A WEDDING SERMON PREACHED AT BENTLEY in Derbyshire, upon Michaelmas day last past Anno Domini. 1607. WHEREIN IS SET FORTH the Bond and Preservation. 1. The spiritual conjunction betwixt God and man. 2. The Corporal marriage betwixt man and woman. 3 The neighbourly society betwixt man and man. By R. ABBOT Doctor of Divinity. Printed at London by N. O. for Roger jackson dwelling in Fleetstreet near to the great Conduit. 1608. To the right worshipful Sir John Stanhope Knight, the Father of the bridegroom Knight, my most loving and good Patron. RIght worshipful Knight my very good Patron, albeit I made a question of using your name, for the publishing of so small a matter as this sermon is; yet I easily resolved that sith it had pleased you to crave the copy thereof, you would pardon me to grace it with the dedication. I might well doubt to offer so little where I own so much, but that I considered that small offices sometimes are testimonies of great affections, & presumed that according to your wont love, you would take the will in good worth, howsoever the work seem to be of small import. Accept it therefore I humbly pray you, as a very thankful acknowledgement of your great favour towards me, both in calling me, first to the place where now I live, and giving me since such respect and countenance, as whereby I have with comfort and contentment enjoyed the same. And surely if therein I have done in public any profitable service to the Church of God, a great part thereof is to be reputed to you, who so freely and graciously of your own voluntary accord, and only for the works sake which I performed, being myself wholly strange and unknown to you, vouchsafed by your gift to free me of that incessant labour wherein I had been employed before, for the space of ten years in reading and preaching in the Cathedral Church and City of Worcestor, and to settle me in a place, where I might more freely dispose of myself, though not to withdraw myself from the service to which I had devoted myself, yet in some part to bestow my time to the common benefit of the whole Church, which before was limited to one only congregation. Amidst which employments, either public or private, if I attain to do any thing to yield you any help or furtherance in things appertaining to God, and in God's behalf to answer the end whereat you aimed in your first acceptance of me, I much rejoice therein, and ever shall rejoice, and think that hour or time happily bestowed, wherein I shall be the helper of your joy, and 2. Co 1. 24 of that faith whereby you shall stand in the day of the Lord jesus. As for this sermon, being but a country exercise, if any shall think it not so well polished as that it should be fit in this sort to go abroad, your approbation shall be my excuse, and in that nature I commend it to you that have desired it, wishing with it to you, and to your whole house, all happiness and honour, and that the Olive by my service implanted into your stock, may yield many branches, to the enlarging and strengthening thereof, so resting always Yours in all duty, much bounden and devoted, R. Abbot. A WEDDING SERMON PREACHED AT the marriage of Sir john Stanhope Knight, second son to the right worshipful Sir john Stanhope Knight of Eluaston in the same County to Mistress Olive Berrisford, now the Lady Olive Stanhope, sole daughter and heir to Master Edward Berrisford of Berrisford Esquire. Amos 3. 3. Can two walk together except they be agreed? THe words are but few, yet few as they are, do minister matter of a large discourse, of the bond and preservation of spiritual amity and conjunction betwixt GOD and man: of corporal marriage betwixt man and woman, and of neighbourly satiety betwixt man and man. The local use and application of the words is to show a just reason of Gods withdrawing himself from them to whom he speaketh, and therefore they give us occasion principally to consider what is the occasion of breach betwixt GOD and us. But the same reason being taken from the affections & dispositions of men in sorting themselves one with another, do lead us also to consider wherein standeth either the maintenance or the breach & disunion of those conjunctions & societies which god hath ordained amongst us. The Prophet having in the first verse of the chapter called the children of Israel to hear the word of the Lord, propoundeth to them in the second verse to call to mind the great love and mercy wherewith he had respected & honoured them above all the nations of the earth. You only have I known, saith the Lord, of all the families of the earth. Where by knowing he meaneth according to the scripture phrase, the taking knowledge of them in special love and kindness to be their God & to do them good; when as he passed by other nations as a stranger, as if he had no respect or regard unto them. Now whereas the consideration of this great mercy should have moved them to all thankfulness & duty towards God, they contrariwise a Esay. 5. 4. 7. , in steed of grapes brought forth wild grapes; for judgement & righteousness, oppression and cruelty, so as that they seemed nothing less than to know or regard him who had so graciously of his own mere and voluntary love accepted them. Hereupon the Prophet addeth, Therefore I will visit you for all your iniquities, saith the Lord, implying herein that rule of judicial proceeding which our saviour Christ setteth down as a thing certainly determined with GOD; b Luk. 12. 48 To whomsoever much is given, of him much shallbe required: the greater mercy, the greater judgement; the higher the place, the more deadly the fall: c Bernard. in cant. ser. 84. they, saith Bernard, who for grace received seemed to be the greatest, for not being grateful become of least reckoning with God. In effect therefore he saith unto them, as ye have been best beloved, so ye shallbe most grievously & severely punished: somewhat may in equity be remitted to others, but all shallbe required of you; I will visit you for all your iniquities, saith the Lord. And that it might not seem strange unto them that he who had undertaken d Levit. 26▪ 11. 12. to dwell amongst them, and to walk with them, should thus cast them off & leave their company; in the words which I have proposed, he appealeth to themselves and maketh them judges whether his doing therein be any other but what they themselves out of their own conversation must needs justify and make good. Can two or will two walk together except they be agreed? Will any two of you sort yourselves to converse & live together who have no accord or agreement each with other? It is expedient to have company on the way, and there is comfort in it; but will any man be companion to him by whom he is continually thwarted and provoked? Doth not every of you make choice of such company as wherewith he may live at quietness and peace? How can you then expect to have me to walk with you when as there is no concord or agreement betwixt you and me? I call one way: you turn wilfully another way: I command one thing and you do the contrary. You provoke me with your iniquities from day to day. Therefore be ye well assured that your company is not for me, neither will I have any society or fellowship with you. 2 The term of walking as it is referred to God, betokeneth his gracious & healthful presence as it is applied to men, it signifieth the conversation and life of man. To make use them of the words, we may here observe first the life of man compared to a walk. Secondly we are to note wherein standeth the commodity & conveniency of this walk, and that is to walk together, in society and company. Thirdly what is the means to hold us together; which is concord and agreement. Of the first we have example in those exhortations of the apostle, e Rom. 13 13. Walk honestly as in the day time: f Eph, 5. 8. Ibid. ver. 15. walk as children of light, g 1. Th. 2. 12. walk circumspectly not as unwise but as wise: ʰ walk worthy of him who hath called you into his kingdom and glory. But what should I need to bring many examples of that which in the scriptures is so commonly and every where to be found? let us rather consider what is to be gathered thereof for our instruction. A walk therefore importeth, first a way wherein we are to walk: secondly an end whereto we walk: thirdly motion in the way; and four proceeding or going forward therein, & lastly perseverance and continuance unto the ways end, what our way for our walk▪ is, the Prophet David signifieth when he saith, ⁱ blessed are they that are undefiled Ps. 119. 1. in the way, and addeth by way of exposition, which walk in the law of the lord. The law of the Lord is the way wherein we are to walk. Therefore Moses when he had given the law of God to the people of Israel biddeth them k Deut. 5. 33. to walk in all that way which the lord their God had commanded them. And hence are those phrases of l Ex. ●2. 8. Deut. 9 12. turning out of the way, when we forsake the commandments of God, and m Psal. 3●. 34. keeping his way when we observe the same. It is a great question in our days, what way it is wherein we may safely & securely walk, & many are much distracted & perplexed hereabout, because they see so great contention and controversy which is the right way. But all this doubt God himself resolveth, to them that are willing to take resolution of him; the law of the Lord, the word of God which he hath delivered to us by his Prophets and Apostles, that only is the sure and certain way. He that teacheth according to this law, he teacheth the right way: he that teacheth beside this law, seem he to be of never so great authority and credit, he teacheth a wrong way. In this way God hath revealed unto us, all the ways which he will have us to go▪ what to believe, and how to live; what to do, and what to eschew; and not only of such duties as are common to all, but also what concerneth every man in his special state and calling; what is the duty both of Prince and subject, of the Pastor and of the fiocke, of the Husband and the wife, the Parents and the children, the Master and the servants, the rich & the poor, the high and the low; the word of God according to the phrase of our Saviour Christ, n Mar. 13. 24. appointeth to every man his work, to every man that service that his master requireth of him▪ o Gregor. Moral▪ li. 16. cap. 16. By the Scripture, saith Gregory Bishop of Rome, God telleth us all his will; p Ibid. li. 18. ca 14. so that if men will speak truly, they must from thence receive that which they will speak; q August. de. util. credendi. ca 6. the doctrine whereof is so framed, saith Saint Austin, as that there is no man but may draw from thence that that is sufficient for him, if he come with devotion and piety to draw, as true religion requireth he should do; r Hieron. in Psal. 86. because the Princes of the Church, saith Saint Hierome, meaning the Apostles and Prophets, did so write, as that not a few only, but all should understand; so as that the scripture, as Gregory saith, is s Gregor. ad Leand. epi●●. in lib. Mor. cap. 4. a stream wherein both the Elephant may swim, and also the Lamb may wade; ye so as that t Origen. count Cells. lib. 4. in one and the same text, as Orig●n observeth, many times are found tempered together both the things which serve for the exercising of the stronger, and which minister edification to to the more weak and simple. In the Scripture we shall find that way whereof the Prophet jeremy speaketh when he saith; u jer. 6. 16. Stand upon the ways and behold, and ask for the old way which is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Whereby he instructed the people to take view of the ways of their forefathers, and thence to make choice, not of that way which their latter fathers taught them, of which elsewhere they are warned, x Ezec. 20. 18. Walk ye not in the ordinances of your fathers, neither observe their manners; but of that wherein the patriarchs and first fathers walked, who received the same from God, and by the ordinance of God left the same recorded for a memorial to their children. A foolish term there is used by many ignorant persons amongst us of the old law, the old Religion, by which they understand the religion of Popery, as if popery were the old religion, because some ages past have followed it, and been abused thereby. Indeed the Scribes and pharisees for the very same cause called their traditions y Mat. 5. 21 27. etc. the old religion, but the true old religion is of ancienter continuance, even that way which the patriarchs & Prophets, the Evangelists & Apostles have traced out, and directed unto us, having themselves learned it from God, & by the revelation of jesus Christ, & by his appointment left the same recorded in scripture to our use. Of this it is that the pastors & teachers of the church are instructed to say to God's people; z Esai. 30. 21. This is the way, walk in the same, when thou turnest to the right hand, or when thou turnest to the left. Christ is the director of this way: of him the father hath said, a Mat. 17. 5 Hear him; and therefore Cyprian inferreth; b Cyprian. lib. 2. epist. 3. If Christ only be to be heard or hearkened unto, we are not to regard what any man before us hath thought fit to be done, but what Christ hath done, who is before all: for we are not to follow the custom of men, but the truth of God. And if by this rule we esteem of the way we shall soon perceive that Popery is out of the way, because in that path which the Apostles and Prophets have chalked out unto us, we neither find the Pope, nor his pardons, nor his mass, nor his images, nor his relics; yea all these and the rest of his trinkets, are easily perceived to be but false and base, and broken wares. 3 If we desire somewhat more briefly to hear the way, our Saviour Christ telleth us, c joh. 14 6. I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the father but by me. S. Austin amplifieth the words, d August. in joan. tract. 22. Ambulare vis? etc. Art thou desirous to walk? I am the way. wouldest thou not be deceived? I am the truth. wouldest thou not die? I am the life. There is no whither for thee to go but to me: there is no way for thee to go by but by me. Christ only himself is our way to come to Christ, e Heb. 10. 20. Through the vail, that is, his flesh he hath prepared the new and living way whereby we are to enter into the holy place. His passion is our redemption, his obedience our righteousness, his resurrection our justification; he is for us whatsoever we need to bring us unto God. f Act. 4 12. There is not salvation in any other, nor any other name given under heaven by which we must be saved. This way must we go, if we will go the right way: but if we seek for a way in our selves or in any other creature; if we g Ro. 3. 10. set up our own righteousness against the righteousness of God: another altar and sacrifice against the cross and sacrifice of Christ; if we trust to other mediations & merits and satisfactions, we are out of the way; we wander in strange and crooked paths, which will never bring us to our desired end. In a word, the Apostle willing to instruct us of the rightway, and to that purpose setting down a brief sum of the doctrine of the gospel saith thus, h Gal. 6. 14. God forbidden that I should rejoice but in the cross of our Lord jesus Christ: whereby the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world: for in Christ jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision but a new creature. Now hereto he addeth; And they that walk according to this rule, peace and mercy shall be upon them. Here is then the rule and way of our walk, to rejoice, that is, to put trust and confidence of remission of sins & salvation only in the cross of jesus Christ, not in the cross of Peter, or in the cross of Paul, or of the Virgin Mary, but only in the cross of jesus Christ, & so to be possessed with this rejoicing, as for the enjoying of the joy hereof to be mortified to all worldly conversation, and to be content to bear the malice and persecution of the world. They that walk in this way and according to this rule, they shall find mercy with GOD to attain to peace; but with the rest it shall come to pass which jonas saith: i jonas. 2. 8 They that wait upon lying vanities, forsake their own mercy. 4 Now that peace is the end of our walk, even the ending of all our labours and sorrows, and the fruition & enjoying of God, who is k Rom. 15. 33. the GOD of peace, and of jesus Christ our Saviour, who is l Esai. 9 6. the Prince of peace, in whom is full & perfect bliss and happiness for ever. This is the thing whereto all our walking aught to tend, which as the mark before the archer, so ought to be before our eyes to aim at in all the course of our life, and the regard thereof so to overpass all other regards, as that nothing be further or otherwise regarded then as may stand with the attaining of this end, having always in remembrance that which our Saviour Christ saith: m Mat. 16. 26. what profiteth it a man to win the whole world and to lose his own soul? This mind the Apostle Saint Paul expresseth when he saith, n Phil. 3. 8. I have counted all things loss for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ jesus my Lord, for whom I have counted all things loss, and do judge them to be dung that I might win Christ etc. that I may know him & the virtue of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his afflictions, and be made conformable to his death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead▪ Give me hunger & thirst, cold and nakedness, sickness and sores, torment and death, this end to attain to the blessed resurrection of the dead maketh amends for all. Give me the kingdoms of the earth and all the pleasures and glory thereof, yet if my end be not to attain this end, I am a most wretched man, and better had it been for me that I had never been borne. The more may we wonder at the strange retchlessness of the greatest number of men, with whom this is least of all thought of, and least of all respected, o B●rnard. so vainley using their souls, saith Saint Bernard, as if they did not reckon that they have any souls at all; so wholly dreaming and doting upon the things of the world, as if they were borne to no other end but to live for ever in the world. A wandering fancy men commonly have of a desire to come to heaven, but how few set their hearts thereupon to make it the drift of their life, the main end of all their purposes and counsels, and do not rather drown the regard thereof in the purposes and desires of other things? That we run not with others into this common error, let us duly remember, that our life is but a walk, and a walk must have an end, & therefore that it concerneth us so to frame our courses and doings, as that we may make a good end, that our death to this world may be to us the beginning of everlasting life in the world to come. 5 To this end we are to call to mind that walking importeth moving and stirring, and therefore advertiseth us, that seeing our life is a walk, we are still to be moving and stirring and doing in the way and work of God: that being by the mercy of God brought into the right way, we are not there to sit down at rest, idle and unfruitful, but as the life of Christ is described, p Act. 10, 38. He went about doing good, so ought our walking and life be to do good, to glorify God, to further the Church of God and common wealth, to further righteousness and truth, to help the oppressed and afflicted, to comfort the comfortless, to relieve the widow and fatherless, and to these ends to do all other good works which either the common duty of Christianity or our own private calling requireth of us. Titus the Emperor of Rome when he had overpassed a day wherein he had done no special good deed, no good turn to any man, was wont to say: Diemperdidi, I have lost a day. Alas, what a thing is it when a Christian man shall so spend a whole life as that in the end thereof he may say, Vitam perdidi; I have lost a life: I have lived so as that I have neither done any faithful service to God, nor left any memorial or example of any good that I have done amongst men! Seneca saith well, that q Seneca de tranquil. animi. there is nothing more shameful than an old man who hath no other argument to prove that he hath lived long but only that he is old; no good fruits, no good effects, by which it may be remembered that his life from time to time hath been beneficial to other men. Even so it is: a long life is but a great reproach when by well-doing it hath left no testimony of itself. To which purpose it is worth the noting which Gregory observeth, that of good men it is said in Scripture, that such a one or such a one died old and r Greg. Moral. l. 35. cap. 15. full of days, but never of an evil man; as whereby we should understand that he is full of days, who hath made good use of his days and bestowed them in good deeds; but otherwise we do but lose our days, and by losing our days lose ourselves also. He that hath warned us that we shall s Mat. 12. 36. give account of our idle words, doth thereby advertise us that we shall give account of our idle hours; and much more of our days, and months, and years, which so many of us bestow wholly in a manner in pleasure and vanity, in riotousness and unthriftiness, in sin and wickedness, and therefore when they come to their end lie tumbling in their sickness, t Esay 51. 20. like a wild bull in a net, as the Prophet speaketh, full of the wrath of the Lord, without any hope, without any comfort, because their life hath been such as hath yielded them no hope or comfort towards God. Blessed is he who when the summons of death cometh, set thy house in order, for thou shalt die, can say to God as Ezechias did, u Esay 38. 3. O Lord I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart. 6 But this walking importeth not only moving and stirring, but moving and going forward, whereby we gain the way more & more and come nearer and nearer to the end. Even so are we still to be gaining, and growing, and going forward in the ways of God in all virtue and goodness; not to stand still at one stay, and as it were to run in one ring, but as we labour to thrive in the goods of this world, so much more to increase in those things, whereby we may be x Luk. 12. rich in God, y Psal. 84. 7. To go from strength to strength, z Ro. 1. 17. from faith to faith, a 2. Cor. 3. 18. from glory to glory; b 2. Pet. 3. 18. to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour jesus Christ. Thus doth Solomon instruct us that c Pro. 4. 18. the way of the righteous shineth as the light which shineth more and more unto the perfect day. Which he that careth not to do, is as the man that spendeth of the stock, and groweth thereby to decay: for d Gregor. in Pastoral. par. 3. admonit. 35. , the soul of man in this world is like unto a ship or boat, as Gregory saith, going against the stream, which cannot rest in one place, but by the sway of the water is carried downward, unless it be still labouring to go upward. Therefore Bernard saith; e Bernard. in purific. ser. 3 Not to go forward in the way of life is to go backward; f Idem epist. 2 53. not to care to increase, is to decrease: g Idem epist. 91. look where thou beginnest not to regard to grow better, there thou quite givest over to be good at all. h August. de verb. Apost. ser. 15. If thou say, I have enough, saith Austin, thou art gone, thou art utterly undone. 7 Lastly this growth requireth perseverance & continuance till we come to the end whereto our walking is directed. The end is all in all; to give over before we come to the end, though it be but in the last attempt, is the loss of all our labour and reward. Therefore, i 1. Cor. 9 24. so run, saith Saint Paul, that ye may obtain; which is, k Heb. 3. 14 when we keep sure unto the end that beginning wherewith we are upholden: that is, hold fast to the end the true doctrine and faith of Christ, wherewith we first began, and is a sure foundation for us to build upon; for l Mat. 24. 13. he that continueth to the end, saith our Saviour Christ, he shall be saved. Many begin in the spirit, and seem for the time to be nothing but spirit, and yet afterward end in the flesh, and m Gal. 6. 8. of the flesh reap corruption. Many n Luk. 9 2. lay their hand to the plough, and afterwards look back, and thereby are unfit for the kingdom of God. Therefore let us hearken to Saint john, o 2. john vers. 8. Take heed to yourselves that we lose not the things that we have done, but that we may receive a great reward. We lose the things that we have done when we grow weary of doing them; p Gal. 6. 9 weary of well doing, and leave to go forward in that course wherein we have well begun. And thus much of the life of man set forth unto us by a walk. 8 It followeth now that we speak of the conveniency of this walk, which standeth in walking together, in company and fellowship, which as the Prophet's words lead us to consider, beginneth first at two; as we find accordingly the first society to have been betwixt two, God and Man; and the second betwixt two, Man and Woman: From whence spring all other societies which God hath ordained for the behoof of the life of man. God made man of the dust of the earth, that from the earth he might have company to dwell with him in heaven; but yet so as that first he would walk with man, and would have man to walk together with God here upon earth. Which duty of walking with God, and of care to have God to walk with us, though on our part it began but in one, yet is now belonging to us all who are of that one, who either severally or jointly aught to make it our happiness and bliss to enjoy this gracious amity and friendship with God. Which mind the Prophet teacheth us to put on, when he so often saith: q Psal. 33 12. Blessed are the people whose God is the Lord, and blessed are they whom he hath chosen to him to be his inheritance: r Psa. 144 15. Blessed are they who have the Lord for their God: s Psal. 146. 5. Blessed is the man that hath the God of jacob for his help, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. The reason whereof the Apostle teacheth us when he saith: t Ro. 8. 31. If God be with us, or on our side, who can be against us? Be it that in will and purpose they be against us, yet in act and deed they can effect nothing. Which made the Prophet when he had but named u Esay 8. 8. 9 Immanuel, God with us, to break out into those words of defiance, Gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; take counsel together, and it shall come to nought; pronounce a decree, and it shall not stand; for God is with us. Thus the people of God rejoice in the Psalm, x Psal. 46. 1 God is our hope and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will we not fear though the earth be moved, and though the hills be carried into the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof rage and swell, and though the mountains shake at the tempest of the same, etc. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of jacob is our refuge. The Prophet David is full of these meditations: y Psa. 27. 1. The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom then shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom then shall I be afraid? z Psa. 62. 6. 7. God is my strength and my salvation; he is my defence; I shall not be removed; in God is my health and my glory, the rock of my might; in God is my trust. a Psal. 73. 25. Whom have I in heaven but thee, and what do I desire upon earth in comparison of thee? my flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my life, and my portion for ever. Herein standeth the joy and contentment of the godly poor man, that though he want the wealth and glory of the world, yet he hath the grace of God, he walketh with God, and hath God to walk with him; which though it carry no show to the world, yet he more esteemeth thereof then of all the wealth of the whole world. And without this, what is all the pomp and glory of the world? though a man have whatsoever the world can yield him, yet what is it all without God? The rich man in the Gospel rejoiceth in the abundance of his goods; he saith to his soul, b Luk. 12. 19 Soul, eat, drink, take thy pleasure; thou hast goods laid up in store for many years. But it was answered to him from above, Thou fool, this night shall they take away thy soul from thee; and than whose shall those things be which thou dost possess? so is every man, saith our Saviour Christ, that is rich in this world and is not rich in God. He is a fool by the testimony of our Saviour Christ, who joyeth to be rich in the goods of this world, and neglecteth to be rich towards God, rich in knowledge, rich in faith, rich in grace, rich in good works, rich in all things whereby we should be fitted and prepared, c Eph. 1. 18. to the rich and glorious inheritance of the saints of God. In a word, the life of the body is the soul, and the life of the soul is God; and as the body dieth in the departure of the soul; so is the soul, yea the whole man dead when he is left of God. Without God what is all our life but a shadow, which showeth to be something, and indeed is nothing? what, but a dream, which mocketh a man, and maketh him believe that he is a king, when he is but a peasant; that he is rich and abounding in treasure, when he is a very beggar; d Esay 29. 8. that he is well refreshed at a goodly banquet, when he is ready to die for hunger. He saith afterwards, Me thought it was thus and thus; but he findeth it nothing so. Even so the glory of worldly state flattereth men and persuadeth them that they are the only fortunate and happy men, when indeed being strangers to God and devoid of his grace, they are found in the end to be most wretched and unhappy of all other. e Psal. 49. 14. Their beauty is consumed when they are carried from their houses to their graves; death staineth the pride of all their glory, and upon the Beer it is written as to Balthasar upon the wall: f Dan. 5. 26. Mene: God hath numbered thy kingdom, and hath finished it; thou hast henceforth no kingdom, no glory; nothing but confusion and shame, but sorrow and pain, because thou hast lived without God, and art for ever dead to him. 9 Now it enamoureth every man's affection and mind to have God to walk with him; every man will pretend a desire to have it so, and a hope that it is so. But that we may not deceive ourselves, we are diligently to consider upon what condition it is that God yieldeth himself to walk with us, and to continue with us when he hath begun. This condition the Prophet telleth us is agreement with God, who will by no means condescend to walk with us, unless we have care to accord and agree with him. And what is our agreement with God, but our agreement with the word of God, by which he is present amongsts us, and by the fame imparteth himself unto us. g A●gust d verb. dom. ser. 1. If thou sin▪ faith Saint Austin, the word of God is thine adversary; and how canst thou be said to agree with God, when thou art at variance with God's word? As touching this point, the Apostle Saint john notably well instructeth us; h 1. joh. 1. 5. God is light and in him is no darkness at all; if we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie, and the truth is not in us; but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light (which what is it else but to agree with him?) than we have fellowship one with another (he with us and we with him) and the blood of jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all our sins. More particularly to express what it is to walk in the light, and to agree with God, it is said unto us; i Mat. 5. 48 be ye perfect as your heavenly father is perfect; k Luk. 6. 36 be ye merciful as your heavenly father is merciful: l Ephes. 5. 1 be ye followers of God as dear children and walk in love even as Christ hath loved us: m 1. Pet. 1. 15. as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, as it is written, n Levit. 11. 44. Be ye holy, for I am holy. o 1. joh. 3. 3 Every one that hath this hope, purgeth himself even as he is pure. On the other side, p 2. Cor. 6. 14. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? saith Saint Paul; What communion hath light with darkness? what concord hath Christ with Belial? etc. Wherefore come out from amongst them, and separate yourselves, saith the Lord; and touch no unclean thing, and I well receive you, and I will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord almighty. This is our accord and agreement with God; he is clean, and therefore will not have us to touch any unclean thing. What shall we say then of those parti-colored Christians and worshippers of God, who will be one where clean and another where unclean; who have fair faces and foul feet; who on the one side shake hands with God, and on the other side with the Devil; yea lift up the left hand to pray to God, and throw stones at him with the right hand: who pretend by faith to know God, & by their works deny him; who offer unto Christ a sponge of hollow profession, and give him therein to drink the vinegar of evil conversation; who as Saint Austin saith, q August. in Psal. 40. Worship God for the world to come, and the Devil for this present world? They go about a thing impossible; to join together those things which can by no means stand together, heaven and hell, God and the Devil, Christ and Belial, true faith and wicked life. What; can two walk together except they be agreed? Can there be true faith to salvation where there is that life to which God hath certainly threatened destruction? can there be one foot in heaven with God when the other foot is with the Devil in hell? Let no man deceive himself; either let him make himself a whole offering to the Lord as well in works as in faith; as well in conversation as in religion, or else God will wholly reject him: he agreeth not with God, and therefore God will have no company or fellowship with him. 10 It remaineth now to speak of human society wherein we walk together one with another, according to those diverse bonds of conjunction wherewith God hath tied us to be respective each to other. To which society God hath so framed the nature & condition of man, as that concerning temporal life, it were better for a man not to be at all, then to be alone. Of the benefit whereof Solomon instructeth us, when he saith r Eccles. 4. 9 Two are better than one, for they have better wages for their labour, & if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow; but woe to him that is alone, for he falleth and there is not a second to lift him up: also if two sleep together, there shallbe warmth, but to one how should there be warmth? and if one overcome him, two shall stand against him, and a threefold chord is not easily broken. In which words he giveth us to understand, that whether we respect commodity for wealth, or help for weakness, or comfort for cherishment, or defence against violence, all these benefits are yielded unto us by society and company; but being alone are bereft of all. Ratio & oratio, reason and speech, which are the two things whereby the nature of manso much excelleth all the creatures of the world, what use have they, especially our speech, if we have none with whom to reason, & to whom to speak? Those excellent virtues of prudence, patience, justice mercy, fortitude and the rest, what do they serve for, if there be not society of life for the employment thereof? yea the rule of christian life which is directed unto us from God, wherein standeth it for the most part but in precepts of charity and love, and of yielding help & comfort each to other? So doth Saint Paul instruct us, s Phil. 2. 4. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of other men, and hereof proposeth himself for an example, t 1. Cor. 10. 3. Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many that they may be saved. Thus again he teacheth us; u 1. Thes. 5. 11. Exhort one another and edify one another, admonish them that are unruly, comfort the feeble minded, bear with the weak, be patiented towards all men. So doth the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews: x Heb. 10. 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the fellowship that we have amongst ourselves, but let us exhort one another, etc. And thus we see in the gospel that our Saviour Christ at the last day shall specially recount those good works of charity and compassion, the use whereof is in the society of men, and which without society have no place; y Mat. 25. 34. Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you, etc. I was hungry and ye gave me to eat, I was thirsty and ye gave me drink, I was naked and ye clothed me, etc. Thus is social life commended unto us as the fittest course wherein to bestow ourselves that we may come to God. 11 The more may we wonder that so many, so great men have been possessed with that superstitious admiration of eremitical and solitary life, as the only divine & heavenly state; by which notwithstanding they forsook the fellowship which the Apostle commendeth, & withdrew themselves from those good offices and duties which God requireth to be performed to other men. As if they were wiser than God in determining to themselves a more excellent kind of life then that which God had commended in the exercise of brotherly love. As if they were better than the patriarchs, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Apostles, who all lived in the society and frequency of the Church. As if it should be a good answer unto Christ at that day to say; Lord we have not done those works which thou speakest of, but left the same as fitting men of more weak & unperfect state, and went ourselves into the wilderness where we could do good to none, but only afflicted ourselves, and z Col. 2. 23 spared not our bodies by watching, & fasting, and lying on the ground. What we had, we left it at once, & vowed never to have any thing again, so that though thou shouldest starve for hunger and thirst, or perish for cold, yet we would thenceforth have nothing to relieve or secure thee, a Mat. 25. 15. , Talents thou gavest us, but we lapped them up and digged them into the ground, helping no man therewith either by word or deed. Behold thou hast thine own again & scarcely that, but more than that we have gained nothing. How well this answer shall please our Saviour Christ, it resteth for them to consider whom it shall concern; to us it seemeth much unfitting to that duty of life which Christ hath commended to us. 12 Now in discourse of human societies that is first and chief to be considered to which the present occasion leadeth us, the society betwixt the husband and the wife, which as it is the root and foundation of all the rest, most near & straight in bond, most lovely in pleasance, most commodious in benefit and use; so specially serveth in holy scriptures to describe and set forth that conjunction betwixt God and man, to the procurement whereof the words of the Prophet are referred in this place, for nothing is there more usual in holy scripture then by terms of marriage to note the union and bond of amity which is betwixt God and us; God making himself the bridegroom; his church and people the spouse and bride, and accusing us as of adultery and fornication when our affectios are withdrawn from him and bestowed otherwhere. The reason of the institution of that society betwixt man and wife, God himself delivered in the beginning; b Gen. 2. 18 It is not good for man to be alone, let us make him a helper meet for him. Therefore doth he make him a helper, because it is not good, saith he, that the man be himself alone; it is good for him to have a helper like unto himself and to be at hand with him. It is true indeed that accidentally by sin the case of marriage is much changed, and many cares and encumbrances & distractions are incident to married estate. For the avoiding whereof that a man may enjoy himself wholly to himself and so to God, the Apostle saith, c 1. Cor. 7. 1 It is good for a man not to touch a woman; as also of the woman that, d Verse. 40. she is more blessed if she continue alone: namely, when by the gift of God they have power over themselves to contain themselves. But if we respect the state of innocency before the fall of man, or if we respect the case of incontinency which since that fall like a mighty deluge hath overflowed the whole nature of mankind, & from whence much greater and worse distraction ariseth then from the troubles of married estate, in both these respects, to both which we doubt not but the sentence of god hath reference, the same sentence standeth good; It is not good for man to be alone: it is best for him to have a helper like unto himself and near unto him, and as it were another self. 13 The manner of the making of this helper is to be observed, which Moses describeth thus, that e Gen. 2. 21 , GOD sent upon Adam a heavy sleep, and in his sleep took one of his ribs out of his side, and closed it up again with flesh, and of the same rib created the woman, and brought her to the man f August de bono coniug cap. 1. . By the side, saith Saint Austin, he signified the effectualness of this conjunction, for they are joined side to side who walk together, and both together look to one end whereto they walk. Upon this framing of the woman the man pronounceth, This is now flesh of my flesh & bone of my bone: she shall be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, ishah, woman, because she was taken out of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; ish, the man: for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, & they two shall be one flesh Whereupon our Saviour Christ inferreth in the gospel, g Mat. 19 6. Therefore they are no more two but one flesh: let not man therefore put asunder that which God hath coupled together. By the assertion of which unseparable union, our Saviour giveth us to understand that the breach and separation betwixt the husband and the wife, because they are but one flesh, is a thing as unnatural as is the renting and sundering of one member of the body from another. This cannot be in the body without pain and grief: if it be in wedlock without pain, yet is it not without wound, and the wound is so much the more fearful and dangerous, by how much the less it appeareth to be a wound, and no pain is felt thereof. Physicians say, h Curaeus de sensib. lib. 2. cap. 43. ex Galeno. Dolour est solutio continui: pain is the parting and sundering of that which hath continuation and is substantially compacted together. Here is a continuation of one flesh, & if in the rapture & separation there be no pain, it is a token that either the one side or the other or both are but dead flesh, & without sense, and therefore expect the cautery of God's judgement to cut them off that no further infection may thence grow. 14 To this bond of nature God hath also added a bond of covenant and promise, whereby the husband and the wife do undertake and vow before God and his Church to walk together, and religiously to maintain that society to which each with other they commit themselves. The breach of which covenant GOD reproveth as a heinous trespass, condemning it one where in the husband, i Malac. 2. 14. The Lord is witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou transgressest, who yet is thy companion & the wife of thy covenant: Another where in the wife, k Pro. 2. 17. which forsaketh the guide of her youth and forgetteth the covenant of her God; calling it the covenant of God, because God is the author & witness of it, in his name it is made, & he shall require the performance of it. Nature, religion, fidelity, civility, equity, all cry it out that the husband and the wife should walk together; and yet the cry of all these availeth not, but that lamentable ruptures and divisions betwixt husband and wife are every where to be seen amongst us, specially amongst men of higher place, yea so common in many places as if it were a thing out of fashion for great men and their wives to live & to walk together. What great inconveniences and mischiefs hereof ensue, it is apparent, the ruin of houses, extinguishment of natural affections both in parents and children, dissipation of patrimony and state, both peril and practice of adultery and uncleanness of life offensive and odious both to God and men. 15 For the preventing of which mischiefs and of that separation which is the cause of them, necessary it is for them that are to walk together to agree together, & the conscience of that bond wherewith they are joined as in one yoke to draw together, must move them to all regard and care so to carry themselves each to other, as that there may be accord & peace betwixt them. Otherwise if they be yokefellowes & agree not, but one draw one way and another another way, what do they but gall the necks and break the hearts one of another? what is the husband in this case but a tyrant to his wife? what is the wife to the husband but according to the quality of the rib whereof she was made, a crooked rib: in stead of a help a hurt: in stead of a woman a wound and a woe to man. The scripture telleth us that GOD is the l Heb. 13. 20. God of peace, m Cor. 14. 33. not the author of confusion but of peace, n Psal. 68 6. vulgat. that he maketh them to be of one mind that dwell in a house. If the work of God be peace, if he make them of one mind that are in a house, what shall we say of them who unmake that which God hath made, and maintain war in stead of peace? what do they but destroy the work of god and turn him out of doors that he may have no place to dwell with them? we read that when God would speak to Elias the Prophet, there o 1. King. 19 11. went before the LORD a mighty strong wind which rend the mountains and broke the rocks, but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind, came an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake: & after the earthquake came fire, but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire came a soft still voice, and therein the Lord spoke. Even so is it in this case, where in a house there are the tempestuous and stormy winds, the earthquakes and raging fires of brawls and contentions, of quarreling and unquietness, the Lord is not there: the Lord is in the soft and still and lovely voice betwixt the husband and the wife. For the preserving of this concord and peace betwixt man and wife, there are three things specially to be required; religion, affection, and patience. Religion delivereth the precepts of walking together; affection practiseth them; patience removeth those stumbling blocks which befall in the way to the interrupting and weakening both of religion and affection. Religion and the fear of God as it is generally the foundation of all human happiness and felicity, so must it in special be accounted the ground of all that comfort and bliss which man and wife desire to find in the enjoying each of other. It hath special promises made unto it by God: to the man, p psa. 112. 1 Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that hath great delight in his commandments: to the woman; q pro. 31. 30. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vanity (a fit of an ague staineth it; time decayeth it; old age weareth it quite out) but the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be blessed. r 1. Tim. 4. 8 Godliness, saith the Apostle, is profitable for all things, and hath the promises both of this life and of that that is to come. They therefore whom it concerneth to walk together, both for the things of this life, and for the obtaining of the life to come, must learn to account s 1. Tim. 6. 6 godliness great gain, and then think they thrive best when amidst their worldly thrift they best thrive in religion towards God. The fear of God worketh that t 1. Pet. 3. 4 meek and quiet spirit, which Saint Peter commendeth, and namely in the wife, which as it is a thing with God much set by, so it is a thing lovely and amiable amongst men, and betwixt married persons yieldeth that contentment and sweetness that holdeth them from repenting of that society which is become so joyous and comfortable unto them. It is a pretty observation which u Aben Ezra in prou. 2 ●7 apud Pag nin. in Lexic. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. a jewish rabbin giveth of the Hebrew words before mentioned 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; ish, the man or the husband, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; ishah; the woman or the wife, that there is contained in them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉; jah, which is the name of God, the letters and vowels whereof being taken out, there remaineth nothing to be made of the rest but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, esh, and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, esh, that is to say, fire and fire. Whereby he would give to understand, that if God be not betwixt the husband and the wife, if there be not in them the fear of God and conscience of duty towards him, nothing can be expected betwixt them but fire and fire, fire of debate and strife, fire of vexation and grievance, fire of God's curse consuming and wasting both them and theirs. But if God be in their hearts; if they have in them the fear of God, howsoever there may be sometimes upon occasions offence and anger, yet far is it off from danger of separation, and there is pain till the breach be repaired and healed again. 17 Religion prescribeth to husband and wife the bounds, within which they are to walk each with other; the duties which they are to perform one to another for the preserving of that peace and agreement which God requireth. It setteth forth x Ephes. 5. 23. the husband to be the wives head; not only to import that he is to be her director and y Pro. 2. 17. guide as the head is of the body, but as the head in natural compassion and love stoopeth and inclineth itself to the debilities and weaknesses of the meanest part of the body, and useth the tongue to ask, and the ear to hear, and the eye to look for the easing and helping thereof, and though he cannot prevail for the curing of it, yet doth not in mad fury torment his own flesh, nor aggravateth or exasperateth the malady, but still cherisheth the part, and maketh the best of all; so and much more ought the husband to yield the same affection and honour to his wife, to apply the understanding and discretion that God hath endued him with above his wife, to the covering and hiding of her imperfections and infirmities, always to make the best of them, and either medicinally to cure them, if it may be, or with patience to bear what he cannot cure; considering always his wife to be made, not of the basest or vilest parts, as if she were to be reputed or entreated like his vassal or slave (even the very heathen man accounting it z Bodin de repub. lib. 1 cap. 3. ex Catone. a point of sacrilege for a man to strike his wife) but of a part nearest to his heart, and therefore that she hath still right above all other to challenge a place there. On the other side it teacheth the wife to remember herself, as not made of the foot to be trodden upon, so neither of the head to be as a master or commander, but of the side; and though as a companion, yet an inferior to her husband; and therefore that she ought a Eph. 5. 22 to submit herself to her husband, that b Gen. 3. 16. her desire is to be subject unto him, and he is to rule over her, that c 1. Tim. 2. 12. she is not to usurp authority over her husband, but d 1. Cor. 14 34. to be in subjection as the law teacheth. It teacheth husbands e 1. Pet. 3. 7 to dwell discreetly with their wives, giving honour to the wife as unto the weaker vessel, even as they who are heirs together with them of the grace of life. Again it teacheth the wife to be f Gen. 2. 18. a helper to her husband, as was said before, and not a hinderer, g Eccles. 36. 24. a pillar for him to rest upon, not a stumbling block to make him fall: h Pro. 12. 4 the glory of her husband, not an infamy and reproach to him; a means i 1. Pet. 3. 1 to win him by her good conversation, if he do not yet obey the word, not an occasion to offend him and drive him further off from the liking of the word. It teacheth k 1. Cor. 7. 33. 44. the husband in the things of the world to care how he may please his wife; and the wife likewise in the same to care how she may please her husband. In a word, it teacheth both husband & wife to set God before their eyes, and to consider marriage as his ordinance and institution, and that to him they shall give account how they have used it with that honour and regard which he hath required as due unto it. 18 Which that it may be the more duly performed, necessary it is that with religion there be joined affection, and without affection religion sufficeth not. Affection, I say, whereby each is entertained and lodged in the heart of other, and do yield each to other that contentment and delight as that it may be betwixt them which Solomon saith; l Pro. 5. 18 Rejoice with the wife of thy youth, let her be unto thee as the loving Hind, and as the pleasant Roe, let her breasts always satisfy thee, and delight thou in her love continually. It is very worthy to be noted how the holy Ghost in the Canticles to describe the amity betwixt Christ and his Church, demeaneth himself to the phrases of amity betwixt the husband & the wife, m Cant. 2. ●0. & 4 10. & 5. 2. my fair one, my sister, my spouse, my love, my dove, my undefiled, and such like, as to consecrate and sanctify the same to the use of chaste and faithful love, so to import what the affection ought to be, which is to utter itself by the issues and streams of such gracious and lovely words. It was truly said by him that said it, that n Bodin. de repub. lib: 1. cap. 3. ex Artemidore. marriage love aught to exceed and overpass all other kinds of amity and love: and therefore the foundations of marriage are to be laid accordingly, that affection truly and faithfully obtained on both parts may be thenceforth as an impregnable fortress & castle never to be conquered or overcome. Therefore rash and hasty and casual marriages are to be condemned, wherein their wanteth time and occasion, and means to link together the hearts and affections of them that are to live together, and that barbarous and wicked counsel is followed which sometimes is given, to marry first and to love after. Whereby it cometh to pass that marriages many times are but discontentments and draw after them a long cord of misery and sorrow and grievance of the one party against the other, and both advisedly repent of that which they unadvisedly begun. Of the same kind are those marriages which Hierome speaketh of when men make choice of wives, o Hieron. idu. jovini au. lib. 1. non oculis sed digitis, not by their eyes but by their fingers, not by their eyes by which the person and behaviour is discerned & approved, but by the fingers by which the money is told, that only being respected how rich she is in the purse, not how well to be liked in herself, the man many times by this occasion thinking that he hath a good marriage if the woman were away, and the woman by like occasion thinking herself well married if the husband were away, and the one hoping and wishing soon, the sooner the better, to be rid of the other. Lascivious and wanton eyes are indeed greatly to be condemned; but yet in honest and lawful love the eye is the window by which affection and love entereth into the heart, and if the eye bear not some stroke in choice of a companion to live so nearly with, so as that the husband be to the wife, p Gen. 20. 16. the vail of her eyes to stay her from looking to any other, and the wife to the husband, q Ezech. 24. 16. the pleasure of his eyes, that he may joy to behold her, ill is that marriage sorted, and whatsoever other contentments there may be in it, there wanteth that which should be the seasoning & sweetness of all the rest. 19 From religion and affection must grow patience both in husband and wife, whereby upon occasions of hear and anger, without which hardly can our life pass, each can kindly bear with other; and each is careful to take that notice and knowledge of the nature and disposition of the other as may serve to prevent and exclude those uncomely extremities to which intemperate and unbridled fury carrieth headlong both one and other. We are all flesh and blood, we all have our imperfections and oversights; but patience and love digesteth all, and still healeth that which offence woundeth. But if there be no patience; if by impatiency the one be fire and the other flax and gunpowder, what must needs follow but the blowing up and burning of the whole house? To be short, r Eccl. 25. 1. three things are there, saith the son of Syrach, which rejoice me, and whereby I am beautified both before God and men, the unity of brethren, the love of neighbours, and a man and wife that agree together. The more gracious & gladsome these things are, and namely the amity betwixt the husband and the wife, so much the more it concerneth all parts to use all care for the preserving of amity and unity as a jewel most precious in the estimation and acceptation both of God and men. 20 Now here I might further speak of the other two, the unity of brethren, the love of neighbours, and generally of peace and concord, as the garland & crown of heaven, the glory of the earth, the strength of kingdoms, the preservation of families, the joy and happiness of all societies, the light of all men's eyes, and the marrow of all men's bones; as on the other side discord and variance to be uncapable of heaven, the confusion of the earth, the destruction of kingdoms, the overthrow of families, the bane of all societies, as thorns in all men's sides, and as fire in the bones of all men. But I have already stood long, and therefore will here end, leaving the rest to be understood by that that I have said. etc. To God the Father, God the Son, God the holy ghost be all honour and Glory for ever and ever, Amen. FINIS.