THe first words of the Text, The cohe­rence of the Text. which stand as a Porter or Portall, at the Door of Entrance, and lead us into the inner Rooms, [For the time will come] imply and point out unto us; that the Text is a Prophecy, which in the genuine accepti­on and signification of the word, is a Predicti­on or foretelling of things to come. For the Writings of Paul to Timothy, though they pass under the name of Epistles, Letters of directi­on and advice, sent from him as an Apostle of Christ, and a Messenger of the Churches: yet in these Epistles of his, there are several inter­spersions and sprinklings of Prophecy, three [Page 2]whereof are very observable and remarkable above the rest.

The first Prophecy concerns that grand Apo­stacy and falling away from the Faith once deli­vered to the Saints, by Popish idolatry and su­perstition, 1 Tim. 4.1. Now the Spirit speaketh ex­presly, that in the later Times some shall depart from the Faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, [...], to spirits of errour, (by an usual Hebraism) and Doctrines of Devils.

The second Prophecy respects the general Athe­ism and profaneness of mens lives, 2 Tim. 3.1. This know also, that in the last days perilous Times shall come. Heretical Doctrines of Devils, (as the Apostle stiles them) are the Product of the later Times. But the deplorable loosness and lewdness of mens manners are the issue of the last days, and so nearer the end of the world, than the former. This the Apostle makes good, by a particular enumeration of sins and sinners, Vers. 3, 4, 5. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, dis­obedient to Parents, unthankfull, unholy. And then in the close he claps in with this signal cha­racter, Vers. 5. Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; as a cloak and covering for all the rest.

The third and last Prophecy is in the Text, and notes out unto us an utter aversness and abhor­rence from sound Doctrine, which is the onely means to rectifie mens judgments in point of Faith, and to correct and reform their dissolute­ness; and renders them more impatient of the [Page 3]Remedy than of the Malady. And so it follows in the Text, [For the Time shall come.]

The Text then as it lies before you, holds forth and presents unto your view the Disease of the later days, and for the more methodical and orderly resolution of the words, we may take notice of a fivefold specialty:

• 1. The nature of the Disease specified.
  The division of the Text.
  They will [not endure sound Doctrine.]
• 2. The cause of the Disease, and that is their Lusts, [After their own lusts.]
• 3. The signs or symptoms of the Discase, and they are two:
  • 1. The first is in the ear, [Having itching ears.]
  • 2. The second is, the satisfying or scratching this itching ear with a multiplied variety of Instructors, [They shall heap to themselves Teachers.]
• 4. The effect of the Disease; and that is dou­ble, (wherein as in every motion) there are two Terms:
  • 1. There is the Terminus à quo, [They shall turn away their ears from the Truth.]
  • 2. There is the Terminus ad quem, [And shall be turned after Fables.]
• 5. The circumstance of the Time, when the Disease shall be in the Paroxysm, in the full heat and heighth. And that we have in the first words of the Text, [For the time shall come.]

They will not endure [...], The first part. The nature of the Dis­ease. sound Doctrine. A Metaphor or borrowed speech ta­ken up from the natural Food or Physick of the Body; and in a figurative and a spiritual sense, translated and applied unto the Soul. For the Soul, as it stands in need, so it hath its proper Food and Physick, aswell as the Body, and that is the Word of God.

The Word of God is the Food of the Soul, 1. The Word the Food of the Soul. whereby it lives, as the Body, by the natural nourishment, Food for all sorts of Christians. Milk for new-born Infants and Babes in Christ: Meat, strong Meat to those that are of full age, Even those that by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil. Heb. 5.13, 14.

And as the Word of God is the Food, 2. The Word the Physick of the Soul. so is it likewise the Physick of the Soul. A Metaphor whereunto St. Paul alludes, and whereat he fre­quently glances through these Epistles. If any man consent not [...], To wholesome words, even to the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Tim. 6.3.

And the Apostle elsewhere commends it to his Scholar Timothy under the same name and title, 2 Tim. 1. v. 13. [...], Hold fast the form of wholesome words.

This Physick of the Soul may be said to be wholesome words, or sound Doctrine, in two re­spects:

• 1. First, formally, and in its own nature, as be­ing healthfull in it self.
• 2. Secondly, causally, by way of Energie and operation, as healing in the effect.

First, sound Doctrine is healthfull in it self, 1. First, healthfull in it own na­ture. Venenum a­liquando pro remedio fuit. Senec. de Benef. lib. 2. c. 18. Medici pedes & alas Can­tharidis, cùm ipsa sit morti­fera, prodesse dicunt. Plutarch. de audiend. Poetis. and whereas the natural Physick is many times made up of rank and deadly Poyson, yet so corrected and tempered by Art, that the ma­lignity and venome is taken out; and proves a soveraign Antidote and Preservative. This spi­ritual Physick hath no Venome and Poyson in it; but is altogether pure and simple, and every way suitable to the Souls health.

Two Ingredients there are in the Word of God that make it thus healthfull in it self: A double In­gredient in the Word.

• 1. The one Truth.
• 2. The other Holiness.

The first Ingredient in the Word is Truth, 1. The first, Truth. John 17. v. 17. Sanctifie them through thy Truth, thy Word is Truth. As being an exact Idea, a lively Portraicture, the perfect Copy and Coun­terpart of the minde and will of God. Veritatem Philosophia quaerit, Theo­logia invenit, Religio possidet. Joan. Picus Mirandula. And as it is Truth in it self, so it makes an impression of Truth upon the Soul; even as the Seal stamps it own form and figure upon the body of the Wax. The Truth of Faith and Manners; Truth of Doctrine and Life, both these are the effects of the Word of God.

A second Ingredient of sound Doctrine is Holiness, for as it teacheth men to believe aright, 2. The se­cond Ingredi­ent of the Word Holi­ness. so it likewise instructs them to live well; To live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. [Page 6]This is the proper [...]. Clem. in Paedag. [...] Arist. Ethic. l. 1. c. 1. End of it, to make men better to spiritualize their natures, to sanctifie their affections, and to bring them unto happi­ness. If any man consent not to wholesome words, and to the Doctrine which is according to godliness, 1 Tim. 6. v. 3. Those onely are wholesome words, that are according to godliness. This is the speci­fical form, that distinguisheth them from all o­ther. The Apostle reduces and referres these wholesome words to two Heads, 2 Tim. 1. v. 13. Hold fast the form of wholesome words, which thou hast heard of me in Faith and Love. Faith in Christ, and Love toward our Christian Brethren; These are the very abstract and summary abridg­ment of sound Doctrine.

Secondly, 2. Healing in the effect. sound Doctrine is healing in the ef­fect: like unto the Tree of Life, which was planted in the streets of the new Jerusalem, that bare twelve manner of fruits, and the Leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the Nations. Revel. 22. v. 2.

The Word of God comes to have this heal­ing effect, Two manner of ways. two manner of ways:

• 1. By a formal contrariety to the Disease.
• 2. By a particular Application to the Patient.

First, 1. First, by a formal con­trariety to the Disease. the Word heals by way of contrariety to the Disease. And herein lies the difference betwixt Food and Physick.

Food is the conversion of the nourishment into the substance of the Body. And in that respect, Nutrimur similibus, we are nourished by things of the same or like nature. But Physick is the removing of obstructions, the disburthen­ing [Page 7]of superfluities, the purging out of ma­lignant humours. And therefore Morbi curan­tur contrariis, Diseases are best cured by the contraries. There is a contrariety betwixt the Body and the Disease. And there is as great a contrariety betwixt the Disease and the Phy­sick, 1 Tim. 1. v. 9, 10. The Law is not made for the righteous, but for the lawless, and for the diso­bedient, and for the ungodly, and for sinners. And if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound Doctrine, notorious and enormous sins, such as are there rehearsed by the Apostle, are contrary to sound Doctrine. And sound Do­ctrine is every way as contrary to gross and open sins. And it declares and manifests this contra­riety by a free and round admonition, in a severe and sharp reproof, Titus 1. v. 13. Rebuke them sharply, [...], cuttingly, after the manner of Chirurgum misericordem esse non oportet. Celsus. Chirurgions, (as the word imports) that they may be sound in the Faith. Nec deest censura quae increpet, nec medicina quae sanet. Cyprian. Cutting Reproofs, and the paring mens consciences to the quick, are an excellent means to make men sound in the Faith. There is no way to cure a Gangrene but by cut­ting off the part affected, and by Quae ferro non curantur, ignis curat. Regula Medi­corum. cauterising the mortified member. If this be not done speedily, the whole Body must needs pe­rish.

The words of the wise are as Goads and Nails fastned; Eccles. 12. v. 11. And what is the use of Goads, but to provoke and prick forward the dull Ox? And Nails must not onely be fastned, but driven home to the Head. Even so the [Page 8]words of the wise must Si cujus ser­mo non pungit sed oblectatio­nem facit au­dientibus, iste non est sermo sapientis, verba enim sapien­tum ut st muli. Hieronym. in Eccles. cap. 12. Pungit, non penetrat. Se­neca of Chry­sip. Epist. 1. ad Lucil. Pungere non palpare, as Hierom well expresses it: They must pene­trate and pierce deep, not onely scarrifie or scratch the face of mens consciences. The two Wit­nesses had a Fire that went out of their mouth, that devoured their Enemies; Revel. 11. v. 6. And they tormented those that dwelt upon the Earth; v. 10. And what was this tormenting Fire that went out of their mouths, but the scorching and burning heat of their Ministery, which con­sumed their corruptions, even as the Fire licks up the Stubble. The Ministers of Christ are the Salt of the Earth; Matth. 5. v. 13. so called by reason of their savoury Doctrine. And Salt hath an acrimony and sharpness in it, it corrodes and frets, it sucks up the putrid moisture, and so prevents putrifaction: For howsoever erroneous and false Doctrine hath no savour nor sharpness in it; As it was said of the Popish Liturgy, Mis­sa non mordet, The Mass hath no Teeth in it, it bites not at all. Yet true and sound Doctrine bites where it fastens, like unto a Quae per in­suavitatem me­dentur, emo­lumento curati­onis offensam sui excusant, & praesentem in­juriam super­venturae utili­tatis gratiâ commendant. Tert. de Poenit. c. 10. Purging Poti­on, it stirs and troubles the humour, it causes a grumbling in the conscience, it puts it to ex­treme smart and pain, and hereby it heals and cures.

Secondly, 2. By a par­ticular appli­cation to the Patient. the word heals by a particular ap­plication to the Patient. For this is a sure Rule, Omne agens agit per contactum, Every agent works by way of contact, by a real touch of that Body whereon it acts, either immediately in the substance, or in the power and virtue of it. [Page 9]This is very observable in the practice of Chi­rurgery and Physick, where the Plaister must be close applied and laid upon the Sore; and the Potion must be inwardly received into the Bo­dy; otherwise it no way conduceth nor proves availsome unto health.

And so it is in the dispensation of the spiritual Physick, the preaching of the Gospel, which con­sists of these two parts, and stands upon them, as the several Legs, Explication and Applicati­on. And as it must be explained and opened in the sense and meaning of the words, so it must be applied and brought home to the consci­ence.

That Physick which cures at one time may kill at another. And hereof Aug. Ep. 5. ad Marcellinum. St. Augustine af­fords us a notable Example, in that famous Phy­sician Vindicianus, who being sent for to a young man in a dangerous sickness, recovered and resto­red him to his former health: but relapsing into his sickness in his old age, and making use of the same Prescript, which had formerly afforded him present help and remedy without the advice of his Physician; Ideò malè ac­ceptus es, quia non ego jussi illi aetati, jam hoc non se fuisse jussurum. Vindicianus answer to the young man. it had like to have cost him his life. And so it is with the spiritual Phy­sick, which must be attempered to the present exigents and emergencies of Time, Place, Per­son, and particularly applied to the state and condition of the Hearers.

Thus have you heard in part, that the sound Doctrine here mentioned, is both healthfull and healing Physick; and the Disease of the later days is the refusing and rejecting of it; [Page 10]and set forth unto us in these words, [...]. They will not endure it, they will in no case swal­low or digest this [...]. Hippoc. Aphor. l. 2. Purging Pill: like unto a wayward and froward Patient, or rather a Molestus est Medicus furen­ti phrenetico, & pater in­disciplinato filio, ille ligan­do, ille caeden­do, sed ambo diligendo. August. ad Bonif. Comit. Epist. 1. phrenetick and distracted person, that casts away his Physick in the heat of his indignation; and as for his Physician, he will not suffer him to abide in the same Room, and in case he appears in his presence, he spares not to bespatter him with uncivil and unsavoury language, and in a fierce and furious manner with heavy and down­right blows, he falls foul upon his person.

This not enduring sound Doctrine hints out and intimates these two Particulars:

First, a disallowing and disapproving of it in their judgments, which they censure, and con­demn, as unsound and unprofitable.

The second is, a displicency and displeasure in the Affections, which makes them angry and testy, pettish and peevish, and to vent their cho­lerick passion, as Ahab against Micaiah, 1 Kings 22.8. I hate him, for he doth not prophesie good con­cerning me, but evil: and yet Micaiah spake no other thing than what God put into his mouth; as he told the Messenger that was sent unto him with this instruction, Behold, now the words of the Prophets declare good unto the King with one mouth: Let thy word I pray thee, be like the word of one of them, and speak that which is good. And Micaiah said, As the Lord liveth, What the Lord saith unto me, that will I speak, Vers. 13, 14.

There is a goodness of things in themselves, and unto others. And Physick may be said to be good in order to the natural state and consti­tution of the Body, or the distemper and Dis­ease. The Word of God, that good Word of God, as the Apostle terms it, Heb. 6.5. is always good in it self, and good unto us, even to a good and honest heart: Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? Micah 2.7. But it is not good to our corrupt humors, and unlawfull lusts. And herein it fares with sound Doctrine as it doth with wholesome nourishment, which seems unpleasant and unsavoury to an Aguish palate; and yet the fault is not in the meat, but in the mouth and taste of the party. And the Rule of Aquinas is sound and good, Nihil verum putant, nisi quod suave est, nihil cre­dibile nisi quod potest incutere vo­luptatem, ne­mo rem veri­tate ponde­rat, sed or­natu. Non cre­dunt ergo divinis, quia fuco carent. Lactant. l. 5. c. 1. Aquinas summa Theolog. Non est ju­dicandum de rebus secundùm opinionem impiorum, sicut nec de saporibus secundùm aestimationem aegro­torum, We are not to spend our judgments ac­cording to the common opinion of the wicked, no more than we judg of savour according to the diseases, fancy and frowardness of sick men.

The second general part of the Text is the cause of the Disease, [...], 2. The second part. The cause of the Disease, After their own Lusts. After their own lusts. Their Lusts, their own Lusts.

There are natural, and there are morbid or sickly desires in the Body; A natural desire in every creature after their proper food and nou­rishment, thereby to preserve their individual natures, and to prorogue and lengthen out their being to the utmost point and period, to propa­gate [Page 12]and increase their kinde by natural genera­tion, that being mortal in themselves, they may after a sort prove immortal in their posterity. But besides the desires of nature, there are mor­bid and sickly desires in the Body, which are sometimes found in children that feed upon coals and dirt: and such are the depraved long­ings of women with childe, called Pica by Phy­ficians, from a Bird of that name: and that be­cause the inconstant and various desires of na­ture, so misguided by vitious humours, are well resembled by the strange mixture of white and black Feathers in that Bird.

Answerable to both these, there are both spi­ritual, and sinfull, and sickly desires in the Soul.

There are spiritual desires after divine and heavenly matters, Two sorts of desires in the Soul: 1. Spiritual: Those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God.

And there are sickly and sinfull desires in the Soul, 3. Sinfull, or Lusts. for the matter, manner, measure, order, end, which are known by the name of Lusts, and are usually taken in the worser part; and as Physicians oft times take the Crisis of the Crasis and temper of the Body from the Stomack and Appetite of the party: even so may we judg of the state of mens Souls by their desires and lusts. That is one part of St. Paul's description of those silly women, led captive by Seducers, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 2 Tim. 3.6. And foreshewing the Disease of the later Days in the Text, alleageth this as the proper cause, Their lusts, their own Lusts, their [Page 13]private fancies and humours, carried about with every winde of Doctrine, tossed to and fro; as this or the other thing suits best with their dispositi­on. And this [...], or peculiar of theirs, is directly opposed to that catholick Doctrine that is common to the whole Church, wherein there is Unus Deus, & una fides, one God, one Faith, Beza in locum. (as Beza well observes upon the place) and this one Faith, and their many Lusts, are every way in­compatible, and inconsistent, and cannot stand together.

And that you may the better conceive what these Lusts are, I shall branch them out into these three Particulars:

• 1. Proud Ignorance.
  Three sorts of sinfull lusts.
• 2. Wanton Curiosity.
• 3. Sordid Covetousness.

The first cause why men will not endure sound Doctrine is the Lust of Proud Ignorance, 1. The first Lust, Proud Ignorance. If any man consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, He is proud, knowing nothing, 1 Tim. 6.3, 4. [...], He is swoln big or puff'd up, as the word signifieth, Grandis tu­mor contrarius est sanitati. Quintil. Inst. Orat. and tumours and swellings are contrary to health and soundness, and are no less destructive to Soul, than Body: it is the property of Proud Ignorance to puff up mens spirits, like unto empty Bladders, that are blown with the winde. And whereas for the most part Knowledg puffeth up, as the Apostle tells us, 1 Cor. 8.1. yet are there some that are puff'd up out of Ignorance, [Page 14]in whom Pride and Ignorance go hand in hand, as they are linked together in the Text, He is proud, knowing nothing. This makes them pre­sume that they stand in no need of the publick Ministery, the onely outward and ordinary means of instruction: That they know all that is knowable, and have more understanding than their Teachers, as David affirms of himself. Nay more than so, this confident conceit and over-weening opinion of their gifts, transports some private men so far, as to desert and quit their proper station and calling, and though nei­ther of sufficient arts and parts, no nor compe­tent abilities for the Ministerial Function, to in­vade and rush upon it. Even as empty Carts run faster than loaden Wains; and the lesser Pinks, and lighter Pinnaces sail swifter than the taller Ships of the greatest bulk and burden. Like unto hasty Ahimaaz, they will needs be running; Let me also run, (so he speaks unto Joab) though they have no tidings ready, 2 Sam. 18.22. And they run by the way of the Plain, as he did, Vers. 23. the shorter, but the worser way: and by that means they over-run many a Cushi, men of greater worth, and every way more able than themselves. Or like unto those Jewish Doctors, whom St. Paul justly taxes, 1 Tim. 1.7. Desiring to be Teachers of the Law, understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. Gellius, l. 1. c. 15. [...], which in plain En­glish is, They say, they know not what.

A second Lust is Wanton Curiosity, 2. The second Lust is Wan­ton Curiosity. which causes men to slight plain and profitable mat­ters, [Page 15]and to disdain, and despise sound and saving Truths. Like unto the People of Israel of old, that loathed their Manna, though it was the Bread of Heaven, and the Food of Angels, yet away with this dry Manna, give them Flesh to eat. They must be fed with some mysterious points of Re­ligion, either enigmatical Prophecies out of the Old Testament, or dark Riddles of the Revela­tion, as yet unrevealed; Christ's personal Reign upon Earth; A fifth Monarchy, or somewhat of the like nature. They must be amused and amazed with sublime and lofty speculations, strange and uncouth Ad aeternam felicitatem nos vocat De­us non per dif­ficilces quaestio­nes. Hilarius. Curiositatem odit Deus, nec vult nos esse Curistas & Quaeristas. Crucifigamus hauc pestem, Quare. Lutherus in Gen. c. 19. Questions; being not onely in love with, but even sick of them, [...], as St. Paul phraseth it, 1 Tim. 6.4. A fond dotage, or rather a languishing sickness of the Soul.

This is that makes so many Athenians in Re­ligion, and to hanker after Non est sci­ens hodiè qui novitates non invenit. Alv. Pelag de Plan­ctu Eccl. l. 2. New Lights, and new Doctrines, after their example, who when St. Paul preached unto them Jesus and the Re­surrection, began to question him in this manner, May we know what this new Doctrine whereof thou speakest is, Acts 17.19. This was their customa­ry and common practice; for all the Athenians spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or hear some new thing, Vers. 21.

And were there nothing more in a Doctrine, but the meer novelty, this alone were reason [Page 16]enough to misdoubt it, and to render it up unto suspicion: for that known Rule of Tertullian holds sound, for the most part, Id verum & dominicum quod prius, ex­traneum & falsum quod posterins. Haereses non tam falsitas revincit quàm novitas. Tertul. Praescript. adv. Haeret. That is true which is most ancient, and that erroneous and false which is of later date. And both Here­ticks and Heresies are not more strongly con­futed and confounded from their falshood, than by Novelty.

The third and last cause why men will not en­dure sound Doctrine is the Lust of Sordid Co­vetousness. 3. The third Lust, Sordid Covetousness. There is not any sin more opposite to the profession and practice of Religion, nor the reverend and respective hearing of the Word, than that of Covetousness. It was the blemish and bane of Ezekiel's Hearers, and moved them to bejeer him, and to laugh him to scorn, Ezek. 33.31. And they come unto thee, as the people cometh, and they sit before thee, as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouths they make jests, but their heart go­eth after their Covetousness. Our blessed Saviour himself escaped not the flouts and scoffs of the Pharisees, and it was their Covetousness that was in fault, Luke 16.14. And the Pharisees also (who were covetous) heard all these things, and they derided him. How many are there, even among us, that do not onely quarrell the Persons and Do­ctrine of the Ministers, but except also against the Calling of the Ministery? And would you know the true cause? Is it not their means, and maintenance, that is as a scourge in their sides, [Page 17]and as thorns in their eyes? Do they not com­plain of the payment of their Tithes, as a heavy burthen too heavy for them to bear? And do they not endeavour that Ecclesiastical Livings should want a sufficient Livelihood, and so prove no Livings at all? But rather like unto the Diets of sick men, [...], Demosth. Phil. [...], (as the Orator speaks of them) which neither afford a man life, nor yet will give him leave to die. Therein after a sort justifying the virulent but unjust crimination of our Romish Adversa­ries; That our Doctrine is Negative, our Religi­on is Ablative. How far are these men from that heroical and religious resolution of King Da­vid, who when Araunah offered him his thresh­ing-floor and his Oxen, as a free Gift, would in no case accept of it, Nay, but I will surely buy it of thee at a price, neither will I offer a Burnt­offering to the Lord my God, of that which doth cost me nothing, 2 Sam. 24.24. Whereas we on the other side, are every way unwilling to receive ought of the hand of God, though never so un­valuable and prizeless a mercy, that shall cost us any thing. Fain would men have [...], (as Nazianzen stiles it) A Gospel that is cost-free, without expence and charge. How far are men from hearkening to the wise mans counsel, Prov. 3.9. Honour the Lord with thy sub­stance. Who though they can be content to draw near to God with their mouth, and to honour him with their lips, with the Jews of old, yet will they be very hardly perswaded to honour him [Page 18]with their substance. Herein they plead Pre­scription and Exemption, and crave that Privi­lege for their god Mammon, that Naaman did for his bowing in the House of Rimmon, 2 Kings 5.18. In this thing the Lord pardon thy servant, The Lord pardon thy servant in this thing.

The third general part of the Text is the Signs and Symptomes of the Disease, 3. The third part. The Signs & Symptomes of the Dis­ease, two. 1. The first Symptome, Having itch­ing Ears. and they are two.

The first Symptome is in the Ear, Having itch­ing Ears. The Itch is a natural infirmity and ail­ment in the Body, which is seemingly allayed and eased, with the rubbing and scratching of it, but repays the short pleasure with a long and lasting pain, and oft times draws bloud after it.

Such a spiritual weakness is the Itch of the Ear, which seeks to be scratch'd and claw'd with pick'd phrases, queint sentences, and strong lines, which have not the property of Physick to cure the Distempers of the Soul, but serve in stead of an Ointment to smooth the Skin, to supple the Joints, and to recreate and refresh the Body. Benè olet un­guentum, benè olet & phar­macum: hoc tantùm dele­ctat, illud ve­rò prodest. Plutarch. There is this difference betwixt an Ointment and Physick, though both are well sented, yet an Ointment delights onely, whereas Physick brings profit with it. Pruritus au­ditûs non sa­nam cupit doctri [...]am, sed confricationem audi [...]ûs, sed delectationom audiendo, Cajetan. in locum. But the itching Ear preferres pleasure before profit, prizeth an Ointment above Physick, and makes choice of such Physicians, which tickle the Ear, though they ne­ver [Page 19] cure their wounds, Aegrotus non quaerit Medi­cum elegantem sed sanantem. Seneca. which no sick men will do besides. The palliated cure of any spiritual Emperick or Mountebank are best accepted; who heal the hurt of their souls slightly, saying, Peace, Peace, where there is no Peace, Jer. 6.14. And they say to their Teachers, as the rebellious Jews of old to their Prophets, Isai 30.10. Prophesie not unto us right things, Speak smooth things, Prophesie deceits.

It was the saying of one of our own, who was so far in love with it, that he desired it might remain as a Memorial upon his Monument, Pruritus disputandi Ecclesiae scabi­es. Sir Henry Wotton. The Itch of Disputation is the Scab of the Church. And what he spake of the Itch of Disputation, is most true of the Itch of the Ear in the general; it is the Scab of Religion, the Scab of the Church, a spiritual Leprosie, that overspreads the whole man.

The second sign or Symptome of this Disease, 2. The second Symptome, They shall heap to them­selves Teach­ers. is the scratching and clawing of the itching Ear, with a multiplied variety of Instructors, [...], They shall heap to themselves Teachers. Ipsi sibi, (as Beza renders it) that is, Scientes ac prudentes sibi accersere suae perniciei instrumenta. Beza in locum. They sha [...]l wittingly and willingly procure the Instruments of their own destruction; (as he glosses upon the place.)

This Heap of Teachers may be conceived in a double reference: A Heap in a double refe­rence.

• 1. The quantity. 1. The multitude and num­ber.
• 2. The quality. 2. The condition and qua­lification of their Tea­chers.

First, 1. The mul­titude and number of them. this Heap of Teachers may be referred to their multitude or number, when they are multi­plied unnecessarily, and without cause, which is against the Rule of common Reason; who though they have never so able and painfull a Pastor of their own, and a company of ortho­dox and faithfull Ministers round about them, yet not satisfied and content herewith, they ad­mire and run agadding after strangers: like un­to silly Doves without heart, as the Prophet speaks of Ephraim, Hosea 7.11. That forsake their own Dove-cote, and build in the next Barn or Steeple. And herein they bewray a spiritual kinde of covetousness, and say of their Heap of Teachers, as he in the Poet of his full Bags and Chests,

Verùm, dulce est de magno tollere acervo.

O! it is a pleasant thing to take whole hand­fulls out of a great heap.

Secondly, 2. The qua­lification and condition of them. this Heap of Teachers may relate to their qualification and condition, when there is a multiplication of such as are insufficient and un­worthy. And so Magìs coa­cervatio est, si fiant quatuor indigni quàm centum boni, Aquin. in loc. Aquinas expounds the place, Then may it more properly be said to be [Page 21] an Heap of Teachers, if there be four bad, than an hundred good.

There are three marks and characters of this Heap of Teachers

• 1. Young and youthfull Teachers.
  Three chara­cters of them
• 2. Ignorant and unlearned Teachers.
• 3. False and flattering Teachers.

The first character of these Teachers, 1. The first characters, Young and youthfull Teachers. they are young and youthfull: A Bishop must not be a Novice, that is St. Paul's charge to Timothy, 1 Tim. 3.6. [...], he says not a young man, but a Novice. A Plant that is new-set in the Nur­sery of the University, or the Garden of the Church, that hath not taken any deep rooting, nor grown up to any great heighth; and so can­not bring forth much fruit. There is no build­ing with green and unseasoned Timber. And to lay the burden of the Pastoral charge upon the shoulders of a Novice, is all Greg. de cu­ra Pastor. part. 3. c. 16. one, saith Gre­gory, as to raise the Roof of an House upon the walls, while they are yet green and tender; this is to build unto ruine, and to downfall the whole Frame; and yet these Novice Teachers are the men, whom they most respect and reve­rence, and are every way as inordinate in their loves and likings of green years and green Heads, as women with childe in their longings after green fruit. For albeit youth is not to be despised, as St. Paul adviseth Timothy, 1 Tim. 4.12. Let no man despise thy youth. And the [Page 22]reason is given by Ignatius, Ignat. Epist. ad Magnes. [...], Then is not youth to be disdained, when it is devoted and dedicated unto God, and seasoned with sanctity and holiness; yet nevertheless youth hath not that ballast of knowledg and learning that Bos lassus fortiùs fig it pedem. Hieron. senex ad Aug. Juvenem. Aug. Ep. 13.1. solid gravity and experience of elder years. And young Elihu was not mistaken, when he thus thought and taught, Job 32.7. I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom. There is as great a difference betwixt Age and Youth, as betwixt old and new Wine; and though new Wine be the more brisk and sparkling, yet the old hath the deeper colour, and the greater strength. And that Age is to be preferred be­fore Youth we may learn from the Parable of old and new Wine, Luke 5.39. No man ha­ving drunk old Wine, straightway desireth new: for he saith, [...], The old is better.

A second character of this Heap of Teachers, 2. The second character, Ignorant and unlearned Teachers. They are ignorant and unlearned. A strange kinde of Mothers, who bring forth and give suck too, before they conceive. They teach what they never learned, and are the Masters of the un­learned, ere that they ever were the Scholars of the learned, as Nimiùm multi imperi­torum Magistri fiunt, pr is­quàm fuerint Doctorum Di­scipuli. Hieron. Ep. [...]. St. Hierom complains of too too many in his Time. And to make choice of such kinde of Teachers is to imploy a lame Messenger, to command him to run, and at the same time to cut off his Legs. It is the wise mans comparison, Prov. 26.6. He that sendeth [Page 23]by the hand of a Fool, cutteth off the Feet. This is to make use of blinde Guides; and if the blinde lead the blinde, they will both fall into the Ditch. Si Sacerdos est, sciat legem Domini, si igno­ret legem Do­mini, ipse ar­guit se non esse Sacerdotem Domini. Hier. super Agg. c. 2. How can they prove good Seers, that want their eyes? Or afford light unto others that are darkness themselves? as if darkness should bring forth light; Et nox nocti indicaret scientiam, and night unto night should utter knowledg. And of such Teachers as these, that Prophecy of Mi­cah is verified and made good, Micah 3.6. There­fore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine, (or prove sound and able Divines) The Sun shall go down over the Prophets, and the day shall be dark over them.

The third and last character of this Heap of Teachers, They are false and flattering, 3. The third character, False and flattering Teachers. who daub with untempered mortar, and parget a rotten Post, or a ruinous wall, with a fair crust and out-side, as deceitfull Builders: and sow Pillows under mens arm-holes, that they may sleep and snort more securely, Ezek. 13.10. That Et quoniam mel in Dei sa­crificiis non offertur, nimia dulcedo arte mutata est, & quâdam pipe­ris austeritate condita, ap ud Deum nil tan­tum suave pla­cet, nisi quod babet in se ali­quid mordacis veritatis. Hieronym. de legal. sacrific. sacrifice with Honey in stead of Salt; and offer Offerunt coccum, sed non bis tinctum; non duplicatum. Origen. in Exod. Red, but not Scarlet; the Dye of their words go not deep enough, but cocker, and cherish, and sooth, and smooth men up in their sins; such were the Teachers in Micah's time, and ours, and like unto parallel lines, they both go together, Micah 2.11. If a man walking in the spirit and falshood dody, he shall even be the Prophet of this People.

The fourth general part, 4. The fourth part, The ef­fect of the Disease. is the Effect of the Disease, and that is double; wherein (as in every motion) there are two Terms.

• 1. There is the Terminus à quo, [They shall turn away their Ears from the Truth.]
• 2. There is the Terminus ad quem, [And shall be turned after Fables.]

There are two things considerable in every sin, 1. An aversion from God, an immutable and unchangeable good. 2. And a conversion to the creature, a flitting and a fading vanity: both these are very observable, and inseparably joyned together in the effects of this sin. They shall turn away their Ears from the Truth; There is an aversion and falling off from God; and shall be turned after Fables, that is a conversion or falling on to the creature. For as there is no vacuum or emptiness in nature, but it is always re­plenished and filled with some kinde of Body, even so there is no vacuity of sin in the Soul: and no sooner hath the minde taken the leave, and bid Adieu unto the Truth, but it is forth­with entertained and taken up with fond Fables, dangerous Doctrines, [...], damnable Heresies, or Heresies of damnation, as St. Peter stiles them, To the denying of the Lord that bought them, in his several natures, as God and Man; yea to the denying of each person in the blessed Trinity: and hereof the present Times afford us most sad and wofull experieuce, wherein men [Page 25]having once shaken hands with fundamental and saving Truths, they are immediately proselyted and perverted to gross errours of all sorts and sizes, they turn Anabaptists, Familists, Quakers, Ranters, and what not, and so bring upon them­selves quick destruction. And as this follows by a spiritual kinde of necessity, there being no va­cuum in sin, no more than in nature; so it chiefly comes to pass and takes effect through the just judgment of God, receiving in themselves [...], That recompence of their errour that was meet, as St. Paul speaks of the Gentiles, Rom. 1.27. And because they received not the love of the Truth, that they might be saved, [...], for this cause God shall send them strong de­lusions, that they might believe a Lye. As the same Apostle tells the Thessalonians, 2 Thess. 2.10, 11. They that will not believe this Truth, are justly gi­ven over to believe [...], That great and prodi­gious Lye of Antichristian Doctrine. And Quia nox faciunt bona quae cogno­scunt, non co­gnoscunt mala quae faciunt. August. see­ing they do not the good which they know, they are so seduced by the spirit of ignorance and er­rour, that they shall not know the evil that they do.

But if any demand and ask concerning the time, when their Disease shall be in the Paroxysm, 5. The time of the Dis­ease, the fifth part of the Text. in the full heat and heighth, and propound the Disciples question touching the destruction of Jerusalem, Matth. 24.3. Tell us when shall these things be? St. Paul shall answer the question out of the Text, For the time shall come. This he spake full sixteen hundred years ago, and what was then a Prophecy and a Prediction of a [Page 26]thing to come, is now a History and a Relation of what is past. And I may a little alter St. Paul's words, and turn his [...] into [...], The time shall come, into The time is come, and apply and take up our Saviours words to his Countreymen at Nazareth, Luke 4.21. This day is this Scripture ful­filled in your ears. And it may be there are some Readers that will make good St. Paul's Prophecy, and will not endure sound Doctrine, either Text or Sermon. Like unto those of the Popish party, Joan. Manl. Collect. whom the Frier justly reproved, and told him plainly of it, That the Truth he preached was like Holy Water which every one desired and called for with a great deal of earnestness; yet when the Sexton cast it on them, and sprink­led them therewith, they would turn their backs upon it. And if there be any such, let them make inquiry and narrow search into the cause of the Disease, and look to their lusts. Let them see if there be not in them, a lust of proud igno­rance, or wanton curiosity, or sordid covetous­ness. Let them examine and try it by the seve­ral signs and symptomes, The Itch of the Ear, and the heaping to themselves Teachers, young and youthfull Teachers, ignorant and unlearned Teachers, false and flattering Teachers: and let them take heed and beware in the last place of the lamentable effects of it, They shall turn away their Ears from the Truth, and shall be turned after Fables.

But in case men will not endure sound Doctrine, The applica­tion. must the Ministers of God prove mealy-mouth'd, and be as men in whose mouths there are no reproofs. [Page 27]Or shall they take up the Prophet Jeremy's resolu­tion, Jer. 20.9. Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his Name. Nay ra­ther, let them attend and obserue Ezekiel's charge, Ezek. 2.7. And thou shalt speak my words un­to them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, for they are most rebellious. The Word of God must be spoken, and sounded forth both from the Pulpit and the Press, whether men will hear, Mens boni studii ac pii voti, etiamsi effectum non invenerit coepti operis, habet tamen praemi­um voluntatis. Salvian. de Gubern. Dei Praefat. or whether they will forbear; and so much the rather, when men stop their ears, and turn their backs upon it. If the Iron be blunt, there must be put to more strength, Eccles. 10.10. The more Gravissimus nodus in ligno non potest ex­pelli nisi gra­vissimo oppres­sorio. Ambrose. knotty and cross-grain'd the Timber is, the more sharp and strong must the Wedges be, and the forcible blows must be re­doubled and repeated; and the more thwart and opposite men declare themselves unto sound Doctrine, the Ministers of God must be the more importunate and vehement in the pressing and urging of it: that is the ground of the Apostles exhortation in the words before the Text, and is noted out unto us in the Particle [For] the first word of the Text. Preach the Word, Be instant in season, and out of season, Re­prove, Rebuke, Exhort, with all long-suffering and Doctrine, 2 Tim. 4.2. For the time will come, that they will not endure sound Doctrine. And it is a strange kinde of [For;] as if the Apostle should argue in this manner, Seeing men stop their ears like the deaf Adder, Cry aloud and spare not, and cause them to hear whether they will or no: and being fallen into a spiritual Lethargy, a deep and [Page 28]dead sleep, labour to awaken and to arowze them up: and sith Mundus se­nescens patitur Phantasias. Gerson. contra superstitiosos. in this fancy-full Age of the World men are wholly given over to Dreams and Dotages, imploy and improve both power and parts to the utmost of your ability to dis­abuse and undeceive them of their errours.

And give me leave to apply it to my Bre­thren of the Ministery, The conclusi­on. and to speak it home to my self and others in the Apostles words, Preach the Word, Be instant in season, out of season, Re­prove, Rebuke, Exhort, with all long-suffering and Doctrine. And the reason is here rendred in the words of the Text, For the Time will come, when they will not endure sound Doctrine, but after their own Lusts shall they heap to themselves Teachers, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears from the Truth, and shall be turned after Fables.