THREE SERMONS: THE FORMER DISCOVERING A DOUBLE and false Heart, upon the 1. King. 21.9. and 10. THE SECOND CALLED, THE BLESSEDNESS OF the Righteous, upon Psalm. 37. verse 37. THE THIRD, THE covert of Guard, or Watch of Angels: 1. Sam. 17.37. Nathaniel Cannon, Preacher of God's Word at Hurley in Berkeshire. LONDON, Printed by T.C. and B.A. for William Welby, and are to be sold in Paul's Church yard, at the Sign of the Swan. 1616. TO THE THRICE HONOURED PEER, MY LORDS Grace, the Duke of Lennox, Earl of Richmont, Lord High Steward of his majesties Household, Knight of the most noble and illustrious Order of the Garter, and one of his majesties most Honourable Privy Council. IF it may become a Servant, to make tender of his duty unto his Lord and Master, then may your Grace vouchsafe to patronage this poor present, notwithstanding, it comes thus meanly appareled. My offering is but little, and less than ever was offered to so great a parsonage: yet let it not perish, but find such acceptation, as may give testimony of your most heroical disposition. When first I had leave to call you Lord, it was in my heart to do something: but never had the heart till now, & now too soon, for I may truly acknowledge to your Grace, that this hoc aliquid nihil est, this is a very something nothing, that is produced. And yet great Lord, I do not, nor I dare not, speak meanly of my calling: but my gifts, with joy, with confidence, and I hope with conscience, I may join with our Apostles saying, that I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, Rom. 1.16. because it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth: so that in this respect, although the Lord hath made you great, yet if you were greater, and the greatest upon the face of the earth, yet know it is the word of God, of that glorious God, who is the Creator, and the Kings and Princes, Dukes and Nobles are but his creatures as other men: vos estis domini terrae: indeed you are the Lords of the earth, Psalm. 82.1. and yet yourselves are but (Terra domini) even the earth of the Lords, as other men. O therefore let a servant speak, if you would double and treble Honours upon your head, let the Word of God be the lantern unto your feet, and the light unto your paths, Psalm. 119. you shall see the way that leads unto life everlasting: verbum est via, the Word is the way: haec via ducit ad urbem, this way leads unto the haven: yea unto the heaven prepared for those that love, that hear, that reverence and obey this word of God, there shall you change your Dukedom for a Kingdom▪ for he crowns his children. Revel. 5.10. If then the eminent Lords would raise their houses, let them raise up their hearts, and set them upon righteousness, for them, saith God, that honour me, I will honour them, but they that neglect, or despise the Lord, shall down to the ground. Be pleased therefore most Honourable Lord, 1. Sam. 2.30 in respect of him whose word it is, to look upon this small Exposition, although in respect both of my weakness and unworthiness that do present, it may fall to the ground. Plutarch. in vita Artax. Be unto me in this kind a Princely Artaxerxes, he received a handful of running water from a poor labourer, be as gracious noble Lord, in receiving this from me a poor Scholar, whilst I according to my beunden duty, pray to my God for your increase of honour and happiness, internal, external, eternal, and so rest, Your Grace's Chaplain in all dutiful observance, Nathanael Cannon. A DOUBLE HEART. 1. KING. 21.9.10. And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set Naboah among the people, and set two wicked men before him to bear witness against him, saying: Thou didst blaspheme God and the King, and then stone him to death. ezechiel's Vision is full of demonstration a Ezech. 8.8 , and in a lively manner doth present unto us the course, or rather curse of sin: it shows us the gradation of it, as if it grew up by the rule of multiplication, from bad to worse, from much to more, from one mischief to another, until the full measure of wickedness and abomination itself be made up. Go (saith God unto the Prophet in that place) and dig into the wall, and thou shalt find a door, which door break open, and thou shalt see all manner of abominations: and when thou hast scene those, saith God, go a little farther, and then thou shalt see more, and the further thou goest the more abominations thou shalt find. My Text seemeth to have the like revelation, for by that time the walls of the Scripture are broken down, and the door of it opened, we shall see such degrees of sin, and such a progression in wickedness, that the truth of that Scripture will appear unto us, which Esay speaks of, as concerning the nature of wickedness, which is, to draw sin upon sin, and iniquity upon iniquity, as it were with cart ropes b Esay 5.8. . This course is here taken by a cursed woman, for so God pronounceth jezabel to be, who having with her husband Ahab, set their eyes upon that, which was not their own and longing after Naboaths Vineyard which was near adjoining unto their Palace, they propose it unto him, that they might obtain it for a price, or else that they might exchange with him for some other: but his answer is Negative: God forbidden (saith he) that I should sell my father's inheritance. This refusal in unpleasing to Ahab, as if it had been a great offence in Naboath to keep his own. In this discontentment, jezabel takes her time, and of a resolution to accomplish her wicked purpose, incenseth Ahab after this manner. Art thou a King, saith she, and rulest Israel. As who should say, Dares he deny thee his vineyard. Thus are there always wicked instruments to provoke and work ungodly offices, especially where wicked women become counsellors, whose malice is no less than is noted unto us when it maintained, that there is no head to the head of a Serpent, Eccles. 35. nor no malice to the malice of a wicked woman. The consequence of this Text is an instance, so it is very probable, that Ahab would have given this over after a little more grumbling. But jezabel scorns such a repulse, she will have his Vineyard and his blood, and for that purpose she arraigns' him, condemns him, and executes him all at once, as appears in this Text. Thus having broken down a little of the wall to make way unto it, that so we may see the occasion from whence all this proceeds, we will now address ourselves unto the door, and look in thereat, that so we may enter into this Scripture, and take into our consideration such severals, as in a course of division, this Text will naturally afford unto us, The division of the Text into three parts. 1. Naboaths death. 2. The means of his death. 3. The colouring of his death. 1. His death is decreed aforehand, stone him to death, saith jezabel, she will have it according to the desperate rule: Sic volo, sic jubeo stet pro ratione voluntas. 2. The means of his death, by subornation of false witness, Set two wicked men before him, saith she, and let them accuse him of blasphemy against God and the King: answerable to that Popish proposition as Heathenish as the former, inra periurasecretum prodere noli. 3. The pretended colour for the lamenting of his death, Proclaim a fast, as if she did commiserate the man's case, and as if he had been justly condemned, and that she for his better preparation to his death would have this fast proclaimed: partly to have it conceived, that she and others were sorrowful for his death, but chief, that by means of such an Assembly, and so holy any action as fasting was, she would have it appear, that she did it to no other end, but only to bring Naboath to a feeling of his fault, as if he had deserved death, and she great commendations for this charity and compassion towards him in providing thus religiously (as she would have it thought) for his peaceable departure. Thus the Chameleon cast her colour, and this mist must arise to make many fall into error, she having concluded, that it was enough to make this show: Et satis est potuisse videri. Thus we have taken the Scripture asunder, let us desire God to join with us in the enlargement of the whole. And for as much as the last part of this division, are the first words of this Text, I will therefore begin with them, and so take them in their course as they lie in order. Proclaim a fast. Simulata sanctitas est duplex iniquitas, saith Austin, Augustin in Psalm. 36. a dissembled holiness is double ungodliness. It had been wickedness to shed innocent blood, and falsely to condemn, & cruelly murder the harmless and guiltless man, but thus to trick it up, & colour it under pretence of pity, doubles the impiety. But here is matter of great amazement coming forth to meet us. For first of all, it is a trembling business, no question, to the wicked themselves to shed blood: for it quakes nature, and excludes grace, and cries for vengeance, and proves always so discoverable, that as we see by daily experience, God suffers neither time, nor place, nor greatness to cover the blood that is so barbarously shed: would not all these stay the hand, or stagger the heart, it is more than a miracle unto us, Secondly, it is no less to be wondered at, that the nature of sin should grow to be so desperate, as to make choice of the most sanctified actions, for their colourable protections. For example: What action can there be more leading unto true sanctification, than our mortification? What leadeth more unto mortification, then religiously and sincerely from the bottom of the heart, to hold a religious fast unto the Lord. Behold, it is here but a vizard to produce a most monstrous and prodigious act, Hear, O Heavens, and hearken, O Earth, and marvel, O ye sons of men, at this impudence! O, who should dare to profane such divine actions as these are, but only those, who are incurable, and so utterly incorrigible, as that they care not, though they act the Devils own part. judas kisseth Christ c Luk. 22.48 : but hides his treason; and so jezabel, proclaims a Fast, but hides the knife from Naboaths, that must give him his death. The Panther, Plin. nat. hist. lib. 8. as (Pliny reporteth carrieth with him a sweet sent, but an ugly force, therefore he hides his talents, until he have the prey within danger. In like manner jezabel will suck the blood of Naboath, and yet she hides this venom under a fast proclaim a fast, saith she: from whence we may draw this observation. Doctrine. 10 Every sin will shelter itself under some pretence. There are no perquisities of lasting and certain tenure, but only those which a crew from virtue: notwithstanding, so quick is our apprehension in the point of profit, and our wills so absolute in the doing of evil, that though shame run by us like a lackey, and confusion prove the close and full point of our derivations, yet will the wicked proceed, and verily persuade themselves, there can be no quare impedit, either to hinder or cut off them, or their designs. But it were a necessary question to demand of them, why they disguise themselves? Aristot. Quaedam videntur & non sunt. why they are like Aristotle's videnturs, who affirms that there are many things seems to be that, which they are not. The answer will afford itself, for by their shadows, mists and colours, that they cast, they do deceive the people, whereas if they came in the proper resemblance of their deformed courses, they would be more than monstrous in the eyes of the people; and therefore our Saviour speaks of these pretences, when he shows, that there are some that have put on sheeps clothing, but inwardly they are ravening Wolves, Sin ashamed of itself. where we may see the hatefulness of sin, that it dares not be seen in his own likeness, but must assume another shape for it, the which let me now endeavour to prove from the Scriptures, as formerly I proposed it in the doctrine, namely, that every sin will shelter itself under some pretence. The Scribes and pharisees, who were party coluored in all their actions, and cloven-footed in all their tread, did many foul and fearful things under pretences: but amongst all others, how ill did they use poor widows. Christ saith, That they devoured widows houses d Ma. 23.14 . How did they devour them, even under the pretence of long prayers. It was a fearful thing to offer violence unto them above all others: for God commandeth us to help them, to comfort them, and to be a father to their fatherless: and the Apostle shows, that this is as the evidence of our religion e jam. 1.27. : pure religion and undefiled before God, is to visit the fatherless and widows, so that to do them wrong were hateful: but to oppress them, or to draw blood from them under pretence of some prayers most damnable, for so Christ affirmeth; therefore, saith he, your damnation is greater, because of your monstrous hypocrisy. f john 12.6. judas also puts on his cloak to his covetousness, as appeareth in the Gospel, This ointment, saith he, would have been sold, and the money given to the poor, O what a fair pretence is this, who will or can dislike that man, which shall speak for the poor: but God knew his heart, that it was not upright. He care for the poor? No such matter: let them starve, sink or swim, it was all one to him. This he said, saith the Text, not that he cared for the poor, but that he was a thief, and carried the bag; and therefore was loath, that such a morsel should go from his own mouth. g Mat. 2.8. Herod also seems wonderful forward in the sending away of the wisemen to Bethelem, to seek out the Babe Christ, and when you have found him, bring me word, saith he, that I also may come and worship him. Would Herod, worship Christ? No such matter: but if he could come at him, he would murder him, for he is afraid of his crown, as all Tyrants are. Balam h Num. 23.1 pretends the glory of God, when he goes about his magical spells, and yet comes the Lord, and calls for altars, Build me here, saith he, seven Altars if so be it may please the Lord to answer me. He works in sorcery, and yet pretends great piety, just after the manner of that, which the Apostle speaks of in the Epistle of i Titus 1.16. Titus; They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. Thus from the Scriptures have we proved this doctrine, and further might confirm it from k 1. Sa. 15.8. Saul, who under the pretence of sacrifice reserveth Agage, and the rest of the booty. Further from Ammon, l 2. Sa. 13.6. David's son, who pretends sickness, to ravish his Sister Tamar: from joab, who under pretence of courtesy stabs Amasa to the heart m 2. Sa. 20.9 . From the Scriptures come unto our own times, what is there that we will allow to be sin; have we not a cloak & a vail for every transgression. Doth not the covetous person shroud himself, under pretence of providing for his family n 1. Tim. 5. . Doth not the drunkard couch under good fellowship and love, doth not murder go now for manhood: is not lying and excusing answered and defended with good intents, and what sin shall there be named, that will not be defended, Alas my brethren, our defences and intimations reservations, and mental conclusions, distinctions and evasions will not suffice us. Amongst others, if we shall look upon the example of Vzza, ● 2. Sam. 6.6 Good intents will not excuse. it is notable to this purpose, to put us from the good intents, when the Ark was in danger of falling, by the stumbling of the oxen, he put forth his hand out of a good intent, out of his love unto the Lord; yet in regard there was a commandment to the contrary, the Lord was angry with him, and strikes him dead: the which with all other allegations to this purpose, as the Apostle means in the 3. Rom. 3.8. to the Romans, that we must not do evil, that good may come thereof. This therefore might raise admiration, but that we can collect the reasons, why sinners will lodge themselves under these pretences, and imaginary evasions. Reasons. 1. They will do all their evil actions under good pretences in the imitation of their Master the Devil, whom they serve: Satan never comes to tempt like a devil, but to that end that he may blind or deceive; he will transform himself into an Angel of Light q 2. Cor. 11. : and he is so cunning in the delusions that he offereth, that, as our Saviour saith, if it were possible, he would deceive the very Elect r Matth. 24. . This lesson hath he taught his instruments, always to pretend some good in the wickedest actions that can be enterprised: and amongst other maxims and principles of Satan, how foul so ever the fact is, yet you must not confess it, but either justify the act under some good pretence, or else so extenuate it, as it were, not worthy the reproving. This shuffling our first parents kept s Genes. 3. It is one of the devils principles never to acknowledge a fault. : Adam saith God, hast thou eaten of the fruit: The woman, he saith, that thou gavest me she gave me, and I did eat. Mark, it was no sin of his, but the woman's: yea, he will lay the imputation upon God, as if he had been in the fault for giving the woman; The woman that thou gavest me. Then to the woman; Why hast thou done this: The Serpent, saith she, beguiled me, and I did eat. Thus they post their sins one from another. This trick Satan hath taught all his: for the thief in his deeds of darkness useth the night, that none may see him: but if he be brought to light. Why then, what would you have me do? I am in wants, and I was ashamed to beg, and I could not work; and therefore I did this for necessity's sake. The Fornicator or Adulterer being made manifest, doth he take it to heart, in that he broke the commandment? No verily: but when his fin is urged, his excuse is ready; Why, it is but a trick of youth, and I am not the first; and if all our sins were written in our foreheads, others might be ashamed to show their faces, as well as I; and therefore saith he, Let him that hath done no sin cast the first stone. The Curser and common blasphemer, that rips up the wounds of Christ, and swears, ex tempore, at every word is he to blame, when his sin is called in question, and he told, that the plague of God is upon that house, where aswearer is, and lieth between the wainscot and the wall t Zach. 5.4. . Doth this either move him, or reform him, no not at all but he will defend it: why did you provoke me, than (saith he) it is your sin to urge me (saith he) and not mine. Reason 2. jesabel and her disciples will have pretences, to give some kind of satisfaction, as it were, to the common people, especially, if it concern a public action, for so jezabel carrieth this. Naboath is set in the midst of the people, and a fast is proclaimed, and every thing carried in that pitiful manner, as if none had been more moved with compassion than jezabel, yet because he was a blasphemer, he must needs die, but in the manner of his death, she would show all the favour that could be, A Similitude like unto some thieves, who when they have stripped a man out of all he hath, would feign be accounted merciful thieves, in that they do not murder those whom they have rob, or in that they do not bind them so cruelly, as some others have done. Thus that bloody Emperor would be accounted pitiful, Nero. in that he let his schoolmaster die an easy death, whereas it was monstrous cruelty in him to do him to death at all, especially upon no better ground, but because he whipped him when he was his Scholar. But let us gather towards the harvest of our doctrine, and that is such profitable uses, as may be derived from this point, which shows us, that every sin will shelter itself under some pretence. Uses. 1. This shows what a fearful sin covetousness is, the which this action of Iezabels will demonstrate unto us, for her walk was large enough, one would have thought she had but a whole Kingdom, and yet that was not compass enough: but she lacked a herb-Garden, for so the Text saith. Covetousness like the dropsy. This sin hath a great dropsy belly; and though it be never so full already, yet it must have more, and nothing will satisfy it. A pitiful case, that a whole kingdom should not afford a King a Herbe-garden, but he must take it from another man. This is, as I said before a fearful sin: for this judas, will betray Christ u Matth. 26. : this is the root of all evil w 1. Tim. 6. : for this, many a man ventureth his soul. But what shall it profit a man, because they talk of profit, to get the whole world, and lose his soul x Mark. 8.36. . Take heed of this sin, if you would have gain, get godliness, for that is great gain, if a man be contented with that he hath; which if Ahab and jezabel had been, they had been innocent of this great offence. Therefore whensoever we are tempted unto this sin and money or gifts offered unto us. Let us say, as Peter saith unto Simon Magus, y Acts 8.20. Thy money perish with thee, and this is our first use. 2. This doctrine serves to make us acquainted with a certain generation, whom Christ calls hypocrites, or generation of Vipers z Ma. 23.33 . You shall know them by my text: for they will speak one thing, but act another; they will proclaim a fast, but execute murder; they say, and do not, saith Christ: An Hypocrite compared unto a juggler. these are spiritual jugglers, who can show tricks, but it is all to deceive the people. So indeed the hypocrite with all his pass and repass, doth but deceive his own soul: but be not deceived, faith the Apostle, God is not a Gal. 6.7. mocked; we may blind the world, and we may for a time get our own wills, and serve our own turns, but this will turn to our destruction at last. Let us therefore detest hypocrisy, because God doth detest the hypocrite: He that speaks the truth from the heart, shall enter into the Tabernacle b Psalm. 15. . Then they that dissemble, and work wickedness under fair pretences shall not: Away then with our colourable protestations and forged actions, we many times speak fair unto the face, when we wish the destruction and confusion of them, whom we thus salute. If this be not a fearful sin, what will we account to be sin. This is so common, that it stumbles many a man now adays in his choice of friends: for the upright men, the Lord help the while, as David saith, c Psal. 12.1. are gone and perished from the face of the earth; and therefore it is not amiss for men well to consider, whom they trust, with whom they converse. Yea it is not much digressive from the text, to bid them take head after whom they eat or drink, for diets now adays are not altogether so wholesome, as they have been heretofore, neither were hypocrites so dangerous, for they were wont to hurt but their own souls, and now their hypocrisy in many things tends to the destruction of others: let as many then as love the Lord hate this sin: For God endures not a heart, and a heart: but the true Israelites are his children, and the men in whom are found no guile, are only the ingredients into his kingdom. 3 This point teacheth us Christian circumspection even in divine matters: there are those that profess God, and yet serve the devil, there are those that come in sheeps clothing, thing, but inwardly are ravening An hypocrite like a Chameleon. but inwardly are ravening Wolves, and these men are so expert, and with the Chameleon, seem of any colour, that if it were possible, they would deceive the very elect d Matth. 24 . Try the spirits therefore, saith Saint john, and believe not every spirit, but see first whether they be of God or not e 1. john 4.1. . The Apostle shows them unto us, as it were out of a table f 2. Tim. 3.5. : when he saith, that they have only a form of godliness, or a show thereof, and these are hedgcreepers, for so the Apostle accounts them, when he saith, that they creep into houses, and lead captive simple women. Of these also the Apostle speaks in the 1. of Timothy g 1. Tim. 4.2 , that teach doctrines of devils, and speak lies, saith he, through hypocrisy: let us therefore shut our eyes from these Basilisks, and our ears from these Sirens, lest we be circumvented. 4. It serves for an excellent rule unto all our actions, namely, that we proportion them according to God's word, which is not colourable, but warantable, plain, and without evasion, if we proceed after this manner, than we may say as Gamaliel doth h Act. 5.39. : If it be of God, saith he, it shall stand, otherwise it will fall to the ground. Let every man remember this, that means to have his actions prosper. 5. It serves for an admonition unto great persons, and as it is said of old, Remember Lot's wife i Gen. 19.26 : so say I, Remember jezabel: no question she did not think, that God would have revenged this hypocrisy so deeply. And again, there is no doubt but she did apprehend her own greatness, as who should say, if it should be known, yet who dares speak of it, or if they speak, yet what can they do. Here we may see how they scape for all their greatness. God first discovers it, to show, that though they have blinded the world, yet they cannot blind him. Secondly, he revengeth it sound, ten for one, not one of Ahabs' house shall scape, and for the woman, author and actor of Naboaths death, she made the dogs such a feast, that they never licked such blood before k 2. Kings 9.36. , & this is all the account that God maketh of the greatest, when they forsake him. O consider this you tall and lofty Cedars, I say, remember that there is a God. Thus have we helped to pull of this vizard of sin, which jezabel hath here put upon a shameful murder, thinking it sufficient to have a shadow, and to pretend something, that may be colourable, although the ensuing action be never so abominable, answerable to that devilish proposition of Machiavelli, who saith, Machiavelli cap. 18. De principe. that it is enough for a great man to seem devout, and to make show of that, which he is not, a devilish document and a proposition of more practice, than piety throughout all the world: let us therefore proceed with that which followeth in this text. Part. 2 The means of Naboaths death: Set two wicked men before him, and let them accuse him. If the eye be single, saith Christ, the whole body will be single l Mat. 6.22. : which shows, that the sight is the chief among the senses, as the heart is among the members, the which being well affected, a consequence, yea, a very confluence of goodness ensueth to the whole body. But here jezabel hath cast her eye upon an unlawful object, and a secret conveyance is made by a covetous heart to entitle her unto another man's vineyard. The Logicians say truly, that (colour est obiectum visus) but this doth not satisfy jezabel: for to see this vineyard, but her eye hath taught her heart to covet, her heart hath employed her head for devise, and her head hath thought upon the use of a tongue, a false, slanderous and cursed tongue which shall accuse this innocent man: truly hath Saint james spoken of an evil speaking tongue, when he saith, that it is a world of wickedness, and full of deadly poisom m james 3.8 : deadly indeed, for the false tongue is here Naboaths death. This sin of slander, and false accusing, is the devils own sin: for he is called the accuser of the Brethren, he that accuseth day and night n Revel. 12.10. . So then by this account the false accuser or slanderer is a very devil. This sin comprehends many other, which Erasmus notes very wittily, Erasmus come. de lingua. Damihi mendacem & ego ostendam tibi furem: If thou wilt show me a liar, saith he, I will show thee a thief; and no doubt but these will beget manyothers. Now as it draws on many other sins, so it exceeds many other sins, Luther. loc. come. ling. ter homicida calumniator & uno ictu tres occidit: the slanderer, or false accuser, saith he, kills three at one blow the party to whom, the party of whom, and himself. The Thief sends but one to the devil, for he hurts but his his own soul; the adulterer sends two to the devil, unless he repent, both their souls are in danger: but the false accuser sends three to the devil, this is the sin that jesabel resolves upon for the dispatch of Naboath, Here than it will be time for us to gather towards some point of doctrine for our present instruction. Naboath is innocent, and yet must die; not secretly, but by a public sentence of Law, by means of evidence given against him, which chargeth him, but falsely, for blaspheming God and the King. Doct. 2 From whence we learn, that when there is no just cause to condemn the innocent, then do the wicked devise some matter against them. It is no easy matter to bring the godly inquestion, if truth might take place: for they keep a narrow watch over their ways, careful what they speak, of whom, to whom, as careful what they do, and for the most part ask counsel of God, as concerning their actions; and this they do not formidme poenae, but virtutis amore, not for fear of punishment, which were servile, but for the love they bear unto God which is filial: notwithstanding this Christian circumspection, yet they are many times in Nabeaths' case, that is, falsely accused, for want of matter, it shall be made and devised, as jezabel here directs, set two wicked men before him, etc. The Prophet jeremy is in this case, o jer. 18.18 for they that hated him amongst the jews did long lie in wait to have some matter against him, but the Lord did so keep him, as that they could not justly accuse him: What then, will they let him alone? No verily, they will take a course with him. Come, say they, let us devise some matter against jeremy, let us smite him with our tongues: this is the course that they will take with him; they will first devise some matter, than they will smite him with the tongue, where we may note what a wicked tongue is, even a sharp razor, or a two edged sword, to cut asunder the very life or good name of an innocent. The like course is taken with Christ, the Scribes and Pharisees resolve to persecute and crucify Christ, judas betrays him, the Soldiers and officers carry him, the people cry against him, Crucify him, Crucify him, his blood be upon us and our posterity. Pilate sits upon him, and yet for all this, he is constrained to say, though he loved not Christ: I find saith Pilate, no evil in him, what hath he done, that you would have him condemned. Yet this doth not stay their fury: but at length two false accusers are set before him, and two wicked slanderers stand up against him: but till then, Pilate acquitteth him, saying, I find no fault in this man, touching those things that you accuse him. p Luk 23.14 Poor innocent joseph groans under the like burden, for he is accused even for righteousness sake, and his incontinent Mistress missing of her purpose, in that he will not consent to abuse his Master's bed, she than deviseth against him, and accuseth him, that he attempted her chastity, and would have lain with her q Gen. 39.14 : for which he suffers imprisonment, until the Lord looked upon him, and restored him to a double honour, making him head and ruler over all Egypt. The like trick hath that saucy servant Ziba, against his Master Mephiboseth r 2. Sa. 16.3. , possessing David with matter against him that he never thought as if Mephiboseth should have laboured to aspire the Kingdom. These are the coiners and plotters of mischief, these men are never out of matter, for they are turned devils, and can fit any man that shall offend them, they have their articles and bills of indictment as readily framed as can be, and for their witnesses, they have sure cards, such as make haste to kiss the book, lest they should forget some of that forged villainy, which must be broached for the dispatch of the innocent. Thus the first part of slander is acted, Slander or false accusing hath divers acceptions. or rather devised: for indeed first of all, it is taken up, or entertained in the mind, where it is first thought upon or forged, as was this against Naboath. Secondly, the tongues of others must divulge and publish it, as these two wicked men that are his accusers here do, and so like a leprosy it runs up and down, by means whereof, a fresh spring ariseth, and with a new edition, it comes forth in print as it were, and by that time a great many slanderers are begotten; who relate it as confidently, as if it were true indeed. Thus this slander that at the first was invented, or vented by gross, is afterwards sold by retail, and they walk up and down with it, as it were, so many peddlers, and wheresoever they come, they open the pack, and show what wares the devil hath furnished them withal. Thirdly, a slander is committed, by giving ear unto a false report, although though thou do not devise it, as jezabel doth, nor publish it, as the two false witnesses here do, yet if thou receive it, and approve of it, if thou give ear unto it and believe it, thou art a slanderer, which is intimated unto us, when it is made a mark of God's child in thee s Psalm 15. : not to receive an evil report against his neighbour. This reacheth far, and fasteneth upon many in these our days, and with the Athenians t Act. 17.21 : we still ask news, and if any thing come out against any man, especially against him or them, that we do not love, than we first believe it, and secondly, set upon it as furiously, as if we were very Fencers, and would play such a prize, that every body should think we were not ourselves. Thus we play at Tennis, with the good names of other men, but upon great disadvantage: for in this tennis court, we have extraordinary hazards. We hazard our judgements, in receiving rash reports. Secondly, we hazard our discretion in believing them; and thirdly, we hazard our religion in publishing them, and railing upon them, whom we thus set upon: for u jam. 1.26 as Saint james saith, if a man seem to be religious, and refrains not his tongue, that man's religion is all in vain: notwithstanding all this, yet this unruly member will fly about, and dart at God's dearest children, very few of them shall be free from the venom of it. In this course the wicked will be agents, The righteous may be revenged on them that accuse them falsely. and the most righteous must be true patients, and yet the righteous know, how to be revenged when they will, and that is by following the counsel of God, namely, when they curse, the godly must bless, and when their enemies and accusers are hungry, let the godly feed them, if thirsty, let them give them drink, and in so doing, they shall heap coals of fire on their heads w Ro. 12.20 : let them commit and commend their causes unto the Lord, for vengeance is his, and he will repay it x Deu. 21.19 : and let this suffice for the doctrine, which was derived from the second part of this division, which was the means used to bring Naboath to his death, namely, false witness: now let us see what applications will issue from hence unto us. Uses. Our first ingredience will afford us a Caution, take heed of this little member, it may hurt many ways, but it stabs to the very heart, when it is used in this kind to slander, or accuse the innocent: take heed thou that devisest: take heed thou that reportest, and take heed thou that believest any thing against the innocent, there are many reasons why thou shouldest hearken to this caution. First, because God follows that man with a sword to destroy him, and to cut him off, which he threatens in the Psa. y Psal. 101. He that privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy. Secondly, every one that committeth sin, is of the devil z 1. john. 3. : but this is the devils own sin. Now if thou wouldst not be accounted a devil, be not guilty of this sin. Thirdly, if thou be spiritual, thou wilt restore a man with the spirit of meekness that is fallen, as the Apostle a Gal. 6.1. exhorteth: knowing that we ourselves also may fall. But one the contrary, we rather delight in these passages, then labour to cover them: but if it were a cursed thing in Cham b Genes. 9.14 to discover his father's nakedness, it must needs be a wretched thing to enlarge, amplify, and make an addition to our brethren's infirmities, but a cursed thing to devise matter, that shall hurt their innocent souls; therefore from the rule of charity this sin would be forborn, because charity never thinketh, much less doth evil to the brethren. Fourthly, a reason for this caveat might be drawn from the rule of equity, which bids us do unto others, even as we ourselves would be dealt withal: but we would grieve and vex to hear, that men should accuse and rail upon us, we would be loath to have our life or credit lie upon the accusation of a false tongue: then proportion things unto others, Do as thou wouldst be done by. as thou wouldst receive fac alijs fieri quod cupis ipse tibi, if thou wouldst that men shouldst not make the worst construction of thee: be not thou like unto a cupping glass, A Slanderer like a cupping glass, which only draws ill matter. which only draws that humour that is evil and corrupt; so doth the slanderer only apply his tongue to false accusation and evil speaking. The second use is to show, the excellent and sound condition of an upright life; if any man will do them hurt, he must do it by lies and falsehood, for the righteous are circumspect, and the blessing of God is so upon them, that they do not lie open to dangers and imputations as other men do, and yet no men so often in question, and so subject to false aspersions as they, but for the most part it is devised and enlarged against them: it shows that the blessing of God is as a shield to cover them, and yet for all this, Satan hath fiery darts, and malevolent courses against them. 3. This will teach us to charge a watch over all our members, but especially our tongues: O Lord, saith David, set a watch before the door of my lips, that I offend not with my tongue c Psa. 141.1 . May a man be a murderer with his tongue, O then watch that member, forbear to hear evil, forbear to speak evil: si deest auditor, deest & de tractor, Hierom. if the hearer would forbear, the slanderer would cease: for the sin of slander gets a kind of nutriment from a willing hearer, and yet both are so dangerous, that as Bernard observeth, Bernard. dum aurem inficit, animam interficit: so bad a season must needs have a cursed harvest: let us therefore bridle our affections, and let grace overcome nature in this evil, and this shall suffice to show the cursed disposition of the wicked, who do so hate the godly, and are so bend in their own purposes, that though they have no just cause to accuse the righteous of, yet they will invent, and with jezabel, set wicked men before them to accuse and condemn the innocent. 4. This serves to pacify and to appease the working, that these provocations and accusations would work in us, if God did not stay us: surely these slanders and false reports and dangerous attempts against us, may with other afflictions be fitly compared unto physic, Affliction like physic. the which we take from the physician to make us well, and so with the blessing of God it doth, yet at the first it makes us very sick, until such time as it hath purged the stomach, and cleansed it. so verily, our afflictions make us sick to the death, and bring us very low at the first, until it hath cleansed our hearts of all vindictive humours, of all earthly humours of all superfluous matter, than we shall find health even saving health, and be so restored, that we will not fear those, that can but kill the body, but only fear him, that can kill body and soul, and cast them both into overlasting hell fire d Mat. 10. . And herewithal let us conclude this point. Now in the last place we shall be brought to behold the woeful tragedy of poor Naboath, Stone him to death, saith she, that is the Terminus ad ad quem, of all this business he must die, and thereby he shall know, what it is to cross such a woman as jezabel was of her will. Here sin gins to troup and march forward one after another very fairly, and as if they had learned a hellish discipline, they keep rank in such an orderly manner, that you may tell them, and easily discern how one hath begotten another, let us therefore calculate how this begun, and to what pass it is now come. First, Covetousness, as a mother sin, conceived, and in this conception or breeding fell to long, and that so eagerly, that the very delay of obtaining, brought forth hatred in so deadly a manner, that nothing but the death of the obstacle Naboath can serve the turn, this cursed daughter, I mean hatred, the daughter of covetousness hath sat in counsel, and hath concluded, that if Naboath were done to death, than all were hers, but this will require help, the help of such bloodsuccours, as must draw from Naboath both life and breath, and blood, and vineyard and all. Thus one sin waits upon another, and one begets another, uno dato absurdo mill sequuntur. and you may tell them how they proceed in a hellish order. First, here is hypocrisy: Proclaim a fast. Secondly, Slander: let two accuse him. Thirdly, Murder: Stone him to death. This progress of sin will produce this doctrine very naturally from this latter part. Doct. 3 That the ungodly proceed by degrees from one sin to another. As Romulus made slaughter of his brother Rhemus, to that end, that he might settle the Kingdom in his own person, August. de cinttat. Dei lib. 15. cap. 5. as Saint Austin reporteth: so verily, this woman butcher, or butcherly woman will not give over, until she bathe herself in blood, even in the blood of her adjoining neighbour, that she may settle his vineyard into her own possession: how she hath begun we have heard, like a mother in show. Proclaim a Fast: as if a father would have at the death of a child a solemn funeral, together with a sermon of the same nature, to preach mortality unto the living: thus with a show of natural affection she appeareth in the 1. scan, in the 2. she hath her deponents, who with grave aspect before the judges of the land, call God to witness, by virtue of an oath that Naboath was a blasphemer, and in the 3. she strikes him down even with a deadly blow, Stone him to death: this is the perambulation of the wicked, they proceed from worse to worse, from one sin to another. This e Esay 5.18 Esay noteth in the fifth Chapter of his prophesy, when he saith, that the ungodly do draw sins together, as it were with cartropes: let us note the phrase the Prophet useth, they draw sins, it is a phrase to express the greatest strength of any creature, the horse in his greatest strength and force is said to draw, and it intimateth in mankind the putting on of forces, as if we should say, they use their wits, words, works, and all their endeavours to this purpose, and they pull them as it were with cartropes, where the Prophet giveth to understand, that besides their own strength, they use all other means and adiunctes hereunto, that so the full measure of sin may be made up. Saint james shows the same gradation, every man is tempted, f james 1.14 saith he, when he is drawn away by his own concupiscence. Then 2. when this lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: And then 3. this sin must have a time to work, and at length to finish. And then four when that is finished, it bringeth forth death. This we see both in the falls of them, who were given over to wickedness, and also in the failings of those, whom God did raise and restore again. Cain first of all did secretly murmur at his brother Abel, Examples of both sorts. but afterwards he bore deadly hatred unto him. Thirdly, he murdered him with the jaw bone of an Ass. Fourthly, being convicted as it were before God, in a question that might have led him to repentance, he answeth as wickedly as before he had done, g Genes. ●. Am I my brother's keeper. The like we find in Indas his first sin noted unto us, was covetousness, he grumbles at the poor woman's liberality, when she powered that precious unguent upon Christ, john 12.5.6. this would have been sold, and given to the poor: his meaning was for his own private purse for the text saith, He carried the bag: After this not having repent, he falls into a higher degree of covetousness, for now for thirty pieces he will sell and betray his own Master h Mat. 26. . After that, he proceeds unto the worst of all, and that was to despair of the mercies of God. Augustine. O nomen sub quo nemini desperandum est, notwithstanding this strong anchor of salvation to all believers i Heb. 6.19. : yet he proceedeth to his own execution, he went and hanged himself: thus wickedness doth multiply and huddle upon the heads of them, who have not called upon God for true repentance. This we may further see in those, whom God hath forgiven and restored. First, our first parents, how did they multiply even at the first: Eva looks upon the fruit. Secondly, she holds a conference with Satan. Thirdly, she tastes of it though it were forbidden. Fourthly, she gives her husband, to make him as guilty as her self. Fiftly, she excuseth her fact, and extenuateth it, when God questions her k Genes. 3. . The like we find in David, that man of God, who l 2. Sam. 1. first having seen the nakedness of Bethsheba, sends for her, than he committeth folly with her, then upon her proving with child sends for Vriah her husband, and at his coming, useth all means to make him lie with his wife, that so he might have shadowed his wickedness, and to that end laboureth to make him drunk: but when this would not take place, than he proceeds to blood; and for this purpose, writes unto joah the Captain of the Host, that he might be placed in the forefront of the battle, that so he might be smitten and die, the which was effected, and so innocent Vriah murdered. The like gradation we find in Peter, who at the first out of a fainting fear is afraid to confess his Master, but very peremptorily denieth, that ever he knew him, afterwards being thereunto pressed, he grows deeply offended, and at last he swears and curseth, he never knew the man, all which will show us, how far we shall go in a course of wickedness, if God do not stay us. Sin will begin to possess that man, that doth not resist it, and break it of in time, for it enters in three ways, as one of the learned observes. 1. Blandiendo, first, 3. Degrees in a course of sin. it smiles upon us like the strumpet, Prou. 7. 2. Delectando, Secondly, it takes away our hearts, as Absolom would steal away the hearts of the people: 2. Samuel. 3. Regnando, Thirdly, it takes possession like the strong man n Luke 11. : than whose are we until a stronger come, and cast him out: thus the wicked they decline sin per omnes casus. Innominatino per superbiam, in genitivoper luxuriam, in dativo per Symoniam, in accusativo per detractationem, in vocat●to per adulationem, in ablatiuoper rapinam, and yet for all these, jezabel and her crew are certainly persuaded, that they can sin, and not be seen. 1. Reasons for the progress of sin. Sin groweth in the heart, as the child doth in the womb: for as the infant hath his increasings, even by degrees, until he come to see the light, and be borne into the world, according as job hath it: o job 10.10.11. Thou hast powered me out as milk, and turned me into curds like cheese, thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, thou hast joined me together with bones and sinews. So is it with the ungodly man, his beginnings were but evil imaginations, which he never resisted, then afterwards out of the abundance of his heart his mouth spoke, either falsely, furiously, or feignedly, which he never repent, and then at length he becomes all these, and acts any part of wickedness whatsoever. Reason 2 The judgements of God are upon such men, as never made conscience of lesser sins, by means whereof they are at length given over to a reprobate sense, and become past feeling, which the Apostle notes p Rom. 1.28 , that as they have not regarded to know God, so the Lord hath given them up to their own hearts lusts to work all manner of wickedness: and this comes first of all by the little or no account that we make of sin, Bernard. Tract. de de gradibus hum. at first: this, as that father noteth upon the point of excusing or extenuating sin, when sin is found out, and the question is, who hath, done it? the sinner answereth, Nonfaeci, if that will not serve the turn but that it be proved, then 'tis turned, Si faeci non male faeci, if the evil be proved, than it is translated, si male faeci, non multum male, if the quality and quantity be proved, than it hath a fourth evasion, si multum male, non male intention: if good or evil intents be by divinity confuted, than our last refuge is, aliena tamenfaeci perswasione, and thus we spin out iniquity and give it suck from such a breast of maintenance and excuse, as if it were very lawful to do evil. Let us therefore descend unto the life of this doctrine & that is to show our uses and applications. Uses. 1. All these proofs, reasons, examples and illustrations do echo forth unto us this first use, Principijs obsta: look to the beginning of evil, kill sin in the nest, before it bringeth forth, for it hath a cursed offspring, thou must set a watch over thy mouth, as David saith, q Psalm. 39 thou must make a covenant with thine eyes r job. ●1. : thou must examine thine heart s Psalm. 4. : if it be a proud heart at the first, it will after spawn forth into a false heart, if become a false heart, it will not be long, before it be a cruel heart: if it grow to be a cruel heart, a little time will make it a hard heart, if it be hardened, then surely the next degree must needs be a reprobate sense, the very judgement, that God suffers the most ungodly to fall into: O then stay the beginnings of wickedness, and follow the divine counsel of thy Christ, who wisheth thee to look unto thy members, and if thine eye offend thee, to pluck it out, if thy hand offend thee, to cut it off, that is, cut or take away that sin, that groweth by means of thine eye or thy hand, and do it in time, lest with the leprosy it run further and further. Amongst the many diseases, or maladies that happen unto man's body, there is one that they call by the name of Gangrene, The Gangrene. which doth affect altogether the joints, and the present remedy thereof is immediately to cut off that first joint, which is first affected, or else it presently taketh another, and so from that unto a third, unless it be thus ordered by decision: this is the nature of sin, which unless it be cut off in the motion, proceedeth unto the action, from the action unto delectation, Aristot. log. Habitus est difficulter mobilis a subiecto. from delectation unto assuefaction or custom, from that unto a habit never to be removed, a dangerous leprosy, both for infection and dispersion, unless there be a timely prevention. Let this be considered in all our temptations unto sin, Thetheefe. if it be unto stealth, we begin with a pin, than a point, than a shilling, than a pound, at length any thing: O let the young thief take heed of an old judgement, unless he repent and leave that sin. It may be they have escaped many times and that emboldens them, but he that leads them will never leave them, until they are left unto the law both of God and man, unless they stay these beginnings by true touch of conscience. The adulterer doth not presently fall upon the bed to commit wickedness, The adulterer. but first his eye sends a message to his heart, his heart gives consent unto the action, and then the time and place, purpose is concluded, whereas if the eye went single the whole body would have been single and that first restraint, would cut off the cursed consequents that always do proceed from that sin. The liar, The liar. Mendacium, perniciosum, officiosum, ioco sum. who kills his own soul and vents falsehoods of all sorts, sometimes to destroy a Brother, as these false witnesses did against Naboath, sometimes out of their pretended charity to save anger, or prevent displeasure, sometimes out of the old wives Calendar, tell strange and merry lies, fables of great antiquity and no less iniquity, all these lies had their beginning, which should have been suppressed at the first, but for want thereof maketh the ingredient so perfect, that a man cannot believe one word, that cometh out of his mouth, and if it happen that such a man speak truth which is but seldom, yet it is not believed, and it is just upon a liar speaking truth, but seldom never to be believed. O then season thy mouth at first with truth, for thy God is a God of truth, and in that thou hast not prevented this sin in time, Mendaci ne credas, ne iurantiquidem. thou hast lost thy birthright for the liars cannot call God their Father, for they have a father by themselves, even the devil, who is the father of lies t john 8.44. ; stay therefore these beginnings, lest the latter end prove fearful unto thee: for thou canst not shake of these things when thou wilt; and therefore do it when thou mayest: Consuetudo est altera natura. take heed of a custom in evil, for a Blackamoor shall sooner change his hue, or a Leopard his spots, than they shall ever do good, that have been accustomed unto evil. u jer. 13.23 So then let us conclude this use, cure the disease in time, before it grow incurable, whether it be pride, envy, slander, disobedience, deceit, oppression, revenge, profaneness, adulteries, falsehoods, murmurings, treacherous practices, or the like: cleanse thy heart in time, lest thou become incorrigible and inconuertible, which must needs be damnable in the latter end. Use 2. This serves to display the devils hatred unto mankind, who doth not only seek like a Lion, whom to devour, but also is always tempting us to devour w 1. Peter 5. one another, as here jezabel hath nothing to ease her stomach withal, but blood and revenge: thus we devour one another, as if man, who is created after the Image of God, were of no more account, but presently upon our private discontentments and grudges, to butcher them up, as if we were Cannibals, even to feed upon our brethren and to drink up their blood, as it were in bowls. Hence it is, that if any man stand in our way, or in our light, we conclude him presently, and either by potion, or some other sinister practice, we pronounce him dead, so little account do we make of that blood, which is so precious in the eyes of God: thus we fall one upon another, upon a displeasure, as Cain doth upon Abel x Genes. 4.8. , and ease our stomachs and have our desires, forgetting that blood must have blood, and that it cries for vengeance against us: this is the devils malice against us, who stirs up after this manner. Wilt thou endure and pocket up these wrongs, wilt thou be accounted base minded, and wilt not maintain thy reputation? this is rhetoric, and the rule is, that the lie deserveth the stab: that it is honourable and the trial of an Heroical spirit to enter into single combat, and their honour is their life, and these Maxims maketh them like fierce Tigers one against another, so cruel are we grown, so dangerous the times, as that jeremies' caution may well be our observation for our latter times, y jer. 9.4. Take you heed every one of his neighbour, and trust you not in any Brother for they will utterly supplant and destroy one another. Thus vindicta, vindicta, is our common place among the common people, yea, nobler breasts have been set on fire with revenge, as if the blood and death of innocents would not as well cry for vengeance against them, as against other men: but he that looks into the book of God finds, that the greater the offender is in this kind, the greater the punishment hath been, not one of Ahabs' house shall be left to make water against the wall, and as for jezabel herself, the very dogs shall lick their lips after her blood, and be glutted with it; let this therefore, but especially the fear of the Lord temper our passions, & so guide our understandings, that we give not place unto the devil, z Ephes. 4. in these so deadly and damnable enterprises. Use 3. This serves for our animadversion, as concerning the condition of them that thus proceed in the degrees of fin, surely their judgement sleepeth not, but increaseth as their sins are enlarged, Hell is said to be enlarged with these augmentators, for they are upon the score, and it runs upon the reckoning, until the Lord come to render unto every man according to his works, the merciful Advocate jesus Christ the righteous pleadeth the causes of all penitent sinners a 1. john 2.1 : but these men in their hearts that cannot repent, heap unto themselves wrath against the day of wrath, and declaration of the vengeance and judgement of God, who, as the Apostle saith, will render it unto them b Ro. 2.5.6. . This is a fearful condition: for if every sin in his own nature deserve death, and that is the wages of it 1 Rom. 6.23. : how then shall these men answer the many thousand sins that have been committed by them without feeling. The Apostle shows, that the destruction of such men sleepeth not: d 1. Pet. 2.2.3. The Lord will awaken unto them, and suddenly come with the account: they have been long inthe action, but their destruction shall sweep them away in a moment, and their confusion must be of longer continuance: for as they have been continual transgressors, so must they be continually tormented with flames unquenchable, with horror unspeakable, lo thus they stand, or rather fall, who do not think our God is just to recompense their wickedness. When they are ripe, or rather rotten in their sins, then comes the dreadful harvest, they shall be served as God threateneth the Amorites; e Gen. 15.14 When they have filled up the measure of their sins, then shall they be rooted out, saith the Lord. This is the same which was declared unto Amos in a Vision, f Amos 8.1. ● where he saw a basket of Summer fruit, whereby is meant ripeness, or the time that the fruit should be gathered; Now saith the Lord, the end is come, I will pass by this people no more. Let this be considered, O ye men of earth, the God of heaven will not be mocked, and therefore be not you deceived, whatsoever sins are newly committed, do not think the old sins are forgotten, unless thou be a new man, than thy sins of old shall not be imputed unto thee g Psal. 32.1. : otherwise it will go hard against us, unless that garment of righteousness cover us, the Lord will write bitter things against us, and make us to possess the iniquities of our youth. h job 14.26 Use 4 Seeing the wicked grow worse and worse, let the righteous work by contraries, let them grow better and better from grace to grace, from virtue to virtue. Let them proceed in goodness, Christian's ought to be Graduates in godliness. as the other do in wickedness: let them be the Lords Graduates, and proceed in that famous University of Zion, even in the Church of God: of this proceeding, the Prophet David speaketh in the Psalms; i Psal. 84.7. The righteous grow from strength to strength, until they appear before God in Zion, there they are to be presented, and there it is, that they shall be eternised: let them therefore begin with godliness, and end with golinesse, and they shall not lose their labour, for it hath the promises both of this life, and the life to come k 1. Tim. 4.8 proceed therefore, O you Saints and servants of the Lord, you fear the Lord, they that do so, need to fear nothing else: keep your inheritance, it is far beyond Naboaths Vineyard, jezabel shall not hurt you, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you, the Kingdom of heaven is prepared for you, and for all those, that love the coming of the Lord jesus Christ, to whom with the Father, and the most blessed Spirit, one eternal, immortal, invisible and God only wise, be praise and dominion with all glorious ascription, now and for evermore. Amen. FINIS.