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<DATE>2014-01-28</DATE>
<RESPSTMT>
<NAME>Simon Charles</NAME>
<RESP>MURP</RESP>
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<ITEM>Proofed and reviewed.</ITEM>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="2">
<PB REF="2">
<P>A PREPARATION vnto FASTING and REPENTANCE.</P>
<P>By PETER MOVLIN, and tran&s;lated by <HI>I. B.</HI></P>
<P>LONDON: Printed by <HI>T. S.</HI> for <HI>Nathaniel New|bery,</HI> and are to be &s;ould at the &s;igne of the Starre vnder <HI>S. Peters</HI> Church in Cornehill, and in Popes head ally. 1620.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="dedication">
<PB REF="3">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>To the Religious and Vertuous Lady, the Lady IANE BOYS, Widdow to the right wor|&s;hipfull Sir IOHN BOYS, &s;ometime Recorder of the City of <HI>Canterbury;</HI> grace &amp; peace from our LORD IESVS CHRIST.</HEAD>
<P><HI>_MAdame,</HI> I pre&s;ent vn|to your La|di&s;hips view and reading, this Homelie preached in the
<PB REF="4"> French tongue by that lear|ned and iudicious diuine, M^r. <HI>Peter du Moulin,</HI> Mi|ni&s;ter of the word of God, and by me tran&s;lated, touch|ing that excellent conference betweene God and his &s;er|uant <HI>Abraham;</HI> wherein we may behold on the one &s;ide the nature of &s;inne, and the vengeance of God when &s;inners are come to their full mea&s;ure; on the other &s;ide the patience and famili|ar acce&s;&s;e, which he affords to tho&s;e that loue him, how milde and patient he is to|wards them that feare him, and how hee behaues him|&s;elfe towards his enemies,
<PB REF="4"> and all to this end to moue vs all to faith, repentance, and humility.</P>
<P>And &s;ithence my &s;mall paines in engli&s;hing it yeelds me a right to make choyce of one to whom I may dedicate this little volume, I am bold to pre&s;ent the &s;ame vnto your Ladi&s;hip (hoping your fauourable acceptance ther|of) and the rather becau&s;e it befits you, (Madame) in many re&s;pects, for the&s;e vertues that are here re|quired, are in you. (Ma|dame) I &s;peake it without flattery; faith, repentance, humility, zeale to Gods hou&s;e, loue to his word, loue
<PB REF="5"> and faith which you haue to the Lord Ie&s;us, and towards all his Saints; for you are an <HI>Anna,</HI> alwayes &s;eruing God in the Temple with fa|&s;ting and prayers, a <HI>Lydia</HI> in hearing Gods word, a <HI>Mary</HI> in pondering and meditating the &s;ame, a <HI>Dor|cas</HI> to Widdowes and Or|phans, a <HI>Shunamite</HI> to the Prophets and Mini&s;ters of God, not onely countenan|cing our per&s;ons and mini|&s;tery with your per&s;on and pre&s;ence in our Church of <HI>Canterbury</HI> when you are here, but al&s;o cheri&s;hing vs with good and comfortable words, and exerci&s;ing your
<PB REF="5"> liberall charitie towards our poore, not lee&s;ing your fir&s;t loue, like the <HI>Ephe&s;ians,</HI> but continuing it towards vs fro~ time to time; and therefore the iu&s;t God will not forget your piety towards him, nor your charity towards his Saints; but as your name and charitable workes are inregi&s;tred in our booke of remembrance, &s;o is your name written in the Booke of Life, your deeds of cha|rity in feeding, couering, vi&s;iting the poore, written in that Booke that &s;hall be opened in the day of iudge|ment to your con&s;olation; then &s;hall you reape plenti|fully
<PB REF="6"> what you &s;owe here, and as <HI>Dama&s;cen</HI> &s;peakes, here you giue a little, there you &s;hall receiue much; now you giue a tran&s;itory thing, then &s;hall you gaine an eternall; here you giue a penny, there you &s;hall receiue a King|dome; for if <HI>Iulius Ce&s;ar</HI> gaue Lands to one that gaue him but a draught of water, what a reward will Chri&s;t giue to tho&s;e, that giue but a cup of water to drinke in his name to tho&s;e that belong to him? If <HI>Darius</HI> gaue a Kingdome to <HI>Silo&s;ontes,</HI> that gaue him a garment onely; what a Kingdome will Chri&s;t giue to tho&s;e that
<PB REF="6"> giue him cloathing, foode, and drinke, in the name and per&s;on of the lea&s;t and poo|re&s;t of his brethren? The &s;ame Ie&s;us Chri&s;t whom you feede, cloath, and vi&s;ite here on earth in his members; as he feedes you and cloathes you here on earth, not onely corporally, but al&s;o &s;piritu|ally, with the &s;pirituall <HI>Manna</HI> the bread and wa|ter of life, euen he him&s;elfe who is your &s;pirituall foode and garment al&s;o, will giue you that euerla&s;ting King|dome, prepared for you from the foundation of the world; where and when you &s;hall be crowned with the crowne
<PB REF="7"> of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, cloathed with the roabes of glory, &s;it downe with <HI>Abraham, I&s;a|ack</HI> and <HI>Iacob</HI> to be nouri|&s;hed with the fruit of the tree of life and water of life, and liue eternally with him in the kingdome of heauen, <HI>Amen.</HI></P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE>Canterbury <DATE>the 30. of Iune, 1620.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED>Your Ladi&s;hips in all dutifull &s;er|uice to command, IOHN BVLTEEL.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="7">
<HEAD>&para; A Preparation vnto FASTING and REPENTANCE.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<Q><BIBL>GEN. Chap. 18. ver&s;. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. &amp;c.</BIBL>
<P><BIBL>20</BIBL> <HI>And the Lord &s;aide, Becau&s;e the cry of Sodome and Gomorrah is great, and becau&s;e their Sinne is very grieuous.</HI></P>
<P><BIBL>21</BIBL> <HI>I will goe downe now, and &s;ee whether they haue done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come vnto mee, and if not, I will know, &amp;c.</HI></P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<DIV2 TYPE="introduction">
<P>_IT is not needfull my brethren to repre&s;ent &amp; &s;hew forth vnto you the extraordi|nary
<PB REF="8"> occa&s;ions, for the which we are inuited to afflict our &s;oules, and &s;anctifie a Fa&s;t by Repentance; &s;eeing that we want not ordinary cau&s;es: The enmity of Satan, and of the world, the feeblene&s;&s;e of the Church, the Name of God bla&s;phemed, our vices that doe increa&s;e, our zeale which waxeth cold, the hand of God lifted vp to &s;trike vs, and his rods prepared, doe binde vs to tremble vnder his hand, and preuent his iudgements by Fa&s;ting and Repentance; lea&s;t GOD &s;end vs another kinde of Fa&s;ting, making vs to Fa&s;t from his Word, which is the &s;pirituall bread, &s;ending vs that famine prophecied by the Prophet <HI>Amos,</HI> not a
<PB REF="8"> famine of bread, but a famine of the hearing of the Word of God, for a puni&s;h|ment, becau&s;e we ta&s;te this &s;piritual bread with di&s;ta&s;te, and receiue not his Word with reuerence.</P>
<P>Let vs doe in &s;uch &s;ort, that our humiliation may be acceptable vnto God, and that whiles our bodies are voide of meate, we haue not our hearts repleni&s;hed with hatred and rancour, that whiles wee ab&s;taine from drinking, we be not drun|ken with pride: (for God doth as much dete&s;t the fa&s;t of the hypocrite, as the di&s;|&s;olutenes of the prophane;) that our mouthes doe not only ab&s;taine from meates, but al&s;o from bad di&s;cour|&s;es
<PB REF="9"> and euill words; that we fa&s;t with our eares, to keepe them &s;hut again&s;t vaine and idle di&s;cour&s;es, and with our hands, keeping vs from ra|pine &amp; v&s;ury: In a word, that al that which is in vs, euen to our &s;ecret thoughts celebrat vnto God an holy Fa&s;t, and plea&s;ing vnto God, through Ie&s;us Chri&s;t. That we may know that fa&s;ting is not in|&s;tituted to &s;atisfie the Iu&s;tice of God, but to reuenve vs of our &s;elues. That we giue vn|to the poore that which wee &s;pare &amp; take from our &s;elues, that our voluntary fa&s;t|ing may helpe and aide that fa&s;t which the poore in|dureth of force &amp; nece&s;&s;itie. And while that your bodies fa&s;t, let your &s;oules feede on
<PB REF="9"> the foode of life, which is a meate which you mu&s;t eate (as of olde the Pa&s;chall Lambe) with bitter hearbes, &s;oaking it in teares of repen|tance. In&s;tead of &s;ackcloth, after the fa&s;hion of the El|ders, be ye cloathed and co|uered all euer with holi|ne&s;&s;e and integritie; in lieu of &s;princkling of a&s;hes, as of olde, acknowledge your &s;elues, with <HI>Abraham,</HI> to be du&s;t and a&s;hes, and giue glo|ry to GOD, in humbling your &s;elues: Who knoweth if God will not haue pitty on his people, and will not &s;tirre vp his compa&s;&s;ions vpon his children? For ha|uing in times pa&s;t &s;taied the Sunne at the prayer of one man, how much more will
<PB REF="10"> he &s;tay and keepe backe his iudgements at the generall cry of his whole Church, proceeding from faith, and made &s;trong by Repen|tance?</P>
<P>To di&s;po&s;e our hearts thereunto, I haue cho&s;en this excellent conference betweene God and his Ser|uant <HI>Abraham;</HI> where you &s;ee on the one &s;ide the na|ture of &s;inne, and the ven|geance of God when &s;ins are come to their full &amp; heaped mea&s;ure: on the other &s;ide the patience and familiar ac|ce&s;&s;e which hee affords to tho&s;e that loue him. All this conference may be re|duced to the&s;e three heads: I. Who he is that &s;peakes. II. How hee behaues him|&s;elfe
<PB REF="10"> towards his enemies. III. How milde and patient hee is towards them that feare him.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="1" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>I. PART.</HEAD>
<HEAD>I. Who he is that &s;peakes.</HEAD>
<P>TOuching him that &s;peakes vnto <HI>Abra|ham,</HI> it is &s;aid in the begin|ning of the Chapter, that three men did pre&s;ent them|&s;elues to <HI>Abraham;</HI> one of tho&s;e is called a while after the LORD: And &s;o in the hi&s;tory of the vi&s;ion of the burning bu&s;h, and in the hi|&s;tory of <HI>Gideon,</HI> and in that of the conception of <HI>Samp|&s;on,</HI> euen he who is called an Angell, is called the LORD; which cannot appertaine
<PB REF="11"> vnto any but vnto the Son of God our Lord Ie&s;us Chri&s;t: For it is hee, who being &s;ent of God, is not|with&s;tanding God, and the Lord our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Ieremie</HI> 23. by whom euen then the Lord gouerned his Church, made it feele his a&s;&s;i&s;tance and know his wil; yea, before the floud hee hath by the mouth of <HI>Noah</HI> preached to the dead, whole &s;pirits are now in the infer|nall pri&s;on. 1 <HI>Pet.</HI> 3.19.</P>
<P>Perhaps you finde it &s;trange that hee appeared vnto <HI>Abraham</HI> in the forme of a man, as if before he was borne of the Virgin <HI>Mary,</HI> he had tooke mans nature; but you mu&s;t know that the bodies wherein the Son
<PB REF="11"> of God appeared in the olde Te&s;tament, were but bor|rowed bodies for a time and by di&s;pen&s;ation, the Deity of the Sonne not being vni|ted per&s;onally to the body, which was an in&s;trument which he v&s;ed for the pre|&s;ent action onely, and then left it. Euen as a good or a bad Angel may a&s;&s;ume a body and moue it, without giuing it life or forme, and without making him&s;elfe one per&s;on with that body.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="2" TYPE="part">
<HEAD>II. How God behaues him|&s;elfe towards his enemies.</HEAD>
<P>NOw touching the man|ner wherein and wher|by God behaueth him&s;elfe towards his enemies, it is ex|pre&s;&s;ed
<PB REF="12"> vnto vs in the&s;e words: <HI>And the Lord &s;aid vn|to Abraham, Becau&s;e the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, &amp; becau&s;e their &s;in is very grie|uous, I will goe downe now, and &s;ee whether they haue done al|together according to the crie of it, which is come vnto me, and if not, I will know.</HI></P>
<P>Where you &s;ee, that God beares and permits with pa|tience the wicked to rule a long time, but when their &s;inne is come to the full, then he vnfolds and &s;preads abroad his terrible iudge|ments; which he doth here in this place after an inquiry and kinde of information, to &s;hew that he proceedes herein iu&s;tly and without precipitation. Hee &s;peakes
<PB REF="12"> then of a &s;in that cries before God, &s;o <HI>Abels bloud,</HI> Gen. 4. <HI>cryeth from the ground vnto God for vengeance;</HI> So <HI>Iob</HI> in the 31. chapter, &s;peaking of land detained by an vn|iu&s;t po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or, &s;aith, that <HI>the land cryes again&s;t the vnlaw|full po&s;&s;e&s;&s;or, and the furrowes likewi&s;e therof complaint.</HI> And <HI>Habbakuk</HI> Chap. 2. &s;peaking of hou&s;es built by extorti|on, &s;aith, that <HI>the &s;tones cryes out of the wall, and the beame out of the timber an&s;wereth it,</HI> as bearing witne&s;&s;e again&s;t their ma&s;ter before God. And Saint <HI>Iames</HI> in his fi&s;t chapter, &s;aith, that the hyre of the labourers, which haue reaped downe your fieldes, which is of you kept backe by fraud, cryeth, and
<PB REF="13"> the cryes of them which haue reaped, are entred into the eares of the Lord of Sabbath. Which teacheth vs, that there are heinous &s;ins that cry and call God to veangeance, &s;o that though men &s;hould holde their peace, the thing it &s;elfe would &s;peake, as our Saui|our &s;aith, Luke 19. <HI>If the&s;e men &s;hould hold their peace, the &s;tones would immediately cry out.</HI> For euen as when God &s;peakes, the liuele&s;&s;e and &s;encele&s;&s;e things vnder|&s;tand: When he &s;peakes to the rocke, it ca&s;teth foorth water; when he &s;peakes to the dead, they ri&s;e vp at his word: Euen &s;o God vnder|&s;tands the language of &s;encele&s;&s;e things, and brings
<PB REF="13"> them foorth to witne&s;&s;e a|gain&s;t them whom hee will puni&s;h in his wrath. The&s;e crying &s;innes are the &s;innes that are come to their full mea&s;ure, as the iniquitie of the Amorites in <HI>Io&s;huahs</HI> time; for in <HI>Abrahams</HI> time God declareth in the 15. chapter of Gene&s;is, that <HI>the iniquitie of the Amorites was not yet full,</HI> that is to &s;ay, that the mea&s;ure was not full to the top as then; according to that which Chri&s;t Ie&s;us &s;aith vnto the Iewes, Mat. 23 <HI>Ye fill vp the mea&s;ure of your fathers:</HI> which the Apo&s;tle <HI>Paul,</HI> 1 <HI>The&s;&s;.</HI> 2. &s;aith, happe|ned in his time, <HI>They fill vp their &s;innes alwayes, for the wrath is come vpon them to the vttermo&s;t.</HI></P>
<PB REF="14">
<P>This la&s;t period of &s;innes, is when the&s;e two things concurre in a countrey or in a twone: I. When &s;in|ers doe boa&s;t of their wic|ked acts, and haue lo&s;t that good that remaines in &s;in|ners, <HI>to wit,</HI> the &s;hame of doing euill, wherein the Prophet <HI>E&s;ayas</HI> coupleth the Iewes with the Sodo|mites, in the 3. chapter, <HI>They declare their &s;inne as Sodome, they hide it not</HI> Such are they of whom the <HI>Wi&s;e-man</HI> &s;pea|keth in the 2. Chapter of Prouerbes, <HI>who reioyce to doe euil, and delight in the froward|ne&s;&s;e of the wicked,</HI> which is the third and la&s;t degree of iniquitie, which <HI>Dauid</HI> de&s;|cribeth in the 1. P&s;al. name|ly, <HI>to &s;it in the &s;eat of the &s;corn|full,</HI>
<PB REF="14"> that is to &s;ay, of tho&s;e that with in&s;olency and flowting do mocke at Gods Word, and take a delight, yea, a glory to de&s;pight and vexe him. II. The &s;econd point that makes this full mea&s;ure of &s;inne is, when there is no one man to be found in a citie or countrey that with&s;tands the euill, and oppo&s;eth him&s;elfe again&s;t it, and as it is &s;aid in the 12. P&s;alme, <HI>The godly man cea|&s;eth, the faithfull faile from a|mong the children of men,</HI> there is none that doth good, no not one; none that feare GOD, no not one; or el&s;e the number of good men is &s;o &s;mall that they are as nothing in a crowde, and as a graine of
<PB REF="15"> corne in a heape of &s;traw. Such was the condition of Ieru&s;alem, which <HI>Ieremie</HI> deplores in his 5. Chapter, <HI>Runne yee to and fro through the &s;treetes of Ieru&s;alem and &s;ee now, and know, and &s;eeke in the broad places thereof, if ye can finde a man, if there be any that executeth iudgement, that &s;eeketh the truth, and I will pardon it.</HI> And in the 22. chapter of <HI>Ezekiel, I &s;ought for a man among&s;t them that &s;hould make vp the hedge, and &s;tand in the gappe before me for the land, that I &s;hould not de&s;troy it, but I found none; therefore haue I powred out mine indignation vpon them, I haue con&s;umed them with the fire of my wrath, their owne way haue I recompen&s;ed vpon
<PB REF="15"> their heads, &s;aith the Lord God.</HI></P>
<P>This &s;elfe &s;ame enormitie and hainou&s;ne&s;&s;e of &s;inne is here repre&s;ented by the word, aggrauate, or made heauy and weighing down, where God &s;aith, that the &s;inne of Sodome is very grieuous, &s;peaking of &s;innes as of burthens, which ouer|whelme our &s;oules, and doe hinder them to lift vp them|&s;elues to God, and doe ca&s;t them downe headlong into the depth of perdition: Or el&s;e he &s;peakes of &s;innes, as of weights put in a ballance, that carry them again&s;t the patience of God, and doe make his will to hang to|wards the &s;ide of the puni&s;h|ment; therefore the Prophet
<PB REF="16"> <HI>Zacharie</HI> in his fift Chapter compares &s;in to a lumpe of lead; and the Prophet <HI>Dauid</HI> P&s;a. 38. &s;aith, <HI>his iniquities are gone ouer his head, as an heauy burthen, they are too heauy for him:</HI> and the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> &s;peaking of our &s;innes as of heauy burthens, wherewith Ie&s;us Chri&s;t hath charged him&s;elfe to di&s;charge vs; <HI>He hath borne our griefes, and car|ried our &s;orrowes, the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of vs all</HI> and <HI>S. Peter,</HI> 1 Pet 2. <HI>He hath borne our &s;innes in his owne body on the tree, by who&s;e &s;tripes we are healed.</HI> O how heauy was that burthen, &s;ee|ing that the lea&s;t peece of our &s;innes which euery one of vs doe commit, is a &s;uffi|cient weight to ca&s;t vs down
<PB REF="16"> headlong, and plunge vs to the bottome of the bottom|le&s;&s;e pit! Now Ie&s;us Chri&s;t hath borne the &s;innes of all men on his Cro&s;&s;e. It was the mo&s;t principall burthen and charge of <HI>Ionas</HI> &s;hippe; the Marriners laboured with &s;trength of armes to vnload the &s;hip, &amp; to &s;aue their liues did ca&s;t their wares into the &s;ea, but the heauie&s;t bur|then remained in the &s;hip, namely <HI>Ionas</HI> &s;inne; neither was there any way to &s;aue them&s;elues, but by ca&s;ting him into the &s;ea. True it is, that as Leapers doe not feele nor &s;mell their owne infecti|on, nor they that haue an ob&s;tructed and corrupt no&s;e doe not &s;mell the &s;cent of their breath; and the &s;wine
<PB REF="17"> wallowing in the mire doe finde that odour &s;weet; &s;o men plunged and &s;teeped in &s;inne, feele not the weight of their &s;innes, becau&s;e they are as it were borne and bred with them, and that this naturall euill groweth and increa&s;eth more and more by cu&s;tome; which is the rea|&s;on which the Philo&s;ophers doe render, why tho&s;e that &s;wimme betweene two wa|ters, feele not the weight of the water which is ouer their heads, becau&s;e (&s;ay they) that an element is not heauy in his naturall place: Euen &s;o &s;inne doth not oppre&s;&s;e nor ouercharge the con&s;ci|ences of prophane men, and they feele not their con&s;ci|ences burthened, becau&s;e &s;in
<PB REF="17"> is there in them as in his own naturall place, but if God withdraweth a man out from this bottome and depth, and maketh him once to breath the aire of his grace, then the very reliques of &s;in that are in him weighes him much downe and wea|ries him much.</P>
<P>When therefore the &s;inne of the wicked is come to his full and la&s;t mea&s;ure, then God, who by his patience hath inuited &s;inners to re|pentance, who hath vnco|uered, dunged, and pruned this barren figge-tree three yeares long, finally &s;eeing that it bringeth forth no fruit, and that the &s;inner mocks at his long patience, commands that the are be
<PB REF="18"> laid vnto the roote of this cur&s;ed tree, and rewardeth his long expectation with the greatne&s;&s;e of his puni&s;h|ment. Euen as when a wo|man condemned to death by law being found with childe, her execution is de|ferred till &s;he be deliuered of of her childe; &s;o although God hath already determi|ned in his councell to puni&s;h &s;ome wicked men, notwith|&s;tanding he &s;tayes till the &s;in which they haue conceiued in their hearts, be brought to ripene&s;&s;e; during which time the &s;inner often makes merry, as malefactors doe, who to driue them&s;elues from their dumpes, play in pri&s;on at cards and dice; but before God the day and
<PB REF="18"> houre of their execution is decreed.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding before he comes to that point, hee &s;peakes as if he doubted of the truth, and prepares him|&s;elfe to make a kinde of in|formation and enque&s;t. <HI>I wil goe downe and &s;ee now,</HI> &s;aith he) <HI>whether they haue done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come vnto me:</HI> And &s;o in the confu&s;ion of languages God de&s;cends, to &s;ee what the children of men builded, and to haue knowledge thereof.</P>
<P>The&s;e things are &s;aid af|ter the fa&s;hion of men, for God de&s;cends not, &s;eeing he is euery where, and hath no need to enquire, &s;eeing hee knoweth all things; but
<PB REF="19"> the holy Gho&s;t &s;tuttereth with vs, as with children, in humane words, of Diuine things. God comes downe to vs, when he makes him|&s;elfe to be felt of vs; he &s;tret|cheth his arme, when he di&s;|playes his &s;trength; hee moues him&s;elfe when hee will mooue vs; he wakens when he makes it knowne that he hath not &s;lept; hee enquires of the &s;innes of men, when he will conuict and conuince them; hee &s;peakes as doubting, when he will put vs out of doubt of the certainty and full knowledge of our actions.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding God giueth by this practi&s;e a rule vnto Magi&s;trates, not to iudge till after a carefull en|quiry,
<PB REF="19"> and after a ripe con|&s;ideration, and to vndergoe that Law which God hath impo&s;ed vnto him&s;elfe, &s;ay|ing, I will goe now downe and &s;ee if it be thus and thus: Which is al&s;o a war|ning to all particular men, that they be not vniu&s;tly prone to beleeue calum|nies, nor ra&s;hly vniu&s;t to condemne others without being well informed of the truth; but expecting the iudgement of GOD that will make all things mani|fe&s;t, let vs beware that wee giue not ra&s;hly our iudge|ment.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 N="3" TYPE="part">
<PB REF="20">
<HEAD>III. How gentle and milde God is towards them that feare him, and the care hee hath of his children.</HEAD>
<P>THe third point is the manner, how God be|haues him&s;elfe towards tho&s;e that feare him. This point requires a more care|full and &s;erious con&s;idera|tion, becau&s;e it toucheth vs more particularly.</P>
<P>Of the&s;e three men &s;et|ting them&s;elues forwards towards Sodome; two of them goe on their way, but the third who is called the Lord, &s;tayes with <HI>Abraham</HI> who being in thought for his nephew <HI>Lot,</HI> fearing lea&s;t he &s;hould be intrapped and
<PB REF="20"> inwrapped in the ruine and de&s;truction of Sodome, makes interce&s;&s;ion for the men thereof: <HI>Wilt thou al&s;o de&s;troy the righteous with the wicked? &s;hall not the iudge of all the earth doe right?</HI> Hee could not better ground his &s;upplication, then on Gods Iu&s;tice as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Rom.</HI> 3. What &s;hall we &s;ay, is God vnrighteous who taketh vengeance? God forbid, for then how &s;hall God iudge the world? God being by nature righteou&s;|ne&s;&s;e it &s;elfe, can no more do iniu&s;tice, then white can black, or the flame can freez. To &s;ay that God is vnrigh|teous, is to &s;ay hee is God and is not God, for to be, and to be righteous, are one
<PB REF="21"> thing with God, not as with men, or Angels, who are &s;u&s;ceptible of contrary qualities without corrupti|on of their &s;ub&s;tance. Euen as the right of gouerning and of iudging the world, is deuolued and fallen to him by inheritance, not happe|ned by election: &s;o neither is he iu&s;t and righteous to be conformable to lawes that any hath impo&s;ed to him, but as his Empire, &s;o his Iu|&s;tice is naturall.</P>
<P>This righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e be|ing nece&s;&s;arily ioyned with goodne&s;&s;e, <HI>Abraham</HI> had rea&s;on to pre&s;uppo&s;e, that it was more conuenient and befitting this vpright good|ne&s;&s;e, to &s;upport the wicked for the good mens &s;ake,
<PB REF="21"> then to de&s;troy the good for the wickeds &s;ake. Not|with&s;tanding it &s;eemes this beares many exceptions, and hath many difficulties. For not to &s;peake of afflicti|ons for Gods cau&s;e, which befall the faithfull alone, while that the vngodly pro&s;per as Chri&s;t &s;aith, <HI>Yee &s;hall weepe, but the world &s;hall reioyce,</HI> becau&s;e the&s;e afflicti|ons are honourable, a glo|rious reproach, hone&s;t brands &amp; blemi&s;hes, &s;carfe, and liueries of our warfare, and conformities to Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, I will &s;peake onely of euils and afflictions wherewith God puni&s;heth the good with the wicked, and that becau&s;e of the wicked: God had foretolde
<PB REF="22"> by his Prophets, that by rea|&s;on of the &s;ins of the people, the land &s;hould vomit out her Inhabitants, which was fulfilled when <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar</HI> did lead the people cap|tiue into Babylon; with the multitude of this rebellious people, <HI>Daniel</HI> and <HI>Ezekiel</HI> were led al&s;o away, as al&s;o tho&s;e three men, who by the heate of their faith, ouer|came the heate of the bur|ning furnace. There were the good afflicted, for the wicked mens &s;ake. There were &s;eauen thou&s;and in Sa|maria, and among the ten tribes, that had not bowed their knees vnto <HI>Baal,</HI> were tho&s;e exempted from the publicke calamitie, when as <HI>Salmanazar</HI> &amp; <HI>Tiglatpilezer</HI>
<PB REF="22"> kings of Syria did leade the ten tribes into captiuitie. Doth not God &s;ay by his Prophet <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> Chap. 21. that <HI>his &s;word &s;hall cut off from the land of I&s;rael, the righteous and the wicked.</HI> And when God &s;aith in the 18. Chapter of the Reuelation, <HI>Come out of Babylon my people that ye be not partakers of her &s;innes, and that ye receiue not of her plagnes?</HI> doth hee not warne them, that if any of his people remaine there, he &s;hall be partaker of the plagues of Babylon? And if God would now at this time afflict a kingdome, gi|uen ouer to idolatry, and &s;hould finde there a generall plague, who doubts but that the faithfull mixt with the
<PB REF="23"> Idolaters &s;hould incurre the &s;ame danger?</P>
<P>To explaine vnto you this point. Ob&s;erue that when God vi&s;its a king|dome, or a Citie, with a gene|rall affliction, by rea&s;on of the wickedne&s;&s;e of the peo|ple, then tho&s;e of the faith|full, mixt with the wicked &s;hall e&s;cape, whom God in|tends to make as yet v&s;e of, and to imploy them for his glory, and for the good of his Church. So hee &s;aued <HI>Noah</HI> from the vniuer&s;all Floud; becau&s;e hee would re&s;erue him, and make v&s;e of him, for the pre&s;eruation of mankinde. So al&s;o in the dayes of the Emperour <HI>Ve&s;pa&s;ian,</HI> the Church of the Apo&s;tles that was in Ieru|&s;alem,
<PB REF="23"> was warned to goe out of the Citie, and with|draw her &s;elfe to Pella on the other &s;ide of Iordan, lea&s;t &s;hee &s;hould be inclo|&s;ed by the enemies in the be&s;ieging of the Citie, whereby it was razed down and the people de&s;troyed. And in the 14. Chapter of <HI>Ezekiel,</HI> God &s;peakes after this manner: <HI>Sonne of man, when the land &s;inneth again&s;t my by tre&s;pa&s;&s;ing grieuou&s;ly, then will I &s;tretch out mine hand vpon it, and will breake the &s;taffe of the bread thereof, and will &s;end famine vpon it, and will cut off man and bea&s;t from it; though tho&s;e three men,</HI> Noah, Daniel, <HI>and</HI> Iob <HI>were in it, they &s;hould deliuer but their owne &s;oules by their
<PB REF="24"> righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, &s;aith the Lord God; they &s;hall not deliuer nei|ther &s;onnes nor daughters, they onely &s;hall be deliuered;</HI> Be|cau&s;e that the con&s;eruation of the&s;e men was profita|ble to the Church of God.</P>
<P>But if God, who prouides for his worke as it plea&s;eth him, will imploy no more &s;uch a one, and will quickly giue him the po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of eternall life, then maruell not if he die as the re&s;t doe; and if the like and &s;embla|ble accidents do befall him; notwith&s;tanding in his common afflictions with the wicked, he hath parti|cular con&s;olation; God giues him grace to profit by his cha&s;ti&s;ements, and to take the&s;e bani&s;hments for
<PB REF="24"> flights from the world, and walking towards God: Po|uerty is vnto him a whole|&s;ome and profitable dyer, and an exerci&s;e of ab&s;ti|nence. In his death-bring|ing &s;ickene&s;&s;e, Gods Angel a&s;&s;i&s;ts him, who wipes off from him his &s;weaty drops of bloud, and Chri&s;t Ie&s;us neere him &s;hewing him the crowne of Glory. His death is as farre different from the death of others, as there is difference betweene the gates of hell, and the King|dome of God. So Thre&s;hers with the &s;ame flaile doe a|like thre&s;h both the corne and the &s;traw, but to diuers endes; which are as Chri&s;t Ie&s;us &s;aith, To gather the Wheate into the Barne, but
<PB REF="25"> to binde the &s;traw in bun|dles, to burne it in the vn|quenchable fire. So the pa&s;&s;age through the red Sea, was the ruine of the Egyp|tians, but was to the Church of God a pa&s;&s;age to arriue vnto the promi&s;ed inheri|tance. In a word, the cha|&s;ti&s;ements wherewith God doth vi&s;ite the faithfull, &s;hall neuer be fully di&s;tinct and &s;eparated from tho&s;e of the wicked before the day of iudgement; for then the &s;heepe &s;hall be called out from among the goates, di|uided and &s;et a part, and the tares growen pell-mell, and confu&s;edly mingled with Wheate&punc; and that hath toge|ther endured both &s;torme and weather, winde and
<PB REF="25"> havle, &s;hall be picked vp by the Angels, euen vnto the ve|ry la&s;t &s;lip and &s;prig, and be bound in bottles, to be ca&s;t into the euerla&s;ting fire.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding, <HI>Abra|ham</HI> might &s;eeme to pa&s;&s;e the limits of mode&s;ty in this demaund, as ready to con|troule the actions of God, <HI>Wilt thou</HI> (&s;aith hee) <HI>de&s;troy the righteous with the wicked? that be farre from thee;</HI> as &s;hewing vnto God his duty. Then afterwards hee &s;eemes to v&s;e policy and Art to|wards God, endeuouring to obtaine of God by retaile and parcels, that which hee thinkes hee &s;hall not get by the whole, and all at one time; &s;aying, <HI>If there be fifty righteous in the Citie, wilt thou
<PB REF="26"> not&s;pare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?</HI> And this being granted vn|to him, from fifty he comes to forty fiue, and from that to forty, and from that to thirty, and &s;o at la&s;t vnto ten. Hardly I &s;uppo&s;e is there to be found any Prince, be hee neuer &s;o meane and pettie, that would endure that any of his &s;eruants &s;hould leade him &s;o by degrees, and abu&s;e thus his gentlene&s;&s;e, and yet notwith&s;tanding there is &s;ome compari&s;on betweene the greate&s;t Prince of the world, and the meane&s;t beg|ger, yea, betweene the excel|lente&s;t Angell, and betweene the Pi&s;mire and worme, the di&s;tance and inequalitie is not infinite, for they are crea|tures,
<PB REF="26"> and there can be no infinite di&s;tance betwixt two finite things; but there is no compari&s;on betweene God and the mo&s;t excellent crea|ture that is; how much le&s;&s;e betweene God and between a man, a &s;inner as <HI>Abraham</HI> was, who acknowledgeth him&s;elfe to be nought but du&s;t and a&s;hes? who&s;e light is nought but darkene&s;&s;e? who&s;e righteouine&s;&s;e is as filthy ragges? who&s;e &s;trength is as &s;moake that vani&s;heth away? If God findes no &s;tedfa&s;tne&s;&s;e in his Angels, how much le&s;&s;e in them that dwell in hou&s;es of clay, who&s;e foundation is in the du&s;t, which are cru&s;hed be|fore the Moth? Such as was the &s;plendor of <HI>Herods</HI> robes,
<PB REF="27"> when hee was eaten of wormes and gaue vp the gho&s;t, in compari&s;on of the brightne&s;&s;e of the Sun, &s;uch is the glory of man in the pre&s;ence of God, and that &s;mall lu&s;tre which he hath in this world, is accompanied with thou&s;ands of briers and incommodities, like a gloe|worme in the mid&s;t of a bu&s;h. What thinke ye is the highe&s;t heauen before God? It is as a point in his pre|&s;ence; and what is the earth in regard of heauen, but as a point in compari&s;on? And what is a man in compari&s;on of the whole earth, but as a Pi&s;mire wandring in a large countrey? as the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah</HI> Chapter 40. &s;peaketh, <HI>Behold the nations are as a drop
<PB REF="27"> of a Bueket, and are counted as the &s;mall du&s;t of the ballance, and are as nothing before him.</HI> And therefore <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;aith, <HI>Behold I haue taken vp|on me to &s;peake vnto the Lord, which am but du&s;t and a&s;hes.</HI> It is al&s;o the end for the which God hath created man of the du&s;t, to the end that if he &s;hould happen to glory of the light of his vn|der&s;tanding, hee &s;hould be pre&s;ently aba&s;ed and abated by the remembrance of the birth and beginning of his body, and by the feeling of his infirmity; and to the end hee &s;hould v&s;e and imploy this rea&s;on to pray vnto God, who lifteth the poore from the du&s;t, and powreth his trea&s;ures into earthen ve&s;|&s;els,
<PB REF="28"> that he would not con|te&s;t again&s;t du&s;t, nor enter into an accompt with a&s;hes; that he would let it di&s;&s;olue by nature, without di&s;&s;ol|uing it before his time by the violence of his wrath. This is the con&s;ideration which <HI>Dauid</HI> brings in the 103. P&s;alme, to moue God to clemency and compa&s;&s;i|on. <HI>Like as a father pittieth his children, &s;o the Lord pitti|eth them that feare him; for he knoweth our frame, he remem|breth that we are du&s;t,</HI> before whom wee cannot pre&s;ent our &s;elues, but our haires mu&s;t &s;tare, our blood mu&s;t freeze within vs, and all the pride wee haue in vs mu&s;t needes be abated by feare.</P>
<P>All the&s;e con&s;iderations
<PB REF="28"> might make this priuate fa|miliaritie of <HI>Abraham</HI> with God, &s;eeme to be exce&s;&s;iue, as intending to controule the actions of God; and his cunning with &s;mall re&s;pect to in&s;inuate him&s;elfe little by little, and obtaine by pee|ces that which hee dur&s;t not demand all at once.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding in that God heareth him willingly, and accepts his demaund, hinders vs to pre&s;ume of any euill in &s;uch an holy and ex|cellent &s;eruant of God.</P>
<P>To re&s;olue you of this point, ye mu&s;t know that in a great &s;imilitude of words, there is often a great di&s;&s;imi|litude of &s;ence and intenti|on. Two per&s;ons &s;ometimes will v&s;e the &s;ame words, and
<PB REF="29"> make the &s;ame &s;ignes, but to diuers ends, and with dif|ferent intentions. As in the 17. Chapter of Gene&s;is, <HI>Abraham</HI> laughes at the pro|mi&s;e which God made him touching a Sonne, this laughter in him is not repro|ued, becau&s;e it proceeded of ioy, not of di&s;tru&s;t; but in the 18. Chapter <HI>Sarah</HI> laughes at the &s;elfe &s;ame thing, and is checked for it, becau&s;e God did perceiue therein her di&s;tru&s;t, as if the thing was impo&s;&s;ible. <HI>Za|charie</HI> the father of <HI>Iohn Bap|ti&s;t</HI> and the Virgin <HI>Mary</HI> doe an&s;were the Angel in words alike, &s;aying, <HI>How &s;hall this be?</HI> In <HI>Zacharie</HI> it was a <HI>How</HI> of doubt, in the holy virgin <HI>Mary</HI> it was a <HI>How</HI> of inqui|ry,
<PB REF="29"> to demand in&s;truction. Who could approue in any other then in <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> the&s;e bolde words, <HI>Yet now if thou wilt, forgiue their &s;inne, if not, blot mee I pray thee out of thy booke which thou ha&s;t written?</HI></P>
<P>You know that <HI>Iob</HI> and <HI>Ieremie</HI> pre&s;t with angui&s;h, haue cur&s;ed the day of their birth. I thinke that tho&s;e that are tormented in hell, &s;ay the very &s;ame thing; for as Chri&s;t &s;aith of <HI>Iudas,</HI> it had beene good for tho&s;e men, that they had neuer beene borne. But other was the motion that droue the&s;e holy men to this, other the murmuring of the damned; for the&s;e are moued and &s;et on with hatred again&s;t God,
<PB REF="30"> but <HI>Iob</HI> and <HI>Ieremie</HI> haue &s;uf|fered them&s;elues to &s;lippe by infirmitie to the&s;e words of exce&s;&s;e, wherein I doubt not but they haue greatly offended God, and haue a&s;|ked him pardon thereof. The bubling of their angui&s;h haue ca&s;ted forth for once this &s;cumme of their impa|tience; So in a man weaker in faith then <HI>Abraham,</HI> and le&s;&s;e accu&s;tomed to conferre with God familiarly, this priuate familiarity might &s;eeme exce&s;&s;iue; but the hu|mility whereby he acknow|ledgeth him&s;elfe du&s;t and a&s;hes, and the fauourable an&s;weres of God to his de|mands, doe exempt him from the crime of teme|rity.</P>
<PB REF="30">
<P>Let vs not impute to &s;ub|tilty this kinde of in&s;inua|ting him&s;elfe &s;o by degrees, nor looke for any craft ther|in; let vs rather attribute it to the nature of faith, which imboldeneth her &s;elfe by de|grees, and maketh her &s;elfe familiar little by little, by how much &s;hee acknowled|geth the effects of Gods fa|uour; for the fir&s;t fauoura|ble an&s;wers doe giue liberty to make others, the fir&s;t gra|ces of God doe containe co|uert promi&s;es of increa&s;ing of graces; for God giueth becau&s;e he hath giuen, his fir&s;t liberalities doe inuite the following ones, hee crownes not our merits but his gifts, his gifts and his cal|ling are without repentance.</P>
<PB REF="31">
<P>This priuate familiarity of <HI>Abraham</HI> therefore, was without contempt, his bold|ne&s;&s;e was mode&s;t; his con|fidence humble; which hee te&s;tifies in acknowledging him&s;elfe du&s;t and a&s;hes, for without this humility his prayer had beene vnplea|&s;ing to God, who reiects the prayer of the proud, and in|clines his care vnto tho&s;e that haue a contrite and bro|ken &s;pirit, as it is &s;aid in I&s;aiah, Chapter 66. <HI>I will looke to him that is poore and of a contrite &s;pirit, and trem|bleth at my word.</HI> God &s;en|deth raine in greater abun|dance on low places, yea, &amp; when it doth fall on high places it &s;tayes not there. And if any great tempe&s;t
<PB REF="31"> or furious &s;torme happe|neth, the Oake and A&s;he trees are ouerthrowne and ca&s;t downe to the earth, but the Time and Marioram re|maine whole. Gods graces falling vpon the proud doe not &s;top nor &s;ettle there; God re&s;i&s;teth the proud, but giueth grace vnto the hum|ble: To aske of God graces with a haughty &s;pirit, and opinion of his owne righte|ou&s;ne&s;&s;e, is to be like him that &s;hould begge with a &s;uit of cloath of gold and all perfumed; he that askes after &s;uch an vndecent manner mu&s;t looke to be refu&s;ed.</P>
<P>Notwith&s;tanding in this gradation of <HI>Abrahams</HI> de|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1+ letters">ands, con&s;idering that he being come to the number
<PB REF="32"> of ten, he &s;tayes there, and &s;aith not, but Lord if there be fiue found within the Ci|tie, wilt thou not &s;pare the place for tho&s;e fiue righte|ous? Whither it was becau&s;e <HI>Abraham</HI> did iudge in him|&s;elfe, that hee ought to &s;ub|&s;cribe to the decree and &s;en|tence of the iu&s;tice of God, and acknowledged that it was a iu&s;t thing that a great Citie in the which ten righ|teous men were not to be found, &s;hould be de&s;troyed, and that hee ought not to make interce&s;&s;ion for it: Or whither it was, becau&s;e God hindered him to proceede on in his demands, lea&s;t hee &s;hould aske things contrary to Gods decree and ordi|nance, and that thereupon
<PB REF="32"> God &s;hould haue been faine to haue refu&s;ed him, and re|iect his prayer; for often in the Scripture God forbids his &s;eruants to make inter|ce&s;&s;ion for &s;uch and &s;uch, when hee is re&s;olued not to pardon them; he forbids <HI>Sa|muel</HI> to pray for <HI>Saul,</HI> and <HI>Ieremie</HI> to make interce&s;&s;ion for the Iewes, becau&s;e God holdes it not conuenient to his goodne&s;&s;e, to permit his children to pray vnprofita|bly and without reaping &s;ome fruit.</P>
<P>Ob&s;erue al&s;o that in this conference of God with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and often el&s;e|where, the faithfull are cal|led <HI>righteous,</HI> not that they are without &s;inne, but in compari&s;on of the wicked;
<PB REF="33" MS="y"> and becau&s;e God wipeth out their &s;innes by his mercy for his Sonnes &s;ake, whom <HI>Iere|mie</HI> calleth <HI>the Lord, our righ|teou&s;ne&s;&s;e, Ieremie</HI> 23. Some|times al&s;o becau&s;e of the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of the cau&s;e, which they maintaine, and for the which cau&s;e they are per&s;ecuted: So <HI>Noah, Lot, Iob, Daniel,</HI> and <HI>Zacharie</HI> are called righteous, though <HI>Noab</HI> fell into drunkenne&s;&s;e, <HI>Lot</HI> committed ince&s;t, <HI>Dauid</HI> adultery and murther, <HI>Iob</HI> cur&s;ed the day of his birth, <HI>Zachrie</HI> doubted of Gods promi&s;es; which faults are as warts in a faire face, which &s;eeme as an expo&s;ition of this word <HI>Righteous.</HI></P>
<P>That we may know, that when Chri&s;t Ie&s;us &s;aith that
<PB REF="33"> hee is not come for the righ|teous, but to call &s;inners to repentance, the&s;e &s;inners are righteous in &s;ome &s;ort, and that Ie&s;us Chri&s;t by the <HI>righ|teous</HI> vnder&s;tands tho&s;e that thinke they are without &s;in. Our righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e con&s;i&s;ts in acknowledging our vn|righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and in cloa|thing our &s;elues with the righteou&s;nes of Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, <HI>who hath beene made &s;inne for vs, that wee might be made the righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e of God in him,</HI> 2 Cor. 5. <HI>By his know|ledge &s;hall my righteous &s;eruant iu&s;tifie many</HI> I&s;a. 53. <HI>Who of God is made vnto vs wi&s;edome, and righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, and &s;anctifi|cation, &amp; redemption,</HI> 1 Cor. 1.</P>
<P>This is the &s;ence and meaning of this hi&s;tory, and
<PB REF="34"> the expo&s;ition of the three points which wee haue pro|pounded vnto you; whence &s;pringeth diuers doctrines, that &s;erue to comfort, in|&s;truct, and to humble vs.</P>
</DIV2>
<DIV2 TYPE="application">
<HEAD>The Application.</HEAD>
<P>FIr&s;t in the manner wher|in God proceeds again&s;t <HI>Sodome,</HI> you haue an exam|ple and patterne of Gods patience, &s;oliciting &s;inners to repentance; he &s;ends <HI>Lot</HI> to tho&s;e of <HI>Sodome,</HI> who was among them an Herald and Preacher of righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, who dwelling among them, vexed his righteous &s;oule from day to day with their vnlawfull deeds, as S. <HI>Peter</HI> &s;aith, 2 <HI>Pet.</HI> 2. But they be|leeued
<PB REF="34"> him not, Gen, 19.9. <HI>This one fellow came in to &s;o|iourne, and &s;o will needes be a Iudge?</HI> After <HI>Lots</HI> com|ming, God &s;ends them wars, that &s;poiles their Countrey, and leads them into captiui|ty, whence being deliuered by <HI>Abrahams</HI> helpe, they a|mend not. At the la&s;t God being prouoked, &s;ends fire from heauen, which con|&s;umes them: whereunto &s;er|ued the nature of the &s;oile, for the countrey was full of &s;lime pits, which &s;erued as matter vnto it, and brought a &s;udden inflaming.</P>
<P>Three things are happe|ned vnto them for examples, and are written for our ad|monition, vpon whom the ends of the world are come,
<PB REF="35"> lea&s;t we &s;hould abu&s;e Gods patience, who hath &s;o long time &s;upported vs, &s;olicites &amp; calls vs to repentance: for what hath not God done, to binde vs to his loue and feare? He hath &s;ent vs his &s;eruants, and &s;et his word before our eyes, he hath cha|&s;ti&s;ed vs often, and hath &s;et vs on foote againe by his helpe; he hath &s;cattered vs in &s;trange countreys, and then re-a&s;&s;embled vs toge|ther againe by his mercy. He makes vs to &s;ub&s;i&s;t now as the remainder of the ma&s;|&s;acre, as &s;ome plankes &s;aued from &s;hipwracke, or like a brand re&s;erued from the fire, and doe as yet &s;ub&s;i&s;t as a miracle to &s;trangers, and a rare example of his proui|dence;
<PB REF="35"> for in the troubles of a State it happeneth ordina|rily as with catarres and de|fluctions, which alwayes fall vpon the weake&s;t part. Now the weake&s;t part in the body of this kingdome is the Church of God, notwith|&s;tanding in the&s;e la&s;t &s;tirres which haue troubled this e&s;tate, God hath &s;ecured and &s;aued harmeles his Church, and re&s;trained the peoples will, though on our &s;ide we haue enough contributed to our owne ruine, and yet God euen this day giueth vs this grace, that we are here a&s;&s;embled in peace, to lift vp together our hands and hearts before his pre&s;ence. He may then &s;ay that which he &s;aith, <HI>I&s;ai.</HI> 5. <HI>What could
<PB REF="36"> haue beene done more to the vineyard, that I haue not done in it? Wherefore when I looked that it &s;hould bring forth grapes, it brought forth wilde grapes:</HI> For that we doe not bring forth fruit worthy of repentance, is it becau&s;e we haue not beene cha&s;ti&s;ed? but wee newly come forth out of per&s;ecution: Or is it becau&s;e he hath not threat|ned vs? but yet euen now we were at deaths dore, and as it were on the point of our &s;teepe downe-fall: Or is it becau&s;e he hath imparted vnto vs his gifts and graces &s;o &s;paringly? but who can comprehend his goodne&s;&s;e towards vs, his liberalitie and his patience? Or is it be|cau&s;e you haue not beene
<PB REF="36"> &s;ufficiently and carefully in|formed? but &s;urely we haue not &s;pared our &s;elues in this point, yea, our liberty and freedome of reprehending &s;eemes intollerable vnto many. After a continuall labour, we receiue in&s;tead of recompence, calumnies, which tend to make our Mini&s;tery vnfruitfull, and to take away the efficacy from our preaching: The time will come (<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">f GOD hath not pitty on vs) wher|in ye &s;hall haue teachers ac|cording to your de&s;ire, or el&s;e &s;hall haue lea&s;ure to fa&s;t after the Word of God.</P>
<P>But if we &s;peake in our exhortations again&s;t the a|bu&s;es of Popery, ye heare that with great attention,
<PB REF="37"> but yee will not enter into di&s;putation with your own vices, as being at agreement with the diuell on that &s;ide. You condemne the Church of Rome, in that &s;he forbids the people the reading of the holy Scripture, but are we for all that the careful|ler to reade it? they are hin|dred to reade it by &s;cruple, but you by contempt and negligence. Ye blame tho&s;e that pray, not vnder&s;tan|ding what they &s;ay; but are ye more excu&s;able to pray without thinking what yee &s;ay? You reprehend them for &s;uper&s;titious &s;ignes and ge&s;ture that they haue in the Church; but you in a|uoiding &s;uper&s;tition fall in|to irreuerence, one keeping
<PB REF="37"> on his Hat in Prayer time: another makes difficulty to kneele, to &s;hew vnto our aduer&s;aries that wee neede not &s;uffer &s;o much for reli|gion, &s;eeing we haue it in &s;o litle e&s;teeme. You condemne the idolatry of the Church of Rome, and notwith&s;tan|ding you idolatrize, and as it were wor&s;hip your bodies and goods, which you &s;erue much more and better then you &s;erue God. You con|demne &s;pirituall whore|dome, and you pollute your &s;elues with corporall forni|cation. You condemne tho&s;e that e&s;teeme to merit Para|di&s;e by their good works, &amp; in the meane time you liue as if you would go into hel by your euill workes, or as
<PB REF="38"> hoping to be &s;aued without your good workes. Wee blame auricular confe&s;&s;ion, but are we for all that now carefull to confe&s;&s;e our &s;innes to God? Wee blame tho&s;e that thinke to re|deeme their &s;innes by mo|ney giuen to the Church, but the money we &s;pare on that &s;ide, is it be&s;towed in almes-deedes? and that which we withdraw from the idle, is it con&s;ecrated to Gods &s;eruice. Contra|riwi&s;e the poore langui&s;h and accu&s;e the rich to be little charitable, the cry of the poore is mounted and entred into the cares of the LORD of ho&s;tes.</P>
<P>And therefore doe not take it as an iniurie to be
<PB REF="38"> compared to Sodome and Gomorrah; for although we are guiltle&s;&s;e of that &s;in, for the which God con&s;u|med them with fire; not|with&s;tanding there are o|ther &s;innes that cry as loude as that, and for the which many hearers of the Word of God, &s;hal be more rough|ly handled in the day of Iudgement then Sodome and Gomorrah, as it is de|nounced vnto Capernaum, Corazin, and Beth&s;aida, Mat. 11. that had &s;eene the miracles of Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, and heard his word, which they had reiected, and were not conuerted.</P>
<P>And indeed the Scrip|ture teacheth vs, that be|&s;ide the &s;inne of Sodome,
<PB REF="39"> there are other &s;innes that cry and call for the venge|ance of God. There is the cry of the innocent bloud, witne&s;&s;e the bloud of <HI>Abel,</HI> that cryed from the earth vnto God. There is the cry of the labourers and Ser|uants, who&s;e hire is kept backe by fraude, whereof Saint <HI>Iames</HI> &s;peaketh, Iam. 5.4. There is the cry of the widdow, and of the or|phan, whereof <HI>Mo&s;es</HI> &s;pea|keth, Exod. 22. <HI>Yee &s;hall not afflict any widdow, or father|le&s;&s;e childe, if thou afflict them in any wi&s;e, and they cry at all vnto me, I will &s;urely heare their cry, and my wrath &s;hall waxe hot, and I will kill you with the &s;word, and your wiues &s;hall be widdowes, and your
<PB REF="39"> children fatherle&s;&s;e.</HI> Which is a &s;inne that is to be found among vs, be&s;ides which, example of violent &s;nat|ching and v&s;ury are to be found. Such a one fa&s;teth this day from fle&s;h and meat, that eateth at his hou&s;e the fle&s;h of the poore, and con&s;umeth his neighbours &s;ub&s;tance. Many ouertur|ning Gods commandement that forbids to come vnto the altar with voide hands, bring to the Lords Table hands full of violence and extortion, farre from cloa|thing Ie&s;us Chri&s;t in his members, &s;eeing that they &s;trip them thereof.</P>
<P>And what thinke yee of the mortall, or rather im|mortall quarrels of tho&s;e,
<PB REF="40"> that haue not learnt to for|giue, that aske of God euery day that hee forgiue them not their &s;innes, &s;eeing they forgiue not tho&s;e that haue tre&s;pa&s;&s;ed again&s;t them; that hate a thou&s;and times more their neighbour, then they loue God; &s;eeing they defame the Church of God by their quarrels, and put it to an o|pen &s;hame? What, doe yee thinke that the&s;e things cry not again&s;t heauen? Doe ye thinke that the Heathen &s;ouldiers, hauing not torne Chri&s;ts coate, tho&s;e can be &s;uffered that teare his body, which is the Church? and &s;eeing that he who of|fendeth one of the lea&s;t ones, de&s;erues to be thrown and drowned in the depth
<PB REF="40"> of the Sea, with a mil&s;tone about his necke, hee which offends the whole Church, de&s;erues he not to be ca&s;t into Hell? Or do ye thinke that he can haue peace with his father, that is alwayes in quarrell with his bre|thren?</P>
<P>It is good al&s;o to ob&s;erue the cau&s;es of the de&s;tructi|on of Sodome, and by what degrees &s;he came to be cor|rupted. The Prophet <HI>Eze|kiel,</HI> tels vs in the 16. Chap|ter. <HI>Behold, this was the ini|quitie of thy Si&s;ter Sodome, pride, fulne&s;&s;e of bread, and a|bundance of idlene&s;&s;e, neither did &s;he &s;trengthen the hand of the poore and needy.</HI> The&s;e &s;elfe-&s;ame vices doe infect our flocke; charity dimi|ni&s;heth
<PB REF="41"> among&s;t vs, and co|uetou&s;ne&s;&s;e increa&s;eth; the quarrels are hot, and the prayers cold; the word of GOD ill planted in our hearts, rancour and hatred firmely rooted in them; the parents are careful to hoord vp goods for their children, but not to teach them to make good v&s;e of them, and to forgoe them willingly for the Go&s;pels &s;ake. In poore families, you &s;hall find in an extream pouerty, an extreame pride, idlenes &amp; drunkennes; they had ra|ther &s;ee their children go na|ked, then apply them&s;elues to labour and &s;obriety. Yee &s;hall &s;ee in many of the No|bility a prophane humour, an arrogant ignorance, vn|cleane
<PB REF="41"> and filthy words, or|dinary &s;wearing, a di&s;ta&s;te of Gods Word. They are couragious to reuenge their owne iniuries, but cowards to re&s;i&s;t their vices, or to defend Gods cau&s;e; &s;umptu|ous in cloathes, but nig|gards in almes-deeds. They are not &s;uch as our forefa|thers were in olde time, rea|dy to run to Martyrdome, but they are ready to runne to euery publike faction and &s;edition.</P>
<P>Are the&s;e tho&s;e, whom God hath rai&s;ed to vnder|prop &amp; &s;upport his Church? or doe we hope that God will deliuer his people by their hands?</P>
<P>Of all in generall wee make this complaint, with
<PB REF="42"> the Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> Chap. 9. <HI>The people turneth not vnto him that &s;miteth them neither doe they &s;eeke the LORD of ho&s;tes.</HI> Thou ha&s;t &s;truc|ken them, and they haue felt no paine; thou ha&s;t con|&s;umed them and they haue refu&s;ed to receiue in&s;tructi|on; they haue hardened their faces like &s;tone, they haue refu&s;ed to turne them|&s;elues; and as it is in the 29. Chapter of <HI>Deuterono|mie: They haue ble&s;&s;ed them|&s;elues in their hearts,</HI> that is to &s;ay, flattered them&s;elues, &s;ay|ing, <HI>I &s;hal haue peace, though I walk in the imagination &amp; &s;tub|bornes of mine heart, to adde drunkennes to thir&s;t.</HI> By this meanes Gods patience, that &s;hould &s;erue to amend vs,
<PB REF="42"> &s;erues to marre vs. God will giue vs thereby lea&s;ure to repent vs of our &s;innes, and we take lea&s;ure thereby to reioyce in our wickednes. God commands vs to be holy, but we will make him a &s;inner, winking at our pro|phane humour. Hee will haue vs expect his helpe, and we will haue him expect our amendment at our lea&s;ure. This is the right brim&s;tone that puls downe fire from heauen, that &s;ulphurous earth of Sodome neuer had &s;uch force, to draw downe Gods inflaming anger con|&s;uming them with fire, as the contempt of Gods Word hath power to pull downe his iudgements on our heads: Let vs feare
<PB REF="43"> lea&s;t his patience being in the ende ouercome by his wrath, we find no more place of repentance, as Godthreat|neth by his Prophet <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> Chap. 1. <HI>Therefore when you &s;pread foorth your hands, I will hide mine eies from you, yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not heare.</HI> But as for them that turne them&s;elues vnto the LORD. Gods familiarity with <HI>Abraham,</HI> and the free acce&s;&s;e he giues to his Ser|uant, ought to giue them a holy confidence to &s;peak vnto God familiarly, and to be a&s;&s;ured that God will heare them. For as Saint <HI>Paul</HI> teacheth vs, <HI>Rom.</HI> 4. that that which is written of <HI>Abrahams</HI> faith, which was imputed to him for
<PB REF="43"> righteou&s;ne&s;&s;e, <HI>Was not writ|ten for his &s;ake alone, but for vs al&s;o, to whom it &s;hall be im|puted, if we beleeue on him that rai&s;ed vp Ie&s;us our Lord from the dead.</HI> So then hold certainely, that this benigni|tie of our God in hearing <HI>Abrahams</HI> demaunds, that &s;eemed to be importunate, is not propounded onely for <HI>Abrahams</HI> &s;ake; but for you al&s;o that beleeue, that yee may haue this a&s;&s;urance, that God is euen delighted and de&s;ires to be impor|tuned by his children, and is not offended with this fi|liall freedome, which pro|ceedes from the &s;pirit of A|doption; that he loues this holy ob&s;tinacy; who accor|ding to <HI>Iacob</HI> wra&s;tling with
<PB REF="44"> him, lets him not goe, till it hath got a ble&s;&s;ing; or after the example of the woman of Canaan, who being often repul&s;ed by Ie&s;us Chri&s;t, yea euen &s;o far as to be compa|red by him to a dogge, yet at la&s;t &s;he obtaines, be&s;ides the curing of her daughter, this te&s;timonie of Chri&s;t that her faith was great, and that hee had not found &s;o great a faith, no not in I&s;rael. And this is that &s;pirit of adoption, of freene&s;&s;e and libertie, which makes, that as in afflictions wee had ra|ther fall into the hands of God, then into the hands of men, becau&s;e his compa&s;&s;i|ons are great and many; &s;o in matter of demands and reque&s;ts we dare aske of him
<PB REF="44"> &s;uch things, as we dare not aske of men, becau&s;e his gra|ce and goodne&s;&s;e are accor|ding to his greatne&s;&s;e, that is to &s;ay, are incomprehen|&s;ible.</P>
<P>Nay, which is more, to giue vs the more priuate fa|miliarity to call vpon him, although he doth vs good by his free-will, and with|out any con&s;traint; notwith|&s;tanding he will haue vs to thinke that he giues it to our importunity and continu|ance in prayer, as wee are taught by our Sauiour Chri&s;t, <HI>Luke</HI> 11. by that &s;i|militude of a friend that goes vnto his friend at midnight, and &s;ayes vnto him; friend, lend me three Loaues, I &s;ay vnto you, &s;aith Chri&s;t,
<PB REF="45"> though hee will not ri&s;e and giue him, becau&s;e he is his friend, yet becau&s;e of his im|portunity, he will ri&s;e and giue him as many as he nee|deth; and by the example of an vniu&s;t Iudge, which di&s;|patcheth the poore widdow of her &s;uit to deliuer him&s;elfe from her importunitie, whence Chri&s;t &s;aith, Shall not God auenge his owne elect, which cry day and night vnto him, though he beare long with them?</P>
<P>This confidence and fa|miliarity of praying vnto God, &s;hall no more barre humility, then it did in <HI>A|braham,</HI> who amidde&s;t his reque&s;ts, full of liberty, acknowledgeth him&s;elfe notwith&s;tanding to bee
<PB REF="45"> naught but du&s;t and a&s;hes. There is an humble famili|arity, an humility with free|nes, which being drawne to by loue, dimini&s;heth not the reuerence due vnto him. Wherefore in prayer wee ioyne together the&s;e two ge&s;tures, we bow our knees, and lift vp our eyes, where|of the one witne&s;&s;eth our humility, the other our con|fidence. Many other do|ctrines doe ari&s;e from this Text, which we will briefly touch. When you reade that in a great city, ten righteous are not to be found among many thou&s;ands; you may learne, that you mu&s;t not &s;quare your &s;elfe by the mul|titude to liue well, as the LORD &s;aith, Exod. 23.
<PB REF="46"> <HI>Thou &s;halt not follow a multi|tude to doe euill.</HI> The multi|tude hath been alwayes a bad coun&s;ellor, the broad way leades to de&s;truction. The whole world, &s;hall run after and follow the bea&s;t, <HI>Reuel.</HI> 13. They that pro|duce the greatne&s;&s;e, multi|tude and vniuer&s;ality for markes of the Church, had they liued in Sodome, would haue &s;ooner ioyned them|&s;elues with the Sodomites, then with <HI>Lot,</HI> who was al|mo&s;t alone among this mul|titude.</P>
<P>Which <HI>Lot</HI> being righte|ous, of whom <HI>Abraham</HI> &s;peaketh, when hee &s;aith, wilt thou de&s;troy the righ|teous with the wicked? tea|cheth vs by his example,
<PB REF="46"> that it is a dangerous thing for an holy man to liue in the company of the wicked. Wherefore <HI>Dauid</HI> &s;aith, P&s;al. 26. <HI>Gather not my &s;oule with &s;inners, nor my life with bloudy men.</HI> One <HI>Ionas</HI> thinking to e&s;cape and fly from the pre|&s;ence of God, and to exempt him&s;elfe from his obedi|ence, had like to haue ca&s;t away the whole &s;hip. A hea|then Captaine of a &s;hip, hearing a wicked man ma|king his prayer among the re&s;t during the tempe&s;t, Hold thy peace, &s;aith he, and hide thy &s;elfe, le&s;t the gods know that thou art heere. Wherefore God &s;aide vnto the I&s;raelites, depart from the tents of the&s;e wicked men; namely, <HI>Korah, Da|than</HI>
<PB REF="47"> and <HI>Abiram,</HI> and touch nothing of theirs, lea&s;t ye be con&s;umed in all their &s;innes: Come out of Baby|lon my people, that ye be not partakers of her &s;innes, and that ye receiue not of her plagues; and that there|fore not onely for feare of the like peril &amp; puni&s;hment, but al&s;o for feare of the con|tagion of vices. There is nothing &s;o glewi&s;h as euill examples, nothing &s;o per|nicious as the company of the wicked. If <HI>Dina</HI> had not haunted dancing, &s;hee had pre&s;erued her cha&s;tity. If the I&s;raelites in <HI>Nehemiahs</HI> time had not allied them|&s;elues by marriage with the infidels, their children &s;hould not haue &s;poken the
<PB REF="47"> language of A&s;hdod. A little leauen leaueneth the whole lumpe, by the conuer&s;ation and acquaintance with the wicked, wee become like them. Wherefore euen as one coun&s;elleth women that conceiue, to haue by their bed &s;ide the pictures of faire children, &s;o mu&s;t we haue faire examples before our eyes, to the end we may conceiue good thoughts, and bring forth good acti|ons&punc; <HI>For what concord hath Chri&s;t with Belial? or what part hath hee that belieueth with an Infidell? wherefore come out from among them, and be ye &s;eparated&punc; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="OXF" EXTENT="1 letter">aith the LORD, and touch not the vn|cleane thing,</HI> 2 <HI>Cor.</HI> 6.</P>
<P>Finally touching that
<PB REF="48"> which you haue heard; namely, if there had beene tenne righteous men in So|dome, God would haue &s;pa|red the Citie for their &s;akes; ye may learne how God e|&s;teemeth his children, chu|&s;ing rather the pre&s;eruation of ten of his children, then the ruine of ten thou&s;ands of his enemies. He beares with the wickedne&s;&s;e of the world, and fore &s;lowes his iudgements for his Church &s;ake mixed with the world; &s;o God would not &s;end the floud till after <HI>Methu&s;alems</HI> death, who dyed a yeare be|fore the floud; as &s;oone as <HI>Io&s;ias</HI> is dead, <HI>Nebuchadnez|zar</HI> inuadeth the countrey of <HI>Iudea;</HI> the life of one &s;er|uant of God did &s;upport
<PB REF="48"> the countrey, and keepe backe Gods iudgements. So &s;oone as Saint <HI>Augu&s;tine</HI> was dead, the Citie Bona, whereof hee was Bi&s;hop, was wonne by the Vandals, and &s;acked by them; as if by the death of that good man of God, the rampiers and walles of the towne were fallen downe. Therefore the LORD in the 57. Chapter of <HI>I&s;aiah,</HI> after he had &s;aide, that the righteous man peri|&s;heth, and no man layeth it to heart, and mercifull men are taken away; im|mediately after hee makes the puni&s;hment of the wicked to follow, as a nece&s;|&s;ary &s;equele and con&s;e|quence. <HI>But draw ye hither yee &s;onnes of the Sorcere&s;&s;e,
<PB REF="49"> again&s;t whom doe ye &s;pore your &s;elues? &amp;c.</HI> Nay which is more, God hauing lifted vp his hand, to turne vp&s;ide downe heauen and earth, becau&s;e they are become a temple of idols, and the kingdome of the deuill, is &s;topped and withheld from doing it, becau&s;e there are a few of the faithfull mingled among the wicked, lea&s;t in rooting vp the darnell, hee &s;hould al&s;o plucke vp by the rootes the good corne; therefore it is &s;aid to the &s;oules of them that were &s;laine for the Word of God, that were vnder the altar, and cryed for vengeance a|gain&s;t them that dwell on earth, <HI>Apocal.</HI> 6. that they &s;hould re&s;t yet for a little
<PB REF="49"> &s;ea&s;on, vntill their fellow &s;er|uants, and their brethren that &s;hould be killed as they were, &s;hould be fulfilled; that being once done, the end of the world will nece&s;|&s;arily follow: for &s;hould the world be &s;o po&s;&s;e&s;t by the diuell that God &s;hould haue no part in it? or &s;hould the Sunne ri&s;e onely to giue light to tho&s;e that doe euill? It is therefore one of the rea&s;ons, for the which the faithfull are called the &s;alt of the earth, Matth. 5. Be|cau&s;e it is that part that pre|&s;erues the re&s;t of the Inha|bitants of the earth, and protects the world from corruption.</P>
<P>And to apply the&s;e things to our &s;elues, I e&s;teeme that
<PB REF="50"> the&s;e la&s;t dayes pa&s;t, when our Churches were in great danger, God ca&s;t his eyes vpon vs; hee con&s;idered therein many mi&s;chiefes and maladies that infect the flocke; that couetou&s;ne&s;&s;e is very ri&s;e among vs, &s;o that wee e&s;teeme of men as wee e&s;teeme of bagges of mo|ney, that is to &s;ay, according to the money they haue, the man is e&s;teemed as no|thing, as the bagge is no|thing e&s;teemed. That euery one tels lyes and liues &s;ubtil|ly with his neighbour. That de&s;truction, hatred, &s;u&s;piti|on are among vs, in the highe&s;t degree; that v&s;ury, whoredome, and bla&s;phe|mies are to be found among vs, to the great di&s;honour
<PB REF="50"> of the Go&s;pell, that &s;o &s;oone as there is neuer &s;o little pro|&s;peritie, exce&s;&s;e, not and &s;u|perfluity of apparell doe in|continently appeare; and that charity towards the poore, and the zeale of the honour of God is waxed colde; while as the &s;uper&s;ti|tious powere out their goods at the feete of an Idoll, doe lay foundations of new reli|gions, build Churches, giue offrings, buy ma&s;&s;es and &s;er|uices at a great rate and with an extreame co&s;t; that is to &s;ay, that &s;uper&s;tition is &s;er|uent in them, but true reli|gion key-cold in vs; that they to make a molten Calfe, doe contribute euen vnto their iewels and golden eare-rings, whiles that the &s;eruice of the
<PB REF="51"> honour of God is ill main|tained.</P>
<P>For the&s;e cau&s;es he had already &s;ent his de&s;troying Angels, and had &s;natcht a|way his word from vs, had it not beene that euen hee the &s;ame vnto whom <HI>Abra|ham</HI> &s;pake, who is his onely Sonne our Lord and Saui|our Ie&s;us hath &s;tayed his wrath, and therevpon hee hath con&s;idered ten righte|ous amid&s;t this corruption, that is to &s;ay, &s;ome few of the number of the true faithfull, and of holy &s;oules that feare him, and groane vnder the generall corruption; for who&s;e &s;ake he &s;u&s;pends as yet his iudgements, and &s;pares the flocke; and tho&s;e perhaps not the greate&s;t
<PB REF="51"> ones, nor the riche&s;t, nor the mo&s;t noble; but perhaps &s;ome poore, whom we know not, and to whom we, as vn|gratefull, con little thankes; He hath &s;topt and &s;tayed Gods iudgements, and hath &s;tood in the gap, and hath beene in the publicke com|motion, like the lifting vp of the hands of <HI>Mo&s;es,</HI> that did more then <HI>Io&s;uahs</HI> &s;word; which is the ob&s;erua|tion that the <HI>wi&s;e-man</HI> makes in the 9. of <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tes,</HI> That there was a little City and few men within it, and there came a great King again&s;t it, and be&s;ieged it, and built great bulwarkes again&s;t it; now there was found in it a poore <HI>wi&s;e-man,</HI> and he by his wi&s;edome deliuered the
<PB REF="52"> City, yet no man remem|bred that poore man.</P>
<P>Seing then that the num|ber of tho&s;e that feare the Lord among vs, is the de|fence and the &s;afety of the Church, and as King <HI>Ioram</HI> &s;aid of <HI>Eli&s;ha,</HI> the Chariot of <HI>I&s;rael,</HI> and the hor&s;emen thereof, for who&s;e &s;ake God pardoneth the re&s;t: Let vs labour to increa&s;e the num|ber of them; and that notten not thirty, not fifty, but that the whole troupe and flocke be truely the holy nation and the portion of the Lord. Let vs make our &s;innes hold their peace that cry, and that their crie be ouer|come with the crye of repen|tance, which powres vnto the feete of our Sauiour Ie|&s;us,
<PB REF="52"> that precious ointment, with an holy griefe, and be|dewes them with herteares as heretofore <HI>Mary</HI> did, who&s;e teares were a thou|&s;and times more odorife|rous, then her precious oint|ment, for this filled the chamber with a &s;weet plea|&s;ing &s;mell, but her repen|tance is euen yet of good fauour in the Church of God.</P>
<P>And in &s;tead of that hea|uy burthen of &s;innes, wher|of Chri&s;t Ie&s;us doth di&s;|charge vs, Let vs charge and take vpon vs his yoake which is ea&s;ie, and his bur|then which is light; whether by this yoake and burthen we vnder&s;tand his cro&s;&s;e; or whether wee take it in
<PB REF="53"> generall for our &s;ubiection vnto his word; that here|after we haue no other will then his, no other tru&s;t and confidence then in his promi&s;es, no other ioy then in his loue.</P>
<P>And that wee may make v&s;e of our vices, and giue to our de&s;ires a lawfull imploi|ment and occupation; let not the violent haue here|after any other violence, then that which taketh by force the Kingdome of heauen. Let v&s;urers giue them&s;elues to giuing to the poore, for that is to lend vnto God by v&s;ury. Let the couerous gather a trea&s;ure in heauen. Let the quarrel|lers make an irreconcillable warre again&s;t their vices.
<PB REF="53"> Let the haughty and ambi|tious glory in the know|ledge of God, and in that they are the children of the mo&s;t high.</P>
<P>If ye doe &s;o, God who de&s;ires not the death of a &s;inner, but his conuer&s;ion, who&s;e compa&s;&s;ions are al|waies open towards tho&s;e that &s;eeke him; will watch for your &s;afegard; hee will blow vpon the enterprizes of our enemies, and will fru|&s;trate their hopes; his pro|uidence &s;hall be as a wall of fire about his Church. If you feare GOD, you will not feare men. Beare your &s;elues couragious again&s;t mens threatnings, but trem|ble at Gods Word, who hath bought and redeemed you
<PB REF="54"> with too great a price, to leaue you. He will not deny you things nece&s;&s;ary for this pre&s;ent life, &s;eeing that from the foundation of the world he hath prepared for you an euerla&s;ting kingdome; as he him&s;elfe will proclaime in the la&s;t day. <HI>Come yee ble&s;&s;ed of my Father, inherito the kingdome prepared for you, from the foundation of the world.</HI> To whom be a&s;cribed all honour, power and dominion, for euer and euer, <HI>A|men.</HI></P>
</DIV2>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
