred in wit, that death may be sure to be swallowed, and that the filthinesse may enter and pierce the deeper, being poynted by the sharp­nesse and pleasantnesse of wit. Surely such men become de­uills vnto men, and turne wit into temptation, peruerting that excellent issue of the Soule to bee a Factor for the Flesh, yea to carry errands of beastlinesse between Flesh and Flesh, the inuenter and the hearer. Yea, the Soule by this meanes becomes a destroyer of Soules, for while it foldeth vp the Flesh in sweetnesse, it [Page 312] killeth the Soule that made it, and the Soule that heares it, if with hearing it be loued, as it will be if wit can doe it. But besides this lowe debasing of so high and excellent a power of the Soule, Let mee tell them for an aduantage, that it is often the signe of an hungry and needy brayne, for as filthinesse sometimes bor­rowes of wit to make it hand­some, so a bad wit often bor­rowes of filthinesse to make it selfe toothsome; for a little wit with a great deale of filthines, hath often among vulgar and muddy eares, more fauor then much wit if it be ouer clean­ly. But let the best striue to please the best, and I know there are wits of that excel­lency that can giue sufficient delight by cleane and cleare [Page 313] conceits, euen such as flowe from pure wit, and borrow no bastardly generation, of the filth and mudde of the base­nesse, shame and corruption of Man. And I know there are also neat and noble Audi­tors, that relish wit best by it selfe, when it is not farded nor tainted with the mixture of slime and drosse. And I doe not see but the chaste wife of one (whose friendship while he liued might haue brought me into suspicion of partiali­tie, but now he is gone, against my will doth leaue mee at li­berty to commend him) hath beene as faire and amiable, as the Venus of many deckt vp with the colours and payn­tings of lustfull and incendia­ry wit.

A second Fault in represen­tatiue [Page 314] speaking, is the vsing of holy words to prophane ends, or in a prophane manner. Oathes are sacred, prayers are holy, and the name of God glorious, yet they must serue the recreation of Man, and man must be delighted though God be blasphemed. A fear­full thing it is, for Man to de­light himselfe in that wherein God is dishonoured; If there were no other thing but the abuse of Gods name, of sen­tences of Scripture, and such holy things, this were enough to make Playes of this nature (and such are most) abhomi­nable to euery good Christian. For I tell thee this, That if thou art a Christian, thou art like vnto Lot, and thy righte­ous Soule will be vexed with the dishonour of thy God. [Page 315] Now if thou art vexed there­with, how canst thou goe to bee vexed? Canst thou take delight in vexation, and wilt thou giue money for it? And if thou beest not vexed, then art thou no good Christian. Againe, if thou be a Christian, God is thy best friend, and wilt thou go where thou thin­kest thy best friend shall bee abused, and thou must hold thy peace. Take heed for Gods sake that thou take not delight there wher thou shoul­dest bee vexed; and take heed for thy owne sake, that if thou must needs be vexed, that thou goe not to seeke vexa­tion.

I might here adde for a third Fault, [...]he scandalous depraua­tions and detractions, which diminish the honour of some, [Page 316] to adde to the pleasure of o­thers, yea beyond this the do­ctrines rather then reproofes of vices, the prodigall expence of time, the stuffe of which life it selfe consists, but I wish the former faults were first a­mended, and the amendment of those would best giue en­couragement to a farther cure. Sure I am as the case now stands, that generally these Theaters are the Churches of Satan, and doe by the meanes fore-mentioned edifie vnto damnation. While the Prea­cher workes for Heauen, the Player playes (for his wor­king is playing) for Hell, and many Soules receiue there those lessons of Darkenesse, which leade them stedily vnto eternall darknesse. And if ex­hortations may not preuaile, [Page 317] I wish Authoritie would, and that at least the same course may bee taken for the Scene that is for the Presse, that no­thing might be acted, but that which first had beene exami­ned, that so if this Represen­tation shall be thought fit to remayne, yet at least the foule spots and corruptions of it may be cleared, that so it may bee restored to all possible beauty, and become (if not profitable) yet infinitely lesse hurtfull.

THE Emphasis lies in the word [Loue] for to loue prelation out of a tumour of the Flesh is a sinne, but to receiue it hum­bly being iustly giuen, may be a worke of the Spirit. Our Sa­uiour consutes not superiori­ty and inferiority, he is not the Author of confusion, but of order; but that which he con­demnes is the lifting vp of the heart in pride, and the proud hearts lifting vp of the body in place. If therefore thou seest the Disease, learne also the Remedies, and if thou art not yet prouided, I will helpe thee a few.

[Page 319]In the First place, That thou mayst cure thy selfe by contraries; by true iudgement and humility, grow first into patience, and after into liking with the lower place. Let thy iudgement tell thee that there is no oddes in the place, but in the minde; for the same place doth please or displease, as the minde likes or dislikes it. I haue knowen a man take a pleasure if not a pride in sit­ting lowest; if thou doe the same thou shalt find the place will do nothing to thee to dis­content thee.

Secondly, Know that the true height of a man is emi­nence in vertue, and an espe­ciall vertue is humility, and humility is very much expres­sed in a good digestion of in­feriority. So if thou art high [Page 320] in vertue; sitting lowest, thou sittest highest; yea, by sitting low thou dost sit high, for hu­mility doth exalt thee. Sure­ly the true excellence of man is vertue guided by know­ledge (and indeed otherwise it is no vertue) for wherein a man is more excellent then o­ther creatures, therein is one man more excellent then ano­ther man. By how much a man riseth aboue the creatures toward the Creator, by so much is his excellence increa­sed, and so farre euery man ex­celleth another, as he goes be­yond another in the Image of God. Therefore striue thou for that which makes thee in­wardly higher, though thou be outwardly lower, for if in this thou excellest thy Neigh­bour, thou art higher then he [Page 321] in worth though lower in place. So a pearle is richer then gold, though in a pen­dent the gold sit aboue the pearle. And we say often that a valiant short man, is a taller man then a long coward; so that he is aboue him in worth, though below him in stature. And no lesse is it thought that a consequent Lady is pre­ferred before an antecedent Vsher.

Thirdly, Know that this present order is but an order­ly confusion inforced by ne­cessity, & sorting with the con­fused misery of the fal of Man. It was not the appointment of Gods first Creation that Prin­ces should goe on foot, and Fooles ride on horsebacke, but by Adams fall, rich folly takes place of poore wisdome. [Page 322] The heart of Man is deceit­full, and inward excellence cannot truly be iudged, there­fore outward stuffe for the present is vsually the dull touchstone of eminence, and where there can be no better, the worst must serue. But here meets me a case that is vanity it selfe and vexation of spirit. Two men there are of equall meanes, the one liues like a Man and a Christian, and e­qualls his meanes by his ex­spences in hospitality, seruices of his Countrie, reliefe of the poore: The other hee is ney­ther Man nor Christian, doth nothing for God nor his Coū ­trie, but by sacriledge, oppres­sion, and extortion, robbes God and the Countrie; yet by this no goodnesse, yea by his wickednesse he trebleth his [Page 323] goods, and farre surmounteth the other. Now let any man tell me which of these should bee taken for the better Man, whether the worse man or the better? Surely by the rule of riches, the latter which is stark naught must bee the better man, and if it bee so, Loue if thou canst this admirable ex­cellence & superiority, which sets thee vp higher in place by being worser in wickednesse. Wouldest thou be this better man if thou mightst, or rather wilt thou not rather scorne this so much valued place, which is to bee gotten by ex­celling in wickednesse? Sure­ly a most pittifull eminence, which is bought by the depra­uation of a mans chiefest ex­cellence, the Image of God. A lamentable dignity where [Page 324] the price of the soule must pay for the preferment of the bo­dy, and thou must inwardly be most vgly, that thou mayst outwardly bee glorious; It were farre better for thee to bee the better man that thou mayst bee the worse, then to bee the worse man that thou mayst bee the better. But to giue thee comfort against this confusion, I will tell thee.

Fourthly, That this con­fused order, shall bee righ­ted by an order without con­fusion. The day draweth neer wherein euery man shall bee seated in his right place, euen according to true, reall, and inward excellence. That (as I told thee) is the Image of God, wherein whosoeuer now shines aboue the rest by grace, shall hereafter shine aboue the [Page 325] rest in the eminence of Glory.

Therefore lift vp thy heart from earthly dignity, vnto heauenly honour, and set thy heart on that which shall bee thine by true iudgement, by due administration and in an eternall fruition. Thy worth shall bee truly valued, and accordingly thy glory shall duly bee giuen thee, and this glory shall bee giuen thee in a Kingdome which hath no end. And then shalt thou see those glorious slaues whom vice heere preferred, tumbled downe into a bottomlesse Pit, and as farre below thee as hell is below Heauen: Then shall it be no griefe of heart to thee, that here thou wert misplaced by mistaking, but thou shalt rather grieue for them, that they were preferred by wic­kednesse [Page 326] vnto eternall misery. It only remaynes, that some of that thought that then shall fully possesse thee, partly bee taken vp before hand, that so thy future superiority may make thee fully pleased with thy present lownesse, and the preferment of others by sinne may mooue in thee no other passion but pitty.

We see the sonne of a great Man, can indure to be below in the Schoole, because hee knowes he shall be high in the Countrey, and quietly suffers those to take place of him, of whome hee knowes by him place shal be taken. We walke by faith and not by sight, by the sight of the soule, and not of the body; and the soule see­ing that heauenly exaltation, let not bodily sight depresse [Page 327] vs, but let that glorious emi­nence which wee see by faith erect and cheere vs.

And now because by that vniuersall variety of euents, all things comming alike to all, or otherwise by diuine fauour & immediate blessing, wealth and honour comes sometimes to grace and goodnesse; I thought it not vnfit to adde some cautions how the great good man should make vse of superiority.

First the loue of Pride, which hath with it a swelling conceit of himselfe, and a lesning contempt of others, must be farre from being the cause of his being first, but he must take it for orders sake, which commonly brings two Com­panions, Comelinesse and Quietnesse.

[Page 328]Secondly, if there bee any doubt of the right of priority, let him rather incline to the humble side then the proud, and rather seeke to goe before in Humility, then in place, which is indeed Saint Pauls Ro. 10.12 going before in going behind.

Thirdly, let Charity ac­company Humility, which sometimes will giue prioritie for loue; for some such there are whom you may winne by this Rattle, and make them friends of enemies, as children are pleased with Apples. It is a bad Neighbour that is not worth more then his place, though indeed he be not very good that will breake friend­ship for loue of the place. But loue sometimes seeketh not her owne, especially where [Page 329] loue must bee lost by seeking her owne, for loue aboue all things seeketh loue.

Fourthly, in the difference of place remember the Com­munity of Nature: yea, per­chance the priority of Grace; so shalt thou not bee lifted vp in thy heart, as thou art in thy place, aboue men of thine owne dignity by Creation, & perchance better then thy selfe by the eminent Graces of Sanctification. And where greater Graces sit below thee, Let thy loue and courtesie ac­knowledge their inward dig­nity, as their inferiority doth acknowledge thy outward e­minence.

For as I told thee, their ex­cellence is the chiefest excel­lence, and it is farre from Iu­stice that he should respect thy [Page 330] outward worth which is the meaner, and thou shouldest not acknowledge his inward worth which is the better. But let each haue his due, thou the honour of outward emi­nence; and he the honour and respect due vnto inward ex­cellence.

MAny are the sores that afflict the minde of corrupt and misera­ble Man. But of these many, there are diuers that bee con­tented with the hurt of one [Page 331] single part or faculty of the soule, as a Mote in the Eie, and a Thorne in the Foot. There is a single error in iudgement, a particular straying of the will, and a measured disordi­natenesse of the Affections. In which cases the amending of that one part where the griefe lyes is sufficient.

But there is a kinde of Men (for such they were once) that will not bee contented with such small sores, but they will needes turne their minde into one whole sore; Facies dicatur an vlcus? you shall not distin­guish the face of their (once-reasonable) soules, from that of the brutish and still vnrea­sonable soules of Beasts. They cast so much moysture on the Lampe of their vnderstand­ing, so much mudde vpon [Page 332] their wils, that the light of their vnderstanding is put out, and the fethers of a diuine and celestiall will are vnable to mount; and so the soule in her faculties is slaine, and there re­maynes nothing but the huskes and shels of Men, for the Men themselues are turned out of doores.

To such, mending will not serue the turne for they are dead. They must goe beyond mending, and had need to goe to new making. For where the principia be not only laesa, but as it were coesa, an almost inde­lible Character of darknesse and sensuality, being stamped on the soule, how shall the soule be new lighted, but by the first inlightner, and how shall she of sensuall bee made spirituall, but by a new-beget­ting [Page 333] of the Father of Spirits? This masse of moysture is like the first Chaos, voyde and without forme, and darknesse is vpon the face of it.

What remedie remaynes, but that now as then the spirit moue vpon the waters, euen vpon this informed lumpe of Humidity; There needs ano­ther fiat, euen a voyce from Heauen, Awake thou that slee­pest, and arise from the dead. But here is the difficulty, The spirit can new make him, but it is almost impossible to leade him to the thought of the spi­rit, much lesse to the Spirit it selfe.

If a Prophet would preach of Wine or strong drinke, he should haue a plentifull Au­dience, but the spirit to moyst men, is but a dry doctrine. Yet [Page 334] I will not despayre to please them, for I will also promise to bring to them the best new Wine, a Wine that will com­fort and cheere their hearts a­boue all the Wine in the World. And I doubt not, but if they once truly taste it, they shall tell the Master of the Feast, euen the God of consolations: Thou hast kept the Wine vntill the last. And that I may assuredly leade them in the right way to him, who will both new make them, and cherish them being new made, I will set them in the same path, where I see S. Paul a follower of Christ, lea­ding his followers; for he long since vsed the same kind of re­medie for the same disease, lea­ding the Ephesians from the excesse of Wine to the fulnes [Page 335] of the quickning and renuing Spirit.

The Apostle Paul in that place sets downe a Vice and a Remedy, and hee striues to make the Vice abhorred, and the Remedy loued. To doe this he needs no other art but euidence, euen to set forthliue­ly the true portrature of Vice, and the true feature of Ver­tue, for Vice beeing truely re­presented, like a fury or ghast of Hell, frights away her Spe­ctators with her owne vglines, and Vertue by her amiable & glorious aspect, rauisheth and commandeth hearts and affec­tions.

Let vs therefore with pati­ence or impatience, if you wil, behold this Monster, whereof though the sight maybe offen­siue, yet that offensiuenesse [Page 336] may perchance prooue a cure to the sicke; and as for the whole wee will recompence them againe, when the Vertue is compared with the Vice, for Contraries are a foyle to each other; And vglinesse being more vgly by the side of Ver­tue, Vertue will againe be the more glorious by the com­pared vglinesse of Vice. This Vice then is heere desciphered to vs by three things, Heere is the matter of it, heere is the measure or vnmeasurablenesse of it, and heere is the house & residence of it.

The Matter of Drunken­nesse is Wine, the Measure is Excesse, the house where it dwels, but should not dwell; is yee, euen miserable Man. But what will they say, Doth the matter of this Vice any [Page 337] way set forth the vglinesse of it? Is not Wine an excellent Creature? and is it not com­mended in the Scripture? and to say truth (reioynes one of the Throat-Gyants) it is for the excellence of it that wee take so much of it; And here if I would giue him the hea­ring, hee would gather a Doc­trine out of Salomons Text, yet cleane contrary to the in­tent of it: That the colour is amiable, the motion sprightly, and the effect comfortable. But when thou hast spoken this, thou Sepulchre of Gods Creatures, I answere thee, that euen for these reasons thou & thy beastlinesse are most abo­minable.

For is Wine such an excel­lent Creature, and hath GOD giuen it such Vertues? Then [Page 338] art thou a very Swine to abuse so excellent a Creature, to de­file that which is precious, to tread on a Pearle with thy feete; yea, thou art a true beast for debasing thy selfe by that which is excellent. Is Wine an excellent Creature, why dost thou bestow it so fil­thily as thou dost? thou know­est the issues of it, and I am a­shamed to name them, thy deedes are too foule for my words, I only say thus: If it be so excellent, why dost thou throw it about Chimneyes, floores and corners? Is this the fruit of an excellent gift that thou shouldest cast the gifts before the giuers face on the ground; yea, by their ex­cellence lose thy owne excel­lence, and by spoyling them rob thy selfe of thy selfe. The [Page 339] excellence of them should in­cite thee to an excellent vse of them, the goodnesse of God in giuing so good a gift, should rayse vp goodnesse in thee in the vse of his gift, and to say truth, if there were any good nature in thee, thou wouldest please him that hath pleased thee, by vsing the gift iust ac­cording to the will of the gi­uer.

Thou takest all other Grants vnder the Couenants of the Grantor, so shouldest thou doe this euen to the same end, and vnder the same mea­sure by which he affordeth it; And if thou aske what that is, Iust so much as may make man better and not worse, as may adde to the man, and not take from him, that the lower and bodily part of man may bee [Page 340] so strengthened and comfor­ted, that the higher part of man remayne sound and in­tyre.

If thou doe otherwise, the Wine doth accuse thee by his excellence, and makes thee the more lothsome. For if it could speake as it can take a­way speech, it would com­plaine vnto thee that it selfe is excellent, and man is excel­lent, but in this beastlines both the excellencies are lost, for the excellent Wine hath spoyled the excellent man, & excellent man hath spoyled the excellēt Wine. So doth the Swallower preuent the Day of Iudge­ment, for then it is said: That God shall destroy both the meat and the belly, But this man will not stay so long, hee will before hand destroy both [Page 341] the drinke and the belly, for the occupation of this man is to destroy the Wine, by his belly, and his belly, soule and body by the Wine.

And as the vertue of this Creature hath beene one mo­tiue to restrayne vs from the vice of abusing it, so the vn­measurablenesse & monstrous­nesse of it in the word Ex­cesse, is a second retractiue, & that a mighty one. There is a danger in this wine saith Paul, euen the danger of an excesse, and the excesse of Wine hath this mischiefe with it, that by how much the Wine exceeds, the man diminisheth; as much as the Wine is too much, so much the man is too little, and what losse is greater then when a man loseth his owne selfe? Therefore if any thing [Page 342] will moue thee, Let the grea­test losse mooue thee, rather lose thy Wine then lose thy selfe: yea, indeed thou sauest thy Wine by sauing thy selfe, for in excesse you are both cast away. This thing excesse is worse then the sting of an Aspe, for by it Wine poyso­neth the very Soule and Rea­son of Man. Hence it is that Wine is a mocker, and makes a Foole of a man, for the looke of it promiseth pleasure, the pleasure prouoketh excesse, & excesse brings a man out of his wits, and so hee becomes a Laughing-stock to Fooles, & a Lothing-stock to the Godly; And indeed as Idols are most truly called stocks and stones, so may these men also, for they haue eyes and see not, eares and heare not, neyther doe they [Page 343] perceiue any thing. Now ought not this to be a most fearefull and odious thing vnto man, That where mans chiefest ex­cellence and honour is the I­mage of God, this Vice flyes maynly at the face of this I­mage, and seekes to scratch it out of the soule; and so to leaue man as base and disho­norable as the Beasts, whome man despiseth most. So is this excesse a notable kinde of murder, for it kils that which is indeed the man, euen Rea­son and Vnderstanding. And as it is thus contrary to the Creation by defacing that I­mage of God, which the Crea­tion planted in vs, so it is also contrary to Regeneration, and the recouery of that decayed Image. So is it a murder of the second Adam in vs as well [Page 344] as of the first, euen a murde [...] of life eternall. The new man saith Paul, is created in know­ledge and true holinesse, but drunkennes (it is a foule word and an honest eare is troubled with the sound of it) quench­eth the shining Lampe of knowledge, and the spirituall fire of holinesse, and leaues the soule of man as den of darke­nesse and vncleannesse. It thrusts a finger into the very eye of the soule, euen the vn­derstanding, and puts it out; and it leaues such a drosse and muddinesse on the will, that it growes base and downward, the fiery mountings of the spirit being quenched by the fogs and cloudes of moysture,

[Page 345]Such lamentable effects of ex­cesse you shal ordinarily see in these thirsty men, or men-fi­shes (for their life is only in li­quido) they haue commonly rebated and dull vnderstan­dings, and base, grosse and muddy affections. They loue base company, base places, and base courses.

But if it be not yet odious enough, behold the Monster it selfe as you go in the streets (for you can hardly misse him) and that will best affright you; A certaine thing it is that perchance was lately a man, but now hath nor soul nor bo­dy; That little mouth of his hath swallowed downe his whole selfe, he is intombed in his owne bowels, and that which is buried in him is his Sepulchre. Hee is now only [Page 346] Belly, Foolishnesse and Sick­nesse; his panch hath buried the Wine, and in the Wine is his wit buried, his soule, his hands, his feet, and perchance his last wealth.

Thete can be nothing sayd of him now, but that hee is a meere Caske, the shell of wine, yet worse then that, a Caske that marres the Wine, and it selfe is marred by it. You may strike him if yee will, he feeles it not, for he is dead as well as buried, and whosoeuer would speake with him, he must stay till hee come home; for the drinke hath turned him out of doores. But to what end doe I cast away my words? If I speake to such a one, I speake to the dead, and how can hee heare? And if I speake to the liuing, He is not such, and hee [Page 347] hath no need of my speaking? Surely I will here take vp the saying of Salomon, of the o­ther generall death, That it is good to see the house of death, because the liuing shall lay it to his heart. So though I haue small hope of the dead in ex­cesse. A Lazarus of that kinde being very seldome raysed vn­to life, yet let the liuing behold this house of death, and hee may lay it to his heart.

Let those that stand by the falne take heed least they fall, Let the vglinesse which they see & abhorre in others, make them striue not to bee that which they doe abhorre. Be­ware of Wine, because it tempts to excesse, and there­fore handle it with feare (I speake now chiefly to them that excuse themselues by be­ing [Page 348] ouertaken) because it hath a sting in it: But especially be­ware of excesse, for without this sting the wine will hurt thee. Be an equall Iudge be­tweene thy taste and thy whole selfe, euen thy body, thy soule yea Grace the soule of thy soule. Bee not partiall to thy base sensuality, but rather [...] thy selfe, and fauour those excellent things, Gods Grace, thy owne soule and bodie; A­bate that which would abat [...] thee, and lose any thing rather then thy selfe.

A third dehortatiue is th [...] consideration of persons, for the persons whom hee dehorteth, are men and Christians and such of all other it worst becommeth. A Swine, o [...] a Heathen, or (a Heathens fel­low) a Swa [...]geret it becomes [Page 349] somewhat kindly; But men of vnderstanding, seruants & members of Christ Iesus it fits by no meanes; yea, it is a miserable incongruity. A man that hath some remnant of Gods Ima [...]e, yea, which is more, that hath Gods Image renued in him: yea, is bought and brought to the wearing of this Image by the preciou [...] bloud of the Sonne of God that such a one should defile and deface Gods Image in himselfe, this is a great absur­ditie.

Therefore hee coniureth them by their Manhood, and by their Christanity, that they would not put on this wilfull madnes, by which both Man­hood and Christianitie may be lost. Christ hath dyed for thee, doe not spoyle him with thy [Page 350] drinke for whom Christ dyed. Doe not thou defile with thy Wine that which Christ hath washed with his bloud, and where Christ indured so great a paine as accompanyed the shedding of his bloud, and nayling on the Crosse for thy saluation, doe not thou shed thy Wine vpon thy selfe to procure thy owne damnation. Surely thou preferrest Wine before the bloud of Christ, and before the Spirit of Christ. Thou art not a Christian but a Gadaren, or rather the Hogge of the Gadarens, now in car­rying by the Deuill into the Deepe, if thou preferre a Swi­nish pleasure before the most precious bloud of the Sauiour of the World.

Therefore, behold thy dig­nity and that may suffice thee. [Page 351] Thou art elect according to the fore-knowledge of God, by the sprinkling of the bloud of Christ and the sanctification of the Spirit; and is there a greater excellencie then this, to bee a sonne of God so freely elected, so preciously redeemed, so di­uinely sanctified? And now put this filthinesse by the side of it (a lothsome and odious comparison, I confesse, but profitable by the lothsome­nesse) and can any man indure to loose the Trinity, that hee may gaine Sensuality, to leaue to be a Saint, that hee may be a Beast, to lose Heauen, that he may gaine Hell? Me thinkes a man had neede bee drunke before-hand, in this case to make a choice of Drunken­nesse.

And now Paul passeth from [Page 352] the Vice to the Remedie. An admirable fit and soueraigne Remedie, as which helpeth it three wayes. First by a contra­riety, for cures are most com­monly by contraries, and as excessiue wine hath bin shew­ed to be contrary to the spirit, so is the spirit to it. Secondly, by a conformitie with it, but excelling it, and so the emi­nence of it calleth vs away, from that which is meaner to that which is more precious, as the offer of gold calls vs from siluer or brasse. Third­ly, by a priuiledge wherein it differs from it, as not hauing the danger of wine, which is excesse; for there is no excesse in the spirit, but excesse is a vertue in it, and the greater measure the more comm [...]nda­tion. Now that thou mayst be [Page 353] glad to b [...]e cured of this Vice by the contrariety of the Spi­rit, see wherein the contrarie­ty consists. The surfet of wine makes darknesse in thy Vn­derstanding, and the Spirit light: It makes brutish sen­suality, strong and heauy vpon the Will and affections, and the Spirit exalts and purifies the Will by a cleane and ce­lestiall grace. Now if I leaue it to thy choyce whether thou wilt come out of Darknesse into Light, from a seruile sen­suality, a true equality with Beasts, into the glorious liber­ty of holy cleane and heauen­ly Minds; I know thou wilt tell mee that there is no doubt in this choyce, but that Light is farre better then Darknesse, and a heauenly Mind is farre better then a sensuall. Then [Page 354] doe but beleeue what thou sayest, and doe what thou be­leeuest, and thou art cured. Preferre in thy workes as well as thy words, the light of the Deity shining on thy Soule, before the darknesse of excesse sent vp from the grosse vapors of Moysture. Bee thou farre more glad to haue thoughts of Purity, thoughts of Felici­ty, thoughts of Eternity, then the beastly imaginations of filthy Lusts, inflamed in thy Soule by the Lake of Brim­stone that lies in thy Bowels. Let neither the colour nor the tast of Wine be thought a fit counterpoyse to those excel­lencies of the Spirit, but when Wine would tempt thee by them, call him Mocker, and tell him that pleasure is but a pretence, but darknesse, sensu­ality, [Page 355] and eternall death is the drift of it. Tell it thou hast a Light in thee more precious then the light of the Sunne (the Father of Wine) yea more excellent then any Crea­ture, and thou wilt not change this excellent light into dark­nesse, for so small a price as a sight and a tast. Say thou hast a quickening and purifying flame of heauenly Fire sent downe into thy heart, and thou wilt not quench it for the World, by the inundation of a brutifying Moysture. And hauing chased away this temp­ting Ammonite, that will not make peace with thee but by pulling out thy best eye, re­tire into the Light and Vertue of the Spirit, inflame it, blowe it, kindle it by Meditation, by Prayer, by Reading, and the [Page 356] increase of this Light and Ver­tue, wi [...] increase in thee lo [...]hing of the Darknesse and Beastli­nesse of excesse. The Light of the Spirit and the graces ther­of, will bee so highly precious in thy sight, that thou wilt wonder that any man should goe downe from that Heauen of the Soule, into the darke and miry Dungeons of a stu­pi [...]ied sightlesse, filthy, sensu­all and sencelesse Mind. Thou wilt admire that a man should wilfully put out so glorious a Lampe as the Light of the Spirit, and that a man should quench that fire by which in some measure he is partaker of the Diuine Nature, and all this to get into him the nature, ha­bite and condition of a Swine, an Ape, a Goat, or a Lyon. Wherefore take heed to the [Page 357] new Creature of God, created in knowledge and holinesse, which is farre more glorious then all the old Creatures; Let that by all meanes bee prefer­red in its dignitie and supre­macie, let all Creatures serue it, for so the Creator allowes, but let it selfe bee brought in bondage to nothing. Let it be kept bright and pure for the seruice and pleasure of the Creator, who therefore beau­tified Man with a likenesse to his owne Heart, that his heart might take pleasure in that likenesse. And if the chiefe pleasure which God takes on Earth be this Beauty of Man, then man himselfe should take his chiefest pleasure in pr [...]er­uing and adorning this Beau­ty; Otherwise hee is an vn­gratefull Wretch, not ca [...]ing [Page 358] to gratifie the Creator with the pleasure of his owne Gifts, and hee is an ignorant Foole, for not taking a chiefe plea­sure in that wherein the high­est Wisdome is especially de­lighted. But whosoeuer is the truly begotten sonne of that supreme Wisedome, cannot but loue and cherish the Wis­dome and Graces of the inner Man, wherein stands the beau­tifull Image and likenesse of the most glorious Father. And whosoeuer loueth and cheri­sheth it, cannot but hate and abhominate that Excesse, that casts blacknesse and filth on so bright rauishing and cele­stiall a Beauty.

Neyther doth here the Spi­rit of God bid vs to our losse, but (which is the second Re­medie) euen in those things [Page 359] wherein Wine is desirable, the Spirit offers vs aduantage. If the Wine bee pleasant to the eye, the sights of the Spirit are farre more excellent, for they are such as eye hath not seene. The Spirit of God reueales sights vnvtterable, and our soules anoynted with that eye-salue, Looke into hea­uen and see him that is inuisi­ble. Glorious and delectable are the Contemplations of the Saints, euen such, that they grow rapt by the sights which they behold, and are loth to come downe from that high Tabor of Vision, into the low and base valley of outward and grosse conuersation. The light of the body is the eye, but the eye of Man is the Soule; The Spirituall sight is mans most excellent Sight, and Spi­rituall [Page 360] obiects are his most ex­cellent obiects. When we see outward things, wee see but that which beasts may see with vs, but when we see Spirituall things, we see that which none but Men and Angels can see wherefore be thou filled with the Spirit, wherby thou mayst see the true and kindly obiects of Men and Angels, and dwell not in thy outward eies wher­in Beasts may excell thee. By thy inward sight thou shalt in some measure behold God, thy chiefe Felicity, the loue of God in Christ Iesus giuen for our Ransome, the admirable Graces and Vertues of a ho­ly and sanctifying Spirit. In summe, thou shalt see such di­uine Sights, that thou wilt not giue thy Contemplations for a Kingdome. For at what [Page 361] price will a heauenly Soule sell his Meditations? Gregor. in ps. p [...] ­ni [...]. 4. Sion is by interpretation a Watch-towre, and Sion is a type of the Church. The Church of God stands on a Watch-towre, and it sees more then seuen men on a Watch-towre; and as her height is exalted on the towre of contemplation, so her foun­dation is setled beneath on the Rocke of stability. So as shee sees farre by her height, shee is also stable by her foundation; which amounts to this, That Sion is a Watch-towre, that cannot be remooued from her Contemplation. Now if this heauenly Sight bee the most excellent Sight of Man, dwell no longer in thy outward eies, to behold eyther the colour, spright, or motion of Wine, or of any earthly obiect; But [Page 362] in the stedfast Watch-towre of diuine Contemplation, behold sights worthy of a Creature indued with a heauenly Soule. Scorne to dwell in an equality with Beasts, when thou mayst come into a parity with An­gels, and if thou wilt needs looke on Wine, Looke on the new Wine of the kingdome of Heauen, which Christ now drinkes aboue, and for which hee hath left the old, hauing professed that hee will drinke no more of it. But of this Wine more hereafter.

Secondly, If thy tast delight thee, how much is that excee­ded by the delights of the Spirit? The Church confes­seth, that the kisses of Christ Iesus (who kisseth his Church by the Spirit) are pleasanter then Wine. Quam dulcia fau­cibus [Page 363] meis eloquia tua, sayth Dauid. Hee is fayne to aske how sweet, because he cannot tell nor expresse the sweetnesse of it; What is sweeter then ho­ny, sayth Samson, and yet Da­uid sayth, The Word of God, be­ing tasted by the Spirit is swee­ter then hony. How many Saints haue left their meat and drinke for the Wine of the Spirit? How many haue bea­ten downe their bodies by ab­stinence, that they might the more fully tast the Sweetnesse of God? Wherefore if thou wilt indeed tast sweetnesse, get thee a Spirituall tast, & receiue the Wine of heauen giuen by Christ Iesus the Wisdome of God: For he it is that ( Pro. 8.) calleth the sonnes of men, pro­mising to fill them with de­lights ( vers. 31.) And surely [Page 364] those must needs be the chiefe delights which issue from the taste of the Deity, which is the vppermost Sweetnesse. Wher­fore desire thou rather to taste God in himselfe then in his Creatures, for that is the high­est pleasure of tasting, which flowes from the taste of the sweetnesse of the Highest.

Thirdly, If thou desire Wine for the cheerfulnesse and ioy which it breedeth, know that the Spirit of God is the Fountaine of Consolation; and then chuse thou whether thou wilt drink of the streame or of the fountaine. The Spi­rit of God hath in it the ioy and comfort of Wine. Yea, Wine hath his ioy and com­fort from the Spirit, for the Spirit of God, as once by mi­racle, so still by course of Na­ture [Page 365] turnes water into Wine. But there is another, euen a new Wine in the kingdome of God, and this is the best wine. A new Wine it is to vs, but not in it selfe; new to vs, be­cause wee were first filled with the old Wine of our fall, and secondly with this Wine of excesse, and after wee come to drink this wine of regeneration and glorification. So it is new to vs, but it is old in it selfe, as flowing eternally from an eter­nally from an eternall Deity. This is the true Wine which recoyceth the heart, not of the body onely but of the soule also, to which the outward Wine connot reach. This is the Wine of blessed Spirits, the drinking whereof is the cause of those vnvtterable ioyes which dwel in the dwel­lers, [Page 366] with God. In this the Spirit giues not some grosse and bodily relish, thereby to become comfortable to the bodily part of Man, but in this the Spirit communicates the sap, tast and relish of its owne primitiue sweetnesse, vi­gour and cheerfulnesse, so that wee doe not so much tast com­fort, as the Comforter him­selfe. In the drinking of this Wine shew thy manhood, Drinke deep and true healths, for with this drinking is ioy­ned true and eternall health. The more thou drinkest of this, the wiser, the holyer, the more sober thou art, for in the same Spirit wherein is cheer­fulnesse, is also Wisdome and Vertue. The tast of this Wine is a bequeath of dying Christ Iesus to his beloued Spouse [Page 367] the Church, whom he comfor­teth and supporteth, with the flagons thereof in his absence before the Day of his great Marriage, where it shall bee giuen in fulnesse. And the comforts of it are sufficient to strēgthen vs against all sorts of griefe, yea they make vs cheer­fully to scorne and despise the pleasures of sinne; they make vs to looke on death with dis­dayne, as vpon a Snake whose fling and teeth are pulled out, Death where is thy sting, Graue where is thy victory? They make vs to long for heauen, and stirre vp the stomacke of the soule by these measured tastes of God, to tast him per­fectly in a most blessed, full, and eternall fruition. But per­chance thou wilt tell mee that thou tastest no such sweetnesse [Page 368] in God; thou hast heard him spoken of in Churches and Pulpits, and thou sayest thy prayers as others doe, and yet thou perceiuest no such mat­ter as I talke of. Surely I must confesse, This Wine is not for euery mouth, neyther is euery mouth for this Wine. The ho­ly Wine must be put into holy Vessels, for it is farre holyer then the shew-bread, for the receiuing whereof Abimelech would that the young mens Vessels should be cleane. The corrupt and lustfull Flesh, as it tasteth not this Wine, no more doth this Wine indure to be tasted by it: this fruit of the tree of Life cannot be re­ceiued, but where the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of good and euill is spit out and denyed. The louers of Egyp­tian [Page 369] Onions, are no true ta­sters of celestiall Manna: ther­fore striue to cast out the old Man, corrupt with deceiuable Lusts, which makes thy taste grosse and earthly, and then thou shalt taste the sweetnesse of God and his consolations. And hauing tasted it, thou shalt despise the tast of thy for­mer gluttonies and drinkings, and thou shalt say with Da­uid, Thou hast put more ioy in­to my heart, then formerly there was when the Oyle and Wine were plentifull. This is a pri­uiledge of Saints: bee thou a Saint, and inioy the priui­ledge.

Thirdly (for drunkennesse had need to be haled out with a three-fold cord) behold a be­nefit of this Spirituall wine, which the other wanteth; yea, [Page 370] behold the same thing com­mendable in the one, & dam­nable in the other, and that is excesse. Thou must drinke too much of the outward wine, but canst not drinke too much of the inward, and ther­fore if thou loue safety better then danger, loue the wine of the Spirit rather then the fruit of the Vine. If thou knowest a Physitian that heales all that he meddles with, and another that hath killed as many as he hath vndertaken, doest thou not shew thy folly to preferre the killer before the sauer.

Surely the spirit saues all that it vndertakes, and wine hath slaine many soules and bodies by excesse, O loue life, and seeke not death by the er­rours of this life. Drinke the Spirit without feare, but drink [Page 371] wine still in feare; thou mayst not feare in the drinking of the spirit except thou wilt feare increase of comfort, of light, of holinesse. Thou canst not drinke freely of wine with­out feare, except thou do not feare the losse of light, the losse of reason, of goodnesse, of thy whole selfe.

The spirit by how much it groweth in thee the wiser, the better, the more larger thou art; But by how much more thou drinkest the wine of ex­cesse, the foolisher, the wic­keder, the lesser thou art. Therefore when thou takest the Cup of Saluation, open thy mouth wide that it may bee largely filled, but when thou takest thy cup of wine, know it is a cup of danger, and let in danger as sparely as thou mayst. [Page 372] It is the saying of a Wise­man, Hee that loueth danger shall perish in it, and surely hee that loueth wine, loueth dan­ger, and therefore hee that lo­wine, is likely to perish by it. While thou fitst at thy wine, the wine seemes to thee to be still the same, because it is still of the same colour, and the same taste, and taken out of the same Vessell; but I tell thee that the wine at the fourth or fifth draught is not the same that it was at the first or second. The wine at the first or second draught per­chance was comfortable or physicall, but at the fourth or fifth it is furious and vnhol­some. It refresheth thy spirits at first, but it destroyes them at last, and so the same wine which was at first thy com­fort, [Page 373] is at last thy poison. Ther­fore hold thy hand from wine when it beginnes to bee poy­son, know the time when it changeth, and take heed thou keepe thy selfe on this side of the Change.

On this side, thou art Ma­ster both of it & thy selfe, and thou mayst rule both thy selfe and it; beyond, the wine will be thy Master, and thou shalt doe what it pleaseth. Then shall thy mouth speake lewd things, and by speaking or not speaking it shall proclayme thy shame. Wherefore if thou loue thy liberty, if thou loue the possession of thy selfe, stop thy appetite betweene the wine that refresheth and the wine that destroyeth. And that thou mayst bee the more strong in this power of Absti­nence, [Page 374] with a purified soule thirst after the wine of the Spi­rit, with which they that thirst shall be filled, and with which they that are filled, doe scorne both the thirst and fulnesse, & especially the excesse of earth­ly wine.

Thus haue I made a Whip of a twice threefold Cord out of this exhortation of S. Paul, there withall to whip these de­uourers of drink not out of the Temple, but into the Temple from the Chappels of Satan. I wish they would in this point bee Papists, and whip them­selues also, if not withall, yet with some of these cords, that so by such wholsome wounds, their euill might be purged. I confesse, I haue left out one word of this verse, which word seemes to be the occasi­on [Page 375] of the whole Verse, and it is the word (drunken.) I might say for an Answer, that I wish it were wholly left out in deeds as it is heere in words, but if that will not serue for an Answere, Let it be this. The matter of the word is the sub­iect of this Discourse, and the word excesse reacheth close vnto it.

But for the word it selfe, as I haue for the most part auoy­ded the lothsome naming of it, So I desire that the loth­somenesse of the name may make the owners leaue it, and intreat them to this end, to preach sometimes to them­selues, and their Sermon shall bee only an houres repetition of this word, Drunken. I doubt not but the beastly sound of it in the eare, the [Page 376] muddie cadence of it on the tongue will bee so fulsome, so odious to them, that in the vg­linesse of the word, beholding the lothsomenesse of the deed, they will hate and anoyde the deed, whereof the word is so abominable.

THere are at this day many seuerall tastes that affect seuerall manners of deliuering the Word of God. Some affect roughnesse, some verball Rhe­toricke, some a short, and san­dy Eloquence.

The first pretends for him­selfe, [Page 377] that the profit of the Word consisteth in superna­turall power, not in humane elocution, and that the intising words of mans Wisdome rob that diuine power of the glo­ry of conuersion. But the man of the man of this opinion must know first, that he findes no precept of rusticitie, harsh­nesse or roughnesse of speech in the Scripture.

Secondly, on the contrary, hee shall find in the Preacher, Prophets and Apostles, yea, in Christ himself, pleasant words, delightfull comparisons, per­swasiue exhortations, & often very eloquent and moouing expressions.

Thirdly, God speaking by man vnto man, though the power of God be the very ef­fectuall cause of conuersion, & only baptiseth with fire, yet [Page 378] the outward powerful expres­sion ioyning and conspiring with the inward, conuerting power may giue a degree thought not a being, and may blow the fire which the Spirit kindles. The Spirit in the spea­ker or writer, according to his degree, commonly stirreth, in­flameth, and exalteth the Spi­rit in the hearer, and that so much the more strongly, by how much more swift & forci­ble penetratiō ithath, through the outward man into the in­ward.

Now a cleere sound and masculine expression openeth wide the doore of the vtter man, so that the spirituall mea­ning contayned in the words passeth in fully, strongly and swiftly; And so the actiue ve­hemence thereof doth as it [Page 379] were struck hard on the soule, and leaues a print thereon. The Word is the Looking­glasse bearing the Image of the Spirit that speaketh, and ther­in is the Spirit speaking dis­cerned by the Spirit hearing. The more this spirit is discer­ned, the more beauty, and so the more loue, and so the more power. Now the cleerer the Glasse is the more discer­ning; therefore the spirit made more excellent in an euident word is more louely and more powerfull. Surely if we could see spirituall thoughts in their Primitiue beauty without the grosse mediation of words, their excellence would rauish vs, & their glory would com­mand and master vs. But now thoughts shining to vs thorow the Lanthorne of words, the [Page 380] cleerer the Lanthorne is, the more bright and cheerfull is the Light, and the thicker it is, the lesse doth it direct, and the lesse doth it comfort.

Fourthly, besides the bene­fit of euidence, handsome ex­pression helpes the memorie; and God speaking to man by man, no doubt, well knowes their mould to whome hee speakes, and is willing that all fauour, especially by the Mi­nisterie of man, Rom. 6.19. should be done vnto man, and that words should be fitted to the best aduantage of Nature. A Parable of Christ, a tuned and proportioned Psalme of Dauid, a Prouerbe of Salomon, yea, one of the Fathers har­monious Sentences, sometime take more hold of the memo­ry, then a rough and ragged [Page 381] exhortation. Yet I speake not this (that I may vse Pauls words) to shame them that haue not, to condemne Moses, Exod. 4.10. for want of vtte­rance, but to exhort others from condemning, and that they doe not condemne but desire the more excellent gifts: for God gaue Moses & Aaron, euen to diuine knowledge, an eloquent vtterance. God hath giuen diuers gifts vnto men, & all to edification; now all to­gether shall edifie most, if the higher imploy their Talents, not condemning but incoura­ging the lower, & if the lower exercise their gifts, rather imi­tating thē enuying the higher. But in imitation, let euery Man hold this Rule, That he imitate no further then his strength will make it good. O­therwise [Page 382] while he seekes to be another, and leaues to be him­selfe, being short of the other he loseth both himselfe and the other, euen what he would be, and what he might be.

The second is a hunter of meere words, and the out-side of speaking with a neglect of the inside; such a one is a Pha­risie in words, as the ancient ones were in deeds. Against these especially doe the Rea­sons of the first oppose, for these goe about to intice men, and to slacke their affections with Eloquence, not to turne them, not to conquer them with power. These draw men to themselues rather then to Christ, for their hearers (if they bee not of the wisest, as most are not) commend the Sermon much, and the Prea­cher [Page 383] more, and Christ least of all.

And indeed they leaue their audience commonly as they found them for profit, but somewhat better for pleasure. Their mishap is this, that the eare is not the soule, for if it had beene so, then so many soules by them had beene gai­ned, as hearers were pleased. Surely this eare-teaching, or eare-scratching pierceth not home, but it is like an Arrow without an head; It hath in­deed the woodden head of the flesh, but it wanteth the met­tall and steele of the spirit, by which it should enter into the heart, and diuide betweene the soule and the Spirit. Let these men therefore remember that the Kindome of God, though it may be aduanced by words [Page 384] that make power euident, yet it consisteth not in words but in power.

The spirit speaking though in course and plaine words, may saue a soule, but the top of humane Eloquence, not edged with the spirit, will ne­uer enter in deepe enough to saue the hearers. The third sort affect a language of ends, and such a stile as is all of in­layings. They are full of short breathes, and if they perswade you not on a sudden, they haue done.

Againe, they darken the sence by not allowing it room enough. Surely it hath beene a misery of these latter times, to affect both in Latine and English, such a speech of par­cels that hurts the memory, trauailes the vnderstanding, & [Page 385] doth both nibble and sting the will, not gripe it, not lift it, not weld or manage it. When the memory would claspe it, it is all one as if you did claspe a handfull of sand, the harder you squeese it, the more it flits. When the vnderstanding be­holds it, eyther it is payned in opening the fast and hide­bound shels of it, or if it haue some ease in that kind, it spyes but a short glimpse of Light, and but a Gloworme of Rea­son, and bee the way neuer so darke, it must be content with that flash of Lightning. When the wil and affectons meete it, they rather finde in it the taste of an Epigram, then of a doc­trine, of sawce, then of meate. And if there bee any strength in it, yet it is so bound in by breuity, that it giues but a [Page 386] plucke to the will, and drawes it not by a continued might: so if the mind will not be mo­ued with the pange of a sen­tence, it may scape well e­nough from this kinde of tea­ching.

Surely these minutes of stile, and littlenesses in discoursing, doe not well expresse Maiesty and Power. And that should they striue to expresse who are the mouthes and pens of the highest Maiesty and the high­est Power. Againe, in regard of the hearers or readers, that which should enter with power, should issue with power, that which should goe to the heart, should issue from the heart, and not bee only a flash or fire-worke of the braine.

And now that I may the [Page 387] better free my Reader and my selfe from mistaking, and be­ing mistaken, I am ready to tel him what I intend not, and what I intend.

First, I intend not to lessen their deserued estimation, and so their edification, whose na­turall gift is a cleere and con­cise expression; I know there are of this sort that merit good Readers, and haue many of them, and I wish them prospe­ritie in the Name of the Lord. Such men are themselues when they write and not o­thers, and if they should bee forced from this kind, they should (like Diamonds) bee lessened by new fashioning; and I thinke verily that wher­in a man strength lyes, therein should he glorifie his Creator, and not by going out of his [Page 388] strength, seeke to serue and glorifie God by his disability. And this doe they commonly who leaue that Character whereunto they were fashio­ned, and reach after another but reach not to it. To such the Apostles counsell is good Physick; Let euery man vn­derstand according to sobrie­ty, and his owne measure. But secondly, I intend to shew and proue that a continuall Dis­course or Treatise made all of parcels, though it may haue good things in it, yet it is not the best kind of Language for edification.

And besides the reasons shewed before (that it often darkens the matter, that it hurts the memory, that it wants the power and maiesty, which the Word of God both [Page 389] requireth and deserueth) to make vp an absolute proofe I will adde a most absolute ex­ample, and the reason of the example. The example is Saint Paul, that strong Writer of E­pistles, (as the very malice of his Enemies did confesse) who knew the best kind of deliue­ring Diuinity, 1. Cor. 2. and both told it vs in writing, that spirituall things must be fitted with spirituall words, and as there he saith in writing prac­tised that which he told vs. If you will see his practice, search his Epistles, and among them that to the Romanes, which indeed is a Master-piece.) There you shall see that his manner of teaching is deepe in knowledge, strong in reaso­ning, pregnant in expression, powerfull in perswasion. Hee [Page 390] doth not trusse vp his words too close, neyther doth hee thin them so much that they can scarce be discerned, but to a full and substantiall matter he giueth the fulnes of speech and expression. Yea, where hee seemes most to excell, hee sometimes doubles and makes returnes, and giues two or three sights or countenances of the same matter, that our knowledge and memory may bee assured, and that hee may not bee thought to grudge vs his matter by grudging vs words.

And yet Epistles I thinke may best pleade breuity. Be­sides in his perswasions and exhortations, he expresseth ve­hemence of affection and fer­our of spirit, which small ends doe smally and weakly per­forme. [Page 391] And secondly, if wee will search into the reason of this Example: by searching what is spirituall, we shall find that the Spirit worketh mans conuersion, especially by light and power, as hauing to doe with a darke and impotent Mankind, and therefore it ex­presseth it selfe best, & makes it selfe most euident by a light­some and powerfull speech, e­uen words of brightnesse and feruour. So both by Pauls ex­ample and the reason of that Example, I haue fetched the patterne of most profitable Language. If yet you would haue more proofe, behold al­so noble Esay, the very pri­mate of the Prophets; and the Ambassadour of God, whose tongue was touched with the fire of Heauen; This great [Page 392] Prophet doth not vsually skip and leape in the short steps of broken Sentences; but he wal­keth with Maiesty in the full paces of an expressiue, iust and mighty Language. Hee doth what we should do, euen make sweetnesse to wayte vpon strength, & not make strength to melt it selfe away into sweetnesse. Let the Bees come vnto Samsons Lion, but let not the Lion spend his strength in running after Bees. Now the vse which hence I would ga­ther, is a double Medicine for a twofold Disease. The one is for the Readers or hearers dis­ease. For many of these are sick of iudgement, and will not reade or heare any but those that are short and sweet, euen such as conuey Religion into them by Pils and not by Poti­ons. [Page 393] They are like chicken that cannot eate bread except it be in crummes. But let such get vnto them the true appetite of a true Christian, and then spi­rituall matter deliuered spiri­tually, that is with euidence & force, will be very good (if not the best) food to their soules. And I would wish them to condemne their owne sto­mackes, and to seeke to amend them, when they condemne or neglect a sound and Apostli­call deliuery of the Word. For certainly that Soule is not very spirituall in her appetite, that rellisheth not spirituall Doctrine deliuered in it owne, that is in a spirituall manner. For true in this it is also, That Like loues his Like, and on the otherside, where there is no loue, there is no likenesse, but [Page 394] that which loues not is vnlike to that which is not loued. So the appetite that loues not a spirituall kind of teaching, is to be suspected, that it selfe is not spirituall, and that want of likenesse, is the true cause of the want of loue. And if it be so, then let men looke into themselues for the fault, and not out of themselues, and after let them looke them­themselues to the Physician of our soules Christ Iesus, pray­ing him to touch their hearts, as hee did the heart of Lydea with his opening Spirit, and then no doubt, shall they bee attentiue hearers of the man that speakes spirituall things in spirituall words. The other is for the Writers or Speakers disease, and this very often is affectation. Euery man must [Page 395] be of the fashion, and so if this Language of pieces be the fa­shion that must bee affected; But the affectation heereof is vicious, both because it affects a vice in speaking, and likewise because it marres the naturall ability, in which the Affecta­tor would haue better excel­led, and whereby hee would haue beene more perswasiue. So haue I seene a good Trot­ter make a bad Ambler, and fall into a Racke which is ney­ther of them both. Wherefore to draw all to a summe; Let edification be the end of spea­king and hearing, writing and reading, that it may bee so, spirituall things must be fitted with a spirituall Language. The excellence and moouing of diuine Musick, is then chie­fest when the Tune speaketh like the Ditty.

[Page 396]So if the light and power of the Spirit vtter themselues in words of light and power, it speakes most mouingly to our soules. Wherefore let spiritu­all words haue in them spiri­tuall euidence and spirituall feruor, for so doe they best speake to the Vnderstanding, Will, and Affections. And let the whole matter haue a suffi­cient allowance of words, for so doth it best speake to the memory. Yet this wee may know, that with a large and full expression, a sententious, definitious and comprehen­siue Position, is often a very good Companion. The large­nesse giues a full appearance of the matter to the vnderstand­ing, and workes a full impres­sion of it into the memory, & then the breuity becomming [Page 397] the modell and pith of the largenes, makes it more port­able and ready for vse. And we may see a string which by the sudden turne of a Key hath broken by a leisurable wind­ing, hath risen beyond the de­gree where it brake. Lastly, if with the Preacher to the words of Truth, and an vp­right writing, there arise plea­sant words, let euery man make vse of his Talent, to the profit of the lender. Instructi­on pointed with delight, pier­ceth the more sharply, and sticks the more stedfastly. And these bee the very Nayles of Salomon, the fastning of which he commends in the Teachers. But let euery man serue God in his owne place, and not breake his ranke to doe some strange Exployt. For as there [Page 398] is not an expectation of doing God seruice, where God hath not giuen ability, so neyther is there an acceptation of that seruice which is done without an abilitie giuen of God. 1. Pet. 4.11. For such a Worke is not the fruit of the power but of impotence, and it cannot please him because it is done without him. For as euery good thing comes from God, so that which comes not from God is not good, and that which is not good, can neuer please God.

WHen I reade Cyprian. Epis. 10.11.55. & de [...]a [...]s. the pra­ctice of Penitence in the Times of the first Loue, it reioyceth mee great­ly to see the beauty of the Church, which could not chuse but shine in a notable fairenesse, when the spots were so duely and carefully taken away, the faces of the spotted being throughly washed by the teares of repentance. Open Sinners were not admitted in­to the Communion of Saints, [Page 400] neither was the bread of the Children giuen vnto dogges, neyther by an equall bounty to the godly and the wicked, was there an equall incourage­ment to godlinesse and ini­quity. But a separation was made betweene the sicke and the whole; and this separa­tion had no other intent but edification, euen an edificati­on of the Spirit by the destru­ction of the Flesh. So could men finde no fault with the dispensers of this power, ha­uing nothing to complaine of, but that their liues thereby were sought to bee amen­ded, and their soules to bee sa­ued.

I confesse the cause was weighty for which the gates of Heauen were to be locked; great in matter, or great in [Page 401] manner, great in the thing done, or great in the wilful­nesse of the doer. And this not without reason, for the doome is heauy, and fit for the backe of a strong & migh­ty Euill. It was a short dam­nation, a temporall Hell, a measured deliuery vnto Sa­tan, man being shut out of Heauen vpon Earth, euen the company of Saints, and shut out of Heauen in Heauen, e­uen the ioyes and comforts of the Spirit of Consolation. Nei­ther could it but bee an excel­lent Remedie, because it was so fitted to the Disease. A de­gree of Presumption is in­countred with a degree of De­spaire; the Scorpion is made a medicine against the Scor­pion, and Satan is set on worke to take him downe by Terror [Page 402] vnto Saluation, whom before he animated and puffed vp to destruction. Hee that sayd at first, Sinne boldly, for yee shall not die at all, now he changeth his voyce and sayth, Thy sinne is greater then can be forgiuen thee. But the Wisedome of dispensation suffered this roa­ring Lyon no longer to terri­fie, but vntill his Terror did mollifie. Hee aymed indeed at despayre, and destruction, but the Church aymed at Humiliation and Conuersion, yea to Consolation and Salua­tion. For indeed Humiliation for Sin is the way to Conuer­sion from Sin, and Conuersion from Sinne is the way to the consolations of the Spirit, and the comfortable Spirit is both the guid and way to Life eter­nall. Therfore when the man [Page 403] is humbled, Satan is cashiered, the Horse-leach is taken away when he hath sufficiently aba­ted the vicious and superflu­ous bloud. And now the man formerly forsaken by all, is comforted of all, the gates of Heauen are vnlocked to him, and hee is restored to both the Heauens, the Communion of Saints, and the ioyes of the Spirit. Thus are wee healed by wounding, and by hum­bling wee are exalted. O ad­mirable vse and command of Satan! Hee is an enemy to God, yet doth him seruice; he is an aduersary to Man, and yet helps him. A strange thing it is, that Satan should helpe the incestuous Corinthian, to the destruction of his flesh, and the edification of his soule. A strange thing that Satan [Page 404] should teach 1. Tim. 1.20. Himeneus and Alexander not to blaspheme. His Kingdome is seated in the Flesh, and yet the Flesh he de­stroyes. Hee is the Author of blasphemies, and yet hee tea­cheth not to blaspheme. But is Satan contrary to himselfe, and is his Kingdome diuided in it selfe? No surely. But one that is stronger then hee, both in wisdome and power, manageth both his craft and malice to ends which himselfe intendeth not. The Deuill is one and the same still, euen purely malicious. And in this malice hee tempts men being in high bloud vnto a presum­ption of sinning. And by the same malice, hee tempts the same men being cast downe vnto a despayre of Mercie. Now as Remedies are by con­traries, [Page 405] so a measure of de­spaire is medicinable to a mea­sure of presumption. And iust so farre doth God suffer Satan to goe on in his temptation, as temptation is profitable, and no farther. Therefore while Satan is driuing the Offen­der to despaire, God stops his course when the Sinner is come to due humiliation. And then as it was with Christ in the Wildernesse, so it is with the humbled Sinner, Satan is dismissed, & the Angels come and minister to him. And as God doth publikely admini­ster this Remedie to the mem­bers of his Church in publike Euils, so also doth he priuate­ly exhibite it to his choysest Saints in their priuate Neces­sities. And so a messenger of Satan was sent to buffet Paul, [Page 406] that by the strokes of him who is the king of pride, God might teach his seruant Humility. But what shall we say to these things? Are men at this day willing to take this physicke, of the Physician of our Soules Christ Iesus? or doe not most men that are of any growth, thinke themselues too great to bee taken by this Net of Mer­cy, but are willing to breake through, that they may be ta­ken in the Net of Iudgement? I wish wee had not farre more need of the words of Saint Ambrose, then he had when he vsed them. S. Am­bros. apolo­gia Dauid, cap. 2. What great or rich man (sayth hee) shall yee now find, that will take it well to be reproued of a fault? Yet this man (Dauid) being glori­ous in Kingly power, and often approoued by Diuine Oracles, [Page 407] when he was reprooued by a sub­iect, because hee had grieuously offended, did not repine in a rage, but confessing re [...]ented by Repentance. And a little after: Other men when they are repro­ued of the Priests, increase their fault by going about to deny or diminish it, so that by the same meanes by which they should haue beene amended, they in­crease their sicknesse. Had this holy Man a cause to complain, to whose keyes the Emperour Theodosius submitted himselfe both for binding and loosing, and haue not our dayes much more, wherein men of a farre inferiour greatnesse thinke it a speciall priuiledge, belon­ging to their dignity to sinne without controlment? And yet if wee looke clearly into the matter, a priuiledge to [Page 408] sin quietly, is but a priuiledge quietly to be damned. But I think it much rather a misera­ble in conuenience of greatnes, and a meere abuse of it, when the terror therof is employed, to fright away grace, & so ter­rifie saluation. These are they of whom it is said, Potentes po­tenter cruciabūtar, The migh­ty by the abuse of their owne might shall be most mightily punished. And if greatnesse would but take a proportion of wisdome and patience, and thereby soundly examine why he is angry, when hee is iustly reprooued, I thinke he will be so farre from finding a reason for his anger, that hee will on the other side find a reason of thankes and reioycing. For put the case (as it is too often) that a great man hath offen­ded, [Page 409] to him the Man of God speakes or writes, in due or re­spectiue manner, and discouers his Sinne and his danger by sinning. The mayne intent of Gods seruant, is but to take a­way the Sinne that would slay him, and instead of Sinne and Death, to recommend vnto him Grace and Life. Now wherein hath this man offen­ded? whose only businesse is to take from greatnesse Sinne and Misery, and to giue it Ver­tue and Happinesse? Surely thou hast nothing to dislike, except it bee to be lesse wic­ked, and lesse miserable, and to be more vertuous and more happy. Yet (though without a reason) greatnesse will in this case often be angry, though it haue most reason to bee angry with it selfe, for being angry [Page 410] without a reason. But when reasons faile I thinke this must represent one, That it is a dis­honour for a superiour to bee reprooued of the inferiour, and it is commonly a little great Man that doth not think more honourably of himselfe then of most of the Priesthood. To this I answere, that this ex­ception is made all of stomack & nothing of reason. And first I could confute much of it, by proouing and proposing the dignity of Priesthood from whose Spirituall power (it be­ing as the Scripture sayes a power vnto edification) of ex­horting, teaching, reproouing; yea, binding and loosing, I thinke no true member of Christs Church should desire to be exempted. Besides, Saint Paul without any distinction [Page 411] writes to the Thessalonians, to acknowledge those that la­boured among them, who (as he affirmes) were ouer them in the Lord. Whence might bee deduced this Doctrine, That the Layitie in generall is the Flocke, and the Priests are the Shepheards, and spiri­tuall Shepheards in the admi­nistration of spirituall things, are ouer their Flockes. But flesh & bloud is loth to heare of any Eminence, though it bee but spirituall, and not of this world. Therefore I must talke with it in a Language more naturall to it, and there­vpon I reply, That an Inferi­our, which in his manner of speaking, keeps safe and whole the dignity of the Superiour to whom hee speakes, and in his matter only striues to take [Page 412] away his sinne, this Inferiour hath in nothing disgraced the Superiour, for in the manner he hath giuen him respect, and in the matter hee offers him Amendment. So vpon the whole hee hath not disgraced, but graced him in respectiue words, and in profitable mat­ter.

And surely a man so repro­ued, may if he please be more honorable after reproofe then hee was before, if by the re­proofe he become better then he was before. Naaman was an honourable man, but a Le­per, and at first hee tooke ex­ceptions to the Prophet, be­cause he came not out to him, but sent him health in a man­ner that distasted him. But if Naaman had continued in his anger, he had continued a Le­per, [Page 413] whereas by hearkning vn­to the Prophets direction, hee returned honourable as hee was before, and healthy which hee was not before. Surely euery man though neuer so honourable, hath a spirituall Leprosie, and if a Prophet ad­uise him to wash and be clean, by refusing it, hee may conti­nue an honourable Leper, but by obeying it, hee may haue spirituall health added to his temporall honour.

Wherefore let euery man doe that for the health of his soule, which this mighty man did for the health of his body, let him wash according to the words of the Prophet. Christs businesse is to wash vs in this world, that he may present vs spotlesse to his Father in ano­ther world. As hee washeth [Page 414] vs chiefly by his owne Bloud & Spirit, so he washeth vs mi­nisterially by his Word, by his Sacraments, by his Keyes, for by these the Bloud and Spirit which wash vs are more neer­ly applyed, and more fully communicated. Therefore loue and embrace the outward meanes of thy inward puritie, and take willingly not one but all the helpes that may beau­tifie thee.

Some thinke it too much to bee hearers of the Word of Christ, and cry out that prea­ching (indeed a foolishnesse to such, but a foolishnesse that saues others) hath turned the world vpside downe. Act. 17.6. Another can indure preaching, because hee can in­dure to sit at his ease, while the preacher takes paines in [Page 415] vttering that for which before hee tooke paines in gathering; but the Sacrament he will take but once in the yeere, and not once, except his Charitie fall out right with the time of the yeere. A third, will indure both Word and Sacrament, and with Herod will doe some things gladly, but if hee bee threatned with a binding in Heauen for vnlawfull Lust, Iohn Baptists head must dance from his shoulders. But ô thou man whosoeuer thou art that desirest to see the face of God, giue leaue vnto God to sit thee for his presence, by all his meanes of washing and clensing. For there is nothing purer then our God of purest eyes, and there is nothing fou­ler then a man of naturall cor­ruption, therefore thinke no [Page 416] washing too much, to bring the most defiled thing on earth to the purest Essence in Hea­uen, Beleeue that Christ knew the glory of God sufficiently, for he came from it immediat­ly to vs, and that he knew suffi­ciently the filthinesse of Man, for hee came to wash it with his bloud, and therefore let no man thinke that hee hath pre­scribed any thing too much, to bring vs from so great a fil­thinesse to so infinite a Glory. Wherefore let no man limite the Highest, and tell him the Word and Sacraments might haue serued for his clensing, but yeeld to his Wisedome, which hath thought chastise­ment sometimes as necessary as food. Therefore bee thou like Dauid (and be not better then he who was both a Saint [Page 417] and a King) and then shalt thou say with Dauid, That Gods rod and his staffe doe comfort thee, as well as that hee maketh thee to lye downe in greene pastures, and leadeth thee by the still waters. So to summe vp all, Let the dispen­sers of Christs ordinances, and his spirituall Stewards, giue to all his seruants due meat in due season. Let them take the Towell and the Basin where­with once Christ washed and wiped his Disciples feet, and at this day wash the feet, euen the spots of his blessed spouse. Hee hath told you that he did it to giue you an example, if yee follow not his example, you goe about to make his gi­uing of it in vaine. Wash them with the Word, for Christ hath testified, Now are yee cleane by [Page 418] the Word. Wash them with the Sacraments, for the bloud of Christ, and the Spirit of Christ, the chiefe meanes of our Spirituall clensing, are thereby communicated to vs. Wash them with the rod of cen­sure and chastisement, which purgeth out the euill by the blu­nesse of the wound, and by the destruction of the Flesh saueth the Spirit in the Day of the Lord. 1. Cor. 5.5. And let the Flocke of Christ striue for the vtmost cleannesse, and not for priuiledges of vncleannesse, for as they are purified, they shall bee glorified, the more white wee are here in Grace, the more bright wee shall bee in Glory. And let euery man though outwardly great, seeke to make himselfe as much within as hee is without, and [Page 419] to that end, let him incourage his spirituall father freely to tell him the sinnes that binde in Heauen, that hee may bee freed from them whiles hee is here on Earth. And let euery great one that meanes to bee saued, account it an especiall benefit, if he meet with a mes­senger of God ( Iob 33.23.) which may by wholsome ad­monition, take from him those sinnes which may loose or les­sen his saluation. For it is a certaine Trueth, that as the more purity the more glory, so the more spots, the lesse glo­ry and the greater damnation.

Now vnto him that hath lo­ued vs, Reuel. 1. and washed vs from our sinnes in his own bloud, and hath made vs Kings & Priests vnto God his Father, To him be glory and dominion for euer and euer

THat the Church and Rebecca are alike, and that the Wombe of both is lamentably peruerted into a place of wrestling, griefe (though vnwilling) can­ [...]ot but confesse it, because Contention is so violent that it will not suffer it to bee hid­den. Therefore a question as fitly ariseth from the Church as from Rebecca, if it be so why am I thus? Though she desired to be fruitfull, yet shee loued not to, bee a breeder of quarels, and therefore prefer­red [Page 421] a quiet sterility before a cō ­tentious fruitfulnesse. And to this question, of both there is fitted an Answer for the satis­faction of both.

There are two Nations in thy Wombe, and two kind of people come from thy bowels; one visible Church, one wōbe, and the same bowels, yet two sorts of people, and not two only in distinction, but two in contrariety of disposition. The difference of their inclinations makes a diuision in their affec­tions, and this diuision is infla­med into opposition and con­tention.

The man of flesh is Esau, a strong Hunter of carnall lusts, or of present pleasures, or of naturall apprehensions. The man of the spirit is Iaa­cob, a spirituall discerner, a [Page 422] heauenly Citizen, of a sancti­fied reason, of a diuine (or godly) will, of affections set on high. But the wretched Antiquity of this contrariety and contention, reacheth be­yond Rebecca, euen to the be­ginning of dayes, when Time it selfe was not a weeke olde. For euen in Paradise, it was en­acted as a punishment on the sinne of Man, euen the trou­ble and vexation of a perpetu­all Enmity. Therefore as it was early in Antiquity begin­ning, in the beginnings of Time, so it is like to be la [...]e in continuance, and to indure to the end of Time.

And no doubt these last Remnants of Time, are likely to haue most of it, for in them loue doth waxe cold, and as loue waxeth cold, contention [Page 423] groweth hote. Therefore let euery Christian take to him­selfe a twofold care. One is, that the more euill the dayes are, the more hee striues to re­deeme both his time and him­selfe from the euill of the dayes. As the Infection increa­seth, so is it fit hee should in­crease his Preseruatiues. A se­cond is, That since in conten­tion of two parts, there is but one part that hath the Right, hee must striue to bee on that part which hath the Right. The Flesh hath no right to hate the Spirit, much lesse to persecute it, for therein Dark­nesse persecuteth Light; Cor­ruption, Cleannesse; an earth­ly and sensuall grossenesse, a Diuine and Spirituall Puritie. But good right hath the Spirit to hate the Flesh, for no man [Page 424] can forbid Light to chase a­way Darknesse, Purity, Gros­nesse, Cleannesse, a spotted Corruption. Yet so giddie is man growne by his Fall, that the Flesh iustifies it selfe in the Opposition of the Spirit, and the Spirit is condemned for opposing the Flesh. And as this is done by those that are without, against those that are within, so is it done by those that are within, one against a­nother, and in that degree of heate, which is proportiona­ble to the degree of the Flesh, that possesseth eyther their Iudgements or Affections. For euen within the visible church the flesh possesseth the Iudge­ments of many, and fasteneth Errors vpon them; and the flesh the whiles takes it selfe for the Spirit, and therefore [Page 425] will erre by Authority. Yea, this counterfeit spirit fighteth with the true Spirit, and by Religion would condemne Religion, and vnder the shew of Truth, striueth against Truth it selfe. And if you will ghesse only by heate and ve­hemence, you will hardly find out which is the Truth, yea, sometimes you shall haue the more heate with the lesse Truth.

For Error hath many times the oddes of contentious E­gernesse, which shall the lesse deceiue vs, if wee carry about vs Saint Pauls little note, That the true Churches of God haue no such custome as contention. Yet my businesse at this time is to find out such, within the pale of the visible Church (not medling with those that are [Page 426] without) and to search for them in that Dragge-Net which taketh vp both good and euill. And I wish that by my finding them, they may learne to find themselues; that so finding themselues carnall, they may striue to bee spiritu­all; and so by beeing once found in the flesh, they may e­uer hereafter bee found in the Spirit.

A first way by which the flesh becomes extremely Reli­gious, and by the Extremity of Religion, extremely quar­relsome is custome. For too true it is that many are Chri­stians, and this or that sort of Christians by custome and an­ticipation. Christians I call them because they are such in the opinion of themselues and others; yet must I needes tell [Page 427] them, that true Christianitie is not fastened to the heart by custome and preiudice, but it is knit vnto it by the Spirituall bands of illuminating and sanctifying Grace. True it is, that man hath in him by Na­ture an Instinct of Religion, euen an Inclination to feare & serue some Higher Power; and this generall Inclination is cōmonly specificated by Birth and Education, which by Cu­stome knit a Religion to this Instinct, which knot of Na­ture is many times mistaken for the knot of Grace. Now this Religion so taken in by Nature, is commonly violent, peremptory and dangerous, strongly opiniated of it selfe, and as strongly hating all Re­ligions different or opposite. The Reasons of the violence [Page 428] of this Bastard Religion is di­uers.

First, because the Religion it selfe being naturall, the af­fections and passions which are mooued by it are also na­tural; now it is truly obserued, that the motions of nature are commonly more vehement, I am sure more tempestuous & turbulent then those of grace. Quicquid agit Natura valde agit. Nature marcheth furi­ously in the execution of her purposes, and the satisfaction of her desire. But grace is lit­tle, like a graine of Mustard-seed, or shee is by her diffe­rence from Nature forsaken of it in her actions and affecti­ons, so that the body often ei­ther tarries behind, or comes slowly toward her for the se­conding of her purposes, or [Page 429] she is more orderly peaceable and temperate, which is in­deed the Character of her in S. Iames 3.17.

A second reason of this vio­lence may be, because custome is a thing strongly rooted in the heart, and the sinewes by which it is fastened are ex­tremely sensible. Therefore if you would cut away a cu­stome, you cut the heart it selfe, and if you will pull it vp, you pull out the heart and all with it. Thence it was that Alexander could not per­swade the Indians to bury their Parents, hauing still vsed to incorporate them. Neither could hee perswade the Grae­cians to swallow downe their Parents, being euer vsed to in­terre them.

And heere by the way an [Page 430] Answer fitly ariseth to a two­fold Obiection of ancient or char. moderne Pagans. One is, That it is a fearfull thing to see the strong diuersity of Re­ligions in the World, mayn­tayned by equall constancie and assurance; from which ey­ther is inferred or deduced by the Master or Scholler, that where there are so many and euery one denyed by all the rest, they may bee all false, be­cause all are seuerally denyed. But this followes not; for first I haue shewed a reason of the manifold diuersity of Religi­ons, and the equall violence in their Professors. As many Re­ligions as Custome hath deli­uered to Mankind, so many are vsually retayned & strong­ly maintayned. But yet the di­uersity of Errours cannot an­nihilate [Page 431] the vnity of Truth; but Truth which is indeed but one, may and shall stand iustified by her selfe and her children, though the number­lesse variety of Errours, may bee iustly confuted and ouer­throwne. Though the Hea­then haue as many Gods as Cities, and not one of them true, yet this hinders not, but that there may bee one true God that made Heauen and Earth, which euen by diuers Heathens hath beene confes­sed.

A second Obiection is this, That Religion hath beene the Authour of many cruell out­rages,

[Page 432]But henceforth let the Ob­iector cease from this Lan­guage, for here I haue brought him to the Damme of these Monsters. This customary na­turall, vnnaturall Religion is the very Mother of them; For Nature hauing receiued a Re­ligion by custome, this Reli­gion like a Spirit possesseth it, and driues it headlong like the Gadaren Swine into desperate actions. Nature growes mad vpon a Religion knit by cu­stome to her instinct, and in her violence shee thinkes the Extremity of Deuotion to be the very Marke of Perfection. Therfore shee goes furiously onward, and ouerthrowes all that stands in her way, think­ing then shee pleaseth God best, when she is most furious in his seruice, and therefore [Page 433] sometimes she will do Massa­cres and Murders, that shee may bee sure to haue serued him sufficiently. So mad and brutish is this carnall Deuoti­on, that it thinkes to please the Iudge of the World, by those cruelties which a iust man doth lothe and detest. And detestable as it is to good men so much more to true Religi­on, which is the Doctrine of Goodnesse, and hath beene before described to be peace­able and temperate.

Therefore farre bee it from any man, to accuse true Reli­gion of that which it selfe doth accuse. But let this Brat bee brought to the true Dam of it, and that shall be found to be the flesh, but neuer the Spirit. The Spirit maketh Sheepe and not Wolues, [...] [Page 434] hath armed many with Pati­ence to suffer Tyranny, but hath taught none to bee Ty­rants. Quem videris gauden­tem sanguine, Lupus est. Who­soeuer delights in bloud for conscience sake, is a Limbe of Antichrist, the great Wolfe of of the Church, the Flocke of Christ.

But let vs hasten from this diseased Religion, and seeke out a Remedy, euen a Reme­dy for this Deuotion of Cu­stome; which Custome is an equall Nurse to all Religions; A Nurse it is to all Religions, a like Mother of most vnlike Children. The vnity of the Mother cannot reconcile the Differences of the Children, but like the Earth shee nouri­sheth all Herbes, euen of con­trary qualities. But this while [Page 435] the Contention of these Chil­dren is most foolish, for each striueth to be right heire when not one of them is lawfully begotten.

Therefore a first Remedy for these Bastard Religions, is to know the Whoredome of their Mother, and a second, to know the true Father of true Religion. The falshood of the Mother hath been already ex­pressed, but it must be known as well as told, they must take notice of it, as well as heare of it. And let them take this for an assured signe of a Who­rish Mother of Religion, when they finde the same and no o­ther Fountaine of Religion, but that which will serue to beget a Religion contrary to that which is held. If thou holdest thy Religion because [Page 436] thou art accustomed to it, for carnall Reasons, and by a com­mon hand, thou holdest not Religion truely; yea, though thou hold the true Religion. But because Truth best repro­ueth Falshood, and Rightnes, Crookednesse, I will set forth the true Father of true Reli­gion, that the Adulterous Mother may the better bee knowne and auoyded. God is a Spirit, and therefore the Re­ligion that pleaseth God must be spirituall.

But man is carnall, defiled by a carnall Generation, and therefore can neyther know nor giue vnto God a spirituall Seruice. Therefore is it need­ [...]ull that the supreme Spirit, teach this carnall man a spiri­tuall seruice, which his Car­nality cannot find out. Yea, [Page 437] farther it were [...] giue him a spirituall Vnder­standing, to discerne and ap­proue a spirituall Seruice, be­ing [...]aught vnto him which fl [...]sh and bloud cannot doe. So wee see there is need of a spirituall Doctrine, and a spi­rituall Mind. Man hath no­thing in him to please God withall: Hee is all Darknesse and Pollution, therefore God must send from Heauen, tha [...] which hee will haue man to send acceptably vnto Heauen. Man that is now most contra­ry to God, must be conformed to him▪ before hee can receiue from God, and returne to God a Seruice conformable vnto God.

So it remaynes, that true Religion must bee a spirituall Doctrine, taught by God vnto [Page 438] Man, and the true meanes of receiuing a spiritual Doctrine, is a spiritual Mind. This is the right hand of Religion, and Nature is the left, and these right-handed Men are the on­ly true receiuers of true Reli­gion.

For a spirituall Minde, meeting with a spiritual Religion, by Vniformity grow to an V­nity; they kisse, imbrace, and claspe one another, and the gates of Hell cannot plucke them asunder. The Spirit that gaue the Word, seasons the Heart, and the Heart meeting the Word, borne of the same Spirit with it selfe, ioynes it selfe to it in a brotherly Affec­tion and Vnity. Now this on­ly true admittance of true Re­ligion, hath notable Priuiled­ges annexed to it, which are [Page 439] both markes of Excellence & Difference, aboue and from o­ther false meanes of receiuing Religion. One excellent and necessary Prerogatiue is this, That the spirituall Man hath God for his Teacher; hee learnes the counsels of God, of that Spirit which only knoweth Gods Counsell, and only acknowledgeth it. Hee holdeth diuine things by a Di­uine hand, and receiues them from the Deity it selfe. Though his outward Man receiue Elements and Rudi­ments of Religion by Birth or Education, yet his inward man receiueth them by Hea­uenly inspiration, the same Spirit which mooued holy men to speake, moouing holy men to heare and beleeue. For in the Saints the Spirit of [Page 440] God is the last resort, rest and Pillar of Truth; and how can they but beleeue when a spiri­tuall Mind plainly discerneth the Truth of spirituall things? It hath also a second priui­ledge of safetie, and in that safety, a third of rest and quiet­nesse.

For a Religion being once [...]ruly discerned, approued & knit to the heart by the Spirit, the Spirit which leades vs into the Truth, doth stablish vs in the Truth, by the same Light by which it shewes vs the Beauty of Verity, it discouers the deformity of Errour; yea, it will ioyne hands with no Religion, but that which is kinne to it. Shew the Spirit the whole Millaners shop of Religions, which Mounte­banke Satan hath set to sale in [Page 441] the world, & none of them wil fit his hand, though neuer so much flourished ouer with the imbrodery of humane wit and earthly Glory. The Spirit which gaue the Word, will acknowledge no other, but the Word of the Spirit. My Sheepe, sayth Christ, heare my voyce, but a strangers voice they will not heare, Iohn 10. And now what an admirable priuiledge of rest and quiet­nesse is hereunto annexed? The carnall man, if he escape the Restinesse gotten by Cu­stome, or imposed by Autho­rity, hee runneth like the dis­possessed spirit, through all places both wet and dry, see­king rest for his Religion. And how can hee finde rest, since there is no true rest but in the Truth, and that Truth being [Page 442] hidden from flesh and bloud, all other Religions that ap­peare are but Errors, and who can blame a man to run from an Error as soone as hee hath found it? This I doubt was the Disease of Montagne, who professeth that hee continued in the Romish Religion, be­cause if he left that hee belee­ued he should run through all and neuer bee at rest. So hee kept that Religion it seemes for his owne sake, and not for the goodnesse of the Religion, because he would find rest, not because hee had found the Truth. But much better doe they, that by the Spirit im­brace true Religion, because by the Spirit they discerne it to be true. Such men seeke Truth rather then rest, for hauing found Truth, they know rest [Page 443] comes in vpon the Bargaine. They follow that truth which is followed with rest, but they by no meanes will follow that rest which is diuorced from Truth. They seeke for Truth, and Truth giues them rest, but the other seekes for rest, though rest hold him in Error. So he is resolued to be sure of his rest, though he be not sure of his Religion. But as this is a Bastard holding of Reli­gion, so is it a bastard rest, for it is a wrong rest that is groun­ded on Error, and Truth on­ly giueth a true rest. By the same reason might a Pagan or Mahometane, stablish himselfe in Paganisme and Mahome­tisme, because Custome hath giuen each of them a Resti­nesse in their Religions.

But let that man who desireth [Page 444] by a right hand to rec [...]ue the Truth, and from the Truth to receiue rest, and with that rest safety from Errour▪ Let him I say lift vp his eyes on high, Beccause he hath his Chaire in Heauen, who teach­eth the hearts on Earth. Let them vehemently intreat God, that by the Spirit which only knoweth his counsels, he will reueale his counsels that by the Spirit which gaue the Word to the Speaker, hee will fasten the Word in the Hearers, and that by a spiritu­all and heauenly minde, they may discerne and hold Spiri­tuall and Heauenly Truth. And this let them doe impor­tunately and vn [...]essantly. Im­portunately, both in regard of the weight of the Petition, for the very weight of our Salua­tion [Page 445] lyes on this spirituall re­ceiuing of Religion; and in re­gard of the efficacy of Im­portunity, to which Christ hath promised the holy Ghost, Luke 11.8, 13. Vncessantly, be­cause God may delay thee, yet hopeful that he wil not finally deny thee. He calleth some at al houres, & it is to no purpose to goe from him, for hee only hath the words of eternall life, and hee only can giue them to thee, and settle them in thee.

A second reason of diffe­rence in Religion, is difference of Complexion; for many times that is called a Warre of Religion, which is but a War of Complexion. And surely pitty it is, That the Religion of many, or at least the zeale of it, is but their Complexion, [Page 446] and yet they thinke them­selues to excell all others in the zeale of Religion, when they doe but exceed them in the heate of Complexion. And yet vnder this forged Banner of Religion, they com­bate boldly with other Complexions: yea, sometimes with the Spirit it selfe, the true and only roote of true Religion. For indeed it fals out, that Complexions being different, by their difference they fall into discord, and not so only but they are at difference with the Spirit it selfe, both be­cause the Spirit is of no Com­plexion, and because the Spi­rit vpon occasion maketh vse of any Complexion; which when it doth, it gaines the dis­pleasure of that Complexion, which is contrary to that [Page 447] whereof it makes vse. So by seuerall turnes, euery Com­plexion combateth with the Spirit in those whose Religi­on is Complexion, and whose Complexions are not com­manded by the Spirit, the true Author of Religion. This in patternes will more euidently appeare.

Set before you a man of Choler; his humour is hote, and this heate being applyed to Religion, hee calleth Zeale. Then hee inferres, the more heate, the more Zeale; & the more Zeale, the more Religi­on. Hence he blowes that fire of his flesh, vntill hee hath kindled in himselfe some flame of Intemperance, or perchance, hath set the House of God on fire about his Eares.

[Page 448]On the otherside, behold a Phlegmatick; His Comple­xion preacheth to him, that Religion consists all in Quiet­nesse, and liuing peaceably a­mong his Neighbours. Ther­fore he prayseth Moderation so much, that his Religion takes cold, and hee loues an easie Ignorance more then a diligent Knowledge. He is dully patient in dishonour done to God, hee is conten­ted with quiet prophanenesse and well setled Superstitions. Whence I guesse this man to haue beene the first father of this Position, Malum bene positum non debet moueri.

But now as wee haue seene these two asunder [...], so bring them together, and you shall presently see a battaile. But the Cholericke man is first in [Page 449] the co [...]ba [...]e, and hath the Phlegmaticke by the coller [...]re hee be aware. At the first [...]low, he denounceth damna­tion to him for key-coldnesse, [...]or doing Gods worke negli­gently, for his vngodly Pati­ence, for man-pleasing, for temporising, and at last he cals him Formalist. On the other side, the Phlegmaticke (when he is awaked by the clamour of the Cholericke) cals him an angry Gospeller, a Fyer-flinger, a Schismatick, a Sower of dissention, and perchance a Puritan, (though that word sometimes bee also bestowed on the very grace of the Spi­rit.) Besides, if the Phlegma­ticke be throughly spurred by the Cholericke, so that hee arise to any height from the cushion of his Flesh, hee will [Page 450] then looke ouer into the life of the Cholericke, and tell him his discoueries. Hee will say, that all his heat is not zeale, because hee is as hote in his owne quarrels, as in the quar­rels of God, yea in matters of Earth as much or more then in matters of Heauen, that he will sooner bee reconciled when God is offended, then when himselfe is touched; that his heat is not spirituall, be­cause it hath Pride ioyned with it, and that out of Pride hee pretends to pull downe Pride, and that hee is angry with dignities because he hath them not, and that if hee had them, he would presently bee at friendship with them. Thus doe we see these two in a mise­rable and vehement conflict, where it is pitty to leaue them [Page 451] long. But another spectacle calls vs aside, from which be­ing returned, I shall desire to part them by that Spirit of Loue, which puts asunder those that come together in combates, and brings together by Loue those that went asun­der in Hatred.

The first Man that I take notice of in this new spectacle, is of a Sanguine Complexion. This man being of a pleasant constitution, will haue a plea­surable Religion. He thinkes that the Text, Reioyce conti­nually, is to be taken litterally and strictly, and hee will not endure any doctrine that may not manifestly arise from this Text. He likes wel pastimes & recreations on the Sundayes, though Seruice be the shorter, and he sayes, That some Ales [Page 452] with a little spice of Drunken­nesse, maintayne Loue. Hee vnderstands not the word Mortification, but thinkes it is killing of a mans selfe, and he is neuer in earnest with his Soule, much lesse in sober sad­nesse, but hee liues in [...]est, and in summe is of a festiuall Reli­gion.

But with him, though a­gainst him appeares a Melan­cholist, the ruggednesse of whose browes shewes the roughnesse of his Religion. His Complexion is fed by a sad, sowre, and harsh humour, and accordingly his Religion consists all of terrour, censu­ring, seuerity, cutting and pa­ring, much binding, with lit­tle or no loosing. He thinks a sowre countenance is the very Visage of Religion, and not [Page 453] to be like any that are many, is the true difference of a Chri­stian. Hee hates forme and beleeues Religion must haue nothing but substance; hee is himselfe a soule (almost) with­out a body, and hee would haue all the Church to be like him. Hee is full of scruples, and therefore both seekes and findes many faults where are none, and is so iealous of abu­ses, that hee is ready to forbid all vses for feare of abuses. Hee is exceeding querulous, and therefore more apt to com­playne for supposed Corrup­tions, then to thanke God for reall Reformation, & is more troubled with a little spot on a finger, then hee is cheered with the comlinesse of a whole Face. With Superstition hee hates Superstition, yea some­times [Page 454] he nourisheth it by ha­ting it. For his hatred of Su­perstition, continues the me­mory of diuers Superstitions, which if his opposition did not make knowne, they had beene most quietly confuted by Forgetfulnesse. Besides, he is filled with Superstition by a swarme of strange and ex­trauagant Imaginations. By them hee sometimes sees Visi­ons, receiues Reuelations, and approcheth to an Anabaptist or a Seraphim; like Bonauen­ture. This he doth if his Me­lancholy be lightsome, but if it bee wholly darke, then hee is nothing but feare, euery A­tome is a Mountaine, and hee falls into Iudaicall scruples of touching, tasting, and hand­ling. And now these two be­ing brought together (though [Page 455] the Melancoly man will hard­ly bee drawne into Company) you shall be sure to see a com­bate in these also. The San­guine man tells the Melanco­licke of faction, separation and pride, and sayes he is like the Pharisie, that iustified him­selfe and despised others. Hee tells him, his name is Stand farther off, which if hee sayes, because hee thinkes that he is holyer then others. He accu­seth him of malice and spite­fulnesse, and sayes, that Loue is much decayed, since these pure Gospellers came vp. He hates him as the Enemy of Mirth, yea the enemy of Life, for hee holds him a walking dead-man, and doubts hee seekes to make others as dead as himselfe. Therefore hee shuns him as he shuns Death, [Page 456] and is resolued to forsake any Religion or Saluation, that is of his Complexion. On the other side, the Melancolicke counts the Sanguine for a Re­probate, and his titles for him are, Good-fellow, and Car­nall Gospellers. He tells him the Loue which hee talkes of is not Charitie, but a brother­hood in Iniquitie, and that such Vnity is but a conspiracy of the Wicked, not a Com­munion of Saints. He taxeth him for being merry with Sin, and for pretending the furthe­rance of spirituall vertues by fleshly liberties, wherein God is offended, that hee may bee pleased. Briefly, he accounts the Sanguine but a man of this World, and he accounts him­selfe to be none of the World. Because the Sanguine is of the [Page 457] World, therefore the Melan­colicke thinkes it fit to hate him, because he hath vnderta­ken not to loue the World; and because himselfe is not of the World, therfore he thinks it fit to be hated of the world, and in this word World, hee includeth the Sanguine.

Thus doe these diuers Com­plexions afflict one another, and each one thinkes that Re­ligion is on his side, and Irre­ligion on the other, and that with Religion, he batters and assaults Irreligion, whereas in deed, it is Humour that fights with Humour, Complexion with Complexion, the Flesh with the Flesh. And because the one Humour finds faults, and perchance true ones in the other, therefore hee con­demnes him bodily, and ap­prooues [Page 458] himselfe securely, be­cause hee is contrary to him. For hee thinkes that his con­trariety to Vice must needs be a Vertue. But the whiles hee sees not that Vices haue a great contrariety betweene them­selues, and therefore a Vice may fall out with a Vice, Pro­digality with Couetousnesse, Dulnesse with Impatience, & Dissolutenes with hidebound Seuerity. Therefore we ought to looke wherewith it is that wee resist Vice, as to bee sure that it is Vice which wee doe resist; For a Vice is an euill medicine for a Vice, and a beame in thine owne eye is a bad help, to take out the mote of anothers eye. Yet this is mans Infirmity, the same blindnesse which can see no­thing in our selues, will per­ceiue [Page 459] much in others, and the same Humour which preiudi­ceth vs to iudge our selues, makes vs strong and confident Iudges of others. And this doth euery Humour in his Turne; for euery one will take on it some worke in Re­ligion: but especially Choler and Melancoly are busiest, the one in practicall busi-headed­nesse, which often tends (in their opinion) to a holy sedition, and a religious schisme; and the other in speculatiue conceits, scruples, and appre­hensions, in the abundance whereof they seeke faults and are willing to finde them; and by the preiudice of that wil­lingnesse find some, where are none; they cal a whole Church to the Barre, and their priuate speculations must be the lawes [Page 460] of her tryall, and if some word or action bee capable of two senses, a good and a bad, they arrest the Church vpon suspi­cion, that the bad sense is hers, and not the good. And both these Humors get themselues often much glory among the Vulgar, the Melancoly man for deadnesse, being thought guilty of Mortification, and the Cholericke for his vehe­mence, being accused of Zeale. Yea, these and the rest of their fellowes are often in a mix­ture, according to the variety whereof, hapneth an infinite change of conceits and affecti­ons in Religion.

Neyther is this to be found in one Church alone, but no doubt it workes in all Chur­ches, all Churches being made of men, and all men hauing [Page 461] different Complexions. There are no doubt elswhere, molles & rigidi, easie and rough Pro­fessors, Phlegmatick and San­guine, Cholericke and Melan­colicke. If you will goe aside with Saint Iohn into the Wil­dernesse of Contemplation, and behold the great Harlot of the World, the Church of Rome, you shall see the diuers operations of these different Complexions. The Woman her selfe that sits on the Beast, euen the Heads and Managers of that Tyranny, are of a san­guine and scarlet Complexi­on. They haue turnd Diuinity into an Art and Mysterie, of purchasing pleasures, honors, and dignities. And thence she beares this Motto, I sit as a Queene, and shall see no sorrow. For Choler repayre to the Ie­suite, [Page 462] a man of an actiue and busie heat, full of dissignes and trauailes, and if the craft of his Choler doe not effect his pro­iects, the mischieuousnesse of it shall, and then hee sheds the bloud of Warre in the time of Peace. His very character is Cholericke, for it is a Locust, that hath the tayle of a Scor­pion, and a sting in his tayle, &c. Reu. 9. But for Phlegmatickes there are no patternes like the Monkes, whose Life in gene­rall is paine by ease, and la­bour in eating. And in this payne and labor they expresse a wonderfull patience. This is the man whom that excel­lent pensill of the Spirit Saint Paul describes weeping, whose end is damnation, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is their shame. And if you will [Page 463] see the face of Melancholy, be­hold your Anchorite or Stil­lite, who often by a fullen hu­mour falls out with the world and falls into a corner, and at best vndertakes voluntary temptations, that hee may e­scape necessary ones. This man also Saint Paul describes, when hee calls his Religion a shewe of wisdome, in wil-wor­ship and humilitie, and puni­shing the body. And these dif­ferences haue also bred op­positions among them. The Popes turning Religion to be a Pander for pride, lusts and pleasures is condemned by di­uers, as Barnard, Cassander, Mantuan, &c. The Iesuite is condemned by the Priest, yea by the founder Romanists, for being too pragmaticall, and the whole world cryes out on [Page 464] the Monckes, and the Poets make songs on them. But the Melancoly Christian seemes most reuerent as hee doth a­mong vs, yet they haue beene censured by men of Iudge­ment, as Cornelius Agrippa de vanit. sci. cap. 62. and Barnard in Cant. sermo 35. and others, who condemn that life which liues to it selfe, profiteth not others, and runnes into Salo­mons Vaesoli. And no doubt by the lawes of flesh and bloud, the Pope in his glory cannot but laugh at their Penury, and he that reioyceth in his gayne by Fabula de Christo, which was the blasphemous speedy of an impious Pope, must needs thinke them mad that loose thereby eyther pleasure or profit. No doubt, as fitly by the Pope may be giuen to [Page 465] these men of penance, that saying which was bestowed on the common people that sought a fatherly benediction. Quando populus hic decipi vult, decipiatur. Againe, the Philosophers had Sects agree­able to different Complexi­ons, The Epicure fitted ey­ther the Sanguine or Phleg­maticke, the Stoicke and Cy­nicke, the Cholericke and Me­lancolicke. So much in all men that are meerly naturall, doth the Body worke on the Soule, and the Soule by the same blindnesse which it suf­fers from the Body hath this defect, that it sees not that it is blind; and therefore belee­uing that it sees▪ it calls that an opinion, which is indeed but a preiudice. Now the Reme­die of this Disease, as of others, [Page 466] is by contraries. Surely as these Complexions of the Flesh in their extremities fight with the Spirit, so doth the Spirit with them, and therefore the Remedie of the Flesh is the Spirit, and wee shall bee safe from the extremities and su­perfluities of the Flesh, if wee keep our selues in the vpright­nesse, vnpartialnesse, and in­differency of the Spirit. Now this shall wee performe, if wee be guided by certaine rules, whereof it may be truly sayd, that hee that keepeth these rules, keepeth his way, and he that keepeth his way, keepeth himselfe in the Spirit, and hee that keepeth himselfe in the Spirit, keepeth his Life. And most true it is, that they that walke by these rules, peace shall bee vpon them, for they [Page 467] are the very Israel of God.

The First of these is this, That euery man truely iudge himselfe, his Complexion and Constitution in the outward glasse of the eye, and the in­ward glasse of the soule, so to find out the exuberant, aboun­ding and reigning Complexi­on; and that being found, to bee farre from fauouring and defending it in the things of God, which is the vsuall man­ner of flesh and bloud. But rather on the contrary, let him suspect and stoppe himselfe in that way to which his inclina­tion ouer-hurries him, and condemne his errour when he goes astray, and hauing con­demned it, returne backe to his true way. Surely in this we must imitate the Nauigators. The Nauigators know the [Page 468] right Line that leades to their intended Hauen, and to that Line by the Compasse they set the course of the Shippe. But if contrary windes ouer-rule them, & turne them from this right proposed Line to any one side, then they reckon how farre they haue gone on the one side, and by another returne they requite it, and so bring themselues againe into their right intended way. Doubtlesse our Life is a Voy­age, our Hauen is the Citie of God, the Line of our course is Sanctification, and the Spi­rit is our Compasse; This Spi­rit pointeth vs our way, and our Soules must resolue to run in that way. But it so falls out that the tempests of the Flesh of Complexion, of exorbitant Constitution, carries vs aside, [Page 469] what remaynes but that wee find out this Errour, and fin­ding it, allow a returne as long and as large as our wandring. But farre be from vs that foo­lish and dangerous Custome of those blind Soules, who being hood wincked by Humour and Complexion, doe make their Humors and Complexi­ons the Guids of their Soules, and not their Soules guided by the Spirit, the Guide of their Humours. Yea, they thinke that Humor is the Spi­rit, and so they erre by authority, and are therefore farre more incurable. This is to make the winde the Guide of the Shippe, and not the Com­passe, and surely such men shal be sure neuer to come to their pretended Hauen. For the end of the Flesh is Death, and [Page 470] the fruit of the Spirit onely is Life. Neyther is it hard for each man to finde out the su­perfluities of his flesh, and to correct them if hee follow the Second Rule, which is this. Man must not compare him­selfe with himselfe, nor mea­sure himselfe by himselfe, for euery man is as tall as his own measure, and he cannot there­by finde out his shortnesse or tallnesse. But Man must seeke out for his patternes, both the words and persons of men truly sanctified, or rather the words and deeds of the Spirit, speaking and liuing in them, euen such whose vnpartiall vprightnesse hath wholly gi­uen them vp from the Flesh to the Spirit. The chiefest is Christ himselfe, whose vpright temper rectified and guided [Page 471] by an vnmeasured Spirit, set­leth him in a perpetuall equi­libriousnesse, apt vpon occa­sion to the effects of any Complexion, yet vnapt with­out to be led by any of them.

Next to Christ are his A­postles, And among them most conspicuous and most knowne in S. Paul. In him shall yee see the reasonable vse of each Complexion, while he chideth the Galathians and Corinthians, while he reioy­ceth for the Romanes, while he expresseth a feruent loue to Timothy and many other Saints; yea, to his owne Nati­on, wishing with his owne pe­rill that they might bee saued, while he speakes weeping of those whose end is Damnati­on, and being still one and the same man; he is full of anger [Page 472] when Elimas resisted him, and full of patience when the Iewes afflicted him. And e­uen at this day are there pa­ternes to bee found of an vp­right, euen a spirituall conuer­sation, and their followers should wee bee that so follow the followers of Christ. Ney­ther must that backward reasoning be heard among Chri­stians, to argue from their own apprehensions or vertues, therby to proue what is Truth and Goodnesse, which is to reason from themselues to Christ, but they must reason from Christ to themselues; they must say, This Christ did, therefore I must doe so: and not this I do, therefore Christ did so. For that were to make thy selfe Christ, and Christ a Christian. Yet this many doe, and from [Page 473] their owne inclinations fashi­on the shapes of paternes to themselues, not themselues to them.

And as we must conforme our selues to the deeds of the Spirit, so we must to the words of the Spirit, and to doe both, wee our selues must be spiritu­all, euen the freemen of God. Vpon which is grounded the third Rule, which is this, That euery Saint and sonne of God, by the ayde of the Spirit inwardly freeing him, and out­wardly teaching him, must striue to haue an vniuersall li­bertie of soule, free and incli­nable to the approouing of all Truthes, and to the loue and practice of all goodnesse. I say this is a great and glorious liberty of the sonnes of God, and of them alone, that their [Page 474] soules being li [...]ted vp from the hinges of the flesh, and new fastned to the spirit, there­by they haue a freedome to mooue whensoeuer the Spirit moues, and to loue whatsoe­uer the Spirit loues. All Truthes are gladly receiued, all Goodnesse is highly estee­med, bee it in a Complection different, yea, contrary. For this Freeman of God must haue the liberty both of his Iudgement and Will, hee will be bound Prentise to no Sect, partiality or piece of Truth or Goodnesse, but will bee as large as Truth and Goodnesse it selfe.

And if you will know his Sect, the truth is, he is only of the Sect of Truth and Good­nesse; And that is no Sect. For these he approues where­soeuer [Page 475] he finds them, in what Complexion, Religion, or Nation soeuer, and it seemes Saint Peter himselfe was of this Sect; yea, God himselfe fauoureth it, for Saint Peter saith, that of a Truth he per­ceiued, That God in all Nations accepted those that feare him and worke Righteousnesse. Therefore henceforth, Let no man tye himselfe to a part, by some corporeall likenesse, or preiudice of birth or edu­cation, and so separate himself from the whole; but let euery true Christian bee a true Ca­tholike, euen an vniuersall thing entertayning Truth and Goodnesse in all persons and Complexions, yea, entertay­ning all persons and Compa­nies if there bee Truth and Goodnesse in them.

[Page 476]For let the great and little Sectaries, Romanists and Se­paratists know, That the name of Catholicke is most proper­ly his, whose iudgement is free to the receite of all Truths, but especially and actually of the Fundamentals of Saluati­on, and whose will is free to the imbracing of all persons indued with sanctified Good­nesse, issuing from the know­ledge of Truth. The true Saint is a louer of all sanctify­ing Truth, and a louer of all that are sanctified by the Truth.

This Saint Iohn testifies, when he boldly assumes, That the elect Lady was loued in the Truth, of all them that loue the Truth. Therefore let men boast of singularity and sepa­ration, that is fearfull to mee [Page 477] which is to them preemi­nence. For they that cut off Saints from them, cuts them­selues off from the Commu­nion of Saints. Yea, let not a difference in small Truthes make separation. It may bee that Complexion hath only made this difference, and hath made him or thee, I know not which, too straite or too large, but take heed that thou doe not for a difference in Complexion separate thy selfe from thy owne Brother. The great and certaine Truth and mayne Goodnesse that are in him, are more strong to bind thee to an vnion, then the difference in small Truths and Duties be to make a Diuision. Yea, that great Goodnes that is in him, except with the Pha­risies thou thinke better of [Page 478] thy selfe then others, may make thee to suspect thy selfe rather then him. And suspect thy selfe and spare not, if thou dost not finde in thy selfe this vniuersall liberty of soule, which approues all solid truth and sanctified Goodnesse in any person; yea, loues the per­sons of that Truth and Good­nesse.

Let not the flesh part what the Spirit hath ioyned toge­ther; let not the difference of bodies put a-sunder what the vnity of Grace hath conioy­ned, neyther doe thou know men hereafter according to thy owne flesh, but according to Gods Spirit. But if thou wilt try whether thou doest make a true spirituall discord, see whether thou dost equally make it with men of thy owne [Page 479] Complexion & Constitution, if they be voyd of Truth and Goodnesse; and whether thou dost loue and entertayne any Truth and Goodnesse, though he be neuer so much outward­ly different that professeth it. But if thou sticke at eyther of these, thou art not yet a Free­man of the Spirit, but a slaue of thy flesh, thy loue and ha­tred are thy owne and not Gods.

And surely so it appeares in many of this kind, for a spiri­tuall hatred dwels in a spiritu­all heart, and a spirituall heart is a charitable heart, and a cha­ritable heart euen where it hates, there it wisheth that it might haue cause to loue. Ac­cordingly these spirituall and charitable haters of Vice, ra­ther then Person, seeke the [Page 480] amendment of those that they hate, they striue as much as is lawfull and possible to liue in peace with all men, they at­tend if at any time they may recouer them from the snare of the Deuill. But the Com­plexionary Zelots, think more of Confusion then Conuersi­on, they seeke out Reasons to maintayne a Rent and Diffe­rence, and to account men of Infirmitie, Enemies rather then Brethren, and except a man will presently bee saued, they will presently damme him. But wisdome is iustified of her Children, & this is the wis­dome of the Spirit, euen to vnlade our selues of the flesh, to free our selues from all the preiudice, burden and bond­age of it, and to dwell in that pure, peaceable and vniuersall [Page 481] spirit, which entertayneth gladly all Truth, and loueth willingly all Goodnesse; yea, where they are not, it wisheth they may bee, and expecteth vntill they be.

But before I leaue this sub­iect, I must both magnifie and pitty the Man truly spirituall. He ought to be magnified, be­cause hee that is mighty hath magnified him, and hath set him in a high degree. The Knife of the Spirit hath ript off the flesh from his soule, and the flesh doth no more com­mand him, but he is a spiritu­all Freeman. His soule is free from darknesse by a marue­lous, euen a Celestiall Light, and his will is free from the bands and chaines of the flesh by a seuering, cutting and ab­soluing Spirit. Hee is taller [Page 482] then the sonnes of men, and as much higher then they, as the Spirit is higher then the flesh, and by that step of ad­uantage hee lookes into Hea­uen, which they see not. Hee is inwardly and really more noble, for he hath a free, large, and emancipated soule, which they haue not. Hee is more powerfully valiant, for hee fighteth the battailes of the Lord against spiritual powers, and against the whole King­dome of darknesse. But with this honour that is to be mag­nified, is adioyned a misery to be pittyed.

For as he fighteth for God against the World, and the Prince of the World: so the World, with all the Comple­xions thereof; yea, with the Prince thereof, fight together [Page 483] against him. His Sword is a­gainst euery man, and euery man against him, and though hee be not euill: but a true Is­raelite, in whom is no guile, yet therefore the euill World ha­teth him, because hee is not like them. Surely the quarrell of the World with the sonnes of God, is not because they are naught, but because they are vnlike, and vnlikenesse is to them as sufficient a cause of debate as wickednesse. Yea, where there is an vnlikenesse, there false wickednesse shal be imputed, that which of it selfe is faultlesse may seeme iustly to be condemned, as be­ing guilty of that which is truly faulty. Because they are vnlike, they are hated, and be­cause they are hated, they must be accused.

[Page 484]To say truth, they are not hated because they are wic­ked, but they are made wic­ked because they are hated. Now this slanderous odious­nesse arising from vnlikenesse, is thus hatched: Eyther be­cause a man beleeuing fully his owne rightnesse, makes himselfe a rule vnto others, & condemnes them when they swerue from this Rule, or be­cause viewing his owne croo­kednesse in a comparison with a goodmans righteousnesse, he finds this comparison of righ­teousnesse to bee a checke and reproofe to his crookednesse. But whatsoeuer the cause is, Too true it is; That vnlike­nesse hath made many Quar­rels betweene them, and these Quarrels of vnlikenesse too often flow from the oppositi­on [Page 485] of Complexion, against Sanctification.

The sanctified man beeing free from all Complexions, yet sundry times vpon sundry occasions serues himselfe of sundry Complexions, & then commonly hee is censured by the seruants of those Comple­xions, that are contrary to those that are his Seruants.

For indeed the spirituall man is the Lord of Comple­xions, but the carnall is their seruant. Hence, as they fight among themselues, so most commonly they fight all with him: For the spirituall being of no faction, nor seueraltie, but affecting vniuersall Good­nesse, serues himselfe of the goodnesse of each Complexi­on, and refuseth the vices and extremities of it. So by rea­son [Page 486] son of his different temper from all, hee hath Enemies of all, being Virtus in medio vi­tiorum.

Hence the Stiptick, and hide-bound or angry Christi­an, when he sees the spirituall man conuersing with Sinners, though perchance with hope of edification and cure, or some euidence of smoking grace, hee cryes out against him, and cals him good-fel­low, an eater with Publicans and Sinners. If hee see him v­sing some lawfull comfort & recreation, he cals him a Glut­ton, a Drunkard, a Libertine. If he see him conuersant with men of the contrary Faction, or excusing a Ceremony for the loue of Peace, he doubts of his Saluation, and holds him to bee fallen from the [Page 487] Faith, and takes him for little lesse then one of the damned. If the sociable, sanguine, and neighbourly Christian see the spirituall man with a notable difference to affect those that excell in Vertue, to condemne the Drunken meetings of car­nall Feastings, the lasciuious gestures of dancing prouoca­tions, the beastly mirth of Tongues tipt with filthinesse, the prophanations of times consecrated to diuine vses, the contempt of Gods Word, and the carelesse burying it in fleshly recreations; He cryes out vpon his purity, and de­fies it, and sayes, too much Re­ligion hath made him madde. If the Lazie Phlegmaticke heare the right Christian cry aloud to the sleeper in securi­ty, Away thou that sleepest, and [Page 488] stand vp from the dead; if hee see him painfull in studie, ab­stinent in fasting, not slothfull in seruice, but zealous to good workes, angry with Sinners, and reprouing them for their amendment, he accounts him a busi-body, one that hates his owne quietnesse, and (hee sayth, as Acts 17.6.) These men that haue turned the World vp-side downe, are come hither also.

Lastly, your melancholy man he is angry also with the Communion of Saints, with the Physicians beeing among the sicke, with the peace of the godly, if their Coates bee not all of one fashion, or if one haue a dust on his Coate, which the other hath not. He condemnes the spirituall man for being at Feasts of Loue, [Page 489] for drinking a little Wine, though hee haue an infirmity in his stomacke, and hee is an­gry with any visible glory of the visible Church. If the true Christian receiue any prefer­ment, he holds him a Demas, and one that hath forsaken Paul, and hath imbraced the World: and if hee conuerse with any that are lesse hide­bound then himselfe, though perchance more honest, hee takes him for a Formalist and a Time pleaser. So the spiri­tuall man scapes not his blowes neyther, and thus hee is beaten of all sides.

But though this to many be a great disheartning, to bee as Ieremy, a man against all men, and all men against him; yet to the Children of Wisdome it is a Testimoniall and incou­ragement. [Page 490] That is indeed true Wisdome which is contrary to the corruption of all hu­mours, and by reason of this contrariety is refused of all, both piping merily, and mour­ning dolefully. Carnall mirth hateth spirituall sadnesse, and carnall sadnesse hateth spiritu­all mirth, yet the wisedome of of the Spirit is still true Wise­dome, euen the Wisedome of God, and is iustified still both by the Father and the Chil­dren.

Therefore stand thou strong in the path of the Spirit, and let this opposition on all sides bee vnto thee a testimony and approbation, that thou art on no side, but in the midst. Thy businesse is to turne neyther to the right hand nor to the left; though terrours assayle [Page 491] thee both on the right and on the left, keepe thou the nar­row way of Verity, that lea­deth to Eternity. Thou art going to Canaan, looke aswell for vnkindnesse of thy Cousin the Edomite, a seeming pro­fessor, as of thy Enemy the prophane Amalakite. Thou artfighting a good fight for the Crowne of Righteousnesse, expect to be in perils, not only by Robbers, but in perils by false Brethren: the Crowne when it comes will pay for all.

Lastly, I note one Combate of the flesh, yet seeming to bee of the Spirit, and that is the Combate betweene Zeale and Discretion. A Combate, I confesse, which I grieue to speake of, for it is the falling out of Brethren, or rather of [Page 492] Man and Wife. I had much rather to contemplate how blessed is the Marriage and v­nity of these two, and how faire and beautifull is their is­sue. Surely the fruits of this Vnion are farre more glorious then the Apples of Gold with Pictures of Siluer. For it is the absolutenesse of each ho­ly Worke, when it is fashioned by the Zeale of Discretion. Such workes are excellent both in matter and forme, and so they are both good and rea­sonable.

But on the other side, how lamentable are the defects in eyther, when Zeale wants Discretion, or Discretion wan­teth Zeale. Where Zeale wants, Discretion can neuer doe a good Worke for the matter of it is naught, where [Page 493] Discretion wants, a good Worke is neuer well done, for the manner of it is naught. And then againe how lamen­table are the Warres which proceed from these defects? Where Discretion abounds, but Zeale is defectiue, there order is commonly the chiefe obiect; calmenesse, quietnesse, and outward prosperity are chiefly regarded.

But on the other side, true Zeale is sometime condem­ned of businesse, of tartnesse, of giddinesse, and the Prophet is demanded, who hath made him a Counsellor? But if Dis­cretion fight against true and sanctified Zeale, let it know that it fights against the Spi­rit of God, and then let Ga­maliel disswade him from be­ing found a fighter against [Page 494] God; yea, let Wisdome beare with smaller Indiscretions, if accompanyed with the true Zeale of Sanctification, for God giues his Graces many times to the weake, and by weake and contemptible In­struments we know that God sheweth his owne strength; by their weaknesse casting downe the strong holds of the flesh, and setting vp his glorious Kingdome. And when wee come into the Kingdome of God, and see what great re­turne of Soules and good Workes some weake Saints haue made, it shall bee no griefe of heart to the men of Wisedome, that they haue winked at some lesser indiscre­tions and infirmities.

Yet on the other side there grow sometimes intolerable [Page 495] inconueniences, where Zeale abounds and Discretion is much defectiue. For by such, holinesse is altogether propo­sed, but the fitting & shaping of things best to effect that holinesse is not well concei­ued. Good things are not done with the best aduantage, but lose part of their goodnesse for want of good handling. Zeale without discretion is but a wild kind of goodnesse, and like a mettald horse with­out a bridle, it carries the Ri­der into waves that are out of the way, and makes him runne against all that are in his way. And to take a view of it in some particulars, I first obseru, that it is vnreasonable, and full of extremity by following reason beyond reason. It is iust ouer-much, and knoweth [Page 496] not the right bounds of Right and Trueth, but with Peter when the feet only should be washed, it will haue the head washed also. It strayneth after things beyond possibility and fitnesse, and if perchance the things be good in their matter which it aymeth at, it doth it in too violent a manner, and not proportionably to the va­lue or weight of the things. There are some things which ought to bee done, and other things that should not bee left vndone, and as wee see some oddes betweene Cummin and Righteousnesse, so we see ods in Christs inioyning them. But inconsiderate Zeale knowing that the paying of Cummin should not bee left vndone, with an equall heat sometimes prosecutes both that & Righ­teousnesse; [Page 497] yea with a great heat pursues a small Trueth, and a greater Truth with lesse heat. Such was the Zeale of the Pharises, whom Christ therefore iustly taxed as stray­ners of Gnats and swallowers of Camels. And I wish there were none now-adayes that are vehemently hote against small matters of forme, and cold euen to death in Coue­tousnesse, Pride, Extortion & Oppression. And to goe on a little farther after these that go on too farre, we shall find that they follow little Truthes at too vnreasonable expences. Marke we the Law of God in his ten Words, marke wee the Gospell of Christ Iesus, the Epistles of his Apostles, and wee shall find Loue to bee the Soule of the Law, the new [Page 498] Commandement (by excel­lence) of the Gospell, the spe­ciall charge of all the Epistles. Aboue all things put on Loue; there abide these three, Faith, Hope, and Loue, and the chie­fest of these is Loue. Loue is the bond of perfectnesse, it is the most excellent way, it goes into heauen with vs, and there it testifies for vs (as Iohn saith) that wee were the Children of God on earth.

Now if this be the most ex­cellent thing, if it be to be put on aboue all things, and is not to bee put off when all things else shall bee taken from vs, how is this precious Iewell rashly vndervalued, and too often put off by inconsiderate Zeale? In the difference of small Truth, you shal see Loue throwne aside, like a Cloke [Page 499] by one that goes to wrast­ling, and (as betweene beasts, whom I am ashamed to name in a cōparison with Christians) a little bone causeth great and gaping wounds. I deny not but all Truth is valuable, but all Truth is not equally valu­able with Loue, but Loue is to bee maintayned, euen with those in whom some Truths are defectiue, and some such defects of Truth are to be to­lerated, where they cannot be amended but with the breach of Loue. I speake not God knowes, but with a desire that Truth were perfectly embra­ced, but I giue aduice in that case where lesser Truths are remedilesly vnreceiued. And in this case I say, that this most excellent Loue is not to bee sold for the buying of such [Page 500] little Trueths, neyther may wee loose a thing absolutely necessary to Saluation, for things not so absolutely ne­cessary. There is a Trueth of the foundation, euen a funda­mentall Trueth that is neces­sary to Saluation; a Trueth by the beliefe whereof we are fastned into Christ Iesus, and whosoeuer denyes this Truth, is without the compasse of that Loue which is due to the sonnes of God. But whosoe­uer holdeth this fundamentall Trueth, and is thereby be­come a member of Christ Ie­sus, Loue is due to that man, euen the Loue of a sonne of God, and doe not thou dare to hate him whom Christ lo­ueth. Though by infirmitie of iudgement hee deny some lesser Trueth, or by weaknesse [Page 501] of humane nature fall into some small offences, cut not thy selfe off from him, for if thou doe, thou canst not cut him off from Christ, but thou cuttest thy selfe off from him who is one with Christ. Ther­fore beware of this cutting and concision, for where Loue wants, it hurts the man most where it wanteth, and not the man toward whom it is wan­ting; for where Loue is ab­sent, there Christ is not pre­sent: if Faith worke not down­ward in our hearts by Loue, it workes not vpward into v­nion with our Head Christ Ie­sus. Let not Zeale therefore buy Truth at too deere a rate; but let it be equally earnest for the maintayning of Loue and Trueth. What God hath put together, let no man put asun­der. [Page 502] Wee are commanded to follow the Trueth in Loue, and therefore woe be to them that diuide the following of the Trueth from Loue, yea follow the Trueth in malice and hatred. The Law was abrogated, yet Paul would not haue the cessation vrged with violence and rigour; yea hee tells the iudgers and con­demners, What are they that iudge, and of the iudged hee sayth, Hee shall bee holden vp, for God is able to make him stand. The different decency of haire is iustly recommen­ded by Paul to different sexes, yet if any man will be conten­tious herein, he will not ioyne battaile with him, but tells him, that neyther hee nor the Churches of God haue any such Custome as Contention. [Page 503] I wish wee could truely say so too, and that the fight begun about Easter, euen Loue lost for a holiday, were not now renewed in the like kinde, though on other occasions. But I desire the saints of God seriously to consider this, That if the Church of God haue no such custome as Contention, how can they that haue such a custome as Contention, be the Church of God? Let the Zea­lous consider, that the kindly heat of the fire of the Spirit is Loue, and not Contention; but if this heat grow conten­tious, it ceaseth to bee Spiri­tuall. Wine is no longer wine, but vineger, when it hath lost his comfortable and sprightly heat, and hath fret it selfe into sowrenesse and tartnesse. And surely the heat & Zeale which [Page 500] is degenerated from edifying and comfortable charity, into opposition, biting, and iudg­ing, is no longer the heat of the Spirit, but a rage of the Flesh. A Second marke of indiscreet Zeale is, that it is vnseasona­ble, and full of confusion. It will haue perfection to be the fruit of a moment, and it will not stay for seasons and occa­sions. The Pharises would haue the old bottles present­ly filled with new wine, and the Children of the wedding to fast while the Bridegroome was with them. If they would haue stayd vntill the bottles had beene renewed, or the Bridegroome had beene de­parted, their Zeale had beene approoueable, whereas now it was vnseasonable. In many cases wee are aduised to beare [Page 505] euill men patiently, and not to breake out into a fury, if at such times as wee would, they cannot breake the snares of the Deuill; but our patience is to expect if at any time God will that they may escape. Many there are that are impa­tient of euill men, and driue them away by terrour and de­spight, if they be not present­ly conuerted; yet it directly breakes this precept, and shewes that they would bee masters and authours of mens saluation, and not waiters vp­on God, that only giues the in­crease. When they haue spo­ken, it must be done, whereas it shall not be done vntill God speake. What if God will haue him called at the twelfth houre, wilt thou damne him if hee be not conuerted at the [Page 506] ninth houre; waite thou on Gods leasure, for God will not waite on thy pleasure: he may saue him at last, if thou driue him not from hearing, by thy fiercenesse; and if thou doe so, thou edifiest to Hell, and art not Gods but Satans Mini­ster.

Againe, others are vnsea­sonable, in not being as wise Fishers for Soules, as men are for Fishes. They seeke not with Paul to catch them by craft, neither striue so farre to please, as pleasing may bee an aduancement of profiting. Yea, there is a delight taken sometimes in falling right o­uerthwart an errour, or infir­mity, & so a boysterous wind makes the man hold his cloke the faster, which a warme sun­blast would haue gently per­swaded [Page 507] from his backe. It is not amisse to ground the per­swasions of things not belee­ued, on things beleeued; of duties vnpractised, on duties practised; and reproofes of faults, on commendations of vertues. Paul telling King A­grippa hee beleeued the Pro­phets, had wonne him almost to bee a Christian; and when he meanes to chide the Corin­thians, as in some points Car­nall and not Spirituall, he be­ginnes his Epistle with the ti­tle of Saints, and thankes to God that they were rich in vt­terance and knowledge. And since we haue fallen into men­tion of Pauls behauiour to A­grippa, by that and other such examples may wee learne the comelinesse of discreet admo­nition, and the ragged harsh­nesse [Page 508] of indiscretion. Agrip­pa before Paul spake with him was much lesse then a Christi­an, for hee was but almost a Christian when hee had done with him. Yet Paul doth not call him Vnbeleeuer, but takes hold on that beliefe which he gaue to the Iewish Religion, by that to bring him to the Christian. Dauid shed the bloud of Vrtas, but Nathan did not call him Murderer, but first gayned his own iudg­ment from him, and set it a­gainst himselfe. He tooke Da­uid by craft, and Nathan did not at first condemne him, be­fore hee had set Dauid against Dauid, and made him to pro­nounce sentence vpon him­selfe. Saint Ambrose admo­nisheth Theodosius of his cru­ell execution of the Thessalo­nians, [Page 509] but ue doth it with such reuerence to his person, with such expression of Loue, and meere seeking of his Saluati­on, That a most valiant Em­perour could not but receiue patiently the Spirituall bonds wherewith hee tyed him be­low, that hee might take a course to free himselfe aboue. No doubt but the like occa­sions may still befall, and Prin­ces may neede Admonition, and why should they not haue them if they neede them? for else were they more miserable then common men, and Salo­mons woe were especially vp­on them, because when they fall, there were none to helpe them vp. But it being gran­ted that they may fall, and that falling they are to be ray­sed by Admonition: Let the [Page 510] matter of the Admonition be fitted to the Fault (be it Mur­der, Adulterie, vnhallowing of Gods name, &c.) but let the manner bee framed to the best aduantage of preuayling, which generally is with a re­gard to the dignity of the per­son, and the remaynder of his Vertues. Let it appeare, that that which speakes is Loue, and that for which it speakes is Saluation, and how can any heart, if it haue goodnesse in any proportion to greatnesse, shut it selfe against Loue, brin­ging with it Saluation? I doubt not but there are cer­taine fiery Spirits, that like no example but that of the Pro­phet, See how this Murderers sonne hath sent to take away my head ▪ but they know not that one kind of Spirit fits not [Page 511] all persons, times, and occasi­ons; but they ought to know, That is the best Spirit which fits best with these particulars, and is most likely to effect that good which it intends. The others doe but driue away the birds with noyse, which they pretend to take with nets. This Art of Admonition is most excellently described by Gregorie the Great, in his Mo­rals vpon Iob, lib. 12. cap. 3. and vpon Ezekiel, libr. 1. ho­mil. 11.

And now let vs goe downe from the top of mankind to the bottome, and there see how ordinary men may bee discreetly disswaded from or­dinary sinnes. For example, If you would get Vsury from a man, I thinke it not best to flye suddenly into his face [Page 512] with the cudgell of Damnation, for that may make him stand vpon his guard, and fall to the defence of his sinne, but deale with him vpon con­fessed grounds, and on those build that which is not confes­sed. Tell him at first that which hee cannot denie, that men must all liue one by ano­ther, and that for one man to fret out all others, and to liue by himselfe, is in humane. That Charity in one sight regards the benefit of another, with her owne. That in Vsury, vsu­ally the benefit goes most, if not all, of one side, yea some­times the benefit of the one riseth out of the losse of the o­ther. Now where these things are, there such lending is the cause of fretting and vndoing. So it remaynes they must ey­ther [Page 513] grant what they first de­nyed, that men may fret and vndoe one another, or else they must condemne their len­ding which is so fretfull and iniurious.

In briefe, let vs first worke vpon mens Iudgements by in­forming them, and not pre­sently at the first sight flye on their wills and affections, to racke and force them.

Againe, where there are great and little faults to bee a­mended, let vs not bee more busie for the little then the great, nor equally importune an amendment of all together. For verily I beleeue, good oc­casions of Reformation haue beene lost, because too many faults haue beene brought to­gether to amendment, yea little and doubtfull faults, and [Page 514] such as might be healed with a good construction, haue beene brought in equally vpon the File with those of greater moment. And what doth this course doe, but magnifie the tediousnesse of the worke, and increase the difficulty of it? What doth it but bring this answere to vse, That changes are dangerous, and euills well setled, are better then much vnsetling by much amending? What doth it but bring a doubt that nothing will satis­fie, since faults seeme more to be sought then found? But I wish that alwaies there might bee an aduised and temperate demand in matters of Refor­mation, and though it bee vn­aduisedly demanded, yet there may be giuen a iust and solide answere, and such as might re­gard [Page 515] to please God by mayn­tayning the purity of his Spouse the Church, rather then to satisfie or vnsatisfie the indiscretions of men. Let Gods cause euer be maintay­ned, whether proposed or op­posed by our owne enemies.

A third fault of indiscreet Zeale is, That it is censorious, and passeth easily into con­demnation both of things & persons. Not to speake of in­different things, too often censured, I say some men, and some matters, are condemned eyther not heard or not vnder­stood; and yet the Heathen Romanes vsed not to con­demne any before hearing, and much more wee that are Christians ought to know those things whereof wee af­firme.

[Page 516]There are heights of Dis­pensation, which meane vn­derstandings reach not vnto, and yet for such sometimes they despise dominion, and speake euill of Dignities; Christ is censured for being a­mong the sicke, yet a Physici­an; for the waste of a precious Oyntment, yet going to bu­riall. So the blame which be­longs to their owne incapaci­ty, they cast on that which de­serueth commendation; and that which is in it selfe good, is by them called euill, only because they are not wise e­nough to see the goodnesse of it.

Againe, there are many good actions of good men, that by censorious Zeale are taxed as euill, and yet are only knowne in some out-side of probabi­lity, [Page 517] but the inside (wherein the life of the action lyes) is not knowne. The Iewes were in a rage with Peter for going to the Gentiles, yet when the cause was knowne, his fault was found to bee a Vertue. The Reubenites, Gadites, and halfe Tribe of Manasseth, were indicted of Apostasie for building an Altar: but that which was thought to bee A­postasie, was indeed a memo­riall and meanes of cleaning to the true God.

Wherefore let vs not be ha­stie to iudge according to ap­parances, but let vs take time to iudge righteous Iudge­ments. For if thou iudge ano­ther rashly and falsly, GOD shall iudge both him and thee truly: He shall iudge ouer the matter againe, and shall ac­quite [Page 518] him whome thou con­demnest, and shall comdemne thee for condemning him. So thy iudgement of another shall returne vpon thy selfe. And surely in this point, Let euery good Conscience com­fort it selfe in it selfe, and passe little to be iudged by another, in that which another knowes not; for thou standest to the Iudgement Seat of the High­est Wisdome and Mercie; and not to the Barre of humane Ignorance or Malice.

Fourthly, indiscreet zeale is often in the flesh when it thinkes it is in the Spirit, yet will not beleeue it, and so will not be cured.

First, I noted, that by fol­lowing heate to farre, it out­goeth the Spirit, and runs out into the flesh. And now I ob­serue, [Page 519] that it being gotten in­to the flesh, it still beleeues it selfe to be spirituall, and so in steed of retyring it fortifies it selfe there. Hence it comes, that many fleshly contentions are mayntayned by Scrip­tures, yea, Sermons and Scrip­tures are fitted to passions, not passions to Scriptures. So flesh and bloud fights carnally with spirituall Weapons; yea, which is fearefull, turnes spi­rituall Weapons into carnall. Malice sometime rayleth in Scripture Phrases and beateth his Enemies with Diuinity; and thinkes it may speake what it will, so it bee in the words of Scripture; if it haue a seeming opposition of vice, it cares not how angry it bee, though indeed Pamphlets of that kind be no other then Li­bels, [Page 520] and Sermons then Phi­lippickes. Yet this abuse of Di­uinitie shall bee maintayned by Diuinitie, and so she is mi­serably forced to iustifie and continue her owne wrongs. But let Baal plead for him­selfe, let not God be forced to speake for Baal, nor the Spirit for the flesh; Adde not sinne vnto sinne.

It is a sinne great enough, to come out of the Spirit into the flesh, and to turne the busines of God into a Quarrell with men: doe not adde this other sinne of abusing the spirituall Word vnto the mayntenance of thy fleshly contentions; so by the Spirit to fight the bat­tayles of his Enemy the flesh.

But to draw to a Conclusi­on, Let all true Christians striue, that their Workes bee [Page 521] the true Issues of Zeale, ma [...] ­ryed with Discretion, for such Workes are the acceptable Salt and sauoury Sacrifices of Wise-men, and not the loth some Sacrifices of Pooles. Let them know, that the fire of the Spirit, the Mother of all true Zeale, hath light in it as­well as heate, and the heate should follow the light, and not goe before it; otherwise if the heate goe before the light, or without it, it may set on fire, where it should but warme, and so may breed a Confusion, whereas the busi­nesse of it is edification. Let vs by ioyning the wisdome of Serpents with the innocencie of Doues, become those excel­lent and perfect Stewards whom the Lord commends both for being wise and faith­full, [Page 522] whose faithfulnesse giues meate to the Seruants, and whose Wisedome doth it in season; euen in fitnesse of man­ner, measure, and order. And farre bee it from any sound Christian to put a Diuorce be­tweene that incomparable payre, whose Marriage was in Heauen; Zeale and Discreti­on: or to thinke, that one a­lone of them can bee a suffici­ent Parent of good Workes. Much lesse let any man, if hee find these separated by wret­ched Diuision, seeke to bring them together in a more wret­ched Contention. The parting of so louely a couple is lamen­table; but a malicious meeting of them is far more dolful. For by their own good nature they incline to loue and vnity, and therefore cursed is that Ma­lice, [Page 523] that changeth into Enmi­ty the most excellent Vnity. Hee that sets Vertues by the eares, is as he that sets Brethren by the eares; yea, as one that makes Quarrels betweene Men and their Wiues. Surely if the Peace-makers be blessed being the Children of the most High, then such Quarrel-makers bee accursed, and are the Children of the Lowest; euen the most infernall spirit.

To conclude, Let vs as the new borne sonnes of the Spi­rit, lay aside all Maliciousnesse, and lust of Contention, which are the vices of the old man, and expresse the true Vertues of a godly Nature, receiued with the new man, euen Cha­rity, Peace and Vnity. Let not the difference of Education or Complexion, or the vn­kindly [Page 524] opposition of Zeale & Discretion, bee powerfull to a separation, where the Vni­ty of one and the same Spirit hath made a coniunction. But let the Spirit bee more fol­lowed, leading vs to loue, then the flesh prouoking to hatred. And surely if wee bee not in loue, wee are not in the Spirit: for whosoeuer is in the Spirit is in loue, yea, hee is in loue with loue. And as loue is com­mended by the Author of it, which is the Spirit, so it is also praysed by the excellent fruit of it, called Edification; for by loue the members of Christ cherish each other, and by that cherishing increase in their growth. Besides, as Sion in­wardly prospereth by loue, so by the loue of Sion, Babylon decayeth. For the more Loue [Page 525] and Vnity in Sion, the more strength, & the more strength in Sion, the more terror, yea, the more ruin of Babylō. Whē the Banners are brought into the Vnion of an Army, then they are terrible, ( Cant. 6.) And when Israel ioynes toge­ther in the Vnity of a Shoute, then are the wals of Iericho most neere to their Downfall.