ENGLANDS Summons.

THis whole Chap­ter is parcell of a Sermon, penned by Hosea the sonne of Beeri, contai­ning in it a sharpe and bitter in­uectiue [Page 2]against Israel, falling of it selfe into two faire and good­ly channels. The one an accu­sation of the men of Israel for their crimson sins, from the first vnto the fifteenth verse. The other a kind and gentle admo­nition to the men of Iudah, to forbeare the dangerous paths of sinne, wherein her sister Israel had wearied her selfe, in the remnant of the Chapter.

The accusation is laid downe in a legall and iudiciall manner of proceeding, wherein the Isra­elites are summoned to appeare at the bar and tribunall of Gods iudgements, there to answere vnto such capitall offences, as there should bee obiected, and laid vnto their charge: & it con­taines in it foure seuerall bils of inditement, and after plaine and euident conuiction, foure seue­rall [Page 3]iudgements against them, the first bill is contained in the two first verses, where they stand indited of want of truth, want of mercie, &c. and the iudgement for those sins is annexed, verse the third: Therefore the Land shal mourne. The second bill is con­tained in the fourth verse, where they are accused of two notori­ous and inexpiable crimes; the one they would endure no re­proofe, they were impatient of wholesome admonition; the o­ther, they would not stick to re­uile the messengers of God, and the sentence of the Iudge against this sin is annexed, verse the fifth: Therefore shall they fall in that day. The third bill is con­tained in the seuenth vers. where saith Zanchius, they are accused of palpable and grosse vnthank­fulnesse; for looke how fast soe­uer [Page 4]the Lord heaped his bles­sings vpon their bodies, so fast thēselues heaped a dead weight of sinne vpon their owne soules; and the iudgement for this sin is annexed in the end and clo­sure of the same verse: Therefore will I turne their glorie into their shame. The fourth and last bill is contained in the twelfth verse, where they are accused of spiri­tuall whoredom; and the iudge­ment for this sin is annexed at the foureteenth verse: Therefore I will not visite your daughters when they are harlots, nor your spouses when they are whoores: Of all which there is onely one in­ditement, and one iudgement, comprized in the words wee haue in hand.

So that the limbes and mem­bers of the Text must needs be two. The one Gods legall pro­ceeding [Page 5]with Israel. The other his verdict and stroake of iudge­ment. In Gods proceeding I obserue first the summons, Heare the word of the Lord. Secondly the reason of the Summons; it was to debate and decide a Con­trouersie. Thirdly the parties who stood at variance, and these as vnequally matched, as euer were earth and heauen, strength and weakenesse, or the great Beemoth, and the silliest worme that creepeth in the chinkes of the earth: It was God and Israel. God both Iudge and Plaintiffe himselfe; Israel the weake and poore defendant. Fourthly the sinnes whereof they are accu­sed; and these are either priua­tiue in the first, or positiue in the second verse. The priuatiue sins are three; wherof two concerne their neighbours. The first, want [Page 6]of Truth. The second want of Mercy. The third respected God himselfe, There was no knowledge in the Land.

The positiue sinnes are fiue; Swearing, Lying, Killing, Stealing Whooring; and euery of these ag­grauated from two circumstan­ces in the text. First from the ea­garnesse and violence of their affection in the pursuit of them: for They brake out. Perruperunt omnia repagula, quibus contineri solent homines à peccando; there was neither loue nor shame; nei­ther awe of Gods maiesty, nor the dread of his punishments, that could restraine or keepe them backe, from gruing head and reines vnto all bloudy and crying sins. Secondly from the vninterrupted course and con­tinued practise of their sinning, Bloud touched bloud, euery little [Page 7]cottaage became Aceldema, a field of bloud. Finis vnius pecca­ti gradus futuri, so soone as euer they had wearied themselues with one of these sinnes, they posted with precipitant and winged hast, without all inter­mission of time vnto an other.

Thus sin and sin went hand in hand, and thus Bloud touched Bloud.

The punishments for these sinnes, which are heere liuely and emphatically discribed by diuers metaphors, are two. First, the famine, where it is said, The Land shall mourne; as if he should thus haue said: The people will not mourne for themselues, therefore the earth (though it bee senselesse) shall mourne for them; it shall mourne as Rahel mourned for her children, being robbed and stript, not onely of [Page 8]her fruits, but of her inhabitants also. The second is the sword, where it is said, Euery one shall be cut off: and both of these are fur­ther aggrauated from the gene­rality and extent of the punish­ment; which was to seize not onely vpon man who had sin­ned, but also vpon the beasts of the field, and the fowles of the heauen, and the fishes of the Sea: which last clause, that it should seize vpon the fishes of the Sea, doth most of all exage­rate the wrath of God against them: for euen in the great and generall deluge, when man for sinne was swept away with the besome of desolation, the fishes were exempted from all punish­ment, Augustinus de Ciuitate Dei, lib. 15. cap 27. as if they had beene a na­tion of another world, who ha­uing no commerce nor society with man, were not tainted with [Page 9]the fluxe and leprosie of his sinne: but now it seemes his wrath was hotter, in asmuch as hee threatens to make the fishes also partakers of mans punish­ment, not that hee purposed to catch the silly fishes in the net of his iudgements, but onely that by these Rhetorical amplificati­ons, he might more feelingly af­fect and moue the hearts of the Israelites, both with some touch and feeling of their owne sins, and his punishments. Thus you see into what an Ocean of all va­riety and choise of matter I am now ready to wade, both as fast as God shall giue me assistance, and as far as the time and your Christian patience will permit; and first of the summons, which was the first thing I obserued in the accusation: Heare the Word of the Lord, as if in fuller termes [Page 10]hee should haue said.

You cannot chuse but know how carefully I haue sollicited, how friendly I haue admoni­shed, how powerfully I haue ex­horted, how sincerely I haue in­structed you in matters concer­ning God and your own peace, but my words haue perished in the aire, I haue spent my strength vpon you in vaine, and for no­thing; for how little you haue profited, how backeward you haue beene in hearkning, how slacke in performing, how cold in your zeale, how dead in your affection, how frozen in your obedience, theworld can testifie vnto your face. I haue wooed you with loue, but you neuer re­garded, I haue wooed you with teares, but you neuer forrowed, I haue wooed you with promi­ses of rewards, but you neuer [Page 11]beleeued; I haue shaken you with menaces and threats of death and bloud, but you neuer suspected that any of these euils should come vpon you: Mercie hath stood and knockt at your gates, but she hath beene repel­led; Indgement hath laid siege to the walles of your houses, but you haue not beene humbled; the siluer trumpets of heauen, and the watchmen of Israel, haue rackt and stretched their voices, they haue filled their mouthes with ruthfull Elegies so passionate, as might haue wrung a streame of teares from a heart of Iron; but you haue laughed them to scorne, you haue estee­med their words but as an emp­ty sound, & their persons as the refuse and vassals of the earth: wherefore we cease from hence­forward to speake vnto you, wee [Page 12]will waste no more strength vp­on you, but withall know, that the Lord will debate the matter with you himselfe: hee sees that his Ambassadors cannot preuaile by Preaching mercie, therefore this dreadfull Soueraigne will come himselfe to passe his iudgement; vnto which iudge­ment by vertue of a commission from the Court of heauen, I warne and summon you, Heare word of the Lord.

From whence issues this point of doctrine: When the Preacher preuailēs not, God beginnes himselfe. That if the Mini­sters of God, haue long and long contended with a people, to worke their conuersion and cannot pre­uaile, then will the Lord take the matter into his owne hand, and prosecute the cause with afflicti­ons, and iudgement.

For proofe whereof you shall not need to wade farre into the [Page 13]Christall Riuer of Gods Book. Stand but a while vpon the brink of this siluer streaming Si­loam, and you will all confesse with Archimedes, as if your selues had beene downe in the water; [...], we haue found the Proposition true, and the doctrine sound.

When God had opened the flood gates of his loue, first in the admirable worke of mans creation, changing him from a little model of slime, into a glo­rious substance: secondly, in the propagation of Man, increasing his seed as the Stars of Heauen: thirdly, in gracing Man with do­mination and soueraignrie ouer all his creatures: fourthly, in crowning man with the highest perfection, and beautie of tem­porall delights? Thus purposing to win his affection, and to bind [Page 14]him for euer, to performe ho­mage and due allegeance vnto him; but still perceiuing that these blessings made them grow rather wanton then thankefull, that they turned the dew of his graces into a rank pasture to fat themselues in sinne; that the oile of his mercie made them more actiue, and nimble in feates of impiety, that the strength of his creatures made them more strong to giue head & raines to open rebellion, in the end Hee thus resolues against thē in the sixt of Genesis, the third, Lo iadon ruchi. Gen. 6.3. My spirit shall no longer striue with man: which Text the Rabbinshaue so foully mangled that it were but folly to relate their enforced expositions. Lutherus. P. Martyr. I ra­ther embrace the iudgement of Luther, and Peter Martyr, and then the sense is pregnant for [Page 15]our purpose: My Spirit shall no longer striue with Man; that is, I will not endure that my Word should still be Preached in vaine vnto them: as if in more ample forme of words hee had said, they might long since haue lear­ned of Methusalem and of La­mech, and yet they haue some time and respit to learne of my seruant Noah, how to possesse their soules in peace: but if they will not be reclaimed, then I will trouble my seruants no longer in woing and soliciting them, but after the prefixed time of an 120 yeares, I will come my selfe in the fiercenesse of my wrath with an Alpheus, and invn­dation of water in the one hand, and a besome of desolation in the other, to purge this Augeum stabulum, which is the harbor of their sinnes. Thus when Noah, [Page 16]whom the spirit of God had sti­led a Preacher of righteousnes, had vsed his diuinest, and most powerful Rhetorique; somtimes as a Pericles, thundring; some­times as an Apollos powerfully perswading; sometimes like a Demosthenes, sweetly pleasing; sometimes like a learned Tertul­lus, strongly conuincing the old world of disloyaltie vnto God. And yet all these painefull Ser­mons proued but like paper bul­lets shot against a brasen wall; then began the Iudge of all the world to stir vp himselfe like a man of warre, to muster vp his sergeants of death, to discharge whole vollies of plagues so thick vpon them, that ere euer hee could bee brought to stay his hand from striking, the whole earth might haue com­plained and mourned with Ra­hel, [Page 17]that the greedie womb, and belly of the sea, had swallowed and entombed the carcasses of all her children in one day, Ge­nesis 7.22.

Thus righteous Lot for many yeeres together wrastled with Sodome, sometime like a sharpe Satyr whetting his stile with bit­ter and tart Iambicks to dismay and grate their vnrelenting hearts: sometimes sweeting his discourse with hymnes of com­fort, intermingling gracious promise of the ioyes of heauen: sometimes stealing into their hearts and attentions by plea­sing descants: and sometimes deading and appalling their wanton countenance, by shew­ing them the vgly visage and frightfull portraiture of their sin, by opening the dores and dark entries of hell, by exagge­rating [Page 18]the wrath and fiercenesse of a reuenging God, by frequent and vehement ingemination of a spirituall Caucasus, wherin they should be chained for euer like Prometheus; of a Iudge before whom they should stand with feare; of a indgement and sen­tence vnder which they should sink with vtter despaire; of a hell and a Tophet, wherein they should frie, till eternitie it selfe shold haue a period: when thus hee had vexed and wearied his righteous soule, and like a bur­ning lampe had wasted his mar­row, and fatnesse with a sollici­tous and tender regard of their welfare, & yet with all his labor could not pull so much as one soule out of the fire, with all his strength not breake the heart of one sin, with the sling of Dauid not wound the head of one Goli­ah: [Page 19]with all the rich armorie of God, not so much as snape or coole the heate of one impiety. Then the Lord began to buc­kle, and ioyne forces with them himselfe, to draw a sword like the sword of Saul or Gideon, which neuer returned empty from the bloud of the slaine, and the fat of the mighty, he parlied but a while with the clouds of Heauen, and they without de­murre of time vnited their for­ces, melted and resolued them­selues into a sudden and violent storme, not of water, whose vio­lence their sumptuous buildings might haue abated: but of fire, which is vnresistable, and that mixt with brimestone, which both increased the heate, Gen. 19.24 and made the tormēt more distaste­full. Thus did Moses wrastle and cumbat with Pharao, sometimes [Page 20]charging him in the name of God to let Israel go: sometimes confounding him and his sor­cerers with miracles: sometimes striking him and his whole land with such vncoth, and sore disea­ses, as might either haue broken or bowed a heart of yron and a face of brasse, but still he harde­ned his face like a stone, and would not perceiue, hee musted his eyes like Tamar, and would not see, he made his conscience like a smooth pauement, where­on the heauiest iudgement which Moses thunderd, the strangest miracles which hee wrought, the waightiest plagues which the rod of the Almighty inflicted, left no marke not im­pression; The turning of all their water into bloud, could not wring one drop of water from his eyes; the common plague [Page 21]vpon all the beasts of the Land, could not kill one sinne in his heart, all the cold showers of haile could not abate or coole his heat and rage against the Is­rael of God, the Sunnes draw­ing of a black maske before her crimson face could not per­swade him to plucke the visard from his crimson sins; the killing of the first borne in all the hou­ses of Egypt, could not kill the strength of sin in this one Egyp­tian: and therefore when the Lord saw that Moses was too weake a cumbatant for such a potentate, he took the cause in­to his owne hand, and plied him close with iudgements: First, daunting him with feare, and then opening the belly of the sea, which swallowed him aliue. Exod. 14.20.

To this purpose hearken you [Page 22]how the Prophets complaine of Babel, Ier. 51.9. Ierem. 5.1.9. Wee would haue cured her, but she would not be cured: come, let vs all for­sake her. How many passionate Sermons may we think that the Prophets had made? How ma­ny feruent prayers had they ten­dered? How often had they knockt at the dores of their hearts by powerfull exhortati­ons? How oftē had they knockt at the dores and windowes of heauen by supplications, before they would giue het ouer, or leaue her to her selfe to sinke or swimme? Zwingl. & Hugo. Zwinglius and Hugo Cardinalis make this place very strong to back the pointin hand It is (say they) the appeale of all the Prophets to the court of heauen, Cil enim inter Prophet as non esset, qui Babylonij fastum com­primeret, eius vltio ad Dominum [Page 23]delata est. When all the Balme in Gilead could not cure her, thē they left her deplored and des­perate to fall into the hands of God, and when the tongues of his Prophets were wearied with crying, and their soules fainted and failed with labouring, and their spirits groned being euen tired with wooing and entrea­ting, and for all this shee made this the burden of her song, No­lo sanari, I will not bee healed: Then the Lord called for Medes and Persians to bee the hammer wherewith hee might breake; for the Kings of Armenia and Scythia, to bee the arrowes of his quiuer, wherewith hee might cleaue; for Cyrus and Darius to bee his glistring sword, where­with hee might gash and slice their flesh, and to weede them man after man out of [Page 24]those Elisian fields, and Hesperi­an Orchards, wherein they were planted. Stephan. in apolog. pro Herodoto. Stephanus in his Apo­logie for Herodotus, reports of Tamberlane that warlike Scythi­an, that whensoeuer he besieged a Citie, he first displayed a white flag in token of mercy; the next day a red flag, menacing and threatning bloud; the third day a blacke flag, the messenger, and ensigne of death; a right parallel with the methode vsed heere by God himselfe: His white flag, I call those bands of loue, those conditions of peace which God is faine to entreate at the hands of sinners: His red flag of corre­ction, I call those grating corra­siues, and astonishing iudge­ments, with which the Ministers of God so often vse to break the hearts of such men, as with Ionas haue suffered themselues to bee [Page 25]surprised with a lethargie of sin, and when Gods Heralds haue worne themselues out of breath with long displaying the two flags, and cannot preuaile; then the Coronell himselfe, whose Chariot is the wind, takes the blacke flag into his owne hand, hems and wals them round with feares and terrours, hee giues his sword a charge to eate vp their flesh, and his arrowes a charge to drinke vp their bloud, and his iron rod a charge to breake them like clay, and the stars a charge to fight with them as they did with Sisera, and the earth a charge to swallow them as it did Korah, and death a charge to mow them down like grasse, till there should not re­maine one man aliue to bury another.

Which one point will bee [Page 26]our guide to three heauenly me­ditations; & euery one of these a soueraigne remedie, and an­tidote against some sinne. The first, Vse 1 a wound and terrour to the heart and conscience of all such and make a skoffe & a iest at the threatning, which the Ministers of God denounce against them for their sins. For doth the Prea­cher tell the adulterer that hee shall neuer see the kingdome of God, & will not he yet leaue off his dallying? doeth hee tell the oppressing Landlord, & the V­surer that they shall neuer looke God in the face with cōfort, & will they not yet leaue off their grinding? doeth he tell the vn­conscionable Lawyer, that the Lord is angry with him for his needelesse demurs, for suffering poore country clients to pleade so long at the barre, till the boxe [Page 27]go with all the gaines, and will he yet spin out the suite so long, till the client want weft to be­stow vpon him? doth the Prea­cher tell the generous & noble buddes of this Land, M.B. that your profane & obscoene stageplaies doe prcue the inexpiable staine and dishonour of this famous Cittie, the noysome wormes that canker, and blast al hope of grace and goodnes in the blos­soms, that they doe so weaken & emmasculate al the seeds of ho­linesse by a slie and bewitching insinuation, that whereas they are planted in these nurceries of the Law, to be fitted & enabled for the publike good, & for the continnance of the glorie, and happinesse of this Kingdome; they licentiously dissolue into vngodly and wanton pleasures, and then all hope of their euer [Page 28]doing good, either vnto God, or vnto his Church, or vnto their Countrey, melteth as the Ice before the fire, and floweth away as vnprofitable waters: and will they not yet cease to flocke vnto such wanton Theaters, and there to spend their goods to no other purpose but to set their owne lusts on fire, to vphold schooles of lewdnesse and of sin, to maintaine men of a cor­rupt life, and dissolute behauior in a calling no way warranted from God? Let all these cast eye vpon the doctrine which I haue deliuered, and it will let them know, that if they refuse to be re­claimed from this trade of sinne by the mouth of the Preacher, then the Lord will make it his owne quarrell, and whatsoeuer the Preacher hath threatned out of his booke, the Lord will re­pay [Page 29]it seuen fold into their bo­somes.

Secondly, 2 this point discries the infinite and boudlesse mer­cie of God, who often shewes vs his bow, but takes neither string nor arrow into his hand; who will neuer begin to chide, till first by the mouth of the Preacher hee haue wooed vs with loue; neuer strike till first by the mouth of the Preacher hee haue shaken his rod ouer our heads; neuer beginne to leauie his men of warre till first by the mouth of the Preacher, hee haue entreated and offered conditions of peace; neuer spoile before hee haue often spared; neuer smite till hee haue often cited; neuer condemne till hee haue often and often conuicted; that man might bee left without excuse, and renew [Page 30]no Plea of false imprisonment.

Thirdly, Vse 3 this Doctrine is a wholesome caueat for al the in­habitants of this Land, to yeeld obedience to the Preachers ex­hortation, and by repentance to conclude a present peace with GOD; before the Lord bee so highly incensed, as to send out a prohibition to make his Mini­sters surcease from entreating, that himselfe may ioyne issue in the Court, and wage the Lawe himselfe, that where Preachers cannot preuayle by intreating, himselfe will preuayle by com­manding your confusion. You are at this day, and long haue beene, the astonishment and wonderment of all the world. God hath opened the windows of Heauen wider, and offered more grace vnto you, by the preaching of the word, then to [Page 31]all the Nations vnder the cano­py and roofe of heauen. He hath sent his Messengers the Pro­phets, like Noahs Doue, with e­uerie one an Oliue branch of peace in his mouth, to begge, and purchase a diuorce betwixt you and your sinnes: hee hath sent his messengers the Angels, with their swords halfe drawne, to winne your affection, and to winnow and sift al the branne, I meane vngodlinesse and pro­fanenesse from amongest you. What meanes could the Lord haue vsed for your conuersion that hee hath not already vsed? so that if you still persist in your gray and ancient sinnes: if the Preacher thunder, and you not mooued: if the Preacher be­seech, & you not touched: if the Preacher threaten, and you not hūbled: know this for certainty, [Page 32]that ere long, the ancient of daies will harrow vp your flesh, and plow vp your skinne, and spend vpon you all the plagues and botches of Egypt, till you be turned like Sodome, into a fenne; like Babylon, into a Cabbin for Dragons and Ostriches, and like Moab into a plaine: Et bar­barus has segetes, this fruitfull Canaan and this little Naioth wherein we are planted, be gi­uen for a prey and possession to strangers. Thinke not that hee forgets you because it is long before hee strikes. Plutar. in vita Fabiij. Hannibal had no reason to thinke Fabius a da­stard, because he was slow in marching; nor that besieged Ci­tie in Curtius, to call Alexander a coward, because hee was more readie to shew his clemency in sauing them aliue, then his man­hood in conquering of them. [Page 33]And so from the Summons, Heare, I should passe to the par­ties summoned, the children of Israel, but that my meditations are intercepted, and I am con­tented to take view of an other Doctrine by the way as I go, offering it selfe vnto mee from these words, The Word of the Lord, and is comprised in these termes.

The voice of Gods Ministers is not the voice of man but of God, The Prea­chers voice is Gods voice. backed and conuinced out of the 10. of Luke [...], Hee that heareth you hea­reth mee; and from the testimo­ny both of Church, Isaiah 2.3. The word of God shall go forth of Ierusalem; and of Cornelius, spea­king thus vnto Peter: Wee are heere assembled to heare the things that are commanded thee of God, Actes 10.33. But most plainely [Page 34]by the mouth of Paul, 1. Thess. 2.13. He receiued it not as the word of man, but as it is indeed the word of God. Vse. Which point will one day bee sure to rise vp in iudgement, against all such as o­penly despise, or but little regard the Lords Message. Bone Deus in quae nos temporae reseruasti? In to what a miserable time are we fal­len, when each crafty Achitophel shall haue attendance when he speaketh; and euery sillable of his discourse, as if it were pen­ned at Delphos, shal passe currant through the world for an Ora­cle? When euery histrionicall Orpheus shall bee able to draw stones & towers after him when he acteth? When euery proud Herod, who hath nothing in him to commend him, but his gaudy attire, shall yet haue all the ap­plause, and his words accounted [Page 35]as the voice of God not of man? Vox illa hominem non sonat: But for Esay, hee may speak till he be hoarse, who will beleeue him? hee may lift vp his voyce like a trumpet, who will heare him? Dauid may play sweetly vpon his instrument of ten strings; and the Preacher descant heauenly on the ten commandements, & yet who is inamored with the melodie of the one; or reformed according to the other? 2. Cor. 12. Paul may be rapt into the highest heauen, Preach nothing but saluation, slip not a phrase which is not sweetly enterlaced with heauen­ly eloquence, paue them the readiest way to those ioies which are vnspeakeable; yea euen thrust this Ariadnes threed into their hands; few or none that will re­gard him. Thus are Gods He­raulds, esteemed no better then [Page 36] Cassandras Prophesies; his Em­bassadors worser then Iustinians Orators, [...], such members as the world might well want, the refuse of men. Question but a word with those despisers, and all the Apologie they pretend, all the rubbe they make, is the bad and corrupt life of many Preachers: this is it that makes them refuse to heare, and puts them out of all conceit with the message they deliuer. I hope I shall driue them from this hold, and satisfie their ob­iection with a word. Know then, that when thou settest foote within the dore of Gods house, thy intent and purpose should bee, to haue thy sinnes opened, thy maladies cured, to take spirituall Physicke, for the remedie of some languishing disease which would eate vp thy [Page 37]soule. Wilt thou then be so wil­full, as refuse the soueraigne me­dicines, because thy Physition is sicke of the same disease that thou art? Wilt not thou bee cu­red by this Physition, because the Physition cannot cure him­selfe? What would God haue said to Noah, if hee had refused to saue himselfe in the Arke, be­cause the men that made the Arke for him, were drowned themselues? Will not you go on the readiest way to heauen, be­cause he that is your guide and Pilot runnes counter himselfe? What though the water it selfe be not so cleane as thou woldst haue it, yet it will purge and cleanse thee? And what though sometimes the life of the Prea­cher bee not so spotlesse, as it might bee wished? yet the Mes­sage which hee bringeth, the [Page 38]Word which hee Preacheth, the way which hee pointeth out, is the way of life; be his life neuer so wicked, his heart neuer so foule within him, the words which hee hath vttered will bee sufficient to cast and condemne thee at the last day.

We reade that Elijah was well contented to bee fed and nou­rished by the mouth of Rauens; 1. King. 17. birds as rauenous and vncleane as any other; wheras God could haue fed him by the mouthes of farre cleaner birds. A good ca­ueat for vs (saith Stella vpon the tenth of Luke) neuer to refuse the food and diet of our soules, Stella vpon Luke 10. though the vessels wherein it is carried, bee both vnsanctified and vncleane. The Rauens were vncleane birds, but the meate which they brought was whole­some: and the case being all one, [Page 39]why should a man refuse the glad tydings of saluation, or stop his eares at the voyce of the skilfull charmer, because the messenger that brings the ty­dings, is ouertaken with some knowne sin? Or because he that charmeth, stancheth not the issue of his owne corruption? I might enlarge the point both from S. Augustine, Aug. Cont. Donat l. 4. cap. 4. Born. in Cant. Serm. 66. in his 4. Book and 4 Chapter against the Do­natists; and from S. Bernard in his 66. Sermon vpon the Canti­cles. But I remember that I haue far to go and litle time to spend; wherefore I onely adde this short caution and proceed. Be­ware you murmurre not against the Preacher of the Word, lest it be iustly said to you, as Moses said to Israel; Non est murmur contra nos, sed contra Deum: Your murmurre is not against [Page 40]vs, but against the Lord, Exod. 16.8. Despise not him that Prea­cheth the Word, least it be said vnto you, as Paul told his Thessa­lonians: [...], 1. Thess. 4.8. you despise not man but God. Deale not fraudulently with him that hath a charge of thy soule, lest it bee said vnto you as it was to Ananias and Saphira; you haue not dealt wickedly with man, but with God, Act. 5.4. And so I come to the parties here sum­moned to the Word, The chil­dren of Israel.

By Israel (saith Zanchius) wee are especially to vnderstand, those ten Tribes, which reuol­ted in Ieroboams time, from the regiment of Iudaea, and our Pro­phet stiles thē not barely Israel, as Iunius and Tremelius render it: but Bene Iisrael, Israelis filij, sons of Israel, who was mightie [Page 41]with God, meaning to put them in mind of their fathers vertues, that this comemoratiue might bee an argument to bring them home to their fathers foot-steps, and to aggrauate their shame, that hauing so religious parēts, themselues proued such notori­ous and shamelesse Apostataes, from whence amongst others, I haue made choise of this Note.

Good and vertuous children be loth to depart from the good example of their parents: Good chil­dren must follow their fa­thers ver­tues. So we read of Iehosaphat, that hee made it his care to walke in the steps of Asa his father; the first of Kings at the 22. Of Ezekiah, 2. King. 18. that hee walked in the same steps that Dauid his father had done: Of Iosiah, 2. Chr. 34. that hee turned nei­ther to the right hand nor to the left, but walked precisely in the way of his father. This was a [Page 42]high commendation that Paul gaue the Thessalonians, 1. Thess. 1.6. And a commendation which God gaue the Rechabites, promising that he would crown them with a hopefull posteritie, because they followed the god­ly example of their father: Veri­ly Ionaedab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before mee for euer, Ier. 33. And Isay 51.2. God thus speakes to Israel; Consider Abraham your father, and Sarah that bare you; they were zealous of my glorie, bee not you so cold. These were bur­ning and shining lampes, bee not you like blacke cloudes and emblemes of darknes. Abraham refused not to sacrifice his son: looke on him, and refuse not to sacrifice thy sinne, and vncleane affections. Saerah obeyed Abrae­ham, and called him Lord; and [Page 43] Israel thou art Gods Spouse, therefore obey thy God, & wor­ship him as Lord onely: Which vertuous imitation, not onely Christians, but Heathens haue embraced. Scipio Afri­canus. Scipio Africanus ac­counted it no small disparage­ment for him to walk one foot a­wry, from that course of life w ^ch Cyrus in Zenophon had gone be­fore him. It was the height of Caesars glory to walk in the steps of Alexander; Caesar. Of Selymus the tur­kish Emperor to walk in the steps of Caesar; And of the Arabians, Selymus Turc. im­perat. to imitate the life and profession of their fathers: as Strabo in his sixteenth book, Strabo l. 16 Sabel. l. 6. Exemp. c. 1. and out of him Sabellicus in his sixt book of Ex­amples and first Chapter.

Which point should bee a good encouragement for all sorts of men, Vse. to make thēselues rich in the workes of mercy [Page 44]as their fore-fathers haue done; an encouragement for Princes to follow the example of Phine­as, Numb. 25. to be zealous for the Lords sake. An encouragement for States and Potentates, to fol­low the example of the good Centurion, Luke 7.5. in shewing their loue vnto this Nation, and buil­ding vp the Church of God. An encouragement for Ladies and Matrons, to follow the ex­ample of Abigail, 1. Sam. 25. to encourage and relieue all such as fight the Lords battell. An encourage­ment for reuerend Bishops, to follow the example of good Elisha, 2. Kings 6. in prouiding for the Pro­phets. An encouragement for Iudges, to follow the example of Othoniel, Iudg. 3.9. in sauing and sheilding the poore & impotent from the yoke and seruitude of greater personages. An encouragement [Page 45]for Lawyers to follow the good example of Elias, in standing vp to pleade the Lords cause a­gainst all the fauorites of Baby­lon, 1. Kin. 18. an encouragement for rich and wealthy citizens, to follow the example of Zacheus, in opening the bowels of their compassion to the afflicted mē ­bers of Christ Iesus, Luke 19.8. an encouragement for Courti­ers, to follow the exāple of Ne­hemiah, in redressing their con­tempt of Gods sabboth, Nehem. 13.22. an encouragement for all men, of all men, of all estates and conditions, that if they haue fonnd and espied in their pa­rents, or other holy men, or pre­cedent ages, any one vertue that was eminent, any one gift that was commendable, any part or qualitie that was admirable, and excellent, that they should af­fect [Page 46]& imitate: but alas, it is now the open shame of our land, and a scar in the face of our gentrie, that they are becom such as Plu­tarch taxed in the life of Alexan­der, readier to imitate his foule deformities, then his valiant at­tēpts, or Platoes crooked shoul­ders, sooner then his diuine dis­courses, or Aristotles stāmering speeches, sooner then his pro­foundnes and depth of reason; & instead of imitating their anciēt vertues, they imitate nothing but new & quaint deuices. They are full of strange children, said Esay 2.6. which place if I might be bold to allegorize, or follow our English marginall, I would call their strange children, their strange deuices; their brainsicke imitation of the fantasticall out­side, and inward corruption of all nations. Is it not a wonder to [Page 47]thinke that the world should be come to the age of almost sixe thousand yeares, & yet be stil in child-bed? and euery moneth in trauel of new fashions, new sins, new vanities, of all things new, saue onely of the new man, and the olde man is in such request with her, that the world is ready to say with the yong man in the Gospell, whom Christ would haue had to folow him, that she will indeed follow him, but first she must go bury her father, she hath an old man at home, that is not yet dead; an olde man, the olde Adam, the man of sinne is yet aliue within her, till he be dead, there is no following of Christ.

O the shame of this world, that men honorable and worshipfull by descent, Christians by profes­sion, their fathers ioy, and their [Page 48]countries hope should seruilely yeelde to follow the fashions of all countries in their follies: thy attire in the beginning was gi­uen thee onely for a couer to hide thy shame, and therefore when thou followest moe fashi­ons then all other people, thou proclaimest it to the world that thou hast more sin to hide, more shame to couer, then al the nati­ons of the world besides. In the Italian fashion, thou hidest the Italians sin: in the Turkish thou hidest the Turkish shame: in the Spanish, thou hidest the Spanish sin: and in the French fashion, thou hidest the French-mens shame: for thy attire was giuen thee onely to couer thy shame: but I haue small hope to pre­uaile, the sin is so ancient. I will therfore spare my further pains in this poynt, and proceed from [Page 49]the summons, and arraignment to the occasion thereof; the de­ciding of a controuersie, which one clause contaynes, both the plaintife which is God, and the defendant Israel: what? a con­trouersie with Israel? the Vine which his owne right hand had planted? with Israel the people which he honoured? with Israel the sonne whom hee adopted, and loued more tenderly then all the Nations of the earth besides? and hath God a contro­uersie to decide with thee? then this obseruation meetes me by the way: That no city, or people is so graced with priuileges, No nation can stand vnder the burden of sinne. so crow­ned with blessings, so beloued of God, but sinne will set GOD and them at variance, make Heauen their aduersary, and hazzard the racing and ruinating, both of state and gouernement: that common [Page 50]weales, & kingdoms haue a pe­riode, let Athens, and Sparta, and Babylon, and Troy, and Niniuie, and Carthage be witnesses, who haue at this day no other de­fence, but paper walls to keepe their memories: but what haue been the cause of these subuersi­ons the most are ignorant. The Epicure ascribes it vnto fortune, the Stoicke to destinie, Plato and Pythagoras and Bodin in the sixt of his Methods vnto number, Plato & Py­thagoras, Bodin in 6. meth Arist. 5. Polit. 12. Copernicus Cardanus. Aristotle in the fifth of his Poli­tickes, at the twelfth, to an asym­metry and disproportion in the members. Copernicus to the mo­tion of the Center, of his imagi­narie excentricke circle, Carda­nus & the most part of Astrolo­gians to Stars & Planets; but all these haue onely groped in the darkenes, & being mis-led by an Ignis fatuus, haue supposed with [Page 51] Ixion in the fable, they had foūd the true Iuno. the brightest and the clearest truth, when it pro­ued but a cloude of palpable darkenesse; but if wee consult with the Oracles of God, wee shall find that sinne is the onely cause why God falles out with his dearest children, why hee turnes cities into ashes, ruinates states, and makes kingdoms but ludibria fortunae, euerlasting mo­numēts of desolation: the Scrip­tures are so pregnant in this ar­gument, that the shallowest no­uice may runne and reade abun­dant testimonies: aske of Ieru­salem, and she can witnesse that this Doctrine is too too true, shee will not sticke to tell you what shee was, & whither she is fallen, perhaps in these mourne­ful termes, I was the Vine which GOD had planted with his [Page 52]hand, and watered with the dew of heauen: I was the City of the great King, the Tabernacle of the most High, I could once haue sayd with Niobe in the Po­et, Sum foelix, I shall neuer haue cause to mourne: but heark you now how she hath changed her tune, and the Epilogue of her pleasing-song hath proued this doleful Elegy, I sinned grieuou­sly, therefore am I in derision, Lamen. 1.8. I sinned with a high hand, therefore hath he filled me with bitternesse, and made me drunke with Wormewood, Lament. 3.15. I was sicke from the sole of my foot to the crown of my head, and I had not a man to stand in the gap to stop the Sword of the Almightie, therefore once was I robbed by Shishack King of Egypt, 1. Kings 14. and now am I vtterly sackt [Page 53]by the king of Babel. 2. Ki. 25. In­quire of Sodome, and she will tell you that she was once as faire as the garden of Eden, & as plea­sant as the valley of Egypt, as thou goest vnto Zoar; of Baby­lon, & she will tell you, that she was once the Empresse of all the earth, the pride & beautie of Chaldea; of Iericho, and Iosephus will tell vs in his first booke, De bello Iudaico, that it was a city of palme trees, whose beuty might haue cōmanded immortall me­mory, but God became an ene­my to Sodome, by reason of her vncleanenesse, and an enemy to Babylon, by reason of her pride, and an enemy to all the Kingdomes of Canaan, because they were abetters and maintai­ners of all varietie of sinnes, so that they may all shake hands, and sing in order this dolefull [Page 54]madrigall, Sodome may thus be­ginne, and say, My wantonnesse set GOD and mee at variance, therefore am I burned to ashes, and turned into a stinking Fen, Genesis 19.25. and Babylon may answere thus, my pride set God and mee at variance, therefore are my pallaces made Dens for Dragons, Esay 13.21. and Ca­naan may make vp the Consort thus, My grosse Idolatrie set God and me at variance, there­fore hath hee stript mee naked, Hosea 2.3. Were it needefull I would tell you of the Churches of Corinth, Galatia, Philippi, Ephe­sus, Smyrna, Nice, Laodicea, Antio­chia, Constantinople, of all the Ea­sterne and African Churches, once like so many watered Gar­dens, moistned with all the fruit­full showers & dew of Heauen, while other places of the world [Page 55]remained, like the mountains of Gilboa, wheron there fel neither dew nor raine, they were watred like the fleece of Gideon, while the earth was dry round about them, but since they haue star­ted aside, like the men of Ephra­im, they haue beene setled vpon the Lees with Moah, they haue plowed Aceldama, a field of bloud, and sowen iniquitie; therefore had the Lord a long fuite & controuersie with them, but in the end wiped out their names, discarded their Idoles, gaue their Land to be inhabited by Zijm and Ochim Turkes and Infidels.

And if euer, then would God, Vse. that at this time, and in this poynt, my voice were like the voice of som thundring Pericles, and my Pen yron, and my sides brasse, & my speech powerfull, [Page 56]and my praiers effectual to rent, and moue the hearts of those, who by their outragious sinnes make God fall out with vs, and egerly importune the Iudge of all the World to denounce a doome of death and desolation vpon this Land; as hee hath done vpon those Cities which we mentioned. The world can tell, that of all the Trees in the Garden, we are the Vine, amon­gest all the varieties of flowers, we are the Lillies & the Rose, a­mongst all cities wee haue Ieru­salem; amongst all the Princes we onely had a Deborah, and we haue a Dauid; amongest all the Prophets of the Lord, we haue the most reuerend Elishaes; a­mongest all the nurceries and springs of learning, we haue the most famous Naioths, wee are they, vpon whose heads the Ca­taractes [Page 57]of Heauen haue beene opened, that wee might fill our selues with that Manna which might long since haue wiped out the blacke spots and staines of sinne, which are the caracters of Hell: these are our high and rich prerogatiues, wherein we may out-vie the felicitie and pride of forraine Nations. But will this Summers gleane of our prosperitie neuer bee ouer­shadowed? Will our Sunne neuer stoope below the Hori­zon? yet (beloued) we harbour such armies and bands of sins, wee are in league and compact with such prodigious vices; wee take part with Mammon against God, when wee wedde our af­fections to the World like De­mas; wee take part with Baal a­gainst God, when we are con­tēted to wink at our Recusants, [Page 58]and the Calues which are ere­cted in Dan, and Bethel; we take part with the flesh against God, when wee do yeelde our bodies which should be temples of ho­linesse, to bee defiled with filthy strumpets; we take part with all the powers of darknesse against GOD, and our owne soules, when wee are content to spend our goodes, bestow our time, waste & consume our bodies, in rearing a Babell with the one hand, wherein we shal sport our selues a while, though with the other we be digging vp a hell & a Tophet, wherein without re­pentance, we fry for euer: thus haue wee flowne in the face of the blessed Trinitie, who neuer did vs wrong; wee haue dared our God to his face; our whole Land beginnes to swarme with sinnes, as thicke as Egypt did [Page 59]with frogges; wee are already growne so farre, and yet we are going so fast, that a man would thinke, that many of vs did at this day contend & striue, who should out-strippe another, and be formost in hell.

What then can we expect, but that God whom wee haue con­straind to be our enemy, should beginne to make furrows in our backes, to strike our heads with giddinesse, our faces with pale­nesse; to call againe for an in­uincible Armado, like to that of 88. for a new powder-plot of I­talian Doegs, that our Land may be a prey to those that seeke our liues; suffer our Churches to be turned into Mannors, and the houses of the Prophets be layd on ruinous heapes: this and no other, will bee the decision and finall determination, of [Page 60]that controuersie between God & this Land, vnlesse by a floud of teares wee can stop the way; vnlesse by speedie repentance wee can dull the edge of his sword that is ready drawne, and slacke the strings of his bowe, that is alreadie bent for our de­struction: the most secret plots & treasonable conspiracies, that are wrought against vs, are not halfe so dangerous, the nefari­ous proiects of all the Iesuites in the world, (thogh their heads be the richest shops the Diuell hath, for deuising of bloudy at­tempts) are not halfe so power­full, all the Stratagems, the gunne-shotte and the powder that Hell can helpe them vnto, are not so forcible, nor so likely to interrupt the peace and hap­pinesse of our State and King­dome, as our ovvne sinnes [Page 61]are, these onely (our sinnes I meane) are the enemies that are most like to ring our knels and proclaime our Funerals: These onely (our sins I meane) are the Edomites which are most like to make a short cut in our peace, to set a sudden stop and period to our prosperity, to make a cracke in our hope, to alter the graci­ous aspect of the heauens, to stint the influence of Gods gra­cious fauour, to procure our woe, and to giue our whole State, our whole Kingdome, a blow that can neuer be healed. Giue mee leaue therefore for closure of the point, to exhort you (Right Honorable) and all the rest, in the name of God, now at last to bethinke your selues of some remedy: God hath put a sword of authority in your hand, for no other purpose [Page 62]but to strike at sinne; if yet you suffer it to rust in the sheath (I am not afraid to tell you) that either you are afraid to quarrell with sinne, or else you be are it some good will your selfe; or else you haue but malt hearts, and white liuers, and cold con­stitutions, ready to faint and shrinke in the Lords cause: and so by your meanes sinne shall haue a continuall Spring, no Autumn, not one leafe of it fall, but our Land shall feele a conti­nuall Autumne and falling from its ancient glory, but see no Spring; and a continuall Win­ter, vexed with the stormes and shewers of heauens displeasure, but neuer see nor feele the warmenesse of Summer. Strike then at the root of sin, for sin stri­keth at the root, and shaketh the foundation of our Land: But if [Page 63]our reuerend Iudges suffer him that sitteth vpon the Bench, to wrong him that standeth below the Barr waiting for iustice; thē let him know that he maintaines a sin, and then we all know that he doth his best to ruinate our Land. If the Gentry grow rich and potent by turning Tenants out of dores, by depopulation, by clipping or selling the Le­uites portion, then let them know that they maintaine a sin, and then wee all know they doe their best to ruinate this Land: If Merchants and men of Trade grow rich and powerfull by fraud and cheating, these al­so be vnderminers of our State, they do their best to ruinate this Land. Good Lord what will become of vs, when foule sinnes in this Citie become rich professions, and yet they are the [Page 64]Mothes that are eating, they are the Cankers that are fretting, they are the Vermine that are vndermining both our Church and Kingdome. The summe of all is this, if wee continue in our ancient course and trade of sin, it is as sure as if God had sealed it, we shall be either made a prey vnto our enemies, or haue our flesh so full of Gods poysoned arrowes, that it were better for vs to die then to liue: Let it then bee our ioint and greatest care, to empty our houses, to cleanse our streets, to weede the cockle and darnell out of this Land, that God may bee pleased long and long, to continue his true Religion, our peerelesse King, & this little Kingdome, in peace and happinesse. Remember what I say, and I say it againe: Let it be your care (Right Honorable) [Page 65]to strike at the roote of sinne in the Citie: Let our reuerend Iud­ges strike at the roote of sin in the Courts, on their Benches, in their Circuites: Let my Bre­thren of the Ministerie, strike at the root of sin in their charges: Let euery man that cares for Si­on, that loues our Nation, that fauours Religion, that wisheth the glorie of our Lord to be im­mortall, that hath a true English and a Christian heart, fling one stone at the face, make one wound in the fore-head of sin; and I beseech God that the hea­uens may giue you good suc­cesse, and that the Lord may be with you, all you valiant men: And so I should come some­what to the particular crimes whereof Israel is accused.

All which sinnes are reduce­able to two heads: some are pri­uatiue [Page 66]in the first, viz. Want of Mercy, &c. some positiue in the second verse, viz Swearing, &c. But before I aduenture this maine Ocean obserue by the way; Neglect of duties en­ioyned is no small sinne. That the neglect of a duty commanded, displeaseth God as well as the committing of sins prohibited; seeing this contro­uersie betwixt God and Israel, arose not onely from the posi­tiue sins, wherein they commit­ted things forbidden, but from the priuatiue also, wherein they were carelesse of duties enioy­ned. God cursed Meroz, not for fighting against the people of God, but because they did not assist them against the mighty, Iudg. 5.23. Diues fryed in hell, not for robbing, but for not re­leeuing Lazarus, Luke 16. The vnprofitable seruant was cast [...], into vtter darknes, [Page 67]not for spending, but for not be­stowing his Maisters talent. The siue foolish Virgins were shut out of dores, not for abuse in wasting, but for wanting of Oile. And the wicked shall bee condemned at the last day, not for reauing the meate from the hungry, but for not feeding them; not onely for dislodging the stranger, but for not enter­taining him; not onely for strip­ping the naked out of his clothes, but for not clothing him, not onely for wronging the sick & comfortlesse, but for not visiting, and for not comforting of him, Mat. 25. Vice & Vertue are contraries which want a Me­dium, & therfore the absence of the one in subiect [...] capaci, argues the presence of the other; so that if we be destitute of vertue, then are wee attended with troopes [Page 68]of vices. If our houses be cleane swept and empty of spirituall graces, then they are conueni­ent lodgings for vncleane spi­rits: If wee bee not graced with knowledge, then are we mufled and blinded with ignorance: If voide of faith, wee are clothed with infidelity; If once wee giue ouer doing good, then we pro­stitute our selues to all ungodli­nesse. And therefore the neg­lect of a dutie which is enioy­ned, being alwaies accompani­ed with some bolts and scarres of fouler sins, is sufficient mat­ter both of enditement and of iudgement, whensoeuer the Lord shall summon vs to ap­peare before him.

A speciall caueat for vs, Vse. 1 not with simple Ideots to blesse our selues, because we are harmlesse and doe no man wrong; or be­cause [Page 69]wee are not tainted with the continuall fluxe or bloudy issue of such sins as would make vs odious in the world; or be­cause wee breake not with vio­lence, into the outward act of such sins as are monstrous, and deserue the cēsure of the Law. For God hath not onely forbid­den the euill, but commanded the good: What if thou steale not from thy brother, yet if thou open not thy hand to succour him, thou art a robber? What if thou dost neither lienor sweare, yet if thou make not thy mouth a glorious Organ, & thy tongue a golden Trumpet, to Preach and proclaime his loue and mercy, thou art a deepe and a round offender? What if no man can condemne thee for any euill, yet vnlesse God and thy own conscience shall commend [Page 70]thee for some good thou haste wrought, I tremble to tell thee how far thou art from the King­dome of God. The Iudge may not blesse himselfe in this, that hee neuer hindred the poore, for if he haue not furthered thē; nor in this, that hee neuer kind­led suites and contentions, for if hee haue not laboured to sup­presse and smother them, hee hath but a disloyall heart, & the Lord will one day bee quit with him for it. The Land-Lord may not blesse himselfe in this, that hee neuer wrung nor gript the bowels of his tenants, for if hee haue not succoured and prote­cted them; Nor in this, that hee neuer wronged the Church, for if he haue notpropt & streng the­ned it, his zeale hath beene but cold, the Lord will one day bee quits with him for that. The Pa­stor [Page 71]that hath the charge (I will not say the cure of soules, seeing many haue the charge, who ne­uer haue care of discharging their duties) may not blesse him­selfe in this, that he neuer sedu­ced his people out of the way, for if he haue not painefully in­structed them in the right way; nor in this, that he neuer did thē wrong, for if hee haue not wat­ched ouer them to do thē good, their bloud shall bee required at his hand, and the Lord will bee quits with him for that. Let it be the shame of those that sit in darknes, and are proud of their ignorance, to say they haue as good soules, & hope to be saued aswel as any, because they do no man any harme; but for vs who may sit all day long at the feet of some good Gamaliel, and euery houre of the day may heare some [Page 72] Paul Preaching vnto vs; not onely renounce the euill, but do the good; not onely cease to do euill, but learne to do well; not onely abiure carnall and sensuall delights, the huskes and mast whereon the worldling is like to surfet, but also make a couenant with our eyes, that they sport themselues with looking onely vpon the beauty of heauen; with our affections, to wed thēselues onely to the ioyes of heauen. Be couetous, I would haue thee so, so that thou couet no trea­sure but spirituall: Be ambitious, I would haue thee so, so thou affect no honor but immortall; Renounce all kinde of peace, wherein thou findest no peace of conscience; Discard all ioyes, wherein thou feelest not the ioy of the Holy Ghost: Hoc fac & vines, doe this and thou shalt [Page 73]liue in the feare, thou shalt die in the fauour, thou shalt rest in the peace, thou shalt rise in the power of God the Father, and helpe to make vp the consort in singing of Halleluiah, Halleluiah, all glory, and honour, and praise, and immortalitie, be ascribed vn­to the Lambe, and to him that sit­teth vpon the Throne for euer­more. And now I am come with­out further defrauding of your expectation, to the particular grieuances whereof God com­plaines; and the first of those is Want of Truth.

The Hebrew word Emeth, saith Zanchius, signifieth that kinde of fidelity, which Tully called, Dictorum conuentorum constantiam, and this truth some­times respects the heart, and is called simplicity and integrity, sometime the outward carriage [Page 74]in word or speech, and is called truth; sometimes the works and actions, and then is called iu­stice and vpright dealing: so that when the Lord chargeth them with want of Truth, his meaning is, there was no inte­gritie, or simplicitie, in their hearts, therefore there was hy­pocrisie; no verity in their spee­ches, therefore lying; no iustice in their actions, therefore frau­dulent and deceitfull dealing. I will wrappe vp all in this one conclusion.

All dissimulation in the heart, First par­ticular grieuance. and lying in the tongue, and de­ceit in the outward action, be­twixt man and man, makes God and man at oddes and variance. The, first which is dissimulation in the heart, proued from the example of Ananias and Sa­phira, why didst thou conceiue [Page 75]this in thy heart? [...], Actes 5.4. The second which is lying in the tongue, excludes from heauen, Apoc. 22. The last, which is deceit in the outward action, is condemned, Leu. 19. Dissimu­lation in the heart is the badge & cognisance of such deplored wights as shall neuer see the face of God with comfort, Iob. 13.16. Lying in the tongue is the badge and cognisance of the children of the deuils getting, Iohn 8.44. Deceit in the out­ward action is the badge and cognisance of him that despi­seth his God: nay, of him that shall beare the wrath and ven­geance of God, 1. Thess. 4.8. It is most true which Syracides ob­serued, Animaquae dissimulat, ac­celerat miseriā, the soule that dis­sembleth increaseth his paine, Ecclesiastic. 2. and true which Ber­nard [Page 76]obserued out of Wisedome Os quod mentitur perdit animam' the tongue that lieth, Wisd. 1.11. murthe­reth the soule, and true which Moses obserued, Manus iniusti­tiae [...], the hand that dealeth falsely is abhomination, Deu. 25. This is Gods inditement which you haue heard; wilt please you to heare the verdict which the Iury of the Prophets brings in against them?

Esay and Ieremy, as fore-men in the name of all the rest, haue penned it thus: Euery one of them is an hypocrite and a dissem­bler, Isaiah 9.16. And Ieremy thus: They haue no courage for the truth: Ieremy 9.3. This is the verdict which the Grand-Iury of greater Prophets haue brought against them; and the verdict of the Petty-Iury, I meane the lesser Prophets, is the [Page 77]very same, registred by Michah, as prolocutor for the rest, There is none righteous amongst them, e­uery man hunteth his brother with a net, Micah. 7.2. Thus the Iurie hath found them guilty: wil you now heare how the Lawe pro­ceedes, when the Iudge passed this sentence, Lying lips are abho­mination to the Lord, Prou. 12.22. He shews he had a whip prepa­red for liars, when hee plagued Ananias and Saphira, Acts 5. hee shewed his loue to all dissem­blers, when he dismissed all de­ceitfull dealers out of his house, Psalm. 101. He shewed he had a whip laid vp for all deceiuers, & the lightest of these is a doome too heauy for them to beare.

See then the eminent and ap­parant danger whereunto men of all estates wrest themselues, Vse. by renouncing and diuorcing of [Page 78]truth, they make a breach be­twixt them & God that can not be closed, they sow such seed of debate and contention betwixt them & God, as cannot be co­uered; they challenge such a dreadfull war betwixt them and God as will neuer be ended, till the sword of the Almighty hath wearied it selfe, & the arrows of God haue made thēselues drūk, and death the Axe of God haue surfeted it selfe with blood: and yet, were there a priuy search to go through each Maeander and corner of the earth to seeke for truth; it would be as hard to find, as honesty was in Athens, when Diogenes sought it with a candle at noone-tide, or goodnesse in Ierusalem, when there was nei­ther Priest nor People that exe­cuted iudgement, Ier. 5.1. Terras Astraea reliquit, truth hath taken [Page 79]her self vnto her wings, she hath hid her self & will not be found. send priuie Search to all the shops of Merchants and men of Trade, and when you haue done your best, you may write this vp­on the doores; Has aedes Astraea reliquit, Had truth beene one of our apprentices, we should ne­ner haue sold our wares so deare if wee had more truths in our mouthes, we should haue lesse mony in our coffers: send priuy Search into our courts of Law, and when you haue done, you may write this vpon the Barre, Has sedes Astraea reliquit, trueth hath abated too much of our fees: we should haue beene but beggers if we had not banisht it: send priuie Search amongst our States-men, and when you haue done, you may write this vpon their gates for the world to read [Page 80] Astraea & domes & domines reli­quit, in this house truth resignes to policie, dissimulation is the ready way to rich preferment: send priuy Search to seeke for truth in the very Pulpit, which should be the Arke of Truth & Custoder of Gods sacred Ora­cles, & whē you haue done, you may set this on many Churches and Pulpit dores, Veritas exulat, truth is brought vnder hatches, either she is ashamed, or els she dares not shew her head; whiles some for raking a litle profite, o­thers for feare of mens displea­sure, sowe pillows vnder the el­bowes of great personages, and suffer lowd sinnes to escape like the adulteresse in the Gospell: because they are graced with greatnes and authority. Seeing then our Trades-men sell trueth for coine, our Lawyers for fees, [Page 81]and our States-men for prefer­ment, & our Clergy to please a Patron, how can we thinke the Lord will not come to visite vs for these things, & his soule be auenged on such a Nation as this? what then remains but that we either cal truth home, which we haue banished by the law of Ostracisme, that it may be an ap­prentice to our Merchants and men of trade, a Counseller, and Sergeant at the Law, a Retainer & Pensioner to our mē of state, and Vsher to all the Clergie of the Land, or else looke euerie day for Gods arrest vpon vs; the heauens wil not stil repriue their iudgements, the Sergeants of GODS wrath will not alwayes sleepe, all the vials which God holdeth in his hand, are not full of balme & oile to heale & sup­ple; some of them are running [Page 82]ouer with gall and addle, some ready to vent the lees, & sowrest dregs of Gods displeasure vpon this Land, Quae semper imitatur eorum facta quorum exitum et ex­itium perhorrescit, which shrinks and trembles at Israels fearefull sentence; but makes neyther stop nor rubbe at Israels crying sins which wrings her hands, & knockes her breast so often, as shee either heares or reades the dismall Sentence which God pronounced against Israel, but will neyther weepe nor cry, nor shed a teare for her self, althogh she lie rotting in the same cage of vncleannesse, and foming in the same menstruous blood which made Israel so loathsome vnto God. Let it therefore bee the care of our Magistrates to fetch home & encourage truth; of our Iudges to defend & sup­port [Page 83]the truth; of the Clergie to preach and speake the truth; of our godly and religious Citi­zens to lodge and harbor truth: let vs shew our selues to be true Nathanaels, in whom there is no guile, & put in practise the Pro­phets rule, Zach. 8.16. Speake ye euery man the trueth vnto his neighbour, and loue not deceit, for that is the thing that the Lord hateth. And so I proceed to the second particular grie­uance whereof Israel is indited in the next word, Ve en chesed, No mercie; which word chesed comprehends in it all workes of Charitie and Christianitie, but I cannot insist vpon explication, the point is this.

Want of mercie is a sinne that crieth loude, Second parti cular grieuance and knocketh hard at heauen for vengeance, I shall not neede prodigally to [Page 84]spend either breath, or time in strengthning or supporting this clause of truth. S. Iames hath put the matter out of difference, Ia. 2.13. There shall be iudgement merciles to him that shewes no mercy; it was want of mercy that called for a weltering Ocean to swallow the hoste of Pharao, Ex. 15. It was want of mercie that caused Gideon to harrow & slice the flesh of the men of Succoth with thorns and briars, Iudg. 8.7. it was want of mercy that hazar­ded the destructiō of all Nabals posterity, 1. Sam. 25. It was want of mercie that opened the bellie and bosome of hell, to deuoure and intombe the soule of Diues, Luke 16. It was want of mercie (saith Plutarch) that brought the men of Delphos so lowe on their knees, Plutar. de sera numi­nis vind. that they were enforcod to proclaime it by the mouth of [Page 85]criers, thorow all the markets & assemblies of Greece, that whoso­euer would, should come and be auenged on thē for the death of Aesope. It was want of mercy (saith Beatus Rhenanus) that made Hatto that infamous clark and Bishop of Moguntia, Beatus Rhenanus. to bee chased to death by an Armie of Rattes. It was want of mercy to­ward the little sop and handfull of seed, which God had planted in Goshen, that made all the land of Egipt to rocke, and the pillars therof to grow like the cracking of a decayed vessell, being ouer­waued by the vndanted rough­nesse of some violent and vn­couth stormes; all of these ium­ping with that of Syracides, Ec­cles. 35.18. The Lord will not be slacke, the Almighty will not tar­rie, till he haue smitten in sunder the loynes of the vnmercifull.

And haue not we deserued to drinke our bellies full of these waters of Marah as wel as they? may not we tune all our Songs vpon this note, Help Lord? & vp­on this, There is no mercie? our hands are dried & withered, help Lord: merciful men are gone out of the world, Esay 57. Our Land begins to ring, & our eares are filled with such ruthfull and sad complaints as these, Helpe Lord, there is no mercie. Our Church bemones her selfe thus, Helpe Lord, there is no mercie. And is not hir complaint as iust as any, when so many hungry souls like poore Lazarus, would gladly gather vp the crums of a spiritu­all benedictiō, from the mouth of their Pastor, but cannot haue it, whē so many zealous christi­ans in the land, would sit all the day long at the feet of some Ga­maliel, [Page 87]& gladly step into Bethes­da; but either their Angell is frō home, or else hee is not able to trouble the water for them. Our Commons doe bemone them­selues thus, Help Lord there is no mercie: And is not their com­plaint as iust, when Land-lords are become tyrants, & Tenants be made but slaues to serue their turne? and Naioth in Ramah (I meane the Nurceries of Artes and Sciences) bemones her selfe thus, Help Lord, there is no mercy: And is not her complaint as iust as any, when so many gol­den wits, likely to haue proued the gracious ornaments and pride of their mother; are daily enforced to trie their fortune some other way, being vtterly discoraged for want of mainte­nance? and our courts of Iustice bemone themselues thus, Helpe [Page 88]Lord, there is no mercy: and is not their complaint as iust as any? when the Lawyer, who should be an Atropos to cut the threed, feedes his Client with golden hopes and sugred wordes, and proues a Clotho to spin, & a La­chesis to drawe in length the threeds of cōtention: what chri­stian hart would not indite both bitter & tart Iambicks? or whose bowels wold not yerne & groan within him? to see how the En­grosser of this worst Age, em­ployes and sets his best wits on tenters, to ioine house to house, land to land, and field to field, till there be not left a Cottage nor a Corner for the poore to dwell in; not a Common nor Pasture for them to feed in, and if it were possible, scarce whole­some ayre enough for them to breathe in. Whose heart would [Page 89]not boile & melt within him, to see how the worlds Alchymist wrastles & striues to turne eue­ry corner of his field into a beu­tifull garden? euery litle garden into a glorious paradise? euerie litle cottage into a pallace? their clothes & garments into robes? their tables into shrines? their chests and coffers into rich mi­nerals of gold and siluer? and all this by turning good house-kee­pers into beggers, and tenants out of dores. Whose bowels wil not roll within him, to see how great men take away the chil­drēs bread, wheron both church & common wealth should feed, & cast it vnto whelps, that they may be nourished? vnto kites & hawkes, that they may be stufft and gorged in their mews while Christ Iesus in his distressed members, hath his face withe­red [Page 90]with hunger, & his feet par­ched with colde, and his sto­macke grated, nay girt, & pasted vnto his sides, for want of suc­cour, for want of sustenance? Whose heart would not bleed to see many houses, Ouid Me­tam. lib. 2. Tecta subli­mibus alta columnis; goodly and tall as Babel, but not an almes at their dores, scarce smoke with­in them? to see such spatious barnes, so litle kindenesse? to see how that in swallowing the bles­sings of God, euery one of vs is like the monster Briareus? wee haue an hundred hands to re­ceiue, but in relieuing and sup­plying the want of other, wee haue but one hand, & that dried and withered, like the hand of Ieroboam, 1. King. 13. How then can we thinke that the Lord will not visit vs for these things, and his soule be auenged on such a [Page 91]nation as this? They that should be a staffe vnto the feeble, are of all others the readiest to bring them vpon their knees: they that should be eies to the blinde, are the foulest moates & beames, to put out rhe eies of them that see: they that are ordained to chear the faces of the poore, are the onelie men to grinde and har­rowe them: they that should stand in the gap, like Moses, to saue them from all annoyance, are of all others the most for­ward to feed them with worme­wood & the water of affliction, as Ahab did Micaiah the Pro­phet, 1. Ki. 22. And shall not the Lord be auenged on such a peo­ple as this? wherefore (beloued) let me try if I can perswade you in the words of S. Bernard, Bern de modo bene viuendi. Ani­mae tuae gratū feceris si misericors fueris, thou shalt do well to thy [Page 92]soule by shewing mercy: in the words of S. Ambrose: Ambros. 1. Tim. p. 8. Tract. 5. in Iohan. Nil ma­gis commēdat animū christianum, Nothing that God respects so much as mercy: in the words of S. Augustine: Charitas tua visce­ra percutiat: Be yee rich in the workes of mercie. Prouocaris Christiane, prouocaris à viduâ in certamen: the poore Widdow of Sarepta, must tutor thee to be merciful; Iob must reade thee a Lecture of mercie, who had beene both eye vnto the blinde, and feete vnto the lame, and a father to the poore, Iob 29. Let me beseech you in the words of the Prophet, Zacharie 7.9. Shew mercy euery man vnto his brother: let me beseech you in the words of Peter, 1. Peter 3. Loue as bre­thren, and be mercifull: In the words of Paul, Coloss. 3.12. Now therfore as the elect of God holy & [Page 93]beloued, [...], put on the bowels of compassion; let your mouthes bee filled with talking, your hearts with contri­uing, your hands with working the workes of mercy while you liue, that when your life shall be runne out of breathe, you may heare the sentence of blessed­nesse, Mat. 5. Blessed are the mer­cifull, for the Lord hath plenty of mercy in store for them. And so I come to the third particular grieuance: No knowledge.

In which words (saith Zan­chius) wee are to note; first, Third par­ticular grieuance. Crimen & exaggeratio criminis. the crime; secondly, the aggrauati­on: The crime, they were [...], they had no knowledge: Which is as much as if hee thus had said; you are so farre from ser­uing mee, that you know not whether I am your God or no. What do I telling you of want [Page 94]of truth or want of mercy? sins of the second Table, not so im­mediately against my honour. There is a worse fault in you then both these, there is a sinne against the first Table, which doth more neerely impeach my Maiestie, and that the very root and stemme of all sin, of all pro­phanenesse, You haue no know­ledge: the aggrauation is from the generality and proceeding of the sins, he saith not there was no knowledge of God in you, but in totâ terrâ, in the whole land. It was a vniuersal contagiō that infected all the ten tribes: much might hence be gathered, but me thinkes the point that is most obserueable shold be this.

Ignorance, Ignorance the mo­ther of sin. in things concer­ning God, is the mother and root of most fearefull and enor­mous sins, and therfore it is that [Page 95]all sinnes be called [...], and beare the name of ignorance, Heb. 9.7. Ignorance was the na­tural mother that brought Israel so many sinnes into the world; or else God himselfe shot short of truth, Ps. 95. My people erre in their hearts because they haue not knowne my waies. Ignorance was the natural mother that brought the Iewes so many goodly sins, and filled their Countrey with sinners, or else Saint Mathew hath done them wrong, You are deceiued not knowing the Scrip­tures, Math. 22. Ignorance made them crucifie the Lord of Life, or else Saint Luke hath ouer­reached himselfe, Actes 3.15. It was ignorance that made them become proud Iusticiaries, depending wholly and relying vpon their owne righteousnesse, because they knew not the [Page 96]righteousnesse of God, or else Saint Paul hath censured them too hard, Rom. 10.3. Ignorance was the blind guide that led the Gentiles to idolatry, Gal. 4.8. And Ignorance of things con­cerning God, set Paules head on working of mischiefe against the Church of God, 1. Tim. 1. and this is a disease so infecti­ous, that it poysons whatsoeuer good thing lies in the same womb with it: It poysons Reli­gion with Idolatry; it infects de­uotion and zeale with supersti­tion; it makes hope to swell with presumption; and turnes euery symptome of feare into despe­ration and horrour: Causa causa & causa causati. And if Lo­gicke that is old bee not worne quite out of date, thē Ignorance which is proued and conuicted to be the prime cause of sin, can­not chuse but vsher and make [Page 97]way for punishment. I appeale for proofe to the Oracles of God, where I finde it punished sometimes with captiuity, Esay 5.13. My people is gone into cap­tiuity because they wanted know­ledge: Sometimes with desolati­on, Esay 27. Sometimes with de­struction, Hosea 4.6. It maketh subiect to the curse. Ps. 79.6. It maketh strangers from the life of God, Ephes. 4.18. It debarres from the life of glory: For they that know not one foote of the way to heauen, how is it possible they should passe through so many winding Maeanders, and perplexed passages, vnto those fortunate Ilands of ineffable comfort? Lastly, Ignorance ma­keth lyable to the vengeance of God in the day of iudgement, 2. Thess. 1.8. Hee shall come in fla­ming fire to render vengeance [Page 98]vnto them that know not God.

And therefore the more to blame was the Councell of Trent, Vse. for setting lock & key vp­on the Scriptures, that the Lai­tie might not look into thē, but with as great and eminent dan­ger as the men of Bethshemesh for looking into the Arke, 1. Sam. 6. and Pius the fourth Pope of that name, Pius 4. for censuring the sacred Oracles of Heauen amongst bookes prohibited, marking them in the fore-head with the stroke of Noli me tangere, God hath not dedicated the Bible to the Laitie; Hosius. and of Hosius a father in the Trent conspiracie, that it is fitter for women to meddle with the Distaffe, then with the word of God. Suffer me to draw a little bloud out of this veine; for whatsoeuer they doe or can pretend, it is euident out of an­cient [Page 99]Stories that in the Primi­tiue Church the word of God was not onely permitted to the Lay people to reade, but also that translations were prouided of set purpose, that they might reade it. We reade in Socrates, Socrat. lib. 4. cap. 24. that they were translated by Vl­philas Bishop of the Gothes, that the Barbarians might learne them; by Methodius into the Slauonian tongue. Chrys. Hom. 1. in Iohan. S. Chrysostome in his first Homily vpon Iohn, re­members the Syrian, the Egypti­an, the Indian, the Persian, the Ethiopian, and many others: And Theodoret in his first Booke, Theod. de curan. Grae­corum af­fectibus lib. 15. De curandis Graecorum affectibus, will beare vs witnesse that in his time the Bible was turned into all Languages in the world; & what one thing is more common a­mong the Fathers, then often to bee calling vpon the people to [Page 100]get themselues Bibles, to reade and examine them: Then the Laitie was acquainted with the Text of Scripture as well as the learned, and then the doctrine of Hosius was not hatched: So we reade in Socrates, Socr. lib. 5. cap. 8. of Nectari­us, that of a Iudge, and one of the Laitie, he was made Bishop of Constantinople; by the consent of an 150 Bishops; And of Saint Ambrose, Socrat. l. 4. cap. 25. who was tran­slated from the gouernement of a Prouince to bee Bishop of Millain: Of Gregorie the father of Nazianzene; Of Thalassim, Bishop of Caesarea, that from pri­uate men, they were remoued to sit at the sterne of the Church; which shewes how painefull and how indefatigably diligent they had bene in the Word of God, and in the search of Scriptures, that being but Lay-men, yet [Page 101]were supposed able to sustaine the office & charge of Bishops. Wee reade in Eusebius, of Ori­gen, Euseb. hist. eccles. l. 6. cap. 2. that hee was trained vp in the Scriptures from a child, that hee got them without booke, and was wont to question with his father Leonides about the difficult meaning of some pla­ces: Of Macrina foster mother to S. Basil, Basil. Epist 74. that shee proposed vnto her selfe the example of Timothy, and trained him vp in learning the Scriptures from his infancy. S. Basil himselfe is our recorder in his 74. Epistle; so wee reade in Nicephorus, Niceph. lib. 8. cap. 14. his 8. booke and 14. chapter, of Paphnusius a Lay-man, and yet so renowmed for his singular knowledge in Diuinitie, that he was accounted worthy to beare a part, and be no small helper in the Councell of Nice: And who [Page 102]knowes not that S. Hierome di­rects many of his Epistles vnto godly women, Hierom. highly commen­ding them for their labour in the Scriptures? Or who knowes not that S. Iohn himselfe writ his second Epistle to his elect La­dy? Ioh. Epist. 2. which Epistle is Canonicall Scripture: And is it not a shame to thinke that hee would send her an Epistle which she might not reade? It was indeed the re­proach which Iulian the Apo­stata obiected against the Chri­stians; and from him it seemes that Hosius and Andradius, and our blinde Romish guides haue borrowed it: By all which it ap­peares, that this muffling of mens eyes, which the Trent men haue deuised, is but a noueltie and a trick to win some credit to their Legend, thevery shop and forge of lies; and vnder the vaile [Page 103]and mist of Ignorance, to send whole droues and legions of soules to hell. But for you (belo­ued) I shall beseech God in the words of S. Paul, and I beseech you vse the same prayer for your selues; That the word of God may dwell in you plentifully in all Wisedome; that the booke of God may neuer bee wrested out of your hand; that hee would open to you the treasures of wise­dome and knowledge, which there are hid; that you may bee like Apollos powerfull, and like Tertullus learned in the Scrip­tures, that you may rellish that heauenly Manna, that you may long after the sincere milk of the Gospell, that you may performe indeed as much as God gaue Io­shua in charge, Iosh. 1.8. That this booke of God may not depart out of your mouthes, [Page 104]that you meditate therein day and night, that you obserue and do all that is written therein; for thus you shall make your waies prosperous, you shall make your sorrowes easie, your comforts many, your vertues eminent, your conscience quiet, your life holy, your death comfortable, your election sure, your saluati­on certaine; and so I make poste haste to those fiue sins which I called positiue, whereof the first is swearing.

Swearing, 1 Positiue sin. Zanchius. Polanus. Mercer. Ribera out of Hier. Error Ma­nich. & Anabap. Zanchius in 3. praeceptū ex Gratia­no. the Hebrew word Aloh may either signifie cursing and execration, as Zanchius; or Periury, and foreswearing, as Po­lanus; or slandering & detracti­on, as Mercer would haue it. I rather follow the exposition of Ribera out of Saint Hierome, that here it is vsed to signifie rash & idle swearing; so that heere is no [Page 105]shroud for that doting humour of Anabaptists, and Manichees, which they wold gladly reare & build out of the fift of Mathew, Sweare not at all: and out of the fift of Iames the 12. My brethren aboue all things sweare not. Grati­an (saith Zanchius in his exposi­tion vpon the third commande­ment) will helpe vs with a lifte out of the Fathers to answere them, Damnantur à Christo, & A­postolo iuramenta temeraria, quae vulgo habentur in colloquijs, non ea quae coram Magistratu habentur in iudicijs. Our Sauiour forbids common and idle swearing in our ordinary talke & vpon slight occasion, but he forbids not the lawfull vse of an oath before the Magistrate, which else-where hee allowes, and cals the Iudge and Palaemon to make an end of all contention, Heb. 6.16. This [Page 106]then needs must bee the point.

Rash and idle swearing being not performed, in iustice, in truth, and in iudgement, is such a sinne as will make a whole Land to mourne and shake. The truth whereof is most apparant in the 23 of Ieremy at the 10. Because of oathes the Land mourneth: To which we may adde that blacke doome gone out against pro­phane swearers in the fift of Za­chary, The curse of God shall lay siege vnto the house of him that sweareth, vntill it haue consumed the timber, and the stones thereof: And that sentence of Syracides, Eccle. 23.11. He that vseth swea­ring shall bee filled with wicked­nesse, and the plague shall neuer be remoued from his house. It seemes this doctrine hath beene long known and Preached, & this sin also cried downe by the ancient [Page 107]Lawes of most Nations in the world: Iohannes Boaemus de moribus Gentium lib. 1. cap. 5. Boamus l. 2. cap. 9. for amongst the Egiptians whosoeuer was conuicted for a cōmon swearer was to loose his head: amongst the Scythians it was the losse & forfeiture of all his goods: amongst the Romanes the swearer was to bee throwne with violence frō the top of the rock Tarpeius. And this was the cause (saith Plutarch) that they would not suffer their children to sweare by the name of Hercu­les within dores, Quaest. Ro­mam. but enioyned them to go abroad, and there de­liberate of their oaths. Amongst the Grecians, Graeci. the swearer was to loose his eares: Iudaei in Talmud. the Iewes were wont to rent their cloaths when they heard the name of God prophaned; which if we should do in our daies, we should rent our cloathes so oft as wee heare men spewing black and fearfull [Page 108]oathes, one suite would not last vs one day; nay, sometimes not hang so long vpon our backes, till our flesh or skinnes were warme within vs. Yea, the very Turkes, Boaemus de moribus Gentium lib. 2. c. 11. as some report of them, will stop their eares at the hearing of an oath. And it is memorable of one of the Kings of France, Rhenan in annot. in Tertul. who (as Beatus Rhe­nanus records) made this Sta­tute; that Swearers should haue their mouthes seared with bur­ning irons. And one of the Kings of this Land, out of a re­ligious care to preuent the doome which the heauens threatned for this sin; ordained that a mulet and forfeiture shold be exacted of euery one that was heard or noted to sweare within his Court. To shut vp this proofe, swearing is a sinne that brings the wrath of God, not [Page 109]only vpon the party that swears though he be sure not to escape, nor only vpon the house where he dwels, as the sinne of Ely for want of due correction vpon Hophni and Phinehas: but vpon the country, as the sin of Achan brought wrath vpon Israel, and the sin of the men of Gibeah, ha­zarded the ruine of the whole tribe of Beniamin, Iudg. 20. & yet woe be vnto vs, for our land may truely take vp that mournefull complaint of the Prophet Esay, The whole Land is sicke, and the whole heart is heauy with this sin: and redouble often and often the Elegie of Ieremy: Because of Oathes our Land mourneth.

Our Magistrates that should put bridles in the lips of others, Magistrats tainted with this sinne. doe not, or else they dare not, make anie Lawes against this sinne, for feare lest they should [Page 110]proue nets to catch themselues. Most of our noble stemmes, The No­bility. to shew their vndanted boldnesse, (in open railing vpon God him selfe) do shew more base corage in out-vying of oaths then euer they are like to doe in martiall feates in Armes. GOD hath vouchsafed to houor them more then others, and they dishon or him, & endanger the honour of this land, as much as any. Those that should proue the hope and life of the Gentry, The Gen­try. make it the v­suall & common figure in their Rhetorike, not to giue their best friend a word, til first they haue giuē the name of God a wound; an oth is the proeme of all their speeches, & complemēt of their discourse; there is not the least errour in casting of a die, but it must cost our Sauiour a stab; he will not loose one penny by his [Page 111]gaming, but Christ Iesus must pay for it, it shall cost him the staining and impeachment of his dearest houour; if his neigh­bour wrong him, although but in shew, by fearefull oathes he will be reuenged on GOD for that; if GOD will be so merci­ful as to crowne him with some vnexpected blessing, then hee shews his contentment with de­cads and pages of oathes. This is the Dialect wherein GOD must be thanked for that, it is most true of them which Quin­tilian lib. 1. Instit. said of his pu­pill: Nōdum prima exprimit ver­ba, etiam iurare didicit: an oath is the first English which he lear­neth; Et qui iurat cum repit quid non adultus faciet? If they can sweare in their cradles, they will shake a Land with oathes when they are old. Citizens. Our Citizēs which [Page 112]shold be samplars for the world to imitate, will not sticke to sell their souls, so they may sell their wares with it: but is it not a mise­rable and sory bargain, when for euery trifling gaine, not worth the naming, they giue their souls to boot, which cannot be redee­med with a thousand worlds. If you chance to come neere the Court, Courtiers. you would thinke you were entred vpon a stage, and come into a schoole of blasphe­my: if you walke into the streets of the city, you would think you were among the courtiers scho­lers, who hauing often heard their lectures of swearing, were now boldly & readily repeating them. Cast eye vpon the Coun­try swaine, Country-men. and there is not the silliest catiffe, howsoeuer defea­ted of all the endowments both of grace and nature, but is wise [Page 113]enough to practise this sinne; he that by nature is most rude and barbarous in speaking, can be e­loquent & rhetorical enough in swearing, that howsoeuer they are excelled by Courtiers and Citizens in varietie of attire, yet they disdain & scorne, that they should put them downe, eyther in the complement & brauery, or in the variety of new fashio­ned oathes. Thus do men of all estates turne worse then Iewes, in crucifying the Lord of glory, & ripping their Sauiors wounds to bleede againe; for the Iewes crucified him but once, blasphe­mous swearer, thou crucifiest him almost at euery word thou speakest; the Iewes sinned of ignorance, not knowing that he was the Messias, but thou of wil­fulnesse; the Iewes called for Pilate to crucifie him, but thou [Page 114]vngracious murtherer wilt do it thy selfe, and instead of crosse & nailes, thou rentest and grindest him to pieces betwixt thy teeth. This dreadfull name of God, & this sweete name of Iesus, is all the Euidence, and all the Char­ter thou hast to shew, for thy right and title in heauen. If this preuayle not, thou art a sparke of Tophet, and a fire-brand of Hell: and wilt thou for all this, teare in peeces this dreadfull name? wilt thou rent thy owne Charter, and by blotting this name, blot thy owne name out of the booke of Life? Suppose there could not be found any o­ther sin in all our Land, suppose swearing had not any other sin to bear it cōpany, suppose there were no forraine enemy in the world to annoy or inuade vs, yet the frequent vse of this infernall [Page 115]dialect and language of the Di­uell, would prooue an engine and rampire strong enough to batter our walles, a sword keene enough to martyr our flesh, an arrow swift enough to drinke vp our bloud, a disease sharpe and desperate enough, to make a flawe in our estate, a breach in our peace, and a scarre in our Church, a shaking ague, and hot feuer, sure enough to shake our Land from one end vnto the o­ther; and therefore, if you re­spect and tender the peace and welfare of this kingdome; if you beare any loue to this Nation, if you affect the health of Ierusalē, if you wish from your harts that the florish and happines of our state & land may be immortall, if you haue any zeale or corage for the Lord of Hosts, then gird your swords vpon your thighs, [Page 116]arme your selues with courage & resolution, to stop the mouth of this crying sin: It is a proud sin, that scornes to quarrell with any vnder God himselfe: It is a stowt sin, that is alway heauing at the strength & foundation of our Land. O suffer it not to walk in your streetes, to sitte at your boards, to tary in your shops to jet in your Markets without a check: why should this aboue all other sins stoope and submit it selfe to no law? why should this aboue al other sins be subiect to no censure? O that some good Phinehas who is zealous of the name of God, would breake vs the ice, and take in hand to pur­chase & procure from our Se­nate, some wholsome law, some sharpe and cutting statute, that might snape the growth, and stanch the bloody fluxe of this [Page 117]hainous impiety; verily GOD would say of such a man as hee said of Phinehas, Numb. 25. This good man that was zealous for my sake, hath turned away mine anger from you; surely happie should be that day, and immor­tall should be the memorie, and honoured for euer should bee that man, by whose zealous en­deuours so good a work should bee effected; their memories should neuer perish, but where­soeuer there should be but mē ­tion of their names, there also the good worke that they haue done, should be spoken of for a memoriall of them; and would God wee might be so happie as once to see that day. And so I come to the second sin, which is Lying, wherein I dare passe my word I will be briefe.

Cachesh, howsoeuer in Kal, The secōd positiue sinne. it [Page 118]may signifie to wax faint, and be without courage, yet in Piel, as here it is vsed, it signifies to lie; & is by Martyr out of Augustine defined to be either the vttering of some vntruth, or the vttering of a truth vntruly, with intent and purpose to deceiue. Aquinas secun­da secundae in his 110. question, August. de mendacio. makes eight kinds of lies, but S. Augustine more concisely com­prizes them al in three. The first for profit, which is called officio­sum; another for merimēt, which is called iocosum; the third of ma­lice, which he calls perniciosum. The first kind of lie takes hold of those, that for a little lucre send truth a packing. The secōd takes hold of those, who affecting to make others sport, set their wits on working. The third taks hold of those, that vse to whet their tong with gall, to wreacke their [Page 119]malice. And there is none of these, eyther so mincing or so neate and handsome, but it is a foule & lothsome sin. For how­soeuer Plato in his second Dia­logue de Republica; and Quinti­lian in his twelfth Booke of In­stitutions; and Aquinas in the place beforecited, at the 4. Arti­cle, can finde in their hearts to wink at such lies as are ful of wit and good conceit; and S. Ierome himselfe, would father some of­ficious lies, euen vpon the Scri­pture, from the example of the Egiptian Midwiues, Exod. 1. and of Rahab, Ioshua 2. and of Abra­ham, Gen. 12. and of Iacob, Gen. 27. Yet seeing S. Augustine a better scholler then Plato; and Salomon a better Oratour then Quintili­an; and both Iob and Paul, bet­ter Commentators then eyther Aquinas, or Saint Ierome, as I [Page 120]hope wil take my part, I shal not shrinke nor retract what I haue said; that there is no kind of lie, be it neuer so neately trimd, and wittily contriued, All sorts of lies be sinnes. neuer so like­ly to proue good and aduanta­gious, which may not without any slander be censured and no­ted for a sinne.

For proofe whereof, I might appeale to the Essaei among the Iewes in Eusebius, Euseb. de praep. Euā ­gel. lib. 8 his 8. Booke de Preparatione Euangelica, and 4. cha. to Damascene in the 3. of his Paralels: to Chytraeus in a Tract de Iacobi mendacio: to Gerson in his protestation about the mat­ters of Faith: to Saint Bernard de modo bene viuendi, 31. Sermon: Saint Augustine, who of set pur­pose hath answered S. Ierome in his 8. and 9. Epistles: to the laws of the Persians in Plutarch: Plutarch. de vitando. to in­finit other authorities. But when [Page 121]the Scriptures be plaine, I list to seeke no further. Shall Salomon then be iudge? I am contented, vpon cōdition he may be heard to speake out of the 12. of the Prouerbs v. 22. for there he hath defined a lie to be abomination in the fight of God. Or if you wil heare him speake out of the 6. of Prouerbs v. 17. for there hee hath pictured a lie with this mot to vpon the face: The sin which God abhorreth. Which place is not meant onely of the pernici­ous lie, which is spiced with ma­lice; but also of merry & concei­ted lies. For otherwise Salomon hath thwarted Hosea, who blackt it on the head for a sin, to make Princes merry with lies, Hosea 7.3. not only of the pernicious lie, that is lined and bolstered with gall and rancor, but also of the officious and profitable lie: o­therwise [Page 122] Salomon forgot him­selfe, when he commands, that vpon no tearmes, that vpon no conditions, we should make sale of truth, Pro. 23. If any lie might merit or pleade not guilty, then surely it should be such a one, as maketh for the defence and encrease of Gods glory and ho­nor, & yet euen this lie also de­serues an Anathema, from the 13 of Iob v. 7.9. will you lie for Gods defence? Is it well that one should make a lie for him? The modell of time will not abide any profuse or large discourse, I therefore e­pitomize and contract my lar­ger meditations into this briefe summe. The pernicious lie which is of malice, as it hath no father but the diuell, so hath it no other Patrō to defend it: the lie for sport and merriment wee haue already disabled; and the [Page 123]ground of the officious lie is but a quick-sand, vnable to support such a weighty sin. For say thou lie to helpe thy neighbour at a dead lift, perhaps to saue his life, a thing that God cōmands, this is but a weak supporter; for euen in this thou dost thy selfe more hurt, then thou canst doe thy neighbour good, Nisi fiat iustis & rectis medijs, P. Martyr de menda­cio. saith Martyr vn­lesse it be done by lawfull and warrantable means. Say thou in­tend the benefit of the Church, and by consequēt Gods greater glory; yet S. Paul will schoole thee better, Rom. 6.1. Thou maist not giue way to the smallest e­uil, in hope of the greater good to follow thereupō. If it be obie­cted, that the Egiptian midwiues lied, and God blessed them; I an­swer, that God blessed them not for the lie, but for their faith that [Page 124]wrought in thē by loue. If it be said that Abraham lied to Pharao, and to Abimelech. I answer, it is more then can be prooued. In­deed he said that Sarah was his sister, & it was true; for they were the children of the same father, but not of the same mother, as Abraham himselfe expounds his owne meaning, Ge. 20.12. but he neuer denied that shee was his wife; Non petit Abraham vt Sa­rah mentiatur, saith Iunius, Abra­ham desired her not to lie: what then? S. August. in his 22. booke against Faustus the Maniche, Aug. contra Faust. Ma­nic. lib. 22. an­sweres it thus: Veritatem voluit celari, non mendacium dici: he bid her not speake a word but truth, and yet be warie that she tolde not all that shee knew, à nemine enim id exigitur vt totum depro­mat quod nouit; Phar ao could not bind them to reueale the whole [Page 125]truth, saith Martyr, in assoyling of this doubt. If it bee said that Iacob lyed when hee told his fa­ther that he was his elder sonne Esau; Aquinas answereth, secun­da secundae quaest. 110. Artic. 3. Aquinus 2. a. 2. ae. q. 110. Art. 3. that the saying was mysticall not vntrue, as if he should haue said; I am the elder by grace; or thus, it was Prophetical to shew a mysterie; Quod minor populus hoc est Gentium substituendus esset in locum primogeniti hoc est Iudae­orum; By Esau he meant the Iews, by himselfe the Gentiles, and his purpose was to signifie that how­soeuer the Iewes were Gods first borne, yet they should bee cast off, and the Gentiles who were the yonger brethren, were they to whom the blessing and the in­heritance did belong. But I will dwell no longer on this point. The closure is this, Si quando lo­quuti [Page 126]sunt vt homines, peccasse non diffitebimur: P. Martyr. in locis com. de menda­cio. If they speake these things as men they erred, and we denie it not: Sin veró af­flatu Dei, mirabimur e [...]rum dicta sed in exemplum non trahemus: If these things were spoken by the motion and direction of Gods Spirit, wee will stand in admira­tion of the wisedome of God; yet dare wee not make this pra­ctise a patterne for vs to imitate, but for all lies we will make bold there to include them, where the day of iudgement without repē ­tance will be sure to finde them, euen in the Catalogue & amidst the bedrole of our sinnes. Set a watch therefore before thy mouth, and keep the dore of thy lips, that thou vtter not a lie; set lock & key vpon thy eares, that thou entertaine not the voyce of him that telleth a lie. For as [Page 127]he that telleth the lie, hath the di­uel in his tongue; so he that hea­reth the lie hath the deuill in his eare, and quickly it creeps in at the eare that wil neuer out of the heart while thy breath is in thee.

The time hath already com­manded me to take my work out of the Loomes, and to let the other three sins remaine vntou­ched; would God they were also left vnpractised: nay, it were wel if they were not also professed amongst you. This (beloued) this is the only thing that we the Ministers òf God, who come here to spend our breath, would gladly beg, this onley is the thing that wee would faine be­seech with all the bowels of our affectiōs, with our eyes watring, with our flesh shaking, with our hearts bleeding, with our soules mourning, with al the strings of [Page 128]our hearts enlarged towards you, that you would not suffer these sins to dwell amongst you, that now at length you would draw your swords against sinne, which at euery corner besiegeth your Citie, before it beginne to batter your wals. It is a crastie Sinon, you cannot lodge it with­in your gates but with feare and danger of your liues; it is a con­uicted rebell against heauē, you may not harbour it, it is a profes­sed traitor against the peace and quiet of your Land, you cannot entertaine it without suspition of high treason both against our blessed Sauiour, & our gracious Soueraigne. Alas beloued, how long, how long, shall the Prea­cher cry that sin is more to bee feared then any treason, and yet we practise it? How long shall the Preacher cry that sin is the [Page 129]onely Troyan-horse, whose womb can command a bloudy Armado, armed with cruelty and rage to work our ouerthrow, and yet we entertaine and welcome it? how long shall the Preacher cry in our streets, and wring it in your eares, that sin is the onely make­bate betwixt God and vs, & yet wee are in league and compact with it? How long shal the Prea­cher proclaime this truth, that our Land will neuer bee rid of Priests and Iesuites, the little Foxes that hinder the growth of the Gospel, til first we haue cri­ed down our sin, and yet we will not leaue it? how long shall the Preacher cry, nay, weary the strings of his tongue, and weary his sides, and breake the veines and the pipes of his heart, with crying that the sin of our Land, that the sinne of our people, and [Page 130]the vnthankfulnesse of our Na­tion, hath taken away the glory and the mirrour of Princes, the staffe of our comfort, the ioy of our heart, and the hope of our Land; and yet we dandle it on our knees, and yet wee foster it: we would be lotheto bestow our loue vpon him that should pra­ctise treason against the Crown, and yet we loue our sin which is more treacherous: we would be loath to see our Land inuaded by forraine enemies that were stronger then wee, and yet wee keepe our sin at home, which is more dangerous: surely our eies would sink into their holes, and our haires start frō of our heads, and our hearts would breake in sunder within our sides, if euer we shold heare of the subuersiō of our State, of the sacking of our Kingdome, of the downefall of [Page 131]our Churches, of the burning of our houses and Cities ouer our heads, of the eclipfe and darke­ning of the Gospel amongst vs: and yet alas our sins are stirring the ashes, & blowing the coles, and putting oyle to the flame of Gods displeasure, and how shall we quench it? we must quench it by a flood of teares, by watery eies, by bleeding hearts, by pen­siue soules; wee must quench it by making oureies fountains, & our heads springs, & our hearts riuers of teares: nay, let vs euen turne our fountaine of teares in­to a streame, and our streame of teares into a floud, & our floud of teares into an Ocean, and let that Ocean be bottomles, & that spring boundlesse, and that foun­tain of teares neuer be dried vp, that God may be pleased to heale our Land, which he hath shaken, [Page 132]to renew our hopes which hee hath crossed, to turne away the iudgement w ^ch hee hath threat­ned, to crowne vs with those my­riads of blessings which he hath promised: and amongst all these thy blessings, write downe these particular by name; Crown our gracious Soueraigne, and this Kingdome with immortall hap­pinesse; let the Scepter neuer depart from his seed; let none of his seed euer depart away from thee: weaken the wals of Babel; continue the light of thy holy Gospell; blesse our friends; con­uert, or else confound, or infa­tuate ourfoes; kindle our zeale; soften our hearts; heale our fores; pardon our sinnes; saue our soules at the last day, for thy Son Christ Iesus his sake.

ENGLANDS SECOND Summons

THIS whole chap­ter containes in it three Epistles en­dited by God in the consistory of [Page 138]Heauen, sent by his faithfull seruant Iohn, vnto three famous Churches of Asia.

Euery Epistle may be broken into foure quarters.

The first, an Exordium, or en­trance: The second a generall proposition: The third a nar­ration: The fourth an Epilogue or conclusion.

My Text is part of the last Epistle, directed to the Church of Laodicea, whose Exordium, or entrance, is set downe in the 14 verse; wherein I note.

• First, the party to whom this Epistle was directed, it is the Angell of the Church of Laodicea.
• Secondly, the party greeting or sending, it is Amen; God blessed for euer.

The Proposition in the 15 verse, I know thy workes.

The Natration from the 15. [Page 139]verse to the 22. The Epilogue and closure, verse the last.

In the narration I discouer foure particulars.

• First, I find her checkt and re­prehended for her luke-warme­nesse, vers. 15.
• Secondly, I finde her chid and threatned, verse six­teene.
• Thirdly, I heare here her exhor­ted to more heate and seruencie in zeale, vers. 19.
• Lastly, I see her intreated and allured by a gracious promise, verse 20.

And surely this sicknesse of Laodicea, was a sicknesse vnto death, seeing the most soue­raigne sprigs of balm which the Phisition could find in al Gilead, were not sufficient to asswage her griefe, or mittigate her pain.

If you long to see the breaking [Page 140]vp of my Text into smaller fractions. In it you may obserue:

First, a prerogatiue royall ap­propriated onely vnto God, I know thy workes.

Secondly, the deplored e­state of these Laodiceans, where­in you haue: First, the crime which was obiected, Thou art neither hote nor cold: Secondly, the aggrauation of the crime, by comparing Luke-warme­nesse in religion with another sin damnable in it selfe, yet par­donable in respect of this: Would God thou werest either hote or cold. Thirdly, the sentence of male­diction which hee passed vpon them; Therefore I will spue thee out of my mouth.

And thus haue I briefly and coursely made my first draught, whereby you may guesse at the limbes, and gather [Page 141]the proportion of my whole dis­course.

Now if God shall continue his gracious assistance, and you your christian attention; I shall imploy my best end euours, for this modell of time, to expresse the perfect feature of euerie member, beginning with that prerogatiue royall, which none can iustly clayme, but GOD. I know thy workes; as if in fuller tearmes hee had spoken thus: thou doest but feede thy selfe with vaine and fruitlesse hopes, thou thinkest thou hast done me good seruice by kneeling in my house, and hearing of my word, and by a tolerable care in the outward obseruance of my Lawes; but for thy loue thou hast espoused that vnto the world, for thine affection thou hast wedded that vnto [Page 142]thine Herodias, for thy zeale thou hast enflamed that with the loue of thy owne wanton Dalilah: thou bowest in mine house, but thou worshippest Rimmon: thou professest my name, but thou seruest thine owne belly: thou runnest for a Crowne, but thou lookest backe like Atalanta, and reachest at those balls of Gold which the Diuell like a craftie Hippomenes hath scattered in the way. In the time of peace thou lookest faire, like the Curtaines of Salo­mon, or the Apples of Sodome; but if I nurture thee neuer so lightly with my rodde of corre­ction, I finde thee blacke as Ke­dar, and rotten as the Clay in the depth of winter: thou pray­est that my name may be hallo­wed, but thou swearest rashly, and thou thinkest I he are thee [Page 143]not: thou committest adulterie with all thy louers, and thou thinkest that the night and the darkenesse shall be a Canopie to hide thee that I see thee not: thou grindest the faces of the poore for whom I died: thou vnderminest the little Church which I haue planted, and thou thinkest that I know it not: but alasse for thee, the strength of thy witte hath en­creased thy sinne, for there is not a thought so secret, but I can tell it, not a cabbin so reti­red but I am in it, no closet so secure but I can open it, nor no worke so cunningly contriued and wrought, but I shall know it.

When thou drawest the cur­taines to commit adultery, and sayest, no eie seeth me; then am I standing beside thy bed, when [Page 144]thou art hammering and con­triuing bloudie and treasona­ble practises, and sayest no care heareth me; then am I liftning within thy Closet: When thou art hiding the spoyles, vvhich thou hast taken from the Church, and sayest, no man can controule me; then am I look­ing thee in the face, and sha­king my rodde ouer thee. I am about thy paths, and about thy bedde, and I take notice of all thy wayes, I know all thy workes: which one minerall, contaynes moe fragments of inestimable treasures, then can be gathered vp in so short a time, I will con­tent my selfe with the bare tou­ching of one Pearle, which lies as it were aboue ground, obui­ous to the eyes of euerie passen­ger, described in these termes. There is no worke, no purpose so [Page 145]secret which is not open and ma­nifest to the eyes of God. We can hide no­thing frō God.

I shall not neede to be prodi­gall in spending mine ovvne breath, or your attention, in propping such a knowne and ancient Theoreme, I purpose­ly omitte the many fruitlesse disputations of Lombard in his first booke of Distinctions; and of Aquinas in the first of his Summes the foureteenth Que­stion: onely thus much I must needes praemise; that there is in GOD a two-fold knowledge. The one speciall, which in Schooles is tearmed the know­ledge of Approbation, where­by God is sayd onely to know his owne sonnes and children, and not the reprobates, where­of wee reade, Matthew. 7.23. A­way from me yee wicked, I know you not. And Romans 11.2. God [Page 146]hath not cast away his people, [...], which he knew before. The other generall, and abso­lute, whereby hee readeth the most retired thoughts, and se­cret purposes both of the good and badde; as if hee had them noted in great and capitall cha­racters before his eies. The for­mer, which is the knowledge of Approbation, pertayneth to the vnsearchable and eternall decree of Gods Predestinati­on, and stands farre enough a­loofe out of my way. The other which is absolute and generall, is now at the Barre, and readie to be tried.

Shall Moses bee the Iudge? then heare him in the sixth of Genesis, at the fifth verse, [...] the Lord fawe the inward meanings of the heart. The heart is seated in a darkesome [Page 147]closet walled round about with flesh, swadled vp and couered with the richest hangings of na­tures wardrobe, so charily at­tended, so shrouded with vails, that though thou beare it in thy bosome, though thou feede it with thine owne goods, though thou study to delight & please it, though it be thine owne, yet if thou wouldest giue a world for a sight, thou couldest not haue it. Yet neyther is the heart so close imprisoned, but hee beholdeth, nor a thought so priuily conceiued, but hee de­scrieth, nor a sparke of lust so softly blowne and kindled, but hee discerneth, nor the smallest seede of vngodlinesse, so warily couered, but hee reuealeth it. Shall wee be tryed by Salomon? Then heare him in the 1. Booke of Kings, chapter 8. and verse 39 [Page 148] The Lord knoweth the hearts of all the sonnes of men. Shall we be tryed by GOD himselfe? Then heare him in the first book of Samuel, chapter 16. verse 7. Man beholdeth the outward ap­pearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart. Shall wee be tryed by Dauid? Then heare him in the first Booke of Chronicles, chap­ter the 28. verse the 9. The Lord searcheth all hearts, and vnder­standeth all imaginations of the thoughts. O heare him in that passionate Ode, that hee com­piled when the nefarious pro­iects of Absalon, and Shimei, had almost broken his heart, psalme 139. The Lord vnderstandeth my thoughts before I haue conceiued them, he is about my paths, Vt quid foris perpetrem: to watch what I doe abroad, and about my bed: Vt quid priuatus cogitem: to obserue [Page 149]what I doe at home, hee spieth out all my wayes: whereto the Apo­stle hath suited his stile: [...] all things are naked and open, or as it were anatomized, and cutte vppe before his eyes, for that is the Apostle Saint Paules allusion, in the fourth chapter and thirteenth verse to the He­brews. You shall find in the se­cond book of the Kings and sixt chapter that the King of Aram could neuer plot so secretly a­gainst Israel, but Israel got wit and notice of it. This Aram is a fitte Emblemeto resemble vs, who can not entertaine a sinfull thought, though slumbering vpon our beds, nor effect a wic­ked purpose, though bolted in our lodging, when our Win­dowes are closed, and our Cur­taines drawne, but this eye of [Page 150]heauen sees it, writes it downe in the Booke of his Accounts, and at the last day will summon and warne our soules to a rec­koning for it, Pecces quocunque sub axe, sub Ioue semper eris. Though thou iourney to the lovvest vault and dungeon of Hell to hide thy selfe in the a­shes of Tophet: yet still shalt thou finde it most true which the Heathen Poet spake merrily of his Silenus. Virg. Egl. 6. Ad Lunae luminae visus eris. He knows what thou art dooing, better then thou canst tell him, and therefore Pi­erius in his three and thirtieth of his Hirogliphicks, out of Cyril, and Eucherius wittily resembles GOD by the picture of an eye, standing vppon the toppe of a staffe, the staffe is the Embleme of his power & Scepter, where­with he gouernes, and the eie is [Page 151]the Embleme of his all-search­ing knowledge, whereby he di­ueth and pierceth into the se­crecie of all hearts.

Which poynt (let it bee as stale and common as it will) would it once be learned, were able enough of it selfe, to snape the growth of all our sinnes, and stanch the bloudie issue of all our impieties. It was the coun­sell of Bernard in his book de Vi­ta solitaria, and of wise Seneca in his 11. Epistle; Semper proponen­dus ante oculos vir bonus, vt tan­quam illo spectante viuamus, tan­quam illo vidente faciamus. The honest heathen was of opinion, that no man would presume to sin, that had not some hope to escape vnseene. Come hither & learne, thou dissembling hypo­crite; God seeth hypocrits. Introrsum turpis speciosus pelle decora: thou that coggest [Page 152]and dalliest with GOD, come hither and learne, thou loo­kest like to a goodlie paynted Tombe, but within thou art li­ned with rottennesse and with corruption, and GOD hath spied it; thou makest the world beleeue, that thou art all zeale, that thou louest no house but the Church, no houshold but the Saints, that thou honourest no maister but God, that thou longest for no home but Hea­uen, that thou affectest no ioy but Spirituall, that thou rea­chest at no honour but immor­tall; and yet thou wilt take a bribe like Gehezi; Thou wilt grate the faces, and sipe the purses, and pare the liuings, and leaue desolate the mansi­ons of the poore without inha­bitants, and yet thinkest that no eye shall see thee. Alasse for [Page 153]thee, deplored Wight, wilt thou plow nothing but Akelda­ma, a field of blood, and sowe nothing in it but Zizania, the tares of iniquitie, and still thinke no eye shall see thee? Alasse for thee; wilt thou openly plight thy troth vnto God, and pri­uately wedde thy selfe vnto the world? wilt thou burne with zeale at the Church, and freeze at home? wilt thou dispute and speake for Christ, but fight and striue against him? wilt thou beare a faire golden tongue in thy mouth, and a foule cankred heart in thy belly? wilt thou weare Christs Liuerie on thy backe, and weare the diuells fa­uour, and the shreds of his ban­ner in thy bosome? wilt thou speake aloud, Psal. 51. Lord make me a cleane heart, & create a right spirit within me: but vnderneath [Page 154]ioyne praier with him in the Sa­tire, Da mihi fallere, da iustum, sanctúmque videri, noctem pecca­tis & fraudibus obijce nubem: that is, be nothing lesse indeed, then what thou seemest, and wouldst be thought to be, and stil thinke that no eye shall see thee; wret­ched and shamelesse man, da­rest thou not sinne in the pre­sence of a man, and yet lie fo­ming and weltring in sinne, in the presence and sight of bles­sed Angells?

O Embleme of follie! Art thou ashamed to sinne in the sight and presence of a man, and yet lie rotting in sinne, and tumbling in bloud, and cour­ting of vice, and murthering thy owne soule, before the face of a dreadfull and awfull God? Were it not altogether as good for thee to damne thy soule in [Page 155]the sight of men, as in the view and sight of God? What follie like to this, to watch and tend a poore soule without dores, and stabbe it behinde a curtayne? or what follie like this, to keepe thy soule well and carefully, when men see thee, but to wound it in secret? or what follie like this, to tender thy soule at the Church, and to damne it in thy Closet?

Let the vnchast wanton, God sees adulterers and the adulterer by name remem­ber this. Surely, thou of all o­ther art one of Salomons fooles: and the Wise man hath drawne thy portrayture, Ecclesiasticus the 23. chapter, and 18. and 19. verses, Thou fearest nothing but the eyes of man, thou say­est in thine heart, who seeth me? I am compassed about vvith darkenesse, the walls couer me, [Page 156]whom need I to feare? Nulla est in rima, Eras. Dial. nullus qui me exaudiat: The blacke and sable hangings of the night haue bespredde themselues ouer me; either now or neuer, I may sinne with safe­tie, I shall wipe my mouth in the morning, and not be descri­ed. Not descried sayest thou? then surely thou mayest be bold to sinne, all will be well. But shalt thou not be descryed in­deede? Canst thou make thy doore so fast, that the arme of the Almightie, and all the strength of heauen cannot open it? Is there any darknes so thicke and palpable that this [...] the eyes of Heauen cannot spie thee thorow it? Homerus. Is there anie vaile so close, that the Father of Lights, and descrier of se­crets cannot find it? I dare pre­sume thou darest not thinke it, [Page 157]for when thou hast musled thy face like Thamar, to take a short and sinfull pleasure, and hid thy selfe like Sarah, behind the dore, or with Adam be­hind the bushes; or with Ionah, in the keele and belly of the ship, yet thou must say vnto thy God as Ahab said vnto Eli­jah, 1. Kings 21.20. Hast thou found mee O mine enemy? Nay O God terrible and dreadfull thou hast found mee? And then let mee aske thee in the same tearmes that the yong gallant in Erasmus, asked his wanton Mistresse, An non pudet id facere in conspectu Dei, ac testibus San­ctis Angelis, quod pudet facere in conspectu hominum? May not the Sunne bee ashamed, and the Starres gloome, and the hea­uens bee astonished, to see the haire of thy head how it stan­deth, [Page 158]the windowes of thy head how they slippe and sinke into their holes; thy pulses how they beate, thy flesh how it shaketh, thy heart how it panteth, thy conscience how it is perplexed; how it ho­uereth, how it chaseth it selfe for feare of miscarrying and trespasiing before the Iudges of the world, which are but little Globes of earth, and pi­ctures of liuing clay; but if once the curtaines of heauen bee drawne, and the firmament hanged with blackes, and thou entrencht with ruinous and dampie wals, and none sees thee but God, then thy conscience fals fast asleepe a­gaine, thy Herodian tels thee thou art too too fearefull, thy flesh tels thee thou art too too bashfull; nay, thou turnest [Page 159]powerfull Orator thus to per­swade thy owne selfe, that there is now no cause to feare: The eye which I feared is now ouer-cast and surprised with sleepe: the light which I doub­ted, is now ouer-shadowed and couered with darkenesse; the witnesse which I suspected, is now retired and out of sight, none sees but God, why then should I feare? As if there were no feare of going to hell, but that a man should see thee going, were intolerable; as if it were no shame to sinne, but to bee descried and taken, were inexpiable; as if the sinne it selfe were but a trifle, onely the want of cunning and neate conueyance, made it execrable; whereas all this while an an­gry God stands looking on thee, and an iron rod is shaken [Page 160]ouer thee, and a bottomelesse Tophet is gaping for thee. Alas for thee deplored wight; wilt thou make euery sinnefull pleasure a haulter to strangle thee? and euery strange flesh a lure to take thee? Wilt thou presse out of euerie bunch of grapes a pond to drowne thee, because thou canst choake thy selfe in this silken halter, and poyson thy selfe with this strange lure, and yet escape the censure of men? Surely thy owne soule and conscience, may seeme to bee the authour and pen-man of this, or the like ruthfull and passionate Ele­gie. O wanton flesh whom I am enforced to serue! O re­bellious carcase, whose priso­ner I remaine! O sinnefull bodie whose Tenant I am, and in whose wombe I dwell! Why [Page 161]dost thou not cease to kill mee? In ipso scelere est supplici­um sceleris; It were euen as good for mee to bee wounded in the view and face of the world, as to bee prest to death, and stifled in a corner: and as good for mee to bee hayled to the slaughter, and assaulted in the open field, as to bee murthered in a priuate chamber. What if no man see thee, yet God sees thee? Who is greater then hee? What if no man charge thee, yet God can condemne thee? What if thou delude the Humane Consistorie, and mans Tribunall, yet shouldst thou tremble to trespasse a­gainst thy God who is greater then hee. It was a pretty saying of Epicurus, in Seneca his 97. Epistle. Quid si tuta possint esse seelera, si secura esse non possint? [Page 162]vel quid prodest nocentibus ha­buisse latendi facultatem, cum latendi fiduciam non habent? If the sinner bee hemmed and guarded with walles, and yet haue a conscience to bait and to dog him: If the wan­ton bee attended and cloathed with darkenesse, and yet haue a God to see and reuenge him, then where is his comfort? or how is he safer for sinning in secret?

Remember this, corrupt Ge­hazi, that pocketest bribes in priuate: Remember this great Plotter of the world, that rea­chest at a hungry preferment with more haste then good speed, by giuing and taking of pledges, to binde and confirme vnlawfull promises that are made in secret: and let vs all remember this, that our hearts [Page 163]must needes bee shamelesly sinnefull, and our cases vtter­ly desperate, and our end vn­doubtedly miserable, if wee dare flie in the face of God, and grieue his holy Spirit, and rip our Sauiours wounds, and stabbe his blessed sides, be­cause we haue the darknesse for a maske, and the night for a couering, and the wals for a defence, and God hath none to beare him witnesse. It was a good Position of Boetius, Boaetius de consolatione Philosophie, lib. 5. last prose. de con­solatione Philosophiae, his fifth Booke and last Prose, Magna est necessitas probitatis, cum agitis ante oculos, iudicis cuncta cernen­tis: A man cannot chuse but bee good, who remembers that hee stands alwaies in the sight of God: And therefore Pru­dentius in one of his Hymnes giues this good memorandum, Prudentius Himnorum l. 1. [Page 164] quicquid ages furtimuè, palamuè, memento inspectatorem semper adesse Deum.

And heere would I gladly make a stop, and stint my medi­tations in this point, but that I finde two of the best sorts of men, that may iustly waite and expect some further vse. The one would haue encou­ragement, the other would haue comfort from my do­ctrine, and I haue sufficient to content them both. The one is hee that spendeth his breath and spirits in doing of good. The other is hee that is breathelesse alreadie, being almost disconsolate, and out of heart, by sustaining of e­uils, each of them shall haue a taste, lest if I send them emp­tie home, the one should bee discouraged, the other dis­contented [Page 165]in the way.

Giue mee a man that hath coped and buckled with the sinnes of the time: An incou­ragement to doe good. Giue mee a man that hath studied the aduancement of Religion; Giue mee a man that hath pleaded the Lords cause a­gainst the fauourites of Baal, as Elias did, 1. Kings 18. That hath prouided for the Pro­phets, as Elisha did, 2. Kings 6. That shewes himselfe zealous for the Lord of Hosts, as Phi­neas did, Numbers 25. at the 11. That hath encouraged those that fight the battels of the Lord as Abigail did, the first of Samuel the 25. That hath reformed the contempt of the Sabboath, as Nehemiah did, Nehem. the 13. the 22. and then tell mee what can be more auaileable to enflame his zeale, [Page 166]to set edge vpon his affection, to make him Christianly am­bitious in striuing for heauen, to make him out-vie and out­strip his brethren, to make a man sweate and tugge with more eagernesse and feruencie of spirit, in building of the house or prouoking the Gos­pell of Christ, then this one; that God sees him, that the heauens applaude him, that God and Angels are specta­tors, God and Angels atten­dants to grace and honour him? Was there euer spirit so dege­nerous and base that will not stirre and strike with violence, when the eye of his Coro­nell is fixed full vpon him? And is there not as good reason, that the Christian warriour should march with a courage against sinne, because his [Page 167]Maister and Captaine Iesus Christ neuer casts his eie of him? If Elias bee pleading a­gainst Baal, this should make him more hot and vehement; If Elisha bee prouiding for the Prophets, this should make him more carefull and sollici­tous; If Abigail bee encoura­ging and releeuing those that fight the battels of the Lord, this should make her more cheerefull and magnificent; If the Preacher bee hewing, and slashing at sinne, this should make him more industrious and resolute, considering that there hath not beene so much, as a good purpose in thy heart; thou hast not once opened thy mouth in the Lords cause, thou hast not gl­uen a droppe of water to one of his Disciples, thou hast not [Page 168]releeued one of his members, thou hast not preferred one of his Prophets; thou hast not broken the heart, nor woun­ded the head, nor staunched the passage of any one sinne, but God hath seene it, and penned it downe, and doth remember it, and will reward it: Goe on then in the name and blessing of God; and if thou haue goods releeue Christ Iesus in his afflicted members with it: If thou haue learning, make the Church of GOD thine adopted heire, and leaue some remembrance in it: If thou haue authoritie shew it in cutting off sinne that endangers the Land; in gi­uing of life to Religon, which now lies in a swoone; shew it in scourging and whipping of vice: bring glorie to thy God [Page 169]comfort to thy soule, ho­nour and immortalitie to thy Countrie by it. If thus thou haue behaued thy selfe, then goe on and the Lord bee with thee: And as thou go­est thus cheere vp thy heart. Great was the good I en­tended, though I haue not performed it: Laboured I haue, though not much preuailed; I haue coped with sinne, though I could not discomfite it; I haue snaped the growth of some vngodlinesse, though I could not digge vp the rootes of it: I haue done my best, though that which is best I haue not done. Shall I bee dis­couraged because I can but doe my best, and not so much as I should? Surely no. I will still bee doing some good, and stri­uing to doe better; if I mend [Page 170]and doe neuer so much; I will striue to doe more; If I pre­uaile, God shall haue glorie, if I preuaile not, yet still I will striue; because there is nothing that I doe or purpose, but my God doth see it, writes it in his booke, doth remember it, and will reward it.

Thus hee that doth good hath had his encouragement. The next is hee that endureth afflictions: If I may beg your attention till I haue reached him but a morsell of comfort, I will presently proceede to that which followes. Giue mee a man hath not liued so many minutes of time, as hee hath reade and per­used whole decads and vo­lumes of woe; or a man that hath not eaten so many mor­sels of bread, as hee hath di­gested [Page 171]whole loades and bur­thens of griefe, or a man that neuer tasted so many droppes of drinke, as hee hath shedde streames and riuers of teares; or a man that hath no follow­er but paine, no retainer but discontent, no companion but griefe of heart; that pennes no songs but sad complaints, and mournefull Elegies; that endites no descants but sighes and groanes, that sings no tunes but Lachrimae; giue mee such a man as this, and you shall see, that this little sprigge of balme, which I pluckt from my Text, will make him whole and sonnd againe: And this is it. The Lord sees thee. An encou­ragement to endure affliction. Thou dost not shed a teare for his sake, but hee puts it into his bottle, Psal. 56. ver. 8. The enemy hath not made a scarre or a scratch in [Page 172]thy face, but hee accounts it done vnto himselfe; Thou hast not sweat one droppe of water for his sake, but hee that sweat droppes of bloud for thee, hee doth regard it. There is not one furrow in thy backe, but hee both searcheth the wound, and prouideth balme and oyle to supple it.

This was it that comforted Elias in the Wildernesse, and Daniel in the Caue; and Iob on the dunghill, and Ieremie in the dungeon; and this is it that must cheere and comfort thee; euerie sigh that thou fet­chest, euerie teare thou shed­dest, euery drop thou sweatest, euery wound thou feelest, eue­ry stroke thou bearest, euerie threat thou endurest, is both seene and noted, and recorded, in Gods Writing-booke, and [Page 173]when that Booke shall be ope­ned, then shall all teares be wi­ped from thine eyes, then shall thy wounds bee washed with oyle, then shall thy sores bee healed with balme, Et haec olim meminisse iuuabit, Thou shalt remember with ioy the dayes and nights which thou hast passed in heauinesse, then no more sowing in teares, but reaping in ioy: Then no more mournefull Elegies, but this, or some higher strayne of hea­uenly eloquence: I was wont to bee brewing and spending of teares, but now am I swim­ming and bathing in pleasure: For euerie teare doe I finde ri­uers of Comfort, for euerie moment of griefe, a world of contentment, I had once no Songs, but sighs and sobbes, no tunes, but groanes: But now [Page 174]my sighes are turned, and my grones are changed into Halle­luiahs, my dittie is Halleluiah, my straines Halleluiah, Halle­luiah. Glorie, and praise, and honour be ascribed, &c.

Thus this one poynt, that God descrieth our workes, and purposes, ingeminates & pro­claimes a woe and terror to the hypocrite, and the Adulterer, but encouragement to the good, and to the afflicted store of comfort, I close it thus. God sees thee Hypocrite, heereafter dissmble not. God sees thee Adulterer, heereafter com­mit it not agayne. God seeth thee good Christian, goe on and feare not, God seeth thee afflicted soule, goe on and des­paire not. Hypocrite God sees thee, then be as good as thou wouldest bee accounted, Adul­terer, [Page 175]God seeth thee, then doe not that on the night, which on the day light thou darest not. Good Christian, GOD seeth the, continue in doing well, hee will shortly crovvne thee. Afflicted man, God sees thee, stand and sweate, and en­dure, hee is now comming to release thee. And so I proceed from Gods excellent preroga­tiue: I know thy wayes, To the crime obiected against Laodicea; Thou art neyther hote nor cold.

Not to trouble you vvith such a varietie of expositions, as Pererius out of Haimo, out of Gregorie in the third of his Pastoralles, as also out of Lira­nus, and Bernard, and Ruper­tus, haue noted readie to my hand. Out of the verie best of them, I thinke I may thus re­solue. By Hote, I meane a man [Page 176]zealous of Gods honour, and worshippe, whose zeale is built and founded on knowledge, whose heart is not infected, nor taynted with pride. By Colde, I meane such chill and frozen caitiffes, as doe wedde and espouse themselues vnto the world, and make no consci­ence of religion. who are to be meant by hote, & cold, and lukewarm. By Lukewarm, I meane such as do diuide their loue betweene GOD and the world, and their seruice be­tweene God and Baal, and their allegeance betweene God and Mammon, that loue God in word, but the world in heart, that professe Religion onely so farre, as religion makes for their commodity. The second sort of professors, which are colde Christians, the Lord will re­fuse. The Third sort, which are Luke-warme Gospellers, the [Page 177]Lord wil spue out of his mouth, onelie the first who haue giuen the world and Baal their bills of Diuorce, and sent them away, and not onelie abiured them, but are zealous for the glorie and worship of the GOD of Heauen, these onely are heere commended, their seruice one­lie is accepted. So that my do­ctrine cometh off with ease, and thus offers it selfe to meete me in the way.

The profession of religion with­out zeale and forwardnesse is odi­ous and loathsome vnto God. Profession without zeale is odious. For euidence, I appeale to the siluer Trumpets of Heauen, and the Watchmen of Israel, reade vn­to me, what might be the cause why Moses, in the 32. chapter of Exodus should wish to be razed out of the Booke of Life; why Paul, in Romanes the 9. chapter, [Page 178]the third, should desire a sepa­ration from the protection and loue of Christ? was it not the fire of their zeale, and the fer­uencie of their Spirit, that made them thus impatient of the least impeachment, that could bee offered to the glory of their So­ueraigne and maiestie of their God?

Paul and Moses the Seede­men of Religion, their professi­on the prop and stay whereon the Church of God doth leane, their liues like to that Starre in the second chapter of Saint Ma­thew, to bring vs to CHRIST; and yet all their preaching, had it wanted zeale, and their profession, had it wanted heate, and their seruice, had it wan­ted this earnest longing, and ardencie of affection, to cre­dite and honour their Lord [Page 179]and Maister, all their Religi­on had beene but vayne, all their profession but formall, all their seruice but smoothe dis­sembling in the sight of God. If Iosiah had onelie refused to bow and kneele to Baal, or had hee onelie professed the seruice of the true God, and gone no farther, he had endured as sharp a censure as Azariah the King of Iudah. Hee did vprightly in the sight of God, but the high places were not taken avvaie, and therefore the Lord smote him, the second Booke of the Kings, and 15. chapter. And the Scriptures would not haue so much commended him, but because he was zealous for the glorie of GOD, because hee was forvvard to destroy their Groues, and zealous to breake downe their Chemarims, and [Page 180]forward to throw downe their Altars, & sacrifice their priests, this was it that God liked, and this was it that the Scriptures commended: and this was it that wonne him high title and immortall honour from all the Kitgs that were eyther before or after him: the second Booke of Kings the 23. chapter and the 25. verse. It is not to be que­stioned but that this Laodicea a Church so famous, did make profession of religion, did wor­ship the true and immortall dei­tie, did giue eare and attention to the preaching of Iohn, was throughly acquaynted with all the grounds and principles of the Christian faith. We reade of no heresie that shee maintai­ned, of no superstitious worship that she harboured, and yet he will spue her out of his mouth. [Page 181]The abhomination of desolati­on must bee set vp in her high places. She must fall as though shee had neuer beene planted, and wither as though the seede of the Word had neuer beene rooted, her Churches must be sackt, her ancient glorie must end in shame; In stead of the sa­cred Bible, she must roue at the way to Heauen in an vnhallow­ed and blasphemous Alcoran, and in stead of skilfull Pilots, and Christian guides, she shall bee vtterly mis-led by an Ignis fatuus, I meane Turkes and In­fidels: reade now vnto me what might be the cause of this. La­odicea was much of Ephraims temper, in the seuenth of Hosea, like a cake vpon the hearth but halfe baked, Laodicea was like the people of Meroz in the fifth of the Iudges, nothing forward. [Page 182] Laodicea was like those shrinkers in the ninth of Ieremy, that had no courage for the truth, shee wanted heate in her profession, shee wanted life and spirite in Christs cause, she most of all wanted that which hee most of all required, and that was zeale, nullum enim Deo gratius sacrifi­cium, quam zelus animarum, saith Saint Gregorie in the twelfth ho­mily vpon Ezechtel.

Which poynt will one day naile the heart, and cut deep in­to the conscience of all those that haue so much to doe in the Lords cause, but doe either lit­tle or nothing for it. And shall I without offence make bolde to tell you that which I haue re­ceiued from the Lord, and doe the message for vvhich I came hither: Then let me first begin with the fairest; It is you (right [Page 183]Honourable) into whose hands the Lord hath put his Sword, for no other purpose, but to strike at the roote, and to draw at the face, and to ayme at the heart and strength of sinne; if you suffer your Sword to rust in your sheathe, and your Ar­rowes to rot in your quiuer; if you haue a faire profession, and yet we finde no good you haue done; if you carry a Sword, and yet we heare tell of no sinne you haue wounded; be a souldier of Christ to quarrell vvith sinne, and yet wee remember no field you haue pitched; if God haue honoured you, and you not honoured him, by baiting and hazling of sinne, by cooling the heate, and breaking the heart, & taunching the violent issue of vngodlinesse, Where then is your zeale? If God be dishono­red, [Page 184]and you not reuenge it, if vertue discouraged, and you not defend it; if religion be out­faced, and our land endangered by the inroades and incursions of sinne, and you shall not help it; where then is your zeale? If Sabboths bee broken, and you haue authoritie, and yet not suppresse it; If swearing and drunkennesse be accounted but complement, and you haue au­thoritie, and shall not oppose it. If sinne may sit in your shope and feed at your boordes, and jette in your Markets; and you haue a Sword and yet will not strike it; If God say, strike, or else thou dishonorest mee; strike or else I will take the sword from thee; strike, or else thou fighte against me; strike, or else I will strike at thee, & yet no punish­ment, but you will reprieue it [Page 185]where then is your zeale? Let me not offend, I condemne you not, Qui monet vt facias quod iam facis, ipse monendo laudat. I am only your remembrancer to put you in minde of whetting your sword, for a sword with­out an edge may fright, but woundeth not: to put you in minde of heating and warming your profession. For profession without zeale, is but like the snuffe of a candle, that smoketh and stinketh, but neyther war­meth nor lighteth the house, to put you in minde of that cou­rage which you should beare, and of that conscience which you should make of the cur­bing of sinne, of the honouring of God, of aduauncing Religi­on, lest the sword which you beare, prooue a naile vnto your heart, and the honor which you [Page 186]beare a dishonour to your Ma­ker; to put you in minde, that a Christian profession, that a high and honourable calling should still bee beautified and graced with zeale, and attended with christian resolution. If then you be willing to fight for your Ma­ster, if willing to honour and credit your maker; if you would haue Religion thanke you, and the world to thinke well of you, good men to praise GOD for you, Gods people to pray for you, the heauens to blesse you, and all mouthes to commend you, all hearts to loue you; then must you adde zeale to your profession, then string vp your bowe, make your arrowes swift and keene, your sword sharpe and glistering, and I beseech God to strengthen both your heart and hand, to sharpen both [Page 187]your Arrowes and Sword, to blesse you and your good ende­uorus, that you may bring much honorto his dreadful name, ma­ny blessings to this famous Cit­tie, much peace and comfort to your soules.

And seeing I am thus farre proceeded, let me haue leaue to adde a word or two, to the wise and reuerend Iudges of the Land; you are they whose pro­fession it is to free the weake & impotent, from the yoke and seruitude of greater personages, who would swallow them vp, to loppe and prune the corrupt and rotten branches, that infect and pester the Land, to cut off the trayterous heads of Priests and Iesuites, that hinder the peace, to whip and censure our besotted Recusants, that repine at the growth of the Gospell, [Page 188]yet if this godly profession want zeale in performing, if our laws be soueraigne but want executi­on, if you be good mē but want resolution, if the poor client sol­licite that his cause may be en­ded, if the country beseech that offenders may bee punished, if the Preachers entreate and be­seech you, for the glory of God, for the honour of our Land, for the peace of our Church, for the safetie of his Maiesties roy­all person, that you would wea­ken the forces, and abate the pride, and frustrate the coun­sell, and eyther banish or binde to allegiance our hollow-hear­ted and popish fondlings, and you shall not heare the suites, nor satisfie the hopes of our Church and State that crie and call for the sweeping and pur­ging of our land of all noysome [Page 189]and infestious weedes, which the enuious man of Rome hath sowen and planted; then you doe more dishonour God by want of zeale, then euer you can honour him by your pro­fession: If therefore you desire to make your profession glori­ous, your graces eminent; if you desire to make Religion be­holding to you, good men to blesse God for you, our Land to thanke and reward you, the Church to pray for you, all hearts to loue you, all mouthes to commend you, and Gods blessing vpon you, then must you adde zeale to profession. Bee zealous like Iehu, for the glory of God, 2. Kings 10. Bee zealous to breake the threed of contentions without demurres and delaies: Bee zealous to ease the Church of those that con­tend [Page 190]and wrastle in her wombe, to ease the Land from Dan to Beersheba, from the one end to the other, of all such spitefull miscreants as desire and long to see the Scepter remoued from Iuda: that speake of vs as Scipio in Polibius did of Rome, Polibius apu Curio­nem lib. 3. at the burning of Carthage, Illa­dies veniet, cum flamma hac tem­pla peribunt; who haue hope that they shall one day see our Chur­ches burned, our Cities sackt, our courage daunted, our State subuerted, our Religion altered, our Soueraigne buried, the Gospell silenced, and our light remoued: But ô thou wise and immortall God, that sittest vp­on the circle of the heauen, and seest what these bloud-sucking and deplored wights are deui­sing against Thee, and thine an­nointed Seruant; against thy [Page 191]poore Church and true Religi­on, against our State & against our Kingdome; fill the hearts of our Magistrates with zeale, strengthen their hands with re­solution and courage to cut them off: infatuate the counsell of these Achitophels, but grant ioyand peace vnto thy Church, long life and happinesse to our gratious Soueraigne, puritie and continuance of true Religi­on, growth and passage to the Gospell, glory and immortall happinesse to this State and Kingdome. Lord say Amen to our requests, and let euery one that loues this Nation, that cares for Syon, that fauours Religion, that wisheth well to our Soue­raigne, helpe mee with their prayers, hold vp their hands, and lift vp their voyces to heauen and say, Amen, Amen.

And seeing I am thus farre proceeded, deny mee not your attention till I haue left a word of exhortation to my brethren of the Cleargy; You are they whose breasts should bee signed with Vrim and Thummim, and your fore-heads marked with this inscription, Holinesse to the Lord, Exod. 28.36. your professi­on is the winning of soules, your charge weighty; if you win them great is your glory, if you loose them your danger intole­rable. But if your people lie at the side of Bethesda, and you will not trouble the water for them; if they long for the crums of your spirituall benediction, and shall not obtaine them; if they would sit at your feete to heare your Preaching; if they gaspe for this heauenly bread, and cry for the waters of com­fort, [Page 193]and yet must starue and die for want of them; then your want of care makes your pro­fession odious; your want of zeale makes your profession dangerous; your want of for­wardnesse in Religion, makes Religion be termed but policie; you can neuer gaine so many soules by your profession, as you may destroy and murther for want of zeale. Iohn was not one­ly a lampe shining in his Ser­mons, but a torch burning with zeale; Nam qui non ardet, non ac­cendit, saith S. Barnard: nec luce­re potest nisi priùs ardeat, saith Aquinas vpon the fifth of Iohn; If your selues burne not with zeale how can you enflame the hearts of others? If you burne not your selues, then can you giue no light to others. You are Lucernae quoad officium, but ex­tinctae [Page 194]quoad effectum, like snuffes in the midst of a golden Candle­sticke: Suffer mee then to ex­hort and charge you all, that looke for ioy and comfort on the bed of your sicknesse, that look for a gracious welcome to the Supper of the Lambe; that wold haue your heads crowned, and your soules saued at the last day, that now in the prime of your life, and the light of the Gospell, you would adde bur­ning zeale to Christian profes­sion, for then wold good Lawes be strictly executed, then wold sinne be sharply punished, then would our Recusants be round­ly censured, then would the Gospell bee frequently Prea­ched, then would Religion flou­rish, and God be highly honou­red. But alas for vs all, where or in whom shall we find it? where [Page 195]is the glowing of the eares? where is the wringing of the hands? Where is the beating of the breasts? Where is the spar­kling of the eyes? Where is the yearning of the Bowels? The shaking of the flesh? The pan­ting of the heart? The thrift­lesse Gallants are out-vying of oathes, and our bearts are not wounded; your obscoene and Whorish stages bereaue this Land of many hopefull sprigs, depriue the Gentry of many hopefull stemmes, fill this Citie with prodigious vices; turne good, and ingenuous, and hope­full natures, into prodigall and dissolute, and lewde professors, and yet our hearts are not nai­led, where then is our zeale? God is dishonoured, Recusants are and will bee suffered, sinne is and will be maintained, zeale [Page 196]is and must bee taunted; a good conscience is & must be laught out of countenance; Religion is and must bee brought vnder hatches, and sent a begging, and yet our hearts are not moued, where then is our zeale?

And because there is no point wherein a man may sooner ouer-shoote himselfe then in this, I will in a word or two deliuer some plaine and easie rules whereby a man may iudge whether his zeale be currant or counterseit. Markes of true zeale.

1 The matter must be good Gal. 4.18. The 1. or else it is not zeale but deuillish and fleshly heate a frenzie, and madnesse, coun­terfeiting the name of zeale like the zeale of those Idolater that mangled and cut them selues, 1 Kings 18. Like the zeal of the Scribes and Pharise [Page 197]who compasse Sea and Land to make Proselites: Like the zeale of Paul before his conuersion: Like the zeale of ignorant Pa­pists and Brownists at this day, who are hot indeed; for they must needes runne whom the deuill driues, Sed incalescunt in re frigida: They are like bittes of lime neuer so hot and smoa­king as in cold water, neuer ear­nest but in euill canses: Which may bee hence conuicted, be­cause they vse no weapons but such as the deuill puts into their hands, to wit, rayling and detracting, and rotten speeches the onely Patrons for such bad causes.

2 Zeale must beginne at home; The 2. for they are most skilfull Phisitians, and best able to deale with others, that haue first wrought a cure vpon their [Page 198]owne soules; to checke all those that wade deep into the soules, and bloudily go are the consci­ences of other men, but haue not purged their own vncleane sinkes at home; no not drawne one droppe of menstruous bloud, out of their owne cor­rupt and rotten hearts: Like Pharises who censured Christ but not themselues; like Brow­nists, who stretch their veines, and make their bowels swell, with crying, Disorder, Disor­der, amongst vs, but leaue sinkes of sinne vnpurged, cages of sinne vncleansed, bands and troupes of sinne vntamed and vnvanquished vnder their owne roofes.

3 True zeale will looke as carefully to the heart before God, The 3. as the behauiour in the sight of men, and make a man [Page 199]as fearefull to sinne, when hee is alone, as when hee is in compa­ny of men. Thus it wrought with Iob, chap. 31. And thus with Ioseph, Gen. 39. A check to those that would not bee accounted ill, but make no conscience of doing ill; that would bee called good men, but haue no heart to good actions.

4 If it bee true zeale it will make thee more strict to thy selfe, then to others, The 4. and giue more liberty to another then thou wilt take thy selfe; Abra­ham was so strict to himselfe, that he would not take of the King of Sodome, so much as a threed, or shoe-latchet, and yet would not deny to Aner and Eschol and Mamre, their liberty Gen. 14.23. and therefore it must bee termed rather pride then zeale to bee too tetricall [Page 200]and rough, that whosoeuer is not in euery point so precise as ourselues, should bee turned out as dogs, or prophane persons vnworthy of our account and countenance.

5 True zeale feareth not the faces of the mighty; The 5. when we must beware of their preci­pitancy, who will charge the Minister to bee of a cold consti­tution, if hee break not abrupt­ly into open reprehension men in authority; which [...] to reproue without the spi [...] of meeknesse, to exasperate ther then to humble the part admonished.

Lastly, The 6. if it bee true zealed wil make thee brook and po [...] many priuate wrongs done thy selfe, but hot and impati [...] of any dishonour vnto G [...] When the Israelites offered [...] [Page 201] [...]uate wrongs to Moses, hee was wont to speak mildely and pray earnestly for them; but when they fell to Idolatry, a matter which concerned God, then his fire was kindled, then hee breakes the Tables, and stampes the Calfe to powder, and casts the ashes into the water, and makes them to drinke vp their God, Exod. 32.

I feare I haue dwelt too long vpon the point, the closure is but this; Let vs all bestirre our selues when Gods cause is a judging, and bee earnest when his glory is in question; bee zea­lous to strike when hee himselfe puts the sword in our hands; be calous to speake when himselfe puts the word in our mouthes: let euery one that weares the coate and liuery of Christ, write [...]eale vpon his breast, And ô [Page 202]thou holy and blessed Spirit come vnto vs as thou camest to thine Apostles, in shape of fie­rie tongues, that our tongues may bee tipt and enamuled, our hearts seasoned, our soules en­flamed, our profession graced with zeale of thy honour and worship, that sinne may bee shaken, thy Name exalted, thy Truth embraced, our Church continued, our Land blessed, our soules saued, when these few and miserable daies shall be ended. And so I come from the crime obiected, The crime obiected against Laodicea. Thou art neither hot nor cold, to see how the sinne is aggrauated in the next words, Would God thou wert ei­thor hot or cold. Which words are not so to be vnderstood, as if they should haue pleased him well enough, had they bene either hot or cold, or any thing [Page 203]but luke-warme, Non ostendit quid probat, sed quid praefert, but his meaning was to let them know, that hee so disliked luke-warmenesse in Religion, and in­differencie in profession of Christianitie, that he should haue liked them better, and their condition should not haue bin so desperate, had they made no conscience, or had no know­ledge, as now it was by their hypocrisie and want of zeale: so that the point which by the Holy Ghost is heere deliuered, may bee comprised in these tearmes.

It were better to bee of no Re­ligion at all, Better to bee of no Religion then to be luke-warm then to diuide our loue betweene God and the world, and our seruice betweene God and Baal, and our attendance be­tweene God and Mammon; or to embrace Religion no farther, then [Page 204]Religion serues our turne to gaine withall.

Which Theoreme howsoeuer it be the deduction of Ambrose, and of the whole current both of Moderne, and Ancient In­terpreters, yet shall it bee no waste of time to support and fence it, by copying a place or two out of Gods Writing­booke; turne but your leafes vnto the 9. of Iohn the 41. and view our Sauiours answere to the Pharises question; Had you beene blind you should not haue sinned; That is, say Bucer, and Musculus, and Aquinas agree­ing with the glosse, Your sinne had not beene so excee­ding sinnefull as now it is; as if our Sauiour had thus enlarged his speech: There is no man that hath not gone astray euen from the wombe; The most [Page 205]righteous before men is defa­ced and speckled in the sight of God, and may go crying all the day long with the Leper, Leui­ticus the 13. chapter and verse 45. I am vncleane, I am vncleane: but you dissembling Pharisees are more deepely stayned then anie other, your sinnes are high coloured like crimson, vvhich (as Lipsius obserueth) is twice dyed; other men haue Moats, Lipsius de Constantia. libro. 1. but you haue Beames in your eyes, other men haue Scrat­ches, but you haue Wounds and Scarres in your Faces, o­thers may swallow sinnes as bigge as Gnats, but you can digest sinnes as bigge as Cam­mells, and how is it that your sinnes are more inexpiable then other mens? it is because you serue mee not in sinceritie, and professe religion onely for your [Page 206]profite, and diuide your loue betvvixt mee and your ovvne Mammon, it had beene better for you, to haue worshipped onelie Mammon, and neuer to haue heard of me, it had beene better for you to haue trusted onelie to your owne wits, and neuer to haue trusted mee, vn­lesse you trust onely mee, and better for you to haue beene starke blinde, then onely to see how you may turne your backs, and looke a-squint at Heauen; it were better to haue been cold dead, then to be as it were in an Istmus; Heinsy Poem. Vt tundat mentem fluctus vterque tuam: to bide be­twixt life and death, to haue thy Religion ebbing and flowing, Plutarch. de Socratis Genio. Hesych. de vita Philo­sophorum. thy profession like the soule of Hermotimus in Plutarch, and of Epimenides in Hesychius coming and going. Let thy Religion be [Page 207]eyther pure and sound, or none, thy profession eyther entire and sound, or none, thy zeale eyther burning hote, or none, to be blinde, to be of no pro­fession, to make no conscience of Religion is verie damnable: but to see the way, and not to follow it, to professe Religion, and not to be zealous for it, to weare CHRISTS Liuerie, and serue anie other besides the Ma­ster that gaue it, is intolerable. Adde vnto this that clause of the Apostle, cited to this very pur­pose by Gregorie, in the third of his Pastoralls, out of the second Epistle of Peter, chapter 2. and the 21. verse. It were better ne­uer to haue knowne the way, then after knowledge to turne out of it. Which one place, by generall consent, is sufficient to make good our poynt, the ig­norant [Page 208](which in the Apostles stile) knows not, is like the colde man in my Text, that cares not for Religion, the backe-slider in the Apostles stile, that turneth aside, is like vnto the Luke-warme Christian in my Text, that careth not whether Reli­gion sinke or swimme, whether his profession doe stand or fall, who like to Metius Suffetius in Liuie, Liuy in his first De­cade and first Book. will strike or speake for neyther side, vntill one side bee downe, and then ioyne to that which is best, for their commo­ditie. A thing odious amongest Heathens, and therefore prohi­bited by Solon, That anie man should stand as a neuter betwixt two, Strigellius in 3. Apoc as Strigellius remembreth in his Commentarie vpon this place, a thing cryed downe by Elias, in the first booke of the Kings 18. chapter, and a course [Page 209]as damnable as is the worship­ping of a diuell, as Origen in his eight booke against Ceisus that godlesse heathen, and a sinne fa­mous for a dreadfull woe gone out against it, Ecclesiasticus chap­ter 2. verse 13.

The whole Catalogue of best Interpreters will yeelde a large supply of Reasons to support and fence my Proposition. Reason out of Gre­gories 3. Pastor. I will but poynt at one alleadged by Gregorie, thus speaking to the poynt in hand. It is better to be cold then luke-warme in religi­on; not because the luke warme sinnes more hainously, but be­cause hee is reclaymed more hardly; Dum enim se sanum pu­tet, medicinae opem non quaerit, say Marlorat and Ribera. He is like Harpastes in Seneca, Seneca. supposing he seeth the true waie to Heauen, though hee be posting to Hell, [Page 210]and will not bee turned, drea­ming of nothing but of life and happinesse, though he be wal­lowing in the menstruous rags of sins pollution, and will not be clensed, thinking it the safest course, to walke onely betwixt two waies, betwixt God and Baal, betwixt God and Mammon, to take God in one hand, and the world in the other, which is no­thing else but to purchase Hell by wit and policie, and yet this is the luke-warme Christians re­solution, that must not be alte­red. It was the saying of Wise­dome, Prou. chapter 26. There is more hope of a foole, then of him that is wise in his own con­ceit, and I match it thus; There is more hope of reclayming the foolish and the ignorant, that knoweth not vvhat Religion meanes, then of him that makes [Page 211]Religion like a Shepheards cur, neuer to barke but when Policie and Preferment shall com­maund it.

By which poynt, a man may iudge of the wofull case and hopelesse condition of all such indifferent and hollow profes­sours, as vse Religion onely for a stirroppe, whereby they may mount to rich preferments, and of such as weare Gods liuery on their backes, but keep a lodging for Baal in their hearts, and of such as stand equally affected to all Religions, who will crie aloude, God saue King IAMES, when they are with vs, and yet would kisse the feete of Paulus Quintus his Holinesse, if they were in Babylon, and of all such as do want that holy and godlie zeale, which should be seated in the heart, and seene in the life [Page 212]of sound Professours; for all these are but Luke-warme, and therefore their case more feare­full, their amends more hope­lesse, their recouerie more vn­likelie, their saluation more vn­certaine, then if they were the sons and children of Heathens that neuer heard of God. Re­member this, ye Romish fond­lings, ye part stakes with Christ in matter of saluation, ye exte­nuate the vertue of his death, yee thinke the righteousnesse of Christ an vnfit coate to couer your shame, you will haue Fig-leaues of your owne to couer it, you thinke Christ too weake & faint an Orator, to begge your pardon, and to purchase Hea­uen, and substitute in his roome your owne inherent righteous­nesse which shall commaund it, you offer the sacrifice of prayse [Page 213]for your saluation, not vnto CHRIST, but vnto your owne workes which haue deserued it; you doe thinke the Sonne of God vnfitte to stand betweene God and you, but your owne liues, they are so holie, your ovvne vertues, they are so ma­ny, your owne workes, they are so perfect and meritorious, that although sinne haue locked the doores of Heauen against you, yet these can open it, be Gods iustice neuer so infinite, yet these can answer it; be his wrath neuer so hote, yet these can quench it, though Heauen be neuer so hard to come by, yet these may challenge it. A woe therefore must needes betide you, because you are neyther hote to giue him, nor colde to deny him; neyther hote to giue him his owne, nor cold to denie [Page 214]all the glorie due vnto him, and therefore your case is the more fearefull, your amends more hopelesse, your saluation more desperate, then they that haue no hope, then they that know no meanes, then they that ne­uer thinke of the way, then they that neuer talke of the ioy, ne­uer dreame of Immortalitie in the kingdome of Heauen; You shall be spued out of his mouth.

Remember this, ye wauering Gospellers, you that alter your Religion with Time and State, you that can make your Religi­on to ebbe and to flow like the streame, and doe as the most do, and your profession to waxe and waine like to the Moone, and shew your light onelie by fittes, or like inferiour starres mooue onelie as some higher Planet shall carrie you, you that make [Page 215]your zeale like the Heliotropium, Plinius. to open and manifest it selfe at euerie gleame of prosperitie, but at the falling of a storme, can close and shut your selues a­gaine; your case is more feare­full, your condition more de­plored, your saluation more desperate, then they that neuer knew what religion meant, then they that neuer heard the Gos­pel preached, or they that ne­uer had their Soules seasoned with one sparke of grace; For you shall be spued out of his mouth.

Remember this yee Schollars of Nicodemus, who come vnto CHRIST by night onelie, you that seeme to beare good will to our Religion, but dare not shew it, because your Rulers; I meane your Lords and Maisters do dislike it, you that haue gold and incense for CHRIST, but [Page 216]dare not offer it, your case is fearefull, your saluation almost desperate, You must be spued out of his mouth.

Remember this, yee media­tors that would gladly conclude a marriage between the Church of God & a Romish synagogue, and patch a religion like Sergius the monke, Boaemus de Alcorano. li. 2. ca. 11. of good and euill; you that would make an attone­ment betweene the religion of Protestant & Papist sacra propha­nis, that would haue our gold & their drosse to be stamped toge­ther, our golden head to stand vpon their feet of clay, and Gods eternall truth to be yoaked with foolish and false traditions; you, O you are pure and perfect Lao­diceans, you could be content to speake, halfe in the language of Canaan, and half in the language of Ashdod, to plow with an Oxe [Page 217]and an Asse together, to patch some shreds of new cloth wouen by Romish spiders, into our A­postolike and ancient vesture, surely your case is fearefull, your condition miserable, your salua­tion, either almost, or altoge­ther desperate; You must be spued out of his mouth.

Lastly, you double hearts, you hollow neutralls and tem­porizers, consider and remem­ber this, you that haue the witte and skill to stand vpon the chur­ches threshold, and wee know not whether you will go in with vs, or out with our enemies, you deceitful Trumpeters and Prea­chers, that giue such vncertaine sounds, that the hearer knowes not whether it be an alarume to encorage him to the fight, or a retreite to call him backe from pursuing the Romish aduersary: [Page 218]ye that cannot be descried, whe­ther you be with vs or against vs, consider and remember this; The GOD of Heauen cannot endure you, his Spirit is grie­ued vvith you, his Church is diseased yea and perplexed by you, you are like a draught of poyson in her wombe, your case is fearefull, your condition verie miserable, your saluati­on almost desperate; You must be spued out of his mouth: And let vs all remember and trem­ble vvhen vvee consider vvhat God is like to doe with the peo­ple and inhabitants of this Land, who lie so sicke, and are so deep­ly infected vvith this sinne. It vvere better that our Gentrie were almost Iewes and Pagans, then to be hollow and giue Re­ligion no encouragement. It were much better that Preachers [Page 219]should stand like to Harpocrates that Egyptian god, vvith their fingers in their mouthes, then to speake so faintly when Babel is in building, to speake so co­wardly, when sinne is encreasing, to speake so doubtfully, when Gods cause is in hearing, or ne­uer powerfully, but onelie when rich aduowsons, or great mens fauours are bestowing. It were better for many of you Citti­zens, neuer to haue heard the name of CHRIST, neuer to haue knovvne what the Gospell did meane; then to professe so bare­ly, to vphold so weakely, the name whereby you hope to bee saued, to maintayne so poorely the Gospell wherein you haue a Crowne proposed, and a heauen promised, wee might promise vnto our selues a longer peace, vnto our kingdome more pros­perity, [Page 220]to our hearts more true comfort, to our consciences more certaine rest, to our soules more vndoubted safetie, if wee had neyther Gospel preached, nor Religion professed, nor Truth maintayned amongst vs, then now many of vs can, for if wee doe preach Christ, it is so slackely; if wee doe defend the Truth, it is so slenderly; if wee doe professe Religion, it is so in­differently; if wee doe shoot at Babel, it is so weakely; if we doe strike at sinne, it is so faintly; if we doe God any seruice, it is so wearily performed, that many English Professors do come far short of these Laodiceans, and what then may wee thinke will God do with them?

The golden Conduites and learned Oracles of Iustice and Law (as Tully in his first booke de [Page 221]Oratore was pleased to stile them) may doe better to claspe vp their mouthes, and throw downe their benches, and let Religion shift for it selfe as well as she may, then to lie sicke of an [...] as Demosthenes in Gellius in his 11. booke and 9 ch. when he was to pleade for the Milesians, lay sicke of a [...] or squinancie, I meane to shrinke when they shold cut off corrupt members; or hold their hand when they should ease the Land of her impostumes; or in a sin­full pollicy to forbeare the can­uasing of Romish brats, that trouble our Church and en­danger our Land, and maligne our Soueraigne, Ouidui. Vixque tenent lachrymas, quod nil lachrymabile cernunt, who pray for our clima­ctericall yeare, and are sicke to see the prosperity of our Ierusa­lem, [Page 222]and better for vs all, that our mothers belly had beene our Tombe; or like Aristotles Ephemeron in his fifth booke de historia animalium, we had peri­shed the day that we were born; like Micaiah, 1. Kings 22. wee had taken a surfet of the bread and water of affliction; and better to feed with Phalaris his bull; to lye in Procrustes his bed; or sit with Ioseph in the stocks, till the soule giue ouer house-keeping in his dampie lodging, then to houer like the yong man in Zenophon betweene two waies and go on in neither; Zenophon Cyrus. or stand like an [...], betweene two Religions, and sticke neither to the one, nor to the other; or to play the hollow neutrals, and turne our backes vpon all Reli­gion, saue onely when we grope a profite in it, or onely when [Page 223]we are the richer for it, or onely when wee can win a great mans fauour, or procure to our selues some honour, or preuent some shame and censure by it, for then wee proue our selues to be perfect Laodiceans, and the Lord will spue vs out of his mouth.

Were I like Apollos, eloquent and powerful in the Scriptures, were my sides brasse, and my penne iron, and my tongue a siluer Trumpet, I would heere endite a Rhetoricall and passi­onate exhortation, vnto a sort of men, quos video volitare in fo­rum, quos stare ad curiam, quos eti­am venere in senatum, sola fundi nostri calamitas, the onely scabs, and vlcers both of Church and State, as the Orator speakes in his second Oration against Ca­tiline, In Cat. Orat. 2. I meane our Church Pa­pist, [Page 224]who will serue both God and Rimmon, and our nullifidian Protestant, that can serue both God and Mammon: ô that they were wise, then would not the one come this day to Church with vs, and the next day to a Romish Synagogue to heare a Masse; nor the other need driuing into the Temple, like that Asse mentioned by Bo­din, in the 2. of his Demonologie, out of Lucian and Apuleius, but run from Church, like Timon in the Poet, ringing as hee goes, At mihi plaudo ipse domi, I had rather see one of these Angels, then heare three of yonder Preachers: ô that they were wise, then would the one cleaue wholly either to God or Rim­mon, and the other bow onely either to God or Mammon; then would the one either [Page 225]bring his heart with him, or giue vs his roome; and the other would come either with some zeale, or spare his labour in ma­king a formall profession: Then would they either giue God all, or take all from him; vnlesse they will serue God with one halfe, and an Idoll with the other; meaning that GOD should haue onely the one halfe, and an Idoll should haue the other: And they meant one­ly to trouble God so farre as to saue the body, but let the de­uill and the Pope agree be­tweene themselues which of them two should haue the soule. O Lord open their eyes, ô Lord turne their hearts, ô Lord pardon their sinnes, least they come into condemnation, and be spued out of thy mouth, which is the sentence of male­diction [Page 226]passed vpon all luke-warme professors, whereof in the last place I am to speake. I will spue thee out of my mouth.

Which words containe an allegorie drawne from the na­ture of warme water, The sen­tence of maledicti­on. Illyr. Bulling. & Perer. as Illyricus and Bullinger; or from meats, as Pererius and Ribera, which if they be hot or cold, the stomach may retaine, but if luke-warme, it casts them vp againe, vt ventri­culus benè coquat, constringi debet & claudi: The stomacke digests those meates best, whereby it is straitned and contracted; so do meates that be hot, exciecan­do, contract the stomacke by drying, and meates that bee cold exasperando, by wringing and pinching it; but meates that be luke-warme doe enlarge and dilate the stomacke; So that when nature would turne [Page 227]off any part which is hurtfull, it easily casts vp all; and heere­by wee must vnderstand in the Generall, Gods infinite hatred against luke-warme professors, and their Tragicall end: and a­mongst many particulars which might bee gathered from the phrase, I will spue thee out of my mouth, I haue pitcht my medita­tions on these two.

1 That which prouokes a man to vomite is grieuous and troublesome, while it rests vpon the stomacke, and beares the conclusion thus:

The Luke-warme professor is a sore diseaser, and a continuall di­sturber of the Church.

2 That the party prouoked to vomite, is well pleased when the stomacke is well purged of the loade that troubles it; And beares the conclusion thus.

God is highly pleased, when the Church is eased and purged of neu­trall, and hollow professors.

I will draw a little bloud at these two veines, The luke-warm pro­fessour is a sore distur­ber of the Church. and set them as the vtmost borders and boun­ders of my discourse.

To beginne with the former; me thinkes the Luke-warme professor may fitly bee compa­red with Dan, one of the sonnes of Iacob, whom his owne father termed, an Adder that biteth the horses and maketh the Rider to fall backward, Gen. 49. Or to a snuffe in the midst of a golden Candlesticke, that cannot grace the house so much by his glim­mering light, as it offends the company by a loathsome and vngratefull smell: or to a cum­bersome Ephialtes, that will not suffer the spouse to sleepe, but proues most troublesome and [Page 229]dangerous, when shee should rest and is least suspicious, or to an vnnaturall, or rather a natural viper, that first feeds on the mo­ther that breedes it, and then breakes the wombe that beares it. If flinching Ionas bee in the ship, the waters will presently begin to boile and swell. Virgilius Aenid. lib. 1. Eri­pient subito nubes coelum (que) diem (que) there will suddenly follow as thicke a Chimmerian darkenes, as there was at Pauls voyage to Rome, when neither Sunne nor Starre appeared, Act. the 27. The limbs and ioynts of the shippe cannot chuse but menace and threaten present drowning, it can neither stand still at An­chor, nor go on in safety; if it stand the waues runne ouer it; if it faile and moue, the winde and weather ouer-turnes it, there can bee neither token of [Page 230]faire weather, nor hope of life till Ionas be cast out of it. And may it not well enough lie hea­uie at the heart of a tender mo­ther (I meane the Church) that shee knowes not whether some of her sonnes will take her part, or fight against her; That shee knowes not whether they that lie in her wombe will proue like Barnabas sonnes of consolation, or like Benoni, a heauinesse and woe vnto her: How should it chuse but per­plex and naile her soule, that they whom shee feedeth with the milke of her brests; that they whom shee honoureth with the best of her substance; that they whom shee crowneth with the richest of her gifts, yet for all this do not loue her? What is there that can more disquiet & disturbe the Churches peace; [Page 231]that will sooner make her looke old and gray; that can make deeper furrowes in her face, and plow vpon her backe with a sharper edge then this? that so many of her children should be still-borne and cannot; some tongue tied and will not; some bashfull and dare not speake a word for Religion? that some of her pillars doe nothing but pill her treasures; that some which should doe her good, care for nothing but her goods; that some of her Prophets seeke for nothing but to profite them­selues? What is there that can disquiet a Church so much as this, that the maior part of all Congregations should be luke warme and hollow professors? some well-willers to Dagon; some worshippers of a wedge of gold; some making Religion [Page 232]but a stalking horse, or some handsome drudge to serue their policie. This, this can­not chuse but bee a naile at her heart.

Which conclusion may serue to stop the stentorious mouths, Vse. and to pare the Satyricall and bloudy pencils of some men, who in all their learning can sinde none that either disquiets or endangers the Church but the strict Precision, who can­not swallow downe some of our Church Ceremonies, and therefore employ their whole strenght, and spend their whole life, in humbling them who are brought already to the lowest Nadir, as if then they had swept and purged the Church of all her imposthumes; whereas yet our Churches hang full of Ro­mish spiders, who in their Ita­lian [Page 233]cobwebs would strangle our English soules; God forbid that euer my penne should pa­tronize any peeuish Schisma­ticks, onely it were to be wisht, that some men would not here­in place their felicity, or count this the greatest seruice to God and the Church, to trounce and firret a few poore and despised men; but rather they would raise hue and cry after Luke­warme professors, and carnall Gospellers, and close Atheists, and sleepy Sibarites, Athaenaeus lib. 12. that they would keepe Romish fire from our English tinder; these, these, are the traiterous Sinons that trouble our Church, these are the wormes that breed in the belly, and these the impost­humes that disease the wombe of our mother; such hot fren­zies, as Nouahanisme, Catha­risme, [Page 234]and Brownisme, are sel­dome or neuer heard of in this frozen climate, and the iron age wherein we liue: the most of our diseases are cold Epilep­sies, and dead Apoplexies, and slumbering lethargies, and sure­ly happy should bee the penne that might but wound one of the disturbers, and happy should bee the tongue that might dis­comfite one of these pioners, and happy might bee the man, that might exile but one of these vndermining traitors out of the Church. These are the sins that threaten our ruin, and these the hatchets, that cut downe our Vine, and these the Foxes that eate of her grapes, and these the bels that are most like to ring our knels, and proclaim our funerals; and therefore euery Scribe that can handle a [Page 235]pen, must steepe it in vinegar and make it tart; euery Magi­strate that can handle a sword must draw it and make it sharp; euery man that weares but a Christian heart in his bosome most rouse and waken; He that hath but a tongue in his head must moue and shake it; hee that hath but a stone in his hand must throw and fling it, at the brasen faces and whorish fore-heads of these murthering and prodigious sinnes; else may wee feare that one day wee shall feele Gods hand vpon vs and see destruction looking in at our gates, and desolation looking in at our windowes, and finde nothing but emptinesse in our Churches, see nothing but Romish spiders weauing their cobwebs in our Pulpits, Sed tarda sit illa dies, & nostro se­rior [Page 236]aeuo, let the Sunne of that morning neuer rise, burie vs quicke ô earth, Lord take away our liues rather then the light of our Gospell from vs. And now haue I brought you with­in the view and sight of our iournies end, I hope it will make you cheerefull in hearing, while I am briefly opening my last conclusion, viz.

God is highly pleased, God high­ly pleased with pur­ging the Church of luke warm Professors. when his Church is eased and emptied of hollow professors. Let them take Ionas and cast him into the sea; Et facto citius tumida aequora pla­cant, the windes will hold their peace and bee still, the waues will giue ouer boyling, and make their crests as flatte and leueli as a floore, and the Mai­sters of the shippe must needs haue ioyfull hearts, to see how merily she cuts the waters, so [Page 237]soone as shee hath pickt vp her troublesome loade, and empti­ed her wombe of Ionas: whom shee was not able to digest. I know that amongst the wheate there will be chaffe, yet if the chaffe were burned; I know that amongst the beds of Lil­lies, there will be weedes, yet if the weedes were rooted vp; I know that within the pales and hedges of Gods owne vineyard there will be stones, yet if the stones were gathered out; the burning of the chaffe would rel­lish like a burnt Sacrifice, the rooting vp of the weeds would sauour as the smell of Incense, the ridding of the stones would be as welcome as a free will of­fering vnto God: Did not the Starres and the Heauens ap­plaude Elias in the first booke of Kings chapter 13. for reclaiming [Page 238]them that halted betweene two opinions: for setling them that were like to fall downe between two professions, or was it not a labour well bestowed, whereby hee cured the Land that vvas sicke and wearie, not able to beare them, and purged their Soules that were sicke and rea­dy to die within them, and high­ly pleased his GOD, who was so deepely offended with them. The griefe of the head can no way be better cured, then by purging the stomach, and scou­ring the bodie of such infestu­ous humours as fume vpward, and disquiet the braine, and if Christ bee our head, and the Church his bodie, how should you imagine that his spirite can be better pleased, or our bles­sed Sauiour delighted with any thing so much, as vvith the [Page 239]sweeping out of Luke-warme professors, and the paring a­way of aequiuocall members with the healing, if they bee cureable, or else the cutting off, if they be hopelesse and incure­able neutralls.

Were it not that the time were now ready to impose mee silence, and commaunded mee to let you see the farthest peri­od, I could verie hardly part so quickely with so good a point: I winde vp all in one word of ex­hortation. I should thinke my breath and trauell happily be­stowed, my Ministerie and ser­uice richly blessed, my paynes and labour highly honoured and revvarded, if I might pre­uaile with authority, to prouide som strong purgation to scoure out of the sicke bodie of this Land, some vnwholesome Te­nants, [Page 240]who Ianus-like haue two faces, Ouid. Fast. libr. 1. the one to looke demure­ly vp to heauen, the other wan­tonly to smile vpon an Idol, and come to our Churches, only to saue charges. If I might preuail vvith the Clergie, to prouide some powerfull and passionate exhortations to settle the hearts of their hearers vpon one God, renouncing Idols, vpon one Sa­uiour, abiuring this sinfull trash and deceitfull riches. The world knoweth it full well, that our Land was neuer so sick, that our Church neuer groaned so loud, neuer mourned in such a passi­on, nor neuer trauelled of these Hermaphrodites, with halfe so much paine and griefe as novv [...]he doth, she hath already bred, and at this day shee both fee­deth and clothes a numberlesse swarme of our-cast professors, I [Page 241]meane Church papists, and rot­ten Protestants, who sometimes like vnto Iudas, pretend to kisse, but if they can come neere e­nough, intend to kill her, and sometimes salute her Porches, but it is as Ioab saluted Abner, 2. Sam. 3. with a dagger in their pockets, she may conclude a peace with other enemies, but these will cut her throat by way of friend­ship, she sighes so deepely, and shee groaneth with so much an­guish, that her cries are heard, & her griefe lamented beyond the Seas. It is no whispering ru­mour, your selues haue often heard it cried here at the crosse, that they are warmely lodged, and richly friended, and costly fed, with the marrow and fat­nesse of our owne Land, who the middest of our Iubilies, doe make flawes in our peace, and [Page 242]in the middest of our ioyes en­daunger our liues, and if anie forrener shold inuade the land, wold lēd their kniues to cut our throates, and be the formost men to beare armes against vs.

This alas, this is the maladie that maketh the visage of our Church so wan, and her face so full of wrinckles, and her backe so ful of furrows, and her eies so ful of teares, and her heart so ful of sorrowes, that though many good Phisitians will speake her faire, and wish her health, yet they lance not the Impostume, yet they purge not the fretting humor that consumes and grie­ueth her, you may reade in her face, that her gripings and con­uulsiōs be insufferable, you may heare by her groanes, that her paine is intolerable, you may presage by her pulses, the signes [Page 243]and symptomes of desolation and death, and vvhen these Ca­tholike vipers haue broken her heart, what will become of vs, who suffer such Professours as will neuer prooue good Sub­iects to varnish their neasts, and make their bowers within her: it would doe them good to do vs hurt: it would lengthen their liues, to shorten ours; it would bring them halfe way to Hea­uen, to burie their ponyards in our breasts; it would make a new Feast, and another Holy­day in the Roman Kalender, if they might but smell the burn­ing, and heare tell of the smoke and ashes of our Churches, they are alreadie become so bolde, their number is so ex­ceeding great, their Religion is so exceeding bloodie, their malice so inueterate, that if no [Page 244]sharper course be taken to re­presse and smother them, they will aduenture within a while, to try whether wee or they shall be the masters; and if either ma­lice or multitude can do it, they wil make bone-fires of our flesh, they will cut off our liues, and confiscate our liuings, and set fire on our Churches, and mar­tyre our Cleargie, and massacre our Iudges, and murther our Princes, and say of England as Edom sayd of Ierusalem, Downe with it, downe with it euen to the ground. And if euer this day of mourning come vpon vs (which I pray God may ne­uer come;) yet if it should come wee may thanke our selues for keeping Romish Wasps in our English Hiues.

It were happy for our Land, if we now at last began to pittie [Page 245]and bemone our selues, and be somevvhat sharpe in keeping them vnder, while we haue the sword in our hands, rather then to suffer them to grow so long, vntill they be able to treade vp­on our Religion, or to vaunt or triumph ouer vs. And if any a­mongst vs can prepare an offe­ring of peace, now or neuer let him bring it; hee that can vtter or conceiue a prayer, now or neuer let him offer it: Let vs moue the Heauen with crying: spare thy people, O God, spare thy people, giue not our church into reproach; Let not the An­tichristian hoste be our masters; Let not the blasted Catholikes be our commaunders; Let not the workemen of Babel be our confounders.

Wil you haue your farewell and heare what Ile say at your [Page 246]parting? Let mee exhort you (reuerend Iudges) who walke heere in Scarlet robes, and sit on seates of Iustice, to be zea­lous for the truth, to pitty and compassionate our Church, to settle your ovvne hearts to be­vvare of Luke-vvarmenesse in your religion, that when you shall leaue these Benches, and put off these robes, you may sit on Thrones amongst the foure and twenty Elders, and be clo­thed with the long white Ray­ment of Saints, and follow the Lambe wheresoeuer he goeth. Let me exhort you, godlie and religious Citizens, to bee zea­lous for the truth, to vphold & maintayne the Gospel, to take heed of coursing and wandring amongst religions, to take heed of luke-warmnesse in your chri­stian profession, that when you [Page 247]shall be put out of these houses, you may be receiued into euer­lasting habitations; when you shall leaue your trading in this Citie, you may bee fellow-Citi­zens with the Saints in glory, when these rotten posts and worme-eaten timber of your bodies shall be broken downe, your soules may bee carried on Angels wings into Abrahams bosome, and you also may fol­low the Lambe wheresoeuer hee goes. And let vs all begin this day to make our eyes ri­uers, and our heads springs, and our hearts fountaines of teares. And let this riuer neuer giue ouer running, let this spring neuer giue ouer swelling, let this fountaine neuer giue ouer flow­ing; vntill this riuer of teares become a sea, and this spring of teares become a floud, and this [Page 248]fountaine of teares become an Ocean, to wash our beds, to wa­ter our couches, to make our chamber swimme; for the mise­rie that wee are like to bring vp­on our selues, for the desolation and woe which wee are like to bring vpon our Churches; for the solemne destruction, and fi­nall subuersion which wee haue laboured to bring vpon our whole land, and vpon our king­dome, by palpable luke-warme­nes in our Religion, and by our want of godly zealein our Chri­stian profession. And when this riuer of teares shall bee dried, and these fountaines stopt that wee cannot weepe. Let vs fill the aire and beate the heauens with our prayers, and though sicknes may put our tongues to silence that we cannot speake, yet let our hearts breath, & our soules [Page 249]enforce vpon the heauens some earnest and powerfull supplica­tions, that the dreadfull God whom wee haue offended may be pleased to blesse our Church, to prosper our Soueraigne, to protect our Kingdome, to ad­uance the Gospell, to encrease our zeale, to cloath ourenemies in mourning weeds, to open the windowes of Heauen & crowne vs with his blessings, to cure all our soules, to forgiue all our sins, to saue all our soules, for his Sonne Christ Iesus his sake: Amen, Amen.