TWO SERMONS, on these words of Peter the Apostle: 
Honour all men:  
Love brotherly fellowship,  Epist. 1. chap. 2. vers. 17.  
Preached at Marlebrough the seventh of November, and fifth of januarie 1595. by Charles Pynner, Minister of the Church of Wotton-Basset in Northwiltshire.  Gal. 6.10. 
While we have time, let us do good unto all men; but especially unto them, which are of the household of faith.  
LONDON Printed by Thomas Creed. 1597.   

TO THE RIGHT honourable, and my especial good Lady, Anne, Lady de La war, wife unto the L. de La war that now is a grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord jesus Christ.  
Madam, when at the request of my worshipful and godly friend, Master john Bailiff, then Mayor of Marlbrough, I had there preached these two Sermons; I purposed even then (though thwarted till now by some occasions) to offer the same unto your Ladyship, in part of payment of a much greater sum, which for many your benefits (as many know, and myself most willingly acknowledge) is due unto you. And the rather I have done this, and in this kind sought some part of recompense, because as David saith unto God, One day in thy Courts, is better than a thousand: 
Psal. 84.13.  So your whole life telleth unto others, and to me especially, that one Sermon, yea one sentence of the Law of GOD, is dearer unto you then thousands of Gold and Silver. 
Psal. 119.73  And therefore this spark of God's grace, how little so ever it be, (if any at all it be) I know will be accepted of your Ladyship, and all other of like spirit: in which hope I have been bold to make it public: desiring it may work that good in others, which the like labours of others by God's grace, (and I humbly thank him for this grace) in some measure hath wrought in me. And I pray God this zealous care may still be in us, & chief in those that have received most, to help them which especially have need thereof, as lacking the lively voice of their own pastors. In the want of which duty in many most learned (of whom, how many, have received how many talents, which go not abroad, or so broad as they might?) even he, which hath received a little (I speak for myself) may, I trust, be allowed to give a little. Which if there be a willing mind first (as saith the Apostle) it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.  
The Lord jesus preserve your good Ladyship, with my honourable good Lord, and your happy children (happy, if they know their happiness of such their parents:) and increase in you the graces of his holy spirit. Amen. From London the second of August. 1597.  
Your Honours bounden, and in all duty to command: Charles Pynner.   

THE FIRST Sermon.  1. Pet. Chap. 2. Vers. 17. 
Honour all men.  
THe Apostle in these words, not so much teacheth the faithful to whom he writeth, as exhorteth them unto certain duties, which it seemeth they knew before. Like as himself in this, and his other Epistle, with the rest of the Apostles, and indeed all the holy Scriptures, both of the old and new Testament, are very plentiful in this matter of exhorting. These things command and teach, 
1. Tim. 4.11  faith Paul to Timothy, the first & fourth. That which is taught must be commanded: like as that which is commanded must first be taught. Which showeth our dullness (dearly beloved) and how resty we are, and needing a spur in the known way.  
And yet it may be, many Philips here, not so unwilling to embrace their duty, as not knowing what duty is, that they may embrace it. In the fourteenth of john, If ye had known me (saith Christ) ye should have known my father also: 
Io●● 14. 7.●, ●seq.  and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth. So we: show us what it is to honour all men, and we will honour them: What is the brotherhood, & we will love them: what it is to fear God, and we will fear him: and so forth. But jesus said unto him: Philip, I have been so long time with you, and hast thou not known me? he that hath seen me hath seen my Father. I cannot challenge you, as Christ doth Philip, I have been so long time with you: for I have been seldom with you. Neither yet can your own Pastors so challenge you, notwithstanding their bodily presence, which you have had much longer time, then Christ was with his disciples: because they have not so preached and showed Christ unto you, as Christ his father to his disciples.  
And whence this deadly plague should come, I know not, except partly from the the measles of the Gergesites, contented, rather than they would be at any cost with Christ, to be without him: and partly from the severity of God against this sin and others: who despiseth us in this profaneness, as once his own people, Israel and juda, in the eleventh of Zacharie, the Lord by the Prophet denouncing thus: 
Zach. 11.9.  Then I said, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die: and that that perisheth, let it perish. As Christ also telleth them in the 23. of Matthew, 
Math. 23, 38  that they are given over: Behold (saith he) your house it left unto you desolate. O my people (saith the Lord by Esay) They which lead thee, 
Isa. 3, 12  mislead thee, and hide form thee the way of thy paths.  
And yet lo (dearly beloved) some part of your paths, as a stranger that passeth by, and is content to go a little with you, to show you the way that GOD hath showed him. For God that commandeth the light to shine out of the darkness (saith the Apostle, 
2. Cor. 4, 6  the second to the Corinthians, chap. 4. ver. 6.) is he, which hath shined in our hearts, to give forth the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of jesus Christ. And he it is which hath lighted our candle, not that we should put it under a bed or under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that it may give light unto the whole house. And, lo, now it shineth upon your candlestick, to show you some part of the way, which you must walk.  
The first step whereof, is this, Honour all men: the second this, Love brotherly fellowship, or the brotherhood: the third this, Fear God: and the sourth and last this, honour the King.  
And yet it seemeth this last point needed not to have been added by the Apostle, having spoken so largely at the first, saying, Honour all men. For is the King no body? Yes verily. he is more than any beside: and therefore hath a special honour by himself. In which respect the Apostle saith again more distinctly and particularly of him, Honour the King, but of this in place.  
We have therefore here in the first place or point of this exhortation, Honour all men, a general honour, which respecteth all men, as well those from whom it is due; as those unto whom it is due: that is to say, an honour which all men own to all men; and each man to each, and every man: the King himself not excepted, in that duty which he oweth to his meanest subject. And therefore is he called both by profane writers, as also by the prophets, and namely Ezechiel the 34. The shepherd of the people. 
Ezec. 34.2.  Wo to the shepherds of Israel. And again. Hear the word of the Lord, 
Vers. 9  O ye shepherds. Where he speaketh as well to the civil, as ecclesiastical Magistrate, as it is in the Psalm, Thou didst lead thy people like sheep by the hand of Moses and Aaron. 
Psal 77.20.  The office therefore of Kings and rulers, is to lead and feed the people, and to do them good.  
And this is the thing which so generally is here commanded, & commended unto us by the name of Honour; even our duty of doing good unto all that especially need our good. For first that this is due, it appeareth by another Apostle, saying, Look not every man on his own things: but every man also on the things of other men, Philip. 2. and 4. And again, 
Phillip. 2.4. , to the Galathians, the 6, and 10. While we have time let us do good unto all, specially those that are of the household of faith. 
Gal. 6.10.  And in the third of the Proverbs, 
Prou. 3.27.  Withhold not good from the owners thereof, when it is in thy power to do it. Where note, that he calleth the needy the owners of thy good, or benefit, as due unto them: the enemy himself not excepted considered, not indeed as an enemy (for that is not possible, unless we should conspire against ourselves) but as a man, and so cometh he within the compass of this honour of the Apostle, Honour all men. For this honour, as all other duties, must not only be pure and without hypocrisy, but full & perfect in all her parts; not partial, excluding any, but including all, even the enemy: as Christ also teacheth us by his own example, in the fift of Matthew. 
Matth. 5: 44, 45, &, 48.  But I say unto you, love your enemy: bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, & pray for them that hurt you, and persecute you, that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. For he maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and unjust. Ye shall therefore be perfect as your father which is in heaven is perfect.  
And secondly that this duty done, is honour, it is plain also by the former Apostle, in the fifth of the first to Timothy. The elders (saith he) which rule well, 
1. Tim: 5, 17  are worthy of double honour, specially they that labour in the word and doctrine. Where he speaketh properly of the wage and maintenance of the minister, to be allowed unto him according to the weight and worthiness of his work and labour, as appeareth by that that followeth: For the Scripture saith (saith the Apostle) Thou shalt not mosel the mouth of the Ox that treadeth out the corn. 
Verse 18.  And again, The Labourer is worthy of his hire. And in the same place speaking of poor widows that lived well, and had no kindred able to relieve them, he commendeth them to the provision of the Church, and saith, 
Vers. 3.  Honour widows that are widows indeed. And in the 15. of Matthew, 
Matth. 15.  Christ very sharply reproveth the Scribes and pharisees, for losing the bands of this duty, and bringing this honour into contempt in children towards their parents, especially such as were poor and needy, & lay (as we say) upon their children's hands. For these hypocritical & covetous Masters had so preferred in holiness and worthiness, the gold of the Temple, before the Temple, and the gift of the Altar before the Altar, because they could sweep away the gold and the gifts, and turn them to the maintenance of their pomp and pleasure; that the people as (they taught them) did ever well to bring, bring. And how evil so ever they were, and whatsoever evil they had done, as a thief that robbeth on the Plain, yet if the Priest had received their gifts, and sanctified them in the Temple, they were as safe (as they thought) and as well shrouded in this hypocrisy from all danger of the wrath of God, as the thief is in his den, as the Lord also by the Prophet jeremy objecteth to them. 
jere. 7.11.   
And this went so far (as I said) that if a son, or a daughter, (who themselves had somewhat, and had their father and mother relying on them) had carried all to the Temple, and left themselves so needy, that scarcely, or not at all they were now able to relieve their Parents, yet all was well. For if the father or mother complaining for maintenance, the son had answer, Gift, as it is in the fifteenth of Matthew, or as in the seventh of Mark, Corban, that is gift: (The Verb is wanting which must be supplied, thus, gift it is, or, become gift, and given already, wherewith thou mightest be helped and relieved at my hands:) he was free, that is to say, faultless, by their doctrine. Who to establish their own Tradition, of freeing men from sin, in such a case as this, had abrogate (as Christ chargeth them) the commandment of GOD, saying, Honour thy Father and thy Mother. And again, I will have mercy and not sacrifice. This mercy therefore, comfort, and relief, which should be bestowed upon the needy parents, is the honour, which the Son or Daughter oweth unto them, in case, more than gifts or sacrifices unto the Temple; and therefore is honour in deed: which God so esteemeth of, and so alloweth to be done, that rather than it should not be done, he is content to want some part of his own outward honour, as here we see.  
And in deed these, I mean the needy of all sorts, specially those that concern us most, are the lively Images, which our Papal men, and great Pharisaical doctors should have taught the people to honour, and to bring their gifts and presents unto, and not to the Church walls and windows, to stocks and stones, Roodeloftes, and the like, stumbling at the same stone that their fathers did. For there is in the person of man above all other things, a certain excellency and dignity, as the Image of God, so to be honoured of us, that we preserve it by all means possible. And therefore in the Law of murder it is ordained, that he that sheddeth man's blood, 
Gen. 9.6.  by man shall his blood be shed, because he destroyeth the Image of God. What is man (saith David) that thou art mindful of him? 
Psal. 8.6. Heb. 2, 6, 7  Thou madest him little inferior to the Angels, thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and hast set him above the works of thy hands. Which is as true of him that hath nothing (if we respect the right and prerogative of his creation) as of him that hath all things, and wanteth nothing. In the Law it is commanded, that if the neighbour's Ox, or Ass go astray, we shall turn them into the way. Hath God care of Oxen? Doubtless he hath. But much more of the neighbour himself. For after the same sort Christ reasoneth in the 12. of Matthew, 
Maa. 12, 12  What man (saith he) shall there be among you, which if he shall have a sheep fallen into a pit on the Sabbath day, will not take it, and lift it up? How much more than (saith he) is a 〈◊〉 better than a sheep? This betterness therefore and excellency of man's creation must be honoured and attended of us with all helps necessary to maintain it. For this is the greatest honour that we can do unto it.  
As in deed what greater show of contempt (which is contrary to honour) can there be then this, to turn away the face, and so little to regard a thing, as not to bestow the looking on it. Even as they do which deny these duties of love and compassion towards their needy brethren. Give to him that asketh, and from him that would borrow of thee, 
Math: 5, 2  (sayeth Christ) turn not thou away. Is not this the fast that I have chosen (saith the Lord by Esay in the fifty eight Chapter) to lose the cruel bands, 
Isay 58, 6, 7  and let the oppressed go free; to deal thy bread to the hungry, when thou seest the naked, to cover him, and not hide thyself from thine own flesh? And therefore the Priest and the Levite despised the man which fell into the hands of thieves, and lay wounded and half dead between Hiericho and Jerusalem. For they came by and looked on him (saith the text) as stumbling at a Dog. But than it followeth, They passed by on the other side, 
Luke 90, 32  in contempt of him. As indeed what greater contempt of his person then this, to pass so by, and to see him perish. Like as it was honourable done of the Samaritane to take him up, comfort him, and provide for him. A work more acceptable, and more necessary to be done (as the case may require) then divine Service itself upon some Sabbath day: as Christ in many places showeth us, and namely in the third of Mark, in the example of the man with the withered hand. 
Mark 3, 1, 2 3, etc.   
Out of which place we may reason thus for the poor man, against the contempt of the Priest & Levite, that because they did not save life when they might, they did even kill him. For when the enemies of our Saviour Christ watched to see if upon the Sabbath day he would heal this man with a withered hand, he being about to do it, first to convict their malice, reasoneth thus: Is it lawful (saith he) to do a good deed on the Sabbath day, 
Vers. 4  or to do evil? to save life or to kill? Where he yieldeth thus much against himself, that if he had not done that good deed to the poor impotent person, he had done evil; and if he had not given life to that dead member of his, he had so far killed him. And therefore, as here he healeth him, so it is said in the 8. of Matthew, that he healed all that were brought unto him. And though he were often sought, yet (opportunities observed) we never read that he denied, or turned back any.  
For where both these, as parts of duty, 
Psal. 37, 27 P●al. 1, 17, 18  are commanded us, Depart from evil, and do good: Cease from evil, learn to do well: one alone is not sufficient. And therefore in the 12 of Matthew, Christ saith, He that is not with me, 
Matt. 12, 30  is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth. And Solomon in the tenth of the proverbs; 
Prou. 10, 26  As Vinegar (sayeth he) to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is the slothful to him that sendeth him: that is, he of whom duty is required to be done, and doth it not. And though in the 9 of Mark, Christ there seemeth to say as it were the contrary, Let him alone, 
Mhr 9, 40  he that is not against us is on our part: yet he meaneth thus, and understandeth it by comparison thus, he is so far forth with us, as he is not against us, and better than he who not only is not with us, but also against us. For as duty is entirely kept in both these points, Decline from evil, and do good: so is it broken in both, as when we not only do no good, but actually do evil. And our Saviour Christ in that place of Mark, speaketh of one that was inclining and coming to the Gospel, and did him and his Disciples no harm, though as yet he did them no good, nor kept their company, as there we read.  
But this Cain had not learned, as appeareth by his churlish answer to GOD, Am I the keeper of my Brother? 
Gen, 4, 9  It might have been answered by God; Yes indeed art thou the keeper of thy brother, and to see to him, and therefore much less shouldest thou have killed him, as now thou hast doubly done: first, by not keeping him; and then in killing him.  
And doth not this brood of Cain line yet with us? & is not this voice too often heard? Am I the keeper of my brother? must I look to him? let him look to himself if he will. And although his need be never so great, and our hand never so strong, yet for us (as we say) he may sink, or swim. These care not who wring, Modo sibi sit bene, so they far well. And their doing, is as their saying, (more than heathen wretches herein) Every man for himself, & God for us all: as if God were bound to do for them, and they will do nothing but for themselves.  
And yet these bodies in which we live, as it hath many members, so every member doth duty one to the other. This house in which we now are, and serveth us for this assembly, is so built, that one stone & iu●st stayeth up another. And these very Books, in which we read, are so made & compact, that letter serveth to lever, to make syllables; and syllables, words; and words; sentences; & by altogether we read, and learn knowledge. This duty therefore of serving one another, & being commonweals men, not private-weals men, nature, and reason, & heathen can teach us. Non nobis solis nati (saith one) partim patria, partim parents, and so forth. We are not borne only for ourselves, but partly our country, partly our parents, partly our friends and neighbours will claim a right in us.  
And indeed God and nature itself, hath east all (almost) into communities and societies, greater, or lesser, as Cities and families, as we see: the Lord so ordering it at the first for necessity sake, as we read in Genesis, Bonum est hominem non esse solum. 
Gen. 2.18.  It is good for man not to be alone. Who therefore as he receiveth his good from other, so ought he to minister help, and do good to other.  
And therefore if thou do say with Cain; Am I the keeper of my brother, it shall be answered, Yes indeed are thou the keeper of thy brother, an● thou must honour him, as the Apostle here commandeth, saying, Honour all men. And if thou do not so honour them as here is taught, thou dost contemn them, and in contemning them dost kill them: as Christ before teacheth thee in the third of Mark.  
Where I may conclude, that it is not only the fire of the wrath of God, which hath brought this desolation upon this place, where yet we may behold and see many heaps of stones and dust, moistened no less with the tears of the afflicted, then with the rain from heaven: but the careless & merciless hearts of many, which still suffer it so to be. In whom if this of Peter had taken place, there should now have been no sign of this destruction amongst us.  
Specially, there being so many, who in the days of our peace have received so much. For this of the Apostle, Honour all men; being spoken generally to all, doth yet so require this honour to be done of all, unto all, that he, that hath most, must do most; and he, that hath little, must do according to his little. Which if there be a willing mind first (as saith the Apostle) it is accepted according to that a man hath, 
2. Cor. 8.12  and not according to that he hath not.  
And thus in doing this honour to all men, we must observe the proportion which pertaineth to us, according to our portion. For of him, that hath received much, much shall be required: and of him that hath received little, little shall be required. The summer must bear more in the building then the ivist or rafter, and if one talon may not be digged into the ground, what shall be the judgement of those evil servants which have hid many talents, but this, Take from them their talents, 
Matth. 25  and bind them hand & foot, and cast these evil servants into utter darkness, there shall be weeping & gnashing of teeth. And yet see in this parable, the evil servant wasteth not his talon, nor abuseth it unto oppression; but only he useth it not at all, & doth no good with it. For of that seed of Cain, which oppress, kill, and destroy, which griende the face of the poor, 
Isa, 3, 15 Amos: 2.6  as it is in the third of Esay: and in the second of Amos, which sell the just for money, and the needy, pro pari Calceorum, for a pair of shoes; I will speak no more.  
Only thus, for the order of this honour, he, whose hand hath most, his charge is most: and he that hath little hath charge for a little. Which if every man would look unto, as here we are commanded to Honour all men: Lord, what a heaven (as I may so say) of help would there be amongst us? and how true would the prover be be, Homo homini Deus: Man is God to man. And the poor of the Land should be provided for, (as we are commanded in the 15. of Deuteronomie) even by the superfluities of manies abundance. 
Deut. 25.7. & seq.   
And yet again, as in this honour here required, we observe a proportion in those from whom it is due: so likewise ought we to do in, and as concerning those, unto whom it is due: and all must honour all, but not alike; even as all are bound unto all, but not alike. And therefore the Apostle in the fifteenth of the first to Timothy, 
1, Tim. 5, 8.  maketh them dearest, who are nearest to us: If there be any (saith he) that provideth not for his own, and namely for them of his own household, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel. And in the 6. verse of the same chapter, If any faithful man or faithful woman (saith he) have widows, meaning of their kin, and which are near unto them, let them minister unto them, that is, let them help and relieve them, and let not the church be charged.  
Thus the father, oweth more to the child; the husband, to the wife; the brother, to his brother; yea, the friend to his friend; (because he hath bound him by a special band) then to any other. And if these will not honour these, protect and defend, help, comfort, and nourish these, (as too often we may see this honour wanting) it is because we are fallen into the last times; of which the Apostle forewarned they should be grievous, it would even grieve any godly mind to see the manners of them: 
2. Tim. 3.3  For men (saith he) shallbe lovers of themselves, covetous, proud, boasters, and so forth. At length he addeth, without natural affection.  
Which in a sort doubtless may be extended even to those also, which deny this honour of which we speak unto their joint-neighbours, and fellow-citizens: unto whom by a special band they own more, then to any other; by reason of the mutual society and coiwction of the members of the body politic, wherein they are placed. And therefore ought they more especially to rejoice and suffer one with another, and to procure the good one of another, because the help or hindrance, the honour, or rebuke of any member redoundeth to the whole body, in which every member hath his part: as Paul also speaketh of the natural body. 
1. Cor. 1●, ●6   
And this made Moses first so severe and courageous against the Egyptian, 
Act. 7, 23, etc.  who he slew in defence, & avenging the cause of one of his brethren: and afterwards so careful to agree his Countrymen and brethren, which strove together, saying, Sirs, we are brethren, why do ye wrong one to another. A great wrong, & much duty broken, when a brother shall wrong a brother; a neighbour, his neighbour; one towns man an other; a citizen, his fellow citizen: when envy, & debate, deceit, and oppression shall reign amongst them, as strife in the members of the same body: which reacheth home. For if ye bite (saith the apostle) and devour one another, 
Gal 5.15  take heed lest ye be consumed one of another. Which is the plague of the people mentioned in Esa. 3. Opprimet in populo alter alteru; quisque proximum suum: 
Esay 3, 5  One shall oppress another amongst the people; each man his neighbour. As also in the 9 of the same prophecy. 
Esay 9, 20 ●1  Every one shall eat the flesh of his own arm; Manasseh, Ephraim; and Ephraim, Manasseh; and both these against juda. And what of this? A city, yea, a kingdom divided in itself cannot continued. 
Mat. 12, 25   
For it is not the honour of our times that can hold it up; so light & foolish and full of s●attery, that I am ashamed to name it: and yet many make a pride and a virtue of it: as if virtue were made of words, as the wood of trees: & therefore thus forsooth, father, & brother, & uncle, & cozen, & captain, & master, when indeed there is no such manner link or band between them. And when they light on any of these, or any other their lovers, & friends, upon whom they will bestow any of this court-holy-water, them cap & knee, & smooth & fine words, & low curtify, and broad embracing, as if we would reach them a piece of our heart. But if any of these need our help, that is, honour in deed, then S. james his charity, Abite cumpace, cales●ite, & satura●ini: Goin peace, be ye warmed, and filled: but we give them not the things that are fit for the body. 
I am, 2, 6  What profit is in this? saith the Apostle.  
And yet we are so used to this unprofitable, yea, reproachful honour, that we cannot leave it: but even when we have in hand some mischief toward men, they shall yet have some of this honour therewhile to hide it, like that was bestowed on our Saviour: Hail King of the jews, and smite him on the face. Or, as judas, Hail Master, kiss him, and betray him.  
And yet (my brethren) neither this, nor any thing which before hath been taught us, is brought to abridge all outward honour, or show of outward reverence. Which we acknowledge also to be due, Suo modo, in a certain manner, even from all men, to all men, and from each man to each and every man, as is the other honour in fact before mentioned. Which as it is indeed harder, and asketh cost, and therefore also is more high and excellent: so this likewise is of that praise, & price, that it ought not to be neglected, but embraced of us. For God hath so imprinted his own Image in us, that each man moved with a proper and serious sense of his sins, acknowledgeth his own baseness, and giveth reverence unto him, which scarcely will acknowledge it to be due unto him, because he feeleth his sins, as the other doth. And here is a right good straining of courtesy, when (as Peter willeth us in the fifth Chapter of this Epistle) we submit ourselves every man one to another. 
1. Pet ●. 5  According also to that golden rule of the Apostle in the second to the Philippians: Let every man think better of another then of himself. And in the 12. 
Philip. 2, 3  to the Romans: In giving honour, 
Rom. 12, 10  go one before another.  
This would take us down from the upper end of the table, and make us of ourselves seek the, 
Luke 14, 7 8, etc.  lower rooms first: and then the master of the house would set us up highen. For this modesty is amiable, and this humility, honourable. And therefore no marvel if the good man of the house be so delighted with it, that he vouch safeth it the highest room at the end of the Table. This is meant by our Apostle in the 5. chapter, and 5 vers. of this Epistle, saying: Deck yourselves inwardly with low lines of mind. 
1. Pet. 5, 5  Mark, there is a marvelous decking, beauty, & ornament in modesty. But he saith, It is inward, in the hid man of the heart: and yet so, that it showeth itself outward: or else it were nothing worth, as Solomon sayeth in the 27. of the proverbs, Better is open rebuke, then secret love. Yea, it so showeth itself in the body, 
prou 2●, 5  that it decketh, adorneth and beautifieth the body, so as all men shall honour us, when the bragger shall go by with contempt and scorn.  
For so it is added by the Apostle, as a reason to persuade us to embrace this duty: For God (sayeth he) resisteth the proud. What is that? To wit, this: Proud persons look for more than is due unto them; but they shall not have it. They would be honoured of all, Tanqu●● minores Dii, as little Gods: but they shall be broken of their wills. For as they have measured unto others, so shall it be measured to them again. They have showed in the pride of their minds contempt and disdain to others: and they shall reap it seven fold again into their bosoms. For thus I take Saint Peter to expound that place of the proverbs, the third Chapter, the sour and thirtieth verse. 
prou 3, 34  With the scorner he scorneth. Then it followeth in the very words that Peter allegeth, But he giveth grace, that is to say, favour, love, honour, and acceptation, both with God and men, unto the lowly. As it is said of our Saviour Christ, that he grew in wisdom, 
Luke 2, 52  and stature, and in favour both with God, and men. And why? Because, as well in this lowliness and humility, (no doubt) as in all other virtues, it was necessary that he should be our most perfect pattern, and leave us an example, that we should follow his steps; and acknowledge no less by his personal humility, then by his doctrine taught us in the fourteenth of Luke, that he that exalteth himself shall be brought low, 
Luke 14  and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.  
Fie upon therefore this outward flaunt of apparel, this bragging behaviour, and coy countenances of many in this age of most corrupt manners, which would seem to snatch honour to themselves, and even force it from us. But they must remember (as Aristotle saith,) Honourest in honorant, non in honorate. Honour is in him that honoureth, not in him that is honoured. And therefore thou mayst (happily) be despised of others, even when thou deservest to be honoured: much more shalt thou be sure to go without this honour, when by this ambitious humour of craving honour, thou deservest no honour, but contempt.  
But here we are to observe a distinction. For as before in the honour of fact, he owed most that had received most, to do good unto others according to his quantity: so in this outward honour, or honour of outward reverence, it falleth our contrary, that he oweth most unto others, that hath received less than others. For so it is in the civil bodies, and bodies politic, at in the natural body: wherein one member hath received more, or less honour, than another; and all less, than the head: as Paul also showeth us in the 12. of the first too the Corinthians: that in a certain variety, as well in this, as in sundry other things, there might be a marvelous consent and harmony, For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. 
1. Cor. 14.33,  And as one star differeth from another star in glory, for the beauty of the heavens, so one man differeth from another in glory, to the beauty of the earth. And therefore there is now in some the honour of age, which is not in others: in some, the honour of wisdom & virtue, not in others: in some the honour of dignity, not in others: beside the honour of majesty in the king & magistrate, of whom we speak not yet.  
And all these must have their honour, every man, as he excelleth most, and hath most of this honour in himself, as a mark or print of a certain majesty, which God hath placed in him. And it was a piece of the confusion threatened to juda in the third of Esay, and not the least part of the confusion, which at this day reigneth amongst us: Superbient p●er i● senem, 
Isay 3, 5  & vilis in honour ●ium. The boy shall bear himself brag against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. And it grieved job at the heart; 
job 2, 2, 3  and helpe●●ppe the heap of all his miseries, what once he had this honour, and no we had it not. Oh that I were (saith he) as in times past when God preserved me, when his ●●ig outshined upon my head. And afterwards in the f●●●enth ukase: When I went 〈◊〉 to the Gate to the s●ate of judgement, 
Verse ●  and 〈◊〉 bed●● caused them to preparatory. sea●● i● the● Streetoes. The young 〈◊〉 sam●●●e, and bid themselves; and the ag●dor●se and stood up. But in the 〈◊〉 Chapter he saith, But new, 
job 3, ●  ●ident me minore ●●●pores, My younger laugh 〈◊〉 me: and those so base borne and vile, that, as there he saith, Whose ●athers I would have disdained to set with the Dogs of my flock.  
This was jobs case, to want that honour and reverence, which once he had, & had well deserved. Which if it be any of ours; (as doubtless never was there more contempt, and less honour yielded unto Superiors) let us charge this sin upon the Inferiors: yet so, as that we wholly discharge not ourselves of blame. For besides that this plague is partly upon us, 
Isa. 3.4  in the third of Esay, Dab● puer●● principes co●um, I will set children to rule over them; and so indeed we have in many places rulers, no more able to rule themselves and others, than women and children: & therefore are despised of men, women, and children: there is also another plague mentioned by the Prophet in the next words, thus, Quifacinero see do●ine●tu● in ●os● that is, I will set children to be their Rulers, which shall mischievously reign over them. And afterwards in the same chapter. 
Verse 13  The baby oppresseth my people, and Women ●aue rule over them. And yet as very babes as they are in government, and weak as women, to rule themselves, or other, as they ought to do, they are strong enough to oppress the people: and this maketh them to be despised of the people.  ameris amabilis esto, (saith the poet) If thou wilt have love, thou must bear thyself lovely. And if thou wilt have other to honour thee in high place, do thou stoop down to them, and honour them in those rooms and places wherein they are, even the meanest. Do not oppress them, but relieve them (for this is the best honour, as before is proved) and show all kindness and courtesy, and affability towards them. And thou shalt see that kindness will beget kindness; as Moses was honoured of all the people. And yet it is said that he was the mildest man in all the earth. 
Num. 12. ●  Which doubtless could not have been, if in his high place he had overlooked them, and not rather in all faith fullness, love, and diligence, had looked to them, & lived with them as a common friend.  
And therefore the king himself also in the 17. of Deut. was commanded not to multiply horses, 
Deut. 17, 6, & seq.  nor augment his pomp overmuch, lest he should wax proud, and have his heart lifted up above his brethren. Wherefore, give, you that are even the greatest, give unto the meanest their honour, and they shall give you yours, Good measure (as Christ saith) pressed down, 
Luke 6, 38  shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom: 
Matth. 7, 2  for with what measure you meat, with the same shall men measure unto you again. For otherwise every man doth bear a kingdom in his breast, how soever his outward obedience or reverence may be wrested from him.  
And yet may, and must the Ruler, and every superior maintain his place, and show himself, as he is, in keeping the grace, and gravity; the port, and support of a superior: as it is said of a Roman governor, that he bore up the Commonweal with his brow or countenance. Which no man may impute to pride or immodesty for it is majesty. Therefore Solomon maketh a comparison in the thirtieth of the proverbs: 
Prou. 30, 29 30, 31.  There be three things (saith he) that order well their going, yea four which have a comely gate, an old Lion mighty among Beasts, and turneth not at the sight of any: an Horse that hath his Belly taken down: a Goat, and a King against whom there is no rising up. And therefore it is counseled in another place, Ne sis humilis in sapientia tua. 
Eccls, ●. 19.  Be not overlowly in thy wisdom, nor out of conceit with thyself for thy place: lest it be true which is said, Tanti eris aliis, quanti tibi fueris: Thou shalt be just so much esteemed of others, as thou (in this sense) esteemest thyself. And therefore it was commanded Timothy, 
1. Tim. 4.12  being a young man, to show himself grave in his ministry. Let no man (saith Paul) despise thy youth. That is, see thou give none occasion by any over familiar, light, or lose behaviour, that any should despise thy youth. And no less the Pastor of the Commonweal, than the Pastor of the church, in the person of Titus, 
Tit. 2.15.  is commanded thus: These things speak and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. See that no man despise thee.  
Thus the superior must know what honour he hath; and much more what honour he oweth to the inferior, and pay it: and the inferior for his part must do the like. And all men (as Peter here saith) must honour all men. A necessary doctrine, for all, who in that state of franchisement, which we have in the heavenly city of our God and King, have, or aught to have our conversation (as Paul had his) in heaven, 
Philip. 3, 20  or heavenly, or as in heaven already, according also as we pray, 
Mat. 6.20.  Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven.  
And thus much of the first step of these four duties here required. Which is as far as at this time I can go with you. Now let us pray.   

THE SECOND Sermon.  2. Pet. 2.17. 
love brotherly fellowship.  
THis whole verse breaking itself into four principal parts, which are so many several exhortations, of the first, in these words, Honour all men, we have spoken already, and are now come unto the second, in these words, Love brotherly fellowship, or, as I had rather interpret them, according to the plain signification of the Greek word, thus, Love the brother hood: referring the word which the Apostle useth not unto the mind & affection of him that loveth, or the virtue of loving, as it seemeth our English translation here doth: but to the brethren themselves, which must be loved.  
For as before he had showed us the matter, or, as we call it, the subject of our honour, saying, Honour all men: and afterwards will show us the subject of our fear, saying, Fear God: and lastly, the subject of a particular and more especial honour, saying, Honour the King: so here he showeth us the subject or matter of our love, or, if ye will, the persons on whom our love must work, to wit, the brethren: even the whole society of them. So as, (a little to invert our own translation, and yet to keep as near as we may) in steed of this, Love brotherly fellowship, we may read thus, Love the fellowship of brethren. So we name the whole state of the Commons of the realm, the Commonalty: and so here, the whole state of the brethren, joined in one fellowship, the brotherhood, or, fellowship of brethren.  
Now in this sentence we have to observe generally, these two parts, The brethren, which must receive our love: and, The love itself, which we own unto them.  
And touching the brethren, first, we see them commended to us by the name of brotherhood, which is a society or fellowship of brethren, and indeed such (according to the force of the word which Peter useth) I say, such brethren as lay in the same belly with us. Even as in deed we have all but one mother, Jerusalem (as saith the apostle in the 4. to the Gal.) which is above, and yet beneath, the Church scattered throughout the world, 
Gal. 4, 26  which is (saith he) the mother of us all. In her womb we are begotten, being borne anew (as Peter before saith) not of mortal seed, 
1. Pet. 1, 23  but of immortal, by the word of God. Who of his own will (as james also sayeth) begat us by the word of truth, 
jam. 1, 18  that we should be the first fruits of his creatures. And to our mother was the promise made in the four and fiftieth of Esay, 
Isay 54, 13  And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord, and much peace shall be to thy children. Thus all that are taught of God, and have obeyed his word, are brethren both by father and mother; and the whole number joined in one society or fellowship, is the brotherhood: which also is called the household or family of faith. While we have time (saith the Apostle in the sixth to the Galathians) let us do good unto all, 
Gal. 6.10  specially unto those that are of the family of faith. And again in the third to the Ephesians: 
Ephes 3, 14  For this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord jesus Christ, of whom is named the whole family in heaven, and in earth. And the band of this family, or conjunction of brethren, is faith and holiness, in that heavenly vocation, unto which they are called. In which respect they are named (as before we heard) the family of faith, and faithful brethren in Christ; and holy brethren. In the first to the Colossians, Paul an Apostle of jesus Christ, by the will of God and Timotheus our brother, 
Col. 1, 1, 2  To them which are at Colosse, Saints and faithful brethren in Christ. 
Heb. 3.1  And in the third to the Hebrews, Therefore holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly vocation, consider the Apostle and high Priest of our profession, Christ jesus.  
Wherefore let not thine eyes wander to seek thy love; but see who are joined in faith & holiness, and they are the brethren: and there thou must fasten thy whole desire. It is not in all the world beside, that thou must so delight in, as in them. For tell me, if any thing be so commanded, or commended to us, as the brethren, or some duty which pertaineth to them?  
Hear only we except the love of the Father: which yet is revealed, and, as it were, accomplished in the love of the brethren. If ye love me (saith Christ) keep my commandment. 
john 14, 15  And, This is my commandment, 
john 15, 12  that ye love one another, as I have loved you. And again, By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 
john 13, 35  if ye have love one to another. As if the love of the brethren were the love of Christ: because he delighteth in them, yea, dwelleth in them, and they in him; he is one with them, and they with him; by a true, and real conjunction (though the same not natural, and carnal, but spiritual) as in the seventeenth of john, I pray not for these alone, but for them also which shall believe in me through their word. 
john 17, 26 21, etc.  That they all may be one, as thou, O Father in me, and I in thee: even that they may be also one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory that thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one, as we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me. And so the Church considered with her head, is mystical Christ, or Christ in a mystery; and so called by the Apostle in the twelfth of the first to the Corinthians: 
1. Cor. 12.12  For as the body (saith he) is one, & hath many members, and all the members of the body, which is one, though they be many, yet are but one body: so is Christ, that is to say, Christians, in one society, even the Church, considered as a body, but with her head Christ. Who, by an excellency of the head above the members, giveth name unto the whole, and it is called Christ.  
Hence cometh this acceptation in the second of Zacharie, He which toucheth you, 
Zach. 2, 8  toucheth the apple of his eye. And in the tenth of Matthew, 
Math. 10, 42  Whosoever shall give unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a Disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward. And in the siue and twentieth of Matthew: 
Mat. 25, 37, etc.  When saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? and so forth. Verily I say unto you (saith Christ) inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my Brethren, ye have done it unto me. And again, When saw we thee an hungered, or a thirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? These also are answered, verily I say unto you, in as much as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And in the ninth of the Acts, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the prick. And I answered, 
Act. 9.4.5.  who art thou Lord? and he said, I am jesus whom thou persecutest. Yet were they indeed the Christians, and the bodies of the Saints, which he cast into prison, and lead them bound unto Jerusalem.  
But note I pray you out of the place of Matthew, that he reckoneth there with the wicked, on his left hand, not for any other sins, or for the want of that love, which properly appertaineth unto himself, but that, which properly appertaineth unto his brethren: because it is best seen by loving his, how we love him. For that sometimes toucheth the purse, where love is best tried: and that love of the lip, Lord, Lord, deceiveth many: and therefore john saith, He that hath this world's good, and seethe his brother have need, and shutteth up his compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? And therefore Christ our Saviour doth not there challenge them simply and generally for the want of love towards his brethren, but the outward works and deeds of love are specified, of feeding and drinking, of clothing, and harbouring, and the like. For love being once inwardly inflamed, like fire, it breaketh out, and worketh outwardly, as need requireth, or, it is no love, and nothing worth; and sometimes angereth more than rebuke. 
Prou. 27, 9  Therefore Solomon saith in the seven & twentieth of Proverbs, Better is open rebuke then secret love. And it gawleth the needy. Brother more to hear that in james, 
jam. 2, 16  Depart ye in peace, be ye warmed, and be ye filled; when we give them not those things which are fit for the body, it grieveth them, I dare say, more that we seem thus to wish them well, and do them no good indeed, then if we were silent and said nothing. And Saint james rejecteth it thus, saying, What profit is in this my brethren? even as we may also, and say, What love is this my brethren? it is no love, but a shadow of love. For love, though an affection, is all in action, and such kind of action, that faith itself cannot show itself, nor work without love, which therefore is necessarily engendered of her, as the heat● and light which issue from the Sun, by which he showeth his force and virtue. Therefore the Apostle in the fifth to the Galathians, writeth thus, 
Gal. 5, 6  In jesus Christ neither Circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love: both inwardly and outwardly, when and as oft as need requireth, and means are notwanting unto the work. And further, to note the property and work of love, in the first of the first to the Thessalonians (he saith) We give thanks unto God always 
1. Thes. 1, 3  for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, without ceasing, remembering your effectual faith, and diligent love. As if without labour and diligence, there were no love: even as faith, without effect or efficacy, and not effectual, is no faith at all. And therefore in the matter of alms, Paul trieth the naturalness (as he speaketh) of the love of the Corinthians. This say I (saith he) not by commandment, 
2. Cor. 8, 8  but because of the diligence of others: therefore prove I the naturalness of your love.  
And because those works of love do show her most, which bring most good and profit to that which is loved, and none can add to the Almighty: Look unto the heaven (saith Elihu in job) and see and behold the clouds which are higher than thou. 
job. 5.5. & .7  If thou be righteous, what givest thou unto him? or what receiveth he at thy hands? This also is another cause, why the Apostle without any express mention of God, and the love which we own unto him, turneth over our love unto the brethren, and setteth it a working there, as if we had nothing to do with God: who only of his own good pleasure may have pleasure in us, and in that we do; but no profit at all by us, or by aught of ours: that only appertaineth unto the Brethren. God may profit us, and we by love may profit them, and God is pleased in this love, as himself loved in it; and therefore indeed do we love the Brethren. This David expresseth in the sixteenth Psalm: Save me, O mighty God, 
psal. 16, 1, 2 & 3.  saith he: (lo he fetcheth good from God, he bringeth none to him:) for in thee have I put my trust. O my soul, say unto God, thou art my lord: good from me cometh none to thee. All my delight is in the Saints that are in the earth, and in them that excel in virtue. This also I thought good to add, lest any man should think the Apostle in prescribing this love, as only due unto the Brethren, had forgotten himself, or the first and chiefest part of the Law, which saith, Thou shalt love God above all things. For all love, I confess, is not due unto the Brethren, but most specially is declared in, and on the Brethren. For which cause the Apostle doubteth not to say expressly, as here he doth, Love the Brotherhood, or fellowship of brethren. Who also, when he biddeth to love the the brethren, forbiddeth not to love God; but rather, in bidding of the one, secretly, and by impliment, he biddeth both, because of necessity they go together.  
Why then, dearly beloved, and why again, are we so vain, to skip the brethren, and to leave that we should love, and love that we should leave, or it will leave us, I mean the world and the things of the world. Of which john saith, 
1. joan. 2, 15.  Love not the world, nor the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him: and much less the love of the Brethren, which are his children, and are not loved, but for the father's sake.  
Alas then for the Brethren, which have lost their love of all the worldlings, who can love nothing but this world, and the things which are in this world. But of this it is said, All that is in the world (as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, 
Verse 16, 17  and the pride of life) is not of the Father, but of this world: and the world passeth away, and the lust thereof. And therefore thrice alas, yea, and a woe to them, because they love, and lose their lust: for the world perisheth to them, and they unto the world. And therefore how much better were it for them if they could love the brethren? of which is said in the words next following, 
Verse 17  But he that fulfilleth the will of God abideth ever. And this is his will and commandment (as before we have heard) that we love one another, 
joan. 15, 12  as he hath loved us: and so, loving together, may live together, again, 
1. joan 3: 14  We know that we are translated from death unto life, because we love the brethren.  
Therefore for the love of the brethren, we go not to the world, but to the brethren themselves: for they will love us, unless they be turned from themselves, and fall away from their own steadfastness. 
2. Pet. 3.17.  Of which the Apostle admonisheth, saying, Qui stat, 
1. Cor: 10, 12  videat ne cadat: He that standeth, let him take heed that he fall not. And therefore look well to your love, my brethren, as Paul did to the faith of the Thessalonians, in the first Epistle and third chapter, 
1. Thes. 3.5  Even for this cause (saith he) when I could no longer forbear, I sent him (to wit Timotheus) that I might know of your faith, lest the Tempter had tempted you in any sort, and that our labour had been in vai●●. What if he had said, That I might know● oft your love? For faith, and love, do go together; they dwell together, & they depart together; they live together, & they die together. And therefore is t●● tempter as busy about the one, as about the other, and as mighty over the one, as over the other. And (look we well unto it) he should not be ca●led the Tempter, if daily he tempted nor, & at no time effected any thing: even as too much is daily seen, that those that are baptised in the faith of brethren, make a mock of the brethren▪ as Ishmael was circumcised in the house of Abraham, and mocked Isaac, there circumcised together with him. And Sarah (sayeth Moses) saw the son Agar the Egyptians (which she had borne unto Abraham) mocking. 
G●n. 21, ●  If Sarah, if Abraham, if Isaac himself, and the seed of Isaac this day lift up their eyes, lo, the sons of Agar, mocking: and so bitterly, that Sarah our mother cannot abide it. 
Vers: 10  Wherefore she yet saith, Cast out the bond woman and her son. And the Apostle in the 4. to the Galat●ians calleth it persecution. But as then (saith he) he that was borne after the flesh, persecuted him that was borne after the spirit, 
Gal. 4, 29.  even so is it now. Lo therefore, dearly beloved; some part of our affliction, to hear and see the scorn of these baptised and only baptised brethren, which point with the finger, and mock home (as they think) saying, lo, the holy brotherhood who, as they taunt us with their tongue, would tear us with their teeth, in the time were come, notwithstanding our common & joint profession.  
And yet if this were all it were the less. 
Rom. 9, 6 2. The 3, 2  For all are not Israel which are of Israel. And all have not faith, saith the Apostle. And he meaneth it of those that profess the faith. So all have not love, which profess love, and are vowed brethren. Yea, it is a note of these last times in the third of the second to Timothy: This know, 
Tim. ●. 1 etc.  (saith the Apostle) that in the last days grievous times shall be at hand. For men, saith he, what men? 
Verse 5  members of the visible church, & professed in the faith: (for of other it were no marvel) e●uen such men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, proud, boasters, cursed speakers, and so forth, in a great rank. In which to fill up the number, are placed also these, Love less brethren. no lovers of them that are good, sayeth Paul: no they cannot love a good man for their lives. And therefore of these counterfeits, the brood of Ishmael (almost) we look for no better.  
But the Tempter to show himself hath gone yet further, to alter the seed of Isaac from their true love, perverting our eyesight, when we look on the brethren; judging some to be worthy of our company, and countenance; & othersome (no less worthy in themselves, than ourselves, but to us as unworthy) we reject and go by them, and hang the brows at them, as strangers and enemies. And all because of some odds in some points, which are between us, 
Act ●5, 36, 37, etc.  less sometimes than that in the Acts, when Barnabas counseled to take john Mark, in visitation; But Paul thought it not meet, because he had departed from them from Pamphilia, and went not with them to the work. And there was stricken such a heat between them both about this matter, that they parted asunder one from the other, so that Barnabas took Mark, and sailed into Cyprus and Paul took Silas and departed. Two apostles so incensed one against the other, that (as the word Paroxismos may also signify) they were, as it were in the sit of an ague. And yet the matter not great. For Mark was a good man, and Paul might have taken him; and Barnabas might have left him, if they had been pleased.  

Rom. 14.17  The kingdom of God (sayeth Paul) is not meat, nor drink, (and yet the question of our liberty in meat and drink, which there he handleth, was not small) but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost. And in jesus Christ (saith he) neither circumcision, 
Gal. 5.6.  availeth any thing, neither uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Yet who may cure our Paroxysms, yea, our Schisms, and join us in love unto the Brethren, which have, and hold Christ, and his kingdom, righteousness and peace, and joy in the holy Ghost: & yet for some other things, wherein we judge them they are not for our company; and still we will distinguish between brethren and brethren: and some we will take, and some we will leave to live to themselves: some we will love, and some we will hate. And so out of one mouth (as Saint james saith) yea out of one heart, 
jam. 3, 10, 11, etc.  proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethrenthese things ought not so to be, Doth a fountain send forth at one hole sweet wa●● and bitter also? Can the fig tree, m●brethren, bring forth Olives; or else a 〈◊〉, Figs? So can n o fountain give both salt water and bitter also. And so touching the brethren, we love all, or none: and our love to like things must be alike; or else we love not as we ought.  
And so, Saint Peter here speaketh not singularly, or divisivelie, but as it were, collectively, saying, Love the brethren, that is, all the brethren, even the whose number of them, joined in one society, not one excepted. And Paul in the first to the Collossians: We give thanks (sayeth he) to God, even the Father of our Lord jesus Christ, 
Colos. 1, 3.  always praying for you since we heard of your faith in Christ jesus, and of your love towards all Saints. And Christ, to show how he hath loved us, all, and every one, respecting the singulars, and each singular in the general, giving us also the name of brethren, saith, as before we heard out of the live and twentieth of Matthew. 
Mat 25, 40  Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. 
Vers. 45  And again, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me. And in the seventeenth of john: 
john 17, 2  Those that thou gavest me, have I kept, and none of them is lost, save the child of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. Where he descendeth to account for every particular, which the Father had given him: and so must we, for every brother, whom he commendeth unto our love.  
But note, I pray you, out of the place of Matthew, 
Verse 40  a distinction of brethren. For he saith, Unto one of the least of these my brethren. Therefore some are greater, and some are less, not in the brother hood itself, or nature of brethren, wherein all are alike: but in some outward respects, wherein they may be, and are unlike. as here in this place of Matthew, the 25. there is mention of hungry, and thirsty, of naked, and harbourless, and prisoned brethren, who in this respect are less, as the Lord hath humbled them, than those brethren which are full, and clothed, housed, and at liberty, having other furniture also sometime of pomp and dignity. The one sort Saint james in the first Chapter of his first Epistle calleth Brethren of low degree: 
jam. 1, 9  and the other he calleth rich. Thus, there are poor, & abject brethren, low, and little: and there are great, and rich, and flourishing brethren: and we must love all. But yet out love is chief approved (as before was showed) by such outward works, and duties, which we do unto our lesser brethren; for our greater brethren need them not: as Paul speaketh of the members of the natural body: 
2. Cor. 12, 23  And upon those members (sayeth he) of the body which we think to be the less honourable, we put on more honour: and our uncomely parts have more comeliness: for our comely parts need it not. Thus, the hunger, and nakedness, the wants and distresses, the bands and prisonments of our little Brethren should be our care, and the matter especially to fire our love: much less should we set light of them, because they are little. Saint james compareth the profane rich men of the world, with the rich Brethren, and reproveth the love of the faithful to whom he writeth, for preferring the one before the other. And what do we else, if in respect of their riches, their pomp, and dignity, we prefer in our love, and the duties of love, our greater Brethrens before the less? but let us hear his words: 
jam. 2, 1, 2, & seq.  My brethren (saith he) have not the faith of our glorious Lord jesus Christ in respect of person. For if there come into your company a man (I add, a brother) with a gold ring, and in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man, (to wit, a brother) in vite raiment, and ye have a respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, sitt● thou near in a goodly place, and say unto the poor, stand thou here, or sit here under my footstool: are ye not partial in yourselves, and are become judges which have evil thought? Hearken my beloved brethren, hath not God chosen the poor of this world that they should be rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom, which he promised to them that love him? but ye have despised the poor. Hear he toucheth the boil. For there is a kind of estimation, which belongeth unto men of dignity, as the Lord hath divided degrees in the world, some brethren having more honour, & some less. But our love unto all must be alike, as well poor, as rich. And we must have somewhat the more care of the poor, that we exclude them not, for Saint james his reason, because the greater number of us, I mean the brethren, are poor, and not rich, weak, & not strong; base, and not honourable; foolish, & not wise. Hearken my beloved brethren (saith he) hath not God chosen the poor of this world, 
Verse 3  that they should be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to them that love him? not that he excludeth the rich, but more commonly & generally in this choice respecteth the poor, as Paul also showeth in the first of the first to the Corinthians. Brethren (saith he) you see your calling, that is, who, 
1. Cor. 1.26 & seq.  and what manner of men amongst you, are called, and come unto Christ, not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the mighty, and vile things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are, that no flesh should glory in his sight. And therefore I fear, if my heart give a better welcome to a rich brother, then to a poor, that I love not the brethren as I ought. Wherefore let not the carnal and outward beauty of Brethren beguile our minds. The King's Daughter is all glorious within. 
Psal. 45, 14 Hebr. 13, 2.  Angel's may be strangers, as in the thirteenth to the Hebrews, and the beauty of a brother may be hid under a very sorry weed.  
The same may be said for the weak brethren, of whom somewhat already hath been spoken. And therefore briefly thus: be their weakness never so great, even as of children in Christ, and their infirmities never so many; lack they knowledge or conscience sometimes in somethings (For who can say, saith Solomon: 
Prou. 20, 9  I have cleansed my heart, I am clean from sin:) We must take them with all their faults, as we are taken, and love them as we are loved, and were loved, even when we were enemies, as saith the Apostle: & the weaker our brethren are, 
Rom., 510  the more must be our care, and our burden the greater to bear them and make them better. Brethren (saith the Apostle in the sixth to the Galathians● if a man be prevented in any fault ye which are spiritual restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, 
Gal, 6, 1  considering thyself lest thou also be tempeed. Bear ye one another's burden, and so fulfil the law of Christ.  
And thus much touching the first general point of this sentence, what, or whom we must love, to wit, the brotherhood or fellowship, of brethren none excepted. Now somewhat of the love itself, and so an end.  
And first, when as the Apostle here saith, & exhorteth, saying, Love the brotherhood, he meaneth not that the faithful to whom he writeth, and in whom he acknowledgeth all the graces of God, were simply void of love, or that they had not some love already, when he wrote unto them: but that they should continue in love, and increase in love, and love more perfectly than before. For otherwise for the Brethren to love together, is as kind and as natural, as for the birds to fly together; for the herds to feed, and to lie together; yea, for the members of the body to live & move together: for love is as it were, the life and soul of the Brethren. And therefore it is monstriloco, a monster, to see Brethren not to love together. And when it fell out otherwise in the Church of Corinth, it seemed so absurd and strange to the Apostle, that he maketh as it were, an outcry upon it, as if they had lost their wisdom, and almost their wits, that some brethren fell out, & others could suffer it. I speak it to your shame (saith he) is it so that there is not a wise man amongst you? 
1. Cor. 6, 5, 6, & seq.  no, not one that can judge between his Brethren? but a Brother goeth to Law with a brother, and that under the Infidels. Now therefore there is altogether infirmity in you, in that you go to Law one with another. Why rather suffer ye not wrong. Why rather sustain ye not harm? Nay, you yourselves do wrong, and do harm; and that to your Brethren. There is the wonder.  
But to speak more distinctly of this love, we may shortly consider in it these three points before mentioned, first the continuance secondly the increase: and thirdly, the perfection, or rather the sincerity and purity of our love. For the first, in the thirteenth to the Hebrews, and first, Let brotherly love continue, 
Heb. 13.1  saith the Apostle: that is, see that it break not off but run in one thread, and hold together unto the end. For the reward is certain. For as the apostle exhorteth the Galathians, saying, 
Gal 6. ●  Let us not be weary of well doing, for in time we shall reap, if we faint not. So because nothing is better than love, let us not be weary of loving, for in time we shall reap if we faint not.  
And indeed why should we leave so good a thing? which we cannot do, but we are in danger to fall into the contrary. For anger itself, what is it, but a breach of love, of which the Apostle faith, Be angry and sin not: 
Ephes. 4, 26  Let not the Sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place unto the devil, who quickly taketh it, and tempteth unto discord.  
And besides it is a goodly thing to see the stream of love run clear without troubling; as Solomon speaketh of the prosperity, and adversity of the righteous, in the five and twentieth of Proverbs: 
Prou. 25, 29  As a fountain trampled with the feet, or a spring marred, so is the just which is removed before the wicked. The prosperity of the just, is the clear spring, and the adversity of the same, is the spring troubled. and even so the course of our love continued is the clear spring, and it is a goodly thing to see it clear, as still it would be, were it not for troubling. And therefore Paul in a certain holy impatiency, and zealous desire of the continuance of the love of the Galathians, exclaimeth thus, utinam & abscindantur qui vos conturbant: 
Gal, 5, 12  I would they were even cut off that trouble you.  
And also we ought to look the more unto our love, that it break not with any brother that loveth us, because the kind heart is soon, and deepest wounded, and the cure thereof is very hard. Of which Solomon sayeth in the eighteenth of the Proverbs: 
Prou. 18, 19  A brother offended is harder to win then a strong City, and their contentions are like the bar of a Palace.  
And yet we deny not, but as the Sun sometimes is darkened by the Clouds, engendered of some gross exhalations from the earth: so the light of our love is misted; and the heat thereof rebated by some sinister and corrupt affections of our fleshly nature. And as in frenetical persons we see that they have their lucida interualla, bright and calm inter missions, which are not in the nature of the disease: So the loving brethren have turbida interualla, their troubled fits, which are not in the nature of their love And therefore, as the Sun at the last breaketh through the mist, and cloud: and those that are taken with the frenzy, return to their madness as before: so the brethren to their love, which no more can be parted, or departed from their hearts, than the light from the Sun; or life from the soul, which is impossible. And therefore, as Pharaoh, notwithstanding his sundry pretences, yea, his purposes, and permissions, and at the last his own fact in letting the Israelites go out of his land, returned to his own nature, repenting, where be should not, and followeth after the same people to bring them back, whom himself by commandment had sent away: so on the other side brethren, notwithstanding for a season they have a bend another way, which leadeth from their love, as blinded with error, tempted by Satan, and carried with the violence of their affections: yet time will try them, and if they be brethren, they will come to themselves, and their love agained notwithstanding some unkindness for a season: For greater is he that is in us (sayeth john) than he that is in the world. 
1, john 4, 4  And as Paul in the fifth of the first to Timothy, 
1. Tim. 5, 24 25  speaketh of two sorts of Ministers, the one hypocritical, deceiving the Church at the first, and proving bad at the last, of whom he saith, some men's sins, or faults, are open before hand, and go before unto judgement, but some m●●● follow af●● and the others such, who ●hough●●● y●●le●i●e; and are neg●ligent, and bu●●● their gifts for a season, yet coming, to themselves again, and as it were reui●ing, do afterwards show the fruits of their labour, and approve themselves to the Church of God; and of these he saith in the words next following: Likewise also the good works are manifest before hand and they that are otherwise 〈◊〉 be hid: So may we say, comparing the brethren unto this better sort of Ministers, that though some of them sometimes break off from that course of love, which they ought to continue, and sleep in the forgetfulness of their duty (as of both sorts of virgins, both the wise, and the foolish, it is said they slep●● yet the brethren even all cope, have Oil in their Lamps, and their love awaketh with them, and embraceth the brethren, whom before it did not. And the good works of their o●e, which at their first calling appeared, and were manifest to all men, (yet altered ●or● a time, and carried into other behaviours, and be seeming the course which first began) cannot be hid, as sayeth Paul, but shall be seen to be ●●●o such at the last, as they were at the first. For love breaketh through all lets, and passeth by 〈◊〉 covereth the multitude of sins, suffering all things, 
1. Cor. 13, 7  ●●●●●ning all things, hoping all things, adducing all things at the hands of our brethren. And with a godly sorrow worketh repentance and reformation for our own offences towards them, with great care, yea, 
3 Cor. 7, 11  with clearing of ourselves, yea, with indignation, yea, with flare; yea; with great desire, yea with zeal; yea; with punishment, for reconciliation, till the strong City be won; and one contentions, though as hard to break as the bar of a palace, be yet broken a sunder, and ourselves reunited in the love of brethren. So all at the last was forgiven, and forgotten, between joseph and his brethren; and their love braced out in tears, and they wept, and rejoiced, and kissed, and embraced, and their hearts were comforted in the love of brethren. 
Gen. 45   
The second consideration which we have of our love, is the increase of the same. Of the which the Apostle in the fourth of the first to the Thessalonians, 
1. Thes. 4, 9 14  writeth thus: But as touching brotherly lo●● (faith he) ye need not that I writ unto you: for ye are taught of God to love one another Yea, and that thing verily ye do unto all the brethren, which are throughout all Macedonia: but, we beseech you brethren, that you increase more and more. We are not therefore to stand at a stay in love, but still to walk forward from love to love. For this is the way of the righteous: and of it Solomon sayeth in the fourth of the Proverbs, 
Prou. 4.18  The way of the righteous shineth as the light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And the right love of brethren is as fire, which still increaseth, and inflameth them with a certain natural affection and inclination to embrace one another, of which the Apostle in the twelfth to the Romans saith. 
Rom. 12, 10  Be affectioned to love one another with brotherly love. And this affection or inclination cannot stay itself, until it come to the highest degree of love, and leadeth us to that which Peter requireth in the first Chapter of this Epistle, namely, 
1 Pet 1, 22  That we love one another out of a pure heart, vehemently, or as our English translation giveth it, Fervently, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might: and so our love become zeal, which hath eaten us up, & we all in a zeal do love the brethren. Which condemneth (my brethren) the love of these times, the last I think; in which it is come to pass, as our Saviour foretold, that because iniquity shall abound, the love of many, yea, many brethren, I had almost said towards brethren is waxed cold.  
But (to come to the third and last point) whether we love little, or whether we love much, according to the measure of grace which we have received, let us yet love purely; and that love which we have, let it be love in deed. Not every one (sayeth Christ) that saith unto me. Lord, 
Mat. 7, 22.  Lord, that is, which professeth himself my servant, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven: but he that doth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. Not every one that sayeth Brother, Brother, shall have the praise of true love, but he that will do for his brother indeed. 
2. Sam. 20, 9, 10.  Not as joab, which saluted Amasa, and said, Art thou in health my brother? 
Feigned love  and he took. Amasa by the ●eard with the right hand, to kiss him. But with his sword he smote him in the fifth rib, and shed out his bowels to the ●round. This was not love, but dissimulation, which ought to be far from the love of brethren. So the Apostle commandeth in the twelfth to the Romans, Let love (saith he) be without dissimulation. 
Rom. 12, 9  And Peter in the first Chapter of this Epistle, requireth brotherly love unfeigned; 
1. Pet. 1, 22  With brotherly love unfeigned (saith he) not of a pure heart love ye one another fervently. Therefore this love which kisseth; & killeth, which marrieth, and burieth all in a day, is not worthy of mention with the love of brethren.  
No, nor a better love than this: 
Idle love.  a better, I call it, because it doth no harm: and yet is not good enough, because it doth no good. If a brother or asister (saith james) be naked, 
jam. 2, 15, 16  and destitute of daily food; and one of you say unto him, Depart in peace, beeye warmed, and be ye filled: not withstanding, ye give them not those things that are needful for the body, what helpeth it? This lip-love Saint james refuseth: and Saint john will none of it, saying, in his first Epistle and third Chapter, My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue only; but in deed and in truth. 
1 joan. 3, 18  As if there were no truth in love, without the deed, if do it can, and doth it not.  
And yet again there is another love not aright, which doth some good, and leadeth to some duties which are profitable, but not for love sake; but because we received some good before, or may receive profit by the fame again. And this we may call a servile love, 
Servile love.  because it worketh for wages and nothing else; and is no better (as our Saviour teacheth us) but that sinners and Publicans may have the like. 
Matth, 5, 46, 47. Luke 6, 32, 33.   
But to leave these loves, which are none of ours, & to note that which indeed the Apostle meaneth, 
Simple love  it is a simple love, pure, & void of all respects, & loveth the brethren for the brethren's sake. Of which we may say as Solomon speaketh in the fourteenth of Proverbs, of the sense and judgement of the mind towards mirth, or mourning: The mind (saith he) acknowledgeth his own bitterness, 
Prou. 14, 10  or what is better to itself: and in the mirth thereof no strange thing doth mixed itself. That is, it trieth all things, and taketh what it loveth, & leaveth what it liketh not. And even so this love of brethren, it hath her proper judgement, & nothing it alloweth but what is like herself. It admitteth no respects of rich or poor; wise, or unwise; strong, or weak; profitable or unprofitable: but looketh to the brotherbood or company of brethren (as Peter requireth) & in the name of brethren, as Christ speaketh in the tenth of Matthew, 
Matth. 10  that is, as brethren, and in the only nature of Brethren, it embraceth them, and nothing in them beside. Paul saluteth Timothy thus, Unto Timothy my natural Son in the faith: 
1. Tim. 1, 2  so calling him, because he had a true and a natural faith. For there is a natural faith, which bringeth forth a natural love, of which we speak: and there is a bastard faith, of which is engendered a bastard love of false Brethren. These also are amongst us, but they are not of us: and how little worth their love is, I need not speak: the white of in egg, or a stick hath as much taste as it. And these, as they lie in out way, needs we must deal with them but still we scare them, as a quaver mice that shal●eth under us, & sometime or other they will deceive us. The Apostle in the eleventh of the second to the Corinthians, reckoning up all his ●e●illes, to make vp●e the heap, 
1. Cor 11, 26  at last addeth this; I● perils amongst false brethren. And who of us my Brethren, in casting up the sum of all our troubles, can leave out this, In perils of false brethren or, if for the present we can, the time may come that it may be added. For the brood of Ishmael doth spawn apace. He that eat bread with me, 
Psal. 41, 10 joan. 13, 18  hath lift up his heel against me, saith David, saith Christ. And how should any Christian look for better? Most men (saith Solomon in the twelfth of Proverbs) Do praise each man his own kindness: but who can find a faithful man? 
Prou. 3, 6  to wit, which showeth so much, as he saith he is. Thus many say they love, but proof maketh all. Wherhfore (saith the Apostle to the Corinthians, 
2. Cor, 8, 24  in the second Epistle and eight Chapter) Show towards them (to wit, Titus, and another brother sent unto them) show (saith he) towards them, and before the Churches, the proof of your love, and of the rejoicing that we have of you.  
And what prose or testimony of our love (my Brethren) shall I call for here? surely none at this time but this, which none will deny, but love will yield it, or none at all; it is so light, it is so little: and yet I would to GOD our love would yield it. And this it is, namely, that at the least we would come together, and see one another, and talk together, as loving brethren, of our father, and of our mother, and of our elder Brother, in whom, and whose love we are adopted children; of their love towards us, and our faith towards them; as likewise of our love one towards another; of our necessities, of our afflictions, of our joys and comforts, of our hope, of our happiness, & of the crown, of our inheritance laid up in heaven; & further, to instruct, to exhort, to comfort, to admonish, and edify one another: Without the which I see not how love can work. Wherefore the Apostle in the tenth to the Hebrews, exhorteth thus: 
Heb. 10, 24, 25  Consider (saith he) one another, to provoke unto love, and to good works. Then he showeth the mean. Not forsaking (saith he) the fellowship that we have amongst ourselves, as the manner of son is. And who are those some, but even we, which should consider one another to provoke unto love, and to good works; which we do very little; and all because we forsake the fellow ship that we have, or should have amongst ourselves, each man contenting himself with himself, when lawfully and without let, we might join with many Brethren. Did Christ so, who never (almost) went without his Brethren? or, did Paul so, who so earnestly prayed for a journey to Rome, to see the faithful, For I long (saith he) to see you, that I might bestow among you some spiritual gift; that you might be strongthened, that is, that I might be comforted, (saith out) Translation) together with you. But the words of the Original I interpret thus, That there might be joint exhortation amongst you, that is that, I might exhort together with you, or, join my exhortaion together with yours. For this is the spiritual gift, which beforech saith, heareth to bestow upon them, by their ●●●tall faith: that is, by each others gift and knowledge in the faith, or doctrine of faith, both theirs and his.  
But all are not Apostles, all are not ministers. Yea, but are all brethren, as the Thessalonians; and the Apostle in the sift of the first exhorteth thus: 
1. Thes 5, 11  Wherhfore exhort one another, and edify one another even as ye do. Which how can it be better done, then when we come together? Which though it be not always, nor cannot be, yet as oft as it may be, let it be, my brethren; and when it may not be, let it be, as it may. And how is that? let the hand be the mouth, and the pen our speech; and our Epiftles and Letters, as the lively characters of our hearts and minds, let them present us unto the brethren. For I am ashamed (almost) to think that we are not ashamed of so many bunches and bags full of Letters, written only for the things of this perishing life, and scarce one or two in a year (if any at all) sent, or received of this kind, I mean, concerning the love of Brethren. As if neither Saint Peter here, nor any Apostle beside, had ever said; Love the brotherhood: or, as if we could love them, and do nothing for them, never so much as fee them, speak with them, or hear how they do.  
And this (dearly beloved) maketh our greater and public assemblies (which what are they also but certain holy communications between God, & his people, when either he, by the word preached, doth speak unto us; or we, by our prayers do speak unto him?) this I say maketh them so cold and fruitless, that afterwards we put our sparkles on the cold hearth, & single ourselves one from another, & have not these private and lesser meetings between ourselves, to confer of the things which we heard before. As if before we had assembled but for a fashion only: which is not to assemble, but to dissemble. Paul, though absent in the flesh, 
Colossi. 2, 5  yet was present in the spirit, rejoicing (as himself saith) and beholding the order of the Colossians in coming together. But we, as present in the body, but absent in the spirit, (which is absence indeed) have no such joy in the unities and societies of our holy Brethren. Whereby we even hazard the losing of our Father's blessing: who loveth to call us, and to see us together, and then, and there to bless us; as jacob, his ' children: 
Gen. 49, 1, 2  whom he called together, and then he blessed them. For this is a promise to the plural number, not so expressly given unto the singular: Where two or three are gathered together in my name, 
Matt. 18.20  there am I in the midst of them. And in the hundred thirty and third Psalm. 
Psal. 133  Behold (sayeth David) how good and pleasant a thing it is brethren, to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious Ointment upon the head, that ran down unto the beard; even unto Aaron's beard, and went down to the skirts of his clothing: Like as the dew of Hermon, which fell upon the Hill of Zion. And why so precious? and why so pleasant? The reason is added: 
Verse 3.  For there (this word he useth significantly, and as we say, emphatically) there, as if he said, there, and not elsewhere, as there, The Lord promiseth his blessing, and life for evermore.  
Balaam beguiled with the wages of unrighteousness, 
Jude ver. 11 Num. 22, 13  would have cursed the righteous. And yet he crieth out: Let my soul die the death of the just; 
Num. 23, 10  and let my latter end be like unto theirs. All would die the death of the brethren; and many profess the faith of brethren: but all will not live the life of the brethren, for the life of the brethren is their love, which dieth not, but liveth ever. 
1. Cor. 13, 13  As Paul sayeth, Now abideth faith, hope, and love, even these three. But the chiefest of these is love. For it abideth now, and ever. Whereupon Saint john concludeth thus, (and with this I conclude also.) By this we know that we are translated from death to life, 
1. john 3.14  because we love the brethren. For we and our love must live together.  
The God of peace, and love, increase this love, and knowledge in us, and present us blameless in his sight, through jesus Christ: to whom be praise for ever.  
Amen.  
FINIS.