A commentary, OR EXPOSITION VPON THE SECOND Chapter of the prophecy of AMOS.  
delivered In XXI. Sermons in the Parish Church of MEYSEY-HAMPTON in the diocese of gloucester.  
BY Sebastian Benefield Doctor of divinity, and Professor for the Lady MARGARET in the university of OXFORD.  james 4.8. 
Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.  
LONDON, Printed by EDWARD GRIFFIN for John PARKER, and are to be sold in Paules Church-yard at the sign of the three Pigeons. 1629.   

TO THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER in God, and my very good Lord, John by the divine providence, L. Bishop of London.  
Right reverend& Honourable,  
ONce more I make bold to present unto your HONOR a testimony of my most humble observance. It is an Exposition of the second Chapter of the prophecy of Amos. My labours vpon the first it pleased your Lordship heretofore favourably to accept and patronise. If these vpon the second may find the like entertainment, they haue their end. The beams of that splendour of goodness in you, which long since haue shined vpon many in this university, and me among the rest, methinks J still behold. How can J then but in memory thereof, offer up to your Honourable Name some Sacrifice of thanksgiving? This is the best I haue at this time. receive it, my good Lord, such as it is, the sincere token of a thankful heart. God almighty, who hath made you an eminent, and an honourable pillar here in his Church militant, for the comfort of his people, give you herein many dayes full of honour and comfort, and reward you with a crown of neuer-fading glory in his Church triumphant.  
From my study in Christ Church in Oxford. february 14. 1619. Your Lordships in all duty and service, SEBASTIAN BENEFIELD.   

A commentary VPON THE SECOND Chapter of AMOS, delivered in XXI. Lectures.  

THE FIRST lecture.  AMOS 2.1, 2, 3. 
1. Thus saith the Lord; for three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn to it, because it burnt the bones of the King of Edom into lime.  
2. Therefore will I sand a fire vpon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.  
3. And I will cut off the judge out of the midst thereof; and will slay all the Princes thereof with him; saith the Lord.  
HOw grievous a burden sin is, you may well perceive, by the heavy punishments, which God layeth vpon the committers of sin. Good store of examples the first chapter of this prophecy hath yielded unto you. The Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, and the Ammonites haue for their sins been severally repaid with vengeance from heaven; the fire of the wrath of God hath seized vpon them, and devoured them; their Cities are become desolate; their memory is perished from off the earth. As it is befallen them, so it befalleth the Moabites also: against whom Amos in the beginning of this second chapter directeth his prophecy: and to the same purpose, whereto the prophecies of the former Chapter were directed.  
The 
See my sixth Lecture vpon Amos 1.  reasons why Amos, sent of purpose with a message to the Israelites, doth prophecy against the Syrians, the philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, all foreign nations, are three.  
1. That he might be the more patiently heard of his countrymen, the Israelites. The Israelites seeing their Prophet Amos so sharp against the Syrians, and other their enemies, could not but with more quiet hear him, when he should prophecy against them also. Consolatio quaedam est afflictio inimici: Some comfort it is to a distressed natural man, to see his enemy in distress likewise.  
2. That they might haue no cause to wonder, if God should at any time come against them in vengeance, seeing that he would not spare the Syrians, and other their neighbour countries, though they were destitute of the light of Gods word, and ignorant of his will.  
3. That they might the more tremble at the words of this prophecy, when they should see the Syrians and other Nations afflicted, and tormented according to the heinousness of their iniq●ities.  
Here might the Israelites thus haue argued: Will not God spare the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites? Then out of doubt he will not spare vs. They silly people never knew the holy will of God, and yet shall they be so severely punished? How then shall we escape; who knowing Gods holy will, haue contemned it?  
You see now, why Amos sent with a message to the Ten Tribes of Israel, doth first prophecy against foreign Nations. In the last place are the Moabites. This prophecy against the Moabites, Tremellius and Iunius in their translation of the Bible, do add to the first Chapter, as a part of it. But sith the Hebrew text so divides it not, I will not follow them: but will expound it, as belonging to the second Chapter.  
The words then which I haue red unto you, are the burden of Moab; a heavy prophecy against Moab. And do contain three general parts.  

1. A preface, vers. the 1. Thus saith the Lord.  
2. A prophecy, vers. the 1. For three transgressions of Moab &c.  
3. A conclusion, vers. the 5. Saith the Lord.   
The preface, and conclusion, do give authority to the prophecy; whereby we learn that the words here spoken by Amos, are not the words of Amos, but the words of the everliving GOD.  
The prophecy consisteth of four parts.  

1. The general accusation of Moab. For three transgressions of Moab, and for four.  
2. The Lords protestation against them: I will not turn to it.  
3. The declaration of that grievous sin, whereby they so highly offended God: Because they burnt the bones of the King of Edom into lime. vers. 1.  
4. A commination, or denunciation of such punishment, as should be laid vpon them for their sins. vers. 2.& 3.   
This punishment is set down, 

1. In a generality: Therefore will I sand a fire vpon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth.  
2. More especially: Where I observe, 

1. The manner of the punishment, as that it should come vpon them with fear, trouble, and astonishment: And Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.  
2. The extent of it. None might escape it: neither Prince, nor King. For thus saith the Lord, vers. the 3. I will cut off the judge,( the King) out of the midst thereof, and will slay all the Princes thereof with him.      
Thus haue you the Analysis, resolution, or division of my Text. return we now to the Preface: Thus saith the Lord; whose name in my Text is jehovah.  
Sundry are the Names of God in holy Scripture; by which albeit the substance of God cannot aptly, and clearly be defined, yet they serve us thus far; to bring us to some further knowledge of God, then otherwise we should haue. These Names of God are observed by ancient divines to be of two sorts, negative, and affirmative.  
The negative Names of God, are uncreated, incorporeal, Invisible, Incorruptible, Infinite, and such like: and these describe not, what God is; but what he is not; and do evidently declare unto us, that he is bonum quoddam excellentissimum, some most excellent Good, free from all imperfection of any creature.  
The affirmative Names of God, are ascribed unto him either essentially, or by way of relation, or by a Metaphor. The Names of God ascribed unto him essentially, are either proper to him alone, or common to others also. Among the essential Names of God, proper to him alone, is jehovah, the Name of God in my Text. His other essential Names communicable unto others, as to men, do yet belong unto God, either modo excellentiae, by an excellency: or modo causae independentis; as he is the primary cause of all things. By an excellency, God is said to bee Good, just, Wise, Mighty, Holy, merciful: and as he is the primary cause of all things, so is he called a Creator, a Redeemer, and hath other like appellations.  
Now the affirmative Names of God, ascribed unto him by way of relation, are the Names of the trinity, in which there is no {αβγδ}, no commeation, no union; each person hath his proper name Father, Son,& Holy Ghost. The other affirmative Names of God ascribed unto him by a metaphor, are affirmed of him either per {αβγδ}, that every man may understand what they mean: as when God is said to be angry; or per {αβγδ}, by analogy or similitude, as when God is called a lion, a ston, a river.  
Of these many Names of God, now repeated unto you, his most proper Name is his Name in my Text: his Name Iehouah, a Name that cannot be attributed to any creature in the world, no not by an analogy, or similitude. It is the honourablest Name belonging to the great God of heaven. I might spend much time about it, would I apply myself to the curiosity of the 
See my third Lecture vpon Amos 1.  Cabalists, and rabbis.  
They say it is nomen {αβγδ}, a name not to be pronounced, not to be taken within polluted lips: they call it nomen tetragrammaton, a name of four letters {αβγδ}, by an excellency: for as much as the Name of God 
Abrah. Brovi{us} in fes●o Circumc. Dom. Conc. 3 Dei nomen significat quaternarius, ea ratione, quia fear omnibus, nomen Dei Quadrilitorum Latinis Deus, Graecis {αβγδ}, Italis Idio, Germanis Goth, Polonis& Illyrijs Bogh, Gallis Dicu, Hispanis Dios, Hebraeis {αβγδ} Joh. Garhard lor. Theol. Tom. 1. de Natura Dei§. 26. observant nonnulli appellationem Dei esse omnibus fear populis quadriliterum. Sic Hebraeis {αβγδ} Assyrijs Adad, Aethiopibus {αβγδ} Persis {αβγδ}: Aegyptis {αβγδ}: Magis {αβγδ}: Arabibus Alla: Illyricis Bogi: Graecis {αβγδ}: Turcis {αβγδ}: Hetruscis {αβγδ}: Latini● Deus: Hispanis Dios: Italis Idio: Gallis Dieu: Germanis got: Populis novi orbis Zimi: Vide P. Gregor. lib. 6. Synt. art. mirab. c. 2.  in all tongues, and languages generally consisteth of four letters: and they observe these four letters in Hebrew to bee letters of rest, to signify unto us, that the rest, repose, and tranquillitie of all the Creatures in the world, is in God alone: they teach, that it is a powerful name for the working of miracles, and that by it Christ, and Moses haue done great wonders. But these their brainsick, superstitious, and blasphemous inventions, my tongue shall not enlarge. Yet thus much I say of this Name, that there is a secret in it. It is plain Exod. 6.3. There thus saith the Lord unto Moses: I appeared unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to jacob, by the name of a strong, omnipotent, and all-sufficient God, but by my name jehovah was I not known to them. This secret I haue heretofore unfolded unto you after this manner.  
This great name of God, this name jehovah; first it importeth the eternity of Gods essence in himself, that he is yesterday, and to day, and the same for ever; which was, which is, and which is to come.  
Secondly, it noteth the existence and perfection of all things in God, as from whom all creatures in the world haue their life, motion, and being. God is the being of all his creatures; not that they are the same, that he is, but because of him, and in him, and by him are all things.  
Thirdly, it is the memorial of God unto all ages, as himself calls it. Exod. 3.15. The memorial of his faithfulness, his truth, and his constancy in the performance of his promises. And therefore whensoever in any of the Prophets God promiseth, or threateneth, any great matter, to assure us of the most certain event of such his promise, or threatening, he adds unto it his name jehovah: as here in my text: Thus saith jehovah.  
jehovah.] The strength of Israel: who is not as man, that he should lie, nor as the son of man that he should repent. Wicked Balaam is driven to confess as much, Num. 23.19. and there proceedeth by way of question: Hath the Lord said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken and shall he not accomplish it? Samuel with boldness tells Saul, 1. Sam. 15.29. that the Lord, who is the strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; and he gives this reason of it: For he is not a man that he should repent. All his words, yea all the titles of all his words are Yea, and Amen, so firmly ratified, that they cannot be altered; so standing immutable, that they cannot be changed. Our saviour Christ gives record hereunto. Matth. 24 35. Coelum& terra praeteribunt. heaven and Earth shall pass away; but Gods words, they shall not pass away. The grass withereth, saith the Prophet Esay cap. 40.8. The grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand for ever.  
Thus are we by this name jehovah lead to the consideration of the truth of God. Gods truth is his essential propriety, whereby he is most free from all show or shadow of falsehood. This his truth is eminent in himself, in his works, and in his words. In himself, two manner of ways. 1. In respect of his essence, whereby he truly is. 2. Forasmuch as he is the Idea, type, and pattern of all the truth that is in any creature.  
Now concerning the works of God, they all are Truth? whether they be internal, or external. His internal works are either personal, or essential: and both nothing but truth. For his personal works: the Father doth truly beget the son, the son is truly begotten of the Father: and the holy Ghost doth truly proceed from the Father: and the son: the like must we say of his essential works; whatsoever God hath decreed, he hath truly decreed it, and doth truly execute it.  
Besides these internal works of God, some works of his are called in the schools external. Such are the creation of the world, the conservation of the same, the government of the Church, the covenant with the faithful, and the like, in all which, most constant is the truth of God.  
As the truth of God is eminent in himself, and in his works, so also is it eminent in his words. This hath but now, been proved unto you by the confession of Balaam, by the asseveration of Samuel, by the record of the Prophet Esay, and of our saviour Iesus Christ. I shut up this doctrine of the truth of God, with the words of the blessed Apostle S. Paul, Rom. 3.3. Let God be true, and every man a liar.  
Now let us see what uses may be made of this doctrine.  
Is it true?  
Is God truth in himself, in his works and in his words?  
Hereby may every child of God among us be well assured, that our faith in God the Father, in Christ his son, and in the holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father, and the son, is most true and most certain: and cannot by any means be deceived itself, or deceive us? For it is grounded, and supported, vpon, and by the words of him, who onely is the true God, yea truth itself: who hath truly said concerning us, and all other, who beleeue in Christ, that he hath 
Rom. 8.37.  loved us 
Ephes. 1.4.  before the foundation of the world, hath chosen us to eternal life; for our better attaining whereof, he hath 
Rom. 8.3.  sent into the world his own son in the similitude of sinful flesh; 
Galat. 4.4.  made of a woman, and made under the Law, that by his 
1. John 1.7.  blood we might be cleansed from all sin, and 
Rom. 5.9.  justified in the sight of God: that by his holy spirit we might be 
1. Pet. 1.3.  regenerated, governed, defended from our enemies; and at that great day, the day of the resurrection of all flesh, we may both body and soul be brought into the full possession of eternal life.  
Which being so, what remaineth on our parts, but that we abide constantly in our holy faith, and persevere therein, even unto the end? Without perseverance our faith will not avail vs. For not every one, but such onely as are marked in their foreheads with the letter Tau, with the note of perfection, and perseverance, shall enter the inheritance of the blessed. Ezech. 9 4. And not every one, but he onely, that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matth. 10.22. And not every one, but he onely which is faithful unto death, shall receive the crown of life. revel. 2.10.  
Let the dog return to his vomit, and the washed sow to her wallowing in the mire, as the proverbs are. 2. Pet. 2.22. But let us hold fast our holy faith, till it shall please God to call us to make our final account, how we haue spent the dayes of our Pilgrimage in this present world. So shall he, that is holy, and true; who hath 
revel. 3.7.  the key of david, which openeth and no man shutteth; which shutteth, and no man openeth; open unto us the gates of jerusalem, which is above, and give us full fruition of everlasting happiness.  
Thus haue you the first use of my first doctrine, touching the truth of God. My doctrine was:  
God is truth in himself, in his works, and in his words.  
The first use concerneth our faith in Christ, and our perseverance therein. A second followeth.  
It appertaineth to thanksgiving. For if our salvation, and eternal life do depend vpon the knowledge of the heavenly truth; and God brings none to the knowledge of this truth but his elect, and chosen people; how great thankes ought we to give unto God, not onely for choosing us, but also for making it known unto us by the revelation of his truth, that we are his chosen people. For he hath not onely imprinted in the us image of that truth, which is eternal in himself; but also daily bringeth us to such a measure of knowledge of that his heavenly truth wherein consisteth our salvation, that we may be saved.  
What greater benefit can there be unto us, then this? What more ample testimony of his eternal good will to us? For this benefit, that is, for the knowledge of Gods heavenly truth, the blessed Apostle St Paul never ceased to give thanks unto God. I thank God( saith he 1. Tim. 1.12.) I thank him, who hath made me strong, that is, Christ Iesus our Lord: for he counted me faithful, and put me in his service; When before I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an oppressor, but I was received to mercy. From this his thankful heart proceeded those his words, Phil. 3.8. doubtless, I think all things but loss, for the excellent knowledge sake of Christ Iesus my Lord, for whom I haue counted all things loss, and do judge them to be but {αβγδ}, even dung, that I might win Christ.  
St Pauls charity was not confined within the Temple of his own body; others had a taste thereof. As the Corinthians; to whom in his first Epistle, cap. 1. ver. 4. he thus manifesteth his affection: I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you in Iesus Christ, that in all things ye are made rich in him, in all kind of speech. And in all knowledge. I thank my God always on your behalf, not for your riches, for your honors, for your large possessions, for your flourishing city, but for the grace of God, which is given you in Iesus Christ for your free vocation, for your faith, for your reconciliation, for your justification, for your regeneration, for your hope of eternal salvation, for the preaching of the word of God among you, and for your knowledge of the truth thereof.  
The knowledge of this truth of God, far surpasseth all the treasures of this corruptible world. Shall not we then poure out our souls in thankfulness before almighty God, for bestowing vpon us so gracious a blessing, as is this knowledge of the truth of God? Let us with the spirit of blessed Paul, account all things which haue been, or are gainful to us in this present world, to be but loss and dung in respect of this knowledge of Gods holy truth, forasmuch as hereby we may win Christ. Thus haue you the second use of my doctrine. My doctrine was:  
God is truth in himself, in his works, and in his words.  
The second use concerneth our thanksgiving for the knowledge of Gods truth. The third tendeth to our imitation.  
Is it true? Is God truth in himself, in his works, and in his words? Why strive we not with all the faculties, and powers of our souls to represent our God in truth? He in the beginning, in the first man, in our forefather Adam, created and made us in his own image, after his own likeness. Gen. 1.26. Then was man invested with glorious robes, with immortality, with understanding, with freedom of will: then was he perfectly good, and chast, and pure, and just, and true: whatsoever might appertain to happiness, or holinesse, he then had it. For God created him so like unto himself in perfect happiness, and holinesse; that he might in some sort bear about with him the image of the great and glorious God of heaven.  
But alas, our first Parent continued not long in that his first estate, of purity, innocency, and integrity; by his fall he lost us, that his precious jewel, which,( had he stood fast) would haue been unto us a chain of gold about our necks; yea, as it is called Psal. 8.5. A crown of honor, and glory. But by his fall we are become miserable, and unholy, and wicked, and unclean, and false; as unlike to God, as darkness is to light, and Hell is to heaven.  
In this estate of sin, and death, we all lay wallowing, till God of his own unspeakable mercy, and goodness raised us up by his grace to a better state; a state of regeneration, and salvation; wherein all we whose names are written in the Register of the elect, and chosen children of God, must spend the remainder and residue of the dayes of our pilgrimage in this world. In this state wee must not stand at one stay, but must always be growing upward. We must day by day endeavour to increase our spiritual strength, and change our Christian infancy with a ripe and constant age; and add grace to grace, till we become perfect men in Christ.  
To us, now in the state of regeneration belongeth the exhortation of God unto the children of Israell. Leuit. 11.44. Be ye holy, for I am holy: And that of Christ to his auditors vpon the Mount. Matth. 5.48. Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect: or as it is in St Luke. Chap. 6.36. Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful. By which places we are not exhorted to a perfection of supererogation, as monks would haue it, nor to a perfect and absolute fulfilling of the Law; for that is impossible, so long as wee carry about us these vessels of corruption: witness St Paul Rom. 8.3. But all that we are exhorted to, is, that we would do our best endeavours to resemble our God, and to be like unto him, in holinesse, in perfection, in mercifulness. Be holy, as God is holy: be perfect, as God is perfect; be merciful, as God is merciful; non absoluta aequalitate, said similitudine: not absolutely, and equally, holy, perfect, and merciful, as God is, but by a similitude. God is our Father: and will not we his children, like good children, strive to be accommodated and fitted to our Fathers virtues?  
beloved, let us apply ourselves to this imitation of our heavenly Father, to be holy, as he is holy; to be perfect, as he is perfect; to be merciful, as he is merciful; and for my present purpose, to be true, as he is true.  
To this last we may thus be lead. God is our Creator; and he is the God of truth. Psal. 31.5. Christ is our Redeemer, and he is Truth. joh. 14.6. We are renewed by the holy Ghost, and he is the spirit of Truth. joh. 16.13. We live in the bosom of the Church; and she is the pillar and ground of Truth 1. Tim. 3.15. Thus living, we are taught by the word of truth. Colos. 1.5. And are brought to the knowledge of the Truth. 1. Tim. 2.4. And are sanctified by Truth. joh. 17.17. add hereto, that we are commanded every one to speak the Truth, Ephes. 4.25. And shall we do our best to resemble God in Truth? To be true as he is true? dearly beloved, sith we are the children of Truth( for God is Truth, and his children we are) let us walk, as it becometh the children of Truth: let Truth be in our thoughts, in our words, in our works: in all our ways.  
What shall I more say to this point, but exhort you in St Paules words, Ephes. 4.25. That ye would cast off lying, and speak every man the truth to his neighbour. For as much as the Lord will destroy all such as speak lies. This you know by the fift psalm, ver. the 6. But how will he destroy them? It is answered, revel. 21.8. All liars shall haue their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone. Thus haue you the third use of my doctrine. My doctrine was:  
God is truth in himself, in his works, and in his words.  
The third use is, our holy imitation of God in truth.  
There is yet a fourth use of this doctrine of the truth of God. It serves for a redargution, or reproof of such as deny God, and his truth. Deny God, and his truth? Can there be any, endowed with a reasonable soul, so void of understanding? Yes. There is a generation of men monstrously misshapen in the powers of the soul, who spare not to break the cords of Religion asunder, and to cast her yoke from them. They dare avouch with those in tully, Totam de Dijs immortalibus opinionem fictam esse ab hominibus sapientibus reipub. causâ, vt quos ratio non posset, eos ad officium religio duceret: judging the service of God to be a mere devise of man, for the better government of the Common-wealth; wherein inferiors, sith they will not be ruled by reason, must be ordered by religion.  
Tell such of the Scriptures, you may as well urge them with Lucians narrations: tell them of repentance, they cast it behind them: tell them of faith, they regard it not. speak to them of baptism, they hold it of no greater price, then the washing of their hands. Let them hear of the Resurrection, this feeds them with many a merry conceit. They think pleasantly with themselves, what manner of bodies they shall haue at that day, of what proportion and stature their bodies shall be; whether their nails, and hair shall rise again. Impious wretches, thus they make a scoff at God and religion: whom, were they used according to their deserts, the Preachers should pronounce, and the Prince proclaim the foulest lepers, that ever yet sore ran vpon; very worthy to bee excluded the host, and to haue their habitation alone: yea to be exiled the land, and to bee expelled from nature itself, which so unnaturally they strive to bring to nought. I say no more against them; but leave them to the God of truth, whom they haue denied, that he in due time may repay them home with vengeance.  
Thus far am I guided by my first doctrine, grounded vpon this essential name of God, his name Iehouah: importing his truth in himself, in his works, and in his words: Thus saith Iehouah.  
Thus saith the Lord] Is not this the prophesy of Amos? Are not all the words of this prophesy, chap. 1.1. called the words of Amos the herdsman? What then meaneth this phrase, Thus saith the Lord? As Almighty God in old time spake to our Fathers by the mouth of Moses, Exod 4.12. So did he in succeeding ages speak unto them by the mouth of other his Prophets, Luke 1.70. hereto S. Peter beareth record, 2. Epist. 1.20. Know this, saith he, that no prophesy in the Scripture is of any private motion; and he gives the reason hereof, verse 21. For, the prophesy in old time, came not by the will of man, but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the holy Ghost. Hence sprung those usual and familiar speeches in the books of the Prophets: The word of the Lord came unto me; The Lord God hath spoken, and this in my Text: Thus saith the Lord.  
This Lord, who thus spake in old time by his Prophets, did in fullness of time, when he sent to consummate, and perfect the work of mans redemption, speak by his blessed evangelists and Apostles. This appeareth by the faithful promise made unto them, Matth. 10.19. Take no thought how, or what ye shall speak: It is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father, that speaketh in you. It must stand ever true, what is recorded 2 Tim. 3.16. The whole Scripture is given by inspiration of God. The whole Scripture, and every parcel of it, hath inward witness from the Spirit, which is the author of all truth. Sweet then is the harmony, consent and agreement of all the Prophets, evangelists, and Apostles, from the first unto the last. Not one of them spake one word of a natural man, in all their ministries: the words which they spake, were the words of him that sent them: they spake not of themselves; God spake in them. whensoever were the time, whatsoever were the means, whosoever were the man, wheresoever were the place, whatsoever were the people, the words were the Lords. Hence ariseth this doctrine:  
The Author of holy Scripture is neither man nor angel, nor any other creature, how excellent soever, but onely the living and immortal God.  
This truth is evident, by this which I haue but now delired. For if God in old time spake to our Fathers, by the mouth of Moses, if God spake by other his Prophets, if God spake by the evangelists and Apostles, if all Scripture be inspired of God; then it well followeth; that God is the author of Scripture: and therefore not man, nor angel, nor any other creature, how excellent soever. I can but point at the uses of this doctrine.  
The first use is redargution. Is the living and immortal God the author of holy Scripture? here are all they to bee reproved, who do vilify and debase the sacred Scriptures, and esteem not of them, as of the word of God. Such are they, who bearing in their fore-heads, the stamp of Christians, haue notwithstanding given their names to that Antichrist of Rome, and the now-false Church there. They shane not to affirm, that, setting aside the authority of that Church, and her head the Pope, the Scripture is no better, then a 
Coll●q W●rm●t.  doubtful, uncertain and leaden rule, then a 
Colloq. R●tubon.  matter of debate, then 
ludovic. Maioranus.  dead ink, then 
Esk●ns.  inken divinity, then a 
Pighius.  nose of wax, then a 
Colloq. Worm.  book of discord, then a 
Pighius.  dumb judge, then 
H●●ius. Gre●●er. hereof see my second Lecture vpon Amos 1.  Aesops fables.  
Impious wretches; had they not wiped all shane from their faces, they would never haue laid such load of disgraces vpon Gods holy word. Their cardinal Hosius stays not here, he proceeds a degree further. He coins a distinction of Scripture, as its used by themselves, whom he calleth catholics, and as by us, whom he calleth heretics. His words are in the end of his third book against Brentius his Prolegomena. The Scripture, quomodo profertur à Catholicis verbum est Dei, quomodo profertur ab Haereticis verbum est Diaboli, as it is alleged by us, so must it bee, forsooth, the word of the devill, but as by them, so onely shall it be the word of God. Blasphemous cardinal, he marcheth not alone. 
Syntagm. Disput. Sedan. loc. 2. De origine sacrae Scripturae§. 32. pag. 17.  Telenus tells me of a champion of that side, as far forward as he, who saith; Melius consultum fuisse Ecclesiae, si nulla unquam extitisset Scriptura, that, had there never been any Scripture, the Church had been better provided for, then now it is. Sedens in coelis ridet: there's a God in heaven, that hath these wicked imps in derision: vpon whom, for their taunts, contumelies, and reproaches against his sacred word, he will one day poure out his full viols of wrath: then will he crush them with his scep●er of iron, and break them in pieces like potters vessels. You haue the first use. A second followeth.  
Is the living and immortal God the author of holy Scripture? here then is a lesson for us, whom God hat set a part to be Preachers, and Expounders of his will. We must handle his sacred Scripture, as his holy word: wee must ever come unto you, as my Prophet here did to the Israelites, with Thus saith the Lord, in our mouths. Wee may not speak either the imagination of our own brains, or the vain persuasions of our own hearts. We must sincerely preach unto you, Gods gracious word without all corruption, or depraving of the same. To this S Peter well exhorteth us in his 1. Epist. and chap. 4.11. If any man speak, let him speak as the word of God. For if wee, yea if an angel from heaven shall preach otherwise unto you, then from the Lords own mouth, speaking in his holy word, {αβγδ}; let him be accursed; let him be had in execration.  
The third use of this doctrine, is peculiar unto you( beloved) who are auditors and hearers of the word. Is the living and immortal God the author of holy Scripture? Then( beloved) it is your part to hear us with attention, and reverence, whensoever wee stand before you, to expound Gods holy Scripture. S. Paul commendeth the Thessalonians, Epist. 1. chap. 2.13. For that whensoever they received of the Apostles of Christ, the word of the preaching of God, they received it not as the word of men, but as it was indeed, the word of God. In like sort, if you receive it, it will save your souls. It is able so to do. S. james shall bee your pledge, chap. 1.21. receive it therefore with meekness, that by it your souls may live.  
God spake unto Israel in a vision by night, and said Gen. 46.2. jacob, jacob. jacob answered, I am here. He was prest and ready with all reverent attention, to hear what his God would say unto him, and to follow the same with all faithful obedience. Such readiness well becometh every child of God at this day in the Church, where God speaketh. Thus must he think within himself. It is thine ordinance, o Lord, by thy word preached to instruct me, concerning thy holy will. I am here, Lord, in all humble fear, to hear thy blessed pleasure, what this day thou wilt put into the mouth of the Preacher to deliver unto me, I am here, speak on, Lord, thy seruant heareth. If a Prince of this world, or some great man shall speak unto you, you will attend, and give ear unto him with all diligence; how much more then ought ye so to do, when the King of heaven, and Lord of the Earth, the living and immortal God, calleth vpon you by his Ministers?  
What remaineth but that you suffer a word of Exhortation. It shall bee short: in S. Pauls words, Coloss. 3.16. Holy and beloved, as the elect of God, let the word of God dwell plenteously in you in all wisdom. This word of God, it is his most royal and celestial Testament, it is the oracle of his heavenly sanctuary, it is the only key unto us of his revealed counsels; it is milk from his sacred breasts, the earnest and pledge of his favor to his Church, the light of our feet, the ioy of our hearts, the breath of our nostrils, the pillar of our faith, the anchor of our hope, the ground of our love, the evidence of our future blessedness.  
Let this word of God dwell plenteously in you in all wisdom. So shall your ways by it be cleansed, and yourselves made clean. Yet a very little while,& he that shall come, will come,& will not tarry, even our Lord Iesus Christ, who finding your ways cleansed, and yourselves made clean by his sacred word, will in his due time translate you from this valley of tears, into jerusalem which is above, the most glorious city of God. There shall this corruptible put on incorruption, and our mortality shall be swallowed up of life. even so be it.   

THE II. lecture.  AMOS 2.1, 2, 3. 
Thus saith the Lord; for three transgressions of Moab, and for four, I will not turn to it, because it burnt the bones of the King of Edom into lime.  
Therefore will I sand a fire vpon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kirioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.  
And I will cut off the judge out of the midst thereof; and will slay all the Princes thereof with him; saith the Lord.  
IN the former Sermon I handled the Preface. The prophecy is now to be spoken unto. The first part therein is: The accusation of Moab; in these words;  
For three transgressions of Moab, and for four.] Where we are to consider, 

1. Who are accused.  
2. For what they are accused.    
The accused are the Moabites; and they are accused of many breaches of the Law of God. First of the accused.  
Moab was one of the sons of Lot, begotten in incest vpon his eldest daughter. Gen. 19.37. From him by lineal descent came these Moabites, a people inhabiting that part of the East, which is commonly known by the name of Coelesyria, but was formerly the possession of the Amorites. These Moabites, like their brethren the Ammonites, were professed enemies to the people of God, and did evermore very grievously afflict, and vex them. In which respect, they were for ever by God his singular commandment excluded from the Church. Gods commandement is expressed Deut. 23.3. The Ammonites, and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of the Lord. And its repeated Nehem. 13.1. The Ammonites, and the Moabites shall not enter into the Congregation of God. Thus haue you the accused; even the Moabites; the posterity of Moab, who was Lots son; inhabitants of Coelesyria, and borderers vpon the Holy Land, the possession of the Israelites.  
Now what are they accused of? Of many breaches of Gods law: in these words, For three, and four transgressions] This phrase we met with five times in the former chapter, and haue heard it diversly expounded. The most natural, proper and significant exposition commended to you was; by three, and four, a finite, and certain number, to understand many; a number infinite,& uncertain. For three transgressions of Moab, and for four, that is, for many transgressions of the Moabites.  
Among the many transgressions of the Moabites, their inhumanity, and pride are specially noted. Their inhuman, spiteful, and cruel dealing against the Israelites, though a people of their own kindred, appeareth diuers ways. First, because when the Israelites came out of egypt, they met them not with provision. Deut. 23.4. Secondly, because at that time they hired 
Deut. 23.4.  Balaam, the son of Beor, to curse them. Num. 22.5. Thirdly, because they kept them in servitude under King Eglon eighteen yeeres. judic. 3.12. Fourthly, because without respect of their allegiance to the Kings of Israel, due unto them vpon King Dauids 
2. Sam. 8.2.  conquest, they rebelled against Israel after the death of Ahab. 2. King. 1.1. Fiftly, because they waged war against jehosaphat King of judah. 2 Chron. 20.1. sixthly, because they derided the Israelites, upbraided them, and made a iest at them. jer. 48.27. Zephan. 2.8. You see the inhumanity of the Moabites. Concerning their pride, hear the words of ieremy chap. 48.29. We haue heard the pride of Moab: ( he is exceeding proud) we haue heard his pride, his stoutness, his arrogancy, his disdain, and the haughtiness of his heart. Of this pride of Moab you may see more Esai. 16.6.  
Of the many sins of Moab, you see two specially noted: their inhumanity, and their pride: for which, and others, the Lord protesteth against them, that he will not turn to them. I will not turn to it] That is, as heretofore hath been expounded, I will not be favourable to the Moabites; I will not spare them; according to their deserts, so shall it be unto them: I will not recall them to the right way; they shall run on to their own perdition: I will not turn away the punishment, wherewith I haue resolved to punish them: I am the Lord, I am not changed. I will not turn to it] It is in effect, as if the Lord had thus said: If the Moabites had offended but once, or twice, I would haue been favourable to them, and would haue recald them into the right way, that so they might haue been converted, and haue escaped my punishments: But now, sith they daily heap transgression vpon transgression, and make no end of sinning, I haue hardened my face against them, and will not suffer them to be converted; but indurate, and obstinate as they are, I will utterly destroy them. For three transgressions of Moab, and for four I will not turn to it.  
Here may you recall to your remembrances a doctrine sundry times recommended to your religious considerations.  
Many sins do pluck down from heaven the most certain wrath and vengeance of God vpon the sinners.  
God is of pure eyes and beholdeth not iniquity. He hath laid righteousness to the rule, and weighed his iustice in a balance. His sentence is passed forth from him, and stands unalterable: Tribulation and anguish vpon every soul that doth evil. The soul that sinneth, it shall be punished. God makes it good by an oath Deut. 23.41. That he will whet his glittering sword, and his hand shall take hold on iudgement to execute vengeance for sin. His soul hateth, and abhorreth sin; his law nurseth, and condemneth sin; his hand smiteth, and scourgeth sin. sin was his motive to cast down Angels into Hell, to thrust Adam out of Paradise, to turn Cities into ashes, to ruinated Nations, to torment his own bowels in the similitude of sinful flesh. Because of sin he once drowned the old world, and because of sin ere long will burn this. Thus do many sins pluck down &c.  
One use of this doctrine, is; to teach us heedfulness in all our ways, that we do not by our many sins provoke Almighty God to high displeasure.  
A second use, is; to move us to a serious contemplation of the wonderful patience of Almighty God, who did so graciously forbear these Moabites, till by their three, and four transgressions, by their many sins they had provoked him to indignation. These things I haue heretofore laboured to lay unto your hearts.  
Now therefore I proceed to the third part of this prophecy: wherein you haue the declaration of that grievous sin, by which the Moabites so highly offended. This their sin was a sin of cruelty; expressed in these words: Because it burnt the bones of the King of Ed m into lime.  
When this was done, or by which of the Kings of Moab, or against which of the Kings of Edom, it is not expressed in holy Scripture. Some would hither refer that history, 2 Kings 3. Where it is recorded of the King of Israel, that he assisted with two other Kings, the King of Iuda, and the King of Edom, made war vpon the King of Moab. The King of Moab, when he saw the battle was to sore for him, took with him seven hundred stout warriors, and would haue broken throw to the King of Edom, but could not. Through indignation whereof 
Piscat. Analys in 2 Reg. 3.  some think that he took the King of Edoms eldest son, and offered him for a burnt offering vpon the wall: for so some will haue the last verse of that chapter understood of the King of Edoms son. But I take it more agreeable to that story, there to understand the King of Moabs own son: that the King of Moab should offer up for a burnt offering vpon the wall his own eldest son, thereby to obtain help of his God against his enemies. And so that story appertains not to this my Text. No; though wee receive the former interpretation. For it is not here said, that he burnt the bones of the King of Edoms son into lime, but the bones of the King of Edom himself.  
It is a tradition of the Hebrewes, that after the burial of the King of Edom( that King, who went up with 
2. Reg. 3.1.  jehoram, King of Israel, and 
v●rs. 7.  jehoshaphat King of judah, to war against 
vers. 4.  Mesha, King of Moab▪) the Moabites, in vltionem doloris, to be revenged vpon him for the sorrow, which he wrought them; did dig up his bones, and burn them. Of this tradition S. jerome maketh mention: They did dig up the King of Edoms bones, and burn them. Great was their rage, great their cruelty. Death appeased them not. The King of Edoms bones were not suffered to rest in his sepulchre, but were taken thence, and burnt into ashes. These ashes some think were used with lime, or mortar for the plastering, pargeting, or rough-casting of their houses: for as much as my Prophet here saith, they burnt the bones of the King of Edom into lime. If so; it was done Vindictae maioris,& contumeliae causâ; that they might take full vengeance vpon the King of Edom.  
I may not pass it over with silence, that this cruelty of the Moabites, was against the Edomites, without all respect of blood, and consanguinity. Edom, the Edomites, or Idumaeans were descended from Abraham. Thus: 
Gen. 25.25.  Edom, the first Father of the Edomites, or Idumaeans, was otherwise called Esau, and was son of Izhac, who was 
Gen 21 3.  son of Abraham. And 
Gen. 19. ●7.  Moab, from whom the nation of the Moabites took their name, was son unto Lot, and Lot was Abrahams brothers son, the son of 
G n. 11.27.  Haran. There was then between the Moabites, and Edomites nearness of blood, and full kindred.  
Now we see what is the particular sin of the Moabites, for which this prophesy is directed against them. Their sin is Cruelty, and a special kind of Cruelty; even their denying of rest to the bones of the dead: and the more odious and intolerable is their Cruelty, because it is against their own kindred.  
The lesson, which we are to take from hence, is this.  
All kind of cruelty committed against a man, highly displeaseth God; but that specially, which violateth, and extinguisheth the rites of consanguinity, and natural affection.  
In my 
pag. 74.  seventh Lecture vpon the first chapter of this prophesy, I commended unto you this doctrine: God is never well pleased with too much cruelty. In my 
pag. 230.  19. Lecture I recommended it unto you; varying my proposition, thus: Cruelty is a sin hateful unto God. Now it comes unto you in another form, though the matter be the same▪ All kind of cruelty, &c. My proposition hath two parts.  
The first, All kind of cruelty committed against a man, highly displeaseth God. The second; There is a kind of cruelty, that violateth, and extinguisheth the rights of consanguinity, and natural affection, and that specially displeaseth God. First, to the first.  
All kind of cruelty committed against a man highly displeaseth God.  
No marvel. For all kind of cruelty is sin; and every sin must taste of Gods high displeasure. All kind of cruelty is sin: For it is {αβγδ}, a want of conformity to the Law of God, a transgression of the law, a breach of the law. Will you know against which commandement it is? It is against the sixth commandement. The commandement is: Thou shalt do no murder; or, Thou shalt not kill. Where to kill, or to do murder; by a synecdoche, signifieth any kind of endamaging the person of our neighbours. We may not so much as hurt, or hinder them. We are forbidden to sin against our neighbour, either in heart, or in word, or in countenance, or in dead. And in this last branch is cruelty forbidden vs. So is the first part of my proposition confirmed; All kind of cruelty committed against a man highly displeaseth God. The reason is; because it is a sin, against the sixth commandement.  
The use of this doctrine is to reprove such as delight in cruelty. Man of all living creatures, ought to be the most courteous. His name in Latin is homo, and that 
Boskier. Orat. Terra sancta. Philip. 4. loc. 1. pag. 87.  one deriveth from the greek {αβγδ}, a word that signifieth unanimity, and concord: And from the Latin homo, is derived Humanitas, a word that signifieth courtesy, or gentleness. So that the very name of man, Homo, sheweth that 
Hominem natura ad pacem composuit.  man is even framed by nature for unanimity, concord, courtesy, gentleness, and peace.  
Other 
Animantia ca●era ad b●llum.  creatures are by nature even armed for war. Some haue their horns, as Vnicornes, Harts, and Bulls: some their teeth; as boars and Dogs: some their nails, as Griffins and lions: some their poison, either in their tongues, as Serpents, or in their tails, as Scorpions, or in their breath, as Dragons, or in their eyes, as the basilisk: Some haue their hard skins for their coats or coverings, as on land, the Armadillo; in the sea, the tortoise, the Crab, and all shell fish. All these, and other beasts are armed by nature, partly to defend themselves, partly to offend others. Onely Man; he is born in ermis, tenellus, edentulus; he comes into the world naked, tender, toothles; and hath not wherewith, either to offend another, or to defend himself; to teach us, that man should spend the dayes of his pilgrimage here in unanimity, concord, courtesy, gentleness, and peace.  
The more are they to be reproved, who living among men, haue, as it were, put off the nature of Man, by their delight in cruel dealing. Such is the racking Landlord, who takes advantage against his poor tenant for every trifle. Such is the greedy usurer, who ears up his brothers substance with interest. Such is the stony-hearted physician, or chirurgeon, that prolongeth his patients disease, or sore, to wring the more money from him. Such is the troublesone man, who unjustly vexeth his neighbour in the law to his undoing. Such are a l they, who are any way injurious to them, with whom they live.  
I trust, there is none that hears me this day fit to be reproved for any cruel dead against the dead, as the Moabites here are for their burning the bones of the King of Edom into lime. And that you never may deserve with them to be reproved, let it please you to hear a while, how this kind of cruelty hath in former ages been accounted of.  
It is 
Virgil. Aeneid. 1.  written to the dispraise of Achilles, that he dragged the dead body of Hector thrice about the walls of Troy. It is 
Liv. Dec. 1. l. 1.  written to the dispraise of Tullia, proud Tarquius wife, that she drove her wagon over the dead body of her Father Seruius Tullius the sixth King of Rome. It is 
Plutarch in Cicerone,& in Antonio.  written to the dispraise of antony, the Triumvir, one of the three, who bore the sway at the beginning of the roman Empire, that he caused the right hand, and the head of dead Cicero, that great Orator, to be cut off, and brought before him, that beholding them, be might solace, and sport himself. And was it not a note of too much cruelty in Antonies wife, whether it were 
Hieronym Apol: aduersus R●ffinum.  Fuluia, or that proud Egyptian queen Cleopatra, that she thrust her needle through the tongue of that dead Orator? Thus haue profane Authors Virgil, livy, Plutarch, and others, conducted onely by natures light, noted, and censured cruelty against the dead. And shall not the light of Gods holy word conduct us Christians to alike measure of understanding, even to detest all cruelty against the dead?  
To this purpose the holy evangelists, S. matthew, and S. mark; St matthew chap. the 14. and St mark chap. the 6. haue recorded it for a memorial to all ensuing ages; that to the solemnizing of Herods birth day, the head of John Baptist was brought in a platter to Herodias. cruel Herodias! could not the untimely, and unjust death of that holy man satisfy thy greedy, and blood thirsty heart, but that thou must haue his head brought before thee in a platter? and that at such a time, so solemn a time, the birth day of thy Lord, thy King, thy supposed husband, Herod, even then, when he feasted his Princes, and captaines, and chief estates of Galilee? A dead mans head, besmered with blood, was very unseasonable, and unfit sauce for such a banquet. Yet then was John Baptists head brought before Herodias in a platter. What did she to it? doubtless, all the disgrace she could. One thing St jerome in his second book of his Apollogie against Ruffinus, specifieth, that 
Veri●●qu●m 〈◇〉 ●uam discriminali acu confodi●.  she thrust his tongue through with a needle.  
In the 19. of John ver. 34. it is recorded to the memorial of all ensuing ages, that when Iesus had by his sufferings vpon the cross, and payment of the price of our redemption given up the ghost; then a jew, a soldier of the Iewes, with a speere pierced his side, whereout forthwith issued blood, and water. Vpon that cruel souldiers fact 
Salmeron comment. in evangel. Tom. 10. Tract. 48.  one asketh this question: Quid est, quod filius Dei torments in vita toleratis, non contentus, volvit etiam post mortem vulnera accipere? What is it, that the son of God not content with such torments, as in his life time he endured, would also after his death be wounded? Among many, and they great causes, he gives this for one Vt innotesceret nostra immanitas,& saeuitia, qui etiam in mortuum saeuimus; that notice may be taken of our immanity,& cruelty, for as much as we spare not the dead. It is the property of a lion, to spare a man, not onely, that is dead, but also that lieth prostrate, and flat vpon the ground: What favour a man receives from a lion, Christ Iesus, the lion of the tribe of judah, the sweet saviour of mankind, could not receive from man. A soldier with a spear pierceth his side, though he be dead. To exaggerate this St Chrysostome homil. 48. vpon John, saith; Illudere mortuo, quàm ipsum crucis supplicium, long peius est: It is far worse to offer any contumely or disgrace to one that is dead. then is the punishment of the cross.  
In the 79. psalm ver. 2. the Prophet in Israels behalf complaineth unto God, against the surprisers of jerusalem, that they gave the dead bodies of Gods seruants to be meat unto the fowles of heaven, and the flesh of his Saints to the beasts of the Earth. So he aggravateth their cruelty, and inhumanity. Monstrous was their cruelty, barbarous their inhumanity, to cast the dead bodies, and flesh of Gods seruants, and Saints here, and there, to the end they might be a prey to dogs, to wolves, to ravens, to vultures, or other beasts, or birds, that live by carrion.  
You see partly by profane examples, partly by instances out of the sacred Scriptures, how cruelty against the dead hath usually been censured. But what is this to you, who use towards the dead all civility? All civility? I grant you give the dead religious, and solemn burial; And so doing you do well. You do well not to suffer 
Lanctantius Jnstitut. lib. 6.  figuram& figmentum Dei, the workmanship of God, Gods image, to be exposed, and cast out for a prey to wild beasts, and birds. To bury the dead, it is 
Ambros lib. de Tobia.  quotidianum opus,& magnum, it is every dayes work, and a great work; and you do well so to account of it. For if the law commands you to cover the naked while they are living, how much more ought ye to cover them, when they are dead? If your friend undertake any long journey, you will take the pains to bring him part of his way; how much more ought ye to afford him your company, when he is going in illam aeternam domum, to his long, and everlasting home, whence he shall return no more unto you?  
You will say Cadaueribus nullus sensus; dead bodies haue no sense; What need then is there of such care of committing them to the earth? I reply in St 
Lib 1. de Ciu●tate D●i. cap. 13.  Austins words, Deo placent etiam talia pietatis officia: such offices of piety, humanity, and civility do please God. The bodies of the dead belong to Gods providence. He hath appointed the burial of the dead, to confirm our faith in the Resurrection of the dead.  
Thus far by occasion of the first part of my proposition: which was, All kind of cruelty, committed against a man, highly displeaseth God. You remember the reason of it: the reason is; Because it is against the sixth Commandement. The use of it, was a reproof of such as delight in cruelty, whether against the living, or the dead. Now followeth the other part of my proposition: this:  
That cruelty which violateth, or extinguisheth the rites of consanguinity, and natural affection, specially displeaseth God.  
For God, the God of nature, cannot in any wise like, that natures laws be violated. By natures laws, its enacted, that there should be, that same {αβγδ}, much spoken of in the schools; a peculiar affection of love from the parent to the child, and from the child to the parent; from a brother to a brother, from a kinsman to a kinsman. Now if cruelty shall be exercised from a parent towards his child, or from a child towards his parent, or from a brother towards his brother, or from a kinsman towards his kinsman, that same {αβγδ}, I spoke of, is laid aside; the rites of consanguinity, and natural affection are violated, are extinguished.  
This doctrine may teach us, to carry ourselves peaceably, and lovingly towards our parents, our children, our brethren, our kinsmen, all that are of our blood. There cannot be a greater bond between man and man, as men; then is this bond of blood. I say precisely between man and man, as men, there cannot be a greater bond, then is this bond of blood. For between man and man, as Christians, there is a greater bond; the bond of one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and Father of all, which is above all, and through all, and in you all, as St Paul speaketh, Ephes. 4.5.6.  
The strength of the former bond of blood, sheweth itself in the Patriarch Abraham, when there was a debate between his seruants, and the seruants of Lot. All the tales his men could tell him, could not work in him any dislike of Lot. To end that debate, Abraham goeth to Lot. Abraham, Lots elder, and uncle, his better in every respect, yet he stands not vpon that; he looks not when Lot should come, and stoop to him; but as in yeeres, so in wisdom, in mildness, in humility, in temperance of affections he passeth him. overruled by such sweet virtues, he goes to Lot, tells him of their kindred, and moves him thereby, as by a strong reason, or a mighty bond, that love and peace might remain betwixt them and theirs. His words, are as the words whereof Salomon speaketh, Prou. 25.11. they are like apple of gold with pictures of silver, they are spoken in their place; and are recorded Gen. 13.8. where Abraham thus speaketh unto Lot: Let there bee no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me, neither between thy heard-men and my heard-men; for we be brethren.  
We be brethren:] He might haue said wee bee cosens, or thou art my nephew, my brothers son, but he useth rather apellation of equality, and calls him brother, to manifest his desire of peace and concord.  
You see the strength of the bond of blood, how forcible it is between man and man, as men. I  told you of a stronger bond between man and man, as Christians, and that was the bond of one Lord, one Faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, which is above all, and through all, and in us all.  
So there is a two-fold kindred, or brotherhood. The one, by nature, the other by grace: the one, by generation, the other, by regeneration. In respect of both, we are tied with bonds of love. First, in respect of the former. After Noahs flood, there was a division of countreyes made to the remainder of Adams posterity: some dwelled here, some there; some in one place, some in another, as they best liked; yet one blood remained amongst them, as a knot ever to join them in amity and love, what distance of place soever severed them. Is it not so still, though longer time, and larger increase haue spread it further? Yes( beloved) it is so. And therefore this bond of blood, stock, house, lineage, and kindred in the root, should continue among us, regard one of another, and make us love one another, more then we do.  
But this kindred, by nature and generation, so many degrees removed from the root, our great grand-father Adam, the first of men, little moveth us; wee disdain to take notice of it. Let then the other kindred, that of grace, and regeneration, by its stronger bonds of love, tie& join us together. The just and wise man knoweth( saith 
divin. Jnstit. lib. 5. c. 23.  Lactantius) cuncto● ab eodem Deo,& eadem conditione generatos, jure fraternitatis esse coniunctos, that all who are born of one God, and vpon the same condition, are joined together by the right of brother-hood. To which purpose a great 
Caluin. Comment. in Genes. 13.8.  divine saith; Hac lege adoptati sumus omnes in Dei filios, vt alij aliis mutuo fratres simus, Wee are all adopted or chosen to be the sons of God vpon this condition, that we mutually be brethren, one unto another.  
dearly beloved, sith wee are become the sons of God vpon a condition, let us fulfil the condition; let us bee brethren, one to another. That is, let us not bee cruel, one towards another; let us do no injury, one to another, let us be merciful one to another, let us love one another. Let good Abraham be the pattern of our imitation. If there be any variance, or jarring among us, let us go one to another, and kindly entreat one another; I pray thee, let there bee no variance, no jarring, between me and thee, nor between my men and thy men, for we are brethren.  
But proud and rebellious flesh and blood will not suffer us to become Abrahams; so wise, so meek, such louers of concord and unity. Not suffer us? Then is our condition fearful, and we may well expect, that the God of Abraham at his great day of visitation, shall reject us, and cast us from out his sight into the ever burning lake. There is no entrance into the heavenly Canaan, for the cruel, injurious, malicious and despiteful man.  
Its onely love that opens the gates of heaven; without love whatsoever you do, its no advantage to you. S. Paul tells you, 1 Cor. 13. that though you speak with the tongues of men and Angels, and haue not love, you are but as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal: and though you haue the gift of prophesy, and know all secrets, yea, if you haue all faith, so that ye can remove mountaines, and haue not love, you are nothing: and though you feed the poor with all your goods, and give your bodies to bee burnt, and haue not love, it profiteth you nothing.  
To bee short, alms without love, prophesy without love, knowledge without love, miracles without love, martyrdom without love, prayer without love, and the like very commendable and good works, all are nothing. love is the fire that purifieth, it is the incense that perfumeth, it is the ointment, or box of Spikenard, that sweeteneth, it is the salt, that seasoneth all our good thoughts, words, and deeds. I conclude with S. Iohns words in his 1 Epist. cap. 4. vers. 7. beloved, let us love one another, for love cometh of God, and every one that loveth, is born of God, and knoweth God. For God is love; if therefore wee dwell in love, we dwell in God, and God dwells in vs.  
Now, O lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, take from us all bitterness, and anger, and wrath, and crying, and evil speaking, with all maliciousness. Raise up in us a desire of brotherly love, that wee may every one haue a care to help another, that our love be not feigned, false, hypocritical, wayward, tedious, disdainful, nor hunting after profit; but that it be unfeigned and perfect, even towards our enemies. Grant, good Lord, that thus retaining the study of concord, and loving one another, we may all meet together in the unity of faith, and knowledge of thee, the son of God, till we become perfect in thee, our onely saviour and Redeemer. To thee, O Christ, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, bee ascribed all praise and power, might and majesty, dignity and dominion for evermore. Amen.   

THE III. lecture.  AMOS. 2.2, 3. 
Therefore will I sand a fire vpon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth, and Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.  
And I will cut off the judge out of the midst thereof, and will slay all the Princes thereof with him.  
WE are now to consider the fourth part of this burden of the Moabites; namely, the commination, or denunciation of such punishments, as God would bring vpon the Moabites for their sins. The punishments are described, first generally, and then more specially. The general description is; Therefore will I sand a fire vpon Moab, and it shall devour the palaces of Kerioth.  
In the former chapter wee met with this form of commination 
Verse 4.7.10.12.14.  five times. Wee now find nothing new, but new names, Moab and Kerioth.  
Of Moab you heard somewhat in my last Sermon; that Moab was Lots son, and that from him lineally descended the Moabites, a people inhabiting that part of the East, which is commonly known by the name of Caelesyria, and was in former times the possession of the Amorites. I now add, that from the same Moab, the son of Lot, a city in Arabia, afterward called Areopolis, was name Moab, and thence the whole province, region, country, or kingdom was likewise name Moab. So saith 
De locis.  Eusebius. Moab in this branch of my text, may signify either: either the Metropolis, the chief and mother-city of the kingdom of Moab, or the kingdom itself. S. jerome here understands both.  
The other new name is in the Hebrew, {αβγδ}, in the vulgar Latin, Carioth; in the English-Geneua translation, Kerioth; in Vatablus, Cerijoth; in Tremellius and Iunius, Kerijoth; the Septuagint in their greek translation, take the word for an appellative; they translaate it {αβγδ}, her cities. According to them, these words should thus be red: I will sand a fire vpon Moab, and it shall devour the foundations of her cities. But with S. jerome, and sundry others of the best Expositors, we retain the proper name Kerioth or Carioth.  
Wee red in holy writ of two cities thus name. One was belonging to the Tribe of Iuda, and lay towards the coasts of Edom southward, mentioned josh. 15.25. The other was in the land of Moab; so saith Eusebius in his Hebrew places: Carioth in regione Moabitarum, sicut jeremias scribit; Carioth is in the country of the Moabites, as jeremy writeth. And where doth jeremy writ so? In his fortieth chapter, which is wholly spent in denouncing destruction to the Moabites, vers. 24. it is said, that iudgement is come vpon Kerioth. And verse 41. that Kerioth is taken. The same iudgement is here and there denounced; but here more briefly, there more fully. Here we may observe, 

1. The punisher: the Lord; I will sand.  
2. The punishment: by fire; A fire.  
3. The punished: the Moabites; Moab, and Kerioth.    
The first circumstance concerneth the punisher: the Lord: for thus saith the Lord, I will sand a fire.  
The Doctrine.  

See my Lectures vpon the first of Amos.  It is proper to the Lord to execute vengeance vpon the wicked for their sins.  
This truth hath sundry times been recommended unto you. diverse were the uses of it.  
The first was, to lesson us to look heedefully unto our feet; that wee walk not in the way of sinners, to partake with them in their sins. sins are not tongue-tied; they cry aloud unto the Lord for vengeance.  
The second was, to admonish us, not to intermeddle in the Lords office; Its his office to execute vengeance. Wee therefore may not interpose ourselves.  
The third was, to minister a word of comfort to the godly, against whom the wicked, do behave themselves proudly and despiteously. God in due time, for such their behaviour will render vengeance unto them, and will punish them with everlasting perdition.  
The second circumstance concerneth the punishment, which is by fire: I will sand a fire.  
By fire here wee are to understand, not so much a true and natural fire, as a figurative and metaphoricall fire. The sword, pestilence, and famine, quod libet genus consumptionis, every kind of consumption, quaelibet species exci●ij, every kind of destruction; hail, water, thunder, sickness, or any other of the executioners of Gods wrath, for the sins of men, may bee signified by this word, Fire. Fire in this place is put for the sword, for war, as its plain by the sequel of this text. The Doctrine arising hence is this:  
Th● fire( whether natural or figurative) that is, the fire and all other creatures are at the Lords commandement, to bee employed by him in the punishment of the wicked.  
Of this doctrine heretofore.  
The use of it is, to teach us how to carry ourselves at such times, as God shall visit us with his rod of correction; how to behave ourselves in all our afflictions. Wee are not so much to look to the means, as to the Lord, that worketh by them. If the fire, or water, or any other of Gods creatures, shall at any time rage, and prevail against us, we must know, that God by them worketh hi● holy will vpon vs.  
here wee see; God resolveth to sand a fire vpon Moab, which should devour the palaces of Kerioth: which was the third circumstance.  
Must Moab and Kerioth, two chief cities of the kingdom of Moab, through the fire of Gods wrath be brought to ruin? It yields this doctrine:  
No munition, no fortification, no strength can save that city, which God will haue destroyed.  
One use of this Doctrine is to lesson us; that we put not any confidence in any worldly help; but that so we use all good means of our defence, that still wee rely vpon the Lord, for strength and success thereby.  
A second use is, to put us in mind of the fearful punishments, which God layeth vpon men for sin. He devoureth their cities, throweth down their strong holds, and spares them not.  
A third use is, to stir us up to thankfulness, for that it pleaseth God in mercy to spare, not onely our Cities, and strong holds, but also our country villages and poor cottages.  
It is not to be passed over without observation, that the palaces of Kerioth are here threatened, to be devoured with this fire, sent from the Lord. Were I now to speak before Princes, or great Estates, I could from hence give them an Item, that they set not their hearts overmuch vpon their castles, towers, mansion houses, faire palaces, or other goodly buildings, for as much as, if their sins deserve it, the fire of Gods wrath will devour all those. But my auditory is of another rank. Yet may you take a lesson hence. Must the palaces of Carioth, for the sins of the inhabitants be devoured with fire from the wrath of God? Your lesson is:  
God depriveth us of a great blessing, when he taketh from us our dwelling houses.  
The great commodity or contentment, that cometh to every one of us by our dwelling houses, hath experimentally made good unto us this truth. The uses of it are diuers.  
One is, to teach us to be humble before Almighty God, whensoever it shall please him to take from us our dwelling houses.  
A second is, to admonish us, sith we peaceably enjoy our dwelling houses, that we use them to the furtherance of Gods glory.  
A third is, to stir us up to bless and praise God day by day for the comfortable use we haue of our dwelling houses.  
These things I haue heretofore laboured to lay unto your hearts, occasioned by the like general commination or denunciation of iudgement( five times repeated) in the former chapter, against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, and the Ammonites. Now we are to consider what is more specially prophesied against these Moabites. For the easier explication whereof, I observed two points: 

1. The manner of the punishment.  
2. The extent of it.    
Order requireth that first I speak to the manner of their punishment, expressed in these words: And Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.  
Moab shall die] Moab is here put for the Moabites, the people of Moab, the inhabitants of the kingdom of Moab. Moab shall die] There is a civil death, there is a corporal death, there is a spiritual death, and there is an eternal death. Which of these deaths were the Moabites to die? The letter of my text is for the corporal death. This corporal death is a separation of the soul from the body: it is called corporal, in respect of the spiritual: it is also called a temporary death, in respect of the eternal. This death corporal, or temporary, is twofold; either natural, or accidental; if accidental, it is subdivided into a violent, or a voluntary death: and is common as well to the godly, as to the wicked; inflicted vpon them, by Gods just iudgment for the sin of Adam. This is the wages of sin, and this is the way of all sinful flesh. All must once die.  
We may a long time wrestle with the dangers of this world both by Land and Sea: thousands may fall on our right hand, and ten thousands on our left, while we stand: we may haue so good store of friends, that we may well say with the Shunamite, 2. King. 4.13. I need no speaking for me, either to the King, or to the captain of the host; I dwell among mine own people, where I can command: we may walk in the light of the sun, that is, our prosperity may be waxed so great, that we want nothing: we may haue sails and oars at pleasure, as Antiochus seemed to haue, who thought in his pride to make men sail vpon the dry land, and to walk vpon the Sea: 2. Mac. 5.21. we may think ourselves to be in league with death, and in covenant with the grave, and so promise to ourselves, many a prosperous, and pleasant day, as many as are the sands of the Ocean: yet a time shall come, when all these things shall prove but vanity: and Moab shall die. All must once die.  
A great 
Dr. King B. of London. Lect. 20 vpon jonas, pag. 264.  Prelate of this Land, for this point, hath well fitted this comparison. As one that shooteth at a mark, sometimes is gone, and sometimes is short, sometimes lighteth on the right hand, sometimes on the left, at length hitteth the mark: so Death shoots at Noble men beyond us, at mean men short of us, at our friends on the right hand, at our enemies on the left; at length hitteth ourselves. The longer her hand is in practise, the more certainly she striketh.  
look into the fift of Genesis; there shall you find, that Death was aiming at 
vers. 11.  Enosh 905. yeares, and at last smote him: at 
vers. 14.  Kenan 910. yeares, at 
vers. 5.  Adam 930. yeares, at 
vers. 20.  Iered 962. yeares, at 
vers. 27.  Methushelah 969. yeares, but in the end overthrew them all. Now shee strikes sooner; within the compass of fewer yeares, within 60. yeares, or 70. she seldom stays 80. yeares: And sometimes shee strikes us in our youthful dayes; yea, in the day of our nativity. All must once die.  
Moab shall die] All must once die. Death! It is of all miseries the last, and the most terrible. A holy 
Apud lord. Granatensem Exercit de Orat.& Medit.  Father hath made against it this exclamation. O Death how bitter is the remembance of thee? How quickly and suddenly stealest thou vpon us? How secret are thy paths and ways? How doubtful is thy hour? How universal is thy signiory and deminion? The mighty cannot escape thee; the wise cannot hid themselves from thee; the strong loose their strength before thee; the rich with their money shall not corrupt thee. Thou art the hammer, that always striketh: Thou art the sword, that never blunteth: thou art the snare, wherein all must be taken: thou art the prison, wherein all must lie: thou art the Sea, wherein all must perish: thou art the pain, that all must suffer: thou art the tribute, that all must pay. In a word; thou art such a one, as Almighty God washeth his hands of thee, and cleareth himself in plain words, by the mouth of the Wiseman, saying,( Wisd. 1.13.) that he never made thee. Surely thou hast thine entry into the world by the very envy, and craft of the devill.  
This exclamation against Death is very just in some sense: for Death may be considered in a double respect; one way, as it is in its own nature; another way, as it is changed, and qualified by the death of Christ. Death in its own nature is a punishment of sin, a plague, a curse, or fore-runner of condemnation, the very gates, and suburbs of Hell itself: and in this respect the forecited exclamation hath due place. But on the other side, death being changed, and qualified by Christ his death, it is no more such; it is no more a punishment of sin; it is no more a plague; it is no more a curse. For it is become a blessing; it brings an end to all our miseries; it gives full deliverance to all our miseries; it gives full deliverance from all dangers; it is made unto us a passage, a way, an entrance into everlasting life; it is like a portal, or little gate, by which we pass from out this little prison of our bodies into the kingdom of heaven. The grave mean while is, but a resting chamber, sweetly perfumed by the Death of Christ for our bodies; from whence at the sound of the last trumpet, our bodies shall awake, and rise, and be received into the paradise of heaven, to enjoy the most comfortable presence of Almighty God there.  
If death now changed and qualified by Christ his death, be a blessing: if it be but a passage from this wretched life to that happiest estate in heaven, why should death be feared?  
This is a Case of Conscience, and may be resolved. There are two sorts of men in the world: the one of them, who live in their sins, and die without repentance: the other of them, who with unfeigned repentance and faith in Christ, do leave this world. The first haue great reason to fear Death: Death being unto them the very gate, and introduction into the Hell of the damned: of whom we may well say, as Christ said of Iudas, Math. 26.24. {αβγδ}, it had been good for them, had they never been born. The second haue no reason to fear Death; Death being unto them, as the gate of heaven. To such, Optimum est nasci, its best that they are born; and the next best for them is, maturè mori, to die in a good hour. Their birth is to them a preparation to eternal happiness, whereof their Death gives them full possession.  
The consideration whereof made King Salomon the wisest of Kings, or men, [ praferre diem mortis, diei ortûs;] it made him prefer the day of death, before the day of birth; his words are Eccles. 7.3. Better is the day of death, then the day that one is born. Hence is it, that most righteous job, chap. 17.14. calls Corruption his father; for as children haue fathers for their comfort, so had job death, and rottenness: Corruption itself, as a father, made job fit for his grave and death; which of him was more wished then life: as Origen, and Olympiodor haue well observed. And hence it is that blessed Paul, living in this world, and using it, as if he used it not,( for he had his conversation in heaven, and had a true, and lively taste of the joys of the world to come) desired to be dissolved, and to be with Christ: and this( he was well assured) was best of all for him, Phil. 1.23.  
Thus far( beloved) haue I led you by occasion of these words, Moab shall die: vpon which I grounded this general doctrine.  
All must once die.  
In the illustration whereof, I signified that of evils, death was the most terrible. To arm your Christian souls against the terror or fear of death, I  told you, that death is to be considered in a double respect; either as it is in its own nature, or as it is changed,& qualified by the death of Christ: in the first respect, it is very fearful to the natural man: in the latter, it is very welcome to the resolved Christian. I further added, that there are two sorts of men obnoxious unto death: the one sort do live in sin, and die without repentance: the other with unfeigned repentance, and true faith in Christ do leave this world; to the first sort death is very terrible: to the latter it is a very welcome guest. Now proceed we to examine the manner of Moabs death.  
Moab shall die with tumult, with shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet.] In tumultu, with a tumult, so some do read, Vatablus, Caluin, Mercer, gualther; in strepitu, with a noise, so Iunius, and Drusius; in sonitu, with a sound, so Brentius, and the author of the vulgar latin. The 70. haue {αβγδ}, Moab shall die through imbecility, or weakness. The word in the original is {αβγδ},& it signifieth a sound, a tumult, an inundation, or multitude of waters, which overrun their banks with violence and roaring. The meaning of the world is, that Moab should die a death strange and extraordinary: which is more specified in the next word.  
{αβγδ} With shouting.] This very word we met with with in the 14. verse of the first Chapter, where it is brought to set forth the terror of that iudgement, which God would bring vpon the Ammonites. The word I expounded in my 20. Sermon on the first Chapter, and shewed out of diuers Authorss that it signifieth a sound, a cry, a great cry, a vociferation, a shoute, such as Souldiers do make, when on a sudden they surprise a City. To make good this exposition it is added.  
With the sound of a trumpet.] The use of trumpets in war hath been very ancient. The use of them is commanded to the children of Israel, Num. 10.9. When ye go to war against the enemy, ye shall blow a larme with the trumpets. After, they were used in the battle against jericho, josh. 6.5. Ioshua saith to the people: When ye hear the sound of the trumpet, ye shall all shout with a great shout, and the wall of jericho shall fall down flat. To this use Ezechiel alludeth Chap. 7.14. They haue blown the trumpet, and prepared all, but none goeth to the battle. And S. Paul speaks of it, 1. Corinth. 14.8. If the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle? The Prophet Zephanie also hath respect unto it, Chap. 2.16. where he calls the great day of the Lord, a day of the trumpet, and a larme against the strong Cities, and against the high towers.  
From this ancient use of trumpets, we may gather the meaning of our Prophet in this place. Moab shall die, with a tumult, with a shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet] Moab] that is, the Moabites, the people of Moab, shall die] shall depart this life, and leave this world, not quietly, and peaceably, in their beds, but with a tumult, with a shouting, and with the sound of a trumpet] even in war, or as the phrase is in the 14. verse of the 1. chapter, in the day of battle. The doctrine arising hence is this:  
war, one of the executioners of Gods vengeance, is evermore sent vpon a Land, for the sins of the people.  
That war is one of the executioners of Gods vengeance, its plain in Ezech. 14.21. There God himself makes it one of his four sore judgements. The four are; the sword, famine, the noisome beast, and the pestilence; the first is the sword, an instrument for war, for war itself. These four are likewise couched together in Ezech. 5.17. where thus saith the Lord against jerusalem: I will sand vpon you famine, and evil beasts, and they shall spoil thee, and pestilence and blood shall through thee, and I will bring thee sword vpon thee; I the Lord haue spoken it. I will bring the sword vpon thee: the sword, that is, war; an instrument of war, for war itself: as in the former place.  
These two places of Ezechiel,( to omit many other, as pregnant, here and there dispersed throughout the sacred Volumes of Gods eternal word) these two do speak plainly, that war is one of the executioners of Gods vengeance. That it is sent vpon a Land for the sins of the people, I made it plain unto you by like evidence of holy Writ in my 20. Sermon vpon the former chapter. My proofs were taken from Levit. 26.25. Deut. 28.49. Ierem. 5.15. Whence I inferred, that war, and all the evils of war are from the Lord; that war is one of the accomplishments of Gods judgements; that war is sent by God vpon a Land for the sins of a people. So goeth my doctrine.  
war, one of the executioners of Gods vengeance, is evermore sent vpon a Land for the sins of the people.  
The use of this Doctrine is, to raise us up to the admiration of the wonderful patience of Almighty God. We grieve the Holy Spirit of that sacred majesty with our manifold and daily sins: our sins of omission, our sins of infirmity, and our sins of presumption; our sins of ignorance, and our sins of wilfulness; our strife, variance, and debate; our usury, oppression, and cruelty; our uncleanness, wantonness, and drunkenness; our sins multiply as the sands of the Sea, they haue pressed into Gods presence to fetch down his vengeance vpon vs. Behold, look about you, and admire his exceeding great patience. The loud crying of our sins hath not yet urged the Lord so far, as to make him come against us with his sorest iudgement of war.  
He hath out of his fatherly love over us mildly chastised vs. Not long since he broke the staff of our bread, and sent among us a dearth and scarcity; yet haue wee not returned unto him. Not long since he commanded his armies of waters to issue from out their channel, and to over run man and beast for many miles within this land; yet haue we not returned unto him. Not long since he let fly his arrows of pestilence, and yet they fly abroad to the killing of many round about us; yet haue wee not returned unto him.  
Not returned unto him? What? Can no medicine, that God applieth, mollify our hard hearts? Can none of his corrections amend us? Will we needs try whether he will sand a sword vpon us? He shaked his sword over us,( many of us may well remember it) when the great Spanish Armada floated on our Seas: but then as S. james speaketh, chap. 2.13. supper exaltauit misericordia judicio, mercy exalted itself above iudgement, and we were spared.  
Were we spared? What shall we render to the Lord for so great mercy? We will with david, Ps. 116.13. We will take the cup of salvation, we will call vpon the name of the Lord, and will offer unto him the sacrifice of praise. Which sacrifice of ours, that it may be acceptable to the Lord, let us cast away from us all our transgressions, whereby we haue transgressed; and with a new heart, and a new spirit, return we to the Lord our God. But if we will persist with delight, and go on in our old ways; our crooked, perverse, and froward ways; our ways of wickedness; and will not bee turned out of them by any of God his milder chastisements and corrections, what can we expect, but the portion of these Moabites, even fire& a sword from the Lord, and with them to die with a tumult, with a shouting, and with the sound of a Trumpet?  
Thus far de modo poenae, of the manner of this punishment to be inflicted vpon the Moabites. The extent followeth.  
I will cut the judge out of the midst thereof, and will slay all the Princes thereof. with him.]  
I] the Lord, the Lord jehovah, yesterday, and to day, and the same for ever; I am not changed; all my words, yea, all the titles of all my words are Yea, and Amen; Exscindam] I will cut off, I will root out, and destroy, judicem] the judge, the chiefest governor and ruler in Moab, the King. Nam Reges quoque populum indicabant, For Kings also did judge the people, and it is evident by sundry places of holy Scripture, that the state of the Moabites was swayed by Kings. I will cut off, root out, and utterly destroy, the judge, the King, out of the midst thereof] Out of the midst of what? Of Moab? of Kerioth? Both are mentioned vers. 2. david, Camius, and some other, say of Kerioth, which was seeds Regum, the city of the Kings habitation. The meaning is: there was no city in the kingdom of Moab so strong, but that from out the midst of it, God would fetch the King, and cut him off.  
I will cut off, roote out, or destroy, the judge, the King, out of the midst of the strongest city of the kingdom of Moab, be it Moab, Kerioth, or any other; I will slay all the Princes thereof with him; together with the King I will root out all the Princes of the land. None shall escape my judgements, neither Prince, nor King. You see the extent of this iudgement here denounced against Moab. Not onely the meaner sort of people, but the Princes also; yea and King himself, were to haue their portion in it: and that as certainly, as if they had already had it. For jehovah, the Lord hath spoken it. For its added for a conclusion to this prophecy, {αβγδ} saith the Lord. The Lord hath said it, that neither Prince nor King shall be extempt from his judgements; but shall as well as the lowest of the people be cut off, and come to nought.  
The doctrine to be observed from hence is this:  
God exerciseth his judgements, not onely vpon men of low and base estate, but also vpon the great ones of this world; vpon princes and Kings.  
This truth I haue heretofore confirmed unto you, in my 21. Lecture, on the former Chapter, handling those words Chap. 1. vers. 15. Their King shall go into captivity he, and his Princes together, I proved unto you this doctrine, When God punisheth a nation with captivity for their sins, he spareth neither Priest, nor Prince, nor King. My now-doctrine for substance is the same, but more general; God exerciseth his judgements not onely vpon men of low& base estate, but also vpon the great ones of this world; vpon Princes& Kings. The uses.  
One is to admonish the great and mighty ones of this world, that they presume not to sin against the Lord, as if they were privileged by their greatness, and might. There is no such privilege. He that is Lord over all, will spare no person. Princes, and Kings must feel the smart of his judgements.  
A second use is, to minister comfort to such as are of low and base estate. If the mighty by violence, and oppression grinned your faces, and compass you about, yet be not ye discouraged; God the judge of all accepteth no persons. He in his good time will avenge your causes, be your oppressors never so mighty. For Princes and Kings must feel the smart of his judgements.  
A third use is, a warning for ourselves; that we set not our hearts vpon the outward things of this world, for as much as God, the Creator of all, will not respect us for them. Dost thou glory in this that thou art a mighty man, or a rich man? For both, might and riches, Princes, and Kings are far beyond thee: yet must Princes and Kings feel the smart of Gods judgements.  
Let us make a fourth use of this doctrine, even to poure out our souls in thankfulness before almighty God, for his wonderful patience towards vs. Our sins are as impudent, as ever were the sins of the Moabites, Our three and four transgressions, our many sins do cry aloud to heaven against us, as the sins of the Moabites cried against them. For their sins God sent a sword vpon them, and did cut them off from being a nation; Gods wrath against our sins, hath not yet proceeded so far. We yet enjoy our happy peace. every man dwells under his own vine, and under his own figtree; and lives in the habitations of his forefathers in peace, free from all fear of the enemies sword. Such is our condition, through the neuer-too-much admired patience of almighty God. O let us not despise the riches of the bountifulness, patience, and long sufferance of our God. St Paul tells vs. Rom. 2.4. That these do led us to Repentance.  
These do led us; shall we not follow? beloved, while we haue time, let us betake ourselves to Repentance. It was good counsel which judith gave to Ozias, Chabris, and Charmis the ancients of the city Bethulia.( judith 8.12.) Quia patience Dominus est, in hoc ipso paniteamus,& indulgentiam eius fusis lachrymis postulemus. The counsel is as good for vs. beloved, because the Lord is patient, therefore let us repent, and with shedding of tears beg of him indulgence, and pardon for our sins past. Its no wisdom for us, any longer to presume vpon his patience. It is true Dominus patience, the Lord is slow to anger; but the Prophet Nahum. Chap. 1.3. addeth also, that he is great in power, and surely will not clear the wicked.  
This long forbearance of God towards us, patientia est, non negligentia: you must call it patience, it is not negligence. Non ille potentiam perdidit, said nos ad poenitentiam reseruauit, saith St Austine serm. 102. de Tempore: God hath not lost his power, but hath reserved us for repentance: and quanto diu●ius Deus expectat, tanto gravius vindicat: How much the longer God expects and waits for our conversion, so much the more grievously will he be avenged vpon us if we repent not. I shut up all with that exhortation of Ecclesiasticus. chap. 5.7. Make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord, and put not off from day to day. To move us to this speedy couersion, he adds this reason: for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord break forth, and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed, and thou shalt perish in time of vengeance. What remaineth but that we pray with ieremy? Chap. 31.18. convert thou us O Lord, and we shall be converted; for, thou art the Lord our God.   

THE IIII. lecture.  AMOS 2.4, 5. 
Thus saith the Lord; For three transgressions of judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they haue despised the Law of the Lord, and haue not kept his commandments, and their lies caused them to err, after the which their Fathers haue walked.  
But I will sand a fire vpon judah, and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem.  
our Prophet Amos hath hitherto dealt with foreign Nations, with the Syrians, with the Philistines, with the Tyrians, with the Edomites, with the Ammonites, and with the Moabites. Six in number. All borderers vpon, and professed enemies unto the people of the Lord, the type of the Church. To each of these you haue heard the judgements of God menaced, his punishments threatened: all which are accordingly fallen out.  
Was not Amos his message from the Lord to the Israelites? Why then doth he first foretell foreign nations their judgements? The reasons are three;  
First, that he might be the more patiently heard of his Countrymen, friend, and allies, the Israelites. The Israelites seeing their Prophet Amos so sharp against the Syrians, and other their enemies, could not but the more quietly hear him, when he should prophecy against them also Consolatio quaedam est, afflictio inimici, It is some comfort to a natural distressed man to see his enemy in distress also.  
Secondly, that they might haue no cause to wonder, if God should at any time come against them in vengeance, sith he would not spare the Syrians, and other Nations, though destitute of the light of Gods word, and ignorant of his will.  
Thirdly, that they might the more stand in awe at the words of this prophecy, when they should behold the Syrians, and other their neighbours, afflicted and tormented, according to the heinousness of their iniquities.  
Scitum est, ex aliis periculum facere, tibi quod ex vsu fiet. It is a principle in Natures school, that we take example from other mens harms, how to order our ways. From this natures principle, the people of Israell might thus haue argued. Will not the Lord spare the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, the Moabites? How then can we presume that he will spare us? They silly people never knew the holy will of God; yet shall they drink of the cup of Gods wrath? How then shal we escape, who knowing Gods holy will, haue contemned it?  
You see now, good reason our Prophet had,( though sent with a message to the ten tribes of Israel) first to let foreign Nations understand Gods pleasure towards them in respect of their sins. From them he cometh to Gods own peculiar people; divided after the death of King Salomon, into two families, or kingdoms; judah, and Israel. First, he prophesieth against judah, in the 4. and 5. verses. Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of judah, and for four, &c.  
Wherein I observe two parts.  

1. A Preface, Thus saith the Lord.  
2. A prophecy, For three transgressions of judah, &c.   
In the prophecy, we may observe four parts.  

1. A general accusation of judah; For three transgressions of judah, and for four.  
2. The Lords protestation against them: I will not turn away the punishment thereof.  
3. An enumeration of some particular sins by which the Iewes provoked God unto displeasure: Because they haue despised the Law of the Lord, &c.  
4. A commination or denunciation of iudgement against them, vers. the 5. But I will sand a fire vpon judah, and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem.   
First of the Preface: Thus saith the Lord] It is like that gate of the Temple in 
Act. 3. ●1. And 5.12.  Salomons poarch, which for the goodly structure thereof, was called beautiful, Act. 3.2. So is this entrance to my text very beautiful. We haue already beholded it six several times: five times as wee passed through the former Chapter, and once, at our first footing in this. There is engraven in it, that same Tetragrammaton, that great and ineffable name of God; jehovah.  
Iohovah] Curious haue the 
See Lect. 1.  Cabalists and rabbis been, in their inventions about this name. They will not haue it to be pronounced, nor taken within polluted lips. They note, that it is nomen tetragrammaton, a name of four letters; of four letters {αβγδ}, because the name of God in all tongues, and languages, for the most part, consisteth of four letters: and they add that these four letters in the Hebrew tongue are literae quiescentes, letters of rest: whence they pick this mystery; that the rest, repose, and tranquillitie of all the creatures in the world is in God alone. They further say, that this name is powerful for the working of miracles, and that by it Moses, and Christ haue done great wonders. These their inventions are partly superstitious, partly blasphemus; but all brain sick, and idle. Yet must we needs aclowledge some secret in this name. We are driven to it by Exod. 6.3. There the Lord thus speaketh unto Moses: I appeared unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to jacob, by the name of a strong, omnipotent, and all-sufficient God, but by my name jehovah, was I not known unto them. The secret is thus unfolded.  
jehovah, this great name jehovah, importeth, the eternity of Gods essence in himself, that he is 
Heb. 13.8.  yesterday, and to day, and the same for ever, 
A●o●. 1.8.  which was, which is, and which is to come. again, it noteth the existence and perfection of all things in God, as from whom all creatures in the world haue their 
Act. 17.28.  life, their motion, and their being. God is the being of all his creatures, not that they are the same that he is, but because 
Rom. 11.36.  of him, and in him, and by him are all things. Thirdly, it is the memorial of God unto all ages: so God himself calls it. Exod. 3.15. the memorial of his faithfulness, his truth, and his constancy in the performance of his promises. And therefore whensoever in any of the Prophets, God promiseth, or threateneth any great matter, to assure us of the most certain event thereof, he adds unto it his name jehovah. So here in my text: Thus saith jehovah.  
Thus saith the Lord] not, Thus saith Amos: but Thus saith the Lord. The Lord then is the author of this Scripture; and not of this onely, but also of the whole body of Scripture. The doctrine,  
The author of holy Scripture is neither man, nor angel, nor any other creature, how eminent, or excellent soever, but onely the living, and immortal God.  
This doctrine I haue heretofore commended unto you in my first lecture vpon this Chapter. The uses of it were three.  
The first concerned us, whom God hath set apart to be the Preachers, and expounders of the Scriptures. We must handle them as the holy word of God. As my Prophet here comes to judah, so must we to you, with, thus saith the Lord, we may not speak, either the imagination of our own brains, or the vain persuasions of our own hearts; we must sincerely preach unto you Gods gracious word, without corrupting, or depraving it.  
A second use concerneth you, who are auditors, and hearers of the word preached. It is your parts to give ear unto it with attention and reverence; and like the Thessalonians] commended by St Paul. 1. Thess. 2.13.] to receive it, not as the word of us men: but, as it is indeed, the word of God.  
A third use concerned the aduersaries of the truth; the Papists who do vilify, and debase the sacred Scriptures, and esteem not of them, as of the word of God. How shamefully they haue loaded this holy word of God with disgraceful terms, calling it, a doubtful uncertain, and a leaden rule, a poor kind of element, a book of discord, a matter of debate, dead ink, inken divinity, a dumb judge, a nose of wax, Aesops fables, I haue 
Lect. 2. in Amos 1. pag. 18. &c.  heretofore delivered unto you.  
But who are they, out of whose mouths, and pens, such bitterness against Gods holy word hath been vented? Are they our Countrymen? Are they not rather strangers to us, Papists of other Nations? Pighius, Hosius, Gretser, Canon Lewis of Lateran, the collocutors at worms, and Ratisbon? What are these to us? It may be our English Papists do esteem of the Scriptures more reverently. More reverently! Let one speak for all. Dr. 
Fox Martyrel. vol. 2. l. 7. An. 1513. pag. 735.  Bennet, a Lawyer, chancellor, and Vicar general to Richard Fitz-Iames, Bishop of London, called before him one Richard Butler, for being of that Religion, which we this day, through Gods goodness do maintain, and profess. This Butler used much to red the Bible; for which an article was thus framed against him: We object to you, that diverse times, and especially vpon a certain night you erroneously and damnably red in a great book of heresy, certain Chapters of the evangelists in English, containing in them diverse erroneous, and damnable opinions, and conclusions of heresy. What Christian ear can endure such blasphemy? that the book of God should be called, a great book of heresy; that some Chapters of the evangelists should be said to contain in them diuers erroneous and damnable opinions, and conclusions of heresy. What Christian care can endure this?  
Must that book, to which we are so often sent, by 
Deut. 17.11.  Moses, by the 
Esa. 8: 20. M●lac. 2.7. Psal. 1.1. and 119.2.  Prophets, by 
Joh. 5.39.  Christ himself by his holy 
Luk. 16.29.  evangelists, and 
Act 17.11. 2. Tim. 5.15.  Apostles, must that book be noted for erroneous, and damnable opinions, and conclusions of heresies?  
St Paul thought much otherwise. He in the 2. Tim. 3.15. speaking of the holy Scriptures, saith; that they are able to make men wise unto salvation. he addeth further, ver. 16. that the whole Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable to teach, to improve, to correct, and to instruct in righteousness, that the man of God may be absolute, being made perfect unto all good works.  
Magnificum testimonium: A most sufficient testimony, for the authority, dignity, and worth of holy Scripture. First, it is {αβγδ}, divinely inspired of God; given immediately from God to men. Secondly, it is {αβγδ} profitable. Profitable many ways; for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction. Doctrine is of things to be believed; reproof of things to be refuted; Correction concerneth vices; Instruction virtues. every way the whole Scripture is profitable, and is able to make men wise unto salvation. And yet must this holy Scripture, be noted for a great book of heresy: for containing erroneous and damnable opinions, and conclusions of heresy?  

2. Pet. 1.19.  S Peter thought much otherwise. He in his 2. Epist. and 1. Chapter, having proved the certainty of evangelical doctrine, by two arguments, one drawn from his own experience, the other from the testimony of almighty God in a voice from heaven, vers. 16, 17, 18. addeth vers. 19. a third argument, drawn from the consent of the Prophets: We haue also a most sure word of the Prophets, to the which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. So that ye first know this, that no prophecy in the Scripture is of any private motion. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy-Ghost.  
Where first, the blessed Apostle calls the writings of the Prophets {αβγδ}, a most sure word. Secondly, he adviseth us to be diligently conversant in those writings: ye shall do well to take heed unto them. Thirdly, he shows the necessity, and use of them, by a comparison: they are as a light, that shineth in a dark place. Fourthly, he prescribeth the time of our diligence: we must take heed unto them, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in our hearts. Fiftly, he noteth their difficulty. Difficultas stimulus debet esse diligentiae; the more hard they are to be understood, the greater must our diligence be: No prophecy in the Scripture is of any private motion. It is not in mans power rightly to understand the Prophets. The Treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia confesseth as much. Act. 8.31. sixthly, he pointeth at the author of Holy Scripture, not mans will, but the Holy-Ghost; For, the prophecy in old time came not by the will of man, but holy men of God spake, as they were moved by the Holy-Ghost.  
What St Peter in this place affirmeth of the prophetical books, is true also of the evangelical, and apostolical; what he affirmeth of the old testament, is true also of the new. The new and the old differ not in substance. In veteri Testamento est occultatio novi,& in novo Testamento est manifestatio veteris. So saith St Austin lib. de Catechizandis rudibus. cap. 4. In the old Testament the new is tried, and in the new the old is manifested. The like the same good Father hath. Qu. 37. supper Exodum: In vetere novum latet,& in novo vetus patet: in the old the new is covered, and in the new the old is opened. Old and new, both do agree in substance. Now make we our collection.  
The whole Scripture containing both Testaments, old and new, is {αβγδ} a most sure word: to it we must take heed, as to a light that shineth in a dark place, till the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: and this we must know, that no Scripture in either of the Testaments, old or new, is of any private motion: and that neither old nor new Testament came to us, by the will of man, but that holy men of God, haue conveyed them unto us, as they were moved by the holy Ghost. And yet must this holy Scripture, be noted for a great book of heresy? for containing erroneous, and damnable opinions, and conclusions of heresy?  
The first pillars of the primitive Church, the ancient Fathers thought much otherwise. Because I cannot stand long vpon this point, one shall serve for all. sweet Saint Chrysostome in his ninth Sermon vpon the Epistle to the Colossians, thus speaketh to his hearers: {αβγδ}; ye, my secular and lay auditors, hear me, I beseech you: Get you Bibles, your souls physic: if you be unwilling, to be at charge for the whole, yet at least buy the new Testament: the evangelists, and Apostles will be your daily and diligent teachers. If any grief befall you, make your repair hither, as to an Apothecaries shop, here shall you haue variety of medicines, fit to cure you. If any damage, if loss of friends, if death come, here may you find comfort. In a word, the cause of all evil is, not to know the Scripture.  
You see how far this good Father is, from calling the Bible, a book of heresies, as some late Papists haue done: He holds it to be the greatest treasure this world hath, and thinks it for you very expedient, to haue one of them in your houses, that at every opportunity, you may be reading in it.  
If any shall here object, I am towards the Law, I am employed about public affairs, I am a tradesman, I am a married man, I haue children to maintain, I haue a family to care for, I haue worldly businesses to look unto, it is not my part to red the Scriptures; this office belongs to them rather, who haue bidden the world farewell: to such St Chrysostome shall answer Homil. 3. de Lazaro. Quid ait homo? What sayest thou man? Is it not a part of thy business to turn over the Scriptures, because thou art distracted with many cares? Immo, tuum est magis, quam illorum. Yea the reading of the Scripture belongeth to thee, rather then to them, who haue bidden the world farewell, because they need not so much the help of Scripture, as you do, who are as it were tossed in the waves of troubles.  
To conclude this point. Let Papists set light by the Sacred Scriptures; let them debase, vilify, and disgrace them to their own utter confusion and perdition: wee, through Gods goodness, haue learned a better lesson: that the word of God, which we call Scripture, is 
Chrysos●. hom. 7. de poenitentia.  a haven free from raging surges, a well fortified bulwark, a tower not staggering; an aduancement not to bee taken from us by violence, no not any way to bee diminished; a stable blissefulnesse at no time languishing; a neuer-failing pleasure: whatsoever good a man can speak of, Sacrâ comperiet in Scripturâ, he shall find it in the Holy Scripture. So saith sweet Chrysostome, Homil. 7. De poenitentia. In my first Sermon before you vpon this chapter, I delivered unto you the same in effect, thus.  
The word of God( which we call Scripture) it is his most royal and celestial Testament, it is the Oracle of his heavenly Sanctuary, it is the onely Key, unto us, of his revealed counsels, it is milk from his sacred breasts, the Earnest and Pledge of his favour to the Church, the Light of our feet, the Ioy of our hearts, the Breath of our nostrils, the Pillar of our faith, the Anchor of our hope, the ground of our love, the evidence of our future blessedness.  
Now therefore, as the Elect of God, holy and beloved, let this word of God dwell plenteously in you, in all wisdom: frequent this place to hear it red and expounded unto you: and at home teach and admonish your own selves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. My exhortation is the same, that S. Paul made unto the Colossians, Chap. 3.16. Thus much of the preface. The prophesy followeth.  
The first part thereof is a general accusation of judah: For three transgressions of judah, and for four. Wherein we are first to consider who are the accused, in the name, judah. Secondly, whereof they are accused; For three transgressions, and for four. First of the accused.  
The accused are the inhabitants of the kingdom of judah. The kingdom of judah is taken sometimes latè, sometimes strictè: sometimes in a large, sometimes in a strict sense. In the large, it betokeneth all the twelve tribes of Israel: in the strict sense, it betokeneth onely two tribes; judah and benjamin.  
judah, and Israel at first were but one kingdom, which afteward was divided into two; the kingdom of judah, and the kingdom of Israel. When, and how this was done, it is expressly delivered in 1 Kings 12.& in 2 Chro. 10. It was after the death of King Salomon, and thus.  
Rehoboam, King Salomons son, censured by Ecclesiasticus, chap. 47, 23. to be {αβγδ}, the foolishness of the people, and one that had no understanding, succeeding in his fathers throne, did, vpon aduise given him by his young counsellors, promise sharp usage and hard measure unto his people: My least part, my little finger shall be bigger then my fathers loins: whereas my father did burden you with a grievous yoke, I will make it heavier: my father hath chastised you with rods, but I will correct you with scourges.  
This his unkind and evil entreating of a people, which of late, in King Salomons time, saw good and peaceable daies, did cause a rebellion and revolt. Ten of the twelve tribes much discontented, broke forth into speeches of impatiency. What portion haue we in david? We haue no inheritance in the son of Ischai: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, david. So they forsook Rehoboam their rightful Lord, and set up unto themselves a wow King, jeroboam son of Nebat: yet were these children of Israel, who dwelled in the cities of judah, subject to Rehoboam still.  
Thus you see, Israel divided from Israel: ten tribes from the other two. Two tribes; the tribes of judah and benjamin continued in their obedience to the house of david: the other ten tribes forsook it, and fell away.  
The ten revolted tribes haue diverse appellations in the sanctified writings of the holy Prophets: Bethel, bethaven, Samaria, jezreel, joseph, Ephraim, jacob, Israel: these names are appropriate, to signify the kingdom of Israel.  
The other two tribes, judah, and benjamin, called but one tribe in the 1 King. 11.13. because of the mixture of their possessions, these two tribes settled in their faithfulness and obedience to the seed of david, haue likewise in the sacred Scriptures their diuers appellations. Sometimes judah, sometimes benjamin, sometimes jerusalem, sometimes Sion, sometimes the house of david, are peculiarly designed to signify the kingdom of judah.  
judah is one of these appellations, and that is the judah in my text, properly, vers. 5. I will sand a fire vpon judah, that is, vpon the kingdom of judah. And by a figure, in this first branch of this prophesy, where judah is put for the inhabitants of the kingdom of judah. Thus haue you the parties accused, the inhabitants of the kingdom of judah. But whereof are they accused? Of sinning against the Lord. So goeth the letter of my text; For three transgressions of judah,& for four.  
What are these three and four transgressions? Arias Montanus makes three of them to bee, man-slaughter, incest, and idolatry: The first is man-slaughter. Esay points at it, chap. 1.15. Your hands are full of blood. The second is incest. ieremy points at it, chap. 23.10. the land is full of adulterers. The third is idolatry. Hoseah points at it, chap. 1.2. The land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord. The fourth, which of all, is the most flagitious and heinous, is expressed in this text; and it is their rejecting, abolishing, or disannulling of Gods laws and commandements.  
For three transgressions of judah, and for four.] Albertus the Great, B. of Ratisbon, will haue three of these transgressions to be expressed in this text. The first of them is, Legis abiectio, the abjection, or contempt of Gods Law: They haue desp●sed the law of the Lord. The second is, praeceptorum non obseruatio, the not observing of Gods commandements: They haue not kept his commandements. The third is, ad Idola conuersio: their conversion to Idols: Their lies caused them to err, after which their fathers haue walked. These three you see expressed in the text. But what is the fourth? It is Sacrati loci prophanatio, the profanation of the hallowed place.  
For three transgressions of judah, and for four] Paulus de Palatio doth otherwise descant vpon these three and four transgressions. The first he will haue to be committed by jehoram, son of jehosaphat, King of judah, who to make himself strong in his kingdom, slue with the sword six of his brethren, and some of the Princes of Israel, 2 Chro. 21.4. The second by joash, son of Ahaziah, who alured by the flattery of some of his Princes, slay Zacharias, the son of jehoiada: or Barachias, between the temple and the altar, 2 Chron. 24.21. Matth. 23.35. The third, by King Amaziah, who, lifted up with pride for his victory obtained against the Edomites, did provoke the King of Israel to fight, 2 Chron. 25.17. Thus haue you three of these transgressions. The fourth, saith this Paulus de Palatio, needs no enquiry. And why so? Amos in this text declares it. The kingdom of judah from Rehoboams time was most propense unto idolatry: from that time, they cast away the law of the Lord, they kept not his commandements, they served Idols, after which their fathers walked.  
For three transgressions of judah, and for four] This phrase we met with five times in the former chapter, and once in this. The most natural, proper, and significant exposition, heretofore commended unto you, is this: to understand by three and four, many. A number finite and certain, is put for a number infinite and uncertain. For three transgressions of judah, and for four; that is, for many transgressions. As oft, as he will, God forgiveth, though wee sin many a time. It is but the custom of the Scripture thus to speak: God waiteth for us twice and thrice, that is, a good while, to haue us return from our evil ways unto repentance: but the fourth time, that is, at length, when he seeth us persist in our impenitency, he protesteth against us, as here against judah, I will not turn to you, I will not turn away your punishment.  
I will not turn away the punishment thereof] These words are diversly rendered: by gualther, non conuertam eum, I will not turn judah, I will not recall him into the right way; he shall run to his own perdition. By Mercer: non parcam ei, I will not spare judah: according as his desert shall be, so shall he haue. In our English-Geneua translation, I will not turn to it. In our late Church-Bible, I will not spare him. In our newest translation, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. So red Iunius and Tremellius, according to the Hebrew, Non auertam istud, I will not turn away this punishment, which I haue resolved to lay vpon judah. The sum of both accusation and protestation is this. If judah had sinned but once, or a second time, I would haue been favourable to them, and would haue recalled him into the right way, that so they might haue been converted, and might haue escaped my punishments, but now whereas they do daily heap transgression vpon transgression, and make no end of sinning, I haue hardened my face against them, I will not turn them unto me, I will not turn to them, I will not spare them, I will not turn away the punishment, which I haue resolved to bring vpon them; but indurate and obstinate, as they are, I will utterly destroy them. For three transgressions of judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.  
Thus haue you the exposition of the two first parts of this prophecy; of the accusation of judah, and the Lords protestation against them. Now let us see what doctrine may bee taken hence for our further instruction, and the reformation of our lives. Doth God resolve to punish judah, for three& four transgressions? The doctrine arising hence is this.  
Three transgressions, and four, that is, many sins, do provoke Almighty God to lay his punishments vpon vs.  
God is of pure eyes, and beholdeth no iniquity. he hath laid righteousness to the rule, and weighed his iustice in a balance. His sentence is passed forth, and stands, like the law of the Medes and Persians, irrevocable: Tribulation and anguish, vpon every soul that doth evil. The soul that sinneth, itself must bear the punishment. God makes it good with an oath, Deut. 32.41. that he will whet his glittering sword, and his hand shall take hold on iudgement, to execute vengeance for sin. His soul hateth, and abhorreth sin; his law nurseth and condemneth sin; his hand smiteth and scourgeth sin. sin was his motive to cast Angels out of heaven, to thrust Adam out of Paradise, to turn Cities into ashes, to ruinated Nations, to torment his own bowels in the similitude of sinful flesh. sin made him heretofore to drown the old world; and sin will make him hereafter to burn this. So true is my doctrine.  
Many sins do provoke Almighty God to lay his punishments vpon vs.  
Let us now make some use of this doctrine.  
do many sins cause Almighty God to punish us? First, we are hence taught, at what time soever God shall lay his rod vpon us, to seek the true cause thereof in ourselves. Malorum omnium nostrorum causa, peccatum est, saith S. Austin, Serm. 139. de Tempore. The cause of all evil is within us: it is sin within vs. It is impiety to imagine, that God will punish us without a cause. Non pateremur, nisi mereremur, saith that good Father; We should not undergo any cross or disturbance, unless wee deserved it. Wherefore let us, every one of us in particular, when God cometh near to us in iudgement, to touch, either our estates with want, or our callings with disgrace, or our bodies with sickness, or our souls with heaviness; let us haue recourse to the sins within us, which haue deserved this, and turn we to the Lord our God. Water, tears, sorrow, repentance, will better satisfy him, pacify him, move him, alter him, then whatsoever vengeance, or plagues, or blood, or death.  
Let us enter into a due consideration of our corruptions, our transgressions, our sins, wherewith, as with a heavy burden, wee are laden: and return wee to the Lord our God: adulterers, murtherers, idolaters, the sacrilegious, the ambitious, the covetous, drunkards, railers, liars, the blasphemous, swearers, forswearers, all, who by any their evil ways provoke God to the execution of his iustice, must take part in this conversion. Let no man draw back; let not the heinousness of our fore-passed sins deter us or keep us, from so holy a course. I dare affirm with S. Austin Serm. 181. de Tempore. Non nocent peccata praeterita, si non placent praesentia. sins past hurt not, if sins present please not. Let us even now at this present in detestation of sin resolve to sin willingly no more, and our sins past shall never hurt vs. O let not this use slip out of our minds. When God his heavy hand is vpon us in any cross or tribulation, seek wee out the cause of it in ourselves, in our sins.  
A second use followeth: and it is to stir us up to a serious contemplation of the wonderful patience of Almighty God, who did so graciously forbear those inhabitants of judah, till by their three transgressions, and by their four, they had provoked God unto displeasure. The holy Scriptures are frequent in proclaiming God to be merciful, and gracious, and long-suffering, and of great goodness. he crieth to the foolish, Prou. 1.22. O ye foolish, how long will ye love foolishness? He crieth to the faithless, Math. 17.17. O generation, faithless and crooked, how long now shall I suffer you? He crieth to jerusalem, Matth. 23.37. O jerusalem, jerusalem, how often? What could the Lord haue done more unto his vineyard, then he had done unto it? He dressed it with the best and kindliest husbandry that his heart could invent, as appeareth, Esa. 5.2. Such careful dressing could not but deserve fruit. This fruit he required not at the first hour, but tarried for it the full time, even till the autumn and time of vintage; if then it failed, did it not deserve to be eaten up? look into the 13. of Luke vers. 6. There shall you see the Lord waiting three yeeres for the fruit of his fig-tree, yea and content, that digging, and dunging, and expectation a fourth year may bee bestowed vpon it. doubtless God is merciful, and gracious, and long suffering, and of great goodness.  
hereof( beloved) we haue great experience. We haue our three transgressions, and our four too, as judah had. Our manifold sins, our sins of omission, and our sins of commission, our sins of ignorance, and our sins of wilfulness, our sins of infirmity, and our sins of presumption, do they not day by day, impudently and saucily press into the presence of Gods majesty, to procure his vengeance against us? And yet wee must needs confess it, God is good, and patient towards vs.  
beloved, let us not abuse so great goodness and patience of our God. Though some fall seven times a day, and rise again; though to some sinners it pleaseth God to iterate his sufferance, as vpon us hitherto he hath done; yet should not we hereupon presume to iterate our misdoings. For we well know, 
jo● 8.44. I●●. 1.6. 2 Pet. 2.4.  that Almighty God punished his? Angels in heaven for one breach, 
G●n. 3.17.  Adam for one morsel, 
Num. 12.10.  miriae for one slander, 
Deut. 32.52.  Moses for one angry word, 
josh 7.24, 25.  Achan for one sacrilege, 
Esai. 3●. 2.  Ezechias for once showing his treasures to the ambassadors of Babel, 
2. Chron. 35.22.  josias for once going to war without asking counsel of the Lord, and 
Act. 5.5. &c.  Ananias, and Saphira for once lying to the Holy Ghost. God is now as able, as ever he was, even for one transgression to cut us of; but if he patiently forbear us, till by three and four transgressions, by our many sins, we grieve the Holy Spirit of that Sacred majesty, shall we think( as some impiously do) that God takes no notice of the sins, which we commit, or cares not for them? Far let all such conceit be from any Christian heart.  
Let us rather confess the truth: that God by such his forbearance doth led us to repentance: for as much as it is impossible, that God should be, and not see; should see, and not regard; should regard, and not punish; should punish, and not proportion his punishments to our sins. I grant that the iustice of God goeth on {αβγδ}, slowly, and in order: but for the most part it recompenseth the slackness of iudgement with the heaviness thereof. It keeps the rule full well; to render for ripe sins, ripe plagues; for great sins, great plagues; for grievous sins, grievous plagues.  
The rule in the schools is thus delivered. Culpam poena sequitur, every sin hath a due punishment attending it. God is without exception just: and therefore gravitas supplicij, grauitatem peccati denotat; grievous punishments wheresoever God shall lay them, do argue grievous sins of those places, and persons. Let no man then, that groaneth under any cross, affliction, or tribulation, complain of his hard hap, or ill fortune; all such visitations are from God, and for our sins. And if we will stay Gods hand from correcting us, we must stay ourselves from sinning, and offending him. I conclude with S. Pauls exhortation to the romans, chap. 6.12. Let not sin reign therefore in your mortal bodies; obey it not in the lusts thereof; give not your members, as weapons of unrighteousness unto sin; but, as men alive from the dead, give yourselves unto God, that being freed from sin, and made Gods seruants through Iesus Christ, you may haue your fruit in holinesse, and the end everlasting life.   

THE V. lecture.  AMOS 2.4. 
Because they haue despised the law of the Lord, and haue not kept his commandements.  
THE third part of this prophecy against judah is now to be examined: namely the enumeration of some particular sins, whereby the inhabitants of judah provoked their God unto displeasure. The first passage in this part is: They haue despised the law of the Lord. Where we haue, the sin of judah, and the object thereof; the sin, contempt; the object, the law of the Lord.  
They haue despised: there is the sin. The law of the Lord: there is the object. First of the sin, of the contempt.  
They haue despised] 
Zanch. de oper. redemp. job. 1. cap. 18. Thes. 2.  Contempt is an action of the mind, by which we nothing at all, or very lightly esteem of a thing, and therefore do reject it. This action, which I call contempt, is partly from the understanding, partly from the will. First the understanding esteems a thing to be nothing or little worth; then doth the will reject it, and casts it away.  
A thing may be contemned two manner of ways; either simply, or in respect of some other thing.  
First simply. So we may contemn a vile fellow, one that hath no virtue, no goodness in him; one that is altogether vicious, given up 
Rom. 1.28.  to a reprobate sense, to drunkenness, to wantonness, to work all kind of wickedness, even with greediness. Such a fellow, is simply unworthy to be had in any the least estimation. Such we may, we must contemn. In like sort, if a tyrant command, that which is unjust, any thing that is derogatory to the glory of God, and threateneth grievous punishments, unless he be obeied: in this case a good Christian, must be of a stout courage; he must despise the unjust command, and the proud threats of the tyrant; his zeal must be only for the glory of the Lord.  
The story of the three children, Dan. 3. is not unknown to you. The King of Babylon, Nabuchodonozor 
Dan. 3.1.  set up a golden image, and commanded it to be worshipped. His decree was, that 
vers. 10.  every one, that should hear the sound of the cornet, trumpet, harp, shawme, psaltery, dulcimer, and other instruments of music, should fall down, and worship the golden image: who so fell not down, and worshipped, he should be cast into the midst of a hot fiery furnace.  
This unjust decree of the King, the three children, Sidrach, Misach, and Abednego, regarded not: they could not be brought to worship this golden image; they feared not his hot fiery furnace; they knew, God was 
vers. 17.  able to deliver them from thence; if God would not, yet were they resolved in no wise to worship that image: they would not so much as outwardly consent to idolatry; so zealous were they for the glory of God. A worthy example for my present purpose, to show, that the unjust commands of Tyrants, are very justly contemned and rejected. So are the commands of Magistrates, Parents, and other superiors in authority, if they deprive God of his glory. If they diminish, remit, or abate any thing of the glory of God, they are simply to be contemned.  
You see now; a thing may be contemned simpliciter, simply. It may also be contemned secundum quid, in respect of some other thing: as when a man esteems more of his pleasure, or profit, then of the law of the Lord. Such an one may be said secundum quid, in respect of his own pleasure, or profit, to contemn the law of the Lord. And this contempt is a sin. The fore-mentioned contempts, were not sins. A contempt may be a sin, or not a sin. You may discern it by its object, or the thing contemned. If the object, if the thing contemned be evil, then is the contempt good; it is a virtue, its no sin. It is no sin to contemn a vicious fellow, in whom there is no spark of piety: its no sin to contemn the impious and unjust commands of men placed in authority above us, as you haue already heard. But if the object, if the thing contemned be good, then is the contempt evil, it is a 'vice, its a sin. Such was this contempt of Iuda, for they despised the law of the Lord. You see their sin, Contempt. Now see the object.  
The law of the Lord.] The LXX. haue {αβγδ}[ {αβγδ}] {αβγδ}, the natural law of the Lord. But the law of the Lord, as usually it is divided in the schools, is either 
Danaeus Isag. C●●. par. 3. lib. 3. cap. 14.  {αβγδ}, or {αβγδ}, or {αβγδ}; its either moral, or ceremonial, or judicial. The word in my text is {αβγδ} a word repeated in one psalm, Psal. 119 four& twenty times: it signifieth not only the moral law of God, expressed in the Decalogue, or ten Commandements, but the ceremonial law also, yea and the judicial too: and generally 
M●ller in Ps. 1.2.  totam Doctrinam à Deo patefactam,& Ecclesiae traditam: whatsoever doctrine is revealed from God, and delivered to the Church. Such was the contempt of these inhabitants of judah; whatsoever they were taught from God, by his holy Prophets, or by the reading of the Law, or by the light of nature, they despised it.  
They haue despised the law of the Lord.] Though this word {αβγδ} generally signify, whatsoever God any way teacheth; yet may it specially be taken for the moral law, contained in the Decalogue, or ten Commandements; which for the excellency thereof is called the law of the Lord: and surpasseth all others for many reasons.  
1. This Law was made by God himself, written by God himself, first in the hearts of men; afterwards in two 
Deut. 4.13.& 5.22.& 10.2. Bellarm. Christ. Doctr.  tables of ston.  
2. This is the most ancient of all others: it is as the fountain of all the rest.  
3. This is the most universal Law, that is, It bindeth not onely Christians, but Iewes also and Gentiles, men and women, rich and poor, Princes and private men, the learned and ignorant.  
4. This Law is immutable, it cannot be taken away, it cannot be dispensed with.  
5. The promulgation of this Law was more solemn, then of any other. It was promulgated with the greatest solemnity, that could be in Mount Sinai, 
Exod. 20.18.  with sound of angelical trumpets, with great thunder, with lightning from heaven, in the presence of all the people of God.  
6. This Law is, of all laws, most necessary. necessary, for the preserving and maintaining of discipline both in and without the Church. necessary, to convict man of sin, and to disrobe him of that pride, which makes him to presume of his own natural strength. necessary, to repress and keep under the obstinate and self-willed sinner, with fear of punishments. necessary, to inform and instruct the regenerate in the true service and worship of God.  
This law of the Lord so far surpassing all other laws for the excellency thereof, these inhabitants of judah did despise; they contemned it. You see the sin here laid unto their charge; Contempt of the law of the Lord. They haue despised the law of the Lord. The doctrine arising hence is: The contempt of the law of the Lord is a very grievous sin.  
This truth will be plain, if you will consider, what punishments God in his holy word threateneth and layeth vpon the despisers, or contemners of his Sacred majesty, of his ceremonies, of his commandements, of his holy word.  
Such despisers, or contemners, are an abomination to the Lord, Prov. 3.32. The Lord will despise them, 1. Sam. 2.30. The Lord will scorn them, Prov. 3.34. The Lord will bring vpon them terrors, consumptions, burning agues, and sorrow of heart, Levit. 26.15. The Lord will sand a fire vpon them to devour them, Amos 2.5. and having so done, He will laugh at their destruction, Prov. 1.26. For this contempt, Pharaohs chariots, his chosen Captaines, and his host were covered in the deep; they sank to the bottom of the Sea, as a ston: they were all drowned, Exod. 15.4, 5. For this contempt, Saul was rejected from being King over Israel: he became his own executioner; he fell vpon his own sword; 1. Sam. 31.4. For this contempt, Salomons kingdom was 
1. King. 11.11, 12.  to be rent from him, and to be given to his seruant: it was accomplished in his sons dayes, in the dayes of Rehoboam: the Israelites made unto themselves a new King, even jeroboam, son of Nebat, 1. Kings 12.20. What was it, but this contempt, that brought 
2. Chr. 28.13.  ruin to the state of Ahaz? What but this contempt, hath brought to nought many ancient and flourishing kingdoms, and nations? What else, hath laid their honor in the dust? Infinite should I be, would I produce all, that is delivered in the Sacred Scriptures concerning this contempt of the Lord, and his holy laws. The little which I haue already brought out of that invaluable treasury, may serve for the establishment, of my propounded doctrine; namely that The contempt of the law of the Lord is a very grievous sin.  
You see the doctrine. Let us now make some use of it to ourselves.  
Is it true beloved? Is it a grievous sin to despise the law of the Lord? Let this be a motive to us to gauge the very depth and bottom of our hearts, there to see, whether we haue sinned this sin: whether we haue carried ourselves contemptuously towards the law of the Lord.  
Can we say concerning this law of the Lord, as that sweet singer of Israel, that holy man of God, King david once said; that we haue not 
Psal. 119.61.  forgotten it; that, we haue not 
vers. 51.  declined from it; that, we haue 
vers. 55.  kept it; that, we 
vers. 113.  love it; we 
vers. 20.& 174  delight in it; our 
vers. 97.  meditation is in it all the day; that its better unto us, then 
vers. 72.  thousands of gold and silver? Can we thus truly say? Then doubtless are we free from this sin of Contempt of the law of the Lord.  
But if we wilfully break the law of the Lord: if we haue no fear, nor feeling of the judgements threatened in that his holy law: if we run on securely in our ungodly courses: if we prostitute ourselves to all uncleanness: if we be filled with 
Rom. 1.29.  unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness: if we be puffed up with error, murder, debate, deceit, malignity: if wee walk according to the 
Ephes. 2.2.  course of the world, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of our flesh, taking delight in doing the 
Galat. 5.19.  works of the flesh; then are we out of doubt guilty of this sin, of despising the law of the Lord.  
Wherefore let us, let every one of us, enter into the closet of our own hearts: examine we ourselves, how we haue heretofore stood, and how we do now stand, affencted to the law of the Lord judge we ourselves, that we be not judged of the Lord; condemn we ourselves, that we be not condemned of the Lord. If we find ourselves hitherto to haue been 
2. Tim. 2.26.  entangled in the snares of Satan, to haue fashioned ourselves to the manners of this sinful world, to haue spent our dayes in vanities, and our nights vpon the beds of wantonness, without any due regard of Gods holy laws enacted in the high Court of heaven to the contrary: our best way will be to betake ourselves to the throne of mercy, there to beg of Him that sitteth vpon the throne, the grace of unfeigned repentance: that sorrowing with a godly sorrow for our sins past, for our rebellion and disobedience to the law of the Lord, expressed in the wicked conversation of our fore-passed lives, we may now at length become new creatures, creatures of new hearts, and new spirits, resolving for the time to come to yield all obedience to the Law of the Lord, to frequent his sanctuary, where this law is usually red and expounded to us, that God thereby may bee glorified, and our souls saved.  
Thus far of the sin of judah, as it is expressed in the first branch of this third part of my text: They haue despised the law of the Lord. The doctrine grounded thereupon, was this: The contempt of the law of the Lord is a very grievous sin.  
The use made thereof unto ourselves, was to stir up in us a desire of comforming our obedience to this law of the Lord.  
The sin of judah, is further expressed in the next clause: They haue not kept his Commandements.  
Commandements] The word in the original, and Hebrew fountain is, {αβγδ}; a word repeated, Psal. 119. two and twenty times. The Septuagint translate it {αβγδ}: the vulgar Latin, and S. jerome, mandata, just as we do, mandates or commandements. Tremellius and Iunius haue statuta, statutes: some haue Ceremonias, Ceremonies; which soever of these translations we receive, it will be consonant to the analogy of faith, and the precedent clause. For whosoever despiseth the law of the Lord, he observeth not his ceremonies, he keepeth not his statutes, he keepeth not {αβγδ}, his mandates or commandements. So, this clause is but an exposition of the former. The same thing is twice said: 1. They haue despised the law of the Lord. 2. They haue not kept his commandements.  
Is the same thing twice said? Let it be true, that by the laws of the Lord, and the commandements of the Lord, one and the same thing be understood: is it likewise all one, to despise, and not to keep? or doth not our Prophet say less against the people of judah, where he saith, They haue not kept the commandements of the Lord, then when he saith, They haue despised the law of the Lord?  
He may seem to say less. But if we consider the force of the Hebrew phrase, we shall find it to be otherwise. It is a rule, 
Drusius.  Hebraei per negationem contrarij vehementiùs affirmant: the Hebrewes by denying the contrary do the more vehemently affirm. It may thus appear. Solomon in his proverbs, chap. 17.21. saith, Non gaudet stulti pater, the father of a fool rejoiceth not. This may seem to be but coldly and slenderly spoken, not sufficiently to express that grief, which fathers do conceive at the disobedience of their sons, which the Wiseman there calleth foolishness. But the phrase is very forcible; Non gaudet stulti pater; the father of a fool rejoiceth not. Nemo quisquam unquam ita dolet, quin idem aliquando gaudeat, saith 
Drus. observat. lib. 1. c. 22.  a learned writer. There is scarce any man ever so grieved, but that at some one time, or other, he rejoiceth: but if a man at all times, and every moment of time be grieved, of him we may truly say, Non gaudet, he rejoiceth not. Non gaudet stulti pater: It is very fitly englished in our new translation: The father of a fool hath no ioy.  
Here you, you who live under the rule of your parents, be ye sons, or daughters, living under father, or mother, if you behave yourselves disobediently towards your Parents, in Salomons account you are fools; and your Parents can haue no ioy in you. And, tell me, of whom should your Parents haue ioy, if not of you their children? S. Paules exhortation is not lightly to be esteemed by you. hear therefore what he saith unto you, Ephes. 6.1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord. and vers. 2. Honor thy father, and mother. To the first he persuadeth you by a reason drawn from the school of nature, It is right so to do. To the second he allureth you, by an argument drawn from your own good, v. 3. So shall it be well with you, and you shall live long vpon the earth. and ever remember this same, Non gaudet of Salomon: Non gaudet stulti pater; The father of a fool, of a disobedient child, hath no ioy.  
A like phrase the same Salomon hath, Prou. 10.2. Non prosunt thesauri improbitatis: The treasures of wickedness profit not. This may seem to be spoken but jeiunely, and slightly, not sufficiently to express the hurt& mischief, that shall befall a man, for his goods unlawfully, and dishonestly gotten. But the phrase is very forcible, Non prosunt thesauri improbitatis, the treasures of wickedness profit not. Quod in omni tempori nocet saith 
Drusius, ubi suprà.  one, de eo verissimè enuntiatur, non prodest. Name any thing, that at all times is hurtful, and of it we may truly say, Non prodest, it doth not profit. Salomon hath name it: Thesauri improbitatis, the treasures of wickedness. Non prosunt thesauri improbitatis: It is very fitly englished in our new translation, The treasures of wickedness profit nothing, It is worth the marking: they profit nothing.  
hear you, you who heap unto yourselves, Thesauros improbitatis, these same treasures of wickedness, by your avarice, extortion, oppression, usury, false-dealing with your neighbours, or otherwise unlawfully. You may know, that these your treasures of wickedness can profit nothing. They may be unto you obstacles, and impediments, to keep you for ever without the gates of heaven. What meaneth else our blessed Lord, and saviour Iesus Christ, in that his constant asseveration to his Disciples, Mat. 19.23. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven? And again, where he saith, ver. 24. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, then for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God? And who is this rich man? Qui divitijs, cor apponit; he that setteth his heart vpon his riches, and trusteth in them: and not onely he, but he also that getteth his goods unjustly, he that getteth thesauros improbitatis, those same treasures of iniquity: whereof for the present I say no more, then what our saviour saith to his Disciples, Mat. 16.26. What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and loose his own soul? Onely I wish from my heart, that in your hearts were written this same; Non prosunt: Non prosunt thesauri improbitatis, the treasures of wickedness do profit nothing.  
Will you now look back to my text, for the explication whereof I haue expounded to you a Non gaudet, and a Non prosunt. The first, Non gaudet, concerneth the Father of a disobedient child, and importeth {αβγδ} gaudij, the privation of ioy: the Father of a disobedient son hath no ioy at all. The other, Non prosunt, is spoken of goods ill gotten, and importeth {αβγδ} utilitatis, the privation of profit: Non prosunt, goods ill gotten profit nothing at all. My text hath answerable to those two, a Non obseruârunt. Non obseruârunt mandata eius, They haue not kept the commandements of the Lord. This may seem to be but coldly and slightly spoken, not sufficient to express the disobedience of the people of judah, towards the commandments of the Lord. For there is no man living vpon earth, that can keep his commandements. And if the people of judah in this, sinned, but as other men ordinarily sinned, what great matter is it, that our Prophet here objecteth to them? But the phrase here is very forcible. Non obseruârunt mandata eius: They haue not kept his commandments. Here is implied {αβγδ} observantiae: a privation of observance. They haue not kept the commandments of the Lord in any one point. Couenant-breakers and apostates, as they were, they refused to be under the Lords commandements, and audaciously framed to themselves a new kind of worship, {αβγδ}, a will worship, a worship of their own invention; cultum plenum sacrilegijs, a worship full of sacrilege.  
We see now, what it is, that our Prophet in this branch of my text, reproveth in the people of judah; It is a Non obseruârunt a non observance, an universal neglect of the commandements of the Lord. They took licence to themselves, to innovate, to frame unto themselves a new kind of divine worship; such as the Lord never approved, yea, such as was contrary to the express will of the Lord, and was forbidden by him. From this reproof of judah, we may take this lesson:  
Obedience to the commandements of the Lord, is a duty which the Lord requireth to be performed by every child of his. This truth is made as plain, as the light at noon day, by the words of blessed Samuel to king Saul. 1. Sam. 15.22. Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings, and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better then sacrifice: and to harken then the fat of Rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity, and idolatry. In which words of Samuel, we haue the nature of two contraries, obedience, and disobedience, excellently disciphered. The one to be better then sacrifice: the other to be as witchcraft and idolatry.  
Obedience is better then sacrifice. For 
Per victimas aliena caro, per obedien●iam vero voluntas propria mactatur. Greg. Mor. lib. 35. cap. 10.  he that offereth a sacrifice, offereth the flesh of a beast: but he that obeyeth, offereth his own will, as a quick and reasonable sacrifice, which is all in all. Disobedience is as witchcraft and idolatry. For what else is disobedience, but when the Lord hath imposed some duty vpon us, wee then confer with our own hearts, as Saul consulted with the woman of 
1. Sam. 28.7.  Endor; or as Ahaziah King of Samaria, with 
2. King. 1.2.  beelzebub, the God of Ekron, whether the word of the Lord, shall be hearkened to, yea, or no. Thus we set up an Idol, within our own breasts against the God of heaven, and despising, forsaking, not keeping his commandements, we follow the voice, and persuasion of our own devises.  
To this place of Samuel( though of itself it be sufficient for the establishment of my propounded doctrine: Namely, that Obedience to the commandements of the Lord, is a duty which the Lord requireth to be performed by every child of his) let us add some other passages of holy Scripture, wherein the Lord to draw us to this duty of obedience, promiseth us blessings.  
Memorable is that protestation of Moses to the children of Israel. Deut. 11.26. Behold, I set before you this day a blessing, and a curse. A blessing if ye obey the commandements of the Lord your God; a curse, if ye obey them not. As if he had thus said. bethink yourselves, O ye children of Israel. Seeing God hath commanded me to publish his law unto you, it is not for you to fall asleep. He sheweth you, how you may prosper all your life long, namely, if you will obey him. Obey him, and prosper all your life long. Is not this a great blessing? But if you obey him not, the curse will overtake.  
This doth Moses more particularly deliver, Deut. 28.1. If, saith he, thou shalt harken diligently to the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and keep all his commandements: that is, if ye harken to the Lords voice, to obey his commandements, and be careful to keep them, then shall you be blessed all manner of ways; you shall be environed through Gods favour, with all manner of welfare, and prosperity.  
Will you a Catalogue of such blessings, as shall bee conferred vpon you for your obedience to the commandements of the Lord? It is ready gathered to your hands, Deut. 28. Obey ye the Commandements of the Lord, so blessed shall ye be 
Ver. 3.  in the city, and blessed in the field: 
Ver. 4.  Blessed in the fruit of your bodies, and in the fruit of your grounds, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the increase of your kine, and in the flocks of your sheep: 
Ver. 5.  Blessed in your baskets, and in your kneading troughs: 
Ver. 6.  Blessed at your coming in, and blessed at your going out: 
Ver. 8.  Blessed in your barns, and in all that you set your hands to. These and many other blessings recited in that Chapter, are plainly promised, and shall as faithfully bee performed, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God.  
But if you be stubborn, perverse, and disobedient to the commandments of the Lord, then shall cursings as fast follow you: Then Cursed shall ye be in the city, and 
Deut. 28.16.  Cursed in the field: 
Ver. 18.  Cursed in the fruit of your bodies, in the fruit of your ground, in the fruit of your cattle, in the increase of your kine, and in the flocks of your sheep: 
Ver. 17.  Cursed in your baskets, and in your kneading troughs: 
Ver. 19.  Cursed at your coming in, and cursed at your going out: 
Ver. 20.  Cursed in your barns, and in all that you set your hands to. These, and many other curses, recited in that Chapter, are plainly threatened, and shall as faithfully be performed, if you obey not the commandements of the Lord your God.  
I will not too far presume vpon your patience. You haue heard of maledictions, or cursings against such as disobey the Commandements of the Lord. You haue heard also of benedictions, or blessings to such as obey the commandments of the Lord. May it please you then to aclowledge this for an irrefragable truth; that,  
Obedience to the commandements of the Lord, is a duty which the Lord requireth to be performed of every child of his.  
What use shall we now make of this Doctrine? This needs no great consultation. The use is plain: Is obedience, a duty, which God requireth to be performed by all, who will be accounted in the number of his children? Then it is a duty required to be performed by vs. For who is there among us, that desireth not to be in the number of Gods children? Wherefore( dearly beloved in the Lord) let us betake ourselves to the school of obedience: And strive we every one to go beyond his neighbour, in the offices of this Christian duty.  
Obedience! It hath praise with God and man. Obedience? It is the offspring of the righteous! Obedience! It is, saith 
In scala paradisi. gradu de obedientia.  Climacus, ainae propriae perfecta abuegatio, spontanea mors, securum periculum, tuta nauigatio, iter dormiendo confectum, sepulchrum voluntatis, excitatio humilitatis. It is, saith he, an absolute denial of ourselves; it is a voluntary death, it is a security from danger, it is a safe navigation, it is a journey performed as it were in a sleep, it is a sepulchre of our will, it is the stirrer up of humility. The obedient man, he absolutely denieth himself; but, that he may 
Mat. 16.24.  follow Christ: he dieth voluntary, but 
1. Pet. 2.24.  unto sin, that he may live unto righteousness: though he be on every side environed with perils, yet is he secure, and feareth nothing: though he sail in the sea of this world, yet is his sailing safe: though he iourneyeth in this valley of peregrination toward the heavenly jerusalem, yet he doth it, as it were in a sleep, without molestation: he burieth the unruly affections of his will; and spendeth the remainder of his abode here in the exercises of sweet humility. Thus shall the man be blessed that is obedient to the Commandements of the Lord his God.  
It is said of the just. Psal. 112.6. In memoria aeterna erit justus; The just shall be in everlasting memory. It may bee likewise said of the obedient; In memoria aeterna crit obediens. The obedient shall be in everlasting memory. The Rechabites shall never want a testimony of their obedience, unless the book of jeremy the Prophet, be again cut with a pen-knife, and burnt, as in the dayes of 
Ierem. 36.23.  Zedechias. jonadab their Father commanded them to drink no Wine, and for that commandments sake, they would drink none: they, nor their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters, Iere. 35.8. A worthy pattern of obedience. God himself commends it, and objects it for a reproof of the disobedience of his own people, the inhabitants of judah. For vers. 13. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; go and tell the men of judah, and inhabitants of jerusalem: The words of jonadab, the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their fathers commandment: Notwithstanding I haue spoken unto you, rising early, and speaking, but ye harkened not unto me. This complaint of the Lord is redoubled, vers. 16. The sons of jonadab, the son of Rechab, haue performed the commandment of their Father, which be commanded: but this people hath not harkened unto me. May not the Lord now as justly twit us, and hit us in the teeth, with this example of the Rechabites? He may without doubt. The Rechabites kept the commandement of their Father jonadab, a mortal man,& now dead: but we keep not the commandments of our Father, our heavenly Father jehovah, the immortal, and the everliving God.  
beloved, let us remember it. Disobedience hath never yet escaped the hands of almighty God. It cast 
Gen. 3.22.  Adam and eve out of Paradise; 
Gen. 19.26.  Lots wife out of her life, and nature too, 
Num. 16.32.  Dathan, and Abiram into the mouth of the earth; 
1. Sam. 15.23.  Saul out of his kingdom; 
Ion. 1.15.  jonas out of the ship: the children of Israel out of their native soil, yea, and from the natural roote which bare them: whereof there is no other reason given, but their disobedience, Iere. 35.17. I haue spoken unto them, but they haue not heard; I haue called unto them, but they haue not answered.  
Is not the case just ours? God hath spoken unto us, but we haue not heard him: he hath called us, but we haue not answered him. He hath called us per beneficia, by his benefits, but we haue not answered him per 
Hugo carded. in Ierem. 35.  gratitudinem, by our thankfulness: he hath called us per flagella, by his chastisements and scourges, but wee haue not answered him, per patientiam,& correctionem, by our patience, and amendment: he hath called us, per exempla, by examples, but we haue not answered him, perimitationem, by our imitation: he hath called us per praedicatores, by his Preachers; but we haue not answered him, per obedientiam, by our obedience to his word preached. He hath spoken to us, but we haue not heard him, he hath called us, but we haue not answered him.  
Men and brethren, what shall we do? When a multitude of Iewes pricked in the heart at the preaching of Peter, thus bespoke Peter, and his fellow Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Peters answer for himself, and the rest, was, Repent, Act. 2.38. This same, Repent; is the best lesson that we can learn. We haue not kept the commandements of the Lord our God, we daily transgress them: and hereby are heaven gates fast shut against vs. The onely way for us to haue them again opened, is to Repent. Repentance is the most sovereign medicine, that we can apply to the bitter wounds made in our souls through the sting of sin. Oh! Let us not defer, and put off this necessary cure. One hath said very well: 
Diez. Loco de poenitentia.  Qui veniam per poenitentiam repromisit, diem crastinam ad poenitentiam non promisit. He that hath promised pardon to us, if wee Repent, hath not promised us, that to morrow wee shall repent.  
Wherefore let us, laying a side all excuses: delays, and prolonging of the time, let us even this day, while it is called to day, with touched hearts and consciences resolve vpon Repentance. Let us even now haue settled purposes, and willing minds to forsake all sin, and to turn to the Lord our God: this will be a good beginning of true conversion, and Repentance. Let us follow it with perseverance. Let not any idle sports, let not any houses of misrule, or disorder keep us from the Church, and this place of sound instruction. Here shall wee all be taught of God, and by the mighty operation of his holy Spirit, shall be enabled to love his holy laws, and in some measure to keep his commandments: that passing the remainder of our dayes in this land of our soiournings in all possible obedience, to his holy laws and commandments, we may at length be translated into that better country, that heavenly one, that city of God, wherein our eldest brother and sole saviour, Iesus Christ hath provided places for us, that where he is there may we be also.   

THE VI. lecture.  AMOS. 2.4. 
And their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers haue walked.  
IN my last Sermon I began the exposition of the third part of this prophecy against judah, and passed over the two first branches. You then heard the people of judah reproved, for contempt, and rebellion: Contempt of the law of the Lord, and rebellion against his commandements. They haue despised the law of the Lord, they haue not kept his commandements.  
What! judah! judah, 
Lament. 2.1.  the daughter of Sion; she that was great among the Nations, and 
Lam. 1.1.  a princess among the provinces: judah! That was the Lords 
Esai. 19.25.  inheritance, the Lords 
Exod. 19.5.  peculiar, the Lords 
Psal. 114.2.  sanctuary, the 
Esai. 61.9.  blessed seed of the Lord, the 
Esai. 5.7.  plant of the Lords pleasure: judah, to whom the 
Rom. 3.2.  oracles of God were committed; is judah become rebellious? Hath judah despised the law of the Lord? Hath not judah kept his commandements? What may be the reason of it? The reason followeth in my Text:  
Their lies caused them to err, after the which their fathers haue walked.] In stead of lies, the vulgar Latin hath Idola, Idols. So hath S. jerome: Deceperunt eos Idola eorum; their Idols haue deceived them. What Idols? even such as their fathers followed, while they lived in egypt. They fashioned unto themselves, the semblance and counterfeit of the egyptian ox; they adored Beelphegor, they worshipped Astaroth and Baalim. Beelphegor, Astaroth, Baalim; these were the Idols, as S. jerome commenteth, by which the inhabitants of judah were deceived: Deceperunt eos idola eorum; their Idols deceived them.  
For Idols, our English translation readeth lies. The Hebrew fountain is our warrant: the word there signifieth lies. Their lies caused them to err.  
lies are of two sorts: some are in commercijs; some in cultu divino: some in commerce with men; some in the service or worship of God. lies in commerce with men, are committed 3. manner of ways, in words, in manners, in things. A lie in words is, when we speak one thing,& think another: and this is either iocosum, or officiosum, or perniciosum; it is either a lie in iest, or an officious lie, or a pernicious lie; not one of these can be excused: no, not the lie in iest, though S. Austin call it otiosum, an idle lie; and exempteth it from blame: as also some do officiosum, the officious lie.  
A lie in manners you may call simulation, dissimulation, counterfeiting, dissembling. This is seen in false-Christs, false-Prophets, false-Apostles, false-Teachers, such as make a faire show of honesty, or for a 
luke. 23.14.  pretence make long prayer, or 
Math. 7.15.  wear sheeps clothing, but are hypocrites, devourers, wolves. These lie in their manners: of these it is said, frons, oculi, vultus persaepe mentiuntur: the forehead, the eyes, the countenance, do often lie.  
The lie in things is, when one thing is substituted or put in the place of another; a counterfeit for a true thing: as when a cozener sells opium for apium, or broom twigs for balmewood, or alchimie for silver, or copper for gold. But these lies obvious and frequent in commerce with man, I must pass over. They are not intended in my text. The lies intended in my text, are lies in cultu divino, lies in the service and worship of God.  
Their lies caused them to err.] These lies in the service and worship of God, what are they? Lyranus will tell you. Quaecunque fiunt, aut cogitantur sine Dei verbo; whatsoever things in divine worship are done or devised without the warrant of Gods word, they are lies. So saith, that learned Professor of Paris, Mercer; Omnia humana figmenta, quae contra Dei verbum, in Dei cultu excogitantur; All human inventions in divine worship devised contrary to the word of God, they are lies. Summarily thus I say: By lies in this place we are to understand, fictitios cultus, whatsoever worship of God is forged or counterfeited; 
Coloss. 2.23.  {αβγδ}, all will-worship, all superstitious and blind worship. These are the lies, that caused judah to err.  
Their lies caused them to err.] First, they betook themselves to the idolatry of the Gentiles, they made their sons to pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the Heathen, 2. Kings 16.3. Secondly, they forsook the service of the Lords house, his holy Temple at jerusalem, and sacrificed, and burnt incense, in high places, on hills, under every green three, 2. King. 16.4. Thirdly, they 
Hos. 10.1.& 8.11.  increased their Altars, multiplied their sacrifices, and augmented their ceremonies, supposing thereby ex opere operato, even for such their superstition sake, to demerit unto themselves the favor of God, though they were utterly void of faith, and repentance. These were the lies that deceived judah; these their lies caused them to err. Commenta falsi cultus: their new-devised, feigned, and forged worships of God, were the lies, that caused them to err.  
This appellation of lies is also given to false worship, Rom. 1.25. where S. Paul chargeth the Gentiles, with changing the truth of God into a lie. They changed the truth of God into a lie, that is, the true worship of God they perverted, and changed into false worship. The reason why false worship there is called a lie, is, because its opposed to truth. 
Drusius.  Quicquid veritati contrarium est, mendacium est; whatsoever is contrary to truth, that is a lie. And therefore our Prophet here in this text opposeth lies, to the law of God; because Lex Dei veritas, Psal. 119 142. the law of God is truth. This antithesis between the law of God, and a lie, we find, Psal. 119.163. Mendacium odi, imme detestatus sum; legem tuam diligo. I hate a lie; yea I abhor it, but thy Law do I love.  
We see now, what these lies were, which caused judah to err: they were human devises, and inventions in the worship of God, defiling and infecting the sincerity of that worship, which God onely approveth. And yet is the Holy Spirit here pleased further to notify unto us these lies of judah, in these words: After the which their fathers walked.  
Their lies caused them to err; after the which their fathers haue walked.] What fathers meaneth he? Those, which 
Psal. 106.19.  made them a calf in Horeb, and worshipped the melted image, and turned their glory, even their God, into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass? of whom we red, Exod. 32.4. Or meaneth he those which served strange Gods in Ur of the Chaldees? of whom we red, josuah 24.2. whatsoever the Fathers were, here meant by our Prophet; they were to these inhabitants of judah their ancestors; they were their forefathers: such as took delight in the service of false Gods.  
Their lies caused them to err after the which their fathers walked.] It is no new thing, no strange thing, for children to strive to imitate their fathers, that they may be like unto them. This doth S. Stephen, Act. 7.51. object to the successors of these Iewes: ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your fathers did, so do ye. Your Fathers were a stiffnecked people; so are ye. Your Fathers were of uncircumcised hearts and ears; so are ye. Your Fathers resisted the Holy Ghost; so do ye. ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as your Fathers did, so do ye. By Fathers in this place the Protomartyr S. Stephen meaneth maiores, their predecessors, their ancestors, their fore fathers.  
What? Are these words of S. Stephen extended to all the ancestors of the Iewes? Were they all a stiffnecked people? Were they all of uncircumcised hearts and ears? Did they all resist the Holy Ghost? This may not be imagined. The many and glorious titles, and appellations bestowed vpon that people in Sacred Writ do evidently make good the contrary. We must therefore distinguish of those ancestors, and forefathers. Some of them were excellent men, and sincere worshippers of the true God: such were Abraham, Isaac, jacob, and all the faithful, that issued out of their loins: these are not the Fathers, whom S. Stephen meaneth. Other some there were notoriously infamous for their impiety, for their bloody tyranny towards the Lords Prophets, for their idolatrous service of false Gods. And these S. Stephen in his speech intendeth.  
These are they who in the 78. Psal. vers. 8. are called, a stubborn and rebellious generation; a generation that set not their heart aright; a generation, whose spirit was not steadfast with God. These are they, who S. John the Baptist meaneth, Matth. 3.7. where he calleth the pharisees, a Generation of Vipers.  
These are they, whom our blessed saviour also intendeth, Matth. 12.33.& 23.33. where he styleth the pharisees, as John Baptist did; a Generation of Vipers. And what is this generation of vipers, but as 
Comment. in Act. 7.51.  Lorinus saith, pessimorum parentum pessimi filii, wicked sons of as wicked parents.  
Such were these Fathers in my text: of whom it is further said, that they walked after lies.]  
They walked after lies.] To walk, in the Scripture phrase is metaphorically taken, and hath diuers significations. For the understanding of the phrase in my text, you may know; there is a walking after truth, and a walking after lies; or which is all one, there is a walking after God, and a walking after Idols. We walk after truth, or God, when from the bottom of our hearts, we think vpon, and do those things, which God hath prescribed unto us in the word of truth; when we live a godly life, in this present world. On the other side, we walk after lies, or after Idols, when we worship that which is not God; or when we worship the true God, but vpon a false foundation, polluting and defiling his sacred worship, with the foolish imaginations and inventions of our own brains. Thus did the ancient Iewes walk after lies; which is here laid unto their charge: Their lies cause them to err, after which their Fathers walked.  
Hitherto haue you heard the exposition of the text. give ear now I beseech you to such lessons as may from hence be taken for our further instruction, and the reformation of our lives. The first lesson I take from these words, Their lies caused them to err; their lies, that is, their idolatrous and false worship of God, hath caused them to err, hath deceived them. The doctrine is:  
When men decline or olive from the prescript of Gods word, they are forthwith enwrapped and involved in deceit; and cannot but err.  
I thus explicate it. If we embrace not the truth of God, if we despise his holy laws, if we keep not his commandements, we must of necessity fall into supine and gross lies. For so God permitteth. whosoever beleeue not the truth, but haue pleasure in unrighteousness; whosoever receive not the love of the truth, that they may be saved, to such shall God sand strong delusion that they shall beleeue lies, 2. Thess. 2.11. Now Almighty God to keep his elect and beloved ones from such efficacy of error, from such strong delusions; how oft doth he admonish them, that in no wise they depart from his holy word. 
Deut. 12.32. Prov 30.6. revel. 22.18, 19.  add not to my word, neither diminish ought from it, Deut. 4.2. 
Deut. 5.32.& 28.14. josh. 23.6. Esai. 30.21.  turn not from my word, to the right hand or to the left, josh. 1.7. Lay up my words in your heart and in your soul; bind them for a sign vpon your hand, let them be as frontlets between your eyes, Deut. 11.18. What more obvious in holy Scripture then those Mementoes from the Lord? 
Deut. 4.1, 6.  harken unto my statutes, and unto my judgements, keep them, do them: Remember 
Num. 15.39.  my commandements, 
Deut. 6.17.  keep them diligently, 
Prov. 7.1.  lay them up 
Prov. 3.1.  in thy heart: forget not my law, 
Prov. 3.1.  
Prov. 4.2.  forsake it not: 
Prov. 4.20.  attend to my words, 
Prov. 7.1.  keep my words, 
Prov. 4.20.  incline thine ear unto my sayings.  
And why I pray is the Lord so earnest to haue his statutes, his judgements, his commandements, his laws, his words, his sayings to be kept by us? Is it not, because he well knoweth, that if we ever so little decline or olive from these, or from any one of these, we are forthwith enwrapped, and involved in deceit, and cannot choose, but err? Statutes, judgements, commandements, laws, words, sayings. Here are multa verba, many words, but res vna, they all signify one thing, and that is expressable in one word, even the word; the word of God mentioned in my doctrine, from whose prescript if wee decline or olive, wee are forthwith enwrapped and involved in deceit; wee cannot choose but err.  
A reason hereof I may give you, out of Psal. 119.105. where the word of God is compared to a lamp, or a light: Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. You know the use of a lamp, or light. It is to direct us in the dark, that we err not. Now what is this world, but a place of darkness? Here the natural man sitteth in darkness, Luk. 1.79. he walketh in darkness, Psal. 82.5. his eyes are blinded with darkness, 1. joh. 2.11. his understanding is darkened, Ephes. 4.18. he is subject to the power of darkness, Coloss. 1.13. he hath fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, Ephes. 5.11. he is even darkness itself, Ephes. 5.8. How then can he choose but err, if he haue not this lamp, or light of God, the word of God, to direct him?  
It was not unusual, with the Iewes, to seek to them, who had 
Esai. 8.19.  familiar spirits, and to peeping and muttering wizards. To reclaim them from this error, the Prophet Esay cap. 8.20. calls them ad legem,& ad testimonium, to the law and to the testimony, that is, to the word of God. And why doth he so? He tells you why, in the words following: If( saith he) they speak not according to this word, it is, because there is no light in them: What can be more plain? Where the word of God is not, or directeth not, there is no light, there is nothing but darkness, nothing but error.  
You haue enough for the confirmation and illustration of my doctrine, which was,  
When men decline, or olive from the prescript of Gods word, they are forthwith enwrapped and involved in deceit, and cannot but err.  
Is it so beloved? If we leave the word of God, are wee forthwith in error? Let this be a strong motive to us, to give more diligence to the word of God, then hitherto we haue done. Let us as we are exhorted by S. Peter in his 2. Epist. cap. 1. vers. 18. Let us take heed unto it, as unto a light, that shineth in a dark place, till the day dawn, and the day-star arise in our hearts. Let us not think any time misspent, that we bestow vpon this word of God, either to hear it, or to red it, or to keep it. young men, wherewithal will you cleanse your ways, but by taking heed unto your ways according to the word of God, as you are advised, Ps. 119.9. All men I know would be blessed; but then must they delight in the word of God, and make it their meditation day and night, as it is Psal. 1.2. If we leave the word of God, which is the lamp and light of God, then are we forthwith in darkness; we are in error.  
Is it so, beloved? Then secondly let us bring and offer to our gracious God, the calves of our lips, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, for that it pleaseth him for our direction in this valley of darkness and shadow of death, to give us the light of his most precious word. He hath not dealt so with many nations of the earth. Many there are, that haue not the light of his word. And where this light is not, there can be nothing but darkness.  
Is it so, beloved? Then thirdly is the Church of Rome very injurious to the people of God, to with-hold and keep from them this light of the word of God. Is it not plain, they do so, when they forbid the Scriptures to be translated into any Vulgar tongue, and so seal them up from the understanding of the ignorant and unlearned? They willingly sand the Scriptures abroad in the Hebrew, greek, and latin tongues: but what are the common people of any Nation hereby benefited? Do they understand the Hebrew, greek, or Latin?  
A Papist will answer; there is no necessity that the vulgar sort should understand those ancient& sacred tongues. The 
Ralford. directory cap. 56.  Church hath appointed learned men always to instruct the simplo out of the book of God, with such histories and lessons, as may be most fit to edify and help them, in the way to heaven.  
I grant, there is no necessity, yea it cannot be, that the common people should understand, the Hebrew, greek, and Latin tongues: but I add; it is therefore necessary that the Holy Scripture should be translated into vulgar and known tongues, even for the understanding of the common people: as this day( through Gods goodness) we haue them in our English tongue, not dismembered, and very much corrupted, as Radford would bear the world in hand; but more perfectly rendered, then ever was that old vulgar Latin edition, obtruded to the Christian world for authentical by the 
Sess 3 cap. 2.  Trent Fathers.  
The exception taken against the translation of the Scriptures into vulgar, and known tongues, is vain and ridiculous. They say, that great, and marvelous inconveniences and discommodities haue fallen out through such translations. How prove they this? They will seem to prove it by sundry instances.  
1. They tell us of a 
Staphylus de Biblioris translatione pag. 492.  Painter of Prussia, who, because he had in Luthers German Bible red of Lot his incest, adventured to abuse his own daughter.  
2. They tell us of a 
Idem ex Joh. Gastio Brisac. lib. de Catab●ptis●is.  woman of 
Monasterij.  Munster in Westphalia, who, having diligently perused the history of judith and Holofernes, attempted by the example of judith, secretly to kill the Bishop of Munster.  
3. They tell us of 
I●hannes Iugdunensis, Sarcinater Batavus.  John of Leiden, who would be as a King, because 
Staphylus ubi suprà. p. 494. ex Sleidan. lib. 10.  josuah was such: and would haue the toleration of many wives, because the patriarches had many.  
4. They tell us of 
Idem ex Aenca Sylvio in historia Doemorum.  Grubenheimer, who, because he had red in Genesis, increase and multiply, approved that in their night conventicles, their lights extinguished, they might commit filthiness not to be spoken. These four instances are brought by Frid. Staphylus in his treatise of the translation of the Bible into vulgar idomes.  
5. They tell us of david George, a Batauian, who by reading the Scriptures in his mother tongue, was persuaded of himself, that he was the son of God, and the messiah.  
6. They tell us of an English woman, who hearing the Minister of the Parish where shee lived, red out of Eccles. 25. somewhat against wicked women, which pleased her not, rose up from her seat, and said, Is this the word of God? Nay, rather it is the word of the devill. These two latter instances are brought by cardinal Bellarmine lib. 2. de verbo Dei cap. 15.  
To these, and the former, urged by Bellarmine, and Staphylus, to show the inconveniences, and discommodities of having the Bible in vulgar, and known languages, I thus briefly reply. Shall sober men be forbidden the use of meats and drinks, because many surfet of them? This you will grant to be very absurd and unreasonable. So absurd is it, and unreasonable, that the people of God should be forbidden the use of the book of God in their vulgar& known languages, because a few, unstable persons, such as were the aforenamed, the Painter of Prussia, the cobbler of Leyden, Grubenheimer, david George, and two silly women, the one of Westphaelia, the other of England, abused so rich a treasure to their own overthrows.  
This my reply agreeth with that answer, which 
Animaduers. in Bellarm. Controu. 1. lib. 2. cap. 15.§. 63.  Iunius giveth unto Bellarmine: Non convenit, vt propter eos qui abutuntur malè, praecludatur, aut eripiatur Scriptura eis, qui sunt vsuri benè. Its not convenient, that for their sakes who do to ill purpose abuse the Scriptures, the Scriptures should be sealed up, and barred from such, as would use them well.  
The reason, which Dr Bucknham, sometimes Prior of the blackfriars in Cambridge, for this very purpose brought against Mt Latimer, is altogether as vain, and frivolous. The danger of having the Bible in our English tongue he proved after this manner. The ploughman hearing that in the gospel by St Luke, Chap. 9.62. No man that layeth his hand on the plow, and looketh back, is meet for the kingdom of God, may peradventure cease from his plow: likewise the baker hearing that, Galat. 5.9. A little leaven corrupteth a whole lump of dow, may per-case leave our bread unleavened, and so our bodies shall be unseasoned. Also the simplo man, hearing that, Math. 5.29. If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee, may make himself blind, and so fill the world full of beggars.  
This friarly and bald reason of Dr Bucknham, is not worthy any other answer, then the wish of Latimer. 
Fox Martyrol. pag. 1904. Edit. land. An. 1570.  Latimers wish was, that the Scripture may be so long in our English tongue, till English men be so mad; the ploughman, not to look back; the baker, not to leaven his bread; the simplo man, to pluck out his own eye.  
See you not( beloved) how injurious the Papists would be towards you, were they Lords over you? The light of Gods word, the incomparable and heavenly treasure, they would scale up from you in an unknown tongue.  
This was not the practise of old. Of old time, in the primitive times of the Church, the Holy Scriptures had their free passage. All sorts of people might red them, might search into them, might judge of them. The unlearned, as the learned; the laity, as the clergy; women, as men; base, as noble; young, as old; all had their shares in reading, in hearing, in meditating, in practising the sacred doctrines contained in the Holy Scriptures. There can be no just reason to the contrary.  
For as S. Chrysostome in his first homily vpon S. matthew saith: The Scriptures are easy to the slave, and to the husbandman, to the widow, and to the child, and to him, that may seem to be very simplo of understanding.  
To which purpose S. Austine Epi. 3. ad volusian: affirmeth, that almighty God in the Scriptures speaketh, as a familiar friend without dissimulation, unto the hearts both of the learned, and also of the unlearned.  
The like S. Basil avoucheth vpon the 1. Psal. The Scripture of God is like an Apothecaries shop, full of medicines of sundry sorts, that every man may there choose a convenient remedy for his disease.  
Vpon this ground S. Chrysostome Hom. 2. in johan would persuade his auditors, not onely in the Church to bee attentive to the word of God, but that at home also, the husband with the wife, and the father with the child, would talk together thereof; and would to and fro inquire, and give their iudgments: and would to God, saith he, they would once begin this most approved, and most excellent custom.  
Theodoret in his fift book de curatione Graecarum affectionum, seemeth much to rejoice at the knowledge which the Christians generally had in the sacred Scriptures. Our doctrine,( saith he) is known not onely of them, who are the doctors of the Church, and Masters of the people, but also even of tailors, and Smiths, and weavers, and all Artificers: of women too, not such onely as were learned, but also of labouring women, and Sewsters, and seruants, and handmaides. Neither onely citizens, but Country folkes also do very well understand the same: Ditchers, deluers, Cowheards, Gardiners, can dispute of the trinity, and the creation of all things.  
Thus was it of old, and why should it not be so now in our daies? The Holy Scriptures are the same now, that then they were. Now, as in the dayes of 
Sermon. de Confessorib. sieve Dispensat. p. 610.  Fulgentius, In Sacris scriptures abundat,& quod rebustus comedat,& quod parvulus sugat, There is in the Scriptures plenty, whereof the strong may eat, and the little ones may suck. Now, as in the dayes of 
Epist. ad leandrum.  gregory, Scripturae flumen sunt, in quo agnus ambulet,& Elephas natet, the Scriptures are as a great river, wherein a lamb may walk, and an Elephant may swim. Now, as in the dayes of 
De Lazaro.  Theophylact, Scripturae sunt, Lucerna quo fur deprehenditur. The Scriptures are as a lantern, whereby you may descry, and discover that great thief, the devill, who is ever ready to steal away your hearts from God.  
Let us( dearly beloved) follow this lantern. Let this lamp of Gods word direct your footsteps. So shall we bee safe from error. But if we will not follow it; if we will decline, if we will olive from it, we shall be suddenly involved, and enwrapped in deceit, and cannot choose but err: This was my first doctrine. I can but touch the second.  
Their lies caused them to err, after which their Fathers walked.] You haue understood by my precedent exposition of these words, that the Inhabitants of judah are here blamed, for adhering to the blind superstitions of their forefathers. The doctrine arising hence is this; In matters of Religion we are not tied to follow our forefathers.  
This truth is plainly derived from my text, for if we will make it our rule in Religion, to follow our forefathers; their lies, that is, their blind superstitions, and idolatrous worship of God, may deceive us, and cause us to err. Were not the elders of Israel, thus deceived, and brought into error? The twenty Chapter of the prophecy of Ezechiel makes it plain, that they were so: there shall you find it objected to them; that they were polluted after the manner of their fathers, and committed whoredom after the abomination of their fathers, ver. 30. And to draw them from adhering to the ill courses of their fathers, the Lord himself is pleased ver. 18. 19. thus to speak unto them: walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgements, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the Lord your God: walk in my statutes, keep my judgements, and do them. What will you more for the confirmation of my propounded doctrine? You haue already the warrant of almighty God from heaven for it, that in matters of Religion we are not tied to follow our forefathers.  
It is backed with another text, Zach. 1.4. Be not as your Fathers: your Fathers they heard me not, they harkened not unto me, saith the Lord. Be not you therefore as your fathers. Your fathers tempted me in the desert, Psal. 95.9. Will you also tempt me? Be not as your Fathers. Your Fathers were a stubborn and rebellious generation, Psal. 78.8. Will you also be stubborn, and rebellious? Be not as your Fathers. It is out of doubt; Our fathers must not be followed in evil. Yea, in matters of Religion we are not bound to follow our Fathers. If our fathers in their religion were blinded with superstition, and worshipped God otherwise, then they were directed by Gods holy word, we are not to follow them: yea, we are plainly charged, not to be as they were: Thus briefly of my Doctrine: In matters of religion we are not tied to follow our forefathers.  
This truth serveth for a reproof of jesuits, Priests, Recusants, and all other popishly affencted within this our country, who are so strangely devoted to the Religion whereof their fathers were, that they purposely shut their eyes against the light of Gods word,& will not suffer it to shine vpon them. To whom shall I liken them? They are like to certain Iewes, that dwell in Pathros in the land of Egypt: who when ieremy, in the name of the Lord, dehorted them from their idolatry, did as it were, defying the Prophet, thus protest, Ierem. 44 17. We will not harken unto thee; We will do what seemeth good to us, as we haue done, we, and our Fathers, our Kings, and our Princes, so will we do. We will burn incense to the queen of heaven, we will power out drink offerings unto her. For so long had we plenty of victuals, we were well, we saw no evil.  
do not our popelings in England now sing the same song? Call them 
Esa. 8.20.  ad l●gem,& ad testimonium: call them to the word of God. Their answer is ready at their tongues end: we will not harken to it: we will do, what seemeth good to us: as we haue done, we, and our Fathers, our Kings, and Princes before us, so will we do. We will persevere in the Religion professed by our Fathers, and reviued in queen Maries dayes. For so long, as that religion was on foot, we had plenty of victuals, we were well, we saw no evil.  
Wretched men and women, as many of you, as are thus wilfully addicted to the superstition of popery, take you heed, that the words of the Lord, Esa. 6.10 given in charge to the Prophet, to be conveyed to the Iewes, be not in every point appliable unto you: Make the heart of this people fat, make their ears heavy, shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears,& understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.  
Will the 
Ierem. 13.23.  Aethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his spots? Then will our countrymen of the popish sect change from the religion of their forefathers. Their firm resolution to live and die in the religion of their fathers, is made apparent by their 
An. D. 1603.  supplication, to the most puissant Prince, and orient Monarch, our gracious Lord, King james; one branch whereof, is this: We request no more favour at your Graces hands, then that we may securely profess that catholic religion, which all your happy predecessors professed, from Donaldus the first converted, unto your majesties peerless mother.  
To this purpose doth 
Preface to the King, before his Survey.  Dr Kellison recite unto the KING a long catalogue of his noble Predecessors, to move him, if possible, to embrace their Religion. But( God his holy name be blessed for it) all in vain.  
When Fridericke the IV. Elector of the Sacred roman Empire, and Count Palatine of the rhine, was by a certain Prince advised, for his religion to follow the example of his Father Lewis; his 
Polan. come. in Ezech. 20.  answer was: In religione non parentum, non maiorum exempla sequenda, said tantum voluntas Dei: In religion we are to follow, not the examples of our Parents, or our ancestors, but onely the will of God. And for this resolution he alleged the fore-cited testimony of the Lord out of the 20. of Ezechiel: walk ye not in the statutes of your fathers, neither observe their judgements, nor desile yourselves with their Idols. I am the Lord your God; walk ye in my statutes. I doubt not, but that our gracious sovereign, King james, hath ever had, and will haue a like answer in readiness, to stop the mouths of Kellison, and all others, who haue dared, or shall attempt, to move his royal majesty for his religion to be like his predecessors.  
God give our King the heart of 
josh. 24.15.  Ioshua; a heart steadfast and vnmoueable in the true service of the Lord our God. Though some of his Predecessors haue been deceived to fall down before the beast in the Apocalyps, and to worship his image, yet good God, so guide our King, and bless him with a religious people, that He and we, and his people, may now and evermore fear thee, and serve thee, in sincerity and truth, to the glory of thy great name, and the salvation of our own souls, through Iesus Christ our Lord.   

THE VII. lecture.  AMOS 2.5. 
But I will sand a fire vpon judah, and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem.  
THree former Sermons haue carried me past the preface, and the three first parts of this prophecy against judah: the fourth, which is the Commination, or denunciation of the judgements of the Lord against judah and jerusalem, remaineth to be the subject of this my present discourse.  
But I will sand a fire &c.  
These words are no strangers to you. You haue met with them five times in the first Chapter, and once before in this. Their exposition, their division, the Doctrines issuing from them, the uses and applications of the Doctrines, haue diuers times from out this place sounded in your ears. Yet now,( the order, observed by the Holy Spirit in delivering this prophecy, so requiring it) they are once more to be commended to your religious attentions.  
May it please you therefore to observe with me three circumstances. Quis, Quomodo,& Qui.  
1. Quis comminatur: Who it is, that threateneth to punish. It is the Lord. For, Thus saith the Lord, I will sand.  
2. Quomodo puniet: How, and by what means he will punish. The letter of my text is for fire. I will sand a fire.  
3. Qui puniendi: Who are to be punished: And they are the inhabitants of the kingdom of judah, and the chief city thereof, jerusalem. I will sand a fire vpon judah, and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem.  
In the precedent prophecies the comminations were against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, all Gentiles and strangers to God; but this commination against the Iewes, Gods own friends, and children. I will sand a fire vpon judah.]  
I] Who 
Amos 4.13.  form the mountaines, and create the wind, and declare to man what is his thought, and make the morning darkness, and tread vpon the high places of the earth; I will sand. I, who 
job 12.14.  break down, and it cannot be built again; who shuts up a man, and there can be no opening; I will sand. I, who 
Psal. 3.3.9.  speaks, and it is done, who commands, and it standeth fast. I will sand a fire vpon judah, and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem.  
This fire, which the Lord sendeth vpon judah, is not so much a fire properly taken, as a fire in a figurative understanding. It betokeneth that desolation, which was to betid the kingdom of judah, and the chiefest city thereof, jerusalem, from hostile invasion. I will sand a fire.  
This commination began to be fulfilled in the dayes of Zedechias, King of judah. The history is very memorable; and is briefly yet diligently described in the 2. Chron. 36. and in the 2. Kings 25. and Ierem. 39.& 52. In those places you may red, how 
2. King. 25.1.  Nabuchadnezzar King of Babylon, came against jerusalem, pitched against it, besieged it, took it. You may red how he 
vers. 6.  took King Zedechiah prisoner, slay his sons before his face, put out the Kings own eyes, bound him with brazen fetters, and carried him away to Babylon: you may red, how 
vers. 8.  Nebuzaradan, captain of the guard, and chief Marshall to the King of Babylon dealt with jerusalem. He 
2. Chro. 36.19. 2. Reg. 25.9.  broke down the wall thereof, and burnt with fire the house of the Lord, the Kings house, every great mans house, all the houses, and palaces there. Say now; did it not fall out to judah and jerusalem, according to this commination? I will sand a fire vpon judah and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem.  
This desolation being thus wrought vpon judah, and jerusalem, by the Chaldees; the Iewes, such as escaped from the sword, were carried away to Babylon, where they lived in servitude and bondage, to the Kings of Babylon for 
1. Chro. 36.21.  threescore, and ten yeares. This was that famous deportation, commonly styled the captivity of Babylon, from which unto CHRIST are numbered,( Matth. 1.) fourteen generations. When the yeares of this captivity were expired, and the monarchy of Persia was settled vpon King Cyrus, King Cyrus stirred up by the Lord, made a proclamation, whereby he permitted the Iewes to return into their country, and to 
E●ra 1.3.  re-edify the Temple of the Lord at jerusalem.  
The Iewes now returned from their captivity, wherein they lived threescore and ten yeares, without a King, without a Prince, without a sacrifice, without an Image, without an Ephod, without Teraphim,( as it is witnessed, Hos. 3.4.) could not but with much ioy, and great alacrity, under the government of their new Prince, 
Ezra 3.2.  Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, and their new High-Priest, Iesbuah, son of Iozadak, betake themselves to the building again of the Lords house in jerusalem.  
The building was begun; it proceeded; but was soon hindered, by the decree of 
Ezra 4.23, 24.& 1. Esar. 2.30.  Artaxerxes, King of Persia. So the work of the house of God at jerusalem, 
Ezra 4.24.& 1. Esar. 2.30.  ceased for some ten yeares, till the second year of the reign of Darius[ son of Histaspes] King of Persia: by whose gracious 
Ezra 6.8.  decree for the aduancement of the building, the building was again set on foot, and so diligently attended, that in the 
vers. 15.  sixth year of the reign of the same King, King Darius, it was finished; as it is delivered, Ezra 6.15. Thus was the house of God, the Temple of the Lord in jerusalem, after 
johan. 2.20.  46. yeares consummate, and dedicated.  
Now once again was the Lord of hostes jealous of jerusalem, and for Sion, 
Zach. 1.14.& 8.2.  with a great iealousy: now again were 
Zach. 8.4, 5.  old men, and old women, to dwell in jerusalem, and boyes, and girls to play in the streets thereof: now again was jerusalem to be called 
Zach. 8.3.  a city of truth, the mountain of the Lord of Hostes, the holy mountain; and the Iewes, which in former times were 
Zach. 8.13.  a curse among the heathen, now became a blessing: now again were they 
Zach 8.8.  the people of the Lord, and the Lord was their God, in truth, and in righteousness. Thus were the people of judah, through God his special goodness, blessed with ioy and enlargement: for so much we find registered, Zach. 8.  
What did the people of judah, for so many streams of Gods bounty derived vpon them, render unto the Lord their God? Did they( as meet was) 
Ps. 116.13, 14.  take up the cup of salvation? did they call vpon the name of the Lord? did they pay their vows unto the Lord? Did they, as they were commanded, Zach. 8.16? did they speak the truth every man to his neighbour? did they execute the iudgment of truth and peace within their gates? did they imagine no evil in their hearts, one against another? did they love no false oaths? What saith the Prophet malachi to this? He confesseth chap. 2.10, 11. that the people of judah dealt treacherously every one against his brother; that they violated the covenant of their fathers; that they committed abomination in jerusalem; that they profaned the holinesse of the Lord; that they married the daughters of a strange God: and chap. 3.5. that they were sorcerers, adulterers, false swearers, oppressors: and vers. 7. that even from the dayes of their fathers they departed from the ordinances of the Lord, and kept them not. Is not enough said against them? Then add yet further; they corrupted the Law, they contemned the gospel, they beheaded John Baptist, they crucified Christ, they persecuted the Apostles. Impiety of such an height and elevation could not but presage a fearful downfall.  
This their downfall is in a figure foretold by the Prophet zachary, chap. 11.1, 2. Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy Cedars. howl fir three, for the Cedar is fallen, howl ye oaks of Bashan, for the forest of the vintage is come down. What zachary doth in a figure, that doth Christ foretell in words proper and significant, Luk. 19.42. where beholding the city of jerusalem, and weeping over it he saith: The dayes shall come vpon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side: and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children with thee, and they shall not leave in thee one ston vpon another.  
This {αβγδ}, this utter desolation of the city jerusalem, foretold by zachary, and by Christ; by the one in a figure, by the other in plain terms, was brought vpon that stately city by Titus, son of Vespasian, after the incarnation of Christ, threescore and eleven yeares, as Genebrard, threescore and twelve, as Funccius, threescore and thirteen as 
Pedro Mexia in vitis Imperat. in Vespasiano pag. 126.  others, in the second year of the Emperor Vespasian. It was besieged for the space of five moneths: in which time there passed many assaults, many skirmishes, much slaughter, with wonderful obstinacy and resolution. The famine mean while afflicting the city was such, as no history can parallel.  
When their ordinary sustenance was spent, the flesh of 
Pedro Mexia ibid.  horses, asses, dogs, cats, rats, snakes, adders, seemed good unto their tastes. When this food failed, they were driven to eat even those things, which unreasonable creatures will not eat. 
famed impellebantur vt vel equorum lora,& suos baltheos,& calceos,& coria cemederent. Pontan. Bibliothec. Conc. Tom. 4. ad Domin. 10. Trinit.  Of their leather; leather bridles, leather girdles, leather shoes, and the like, they made for themselves meate. 
famed impellebantur vt comederent sterc●ra beum,& quodcunque stercus reperi●batur, illius partum pendus quat●or nummis ve●debatur. Pont. ibid.  ox dung was a precious dish unto them. Purgamenta olerum, the shreddings of pot-hearbs cast out, trodden under foot, and withered, were taken up again for nourishment. Miserabilis cibus, esca lachrymabilis: Here was miserable meat, 
Egesippus de exeraio Hieros●lym. lib. 5. c. 18.  lamentable food, yet would the child 
Raprebant parentibus filii, parentes filijs,& de ipsis fancibus cib●● proferebatur. Egesip. ibid.  snatch it from his parent, and the parent from his child, even from out his jaws. Plerisque etiam vomitus esca fuit, saith Egesippus; some to prolong their lives would eat up that, which others had vomited.  
Among many other accidents in this famine at jerusalem, one is so memorable, that I cannot well pass it over. 
De bello judaico lib. 7. cap. 18.  Iosephus, an eye-witnes of this their misery, tells us of a woman, a mother, mary, Eleazars daughter, who took from her own breasts, her own child, a harmless suckling, a silly infant, did kill it, and did eat thereof. My author saith; that this unnatural mother took her tender babe, as it was sucking, from her breast, and thus spake unto it. 
Miserum te, infans in bello,& famed,& seditione, cvi te seruauero?  little infant, poor wretch, in war, in famine, in sedition, for whom shall I preserve thee? for whom shall I save thee alive? If thou live, thou must be a slave to the Romans: but famine prevents thy servitude; yea and the mutinous Iewes are more cruel, than either the Romans, or the famine Be thou therefore mihi cibus, seditiosis furia, humanae vitae fabula: Be thou meate to me, a fury to the mutinous, and even a mock of the life of man. When shee had thus spoken, she imbrued her hands in the blood of her own son; she boiled the dead body, and eat the one half: the remainder shee reserved for another repast.  
The mutinous Iewes drawn by the 
Contaminatissimi nidoris odour capti.  sent and savour of this meate, broke into this womans house: they threatened to kill her, unless shee would show them, where her meate was laid. Shee  told them, shee had meat indeed, and had reserved it for herself; notwithstanding, sith they so urged her, shee would show it to them. So shee brought them to the relics of her son. At the sight thereof, they shrunk back with fear, horror, and astonishment. Then the mother, merciless mother, with great boldness said thus unto them: This meate, which you see, is indeed part of my own son: it was my 
Facinus meum.  deed to kill it: eat ye of it: for I haue eaten. Will you be more tender than a woman? more pitiful than a mother? eat ye of it: I haue eaten. If you will not eat it, it shall remain for me his mother. A mother! No mother, but a monster shee was, that could act such a prodigy.  
Well: What with the extremity of this famine, what with the fury of the sword, what with sickness during the time of this war against jerusalem, there 
See Pedro M●xi a in the life f●… Ve●pa ian.  perished in jerusalem, and the province adjoining, as 
In Chr. ●●ic. ad An. Do. 73.  Eusebius, 
Lib. 7. cap. 9. Pag. 594.  Orosius, and 
C●r●ectus& Suctonias apud O●osiam loco citato.  other Authors affirm, six hundred thousand men able to bear arms. But if we will beleeue 
De bello Iudaie lib. 7. cap. 17. Vndecies centum millia.& Euseb. Histor. Ec●les. lib. 3. cap. 7.  Iosephus, a jew, and present at that war, there died eleven hundred thousand, or a million, and one hundred thousand. And Iosephus his report is subscribed unto by 
Apud Lipsium n●tis ad Tacitum lib. 5. pag. 539.  Zonaras and Iornardes.  
Besides these now dead famed, morbo, ferro, partly by famine, partly by sickness, partly by the sword, there were taken captive to the number of 
Ios●ph. ubi supra. Cassiodor chronic. Tit●s filtus Vesp●siant judea cap tacentum millia capi●iterum publi●● v●n●ndedit. abbess V●sperg. Chr●nic. ad. An 29. Chr. 73.  97. thousand, or as q some one hundred thousand, sold, and dispersed in the wide world.  
The Iewes thus dead, and scattered, what became of their glorious city jerusalem? The holy Temple there was burnt, their strong and high walls were thrown down; all the city became wast and desolate, and so it remaines to this day. Certainly it is befallen judah and jerusalem, according to this commination in my text: I will sand a fire vpon judah, and it shall devour the palaces of jerusalem. Thus far haue you the words of my text expounded. Now to the doctrine.  
You haue heard Gods iudgments against the kingdom of judah, and the glorious city jerusalem denounced in the same words, as his judgements were against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites. The Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, were aliens from the Common wealth of Israell, they were strangers from the covenant of promise; they had no hope, they were without God in the world. But these Iewes, these Inhibitants of judah and jerusalem, were of the Common wealth of Israel: God made his covenant with them; they were not without hope; they were the people of the Lord, and the Lord was their God: yet because they sinned against the Lord, as the forenamed Gentiles did, the Lord was pleased to deal with them, as with the Gentiles; even to sand a fire vpon judah, which hath long since devoured the palaces of jerusalem. The doctrine which from hence I commend unto you, is; whosoever do imitate the Heathen in their impieties, they are in the Lords account no better then the Heathen, and shall be punished as the Heathen.  
God is absolutely unpartial both in mercy, and iudgement, {αβγδ}, without respect of persons, he iudgeth according to every mans work, 1. Pet. 1.17. jew or gentle, its not material; if they be obedient, they shall live and flourish; if they be rebellious, they shall die& perish. Sundry other 
Deut. 10.17. 2. Chro. 19.7. job 34.19. Esai. 11.3. Mat. 22.16. Mar. 12.14. luke. 20.21. Act. 10.34. Rom. 2.11. Galat. 2.6. Eqhes. 6.9. Coloss. 3.25.  places there are in both Testaments, old and new, which I might allege to show, that with God there is no respect of persons.  
By Persons I mean, not the substance of man, or man himself, but his outward quality or condition; as country, sex, parentage, wealth, poverty, nobility, wisdom, learning, and the like. According to these, God in iudgement respecteth no man. whosoever he be, jew, or gentle, male, or female, poor and rich, bond or free, learned, or unlearned, that feareth God, and worketh righteousness, he is accepted with God, Act. 10.35. but let jew, or gentle, male, or female, poor or rich, bond or free, the learned or unlearned, work wickedness before the Lord, and he shalbe without partiality punished, job 34.19.  
Such hath ever been the practise of the Lord. Lazarus his poverty did not hinder him from salvation, neither did the rich mans abundance free him from damnation. It was no impeachment to Cornelius, that he was a gentle, nor immunity to Iudas, that he was a jew; Saules throne could not shield him from the wrath of God, neither did Dauids sheepfolds avert from him the blessings of God; Esau was the elder brother, yet God hated him, jacob was the younger, yet God loved him. never did any perish in obedience, never did any prosper in rebellion. certainly God hath no respect of any mans person, for his outward estate, quality, or condition. God spared not the Angels for their excellency, nor the old world for their multitude; nor Saul for his parsonage, nor absalon for his beauty, nor the Iewes for their prerogative, nor jerusalem for her goodly buildings. From this vnpartialitie of God in his works of iustice, my proposition stands good, whosoever do imitate the Heathen in their impieties, are in the Lords account no better, then the Heathen, and shall be punished as the Heathen.  
Will you a reason hereof? It is because the Lord takes impiety for impiety wheresoever he finds it, and for such doth punish it. And he finds it every where. For the eyes of the Lord 
2. Chron. 16.9.  run to and fro throughout the whole earth, and are in 
Prou. 15.3.  every place to behold as well the evil, as the good. His eyes are 
Iere. 16.17.  vpon all our ways; he seeth 
job 34.21.  all our goings, he 
job 31.4.  counteth all our steps, no iniquity is 
Iere. 16.17.  hide from him. This doth the Prophet ieremy, Chap. 32.19. wall express; Thine eyes, O Lord, are open vpon all the ways of the sons of men, to give every one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.  
This the very ethnics, guided onely by Natures light, haue acknowledged. Sybilla in her Oracles could say, {αβγδ}, The almighty and invisible God, he onely seeth all things, Hesiod could say, {αβγδ}, God hath an All-seeing eye. Plautus could say, 
Capteivi.  Est profecto Deus, qui, quae nos gerimus, auditque& videt; doubtless, there is a God, who both heareth and seeth whatsoever we do. And 
Metamorph. lib. 13.  Ovid could say, Aspiciunt oculis superimortalia iust●s: There is a God above, who hath just eyes, beholdeth all the doings of mortal men. 
Thales interregatu●an furta h●minum Deos fallerent: Nec cogi●ata, inq●it. Valer. Mar. lib. 7 cap. 2.& Dioge. Laert. lib. 1. in Thal 5.  Thales of Miletum, the wisest of the seven, being asked, whether mens evil deeds could be kept close from God! No, said he, nor their evil thoughts. The Hieroglyphicke, the mystical, or enigmatical letter whereby the Egyptians would haue God to be understood, was an eye. And why so? But as 
Hier●glyph. lib. 33.  Pierius saith, because Deus ille optimus maximus, the great God of heaven, is mundi oculus, the eye of the world.  
It may be such was the conceit of that ancient 
Augustin.  Father, who said of God, that he was totus oculus; wholly an eye? He gives his reason, quia omnia videt; because he feeth all things. All things are to the eyes of God {αβγδ} naked and opened[ seen as well within as without.] So saith the Author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. 4.13. All the impieties of man, in dead, word, or thought, are manifest unto the Lord: he seeth them all, and for impieties will punish them.  
Well saith 
De constantiâ lib. 2. cap. 16.  Lypsius: Culpae comes, iustissimè poena semper est; pain is always the companion of a fault. And 
Ibid. cap. 14.  again, Cognatum immo innatum omni sceleri, sceleris supplicium; every wickedness brings a punishment with it. As the work is, so is the pay; if the one be ready, the other is present. 
Lipsius de constant. lib. 2, c. 13.  never did any man foster within his breast a crime, but vengeance was vpon his back for it. If there be impiety, there cannot be impunity. witness the blessed Apostle S. james, chap. 1.15. sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. And S. Paul, Rom. 6.23. The wages of sin is death. Many are the texts of holy Scripture, which I might allege to this purpose. I will for this present trouble you but with one. It is, Psal. 34.16. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.  
From these now-touched considerations( first that almighty God in iudgement accepteth no persons; then, that his Al-seeing eye beholdeth whatsoever impiety is done, not onely in our works and words, but also in our most retired thoughts; thirdly, that in iustice every impiety is to receive a due punishment) from these considerations my position stands firm and vnmoueable.  whosoever do imitate the Heathen in their impieties, they are in the Lords account no better then the Heathen, and shall be punished as the Heathen. 
Here let all good Christians be admonished, with their greatest carefulness to look unto their ways, that they walk not in the by-paths of sin, to imitate the Heathen in their impieties Qui attrahit ad se culpam, non potest effugera poenam, saith 
Comment. in Hebr. 12.  Hugo Cardinalis. think not that thy prerogative of being a Christian can be a shield unto thee. Christianus 
August enchir. ad Laurent. ca. 5.  nomine, non opere, A Christian in name not in dead, may be called a Christian, but is no Christian. 
Bernard Sentent.  Christianus as he is haeres nominis Christi, so must he be imitator sanctitatis: A Christian is heir to the name of Christ, and therefore must be a follower of Christ in holinesse. A Christian( saith S. Austine, if he be the Author of the book 
Lib. 1. cap. 6.  de vita Christianâ) A Christian is a name of iustice, of goodness, of integrity, of patience, of chastity, of prudence, of humility, of courtesy, of innocency, of piety. A Christian is he, who is a follower of Christ, who is holy, innocent, undefiled, unspotted, in whose breast there is no wickedness; who hurts no man, but helpeth all. He that can truly say: I hate not mine enemies, I do good to them that hurt me, I pray for them that persecute me, I do wrong to no body, I live justly with all men, hic Christianus est, he is a Christian.  
But, if in the profession of christianity, a man lives the life of a Heathen, the name of a Christian shall do him no pleasure: If he take delight in the 
Galat. 5.19.  works of the flesh, in adultery, fornication, uncleanness, laciuiousnesse, drunkenness, hatred, variance, wrath, strife, or any like sin, God will forsake him, the holy Angels will fly him, the blessed Saints will detest him: the Reprobate shall bee his company, the devils his fellowes, hell his inheritance, his soul a nest of scorpions, his body a dungeon of foul spirits; and at last both body and soul shal eternally burn in fire unquenchable.  
Wherefore( dearly beloved) suffer a word of exhortation. 
Ecclus. 21.1.2.3  Haue you sinned? do so no more. Flee from sin as from the face of a Serpent. For if you come too near it, it will bite you: the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a lion, slaying the souls of men. So saith Ecclus chap. 21.2. Flee from sin as from the face of a Serpent. sin? Its like a leaven that will leaven the whole lump: Its like a scab, that will infect the whole flock: Its like a flaming fire, that will burn the whole house: its like a wild Horse, that will cast his rider into hell; its like a wild gourd, that will poison the whole pot: its like a plague, that will destroy the whole city; its like a 
Ecclus. 21.3.  two edged sword, the wounds thereof cannot be healed. fly therefore from sin, as from the face of a Serpent. And ever remember what befell judah and jerusalem for their sins. They despised the Law of the Lord, they kept not his commandments, their lies caused them to err, after which their fathers walked; therefore hath the Lord sent a fire vpon judah, which hath devoured the palaces of jerusalem.  
Thus far of my first doctrine. A second followeth.  
I take it from the condition of jerusalem. She had faire appellations. She was called the Virgin, and the daughter of judah. Lament. 1.15. The daughter of Sion. ver. 6. the city, that was great among the nations, and a Princes among the provinces. ver. 1. The holy city. Mat. 4.5. The city of the great King. Mat. 5.35. The Lord he choose it, he desired it for his habitation, he said of it: This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I haue a delight therein, Psal. 132.14. And yet notwithstanding, jerusalem is razed from the foundation, shee is utterly destroyed. It is befallen her according to this commination in my text, I will sand a fire vpon judah, which shall devour the palaces of jerusalem. My doctrine is; God will severely punish sin, even in his dearest children.  
This S. Peter avoweth, 1. Epistle 4.17. saying: Iudgement must begin at the house of God, His meaning is, that the punishment and chastisement of sins beginneth with the Saints and seruants of God, in whom as it were in a house, or Temple God dwelleth. If they who are most familiar with us, do sin against us, we fret and grow discontented. The most familiar with God are his faithful ones, who fill the house of God, which is his Church. If these sin against God, can God take it well? He cannot. He will punish even his faithful ones. So saith St Austine, Epist. 122. Ad victorianum; Propter peccata sua etiam sancti flagellantur, the very Saints of God are scourged for their sins. You see my doctrine confirmed; God will severely punish sin even in his dearest children.  
The reason is given by S. Austine in his book of fifty Homilies, Homil. 21. because Iustitia est, vt puniat peccatum, it is a part of Gods iustice to punish sin, a part of his active iustice; So do the schools call the Iustice of God, by which he iudgeth and punisheth offenders. Of this Iustice of God it is said in our English liturgy: It belongeth to God justly to punish sins. Yea, so doth it belong to God, that God is not just, unless he punish sin.  
The use of this doctrine is urged to us by S. Pet. 1. Epist. Chap. 4. vers. 17.18. If God will severely punish his own children for their sins; If iudgement must begin at the house of God; what shall become of strange children, children of Belial? What shall be the end of them, that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?  
To this purpose is that of our blessed saviour Iesus Christ Luk. 23.31. If they do these things to a green three, what shall be done to the dry? It is, as if he had said more plainly thus; If God, my Father, suffer me, who am innocent and without sin, who am like a green and a fruitful three, so grievously to be afflicted, and to be hewn down, as if I were a dry three, how much more will he suffer you, who are sinful, and rightly compared to dry and barren trees, to be afflicted, and to be hewn down? The like argument doth the Lord bring against Edom. Ierem. 49.12. Behold they whose iudgement, was not to drink of the cup, haue assuredly drunken, and shalt thou altogether go unpunished? Thou shalt go unpunished, but thou shalt surely drink of it.  
What shall I more say? Let us diligently weigh, what hath already been said. Lay we it to our souls and consciences. We haue seen, that the infinite Iustice of God repayeth vengeance for sin, even vpon the heads of his dearest children. The inhabitants of judah, Gods inheritance, great jerusalem, the city of God, the glorious temple there, the house of God, for sins pollution haue been brought to destruction.  
Christ himself, the onely begotten son of God, the well-beloued son of God, he in whom alone God is well pleased, because he 
2. Cor. 5.21.  served with our sins, and was 
Esai. 53.5.  made sin for us, he was wounded for our transgressions; he was broken for our iniquities; his back was loaden with stripes, his head with shornes, his body with crossing, his soul with cursing.  
Thus sweet saviour hast thou suffered for our rebellions, for our transgressions, for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was vpon thee, and with thy stripes we are healed. It fell out happily for us( beloved) that Christ, who knew no sin, should be made sin for us, that we, who bore about with us, a 
Rom. 6.6.  body of sin, might be made the righteousness of God in him. Being thus by Christ reconciled to God, and washed, and cleansed from our sins through his precious blood, take we heed, that it happen not to us 
2. Pet. 2.22.  according to the true proverb: The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire. Let us not henceforth be 
Rom. 6.6.  seruants unto sin; let us not yield our members as 
Ver. 13.  instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Why should we 
Heb. 6.6.  crucify to ourselves the sin of God afresh, and put him to an open shane? Let us rather yield ourselves, our souls, and our bodies, seruants unto God; for so, shall our 
Rom. 6.22.  fruit be in holinesse, and our end everlasting life. So be it.   

THE VIII. lecture.  AMOS. 2.6, 7, 8. 
Thus saith the Lord, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.  
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; and turn aside the way of the meek, and a man and his father will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy Name.  
And they lay themselves down vpon clothes laid to pledge, by every altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.  
FOr Israels sake, Amos the peculiar Prophet of Israel, hath hitherto made known unto Israel, what God his pleasure was, concerning their neighbour-Nations. The judgements of God against the Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites were first manifested: then followed his iudgments against judah. These might haue served Israel in stead of so many mirrors, or looking glasses, wherein they might haue beholded the judgements, that hung over their heads also.  
From the judgements of God denounced to foreign nations, the people of Israel might thus within themselves haue reasoned: Our God! All his 
Deut. 32.4.  ways are iudgement; he is a God of truth, without iniquity; just and right is he. The Syrians, the Philistines, the Tyrians, the Edomites, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, must they, for their misdoings, be punished? How then shall we escape? They sillie people, never knew the holy will of God; and yet, must they be measured with the line of desolation? What then shall be the portion of our cup, who knowing Gods holy will, haue not regarded it.  
again, from the judgements of God pronounced against judah, the people of Israel might thus within themselves haue argued: God 
Psal. 9.7.  ministereth his judgements in uprightness. He threateneth destruction to our brethren, the people of judah: that people, whom all that saw them, acknowledged to be the 
Esa. 61.9.  blessed seed of the Lord; that people, that was the 
Esa. 5.7.  plant of the Lords pleasures; that people, with whom God placed his 
Psal. 114.2.  sanctuary; vpon that people will the Lord sand a fire, to devour them? What then shall be the end of us? They our brethren of judah, haue preserved among them Religion, the worship and fear of the Lord, in greater purity then we haue done; and yet will the Lord sand a fire vpon them, to devour them? Certainly, our iudgement cannot be far off.  
Amos having thus prepared his auditors the Israelites, to attention, maketh no longer delay; but beginneth to deliver his message to them, in the words, which I haue now red unto you: For three transgressions of Israell and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof, &c. Herein, for our more direct proceeding, may it please you to observe with me, 

1. Autoritatem sermonis; The authority of this prophecy: Thus saith the Lord.  
2. Sermonem ipsum; The prophecy itself: For three transgressions of Israel, &c.    
In the prophecy, as far as this Chapter leadeth us, we haue, 

1. Reprehensionem; A reproof of Israel for sin, vers. 6, 7, 8.  
2. Enumerationem; A recital of the Benefits, which God had heaped vpon Israel, vers. 9.10.11.  
3. Exprobrationem; A twitting of Israel with their vnthankefulnesse, vers. 12.  
4. Comminationem; A threatening of punishment to befall Israel for their sins, ver. 13. to the end of the Chapter.    
The Reprehension is first; and first by us to be considered. In it we may note, 

1. A general accusation of Israel: For three transgressions of Israel, and for four.  
2. A protestation of almighty God against them: I will not turn away the punishment thereof.  
3. A rehearsal of some grievous sins, which made a separation between God and Israel: Because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes; and so forward to the end of the eyghth verse.    
You haue the division of my Text. Now followeth the exposition. The first thing we meet with, is, Autoritas sermonis, the authority of this prophecy.  
Thus saith the Lord] jehovah. Now the thirteenth time is this great Name of God, jehovah, offered to our devoutest meditations. We met with it in the first chapter of this book nine times; and thrice before in this: and yet, by this name jehovah, is not God known to vs. We know him by the name of a strong, omnipotent, and All-sufficient God, but by his Name, jehovah, we know him not. Abraham, Isaac,& jacob, by this Name knew him not: it is so recorded, Exod. 6.3. Nor can we by this Name know him. For this Name is a Name of Essence. It designeth God unto us, not by any effect of his, but by his Essence: and who ever knew the Essence of God? who was ever able to define it?  
The 
Pet. Galatinus de arcanis Cathol. verit. lib. 2. cap. 1.  schoolmen say, there are three things whereof they can give no definition: One is, that first matter, out of which all things were produced: The second is, sin, that hath destroyed all: The third is, God, who preserveth all. The first, which is the Philosophers Materia prima, they define not obsummam informitatem, because it is without all form: The second, which is mans bane, sin, they define not obsummam deformitatem, for its exceeding deformity: The third, even God, the prime cause of all his creatures, they define not ob summam formositatem, for his transcendent beauty. It pleaseth the Schoolmen sometimes thus to play with words. For the matter they are in the right.  
It is true: 
Aquin. par. 1. qu: 1. art. 7. ad 1 m.  De deo non possumus scire, Quid est: We cannot attain to so great a measure of the knowledge of God, as to define what he is. When the Poet 
Cic. de Nat. Deorum. lib. 1.  Simonides was asked of K. Hiero, what God is? He wisely for answer desired one dayes respite, after that two, then four; still he doubled his number: at last; of his delay he gave this for a reason: Quanto diutiùs considero, tanto mihi res videtur obscurior; the more I consider of this matter, the more obscure it seemeth unto me. Cotta in 
Ibid.  tully said not amiss, Quid non sit Deus, citiùs quàm quid sit, dixerim; I can with more ease tell, what God is not, then what he is. This goeth for a truth in the schools. 
Aquin. par. 1. qu: 3. in principio  De Deoscire non possumus quid sit, said quid non sit: we cannot know of God what he is; but what he is not. So saith Saint 
In psal. 85.  Augustine; Facilius dicimus quid non sit, quam quid sit Deus; We can more easily say, what God is not, then what he is.  
And what is he not? The same father in his 23. Tract vpon the gospel of S. John will tell you: Non est Deus corpus, non terra, non coelum, non luna, non Sol, non Stellae, non corporalia ista. God is not a body, he is not the earth, he is not the heaven, he is not the moon, he is not the sun, he is not the stars, he is not any of these corporal things.  
From hence sprung those negative attributes of God, which we meet with, either in the sacred volumes of the New Testament, or in the writings of the ancient Fathers: from hence is God said to be 
1. Tim. 1.17.  immortal, invisible, 
Rom. 1.23.  uncorruptible, 
Bernard serm. 6. Supra Cantica.  incorporeal, 
Aug. de verb. Apostoli. Serm. 1.  ineffable, inestimable, incomprehensible, infinite, 
Bernard paruorum sermonum serm. 51.  immense, vndiuided, unvariable, unchangeable. All these show unto us, not what God is, but what he is not. And whosoever thus thinketh of God, as he is set forth in these his negative appellations, though hereby he cannot altogether find out what God is, piè tamen cavet, quantum potest, aliquid de eo sentire, quod non sit, saith S. Austine de Trin lib. 3. cap. 1. yet his religious care is, to conceive somewhat of God, that he is not.  
You see, it is easier for us to say, what God is not, then what he is: easier for us to conceive of him by his negative attributes, then by his affirmative. Yet by his affirmative attributes are we brought to some knowledge of God. For hereby we know, that he is the 
Gen. 21.33.  everlasting God, the 
Psal. 83.18.  most high God, the 
Rom 16.27.  onely wise God; that he is 
Gen. 17.1.  omnipotent, and 
Ap●c. 15.4.  holy, and 
Deut. 32.4.  just, and 
Exod. 34.6.  merciful, and gracious, and long-suffering, and good, and true.  
whatsoever is verified of God in either sort of his Attributes; affirmative or negative, it is all comprised in this one name of God in my text; his name jehovah. For this name jehovah, is the name of the Essence of God: and whatsoever is in God, it is his Essence.  
It was one of 
De Deo Not. ad Disp. 3 p. 209  Vorstius his foul errors to deny the truth of that vulgarly received axiom: Nullum omnino in Deo accidence esse. It is simply and every way true: There is no accident at all in God. God he is primum ens, his being is from all eternity; he is forma simplex, a pure form, no subject; there is nothing in God, which is not God; there is nothing in God really diverse from the essence of God; there is nothing in God obnoxious to imperfection, separation, or change; therefore it followeth against Vorstius, there is no accident at all in God. God he is Iehouah: he is absolutely and totally essence.  
Thus saith Iehouah] By this name Iehouah, we are taught three things.  
First, that God of himself, and through himself, hath always been, now is and ever shall be. So is this name by a Periphrasis expounded, revel. 1.4. Grace be unto you, and peace from him, which is, which was, and which is to come. And, revel. 16.5. Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be. This exposition of this name Iehou●h. is given by 
Str●mat. lib. 5.  Clemens Alexandrinus, and 
In Exod. qu. 15& Epist. divinorum dogmatum.  Theodoretus Cyrensis, that Iehouah, for its signification is, {αβγδ}, He that is.  
Secondly, we are taught by this name Iehouah, that the essence, or being of all things created is from God; according to that, Acts 17.28. In him we live, and move, and haue our being; and that, Rom. 11.36. Of him, and through him, and to him are all things.  
Thirdly, we are taught by this name Iehouah, that God doth give Esse real, a real being to his promises& threatenings: that he is veracissimus and constantissimus, most true and most constant, in doing whatsoever he hath promised or threatened.  
This consideration of this great Name, Iehouah, may yield much comfort to all the Elect of God, and his faithful ones. Though they seem to 
Esa. 51.17.  drink the dregs of the cup of trembling, and to be even swallowed up of 
Rom. 8.35, 36  tribulation, of distress, of persecution, of famine, of nakedness, of peril, of the sword; though they be as killed all the day long, and accounted as sheep for the slaughter; yet hereby, they may be well assured, that all the good things promised to them in the holy word of God shall in their due time be accomplished. For God who hath promised, he is the Lord, he is Iehouah.  
again this consideration of this great name Iehouah, may strike a terror into the hearts of the reprobate and vnbeleeuers. They 
Psal. 73.12.  prosper in this world, they increase in riches, they haue more then heart can wish, their eyes stand out with fatness, they are clothed with violence, as with a garment, they are compassed with pride, as with a chain, they are not in trouble, they are not plagued like other men: yet may they hereby bee assured, that all the evil threatened to them in the holy word of God, shall in due time overtake them. For God, who hath threatened he is the Lord, he is Iehouah.  
Thus saith the Lord] Iehouah. Sundry other observations vpon these verv words in so many syllables delivered five times in the first chap●●r of this book, and twice before in this second chapter, haue heretofore been commended to your Christian considerations. They are in part published to your view: therefore I need not spend time in repetition of them. By this which hath this time been spoken, you see whence this prophesy against Israel hath its authority. The authority of it, is from the Lord, Iehouah: whom once to name unto you, should bee enough to procure your most religious attentions. proceed wee therefore to the prophesy itself.  
The first thing therein is the Accusation of Israel in a generality, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four.]  
By Israel here we are to understand those ten tribes of Israel, who after King Salomons death, forsook the Kings son Rehoboam, and subjecteth themselves to the rule of Iereboam, son of Nebat. Those ten tribes, from the time of that rent, were commonly called the kingdom of Israel. These in Holy Scripture are called sometime 
Hos. 10.15.  Bethel, sometime 
Hos. 10.5.  bethaven, sometime 
Amos 3.9.  Samaria, sometime 
Hos. 2.22.  Iesreel, sometime 
Amos 5.6.  joseph, sometime 
Hos. 10.11.  Ephraim, sometime 
Hos. 12 2.  jacob, sometime 
Hos. 10.1.  Israel. Israel is, their most common name, and their name in my text.  
For three transgressions of Israel, and for four] diverse are the opinions concerning these four transgressions of Israel. Nicolaus de Lyra saith, their first transgression was, their 
Gen. 37.26.  selling of joseph; the second, their 
Exod. 32.4.  worshipping of the calf; the third, their 
1 King. 12.16.  forsaking of david; the fourth, their selling of Christ. Paulus de Palatio saith, the first transgression was, their defection from the house of david, and the King of judah; the second, their defection from the worship of God, to the worship of Idols; the third, their defection from the law of Moses, which was Gods law; the fourth, their defection from the law of nature, which is the light of Gods countenance sealed in our hearts. 
Domini. 8. post Trin. Con. 1.  Abraham Bronius saith, the first of these transgressions was their idolatry; the second, the slaughter of the Prophets; the third, the murder of Christ; the fourth, their contempt. They made a trade of transgressing. These expositions seem to bee far fetched. Albertus Magnus finds them nearer hand, in the letter of my text. The first transgression he will haue to be, the selling of the just; the second, the oppression of the poor; the third, their perverting the way of the meek; the fourth, the violation of matrimony. These are but so many descants vpon the words of my text, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four.  
Three and four make seven. It seemeth then, that Israel transgressed against God seven times. seven times! It is plain by Scripture, that they transgressed Saepiùs ac saepiùs, as Mercerus speaketh, many a time& oft: yea, from the division of their kingdom under jeroboam, son of Nebat, their first King, unto Hoshea, son of Elah, their last King, they did nothing but transgress against the Lord their God, what by Idolatry, and what by other wickednesses. here then, by three and four, which make seven, we are to understand many.  
The rule holds true in divinity: A finite number is oftentimes put for an infinite. S. Austin hath observed it, lib. 3. de doctrina Christi, cap. 35. I thus explicate it. In Leuit. 26.18. to the rebellious and disobedient, thus saith the Lord: If ye will not yet, for all this, harken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. seven times more, that is, many times more, will I punish you. Hannah in her song, 1 Sam. 2.5. hath this strain; The barren hath born seven children. By seven there, you are to understand many: Shee that was barren, hath born many children. david in Psal. 119.164. saith; seven times a day do I praise thee. seven times, that is, many times; as if had said, Semper laus eius in ore meo, All the day long am I in the praises of my God. Salomon in Prou. 26, 25. adviseth us not to beleeue the gracious words of an enemy, because, saith he, there are in his heart seven abominations. seven abominations, that is, many abominations, many sly purposes lye hidden in the heart of an enemy. What need more examples? By these few the phrase in my text is plain. The seven transgressions of Israel( for three& four are seven) the seven transgressions of Israel, are the many transgressions of Israel. In this phrase then doth the Lord object unto Israel innumera peccata, the multitude of their sins. For which he is unwilling any longer to forbear them: whereupon followeth his protestation against them, I will not turn away the punishment thereof.  
For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof] The meaning is; if once, if twice, yea, if a third time only the Israelites had offended me with the grievousness of their transgressions, I could haue tolerated them, and would not haue cast them from out my sight: but now; whereas a fourth time, s●piùs& saepiùs, again and again, they relapse and fall back to their impieties, and with a shameless forehead, make no end of sinning; certa stat sententia, I am resolved, no more to recall them to my favour, but to leave them to themselves: that obstinate and indurate, as they are, in the multitude of their abominations, wherein they haue so deeply plunged themselves, they may suddenly bee cast into the pit of destruction.  
Now from these two first parts of this prophesy, the general accusation of Israel for sin, and the Lords protestation against them for the same, ariseth this lesson, God is ever in open hostility with sinners.  
A sinner ouer-valuing the vanities wherein his delight is placed, first neglecteth God, then hateth him. Thus affencted, he would, if possible, disarm God of his authority, pull his power from him, and cast him out of his state. he could wish, there were no immortality of the soul, no account to be made of our actions, no reward, no reuenge, no judge to punish. So willing is he to bathe himself in the imaginary contentment and pleasures of sin. I can put no great difference between this sinner and an Atheist. The Atheist thinketh, there is no God; this sinner wisheth, there were no God.  
Now God, who feeleth the pulse of this sinners heart, and searcheth his inmost thoughts,& seeth his traitorous affection, can he be at peace with him? King Ioram said to jehu, 2 King. 9.22. Is it peace jehu? jehu answered, what peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother jezabel, and her witch-crafts are so many? This sinner happily will look to be at peace with God: but he is soon answered, What hast thou to do with peace? What peace with God dost thou look for, so long as thou castest away his fear, and liest wallowing in thy sins?  
I must grant it: God is the God of peace; the Scripture saith it more then once, Rom. 15.33, and chap. 16.20. and in 
2 Cor. 13.11. Phil. 4.9. 1 Thess. 5.23. 2 Thess. 3.16. Hebr. 13.20.  other places. But what is this to the sinner? Nothing at all. For the same Scripture will assure him, there is no peace to him; Esai 48.22. and 57.12. To the sinner the Lord will show himself, quasi bellator fortis, as he is called, Ierem. 20.11. he will show himself as a stout warrior. And for such he is described, Deut. 32.41. There thus saith the Lord concerning sinners: If I whet my glittering sword, and mine hand take hold on iudgement, I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make mine arrows drunk with their blood, and my sword shall devour their flesh? To like purpose is that, which we red of Gods dealing with sinners, Psal. 7.12. He whets his sword, he bends his bow, and makes it ready, he prepareth for them the instruments of death, he ordaineth his arrows against them. So haue you my doctrine established, God is ever in open hostility with sinners.  
Is God ever in open hostility with sinners? Consider this all ye that fear God; remember it all ye, that bear the image of the Almighty. The sinner, that is overtaken with three transgressions, and with four, that lieth in his sins, and walloweth in his iniquities, his case is fearful, his estate lamentable. God proclaimeth against him open war, most certain destruction, and will not turn away his punishments from him. Let it( beloved) rouse us up from that sleep of sin, wherein we haue too long restend. All the good gifts, and benefits of God, which God hath bestowed vpon us for our good, we haue abused to sin. God hath given us understanding to meditate vpon his holy laws, but our understanding we haue perverted to the transgression of his holy laws. God hath given us the will to love him above all things, and our neighbours, as ourselves; but we haue diverted our will to the contempt of God, and the hate of our neighbours. God hath given us the tongue to power forth his praises, but our tongues we haue defiled with impure oaths, and ugly blasphemies. God hath given us hands for instruments to feed the poor, and to defend them, but the strength of our hands we haue wasted in cruelty and rapine. In a word, God hath given us our souls, and our bodies, all the faculties of the one, all the members of the other, all, to do him service; but we haue employed all to his dishonour.  
dearly beloved, what shall we do? The best aduise I can give, is that, which Christ giveth his Spouse in the Canticles, chap. 6.13. return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may behold thee. I thus paraphrase it: return, O my Spouse, daughter of jerusalem return, return to me, return to thyself, return to thy former feeling of my Grace, return, that both myself and all the company of Angels, may see thee, and rejoice in thee.  
This Spouse of Christ is the mother of us all, the holy catholic Church, in whose bosom we are nourished. Take we then the aduise given unto her, for an aduise unto ourselves. return we from our evil ways, return we from our three and four transgressions, return we from all our sins, return we to the Lord our God, that both he and all the company of Angels may see us, and rejoice in vs. Mutet vitam, qui vult accipere vitam, saith S. Augustine Serm. 1. de tempore: if wee will enjoy the blessed life of heaven, we must change our wicked life on earth. If we will not change it, but will still bear about us whorish looks, the euish faces, proud hearts, covetous thoughts, malicious mindes, lustful eyes, slandering tongues, bloody hands, and drunken desires( from which God almighty defend us all) our portion must bee the accursed death of Hell. God will not turn away his punishments from us  
Thus far of the general accusation of Israel, and the Lords protestation against them; in those words, For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. It followeth, Because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes.  
Here beginneth the rehearsal of those grievous sins, which made a separation between God and Israel. In these words two sins are specified; cruelty, and covetousness. Their Cruelty I note in selling of the righteous, and the poor: their covetousness, in as much as they did it for silver, and for a pair of shoes. I take the words in their order.  
They sold the righteous for silver] A man may be said to be righteous, either by imputation, or by virtue, or by comparison, or by course of law. The righteous man by imputation is he, whom Habakkuk speaketh of, chap. 2.4. The just shall live by his faith. There the just or righteous man is he, to whom the Lord imputeth not his sins, which he hath committed. The righteous man by virtue is he, whom Dauid-speaketh of, Psal. 11.3. If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? There the righteous man is he, whom we call virum bonum, a good man. The righteous man by comparison is he, whom Habakkuk speaketh of, chap. 1. 13. Wherefore holdest thou thy tongue, when the wicked devoureth the man, that is more righteous, then he. There the righteous man is he, that is the less wicked: the Iewes, though wicked, are yet called righteous in comparison of the Chaldaeans, who were more wicked. The righteous man by course of law is he, whom Esay speaketh of, chap. 5. 23. Wo unto them which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. There the righteous is he, that hath a righteous cause: and this is the righteous man in my text; whom the Israelites are said to haue sold for silver.  
They sold the righteous for silver] For silver, that is, for money. The like phrase we haue in Micah, chap. 3.11. where it is said of the Prophets of Israel, they divine for silver, that is, they divine only for moneys sake. For moneys sake to condemn the righteous, it is ingens piaculum; it is a very heinous offence, not to be purged without deep satisfaction. And therefore in the forecited place of Esai, chap. 5.23. a woe is denounced to such offenders. Salomon saith they are an abomination to the Lord, Prou. 17.15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just: even they both are abomination to the Lord. I may not now enlarge my notes.  
You understand, what it is, to sell the righteous for silver It is, to to take away the righteousness of the righteous from him; and that is, to be hired by money, bribes, or rewards, to give sentence against the man, whose cause is just, and righteous.  
They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes] By the poor here we may understand the cause of the poor: as in Amos 5.12. They afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate. They turn aside the poor in the gate] that is, they turn the poor man out of his right: they overthrow the poor mans cause in iudgement.  
again, by the poor here, we may understand the man, that is in misery; the man, that is unworthily afflicted; the man, that is tossed, turmoiled, grievously disquieted by some mighty wicked man.  
This poor man, the Israelites did sell, {αβγδ}, say the Septuagint; pro calciamentis, saith the Vulgar Latin: they sold him for shoes. The word in the original is {αβγδ} of the dual number. It signifieth, two shoes. Our new English translation well rendereth it, A pair of shoes.  
They sold the poor for a pair of shoes] If they sold, some bought. Such buyers we find, Amos 6.8. They took order to buy the needy for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes. There they are bought, here they are sold: and all for a pair of shoes.  
For a pair of shoes] It is a proverbial speech; a speech fit to be used, if we would signify a thing to be little or nothing worth, of small estimation, of vile price. The like proverbial speech we haue, Prou. 28.21. There it is said of the man, that respecteth persons, that he will transgress for a piece of bread. For a piece of bread, that is, for the vilest gift, for the basest commodity. In which sense Cato said once to Coelius: frusto panis conduci potest, vel vt taceat, vel vt loquatur: A man may hire him with a piece of bread, either to speak, or to hold his peace.  
We now understand what our Prophet meaneth in these words; They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes. They] The Israelites, the 
Micah 3.11.  heads of Israel, the Iudges of Israel; they sold] they circumvented, they beguiled, they betrayed the righteous] him, whose cause was righteous, and just: they sold the righteous for silver] for money, for a bribe, for a reward: and they sold the poor] the needy man, the man afflicted, or his honest cause, for a pair of shoes] for a morsel of bread, for any base commodity, for a trifle.  
They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes] Here the Iudges of Israel are taxed for cruelty, and covetousness: for Cruelty, because they sold the righteous, and the poor: for covetousness, because they sold them for silver, and for a pair of shoes. The lesson which we may take from hence, is this, Cruelty and covetousness in Iudges and Magistrates, are two of the sins, for which God bringeth States to ruin.  
You see it plain in my text. God would not turn away his punishments from Israel, because of the Cruelty and covetousness in the Iudges of Israel. These sins are most eminent in Iudges and Magistrates, but are reprovable in all sorts of men. The cruel and the covetous, be they of whatsoever rank in a Common wealth, they are very burdensome to God himself. God himself in this chapter vers. 13. cries out against them: Behold I am pressed under you as a cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves.  
The time will not suffer me to enlarge my meditations vpon the discovery of these two sins; Cruelty and covetousness. I shall haue occasion to meet with them again in the beginning of the next verse; where they are amplified, and may hope for the benefit of your new attention.  
For the present, let us be admonished, that we suffer not ourselves to be overcome of these or any other sins.  
sin! It produceth very sad and doleful effects. It blindeth our understanding, while it taketh from us the supernatural light of divine grace; it staineth and defileth our consciences, with its filthiness; it accuseth us before the Lord of grievous injuries done against his majesty: it impoverisheth us, when it spoils us of all spiritual good; it dishonoureth us, when it diffameth us in the sight of the Angels, and the whole Court of heaven; it holdeth us captive, and depriveth us of all liberty of well-doing; it bindeth us with the chains of evil custom; and brings us within the danger of falling daily from bad to worse; vulnerat nos in bonis naturalibus, occidit in gratuitis, saith Cornelius Mussus B. of Bitonto: it woundeth us in all the good faculties of our nature, and slayeth us in the free graces, wherewith God hath beautified our souls.  
You see( dearly beloved in the Lord) you see what a tyrant sin is. It stoppeth up the fountains of Grace, and hindereth the streams of heavenly comfort from coming to vs. Yet; yet our life is nothing, but a trade of sinning. In us, in our flesh, there dwelleth no good. Day by day, yea many times a day, we transgress Gods holy Commandements, we heap sin vpon sin, and repent not.  
What remaineth, but that we power forth our prayers to almighty God, that he will be pleased to give us true repentance for the wickedness of our fore-passed lives, and in his good time to loose us from this body of sin, and to couple us to himself in heaven: where we may with the whole multitude of Saints, sing unto him an hallelujah: Blessing, salvation, honor, glory, and power be unto him that fitteth on the throne, and to the lamb for ever and ever. even so be it.   

THE IX. lecture.  AMOS 2.7. 
That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in to the same maid, to profane my holy Name.  
And they lay themselves down vpon clothes laid to pledge, by every Altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.  
OF those grievous sins, with which the people of Israel are in this Chapter charged, two were touched in the former verse: their cruelty, and their covetousness. They sold the righteous and the poor, this was cruelty: they sold them for silver, and for a pair of shoes; this was covetousness. Now in the beginning of this 7. verse are those two sins amplified: Their covetousness thus: They were never satisfied, till they had cast down the righteous and the poor to the dust of the earth: Their cruelty thus: They were not content thus to haue exhausted and spoyled them, but did also conspire against, and gape after, their lives; for They partend after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor. Before we take a further view of these sins, cruelty and covetousness; let us fo● a while examine the words themselves. They may seem to be very intricate and perplexed, by the diversity of the readings.  
The word in the original is {αβγδ} The Septuagint do render it, {αβγδ}, that tread under foot vpon the dust of the earth the heads of the poor. The Vulgar Latin hath Qui conterunt, that break, or bruise vpon the dust of the earth, the heads of the poor. The Chaldee Paraphrast hath, Qui contemnunt, who despise, as it were the dust of the earth, the heads of the poor. But these express the sense, they render not the word. For {αβγδ} properly signifieth to fetch wind, to draw breath, and by a metaphor, to swallow down, to sup up, to devour; or earnestly, fervently, and with pleasure to desire to do any thing.  
By this phrase then our Prophet giveth us to understand, that the Israelites, the rich and the mighty among them, did with delight behold the dust of the earth vpon the heads of the poor; that to them it was a pleasure, to see the poor by unjust exactors oppressed, thrown to the ground, trodden under foot.  
Which sense our English Bibles seem to point at. The Geneva Bible hath, They gape over the head of the poor in the dust of the earth. The late Church Bible, They gape for breath over the head of the poor in the dust of the earth; or They press vpon the head, or, They tread vpon the head of the poor in the dust of the earth. The new translation, That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor.  
This variety varieth not the sense. howsoever for the the first word we red, They gape, or gape for breath, or press, or tread, or pant, over, on, or vpon the head of the poor, yet is not the sense varied. The mention of the dust of the earth, keepeth that entire.  
The dust of the earth] Old 
Drusius observat. lib. 15. cap. 5.  Samaeus in 
Cap. 44.  joseph Ben-Gorion, tells us of an ancient custom among the Hebrewes concerning such as were impleaded or arraigned before their Iudges: They were to stand at the bar in mourning attire, with dust vpon their heads. If 〈◇〉 that custom our Prophet here alludeth, as Drusius thinketh, then are the Magistrates of Israel here nipped, and checked for selling the cause of the poor to their rich aduersaries, thereby making to themselves unlawful, and excessive gain, and lucre.  
The dust of the earth on the head of the poor] The casting of dust or earth vpon the head, was of old and long time a ceremony, whereby men in sad and doleful plight were wont to express their grief. Mention is made of it, josh. 7.6. There it is said, that Ioshua, and the elders of Israel, to testify their grief for the overthrow given them by the men of Ai, rent their clothes, fell to the earth vpon their faces, and put dust vpon their heads. They put dust vpon their heads. So 1. Sam. 4.12. the Beniamite that brought the heavy news of the ark of the Lord taken by the Philistines, and of the death of Hophni& Phinehas the two sons of Eli, in token of his grief came to Shiloh, with his clothes rent, and with earth vpon his head. He came with earth vpon his head. The like we red, 2. Sam. 13.19. Tamar, the sister of absalon, because she was hated of Amnon, by whom shee had been ravished, to signify her grief, she rent her garment, and put ashes vpon her head. Shee put ashes on her head.  
Other like 
job 2.12. Ezech. 27.30. Apoc. 18.19.  places of holy writ I might produce, yet further to show, that the aspersion or sprinkling of earth, dust, or ashes vpon the head was a ceremony in use with such, as had in themselves just cause of grief, heaviness, mourning, or lamentation. But this is by the places already alleged, sufficiently declared unto you. If to this ceremony of besmering the head with earth, dust, or ashes, our Prophet here alludeth, then are the rulers of Israel, and the rich among them here taxed for their hard-heartedness towards the poor, for their covetousness and cruelty, whereby they oppressed the poor; to this sense:  
They pant after the dust of the earth, on the head of the poor] They] the rulers of Israel, and the rich men there, They pant after the dust of the earth] they greedily desire to see the dust of the earth sprinkled, on the head of the poor] they make it their pleasure, to give the honest poor man, just cause of grief, and mourning.  
They pant after the dust of the earth] The dust; sometime it betokeneth a low and base estate, 1. Sam. 2.8. Hannah in her song of thankfulness, praising the Lord for his beneficence towards the humble& despised, saith, He raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. So, in so many words saith the Psalmist, Ps. 113.7. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. In both places the latter phrase is a repetition, or exposition of the former. The Lord raiseth up the poor out of the dust, that is, the Lord lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill. The meaning is: The Lord through his Almighty power, and of his goodness, exalteth the poor and abject amongst men from their vile& contemptible estate to some degree of honour. Hitherto may we add that of david, Psal. 7.5. Let him lay mine honor in the dust. Let him lay mine honor in the dust! Whats that? If( saith david, I haue rewarded evil to him, that was at peace with me, let the enemy lay mine honor in the dust; that is, let mine honor be so put out, that there may be no more remembrance of it in the posterity to come; let me ever be held for a base, vile, and contemptible wretch. If to this signification of Dust, our Prophet here alludeth; then are the rulers of Israel and the rich among them, here censured, for their cruel and unsatiable desire to grinned the faces of the poor. Thus,  
They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor] That is, though the poor do already sit vpon the dust of the earth, and are thereby in the eyes of the world, base, vile, and contemptible, yet do the rulers of Israel, and the rich among them, still pant after the dust of the earth vpon their heads, their delight is to behold them ever wallowing in the dust of the earth, to see them yet more base, more vile, more contemptible. Yea, they can bee contented that the dust, whereof david speaketh, Psal. 22.15. The dust of death be vpon their heads, that the 
Psal. 49.15.  grave haue power over them, that the 
Psal. 69.15.  pit shut her mouth vpon them.  
Hitherto( dearly beloved) you haue had variety of interpretations. Which will you admit? You cannot choose amiss. They are all agreeable to the analogy of faith. They all check Israel, the heads of Israel, the Magistrates, Rulers, and governors of Israel, the rich of Israel, for their cruelty, their covetousness, and their oppression of the poor of Israel, and they yield unto us this lesson.  God pleadeth the cause of the poor against the cruel, the covetous, and oppressors. 
By the poor in this proposition, I understand all, that be in any need, necessity or want; widows also& fatherless children, that haue lost their head; strangers likewise and exiles out of their country for religion, and good causes. All these if they behave themselves meekly, and seek to live peaceably with all men, and put themselves wholly into the hands of God, God receiveth into his protection, and pleadeth their cause.  
Concerning strangers the commandement is, Exod. 22.21. Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him. It is repeated, Levit. 19.33. If a stranger s●iourne with thee, ye shall not vex him; he shall be as one born amongst you, and thou shalt love him as thyself. Such is the commandement. do men regard it? do they not rather with their churlish and unkind words and deeds torment the aching heart of the stranger? If they do so, the Lord is ready to avenge the strangers cause, and to execute vengeance vpon his oppressors. For so much the Lord undertaketh, Exod. 22.23. If thou afflict[ the stranger] in any wise, and he cry at all unto me, I will surely hear his cry, and my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword. You see God pleadeth the strangers cause.  
again, God pleadeth the cause of the widows and fatherless children. The commandement concerning them is, Exod. 22.22. ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherless child. It is repeated, Zach. 7.10. oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless. Such is the commandment. Do men regard it? do they not rather add affliction to the afflicted fatherless, and widow? do they not oppress, wrong, vex, and grieve them? If they do so, God is ready to right their cause, and to lay vengeance vpon their oppressors. For so much God undertaketh, Exod. 22.23. If you afflict the widow, or fatherless child, in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will surely hear their cry, my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless. This protection over the fatherless and widows is also ascribed unto the Lord, Deut. 10 18. The Lord doth execute the iudgement of the fatherless and widow. It is very comfortably delivered, Psal. 68.5. God in his holy habitation is a father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows. You see God pleadeth the cause of the widows and the fatherless.  
So also he pleadeth the cause of the poor, whatsoever he be. The commandement concerning him is, Levit. 25.35. If thy brother be waxed poor, and fallen into decay with thee, then thou shalt relieve him, yea, though he be a stranger, or a sojourner. It is repeated, Deut. 15.7. If there be among you a poor man, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from him; But 
Deut. 15.11. Matth. 5.42. luke. 6.34.  thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt lend him 
vers. 8.  sufficient for his need. Such is the commandement. do men regard it? do they not rather harden their hearts, and shut their hands against the poor? Do they not 
Prou. 22.22.  rob them, 
Ezech. 22.29.  vex them, 
Amos 4.1.  oppress them, crush them? do they not even now as bad as the Israelites in my text did? Do they not sell the poor, for silver, for shoes, for a trifle? do they not even now pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor? If they do so, the Lord is ready to do them right, and to punish such as oppress them. For so much God undertaketh, Amos 4.2. where, to such as oppress the poor and crush the needy, the Lord God hath sworn by his holinesse, that lo, the dayes shall come vpon them, wherein he will take them away with books, and their posterity with fish-hookes. This Salomon by the spirit full well knew, and therefore Prou. 22.22. advising us not to rob the poor, brings this for a motive, vers. 23. The Lord will pled the cause of the poor, and will spoil the soul of those, that spoil them. And chap. 23.11. dissuading us from wronging of the poor, he brings the like motive, Their redeemer is mighty, he shall pled their cause with you. You see now God pleadeth the cause of the poor, whatsoever he be. But against whom doth he pled it? My doctrine saith, the cruel, the covetous, and Oppressors.  
These are they, whom the holy Spirit in this place taxeth. Their cruelty and covetousness, were touched vers. the 6. They sold the righteous,& the poor. This was Cruelty. They sold them for silver, and for shoes; this was covetousness. Those two; Cruelty and covetousness, joined together, make Oppression, which is the sin reproved in the beginning of this 7. verse. They pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor. With these,( the cruel, the covetous, and Oppressors) the Lord hath a 
Hos 4.1.  controversy, against these he 
Micah 6.2.  pleadeth.  
First: He pleadeth against the cruel. Against the Chaldeans, Esai. 47.5, 6. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans, thou shalt be no more called the Lady of kingdoms. For thou didst show my people no mercy, thou hast very heavily laid the yoke vpon them.  
Secondly: He pleadeth against the covetous. Against the men of judah, Esai. 3.14, 15. ye haue eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye, that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor.  
Thirdly: He pleadeth against the Oppressors. Against the heads of Israel, Micah 3.3. Ye eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; ye break their bones, and chop them in pieces as for the pot,& as flesh within the cauldron. Thus far of the doctrine.  God pleadeth the cause of the poor, against the cruel, the covetous, and oppressors. 
Now let us see what benefit we may make hereof unto ourselves for our further instruction, and the amendment of our lives.  
First: Doth God pled the cause of the poor against the cruel, the covetous,& oppressors? This may serve to reprove the cruel, the covetous,& the oppressors of this age. With us now it is, as once it was with the state of Israel. Cruelty, and covetousness, much worse then nettles and brambles, haue overrun our land. These two, Cruelty and covetousness, that boundless, this unsatiable, like the two daughters of the horsleech, Prov. 30.15. haue been so long used to cry, give, give; that they will never be brought to say, It is enough. The first born of these two, Cruelty, and covetousness, is Oppression, that loud-crying sin, under which this our land in every corner almost groaneth: and shee hath her mates too; Usurie, and Extortion. All these, cruelty, covetousness, Oppression, Usurie, and Extortion, walk hand in hand, and seek about,( like that 
1. Pet. 5.8.  roaring lion, the devill, of whom they are begotten) whom they may devour. Many God knows, they haue devoured already, but that contents them not.  
dearly beloved, how shall I work in you a loathing& a detestation of these foul sins. Can I do it better, then by setting before your eyes the deformity and vglines of the men, in whom they reign? And who are they? will you haue their character, and picture? It is drawn by Salomon, Prou. 30.14. There is, saith he, a generation, a generation of men, whose teeth are as swords, and their 
job 29.17.  jaws as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and the needy from among men. They are as Dauids lions, Psal. 57.4. Their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. They are as the kine of Bashan, Amos 4.1. Oppressors of the poor, crushers of the needy. See you not in the shape of men, Monsters, Kine, lions, with teeth like spears and arrows, with jaws like knives, with tongues like swords? Will you yet converse with them? will you haue any further fellowship, any further acquaintance with them?  
You will say; How shall we shun them, unless we more particularly know who they are? Behold therefore a Catalogue of them, out of a 
Rainold vpon Obadiah pag. 84.  learned and judicious divine. They are such, as eat and devour us up with Usurie; such as spoil us by monopolies, by engrossing, by false wears, by subtle bargains; such as wrong us, by enclosing of Commons; such as wring us, by enhaunsing of rents; such as rob the Church, in pulling away the maintenance of the Ministers thereof, in possessing their right, in appropriating or detaining their tithes; such as thrust husbandmen out of their livings,& in their stead place a shepherd with his dog; such as join 
Esa. 5.8.  house to house, land to land, living to living, as though they meant alone to live vpon the earth.  
These are they whose character and picture I but now shewed unto you;( men! will you call them men? nay) monsters of men, kine of Bashan, lions, whose teeth, jaws, and tongues are as spears, and arrows, and knives, and swords, to eat& devour the needy and the poor. These are they whom you commonly call devouring caterpillars, greedy Cormorants, cruel cannibals, and not amiss: So unsatiable are they, and such merci●lesse man eaters; hated of all good people, and 
Psal. 5.6.  abhorred of God.  
What can be the end of these men? Shall not the day come, wherein dogs shall lick their blood, as once they did, the blood of Ahab, 1. Kin. 22.38. or the fowles of heaven shall feed on their carcases, as they once did, on the carcases of those of Ahabs house, that died in the field, 1. King. 21.24. Or the ground shall clean asunder, and swallow them up alive, as once it did Dathan, and Abiram, and the rest, that perished in the 
Iud. ver. 11.  gainsaying of Corah, Num. 16.32. But say they are visited 
Num. 16.29.  after the visitation of other men; say they die the common death of all men; say, they seem to die the 
Num. 23.10.  death of the righteous, 
Gen. 35.29.  full of dayes, and in peace to go down into their graues: yet behold; there is a day to come, and come it shall vpon them: 
2. Pet. 3.10.  the day of the Lord; that day, wherein the heauens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent beat, the earth also& the works that are therein shall be burnt up. At that day shall these men, men of 
{αβγδ} Psal 5.7.  blood, blood thirsty and cruel men, standing among the Goats before the tribunal of the great judge, receive that sentence of damnation; Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devill, and his Angels.  
There is no evasion for them. For if by that sentence they are damned, who haue not done the works of Mercy, 
Rainold vpon Obadiah. p. 85.  much more shall they be damned, who haue acted the works of cruelty: if by that sentence they are damned, who haue not succoured and relieved the poor, much more shall they be damned, who haue oppressed, and crushed the poor: That sentence thus proceedeth: 
Mat. 25.41.  Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devill and his Angels. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not, sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. O then! how fearful, how lamentable shall their case be, against whom the judge may thus proceed in sentence! Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devill, and his Angels. For I had meat, and by force you took it from me: I had drink, and you spoyled me of it: I had a house, and you thrust me out of it: I had clothes, and you pulled them from my back: I was in health, and ye drove me into sickness: I was at liberty, and you imprisoned me? O that we were wise to consider this, while it is time. 
Mathes. in Mat. 25.42.  Nam si isti paenas luent, qui proximo suppetias non tulerunt; quid fiet de istis, qui miserum insuper expiliârunt,& despoliârunt? If they who help not their poor and needy neighbours, shall eternally be burnt in Hell fire, much more shall they be there burnt, who rob and spoil their poor and needy neighbours, who like the Israelites in my text, do sell the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes, and do pant after the dust of the earah on the head of their poor brethren, What shall I say more to such? I can onely wish that some remorse and penitency, may bee wrought in their hearts through the remembrance of my present doctrine, God pleadeth the cause of the poor against the cruel, the covetous, and oppressors.  
Is it so? Then in the second place, may this doctrine serve for the consolation, or comfort of the poor and needy, who now lye groaning under the tyranny of the cruel and covetous oppressors of this age. God 
Prou. 22.23.  pleads their cause, God is their 
Prou. 23.11.  Redeemer, God righteth their wrongs, God spoileth their spoilers, God takes the care, God takes the tuition of them. May they not well be comforted?  
hear ye then, ye that are poor and needy 
Esa. 35.3.  Let your weak hands be strengthened, let your feeble knees be confirmed; 
Ver. 4.  Be ye strong, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance, your God will come with recompense; he will come in due time, and will deliver you from out the paws of the blood-thirsty, and cruel man. Though ye be scorned of the world, and pointed at with the finger, and triumphed over by such, as tread you underfoot; yet comfort yourselves in this your affliction, God pleads your cause.  
I speak not this to give encouragement or comfort to such of the poor, as are profane and wicked. They can make no claim to Gods protection. The stranger, that behaveth himself more proudly, then he would at home in his own Country, and among his friends, he is out of Gods protection. The widow, that playeth( as 
S●rm. 73. vpon Deutron. pag. 450.  Calvin speaketh) the she-Deuill, that troubleth& vexeth her neighbours, with whom there is more to do, then with many a man, shee is out of Gods protection. The fatherlesse-childe, that gives himself to naughtiness, shakes of the yoke of piety, becomes an unthrift in spite of God, and the world, he is out of Gods protection. The poor, whosoever they be, that 
Psal. 54.3.  haue not the fear of God before their eyes, that are given over to work wickedness, and that greedily; that lye wallowing in sensuality, in wantonness, in drunkenness, in any filthiness, they are all out of Gods protection.  
I speak onely to comfort the stranger, the widow, the fatherless child, every poor soul, that is religious, and godly: such as 
Rom. 12.18.  line peaceably with all men, such as are truly distressed before the Lord, such as 
james 4.10. 1. Pet. 5.6.  humble themselves under the mighty hand of God, such as 
1 Pet. 5.7.  cast all their cares and sowrowes vpon the Lord. Such are the poor, that may receive true comfort from my propounded doctrine; God pleadeth the cause of the poor against the cruel, the covetous, and oppressors.  
We haue not yet done with oppressors, the holy Ghost will not so let them go. They are further described unto us in the next clause.  
They turn aside the way of the meek.] For the meek, the word in the original is {αβγδ} The same word, Psal. 10.17. is rendered in our new translation, the humble. So it is translated by the 
{αβγδ}.  twenty, and the vulgar 
Humilium.  Interpreter. Some translate it, the poor, some, the miserable; some, the afflicted. The original word well beareth every of these significations: the meek, the humble, the poor, the miserable, the afflicted.  
The way of these men may here be taken properly, or figuratively. If it be taken properly; then we are here to understand, that the richer sort of the Israelites, did make the poor to turn aside out of their way to give them place, or, did make the poor even for fear of them, to keep out of their sight. But if the way here be figuratively taken, as well it may by a metaphor, for their cause, their right, their business, their trade or course of life; then are we here to understand, that the richer sort of the Israelites did pervert the right of the poor, did hinder their purposes, did disturb their courses, and did so confounded them, that they were not able to make any provision for themselves.  
This metaphoricall signification of a way we meet with, Exod. 18.20. There Moses is counseled by jethro, to show his people the way wherein they were to walk. We meet with it also in the book of job, Chap. 17.9. There job saith, the righteous shall hold on his way. We meet with it in many other places of holy writ, which I must now let pass; in all which, as in this place, the way betokeneth, the cause of a man, his right, his business, his trade, or course of life. After this figurative signification some do thus expound these words: They turn aside the way of the meek; or, They pervert the way of the poor: that is, the Israelites their rulers, and gouernours, the rich among them, do take in ill part what so ever the poor say, or do. All their words, all their deeds are found fault with. Some malicious invention, or surmise, is ever at hand to lay the blame vpon them. This I take to be the fittest exposition for this place.  
Here then we haue the fourth sin wherewith the Israelites are here charged. It is Caluninia; their false accusing of the poor, a sin that evermore attendeth vpon Oppression. For the cruel, and covetous wretch, who is persuaded that his greatness chiefly consisteth in the oppression of the poor, will be sure so to provide, to keep the poor under, that they shall never be able to reuenge the wrongs done unto them. Let the poor man slip but unadvisedly or ignorantly, the laws must by and by take hold on him: whereas the Rich man, the laws are but as Cobwebs: he breaks throw them all. Hence is that common saying: the poor man doth nothing well; the rich man nothing ill. Yea let the poor man do all things well, yet will some rich calumniator ever be ready, to give an ill construction of his best ways; or, as the phrase in my text is, to turn aside the way of the meek, or, to pervert the way of the poor. The lesson which we are to take from hence for our instruction is this; The poor man, which useth any honest trade or course of life, is not to be turned out of his way: his words and actions are not to be mis-interpreted.  
The reason of this doctrine is plain in the sixth verse of this Chapter: The Lord will not turn away his punishments from the offenders in this kind; from such, as turn aside or pervert, the way of the meek, and the poor.  
The use of this doctrine concerneth all those, whom God hath blessed with the wealth of this world. It is their duty not to be careless of the poor, not to grieve them, not to hinder them in their honest courses, not to turn them aside out of their lawful ways. You that haue wherewith to maintain yourselves abundantly, you may not exempt yourselves from doing service unto God with your abundance. Yea you must strain yourselves to the uttermost of your powers to relieve and succour such as are in scarcity, and in want. This is a sacrifice that God requireth at your hands. Offer it willingly, and you shall haue a reward. Your reward it shall not be a corruptible crown. It shall be a crown of eternity. It shall be the possession of heaven itself. The poor shall carry you thither.  
There is to this purpose a sweet meditation of S. Austin. Serm. 245. de Tempore. There he b●ingeth in God thus speaking to the rich man: Te diuitem feci; tibi, quod dares, dedi, laturarios tibi pauperes feci: I haue made thee rich: I haue given to thee, that thou mightest give to others; I haue made the poor to be thy porters; to be the carriers of thine alms, and thee, into heaven. To this sense doth the same S. Austine Serm. 25. de verbis Domini, call the poor man, viam Coeli, the way to heaven. Via Coeli est pauper, per quam venitur ad Patrem. The poor man is the way to heaven, by which we come unto the Father. Incipe ergo erogare, si non vis errare: Begin therefore to errogate, to distribute, to lay out vpon the poor, if thou wilt not wander or stray from the way to heaven. Loose thou the fetters of thy patrimony in this life, that hereafter thou mayest haue free access into heaven.  
Cast away the burden of thy riches, cast away thy voluntary bonds; cast away thy anxieties, thy irkesomnesse, wherewith for many yeares thou hast been disquieted; Da petenti, vt possis ipse accipere: give to him that asketh of thee an alms, that thou mayst thyself receive mercy. Tribue pauperi, si non vis flammis exuri, give unto the poor, if thou wilt not be burnt in the flames of Hell fire. Da in terrâ Christo, quae tibi reddat, in Coelo; give to Christ on earth, and Christ will repay thee in heaven. The like hath the same good father, Serm. 227. de Tempore: Si aperueris pauperibus manus tuas, Christus tibi aperiet januas suas, vt Paradisi possessor introcas: If thou wilt open thy hand unto the poor, Christ will open his gates unto thee, that thou mayst enter the possession of Paradise; the Paradise of heaven. It is a Paradise for pleasure, but a city for beauty, and a kingdom for state. There is God in his fullness of glory, and reigns in iustice. The company there are all triumphant; they are all invested with glory, crwoned in majesty, clothed in sincerity. Their faces shine with beauty, their hearts are filled with piety, their tongues extol the Lord with spiritual alacrity; in their hands they bear palms in token of victory. No tongue can utter, no heart can conceive the boundless and endless happiness that shalbe enjoyed there. This we know that our corruption shall there put on incorruption, and our mortality shall be swallowed up of life. even so be it.   

THE X. lecture.  AMOS 2.7. 
And a man and his father will go in unto the same maid to profane my holy name.  
THey who haue begun to go beyond the lines, and the limits prefined unto them in the word of God, do by little and little proceed from evil to worse, from one wickedness to another. This you haue seen verified in these Israelites. You haue seen their cruelty, their covetousness, their oppressions, their calumnies. They were cruel; they sold the righteous, they sold the poor, ver. 6. They were covetous; they sold the righteous for silver: they sold the poor for a pair of shoes, in the same verse. They were oppressors; they panted after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, vers. 7. They were calumniators; false accusers of their needy brethren; they turned aside, they perverted the way of the meek, in the same verse. Now are the bars and bounds of all shane broken; now are the rains of all modesty let loose; given up to their vile affections, they fear not to commit detestable Inc●st. For  
A man and his father, will go in unto the same maid, to profane my holy name.  
Before we enter into a particular discourse of that abominable sin, wherewith the people of Israell are in this text charged, it will not be amiss to take a brief view of the words as here they lye.  
A man and his Father] that is, A son and his Father; The original word {αβγδ} signifieth a man; for it the Septuagint red {αβγδ}, and the vulgar Latin, Filius; A son. A son and his Father— will go in.] The vulgar Interpreter hath Iêrunt, haue gone; the Septuagint {αβγδ}, did go in. The Hebrew is {αβγδ} will go. It is very familiar with the Hebrewes to put one tense for another; the future for the present; the time to come, for the time that is instant. An instance hereof we haue, Psal. 1.2. There it s spoken of the blessed man; He 
{αβγδ}  shall meditate in the law of the Lord day and night. He shall meditate, so goeth the text: the meaning is; he doth meditate: Blessed is the man that doth meditate in the Law of the Lord day and night. In Psal. 2.1. it is spoken of Christs enemies; they 
{αβγδ}  shall imagine a vain thing. They shall imagine; so goeth the text: the meaning is; they do imagine. Why do the Heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? In Psal. 5.3. The Prophet david earnest and vehement in Prayer, thus speaketh of himself; In the morning will I pray unto thee. 
{αβγδ}  I will pray unto thee; so goeth the text: the meaning is; I do pray unto thee. My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning do I direct my prayer unto thee. It is the very hebraism, that we haue in my text; A man and his father 
{αβγδ}  will go in unto a maid, to profane my holy name. They will go in; it is the letter of my text: the meaning is, that resolutely without shane, without fear; They go in, or they use to go in. do they use to go in? Then may each reading be admitted: they haue gone in, they did go in, they do go in, they will go in.  
A man and his father will go in {αβγδ} unto a maid] What maid? any maid? No. But a known maid, a certain maid. So much is implyed by the Hebrew Article {αβγδ}, which here is connotatiue, or discretiue. The Greekes say distinctly {αβγδ}, to the same maid. Our now English so readeth it; and well. For so the sense of this place requireth.  
A man and his Father will go in unto the same maid.] By this maid S. jerome understandeth the sons wife, or the fathers wife; so do others also, as Ribera observeth. Mercer, of late the Kings professor of the Hebrew tongue, in the university of Paris; by this maid understandeth, one, that is affianced, or betrothed to either, the son, or the father. Of like mind is Arias Montanus. By this maid( saith he) we understand non meretricem, not a common strumpet, one that makes gain by the prostitution and abuse of her body; said viro sponsam, but one that is betrothed to a man, aut certè nubilem, or at lest, one that is marriageable and is in her fathers house appointed for wedlock. Some are of opinion, that by this maid, you may understand, any maid; the daughter of any other man, to whom yet this man and his father use to resort to satisfy their lusts.  
Now, if we will collect, as Montanus doth, the Father knew his own daughter, his son knew the same, though she were to him, his sister: or the father knew his sons wife, his daughter in law: or the son knew his fathers wife, his mother in law: or both, the father and the son were nought with some other mans daughter: or all these wickednesses were in that corrupt state of Israell usually acted. Of that state we may say with Brentius: Qualis pater, talis filius: pater fornicatur, filius scortatar, pater adulterium committit, filius incestum; pater libidinem exercet prohibitam, filius turpem sequitur luxum. It is a fathers part, by his example of chast living, to invite his son to chastity. With these Israelites there was no rule, so good observed. Here was like father, like son: the father a fornicator, the son a drabber: the father an adulterer, the son incestuous: the father delighting in unlawful lust, the son wallowing in sensuality: yea the father and the son did oftentimes fasten their impure and vnchast love vpon the same maid: which is the very thing avowed in my text: A man and his father will go in unto the same maid. It followeth,  
To profane my holy Name.] What? Did this man and his father go in unto the same maid, with a mind to profane Gods holy Name? was this their end? No doubtless, it was not their end. Their end was to enjoy their carnal pleasures. And yet its here expressly said; they did it, to profane Gods holy Name.  
For the removing of this scruple, that old Canon of an ancient 
Chrysostom.  Father, will serve. It is proper to the Scripture, to put that for a cause, which indeed belongeth to the event. Ribera thus explicats it: It is the manner of the Scripture sometime so to speak as if it considered onely, what a man doth, and not at all, with what mind he doth it: as if it onely considered what men do vulgarly and usually collect and judge of any action by the event therof. For the Scripture many times speaketh as the custom of the common people is.  
This rule the Iesuite 
Tom. 4. p. 654.  Pererius in his Comment vpon Genes. chap. 43.6. thus plainly delivereth. When vpon the dead of any one, any thing falleth out besides the purpose and will of the doer, it is commonly believed, and said to be done, as if the doer had of purpose willed it. Will you haue this rule made plain by examples? Then thus. A man sinneth. His sin draweth vpon him the loss& destruction of his own soul. Now he that sinneth doth not intend any such matter; he intends not the loss, or destruction of his own soul. Yet because he doth that, from whence followeth, the loss and destruction of his soul, he is said to will and seek the perdition of his own soul.  
This Canon rightly understood, much helpeth for the explanation of diuers Scripture places. In 
Hebr. Psal. 11.  Psal. 10.6. according to the vulgar Latin, we red, Qui diligit iniquitatem, odit aniniam suam; he that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul. Did ever man hate his own soul? We may not imagine it. Yet because he that loveth iniquity, liveth for the most part as if he little cared for his souls health, it is there absolutely said: he that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul.  
In Genes. 43.6. the vulgar Interpreter makes Israel thus to speak to judah, and other his sons, In meam hoc fecistis miseriam, vt indicaretis ei,& alium vos habere fratrem; you haue done it to my misery, that ye  told the man, that you had another brother. Its true: Iacobs ten sons, when they were in Egypt to buy corn,  told joseph( whom then they knew not to be joseph) that their youngest brother was living. But did they do it with a mind to bring misery vpon their aged father jacob: jacob himself could not think so, and the story clears them from that imputation. Yet because by that their dead, misery might haue fallen vpon their father jacob, jacob saith unto them after a vulgar custom of speech, In meam hoc fecistis miseriam, you haue done this to make me miserable.  
In 2. King. 4.16. the good woman of Shunem, that was by Elisha promised a son, notwithstanding herself was by nature barren, and her husband also old, said unto Elisha: Nay my Lord, thou man of God, do not lye unto thine handmaid. do not lye! What! Elisha a Prophet, a man of God, could he, or would he lie? No; it beseemed him not. Yet because he promised, what was not in mans power to perform,( a son to a woman that was naturally barren, and her husband also old) some might think, that he went about to deceive the woman. The woman therefore after the common kind of speech, saith unto him; Nay my Lord, thou man of God, do not lie unto thine handmaid.  
Other like instances I might allege for the further explanation of the Canon or rule which even now I proposed, But I need not. The kind of speech is familiar in our English tongue. If you see a sick man intemperate, or refusing to follow the aduise of his learned physician, you will strait way say, this man seeks his own death; he will kill himself; When your meaning is, not that he hath a purpose to seek his own death, or to kill himself; but, that if he continue intemperate, and will not follow his Physitians wholesome counsel, death will soon lay him in the pit.  
Now let this rule be laid unto my text, and the scruple, whereof I but now spake, is gone. A man and his father will go in unto the same maid to profane my holy name: they are the words of my text; and the Lord in the mouth of his Prophet Amos hath spoken them. But he speaketh after our manner; as we use to speak: His meaning is, that with the Israelites it was an ordinary matter for a man and his father, to commit filthiness with the same maid, and that by their so doing,( though themselves had no such purpose in so doing) the holy name of God was profaned. This profanation of Gods holy name was not the final cause, it was not the end, why such filthiness was committed in Israell. It was rather the event, or consequent of it. filthiness was acted in Israel, and thereof followed the profanation of the holy name of God. A man and his father, &c.  
To profane my holy name] My holy name. The Hebrew hath, the name of my holinesse: where the substantive is put for the adjective, the Abstract for the Concrete: which in that holy tongue is very usual. In the 3. of Exod. ver. 5. The Lord saith to Moses: Put of thy shoes from of thy feet for the place, whereon thou standest, is ground of Holinesse. Its ground of Holinesse, that is, its holy ground. In the 12. of Exod. vers. 16. Moses and Aaron are charged to say unto the people of Israel: In the seventh day there shall be a convocation of holinesse unto you. A convocation of holinesse, that is, a holy convocation. In the 22. of Exod. ver. 31. The Lord saith unto the same people of Israel: ye shall be men of Holinesse unto me. Men of Holinesse, that is, Holy men.  
Were it needful I could show unto you, that the 
Esai 63 11.  Spirit of Gods holinesse, the 
Esai. 52.10.  arm of his holinesse, the 
Psal. 3.5.  mountain of his holinesse, the 
Psal. 11.4.  temple of his holinesse, the 
Deut 26.15.  habitation of his holinesse, are put for his holy Spirit; his holy arm, his holy mountain, his holy temple, his holy habitation. I could yet show unto you; that 
Exod 24.4.  garments of holinesse, 
Num. 3.51.  vessels of holinesse, 
Lamen. 4.1.  stones of holinesse, 
1. Sam. 21.4.  bread of holinesse, 
Ierem. 11.15.  flesh of holinesse, and 
Num. 35.25.  oil of holinesse, are in the holy Bible, put for holy garments, holy vessels, holy stones, holy bread, holy flesh, holy oil. But I haue said enough, to show what I intended, namely, that usually in the Holy tongue, the Abstract is put for the Concrete, as holinesse, for holy: as in this my text. A man and his father will go in to the same maid, to profane the name of my holinesse; that is, to profane my holy name.  
Can Gods holy name be profaned by men? Why not, sith it may be sanctified by men? That the name of God may be sanctified by men, its out of doubt, Caput votorum, the very first petition, which wee are taught to poure forth unto God, is, that his name may be sanctified, Hallowed be thy name: The name of God is holy in itself, it needs not to be hallowed by us; its impossible for us to add unto it any purity or holinesse, which it had not before. Yet 
Scala coeli. Serm. 9.  Caput votorum, the first petition of our prayer is, Hallowed bee thy name. Our desire therein is, that Gods name which is holy of itself, may bee so accounted off by us, may bee holily used by us, and may, by our holy usage of it, bee manifested to the world, that it is holy.  
Now then, as the name of God is Hallowed, when for our holy and unstained lives, men bless the name of God, and praise him: so when for our impure and spotted lives, men blaspheme the name of God, and dishonour him, the name of God is profaned. Well then, doth our Prophet Amos here charge the people of Israel with profanation of Gods holy name, for as much as their lives were very impure and much spotted. It was with them no strange matter, for a man and his father to commit filthiness with the same maid.  
Thus haue you the words of my text expounded.  
A man and his father] A son and his father, will go in unto the same maid] do ordinarily, without fear or shane, commit filthiness with the same young woman, and so doing, do profane my holy name] they cause my name to bee blasphemed, and ill spoken of.  
Two things are herein remarkable. One is, the sin here objected to the Israelites: the other is, the consequent of this sin. The sin is pointed at in these words, A man and his father will go in unto the same maid: the consequent in these, to profane my holy name. The sin is unlawful pleasure, taken either in incest, or in adultery, or in fornication, or in any other uncleanness: the consequent is, the profaning of the holy name of God.  
The doctrine arising from both, I deliver in this one position.  Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators,& otherwise shameless sinners, are oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy name of God. 
Incestuous persons, adulterers and fornicators, all are stark nought: but the first are the worst. Incest, adultery and fornication, each of them is a sin, that throweth the sinner into the euer-burning lake; yet the most grievous of them is incest. Incest! It is one of the grossest vices of lust. every mixture of man and woman of the same kindred, within the degrees forbidden by the law of God, is Incest. It is forbidden in the seventh Commandement, wherein, although adultery be onely mentioned, yet under that kind of uncleanness, are comprehended and noted, sodomitry, incest, rape, simplo fornication, all the rest, together with their causes, occasions, effects, antecedents, and consequents.  
But more precisely is incest forbidden, in the eighteen of Leuiticus, from the sixth verse to the eighteen. In the sixth verse, the inhibition is general: None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness: I am the Lord. It is then the Lord that speaketh to you: None of you shall come near to any of your kin, to uncover their shane. But what kindred meaneth he? There is a kindred by society of blood; it is called consanguinity: there is also a kindred by marriage; it is called affinity. And to both these kindreds will the Lord haue his inhibition to extend: You shall not approach to any that is near of kin to you, to uncover their nakedness, that is, you may not mary with, or otherwise lustfully abuse any of your kindred, be they of your kindred, either by Consanguinity, or by Affinity.  
Now to treat of all these degrees, that are in the eighteen of Leuiticus forbidden, were needless at this time. One above the rest will fit my text. Its that in the eighth verse. The nakedness of thy fathers wife thou shalt not uncover. Thy fathers wise, that is, thy step-mother, not thine own mother. Her nakedness, though shee bee but thy moth●r in law, thou shalt not uncover. This might haue been the sin of these Israelites in my text. here you see, A son and his father went in unto the same maid. If this maid were wife unto the father, then was shee stepmother to the son, and the son was incestuous.  
This uncleanness the very Heathen haue detested. S. Paul acknowledgeth as much, 1. Cor. 5.1. It is reported commonly, that there is fornication among you, and such fornication, as is not so much as name amongst the Gentiles, that one should haue his fathers wife. Not so much as name amongst the Gentiles? What? do not Heathen histories yield examples of this uncleanness? They do.  
They give us to understand of 
Plutarch. in Demetrio.  Antiochus son of Seleucus; how he burning with the incestuous love of his mother in law Stratonice, got her by his Fathers assent to be his wife: They tell us of 
Plutarch. in Artaxerxes.  Darius, son of Artaxerxes, how he obtained of his father by request, that he might take to wife, his mother in law, Aspasia. They relate unto us, how 
Aelius Spartianus in Antonino Caracalla. Peretius in Mellificio historico parte 2. pag. 202.  Antoninus Caracalla Emperour took to wife his mother in law Iulia. Antoninus bewitched with her beauty, and desiring to marry her, with sighs said unto her, Vellem, si liceret, Mother, if it were lawful I would make you my wife. Shee; monster as she was, shamefully replied: Si libet, licet; Annescis te Imperatorem esse,& leges dare, non accipere. son, you haue called me mother; if you list to make me your wife, you may. Know you not that you are Emperour? you give laws, you take none: With this her answer Antoninus inflamed, matrem duxit vxorem, he married his mother.  
Other examples of this uncleanness Heathen histories haue afforded vs. How then is it, that S. Paul in the but now-alledged place, saith; that this uncleanness, is such as is not so much as name among the Gentiles?  
We need not fly to an Hyperbole to excuse the Apostles assertion. His meaning is, that though such uncleanness were sometime practised among the Gentiles, yet that among the very Gentiles laws were made against it: and that the better sort of the Gentiles did detest it, as a filthy, strange, and monstrous villainy.  
Was this uncleanness held in such detestation by the Gentiles, who were guided onely by natures light? No marvel then is it, if the Lord, here in my text, do so sharply reprove Israel for this uncleanness among them. Israel! They were the people of the Lord, they were his inheritance, they had the lamp of the word of God to be their guide. Yet Israel, rebellious and disobedient Israel, hath played the harlot: A man and his father went in unto the same maid. under this one kind of incest are comprehended all the rest; And not incest onely, but adultery also, yea, and fornication too. So that indeed the Israelites are here reproved in general for their filthy lusts. They were so inordinately vicious, and so disolute, that they blushed not once, to pollute themselves with fornication, with adultery, with incest, with all manner of filthiness: and hereby was the holy name of God profaned.  
It is true. Peccatorum turpitudine violatur nomen Dei sanctum: such is the filthiness of sin, that through it, the holy name of God is often violated. It was violated by Dauids sin. david the man after Gods own heart, yet convicted of murder, and adultery. Of murder, for 
2. Sam. 12.9.  killing uriah the Hittite with the sword; and of adultery, for taking to wife the wife of uriah, is by the Prophet Nathan reproved for profaning the name of the Lord. In 2. Sam. 12.14 they are the express words of Nathan unto david, By this dead thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme. david( you see) was the sinner; others thereby took occasion to blaspheme the name of God.  
The name of God was likewise blasphemed for the sins of the Israelites. The Israelites 
Ezech. 37.23.  defiling themselves with the Idols of the Heathen, with their abominations, with their iniquities, are in the books of the Prophets reproved for profaning the name of the Lord. It is the complaint of the Lord himself, Esai 52.5. My name continually every day is blasphemed: and Ezech. 36.20.22.23. The Israelites living among the Heathen haue profaned my Holy name. The Heathen there could say: Hi; populus jehovae these are the people of the Lord; these are come out of the land of the Lord. A holy people sure. The Israelites, you see, sinned: the Heathen thereby took occasion to blaspheme the name of the Lord.  
The name of the Lord was likewise blasphemed through the sins of the Iewes in S. Paules time. The then-Iewes, notwithstanding they made their 
Rom. 2.17.  boast of God, and 
Vers. 18.  knew his will, and were 
Vers. 19.  confident, that they were guides of the blind, the light of them which were in darkness, 
Vers. 20.  instructors of the foolish, teachers of babes, that they had the form of knowledge, and of the truth in the law; yet forasmuch as they were spotted with theft, with adultery, with sacrilege, with other enormities; they are by S. Paul reproved, for profaning the name of the Lord.  
The reproof is, Rom. 2.21. &c. Thou which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest, a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest, a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorrest Idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking of the law dishonourest thou God? It followeth, vers. 24. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you. The Iewes, you see, were the sinners: The Gentiles thereby took occasion to blaspheme the name of God.  
Thus is my doctrine confirmed unto you: Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other unclean sinners, are oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy Name of God.  
Let us now a while consider, what use wee may make hereof unto ourselves.  
Is it true? Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other unclean sinners, are they oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy name of God? Then( dearly beloved) let us from hence be admonished, so to spend the remainder of our pilgrimage in this present world, in all holy conversation, that no boiling, inordinate or unruly motions, no vicious or vnchast affections, no act of uncleanness, may so far haue dominion over us, as to cause the holy name of GOD through us to be profaned. S. Austine Enarrat. in Psal. 146. speaketh plainly: Cum blasphematur Deus de malo opere tuo, opere tuo blasphemas Deum: that is, When God for any evil work is blasphemed, thou by thine evil work blasphemest God. To the same purpose saith the same Father, Tract. 27. in johan. Rarò iam inuenivntur, qui linguâ blasphemant Deum; said multi, qui vitâ: seldom now adays do we find any that with their tongue blaspheme God, but many that blaspheme him with their life. Such were they in S. Pauls time, of whom the blessed Apostle, Tit. 1.16. saith: They profess that they know God, but in works they deny him. And will we be such? far be it from vs.  
We profess that we know God, we profess ourselves his seruants; walk we therefore worthy of our profession, as it becometh the seruants of God. And how shall wee so walk? We so walk if we walk in holinesse. For( as St Paul speaketh) this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holinesse. And therefore as the same Apostle adviseth the Ephesians, Chap. 5.3. so aduise I you: Fornication and uncleanness let them not be once name amongst you, as it becometh Saints. Not once name! How then is it that the Apostle nameth them? How is it, that in this exercise I haue name unto you incest▪ adultery, fornication, and other sins of uncleanness? Yes beloved; you may name them; but it must be out of detestation to shun them; and not out of delight to nourish them.  
From hence may you make this Collection: If I may not once name fornication, but with detestation, then may I not commit it. If I may not commit fornication, much less may I commit adultery; much less incest; much less some other sins of uncleanness: sins against nature; monstrous and prodigious sins. Now that we may not commit fornication, it is evident by these reasons.  
First, it is unlawful by the law of Nature. The very Heathen, who hold no other light for their guide, but the glimmering light of Nature, haue so accounted of it. Memorable is the saying of Demosthenes, concerning the 
Dimi●ium talent●m unius pretium noctis.  great price that was set him, by the notorious strumpet Lais: 
Macr●b. Saturnal. lib. 2. c. 2.  {αβγδ}, I like not to buy Repentance so dear. Doth he not thereby intimate, that dishonest pleasure,& the unbridled desires of the flesh, haue evermore for their companion, Repentance? Diogenes, the cynic, resembled 
Laertius lib. 6. in vitâ Diogenis.  beautiful harlots to sweet wine, tempered with deadly poison. What else doth he thereby intimate, but that vnchast lusts, howsoever to a carnal man, they may at first seem sweet, they are notwithstanding full of bitterness, and are attended with perpetual sorrow? Crates, the Philosopher, beholding at Delphi, the golden image of the harlot Phryne broke forth into this exclamation, 
Plutarch. de fortuna Alexandri lib. 2. The like Laertius reporteth of Drogenes lib. 6. ●it. Diog.  {αβγδ}: this is the trophy, the monument of the loose lines of the Greekes. Doth he not thereby intimate, that incontinency is even by Natures law unlawful? I might here produce many goodly sentences, many notable examples of ethnics, and Pagans, to show unto you the just punishment, which for the most part followeth this detestable 'vice hard at the heels; which might also stir us up to hate it, and to fly from it with all our might. But its time that I return to the book of God.  
Therein also do we find, that this filthy sin, the sin of fornication, is reputed unlawful by the very law of Nature. In Rom. 1.29. it is expressly name among the sins of the Gentiles, who were merely natural men. And Leuit. 18.24. it is laid to the charge of the canaanites, Gentiles too, that with such uncleanness themselves were defiled, and the land, wherein they lived was defiled: and therefore are they in that place threatened, that the land should spew them out. You haue now the first reason, why we may not commit fornication. The reason is, because it is unlawful by the law of Nature.  
Secondly, it is forbidden in holy Scripture. In Ephes. 5 3. And in 1. Thes. 4.3. In the latter place we are commanded to abstain from 
1. Cor. 6.18.  fornication, and in the former, not once to name it.  
Thirdly, it is malum lubricum, a sin full of great danger: So meaneth Salomon, Prou. 23.27. where he saith, A whore is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow 
Prou. 22.14.  pit. The comparison is plain; A Harlot to a deep ditch, and to a narrow pit. The meaning of the holy Ghost is: As a man that falleth into a deep ditch, or, into a narrow pit, breaketh either an arm, or a leg, and with much ado getteth out again: so is it with them, that are overtaken with this vile sin of fornication: the woman 
eccles. 26.7.  whose heart is as snares and nets, and her hands as bands, will bee to them more bitter then death; with much ado shall they escape from her.  
Fourthly, it stoppeth the passage into heaven. S. Paul affirmeth it, 1. Cor. 6.9. Fornicators shall not inherit the kingdom of God; and again, Ephes. 5.5. No whoremonger hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ. S. John, revel. 21.18. saith as plainly: Whoremongers shall haue their part in that lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone.  
Thus haue you, of many, four reasons, why wee may not commit fornication.  

1. It is unlawful by the law of Nature.  
2. It is forbidden by the law of God.  
3. It is full of great danger.  
4. It stoppeth the passage into heaven.   
Now see the validity of my former inference. We may not commit fornication, for the reasons now specified; much less may we commit adultery; much less incest; much less other sins of uncleanness, sins against Nature, monstrous and prodigious sins. All these S. Paul, 1. Cor. 6. hath even chained together, to cast them into Hell. And that you may take notice of it, he hath a {αβγδ} for you vers. 9. {αβγδ}, Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God. Thus far hath the first use of my doctrine lead me. The second followeth.  
My doctrine was, Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other unclean sinners, are oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy name of God. This in the second place serveth for the reproof of such as suffer themselves to be kindled with the burning fire of luxuriousness, or carnal lusts. And hereby are all incestuous marriages condemned. 
Caietan. in Aquin. 2. 2. qu. 154 Art. 9.§. Respondeo.  Emanuell King of Portugall married his wives sister: 
Caietan. ibid.  Ferdinand the younger King of sicily married his fathers 
Joannam.  sister: Philip the second King of spain married his sisters 
Annam.  daughter: Henry the eight King of England married his brothers 
Catharinam.  wife. All these were incestuous marriages, and are by this doctrine condemned.  
But some may say; these marriages were not concluded, but by the Popes dispensation. Why then say I, they are condemned? I say so; because they are precisely against the law of God written, Levit. 18. But may not the Pope dispense against that law? What! Dispense against the law of God!  
We are not ignorant, that the chief patrons of the pontificial law, howsoever they grant 
In cap. Mennā. 2. q. 5. Annotat. marg.  Papam quandoque nimiùm papaliter dispensare, that the Pope sometimes dispenseth too much Pope-like; do notwithstanding expressly affirm, 
Gloss. in Cap. Post translationem Extra, de Renuntiatione.& 25. qu. 1. Cap. Sunt quidam.  Papam been dispensare contra Apostolum; that the Pope well dispenseth against the Apostle. 
Rainold. Thes. 5. pag. 141.  Neither do they grant unto the Pope this power of dispensing, only in causes pertaining to the positive law of man,( with which colour they now paint over that same flagitious gloss of dispensing against the Apostle) but also in matters ratified by the law of God.  
I could here tell you of many wicked dispensations, that haue been granted by the Pope; as that 
Cap. ad Apostolicae in Sexto de Sentent.& reiudicat. Bulla Pij 5. contra Reginam Angliae.  subiects may be discharged of their oath and fealty, and may be licensed to withdraw their allegiance from their Prince, yea, to take arms against him, yea to lay violent hands on him; that 
council. Constans. Sess 19. Cap. Quòd non obstantibus s●luis conductibus.  promise may be broken, with God and man; that most horrible 
Rainold. Thes. 5.§ 41. pag. 188.  abominations, may be committed; that all things, divine and human, may be perverted; right and wrong, heaven and earth, lawful and unlawful may be confounded together. But I may not so far digress from my present purpose. Let it suffice for this time, that you see the impiety of the Popes dispensations,( or rather dissipations, as 
De Cons●●. ad ●u●●n. lib. 3. c. 4.  S. Bernard calleth them) in his allowing of incestuous marriages, that a man may mary his wives sister, or his fathers sister, or his sisters daughter, or his brothers wife: all precisely against the law of God.  
Here might we stand amazed and wonder, that such irregular and shameless dispensations, should pass with the app●obation of the Pope, who bears a face, as if he were most holy, yea Holinesse itself. speak we to him, or writ to him, our compellation must be Pater Sanctissime, most holy Father; and Sanctitas Tua, your Holinesse. But knowing him to be that 
2. Thess. 2 3.  man of sin, that son of perdition, that grand Antichrist, who according to the prophecies of the Holy Ghost in the Scriptures, was to be revealed in these latter times, we need not wonder though he dispenseth with all the most horrible and abominable impieties, that may be. Can we 
Matth. 7.16.  gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? can a corrupt three bring forth good fruit? Can we expect that the Pope, who 
2. Thess. 2.4.  opposeth himself against God, and exalteth himself above all that is called God, should either himself live, or cause others to live, according to the holy law of God?  
For the Popes themselves( would the time and your patience permit) I could ripp up their lives, and show unto you how they haue been stained and defiled with all manner of fearful, notorious, and abominable sins. But my text will not suffer me so fa●re to range. The sins of uncleanness, wherein those holy fathers haue, to the astonishment of the wo●ld, wallowed, are the sins in my present text and doctrine smitten at.  
What shall I tell you of the incest committed by many of them? by John the 13. with Stephana, his fathers concubine? by John the 
Aliâs the 24.  23. with his brothers wife? by Paul the 3. with two of his Nieces? by pus the 5. with his own sister, by 
Joan. Iovian. Pontan.  Alexander the 6. with his own daughter.  
I could make true report unto you of many of them very infamous for their beastly sodomy, for their filthy adultery, for other their unclean lust. So holy were those holy Fathers. Neither were they themselves alone given over to such filthiness, but they also took order to haue others like unto them. They could not alone be wicked. 
Szeged. Spec. pontiff.  Alexander the sixth gave leave to cardinal Mendoza to abuse his own bastard son in incestuous sodomy. 
Downam de Antich. lib. 1. cap. 6. O●m●rod Pict. Pap. Sz●ged. spec. Pont. Vescel Kroning Tractat. de Indulgentijs.  Sixtus the fourth gave licence to the cardinal of S. lucy, and to all his family, that they might in the three hot moneths of the year freely use sodomy. johannes a Casa a valentine, Archbishop of Beneventum, legate for Iulius 3. at Venice, set forth a book in Italian Metre in commendation of this Diana of the Papists, this abominable sin of sodomy. Will you hear more of Sixtus the fourth? He to incite and encourage others to be as filthy as himself, built in Rome a famous stews, not onely of women, but also of males. The female stews, how advantageous it hath been to the Pope, and gainful to his coffers, may from hence appear, that the Pope hath received from them a yearly pension, amounting sometimes to three thousand, sometimes to four thousand ducats. It is said of Paulus the third, that in his tables he had the names of 45000 courtesans, which paid unto him a monthly tribute.  
Now that the Pope need not to loose so great a revenue; some haue bestirred themselves to patronise his stews by argument and by authority. Their chief reason is: that common courtesans in hot countries are a necessary evil.  
Harding Confut. Apol. Iewelli par. 4. cap. 1. thus speaketh of it, It is common in all great Cities in hot countries, not to banish from among them, the filthy generation of harlots for the avoiding of a greater mischief.  
Dr Bishop in his second part of the Reformation of a catholic deformed, in the treatise of repentance, saith, The stews in some hot Countries, are tolerated to avoid a greater mischief.  
The chief authority they bring is S. Austines, out of his second book de ordine cap. 4. Aufer meretrices de rebus humanis, turbaveris omnia libedinibus: Take harlots from among men, ye shall disturb all things with lecherous lusts.  
To their reason, that courtesans in hot Countries are a necessary evil: we say, that the heat of a country is no sufficient warrant for the popish stews. The land of Israel is a hotter climate, then that of italy, yet saith God unto the Iewes, Deut. 23.17. There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel, neither shall there be a whore-keeper of the sons of Israel.  
For S. Austines authority, wee aclowledge it to bee great and reverend. But withall we say, that S. Austine, when he wrote those words, was not S. Austine. When he wrote that tract of Order, himself then lived in disorder; a young gallant, a novice in the faith, not well instructed, not yet baptized in the name of Christ; himself then kept a concubine, and lived in whoredom.  
But the same Saint Austine, afterward fully instructed and baptized, said thus: Istam, in vsu scortatorum, terrena civi●as licitam fecit turpitudinem. The words are De civit. Dei lib. 14. cap. 18. The city of the world, not the Church of God hath made this filthiness of harlots to bee lawful. So doth not Saint Austines authority hold up the stews. Saint Paul beats them down flat, Rom. 3.8. they who say, L●t us do evil that good may come thereof; their damnation is just. In a word, the toleration of the stews, is an occasion of uncleanness to many a young man and woman, that otherwise would abstain from all such kind of filthiness.  
What an abomination is it, for a brother and his brother, a father and his son, a nephew and his uncle, to come to one and the same harlot, one before or after the other? Is it not the very abomination, which the Lord reproveth in my text: A man and his father will go in to the same maid, to profane my holy name? I haue held you too long. May it please you to remember my doctrine. It was, Incestuous persons, adulterers, fornicators, and other unclean sinners, are oftentimes the cause of profaning the holy name of God.  
A twofold use I made of it. One was; to stir up ourselves to a holy conversation. The other, to reprove such as are given over to uncleanness. I conclude with that exhortation of Saint Peter, 1. Epist. chap. 2.11. dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts. They may seem unto you a Paradise to your desires; but they will prove a purgatory to your purses, and a Hell to your souls. do you love your bodies? abstain from fleshly lusts; for they are rottenness to your bones. do you love your souls? abstain from fleshly lusts; for they war against your souls. do you love your credits? abstain from fleshly lusts; for they are dishonourable. The heat of carnal lusts, what is it but an infernal fire, whose fuel is fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness; whose sparks are evil communication, whose smoke is infamy, whose ashes are pollution, whose end is Hell.  
dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts; haue your conversation honest among all men, that they beholding your good works, may glorify God in the day of visitation.  
Now gracious Father, so work in us, thou and thy power, thou and thy mercy, so bring it to pass, that we may so spend the remainder of our dayes here in all holy conversation, that after this life ended, we may haue our inheritance in thy kingdom. Grant this for thy son Christ Iesus sake. To whom with thee &c.   

THE XI. lecture.  AMOS 2.8. 
And they lay themselves down vpon clothes laid to pledge by every Altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned, in the house of their God.  
IT is a great height of impiety, whereto men are grown, when by unlawful means, or pretences, or allurements, they add sin to sin. A man may sin once and a second time; and may do it through infirmity: but if he go on with a third transgression, and with a fourth; if he be obstinate in heaping sin vpon sin, lamentable is his estate. A woe must be his portion. Its denounced by the Prophet Esay, cap. 5.18. Woe unto them, that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin, as it were with a cart-rope.  
Was there ever a people, so far given over to work impiety? Behold, such were the people of Israel, they to whom this prophecy of Amos was directed. Their cruelty, their covetousness, their oppressions, their calumnies, their filthy lusts reproved in the two precedent verses, do proclaim as much. And yet they haue not done sinning. They would, I grant, make faire weather; they would make a faire show, as if their desire were to serve God. For that purpose they came unto the house of their God; his temple; they drew near unto his Altars: but even then did their hearts work iniquity. My text convinceth them.  They lay themselves down [ or they lie, or they sit down] vpon clothes laid to pledge by every Altar? and they drink the wine of the condemned [ or of such as they haue fined, or mulcted] in the house of their Gods. 
The words import thus much. The people of Israel to cloak and cover their manifold sins, make a show of religion: they go unto their temples, the temples of their Idols; there they offer their sacrifices, there they feast it sumptuously. They are at great charges. But whence do they defray them? Is it out of their own substance, which either is descended to them by inheritance, or is gotten by their just and honest labour? No such matter. The fines, the mulcts of the poor, their pawns, their pledges, their pewter, their garments, their bedding, their goods pay for all.  
The words do specially concern the peers, the Nobles, the Iudges, the Magistrates, the Rulers of Israel. They may also concern the rich among them: but cannot be understood of the poor, the base, and vulgar sort. The words are not many; yet many are the sins they smite at. The taking of pawns, the detaining of them, vnrigheous iudgement, superstition, idolatry, riot and excess are the sins, they smite at; as may in part appear in the now-ensuing explication.  
They lay themselves down] {αβγδ} word for word, They bow down themselves, they stretch out themselves. St jerome renders it by the verb Accumbere, intimating their sitting down, as at a feast or banquet.  
They lay themselves down; they lie down, or they sit down vpon clothes] This manner of sitting or lying down at meate was very ancient. The old Romans used it; so did the Greekes. Non sedebant, said accubabant. They sat not as we do now adays, but they lay down. In some parlour, chamber-garret, or other convenient room, a low round table was placed. This table for the common sort of people was made of ordinary wood, and stood vpon three feet. For men of better fashion, it was made of better wood, of the Limon three, or of the Maple three, and was sometimes inlaid with silver, it stood vpon one whole entire foot made of Ivorie, in the form of a Leopard or a lion. 
Lipsius antiq. lect. l. 3. c. 1. Hieronym. Mercurialis artis Gymnast: lib. 1. cap. 11. Rosin. antiq. Rō. lib. 5. cap. 28.  About this round table were placed three beds, covered with tapestry, with purple, or with some other kind of carpet, according to the wealth and ability of the feast-maker. Each bed contained three guests, sometimes four, seldom more. And thus the guests were placed. The first& uppermost lying at the beds head, restend the vpper part of his body at his left elbow,& disposed his feet behind the seconds back: the second restend his head in the others bosom vpon a cushion, and disposed his feet behind the thirds back. The rest did likewise. Such was the custom of sitting or lying down at meat among the old Greeks and Romans.  
This very custom of sitting or lying at meat was also among the Iewes. We gather it from the Scripture phrase in the New Testament. 
Mark. 2.14. Luk. 9.27, 29.  Levi, called also 
Matth. 9.9.  Matthew, that blessed evangelist, made in his own house a great feast for Iesus, whereat were many publicans, and others. At that feast Iesus lay down. So saith S. Matthew, chap. 9.10. {αβγδ}, as he lay down. S. mark saith, chap. 2.15. {αβγδ}, as he lay down. Iesus lay down at meat. So did his disciples: so did publicans and sinners too. S. Matthew and S. mark in the now-alleaged places do affirm it: {αβγδ}, they lay down with Itsus. Publicans and sinners lay down with Iesus. S. Luk. chap. 5.29. thus expresseth it; {αβγδ}, a great company of Publicans, and others, lay down at meate with Iesus and his disciples.  
The time was when Iesus fed with 
Matth. 14.17.  five loaves, and two fishes, about 
vers. 21.  five thousand men, besides women and children; then he commanded the multitude {αβγδ}, to lie down on the grass, Matth. 14.19. Another time he fed with 
Math. 15.36.  seven loaves, and a few little fishes 
vers. 38.  four thousand men beside women and children: then he commanded the multitude, {αβγδ}, to fall down on the ground, Mat. 15.35. At both times, Iesus his words had reference to that ancient manner of sitting, or lying down at meate.  
Which manner of sitting, or lying down at meate, Iesus himself seemeth to haue observed at his celebration of his last paschal supper. For we find, joh. 13.23. that at that supper one of the Disciples of Iesus, the Disciple whom Iesus loved, even John the evangelist, learned on the bosom of Iesus. Iesus lay down. John did likewise; and learned on Iesus his bosom. You see, that in the time of the new Testament, even among the Iewes, it was a custom to lie down at meate.  
even among the Iewes, it was a custom long before. Eight hundred years before the incarnation of the Messiah, the posterity of jacob used it. My text affirmeth it. The Israelites, the offspring of jacob, laid themselves down vpon clothes.  
Did they lay themselves down vpon clothes? And why might they not do so? Was not the common custom of so doing, a warrant for them so to do? Out of doubt it was. It was no fault of theirs to lie down at meate, and vpon clothes. But herein were they blame worthy; first, that the clothes whereon they lay, were not their own, secondly, that they lay vpon them unseasonably.  
First, they were not their own; they were the pawns, they were the pledges of the poor: they were clothes laid to pledge.  
Secondly, they lay vpon them vnseasonablie; even before their Altars. The first argueth their cruelty towards the poor: The second their idolatry in respect of God. First of the first.  
They lay themselves down vpon clothes laid to pledge] Wee shall the better understand what that sin is, which our Prophet here reproveth in the Israelites, if we will haue recourse to the Law concerning pledges. That Law is written, Exod. 22.26. If thou at all take thy neighbours raiment to pledge, thou shalt deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down: The Law is repeated, Deut. 24.10, 11, 12, 13. When thou lendest any thing to thy neighbour, thou shalt not enter into his house to take his pledge. But thou shalt abide without, and the man to whom thou lendest, shall bring the pledge out of the doors unto thee. And if the man be poor thou shalt not sleep with his pledge. But shalt restore him the pledge when the sun goeth down. The ground of this Law is mercy: the lawgiver, is the God of mercy: its given, to stir us up to mercy.  
If at all thou take thy neighbours raiment to pledge, thou must deliver it unto him by the going down of the sun. That is the Law. Thereof, Exod. 22.27. haue you two reasons: One is taken from common humanity. The poor mans raiment! It is his onely covering; It is his raiment for his skin. Take that from him, and wherein shall he sleep? Restore therefore his pledge before the sun goeth down. The other reason is taken from the iudgement of God. If the poor man cry, God will hear him, for he is gracious. Restore thou therefore his pledge before the sun goeth down.  
In the 24. of Deut. ver. 13. three reasons are brought to the same purpose. The poor mans pledge; See that in any case thou deliver it, when the sun goeth down.  
First, that he may sleep in his own raiment.  
Secondly, that he may bless thee, may pray for thee, may testify unto God the sense and feeling he hath of thy humanity, and kind dealing.  
Thirdly, that it may be righteousness unto thee, even before the Lord thy God.  
See therefore, that in any case thou restore the poor mans pledge, when the sun goeth down. You haue the law, and the reasons of the Law.  
This Law these Israelites violated. They took to pledge poor mens clothes, they detained them, they used them, they lay vpon them, as if they had been their own. The sin then here laid unto their charge, is Detentio pignoris pauperum, the keeping back of the poor mans pledge. The doctrine which we may take from hence, is this, The pledge of a poor man, such as is necessary for his use, is not to be withholden from him.  
I say, such as is necessary for his use. Moses, in the alleged places of Exodus and deuteronomy, makes mention of his raiment. The raiment of the poor man▪ it is operimentum, his covering; i● is vestimentum, his clothing: he hath nothing else, wherewith to hid his nakedness: nothing else, wherewith to save himself from could. Such a pledge, as is the poor mans raiment, his coat, his doublet, his bed, his covering, or any other thing, that is necessary for the preserving of his life, God will haue it restored. Yet it will please him well, if such a pledge be never taken.  
The Law runs thus in the 22. of Exodus. If at all thou take thy neigbbours raiment to pledge, thou must deliver it unto him by the going down of the sun. It is as if the Lord had thus said: I shall like it well, if thou lend unto thy poor neighbour without taking any pledge of him; but if thou be so cruel, and hard hearted, as that thou wilt not be induced to lend without taking of a pawn, yet see in any case, that thou restore unto him his pawn before the sun goeth down.  
The Lords desire to haue no pawn at all taken of the poor man, is more plainly manifested, Deut. 24.6. The Law there is: No man shall take the two mil-stones, or the vpper millstone to pledge. Mention is made first of two millstones, and then of the uppermost. It is all one as if the Lord had said: You shall not take to pledge both millstones, no nor one of them. As good take both, as one. There is no grinding without both. If thou take one and leave the other, how shall the poor man grinned? millstones are name: under them by a Synecdoche you may comprehend all kind of utensils, or instruments, with which a poor man gets his living. In this rank I place the Husbandmans plow, the smiths anvil, the Taylors shears, and every other handicrafts mans tool, which is necessary for the exercise of his trade or occupation. None such may you take to pawn. Moses adds the reason: For, he that takes such a pawn of a poor man, takes the poor mans life to pawn.  
May not such a pawn be taken by the 
Deut. 24.6.  Law of the millstones, and for the reason specified? Then out of doubt whosoever is so cruel and hard of heart, to take such a pawn, he is bound by the 
Exod. 22.26. Deut. 24.13.  Law of the poor mans raiment, to restore it ere the sun go down. Thus is my doctrine established.  The pledge of a poor man, such as is necessary for his use, is not to be withholden from him. 
This doctrine hath its use in this wringing world. It may serve to reprove the wealthy, the great devourers, the Sea-gulfs of this age. No money shall out of their purses to the poor without a pawn. Tell them it is cruelty. They will say; No. He comes to borrow of me; I may deny him if I will. I lend him my money; I look for no profit; I take no usury. Shall I haue no assurance? Shall I not be suffered to take a pawn?  
Foolish man! Why pleadest thou so? It is the will of God, that thou lend without a pawn: or if thou lend vpon a pawn, that thou restore it before the sun go down. This is the will of God: Why wilt thou not obey it?  
Say; thou lendest a poor man thy money, and he buyeth bread therewith,& eateth; and in the mean time through want of his raiment, which thou hast to pawn, the poor man be frozen to death: how hast thou relieved him? What difference is there, whether he die for hunger, or for could? If thou slack his hunger, and starve him with could, thou dost but change his torment; thou dost not succour him. In like sort: if thou lendest a poor man thy money, and for thy security takest to pawn the tools, those necessary tools, with which he getteth his living, thou dost not relieve him, but dost, as much as in thee lieth, cut the poor mans throat.  
Flatter not thyself( beloved) whosoever thou art, that hast accustomend thyself to secure the loan of thy money by taking of pawns. If the course be simply and absolutely lawful, what meaneth the Law, Deut. 24.17. Thou shalt not take a widows raiment to pledge? And why doth job, Chap. 24.3. reprove them, who take the widows ox for a pledge? It is in thy power I grant, to take a pledge of thy debtor, to assure thyself, that thou maiest receive thine own again: but if in taking thy pledge, thou transgress the Law of charity; if thou take such a pledge, as thy neighbour cannot spare without the hazard and peril of his livelihood, it is thy sin; and thou art bound with speed to restore it. If thou restore it not, what then? Ezechiel chap. 18.13. will tell thee: Moriendo morieris, thou shalt surely die, thy blood shall be vpon thee.  
But here thou wilt apologize, defend thyself,& pled that for thy taking of pawns, thou hast thy warrant out of Prov. 20.16. I must confess, thou art there permitted to take a mans garment as a pledge or pawn, for the assurance of thy money. But of whom? of him, to whom thou lendest thy money? No But of him, who rashly, unadvisedly, and lavishly becomes surety unto thee, for the man he knoweth not. And what is this to the poor man, that borroweth of thee? Of him if thou take any such pledge, thou maiest bee strained with the abomination of usury.  
I put thee a case: Thou lendest ten pounds, vpon a pawn of bedding, or linen, and thou lendest it freely: but as the borrower useth thy money, so thou usest his pawn. This is usury in thee. For the bedding or linen, which thou hast in pawn is the worse for the wearing: so is not thy money in the borrowers hand. I know the very name of usury is detested of thee, and thou hatest to be called an Usurer. Take heed then, that by thy taking of pawns, thou become not one of that damned crew.  
If therefore you haue taken any pawn of a poor man, any such pawn, as by the Law thou oughtest not to haue taken of him, restore it unto him according to the Law, even before the sun go down. So shall the poor man, to whom thou hast shewed mercy in lending thy money, bless thee, and it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God. Hereof art thou assured, Deut. 24.13. Yea, Viuendo vives, thou shalt surely live. The Lord God hath said it, Ezechiel, 18.9.  
Hitherto( beloved) you haue heard of the cruelty of the Israelites, towards the poor; their cruelty in detaining the pledges of the poor: they laid themselves down vpon clothes laid to pledge. And this they did vnseasonablie, even before their Altars, which argueth their idolatry; the next thing to be considered.  
By every Altar] Multa erant altaria Idolorum; altar autem Domini non nisi vnum. It is a Bishops note; the note of Albertus Magnus vpon my text. Many were the Altars that were erected for the service of Idols, but for the worship of God, there was but one Altar: but one Altar, whereon to offer sacrifice.  
This one Altar at first was to be made of earth, or of ston rough and vnhewen, as appeareth, Exod. 20.24.25. Such an Altar was fittest for the then-estate of the children of Israel. They were then in the desert journeying toward the holy Land, and were to remove from place to place. An Altar of earth would soon be made: so would an Altar of ston, rough, and vnhewen. They might make their Altar of earth, that when they should change their station, they might with ease destroy it, Ne aut abusui aut superstitioni esset, that it might not be superstitiously abused. Or, they might make it of rough and vnhewen ston tumultuarily, Ne sollicitaret quemquam ad conservationem religionemque constantem illius altaris, that it might not 'allure any one to a constant reverence, and dread of the holinesse of that Altar.  
In the 27. of Exod. ver. 1. there is a prescription of an Altar of better fashion. {αβγδ}, the Altar of holocausts, of burnt offerings, of sacrifices, is there described according to the matter, the measure, the form, the instruments and vessels thereof. Thou shalt make an Altar of wood, of the choicest Cedar. An Altar, not Altars, It was but one Altar.  
And why would God haue but one Altar? He would haue but one, quod vnum atque eundem cultum inter omnes esse velvet. Because he would haue but one& the same worship among all, therefore would he haue but one Altar: so saith 
See Willet vpon Exod. 20.24.  Galasius. He would haue but one Altar, to note unto us 
Babington vpon Exod. 20.24.  one truth, one religion. But one Altar 
Marlorat. in Esa. 1.29.  Vt vinculum esset sacra unitatis, that it might be unto the rude people, a bond of sacred unity. That one and the same religion might remain among them inviolable. God would haue but one Altar.  
It was therefore sin in jeroboam to set up two other Altars, one in Bethel, the other in Dan, 1. King. 12.29. It was sin in Urijah, the high Priest, when to please the idolatrous King Ahaz, he caused a new Altar to be set up after the pattern of the Altar of Damascus, 2. King. 16.11. It must needs be a sin in the children of Israel, to multiply their Altars according to the multitude of their fruit, Hos. 10.1. And I may not excuse the Israelites, whom my text concerneth, they laid themselves vpon clothes, laid to pledge by every Altar. They had there many Altars too. But, altar Domini non nisi vnum: For the worship of God there was but one Altar.  
And that one Altar was a type of our blessed saviour; a lively figure, or representation of Christ crucified. In regard whereof, Heb. 13.10. Christ is called an Altar; yea, our Altar: We haue an Altar. We haue an Altar, whereof they haue no right to eat, that serve at the tabernacle. Christ is this Altar; he is our Altar; Christ with all his benefits. Which his benefits are nothing available, nothing profitable for them which are under the Law, who yet are in bondage under the rudiments, under the ceremonies of Moses Law. Those benefits of Christ are spiritual; Regeneration, faith, remission of sins, justification, the favour of God, security against our enemies,( the world, the devill, death, and hell) life and eternal glory: these are the benefits, which Christ through his most glorious death and passion hath purchased for his elect. This purchase he wrought not by the blood of Goats, and calves, but by his own blood, whereby he entred in once into the holy place, and so obtained for us eternal redemption, as the Apostle speaketh, Heb. 9.12.  
Thus hath Christ, the sacrificer, the sacrifice, and the Altar made full satisfaction to God for all our sins. Now are we not to rely vpon our own good works, vpon the merits of Saints, or vpon their mediation. For this were nothing else quàm aliud novum altar praeter Christum instituere; It were to appoint another new Altar beside Christ. And that Christians may not do.  
May not Christians do it? How then is it that in popery there are so many Altars? It is( beloved in the Lord) one of the blemishes, one of the shames of that religion. They haue their many Altars, some of 
De consecrat. Dist. 1. C. Altaria.  ston, sumptuously built, and dedicated with the unction of oil, and the 
Altaria placuit.  Priests benediction: as appeareth by the decrees of two Councells, the one called Apaunense, the other Agathense. Stone-Altars they make for steddinesse and continuance; and why so? But, Quia Petra erat Christus, because the rock was Christ? It is the devise of Durandus. A profound reason sure. The wit of fore-ages could not reach unto it.  
The primitive times of the Church knew no such Altars of ston, no nor of wood. Then there were no Altars at all. Origen may witness it. He flourished in the year of Christ 230. Then it was objected unto him by 
Lib. 6. contra Celsum:& lib. 8.  Celsus, that the Christians had neither Altars, nor Images, nor Temples. Arnobius flourished after Origen in the year 290. and 
Arnob. lib. 4. contragentes. Babington in Exod. 27.1. pag. 403. Hospinian. Hist. Sacram. lib. 2. pag. 54.  in his time the Heathen accused the Christians, for that they had neither Churches, nor Altars, nor Images. So for two hundred and ninety yeares, there were no Altars in the primitive Church.  
None for 290. yeares? Yet Martin of Polonia sometimes an Arch-bishop, and penitentiary to Innocent the fourth, affirmeth in his Chronicle, that Pope Sixtus did institute, Vt missa supper altar celebreter: th ●●he mass should be celebrated vpon an Altar. 
Hospin. ibid. pag. 121.  Sixtus of whom he speaketh was Bishop of Rome Anno Christi 125. So by Martins opinion, Altars should haue been in the Church above a hundred yeares, before either Arnobius, or Origen were writers.  
But what small credit is to be given to this Chronicler Martin, let Bellarmine tell you. Fuit Martinus vir simplex& fabellas pro historijs obtrudit. This censure he giveth in his book of ecclesiastical writers vpon the year 1250. Martin was a simplo man, and one that obtrudeth fables for histories.  
If Martin be false in this point of the institution of Altars, how shall we find out the truth? Bellarmine lib. 4. de verbo Dei cap. 3. will seem to deliver it. There reproving Kemnitius for making Felix the fourth to haue instituted the consecration of Altars, calleth that a lie, and saith; 
§ Octavum est.  Constat, Sylvestrum autorem huius ritûs fuisse. It is manifest that Sylvester was the author of this rite, of the consecration of Altars. Now Sylvester ascended to the popedom in the year 314. So by Bellarmines opinion,( and what writer among the Papists is of greater authority then Bellarmine?) by Bellarmines opinion there were no Altars of use in the Church before the year 314. So my proposition stands good: The primitive times of the Church knew not the use of stony, or wooden Altars.  
Which truth, as it hath served to condemn the Papists of blind superstition, for creeping unto, and worshipping before, their Altars, whereof they haue out of Gods book no warrant: so may it be a motive to us to lift up our hearts unto the Lord, and to give him thankes, for that it hath pleased him to deliver us from the more then Egyptian darkness of popery, wherein our forefathers living, committed abomination before stocks and stones.  
We haue not now an Altar properly so called, no material Altar: our Altar is metaphoricall, it is spiritual. As our sacrifices are, which we are to offer up unto the Lord, so is our Altar: our sacrifices are spiritual; our Altar therefore must be spiritual.  
There were under the Law many kindes of sacrifices: 
Exod. 20.24.  Burnt offerings, 
Num. 6.11.  sin offerings, 
Vers. 15.  Meat offerings, drink offerings, 
Exod. 20.24  Peace offerings. All are reducible to two heads; they were either {αβγδ}, or {αβγδ}, either propitiatory, or eucharistical; either expiatory, or gratulatory; either sacrifices of satisfaction, or sacrifices of thanksgiving. The first sort of sacrifices, which I call propitiatory, expiatory, or satisfactory, had their end in the death of Christ: the other which I call eucharistical, gratulatory, or sacrifices of thanksgiving do remain for ever; but without legal rites and ceremonies: that which was legal in them is done away; there remaineth onely that which was evangelical, that which was spiritual. These sacrifices gratulatory, these sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving are the sacrifices, which we can, and must, offer unto almighty God.  
Of these sacrifices I observe three sorts, according to the three sorts of goods which man usually enjoyeth. The 
Arist. Eth. lib. 1. cap. 8.  Philosopher divides them into goods of the mind, goods of the body, and external goods. By external goods, you may understand 
Arist. Magn. Moral. lib. 1. cap. 3.  riches, rule, honor: by the goods of the body, you may understand health, beauty, comeliness: by the goods of the mind, you may understand virtues, and virtuous actions, functions, and operations, together with all the powers and faculties of the soul.  
All these goods must we offer up unto the Lord in sacrifice. First, we must offer up {αβγδ}, our external goods, the goods of this world. The author of the Epistle to the Hebrewes wisheth us not to forget it, chap. 13.16. To do good and to distribute forget not. And to make us remember it the more willingly, he gives this reason: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. It is true, God accepteth, and taketh in good part, as bestowed vpon himself, whatsoever is bestowed vpon the poor. give meate to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, take in the stranger, cloth the naked, visit the sick, yield comfort to the poor prisoner; thou dost all to Christ. The day shall come wherein Christ will tell thee so, Mat. 25.40. Verily I say unto you, in as much as ye haue done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye haue done it unto me. do good to the poor, you do it unto Christ. Say not; if I give, I shall want myself. give, and it shall be given to thee. The promise is, Luk. 6.38. give, and it shall be given unto you, good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over. So your giuing will be but a lending, and good payment will be made unto you. Salomon bears record hereunto, Prou. 19.17. He that hath mercy vpon the poor, lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given, will he pay him again. Thus must we offer up unto the Lord {αβγδ}, our external goods, the goods of this world.  
Secondly, we must offer up unto the Lord in sacrifice {αβγδ}, the goods of the body. The goods of our body we may offer up in sacrifice two manner of ways, patiendo or faciendo, by suffering, or by doing; by dying for the Lord, or by doing that which is acceptable to the Lord.  
This sacrifice of suffering or dying for the Lord is a precious sacrifice; according to that, Psal. 116.15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints. It is acceptable with God. St Peter affirmeth it, 1. Epi. chap. 2.20. If when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. In the verse following he exhorts us to this suffering: Christ hath suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps. Christ hath suffered for us: wee must if need be, suffer for him. martyrdom! It is so pleasing a sacrifice, as that it made Ambrose say of his sister: Appellabo Martyrem,& praedicabo satis: I will call her martyr, and so shall I be sure to commend her enough. S. jerome in his Ep. to Heidibia saith, Triumphus Dei est passio Martyrum: The suffering of Martyrs is Gods triumph.  
What do I? In time of peace exhort to martyrdom? Why not? Though through Gods goodness( blessed be his name for it) there is not now among us any occasion of persecution, habet tamen& pax nostra Martyrium suum, as gregory the Great spake of his time, Homil. 3. in Euangelia, yet hath our peace her martyrdom. Albeit we do not yield carnis colla ferro, our necks to the iron, or our bodies to the stake, yet do we gladio spirituali, with the spiritual sword slay the carnal desires within vs. You haue seen what it is to offer up unto the Lord the goods of our body patiendo, by suffering, by dying for the Lord.  
Now let us see what it is to offer them up faciendo, by doing that, which is acceptable to the Lord. It is that, whereto S. Paul exhorteth us, Rom. 12.1. even our reasonable service of God. I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.  
Our Bodies a sacrifice! How may that be? S. Chrysostome Hom. 20. in Ep. ad Rom. doth elegantly express it. Let the eye behold no evil, {αβγδ}, and the eye is a sacrifice: let the tongue speak no evil, {αβγδ}, and the tongue is an oblation: let the hand do no evil, {αβγδ}, and the hand is a burnt offering. So that sweet Father. We may enlarge the meditation; let the ear hear no evil, and the ear is a sacrifice: let the arm embrace no evil, and the arm is a sacrifice: let the foot follow no evil, and the foot is a sacrifice. In a word, let all other parts of the body be preserved from evil, and they are all sacrifices. The eye that is 
2. Pet. 2.14.  full of adultery, is no fit offering; the tongue that is 
Psal. 120.3.  deceitful, is no fit offering: the hand that is ever shut against the poor, is no fit offering: the uncircumcised ear, the wanton arm, the cruel foot, they are no fit offerings: neither is any part of our body, that is unsanctified, a fit offering for the Lord. Wherefore( dearly beloved in the Lord) let it be the care of every one of us, to present our bodies unto the Lord a living and a holy sacrifice; for that onely will be acceptable unto him.  
Now that our sacrifice may be living and holy, and so acceptable to the Lord, it is not enough for us to 
Psal. 34.15. And 37.27.  abstain from doing of evil, but we must willingly and cheerfully betake ourselves to the doing of good: and this must wee do betimes.  
You deceive yourselves if you think to offer your youthful yeares unto the devill, and to lay your old bones vpon Gods Altar. Gods sacrifice must be the fattest; it must bee the fairest. He must haue both head and hinder parts; to teach you, that your duty is to remember your Creator, as well in the dayes of your nonage, as in the dayes of your dotage; as well while you are young, as when you shall be old. For if you defer your offerings till the last hour, till sickness, deaths-Bailiffe, shall arrest you, your offering may prove sick, it may prove dead, it may prove an unholy sacrifice. receive therefore S. Pauls word of exhortation, I beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies, a living and an holy sacrifice unto God.  
You haue heard, that {αβγδ}, our external goods, and {αβγδ}, the goods of our bodies, are to be offered up in sacrifice unto the Lord: the same I am now in brief to show concerning {αβγδ}, the goods of our mind.  
The goods of our mind I called virtues, and virtuous actions, functions, and operations; together with all the faculties and powers of the soul: all these we must offer up unto the Lord.  
But how shall we offer them up? devotione& contritione: by devotion and contrition. For as it is, Psal. 51.17. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart is such a sacrifice, as God will not despise. whosoever by divine meditation, and devout prayer, beateth down the proud conceits of his rebellious heart, he killeth, and offereth up, as it were, his son Isaac, that which is most nere unto him, that which is most dear unto him: he offereth up a broken spirit: and that is Sacrificia Dei, the sacrifices of God. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit.  
Sacrifices in the plural number: because this one sacrifice of a broken spirit, is inslar omnium, in stead of all; its worth all other sacrifices in the world. And well may it be so: for it is the sacrifices of God: of God, that is, accepta Deo, acceptable, and well pleasing unto God.  
But what is t●is broken spirit I speak off? It is animus contritus, commu●●●& abjectus propriae infirmitatis ac indignitatis conscientiâ. It is a mind contrite, beaten as it were to dust, or powder, broken in pieces, and cast down with the conscience of its own infirmity and unworthiness. It is a mind, that is void of any conceit of its own worth, that thinketh itself worthy of any punishment; that esteemeth all its own goods most base, that followeth the word of God vpon any occasion, that is comforted at the least sign of Gods favour; that is cast down at any token of his displeasure; that is easily moved with affections of love, fear, ioy, and hope; that is always full of pitty to others; that maketh conscience of the smallest transgression. The man that is of such a broken spirit, and so contrite a mind, he may well be said to offer up in sacrifice unto the Lord, the goods of his mind.  
Thus you see that we are, and how we are, to offer up in sacrifice unto the Lord the goods of this world, the goods of the body, and the goods of the mind. But whereon shall we offer them? where is our Altar? Our Altar is within us: even our heart: that is our Altar.  
Durandus in his 
Lib. 1. cap. 7. N. 18.  rational of divine offices deduceth it out of the first to the Corinthians, Chap. 3.17. The Temple of God is holy, which ye are. ye are the Temple of GOD. Si Templum Dei sumus, altar habemus. altar nostrum est cor nostrum. Hoc enim est cor in homine, quod altar in Templo. If we are the Temple of God, wee haue an Altar. Our Altar is our Heart. For the Heart is that in man, as the Altar is in the Temple. Our Heart then is our Altar: no legal Altar, but an Evangelicall Altar. answerable to our Altar must our sacrifices be: Evangelicall too.  
Now saith Lactantius Divin. institut. lib. 6. cap. 24. Now the Lord requireth not of us any sacrifice of a dumb beast, of death and bloodshed, but Victimam hoins& vitae, the sacrifice of man and his life. In our now-sacrifices we need not garlands of Vervim, nor the inwards of beasts, nor turffs of earth, but such things onely, as proceed from the inner man, righteousness, patience, faith, innocency, chastity, abstinence; such are the sacrifices to be offered up vpon Gods holy Altar, placed in our hearts.  
In the Chapter following, Chap. 25. his observation is, that there are two things to be offered up unto God; donum& sacrificium, a gift and a sacrifice; the one perpetual, the other temporal. According to some, the gift is, whatsoever is made of gold, silver, purple, or silk; and the sacrifice is a beast slain, or whatsoever is burnt vpon the Altar. But God hath no use of these. These are subject to corruption, but God is incorrupt. Wee must therefore offer both, gift and sacrifice, in a spiritual manner; so shall God haue use of both. Our gift must be integritas animi, the uprightness of our mind: our sacrifice, laus& hymnus, praise and thanksgiving.  
That I may conclude( beloved brethren) let me sum up together the evangelical sacrifices, which the giver of the new law requireth of vs. A broken spirit, obedience to the will of God, love towards God and man, iudgement, iustice, mercy, prayer, thanksgiving, almsdeeds, our bodies, and our souls; these are the evangelical sacrifices, the sacrifices of christianity, to be offered up unto the Lord vpon the Altar of a faithful heart.  
A faithful heart, I say. For if the heart be unfaithful, the sacrifices will not be acceptable; they will not be esteemed above the sorceries of Simon Magus. Call them not sacrifices, they are sacrileges, if the heart be unfaithful. But let the heart be faithful, and the sacrifices which it offereth up, will be as the beneficence was, 
P●●●. 4.18.  which the Philippians sent by Epaphroditus unto Paul: they will be odours of a sweet smell, acceptable sacrifices, and well pleasing unto God.  
Neither did that precious ointment, that ran down Aarons beard. Psal. 133.2. nor that, that the woman powred vpon Christs head, Mat. 26.7. nor that sweet incense, Exod. 25.6. nor that wine of Lebanon, Hos. 14.7. yield so pleasant a favour, as do the sacrifices of christianity, that ascend from a faithful heart. O! the sweet savour of a good life, that springs and sprouts from a true belief, far surpasseth all other sweets in the world.  
O! Let our sacrifices be such. Let them spring from a true belief, let them proceed from a faithful heart, so shall our minds when we think on God; and our wils, when we obey God; and our souls, when we love God;& our tongues when we praise God; and our feet, when wee walk with God; and whatsoever else we haue, when we use it for the glory of God, be an odour of a sweet smell, an acceptable sacrifice, and well pleasing unto God. I end.  
Vouchsafe, we beseech thee, most merciful Father, so thoroughly to sanctify us with thine holy Spirit, that all our sacrifices, our preaching, our hearing, our prayers, our praises, our thanksgivings, our deeds of mercy, and pity, and charity, may ever be acceptable in thy sight. grant this dear Father, for thy best beloved son, Iesus Christ his sake: to whom with thee, in the unity of the holy Spirit, be all praise, and power, might, and majesty, dignity, and dominion, for evermore. Amen.   

THE XII. lecture.  AMOS 2.8. 
And they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their God.  
THis is the last branch in the enumeration of the sins of the Israelites. It concerneth the Iudges of Israel, and the Rulers of that state; them principally. It is appliable to others also, to the richer sort. The words are a reproof of the gross superstition of that people. They thought their duty touching the service of God, well discharged, so they repaired to their temples. Such holy places they thought were of themselves sufficient to cleanse them, albeit they should even there betake themselves to inordinate eating, to unmeasurable drinking, to infamous luxury, yea, to every kind of villainy.  
For my more plain proceeding in the handling of the words of this text, will you be pleased to note in them,  
First, the action, for which the Israelites are here reproved; it is a drinking of wine. They drink wine.  
Secondly, whose wine it is, they drink. Its not their own; its vinum damnatorum; it's the wine of the condemned. They drink the wine of the condemned.  
Thirdly, where they drink it. They drink it not at home, which were more tolerable; but in domo deorum svorum, in the house of their Gods. They drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their Gods.  
The first convinceth them of riot, and excess. They drink wine immoderately. They are so given to it, that they abstain not even then, when they are in their temples, and would seem most religious. For they drink it in the house of their Gods.  
The second convinceth them of oppression. The wine they drink, is vinum damnatorum; it is the wine of the condemned: it is vinum mulctatorum, the wine of such as they haue fined or mulcted: wine, bought with the money of them, whom they haue in their unrighteous iudgments spoyled of their goods.  
The third convinceth them of idolatry. They drink their wine in the house of their Gods; not in the Temple at jerusalem, that once glorious Temple of the true and living God, but in the temple of their gods, in Dan and Bethel, and other places, before their golden calves and other their Idols. They drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their Gods.  
First, They drink wine.  
Wine! Why might they not? Is it not one of the good 
1. Tim. 4.4.  creatures of God, that may well be used with thanksgiving? God himself gives it to the obedient, to them that love and serve him, Deut. 11.14. I will give you the rain of your land in due season, the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayst gather in thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil. That thou mayst gather in thy wine.  
Christ his miraculous turning of water into wine at the marriage of Cana in Galilee, joh. 2.11. is evidence enough that he allowed the drinking of wine. Yea, himself drank wine. Else the people would never haue called him a wine-bibber, as it appeareth they did, Matth. 11.19. S Paul, 1. Tim. 5.23. wisheth timothy no longer to drink water, but to use a little wine for his stomachs sake. Wine hath its praises in the Scripture. It makes glad the heart of man, Psal. 104.15. It cheereth God and man, judge. 9.13.  
How then is it, that the Israelites are here reproved for drinking wine? I answer, not for drinking wine, but for the abuse in drinking are the Israelites here reproved. It is with wine, as it is with every other good creature of God. It may be abused. Wine is abused, when men are drunken with it. This abuse of wine, S. Paul desirous either to prevent, or to reform in the Ephesians, thus speaketh to the Ephesians, chap. 5.18. Be ye not drunk with wine, wherein is excess. It is as if he had said: Take heed of wine; be not overcome of it. In vino luxus. Consider the man that is given over to drunkenness. His life its profuse, its dissolute, its unclean, its luxurious, its unworthy a Christian. Take heed of wine.  
Salomon, proverb. 20.1. saith: Wine is a mocker. It is so: wine taken immoderately deceives him that takes it. He takes it to be sweet and pleasant, but will find it in the effect exceeding bitter. What more bitter then drunkenness? and what causeth drunkenness more then wine? Aufert memori●m, dissipat sensum, confundit intellectum, incitat libidinem, omnia membra debilitat, vitamque exterminat. It is 
Drusius Prou. Class. 2. li 1. 257.  said to be S. Austines. drunkenness! it takes away the memory, it consumes the senses, it confounds the understanding, it provoketh lust, it weakeneth the body, it drives life away.  
The drunkard is notably deciphered by the same Father in his book de poenitentiá. Quùm absorbet vinum, absorbetur à vino; the drunkard while he devoureth his wine, is devoured of his wine: abominatur à Deo, despicitur ab angels, deridetur ab hominibus, destituitur virtutibus, confunditur à daemonibus, conculcatur ab omnibus. God detesteth him, the Angels despise him, men deride him, virtues forsake him, the divels do confounded him, all do spurne him.  
The ancient Fathers generally are eloquent in beating down this sin of drunkenness. 
Ho● 14. in e●●i●tat●m.  Basil calls it a voluntary divell, the mother of naughtiness, the enemy of virtue. Chrysostome, Homil. 57. ad populum Antiochenum saith: where drunkenness is, there is the devill. drunkenness, its a disease remediless, a ruin without excuse, the common reproach of mankind. The drunken man, he is a voluntary divell, a dead-liuing man: 
C●ry●●t. Hom. 5●. in Math.  worse then an ass, worse then a dog, worse then any brute beast. The brute beast cannot be compelled to drink, when he hath no thirst: but this drunkard is so intemperate, that when he is replete, even to the mouth, yet will he power in more. He will verify the saying of the Prophet, Esay 28.8. Your tables are full of filthy vomitings, no place is clean. S. Ambrose in his book de Elia& jeiunio, cap. 17. to work in us a detestation of this sin, saith: Ebrietas fomentum libidinis, ebrietas incentivum insaniae, ebrietas venenum insipientiae. drunkenness, its a cherisher of lust, a provoker of madness, the poison of folly. Hereby are men strangely affencted. Vocem amittunt, colore variantur, oculis ignescunt, ore anhelant, fremunt naribus, in furore ardescunt, sensu excidunt. They loose their voice, their colour is changed, their eyes are fiery, at the mouth they fetch breath a place, in the nostrils they snore aloud, they are fierce in their fury, they are deprived of their sense. They haue for their attendants, dangerous frenzies, grievous pains of the ston, deadly crudities, frequent castings. Mentior, saith Ambrose; I lie, if the Lord hath not said as much by his Prophet ieremy, chap. 25.27. drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more.  
I may not pass by S. jerome. He in an Epistle of his, which he wrote to that noble virgin Eustochium, to persuade her still to continue a Virgin, warneth and exhorteth her, to fly from wine, as from poison. He tells her, the divels haue not a better weapon wherewith to conquer or corrupt youth. Youth! covetousness may shake it, pride may puff it up, ambition may delight it; but drunkenness will overthrow it. Other vices we may in time forsake: hic hostis nobis inclusus est. If this enemy once get possession of us, it will along with us, whither soever we go. Wine and youth! each of them is incendium voluptatis, fit to set lust on fire: young men and young women, fly from wine. Quid oleum flammae? why cast we oil vpon the flamme? Quid ardenti corpusculo fomenta ignium? why bring we tinder, why touchwood, to a fire already kindled? So discourseth that good Father to persuade the Virgin Eustachium to hate wine as poison. The discommodities of wine he briefly toucheth in his Comment vpon Galat. 5. Vino, hoins sensus evertitur, pedes corruunt, mens vacillat, libido succenditur: by wine, a mans sense and feeling is impaired, his feet do fail him, his understanding is abolished, his lust is inflamed.  
It were infinite to relate, how 
supper Genesin Homil. 6. cap. 19. supper Levit. hom. 7. cap. 0.  Origen, how 
Pet. Rauennus in Serm. quodam.  Chrysologus, how 
De modo been vivendi Ser 25.  Bernard, how 
Hilarius in Psal. 125. Hugo de S. Victore. Cl●mens Alex. Paedag. l. 2. c. 2.  others haue painted out this 'vice, with the mischiefs which it bringeth.  
But what need any such relation? Why hear we the Fathers speak, when the Scripture is plain? Salomon, Prou. 23. propoundeth a question. It is verse 29. Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without a cause, who hath redness of eyes? His answer is. vers. 30. They that tarry long at the wine. You see a troupe of mischiefs at the heels of a drunkard. Salomon well weighing this, in the next verse, in the 31. he prescribeth a remedy against drunkenness. look not thou vpon th● wine, when it is read, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. Let not the pleasant colour of the wine, glorious and faire to thine eye, let it not deceive thee. If it do, what then? Then, as it is, vers. 32. it will bite thee like a serpent, it will sting thee like an adder, like a cockatrice, like a viper. And as it is, vers. 33. Thine eyes shall behold strange women] thou wilt become shameless and vnchast: or, Thine eyes shall behold strange visions] Bina, pro singulis putabis te videre: every thing will seem double to thee. Thou wilt think thou seest two candles, when there is but one in the room. And thine heart shall utter perverse things] Out of the abundance of thine heart, openly, in the presence of others, thou shalt speak things filthy and unseemly: out will thy greatest secrets. Yea, saith he, vers. 34. Thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the Sea, or as he that lieth vpon the top of a mast] careless and secure in greatest danger. It followeth, vers. 35. Though thou be stricken, though beaten grievously, yet wilt thou not feel it; so dead thou art in the sleep of thy drunkenness: and which is to be admired, when thou awakest thou wilt to thy wine again. So excellently doth Salomon give the picture of a Drunkard.  
beloved in the Lord, I hope there is none of you that heareth me this day, given over to this vile sin. If any one hath at any time through infirmity been overtaken with it, let him be wary for the time to come, that he fall so no more. This sin, it is morbus regius, as 
Dist. sa●utis ●  Bonav●nture calls it. Its a costly sin. Costly indeed. For he that draweth his patrimony through his throat, eating and drinking more in a day, then he is able to earn in a whole week, his end must needs be beggary; according to that of the wise man, Prov. 23.21. The duunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty. You haue heard of many other inconveniences that do accompany this sin. They may move the mere natural man, the man whose heaven is here on earth, to take good heed, that this sin haue no dominion over him. Much more should the true Christian, he, who hath his heaven above, withstand the rage and fury of this sin. It is a work of the flesh. So its called, Galat. 5.21. and there the Apostle hath past his doom vpon it: They which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Parallel to which is that of the same Apostle, 1. Cor. 6.9. Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God.  
I shut up this point with a word of exhortation. I borrow it from Luk. 21.34. The words are the words of our Lord and saviour Iesus Christ, to his Disciples: Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and so the last day come vpon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them, that dwell vpon the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always▪ that ye may be accounted worthy, to escape all th●se things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the son of man.  
Thus far of the first general part, the action of these Israelites, their drinking of wine. Now in the second place we are to consider, whose wine it was. It was not their own; it was vinum damnatorum, the wine of the condemned.  They drink the wine of the condemned. 
By this wine of the condemned, some understand the wine, that was of custom given to condemned persons, to refresh and comfort them, when they were to suffer execution, for their offences. Of this custom a certain Hebrew in a book of his entitled, 
See Nichol. de Lyra in Math. 27.34.  Liber judicum ordinariorum, maketh mention, after this manner: It is the aduise of Lemuel the King, Prov. 31.6. give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy heart. Let him drink and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. Vpon occasion of these words the seniors of the Iewes made this constitution, vt condemnatis ad mortem daretur vinum aromaticum ad bibendum, vt faciliùs tolerarent passionem: that sweet and odiferous wine should be provided for such as were condemned to death, which they might drink, and so the more easily endure their suffering. This constitution was put in practise by the Iewes.  
At the time of Christs suffering, there were in jerusalem certain devout Matrons, full of compassion, who did out of their devotion bestow this wine. This wine so provided, for Christ, and those that suffered with him, some cruel Iewes took unto themselves, according to these words of Amos, They drink the wine of the condemned. This wine they took unto themselves, and in the place thereof they did put vinegar mixed with gull, as S. Matthew saith, chap. 27.34. If vinegar mixed with gull might serve Christs turn, so it was: the Iewes would haue the wine: They would drink the wine of the condemned.  
This custom of giuing wine to such as were condemned to die, you see was very ancient. The learned 
M●●●ulus, Aretius, hurnius, Muthesius.  expositors of the gospel in their Commentaries vpon the 27. of S. Matthew do generally remember it. Lucas Brugensis very precisely: Moris erat, qui& hody apud nos in vsu est; It was a custom, and is this day in use with us, that to malefactors, brought to the place of execution, wine should be given them, and that of the best, partly to refresh their thirsty, and wearied bodies; and partly to exhilarate and cheer up their hearts, that they might the less think of death, and with more ease endure it. If to this custom our Prophet here alludeth, then are the Israelites here reproved for their cruelty, for taking to themselves, to their own private use, what was of custom belonging to poor condemned prisoners.  
But I take it more agreeable to the meaning of the Holy Ghost in this place, if we understand by the wine of the condemned, wine bought with the money of such as the Iudges of Israel had in their unrighteous judgements put to the worse.  
This wine the Septuagint do call {αβγδ}, vinum de calumnijs, wine gotten by deceitful dealing, by malicious surmises, by false accusations. The Chaldee Paraphrast terms it vinum rapinae, the wine of oppression, of pillage, of robbery. Luther stiles it vinum mulctatorum; and Castalio, vinum mulctatitiū, wine issuing from mulctes, from fines. In our now English translation, it is the wine of the condemned: cast your eye but to the margin, and you will find it to bee the wine of such as were fined or mulcted. Here then by the wine of the condemned, we are to understand, that the Iudges of Israel laid vpon the poor men unjust penalties, by which they might be provided of wine and other delicates, and so spend their dayes in jollity.  
You see now, what sin it is, whereat this second general part doth aim. It is an oppressing sin; the sin of oppression: when Iudges, rulers of states, and men in authority make havoc of the poor. Of this sin I spake at large in my Ninth Lecture vpon this second chapter of Amos; at what time I delivered this doctrine.  God pleadeth the cause of the poor, against their oppressors. 
The less need haue I now to spend my time vpon it. Yet a word of it. My now-doctrine I deliver in this position: It is not lawful for any man to oppress another.  
Oppression I call every injustice, used of the mightier, either by violence, or by colour of law, or by any other cunning dealing, against such as are not able to withstand them.  
This description of oppression, I gather from Levit. 25.14. from Micah 2.1, 2. and from 1. Thess. 4.6. In each place the vnlawfulnesse of oppression is manifested.  
The first place is, Levit. 25.14. The commandement there is: If thou sell ought unto thy neighbour, or buyest ought of thy neighbors hand, ye shall not oppress one another. Whether you sell or buy, you may not oppress: the very forbidding of oppression, is a sufficient argument, that oppression is unlawful.  
The second place is, Micah 2.1, 2. Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil vpon their beds: when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hands. And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away. So they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. where you haue an imprecation against oppressors, a woe thundered out against them. It is enough to prove oppression to be unlawful.  
The third place is, 1. Thess. 4.6. This is the will of God, that no man oppress, or overreach his brother in any matter. Is it Gods will? Then surely it is not lawful for you to oppress or overreach one another in any business. Men of trade may not gain by their false weights, false measures, false speeches, or false oaths; neither may men in any other course of life gain by violence, or by colour of Law, or by any other cunning dealing. Thus is my doctrine confirmed, It is not lawful for any man to oppress another.  
First, it may serve for a reproof of the Oppressors of this age, who make gold their hope, and the wedge of gold their confidence, as job speaketh, chap. 31.24. S. Paul, he taught, 1. Tim. 6.6. that godliness is great gain: but these men suppose the contrary, that gain is great godliness: and therefore they fear not to gain with the hurt of others.  
They build their houses, as the moth. So saith job, chap. 27.18. As the moth! How is that? The moth is made full by spoiling the barks, and books wherein it liveth. So is it with these men; they make themselves full, by spoiling others, with whom they live, and haue to deal. I express it in Ieremies phrase, chap. 22.13. They build their houses by unrighteousness, and their chambers by wrong: and in Habakkuks phrase, chap. 2.12. They build them towns with blood, and stablish their Cities by iniquity. Against these is that complaint of the Lord, Esai. 3.14, 15. Ye haue eaten up the vineyard; the spoil of the poor is in your houses. What mean ye, that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the faces of the poor? Woe to these men; a woe from Micah, a woe from ieremy, a woe from Habakkuk in the now-alleaged places; a woe from Esay too, Chap. 5.8. Woe vpon woe and yet will they not cease from joining house to house, and laying land to land, as if the way to the spiritual Canaan were all by Land, and not through a read Sea of death, as one wittily speaketh.  
From this contempt of the Prophets of the Lord, or rather, of the Lord himself speaking by his Prophets, it is now come to pass, that many a poor tenant is thrust out of his house; that Villages are depopulated, that those streets which were wont to be sown with the seeds of men, are now become pastures for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of sheep, as Esay speaketh, chap. 7.25.  
Now may Hythlodaeus his complaint haue place: 
Mori Vtopia lib. 1.  Our sheep in England were sometimes the meekest beasts of the field, and contented themselves with a little: but now are they become so fierce and greedy, that they devour men, and Towne-fields, and houses, and villages, and lay all waste. Alas, silly sheep, it is no fault of yours; you are as meek as ever you were. Whose then is the fault? It is yours, ye grinding oppressors: yours, whose hearts are like the vast Ocean, fit to swallow up every base commodity, that the earth is able to afford you.  
O that th●se men would at length call themselves to a strict account of the oppressions, wherewith they haue oppressed the poor, either by depopulating, or by raising rents, or by hoysing fines, or by interest, or otherwise: and would once begin to make some restitution. Did they but know in what estimation they stand in Church and Common-wealth, they would remit somewhat of their Cruelty.  
The Church heretofore denied them Christian burial. Its apparent in the Canon Law: Extra de Usuris, Cap. Quia in omnibus.  
How the Common-wealth brooketh them, they may perceive by two instances. Catillus a British King 170. yeares before Christ, did hang them up: He hung up all oppressors of the poor. My 
St●w in ●is S●mmarie.  Chronicler writes in the margin, A good example. Long after him, King Edward, commonly called good King Edward, banished them his Land. So writeth Glanvil lib. 7. de Leg.& consuet. Angliae c. 37. The same author in the same book cap. 16. affirmeth; that by the most ancient laws of England, the goods of a defamed o●pressor, dying without restitution, were escheated unto the King; and all his lands unto the Lord of the town.  
Wherefore let the oppressor now at last forsake his oppressions. What can all the wealth, all the muck of the earth avail him, if for it he loose the kingdom of heaven? Momentaneum est, quod delectat; aeternum, quod cruciat. The wealth he here heapeth up may for a time yield him some delight: but what is a moment of delight to the eternity of sorrow that must follow? Must follow! Yea it must follow, if amendment hinder it not. If he amend not, I say, as God is God, so certainly shall the oppressor be destroyed, though not in the read Sea, as the oppressing egyptians once were, yet in a Sea, a black Sea of Hellish deeps, where he shall be pained vnspeakably, tormented intolerably, both everlastingly.  
Thus haue you the first use of my doctrine. My doctrine was, It is not lawful for any man to oppress another.  
The use was a general reproof of our now-oppressors.  
A second use may be to admonish Iudges, Iustices, and other Magistrates and Rulers, that they suffer not themselves to be stained with this sin of oppression. It is the 
Pilkinton exposit. in Nehem. c●p. 5. fol. 80. A.  duty of the Magistrate to deliver the oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor.  
This duty is laid vpon him, Ierem. 21.12. There thus saith the Lord to the house of david: Execute iudgem●nt in the morning, and deliver him that is oppressed out of the hand of the oppressor. It is likewise laid vpon him, Esai. 1.17. seek iudgement, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and defend the widow. Where first Gods commandement is, that Magistrates should execute iudgement in the morning. In the morning: Therefore they are not to use delays in doing iustice. Secondly, Gods commandement is, that Magistrates should seek iudgement. Must they seek iudgement? Therefore in cases of oppression they are not to stay till they be called for. Thirdly, God commendeth unto Magistrates, all that are oppressed, but specially the fatherless and widow: the fatherless, because they want the defence of their parents; and the widow, because she is destitute of the help of her husband; and we know, every man goeth over, where the hedge is lowest. Therefore are Magistrates to take vpon them the defence of the fatherless, the defence of the widow, the defence of every one, that is oppressed.  
Is it so? Then are Magistrates to take special heed, that themselves be neither principals, nor accessaries, in the sin of Oppression. They must abhor the practise of the Princes of jerusalem, who Esay 1.23. are styled companions of theeues, because they loved gifts, and followed after rewards. They are to detest the corruption of the rulers of Israel, who Hos. 4.18. love with shane to cry, Bring ye, Bring ye. They must hate the ways of Samuels sons, who 1. Sam. 8.3. turned aside after lucre, took bribes, and perverted iudgement. They must loathe the courses of cursed Balaam, who 2. Pet. 2.15. loved the wages of unrighteousness.  
Happy is the land that is ruled by such Magistrates. Such may with boldness stand up, and make protestation with just and uncorrupt Samuel, 1. Sam. 12.3. Behold, here we are; witness against us: whose ox haue we taken? whom haue we defrauded? whom haue we oppressed? of whose hand haue we received any bribes to blind our eyes therewith? and no man shall be able to accuse them.  
Are ours such? I stand not here to pled against them. Onely this I say: If ours be not such, but are of another stamp: if they love the wages of unrighteousness, if they love gifts, if they follow after rewards, if they turn aside after lucre, if they take bribes, if they shane not to cry, Bring ye, bring ye; I may rank them with these Israelites in my text: They will sell the righteous for silver; they will sell the poor for a pair of shoes; they will pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor; they will turn aside the way of the meek, and they will drink the wine of the condemned.  
Thus haue you the second use of my doctrine. My doctrine was, It is not lawful for any man to oppress another. The use was an admonition to Magistrates, rulers, and other officers, that they suffer not themselves to be stained with the sin of oppression.  
A third use followeth. It reacheth to the poor oppressed. They may from hence receive consolation; from hence they may be comforted. Is it not an exceeding great comfort to a poor oppressed wretch, to know, that God taketh notice of the oppressions, under which he groaneth? That God doth so, I haue already made it manifest in the proof of my doctrine, in the reproof of oppressors, and in the Magistrates admonition. It is clear also in the letter of my text. Here God taketh notice of the oppressions of the poor in Israel, in as much as the Iudges, the Rulers, and great men there did drink the wine of the condemned.  
Hereto I add that Psal. 12.5. For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise( saith the Lord) I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him, from him that would ensnare him. Behold here, first Gods readiness to help the poor, and secondly, how forcible with God the poor mans prayers are. Are not both these to a poor oppressed man points of singular comfort? Out of doubt they are.  
But some poor man pressed down with the burden of oppression, may here say unto me. Hath God promised to deliver me from mine oppressors? Why then am I still oppressed?  
Stay a while, and thou shalt behold the goodness of the Lord. Its not for thee to make hast, or to seek by vile, and unwarrantable courses to wind thyself out of thine oppressors hands. until it shall please the Lord to put an end to thy present grievances, its thy duty to possess thy soul in patience. Prescribe not thou unto the Lord, what he shall do. Let his grace, let his favour be sufficient for thee, whatsoever it bring with it; be it want, or poverty, or adversity. One drop of his favour is better worth unto thee, and more of value, then this whole world. If thou haue but a taste, but a touch of it, it will make thee sing with david, Psal. 119.71. Its good for me that I haue been afflicted: good, that I haue been in want, in poverty, in adversity, under the gripping hand of the oppressor. O! how sweet is the quiet fruit of righteousness, that springeth forth from the bitter roote of tribulation!  
I haue done with the poor oppressed, when I shall haue given them a Caveat. The Caveat is, that they themselves oppress not themselves. There is no oppression to the oppression, that one poor man exerciseth towards another. For a poor man that oppresseth the poor, is like a sweeping rain, that leaves no food. Salomon avoweth it, Prov. 28.3. A poor man] a man of mean estate, if he oppress] by force, by fraud, by bargaining, or otherwise, a poor man] such as he himself is, whom he should tender and pity, because by him he may be put in mind of his own estate, he is like a sweeping rain] like a flood that riseth through abundance of rain, or he is like a great storm and tempest of rain, that suddenly carrieth away corn, hay, and whatsoever it meeteth with, and leaves behind it no food for men or cattle to live on. A poor man if he oppress the poor, is like a sweeping rain, that leaves no food.  
A poor man, and yet an oppressor! Such a one is much more intolerable then a rich man, that oppresseth. For, whereas by the law of God, every oppressor is bound to make actual restitution for the wrongs he hath done, the rich man may bee in case to do it, the poor man never.  
My exhortation is, to rich, to poor, to all; that all would be of the same mind one towards another. So S. Paul exhorted the Romans, chap. 12.16. Be of the same mind one towards another. mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. recompense to no man evil for evil. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Sith here we haue no continuing city, Heb. 13.14. sith here we are but pilgrims and strangers, 1. Pet. 2.11. sith here is not our rest, Micah 2.10. why use we fraudulencie and forgery in our contracts? why bribery in iustice? why cruelty in our dealings? why ouer-beare we right by might? why grind we the poor like corn with the millstones of oppression? why eat we them up like bread? yea, why do the poor grind themselves? why oppress they one another? Will we never leave crushing one another? dearly beloved, we forget ourselves: we think we are at home, but are not. Our home is above; it is Heaven. Here we are but strangers: and say; Is it fit that strangers, when they are but passing through a strange country, should devour and consume one another?  
beloved in the bowels of Iesus Christ, let us for the time to come so live and love together, whilst we shall be here iornying towards our wished-for-home, that celestial Canaan, that when it shall please God to call us to our accounts, how we haue here carried ourselves, we may with blessed Paul, 2. Cor. 7.2. boldly make our profession: We haue wronged no man, we haue consumed no man, we haue defrauded no man.  
Thus far of the second general part, whose wine it was that these Israelites did drink. It was the wine of the condemned. I can but salute the third; it noteth the place where the Israelites drank their wine: it was in domo deorum svorum, in the house of their Gods. They drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their Gods.  In the house of their Gods. 
The Septuagint haue {αβγδ}. In the house of their God. So readeth the author of the Vulgar latin: So Luther, and Calvin, and Munster, and Castalio, and gualther, and so our new English. The reading I disallow not. Yet because the Israelites, the ten tribes of Israel, they to whom this prophesy of Amos was directed, went not now up to jerusalem, to the Temple there, there to worship the true and living God; but had Temples of their own, Temples in Dan, in Bethel, in other places, to which they repaired for the worship of their golden calves, and Baal, and other their Idols; I rather red( and the Hebrew text will well bear it) in the house of their Gods. Mercer so readeth it; so doth Vatablus, so Drusius, so Tremellius and Iunius. jonathan the Chaldee Paraphrast he reads; In the house of their Idols. He hath respect to the purpose of the Holy Ghost. His purpose in this place is to tax the Israelites for their superstition, for their idolatry, for their riot and excess in spending their goods, gotten by the oppression of the poor in the houses, Temples, or Churches of their Idol Gods. The doctrine, we may take from hence is this, Goods gotten unlawfully are not fit to be employed in the service of God. No, nor in the service of Idols.  
Not in the service of God. They are rejected by Ecclesiasticus, chap. 34.18. He that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, his offering is ridiculous. Ridiculous! And will you think a ridiculous offering fit for Gods service? In the 20. vers. of the same Chapter Ecclesiasticus saith further: Who so bringeth an offering of the goods of the poor, doth as one that killeth the son before the fathers eyes. Can a father be pleased to haue his son slain before his eyes? You will say, no. No more will it be pleasing to God to haue an offering of ill gotten goods presented to him.  
Salomon Prov. 15.8. saith, The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. He saith it again, chap. 21.27. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination. Its true. whatsoever Sacrifice the wicked man offereth to the Lord, be it offered never so solemnly, never so sumptuously, it will be an abomination to the Lord, the Lord will abhor it, he will detest it. Much more will he abhor and detest any offering that shall be made of goods ill gotten, of the goods of the poor. Of such sacrificers he saith in Esay, chap. 66.3. He that killeth an ox, is as if he slue a man: he that sacrificeth a lamb, as he that cut off a dogs neck, he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered swines flesh, he that burneth incense, as if he blessed an Idol.  
You aclowledge the truth of the first part of my doctrine.  Goods gotten unlawfully are not fit to be employed in the service of God. 
But may they be employed in the service of Idols? No, they may not. My reason is: The Idolater having no perfect knowledge of the true and liui●● God, takes his Idol to be his God, and worshippeth him as God. Now goody worship him amiss, if carelessly, if with goods of oppr●… with ill-gotten goods, he dishonoureth the true and living God: and the true and living God will be the avenger of such dishonour done unto him. This is the very reason why our Prophet here reproveth the Israelites for bringing into the Temples of their Idols, their ill-gotten goods, the wine of the condemned. They thought thereby to do service, not so much to their Idols, as to the great God of heaven, whom by their Idols they represented. Thus haue you my whole doctrine established, Goods gotten unlawfully are not fit to be employed in the service of God: No, nor in the service of Idols.  
1. This may serve to admonish such, as shall hereafter found Colleges, build Hospitals, erect schools, ordain Aniuersaries, that they endow them not, that they enrich them not with lands and possessions, purchased with ill-gotten treasure.  
2. Here is a lesson for all such as haue heaped up unto themselves abundance of wealth by oppression, by extortion, by usury, by deceit, or otherwise unlawfully. Such may here be put in mind to make actual restitution in their life time. Happily they will by their last Will and Testament bequeath part of their ill-gotten wealth to the Church, and part to the poor, and will leave but a portion to their heires. A poor shift. Can they think that God will be so mocked? He will not.  
What remaineth then, but that every one, who hath increased his substance by wrong, do while he is living, make actual restitution. Zacheus the Publican professeth unto Christ, Luk. 19.8. Behold Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I haue taken any thing from any man, by forged cavillation, I restore him fourfold. Zacheus of jericho, he being converted to christianity was content to restore fourfold. It is a good consequent, they are scarce half Christians, that will not restore the principal. Thou wilt say, what need restitution? I will repent for my oppressing sins, and God is gracious; he never turns away the sinner that repenteth. Take heed, deceive not thyself: if thou be able to make actual restitution, and dost it not, poenitentia non agitur, said fingitur. S. Austine tells thee so, Ep. 54. which is to Macedonius. Thy repentance is no repentance; thou dost but feign repentance. It will never procure thee pardon for thy sin. Make thou therefore actual restitution.  
Thus far of the 8. verse.   

THE XIII. lecture.  AMOS 2.9.10 11. 
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the oaks, yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and lead you forty yeares through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.  
And I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
MY meditations haue been heretofore five times exercised in discoursing unto you of the sins, wherewith the people of Israel in the precedent verses stand charged. Their sins were, covetousness, cruelty, Oppression, False dealing, filthy lusts, Incest, idolatry, Riot, and excess. gross and palpable enormities. My endeavour was by the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, to arm you against them, that ye give them no passage, no not a little; that ye suffer them not by any means to haue dominion over you.  
From their sins we come to their Blessings; those blessings wherewith God had blessed them. four are here mentioned.  
One is, the ruin of the Amorites, set down verse 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the oaks, yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
The second is, their deliuera●●e from the servitude of Egypt. ver. 10. Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt.  
The third is, their safe passage through the desert, touched in the same verse; I lead you forty yeares through the wilderness. And why so? but, to possess the land of the Amorite.  
These were three great blessings; yet were they but temporal. The fourth passeth; It is spiritual, ver. 11. I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites:  
The confirmation of all followeth in the same verse: Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord? Say O ye children of Israel; Haue I not done so and so for you? Haue I not destroyed the Amorite for your sake? Haue I not freed you from your Egyptian yoke? Haue I not guided you through the desert? Haue I not given you Prophets and Nazarites of your own sons, and of your own young men for your instruction in the true service and worship of your God? Is it even thus, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
You haue now the scope of my Prophet, and the sum of this Scripture. My present discourse must begin with the first mentioned benefit bestowed by God vpon that people. It is the ruin of the Amorites for their sake, thus expressed, ver. 9. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, &c.  
Herein I commend unto you three principal parts;  
The first hath a general touch of the ruin of the Amo●ites: Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.  
The second hath a description of that people. They are described, from their stature, and from their valour. Each is set forth unto us by way of comparison: their stature or tallness by the Cedar, their valour or strength by the oak; Their height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the oaks.  
The third hath a particular explication or amplification of their ruin; It was not any gentle stripe that they received, not any light incision, not any small wound; but it was their extermination, their contrition, their universal overthrow, their utter ruin. Their roote and fruit; Princes and subiects; Parents and children, young and old, were all brought to nought: Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
Of the first of these three parts at this time. It hath a general touch of the ruin of the Amorites. Yet I destroyed the Amorite before them.  
Yet.] The Hebrew letter is Van; it is most usually put for 
Et.  And: It is here so rendered by lo Iuda, by Calvin, by gualther, by Brentius, and by Drusius. The 
{αβγδ}.  Septuagint, the author of the 
Autem.  Vulgar latin, and Vatablus do translate it But. 
Quamvis.  Tremellius and the 
Licet.  Translator of the Chaldee Paraphrase haue Although. Our English Bible hath Yet. Be it either And, or Although, or But, or Yet, it varieth not the meaning of the holy Ghost.  
The meaning of the holy Ghost, is, by this enumeration of Gods benefits vpon Israel, to tax Israel of Ingratitude. God showered down his benefits vpon them, yet they returned no thankes. So much is here enforced by this particle, Yet, to this sense: Notwithstanding all the good I haue done unto Israell, whether for their temporal, or for their spiritual estate; for their temporal, by destroying the Amorite before them, by freeing them from their servitude in Egypt, and by guiding them through the wilderness: and for their spiritual estate, by giuing unto them Prophets even of their own sons: yet Israell, 
Hos. 11.7.  my people Israell, haue 
Hos. 13.6.  forgotten me. cruelty, covetousness, Oppression, False dealing, filthy lusts, Incest, idolatry, Riot, and excess, these are the fruits wherewith they repay me: Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.  
Here we are to take out a lesson against Vnthankefulnesse. It is this, Unthankefulnesse is a sin very odious in the sight of God.  
This truth you will aclowledge to be very evident, and out of question, if you will be pleased to consider three things.  
The 

First is, that God doth seriously forbid Vnthankefulnesse.  
Second is, that he doth severely reprehend it.  
Third is, that he doth duly punish it.    
First, God forbiddeth vnthankefulnesse. It is forbidden, Deut. 6.22. Take heed, that thou forget not the Lord thy God when thou art full. 
Deut. 6.10.  When the Lord thy God shall haue brought thee into the land which he swore unto thy Fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to jacob, to give thee, and shall haue given thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildest not: 
Vers. 11.  And houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and Wells di●g●d which thou diggedst not; vineyards& olive trees planted, which thou plantedst not, 
Deut. 8.10.11.12.  when thou hast eaten and be full, 
Deut. 6.12.  Then beware lest thou forget the Lord, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Take heed that thou be not unthankful.  
Secondly, God reprehendeth unthankfulness. He reprehendeth it in the Iewes, Esa. 1.2. I haue nourished, I haue brought up children, but they haue rebelled against me. He reprehendeth it in the Gentiles, Rom. 1.21. There are the Gentiles said to be without excuse, Because when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were they thankful. he reprehendeth it in the proud Christian, 1. Cor. 4.7. The proud Christian he boasteth of his dignity, of his good works, of his merits. unthankful man, what hast thou, that thou hast not received? And if thou hast received it, why dost thou glory, why boasteth thou as if thou hadst not received? It is a reprehension of unthankfulness which you haue, Mat. 25 26. There the seruant that received of his Master one Talent to be employed to the best advantage, and employed it not, is thus checked: Thou wicked and slothful seruant, thou knowest that I reap, where I sowed not, and gather where I haue not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to haue put my money to the exchangers.  
I may not pass by Iesus his censure, which he giveth of the lepers, Luk. 17.17. It is a reprehension of their unthankfulness. ten were cleansed: onely one, and he a samaritan, returned to give thankes. It drew from Iesus this expostulation: Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?  
Let me recall you to review that reproof of Vnthankefulnesse, Esa. 1.2. How begins it? hear o men, harken o Angels? No A greater auditory must yield attention. hear o Heauens, and harken o earth. Why? What is the matter? I haue nourished, and brought up children, and they haue rebelled against me. What? Children! and they rebel! If seruants had done it, if bondmen, if the sons of Agar, of whom it was said of old, 
Gen. 21.10.  Cast out this bondwoman, and her son, if these had rebelled against me, it were the less to be marveled at: but they are children, mine own children, children of mine own education, nourished and brought up by myself: That these should rebel against me! hear o Heauens, and harken o earth, stand ye hereat astonished.  
mark, I beseech you, how the Lord goeth on to amplify this Vnthankefulnesse of his people, ver. 3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his Masters crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. See you not, how God setteth his people, as it were to school, to the ox, and to the ass, to learn of them what their duty is? And no marvel is it, saith a good 
Calvin.  Interpreter. For it often times falleth out, that bruit beasts do make a greater show of humanity, then man himself doth.  
It is a commendation given unto dogges, that they are fidelissimi dominis,& gratissimi, most faithful, most grateful unto their Masters: that by night they watch and ward, and keep their Masters houses; that by day they attend their Masters abroad; that they fight for them, ye and sometimes 
Bosquier s●cundâ naufragij tabulâ Conc. in dedicativis Templi pag. 158.  die for them too. The dog that in K. Pyrrhus his 
Theatrum mundi Launai lib. 1. sub finem.  camp in the midst of his armed souldiers invaded the parricide and murderer of his Master, is recorded for a pattern of thankfulness. So is that Merchants dog, that in the island Teos, lay vpon a bag of money of his Masters, which his Masters boy had by negligence left behind him in a by-way: and so long he lay vpon it, that at his masters return to seek what he had lost, tùm custodia finem fecit, tùm caninam efflavit animam, saith my 
Elias Cretens. comment ad orat. 2. Naziazenus de Theologia. p. 60.  Author, he yielded up the custody of the bag, and dyed.  
I could tell you of as great thankfulness in lions. It was a thankful lion that spared Androclus a runagate from his Master, put into Circus Maximus at Rome, to be devoured by the Beasts there. The kindness he had done to the lion was in Africa: and it was nothing else but the plucking of a thorn out of his foot, It was a kindness, and the lion forgot it not. Its registered by Gellius Noct: Attic. lib. 5. cap. 14.  
It was a thankful lion, that followed Gerasimus the Abbot to keep his Asses: the kindness that the Abbot had done to the lion, was done at the river jordan. It was nothing else, but the removing of a little bramble from the lions foot; It was a kindness, and the lion did him service for it. Its reported by johan. Moscus in his pratum spiritual c. 107. And Fran. Costerus the Iesuite cites it to be true, in his 
Pag. 255.  Sermon vpon the thirteenth dominical after Pentecoast.  
It was a thankful lion that followed a certain soldier that went with Duke Godfrey of Bullein to the Conquest of the Holy land. The kindness that the soldier had done to the lion, was done not far from jerusalem. And what was it? A serpent that had gotten this lion at the advantage, and was like to be his executioner, was slain by this soldier: This was a kindness, and the lion was thankful for it. It is storied by Bernardus Guidonis in his Chronicle: And Philip Diez, a friar minorite of Portugall in his Summa predicantium at the word, Ingratitude, takes it for true: and vpon the relation thereof breaketh out into this exclamation: 
Pag. 495.  O magnam bestiae gratitudinem,& ingentem hominum ingratitudinem! Quare haec audientes vos, non confunditis? O the great thankfulness of a beast, and the exceeding great vnthankefulnesse of men! How is it that you hear this, and are not confounded.  
Salomon, the wisest among the sons of men, Prov. 6.6. sends the sluggard to the Ant, to learn of her to labour. go to the Ant, thou sluggard, consider her ways, and be wise. Shee 
Prou. 6.7.  having no guid, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meate in summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. go, learn of her, do thou likewise. Is the sluggard sent to the Ant to learn? Then well may the unthankful man be sent to the lion, to the dog, to the ox, and to the ass. He may learn to be thankful of the lion, and of the dog: I haue shewed it unto you by human testimonies. The ox and the ass may also teach it them: divine demonstration makes it good. Remember, I beseech you that same exaggeration of the ingratitude of Israel: The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his masters crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider. And let this suffice to show, that God doth severely reprehend vnthankefulnesse.  
Now in the third place, I am to show, that he doth punish it.  
The punishments wherewith God repayeth vnthankefulnesse are of two sorts. They are either temporal or eternal.  
Among temporal punishments I rank the loss of the commodities of this life.  
Such a punishment, a temporal punishment it was, wherewith God repaid the Vnthankefulnesse of the Israelites in the wilderness of Pharan, at Kibroth-Hattaanah, or the graues of lust, their thirteenth mansion, so called because there 
Num. 11.34.  they butted the people that lusted for flesh. This punishment, Psal. 78.30, 31. is thus described: While their meate was yet in their mouths, the wrath of God came vpon them, and flew the fattest of them, and smote down the chosen of Israel. In the 11. of Numbers, ver. 33. thus: While the flesh was yet between their teeth, ere it was chewed, the wrath of the Lord was kindled against the people, and the Lord smote the people with a very great plague.  
A temporal punishment it was, wherewith God repaid the mother 
Hos. 2.5.  that played the Harlot, Hos. chap. 2. for her unthankfulness. Shee knew not, that the Lord gave 
Ver. 8.  her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver, and her gold. For shee said verse 5. I will go after my louers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. You may see her punishment resolved vpon, vers. 9. I will return, saith the Lord, and will take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine, in the season thereof, and I will recover my wool and my flax. Mine saith the Lord. They are all his. It was the Harlots Vnthankefulnesse to call them hers. But shee was punished with the loss of them.  
A temporal punishment it is, which is threatened to fall vpon every unthankful wretch, Prov. 17.13. Who so rewardeth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. Plagues and punishments from God shall be his portion.  
Thus is Unthankefulnesse repaid with temporal punishments. It is repaid likewise with eternal.  
An eternal punishment it is, which is adiudged to the unthankful, and unprofitable seruant, in the parable of the talents, Matth. 25.30. Cast him into utter darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  
eternal is the punishment, which Iudas suffereth for his vnthankefulnesse. He fell 
Act 1.18.  headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, all his bowels gushed out, and so he went into his own place, Act. 1.25. His own place! Ex proprijs meritis damnationis locum, suum effecit, saith cajetan, Iudas by his own deserts made the place of damnation, his own place. His own place, not by any desire or affectation of his own, but by Gods ordination. He went into his own place: Abijt in Infernum, saith Lorinus, he went into Hell: and there he suffereth the 
revel. 21.8.  second death; a death after death, a death and yet everlasting. For as Hell is large, so its long, and strong too. between us and you saith Abraham in Paradise to dives in hell, there is a great gulf fixed, 
Luk. 16.26.  so that they which would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Ex inferno nulla redemptio: there is no getting out of Hell: and therefore Iudas his punishment is eternal.  
St Paul 2. Tim. 3.2. sets down a catalogue of the wicked: Among them, {αβγδ}, the unthankful haue their place. They haue their place among the wicked; and therfore the portion of the wicked, must be their portion. And what shall become of the wicked? S. Paul saith, 1. Cor. 6.10. They shall not inherit the kingdom of God. He saith it again, Gal. 5.21. They shall not inherit the kingdom of God. S. John in his revelation, Chap. 21.8. saith, They shall haue their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone. The unthankful therefore, as wicked, shall not inherit the kingdom of God, but shall haue their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone. Their punishment shall be eternal.  
Hitherto you haue heard; First, that God doth seriously forbid Unthankefulnesse. Secondly, that he doth severely reprehend it. Thirdly, that he doth duly punish it. From hence is the lesson, which I commended unto you, made good.  Vnthankefulnesse is a sin very odious in the sight of God. 
The consideration hereof should work in us a resolution to give thankes unto our God for all his benefits. And although Dignas Deo gratias agere non sufficimus, though we be not able worthily to give God thanks; yet let every one of us profess with S. Bernard, in his second Sermon 
Domin. 6. Pentac. pag. 230. h.  de septem panibus: Ingratitudinem prorsus odit anima mea, my soul doth hate vnthankefulnesse. Peremtoria siquidem res est Ingratitudo. Vnthankefulnesse! its a killing sin, its an enemy to grace, its a black friend to salvation. I tell you, saith that Father, quoniam pro meo sapere, I tell you, that to my understanding, there is nothing, that so much displeaseth God, especially in the children of Grace, and men of conversion, as vnthankefulnesse doth. His reason is: Vias obstruit gratiae;& ubi fuerit illa, iam gratia accessum non invenit, locum non habet. unthankfulness, it stops, it dams up the passage of grace. Let Vnthankefulnesse be any where, the good graces of God will haue no access thither; much less will they reside there.  
The same sweet Father Serm. 51. in Cantica 
Pag 719. h.  speaketh to like purpose. Vnthankefulnesse! its the souls enemy; its a burning wind, siccans tibi fontem pietatis, rorem misericordia, fluenta gratiae. It drieth up the fountain of piety, the due of mercy, the riuers of grace.  
He may seem to haue reference to that heavenly meditation of S. Austine in the 18. chapter of his 
Tom. 9. fol. 159. e.  Soliloquies: Lord I will recount in my mind all the good which thou hast done for me all my life long, even from my 
Psal. 71.5.  youth. For I know right well, that vnthankefulnesse doth much displease thee, as being the roote of all spiritual wickedness. It is ventus quidam desiccans,& vrens omne bonum; It is a certain wind, that drieth and burneth up whatsoever good is, and stoppeth the fountain of thy heavenly mercies, o Lord.  
Such should be our every dayes meditation. every day should we recount in our minds, all the good things which God hath done for us all our life long, even from our youth. Here to are we exhorted by S. Paul, 1. Thes. 5.18. In every thing give thankes. His exhortation is made strong with a reason annexed. For this is the will of God in Christ Iesus concerning you. The like exhortation is made to the Colossians, chap. 3.15. Be ye thankful, and ver. 17. whatsoever ye do in word or in dead, do all things in the name of the Lord Iesus, giuing thankes to God, and the Father by him. The Ephesians are in like sort exhorted, chap. 5.20. give thankes always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ.  
In this apostolical exhortation to thanksgiving four circumstances are principally remarkable, Quando, pro quibus, cvi, per quem.  
One is, Quando; When we are to give thankes. We are to do it, {αβγδ}, always, at all times.  
The second is, pro quibus; for what we are to give thanks, We are to do it {αβγδ}, for all things. For all things which God sendeth vpon us, or our neighbours, be they prosperous or otherwise. For even adversity 
Rom. 8.28.  worketh for the good of them, that love God.  
The third is, cvi; to whom we are to give thankes. We are to do it {αβγδ}, to God and the Father, because he is God and Father: God in greatness, and Father in goodness: God, for his creation and general government of the world, and Father, for his election, redemption, and justification of the faithful.  
The fourth is, Per quem; By whom we are to give thanks, we are to do it {αβγδ}, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ. Not in our own name, for there is no 
Rom. 7.8.  good in vs. Of ourselves we cannot so much as 
2. Cor. 3.5.  think a good thought; much less can we speak a good word, or do a good dead. Nor in any Angels name, for the Angels are but 
Heb. 1.14.  {αβγδ}, they are but ministering spirits. Nor in any Saints name: for this were to mingle the blood of Thomas with Christs blood, as 
Luk. 13.1.  Pilate mingled the blood of the Galileans with their own sacrifice: Christ, he alone is our saviour, our Redeemer, our Mediator, our advocate: in his name alone are we to give thankes. give thankes always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ.  
This is our duty, beloved, even to give thankes always for all things to God the Father, in the name of our Lord Iesus Christ.  
Is it our duty? Let us then embrace it. Ascendant gratia, vt descendat gratia: let our thankes ascend up to God, that his grace may descend down vpon vs. For cessat decursus gratiarum, ubi non fuerit recursus, saith Bernard Serm. 1. in capite jeiunij. The course and descent of the graces of God ceaseth, and the spring is dried up, when there is not a recourse and tide of our thankfulness.  
O! Why should so good an exercise be a burden and grief to any Christian soul. Let the unrighteous vanish away in their graceless vnthankefulnesse, and become as the dung of the earth: but let the righteous always rejoice in the Lord, 
Psal. 33.1.  for it well becometh the just to be thankful.  
Early and late let us praise his holy name, though not with the harp, nor with the psaltery, nor with an instrument of ten strings, as the Psalmist adviseth, Psal. 33.2. Yet let us do it with the best members, and instruments we haue, with our bodies, and with our souls.  
An eminent 
B. King in Jon. l●ct 25. p 328.  pillar of our Church, hath for this place a sweet meditation: Let us never turn our 
Ez●. 8.16.  backs to the Temple of the Lord, nor our faces from his mercy seat. Let us not take without giuing, as unprofitable ground drinketh and devoureth seed without restoring. Let us neither eat nor drink, nay, let us neither hunger nor thirst, without this condiment to it, The Lord be praised. Let the frontlets between your eyes, the bracelets vpon our arms, the guards vpon our garments, be thankes. whatsoever we receive to use or enjoy, let us writ that posy& Epiphoneme of 
Chap. 4.7.  zachary vpon it; Grace, grace unto it: for all is grace.  
To shut up this point, let our daily devotion, be the same that Dauids was, Psal. 103.1, 2. let it be our daily song: Llesse the Lord o my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. bless the Lord o my soul,& forget not all his benefits.  
Thus far hath the unthankfulness of Israel, noted in the particle Yet, carried me. I now go on with the explication of the first benefit here mentioned, to haue been bestowed by God vpon that unthankful people.  I destroyed the Amorite before them. 
{αβγδ}, say the Septuagint, I haue taken away; Exterminavi, the Vulgar, Calvin, and gualther, I haue cast out; Delevi, lo, Iuda, and Castalio, I haue wiped away; Excidi, Oecolampadius, I haue cut off; Perdidi, Vatablus, Tremellius, and Iunius, I haue destroyed; Drusius expounds it, Delevi, Perdidi, profligavi; Mercerus, Disperdidi, abolevi. The word in the original signifieth, so to abolish and wipe away a people or a nation, that there be not any memory left of it.  I destroyed the Amorite. 
The Amorites were descended from Canaan the fourth son of Ham. In Gen. 10.16. Canaan is said to haue begotten, the jebusite, and the Amorite, and the G●rgasite. He begot the Amorite.  
I destroyed the Ammorite] What? The Ammorite alone? Not so: But the Ammorites and other nations of the land of Canaan: whom, when they had fulfilled the measure of their iniquity, God did cut of, that he might give their land for an habitation to the posterity of jacob, the people of Israell, according to his covenant made with Abraham, Gen. 15.18. unto thy seed haue I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates. The Kenites and the Kentzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgasites, and the jebusites. The Amorites you see were not alone.  
According to this covenant with Abraham, a promise is made to the Fathers in the desert, Exod. 23.27. I will sand my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people, to whom thou shalt come, and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee. And I will sand hornets before thee, which shall drive out from before thee. Whom? The Hivite, the Canaanite, and the Hittite? Its true. But they are not all. look back to the 23. verse. There shall you find the Lord thus to speak. Mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hivites, and the jebusites: and I will cut them off. You see again, the Amorites were not alone.  
I peruse the Catalogue of the Nations, whom the Lord hath cast out before Israell. It is Deut. 7.1. There I find, that he hath cast out, the Hittites, and the Girgasites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Heuites, and the jebusites, seven Nations, greater and mightier then Israell was. seven Nations? Then the Amorites were not alone.  
Were they seven Nations, that were driven out before Israel? How then is it, that the Lord here in my text recounting unto Israell this great benefit, nameth onely the Amorite, saying, Yet destroyed I the Ammorite.  
The Iesuite Pererius in his third Tome of Commentaries vpon Genesis, writing vpon the 15. Chapter, ver. 16. these words, The iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full, moves this very doubt, but thus: The reader may here wonder, why mention is made onely of one Nation of the Amorite, sith it is plain by other places of holy Scripture, that there were seven Nations, which the Lord drove out from before the Israelites.  
His first answer is: It may by a Synecdoche. A part may be put for the whole; one Nation of the Amorites for all the seven. A like Synecdoche there is, josh. 1.4. There thus saith the Lord unto joshuah: From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great Sea, toward the going down of the sun, shall be your cost. All the land of the Hittites, shall be your cost; The Hittites onely are name; and yet within the bounds described all the seven had their habitations. It is therefore a Synecdoche. A part is put for the whole: One Nation of the Hittites for all the seven. Its so here: One Nation of the Amorites for all the seven.  
This answer admitting a Synecdoche is approved by Piscator, Tremellius, and Iunius. Yet Pererius thinks to give a better. And therefore his second answer is: that the Amorites are praecipuè& singulariter, chiefly and principally, name above all the rest, and for them all; because for the largeness of their Nation, and for their height of stature, and for their strength of body, and for their excessive cruelty, and impiety, they were above all, famous and much spoken of.  
Mercerus, that great Professor of the Hebrew tongue in the university of Paris, is of opinion, that the Amorite here, and else-where, is above all, and for all mentioned, because he of all was the most terrible, the most mighty, and the strongest.  
The like is affirmed by Arias Montanus, that learned Spaniard; Amorrhaeum potissimùm appellat, The Amorite he especially nameth, because that Nation & multitudine,& copijs, atque potentiâ, in multitude, in forces, and in power, excelled all the rest of the Nations, that were cast out before Israell.  
Here then, where the Lord hath said, Yet destroyed I the Amorite, in the Amorite we are to understand also, the rest of those seven Nations, which the Lord drove out from before Israel: the Hittites,& the Girgasites, and the Canaanites, and the Perezzites, and the Hivites, and the jebusites. seven they were in number, greater and mightier then Israell was. All seven were cast out by the Lord from before Israel: and so much are we to understand by this, that the Lord here saith, Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.  
Before them] {αβγδ}, say the Septuagint. They well render the Hebrew, which word for word is a faciè ipsorum, from their face. Mercerus saith, a conspectu eorum, from their sight; that is, saith he, eorum causâ, ad eorum adventum, for their sake, or at their coming. Albertus Magnus renders it, à praesentia eorum, from their presence. Our English, before them, hits the sense. The sense is: God stroke such a terror into those seven Nations, the inhabitants of the land of Canaan; that at the coming of the Israelites, at the hearing of the name of Israel, they vanished, they fled away, they forsook their ancient habitations; or else were suddenly slain without much resistance.  
Thus haue you the exposition of the first branch of this ninth verse, which containeth a general touch of the ruin of the Amorites. Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.] The Israelites, their vnthankefulnesse towards me is very notorious, yet haue I destroyed the Amorite before them. Yet I] the Lord their God, who haue freed them from their bondage in Egypt, and haue lead them forty yeares through the wilderness, I haue destroyed] haue overthrown, haue driven out, haue brought to ruin— The Amorite] not onely the Amorites, but also the rest of the Nations, six other mighty Nations, whose dwelling was in the land of Canaan: all these haue I destroyed before them] for their sake, for Israels sake; that Israel might without resistance take quiet possession of the land of Canaan, the land that floweth with milk and honey. The lesson which we may take from hence is this: God is all in all, either in the overthrow of his enemies, or in the upholding of his children.  
For further proof hereof we may haue recourse to the 15. chapter of the book of Exodus. There Moses sings a song unto the Lord, a song of thanksgiving, wherein he acknowledgeth the Lord to be all in all, in the overthrow of his enemies, Pharaoh and his host in the read Sea. His acknowledgement is, vers. 6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is become glorious in power: thy right hand, O Lord, hath dashed in pieces the enemy: In the greatness of thine excellency, thou hast overthrown them: thou sentest forth thy wrath, which hath consumed them as stubble. With the blast of thy nostrils the waters were gathered together: the fiouds stood upright as an heap: the depths were congealed in the heart of the Sea. The enemy feared not to enter. But thou Lord, didst blow with thy wind: the Sea covered them; they sank as led in the mighty waters. Who is like unto thee, O Lord? Who is like thee? God is all in all in the overthrow of his enemies.  
He is also all in all in the upholding of his children. Moses in the same song avoucheth it, vers. 13. Thou, Lord, in thy mercy hast lead forth the people which thou hast redeemed: Thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thine holy habitation. It was not their 
P●al. 44.3.  own sword that delivered them, neither did their own arm save them. But the Lord, He and his mercy He and his strength delivered them, God is all in all in upholding of his children.  
I● it thus dearly beloved? Is God all in all in the overthrow of his enemies? Then for the overthrow of that great navy, called the invincible navy, the great Armada of spain, which 
This Sermon was preached A●gust. 27. 1615.  twenty seven yeares 
Au. Ch. 1588.  since threatened desolation to the inhabitants of this Ile, let God haue the glory. It was the right hand of the Lord; not our virtue, not our merits, not our arms, not our men of might, but the right hand of the Lord it was, that brought that great work to pass. Their 
Exod. 15.4.5.  chosen Captaines were drowned in the Sea: the depth covered them; they sank into the bottom as a ston. Some of them that were taken from the fury of the waves, and were brought prisoners to the honourablest city in this land, in their anguish of mind spared not to say, 
Letter to Mendoza. pa. 17.  that in all those fights, which at Sea they saw, Christ shewed himself a Lutheran. Sure I am, that Christ shewed himself to be little Englands 
Psal. 18.2.  rock, and fortress, and strength, and deliverer. Quid retribuemus? What shall we render? nay, what can we render, unto the Lord for so great a deliverance? Let our song begin as the psalm doth, the 115. psalm. Non nobis, Domine, non nobis: Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory, for thy mercy and for thy truths sake.  
With like affection recount we the deliverance of our King and State, from that infernal and hellish exploit of the powder treason. The contrivers thereof I now name not. What could they expect, but vpon the least discovery of so execrable an action, to incur an universal detestation, to haue all the hatred of the earth poured vpon them and theirs, to be the outcasts of the Common wealth, and the Maranathaes of the Church, they and their names for ever to be an abhorring to all flesh. Yet they so far proceeded in that their diabolical machination, that they were at the point to haue given the blow; that blow, that should haue been the common ruin of us all. But God, our God, who is {αβγδ}, as the Greekes describe him, Psal. 9.9. A helper at opportunities, in the needful times of trouble, when we were thus 
joh. 4.35.  albi ad messem, white for their harvest, ready to be cut down by them; then, even then did our God deliver vs. Quid retribuemus? What, what shall we render? nay, what can we render unto the Lord for so great a deliverance? Let our song be as before: Non nobis Domine, non nobis: Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truths sake.  
God, you see, is all in all in the overthrow of his enemies: So is he, all in all in the upholding of his children.  
Of his children, that is, of such, as live by faith in Christ, and do serve the Lord their God in spirit and in truth. Such if they be oppressed, if they be in need, if in trouble, haue God for their refuge, Psal. 9.9. God will be the same God to them, as he was to david, Psal. 18.2. He will bee their rock, their fortress, their deliverer, their God, their Strength, their Buckler, the horn of their salvation, and their high Tower.  
Here are they to be admonished, who, neglecting the strong God of their salvation, put their confidence in the transitory things of this world. They, who trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, they are here reprooveable. How can their wealth, how can their riches profit them in the evil day? Will they serve for a ransom unto God for thee? look to the 49th psalm, and the 8. verse, and you shall find, that the redemption of a soul is much more precious.  
And they who rely vpon great men, thinking themselves safe in the shadow of their wings, are here reprooveable. They haue their warning, Psal. 146.3. Put not your trust in Princes, nor in any son of man. And why not? There is no help in them: and why no help? Their breath goeth forth, they return to their earth, and their very thoughts do perish.  
They also who make any other creature their confidence, are here reprovable. They for their instruction may haue recourse to the 33. psalm, at the 16. verse, thereof they may thus red: There is no King saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. An horse is a vain thing for safety, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength.  
What? Is a horse a vain thing to save a man? Is much strength vain? Is there no safety for a King in the multitude of an host? Is there no trust to be put in Princes? Nor in any man? Nor in wealth? Nor in the multitude of riches? Nor in any of the transitory things of this world? Quid nos? What shall we then do, beloved? Let us say with the confidence, that the Church hath in Gods succour, Psal. 20.7. Some put their trust in Chariots, and some in Horses, some in Princes, some in other men, some in their strength, some in their riches, some in something else, that is vain and transitory, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. The Lord our God who was all in all in destroying the Amorites before his people Israell; is now all in all in upholding us, his Children by adoption and grace, against the fury of all our enemies, that haue had evil will at our prosperity. I conclude with the words of the Psal. 146.5. happy is he, that hath the God of jacob for his help; whose hope is in the Lord his God, which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that therein is. To this Lord our God, Father, son, and holy Ghost, one true and everliving God, sing we an Hallelujah. Hallelujah, salvation and glory, and honour, and power, be unto the Lord our God for evermore.   

THE XIIII. lecture.  AMOS 2.9. 
Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them, whose height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the oaks, yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
OF the benefits here mentioned to haue been bestowed by God vpon his people, the people of Israel, in the first place we haue the overthrow of the Amorites. It is delivered, vers. 9. Therein I propounded to your religious attentions three principal parts.  
In the first, we haue the overthrow of the Amorites; Yet destroyed I the Amorite before them.  
In the second, the Amorites are described. Their description is taken from their stature, and from their valour, each is set forth unto us by way of Comparison: their stature or height by the Cedars; their valour or strength by the oak. Their height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the oaks.  
The third hath an explication, or an amplification of the overthrow of the Amorites. It was not any gentle stripe that they received, not any light incision, not any small wound; but it was their extermination, their contrition, their universal overthrow, their utter ruin. Fruit and roote, Prince and people, Parents and children, old& young, were all brought to nought: Yet destroyed I their fruit from above, and their roote from beneath.  
The first of these three principal parts, delivering in a generality the overthrow of the Amorites, was the subject of my last discourse out of this place. Now followeth the second: the description of that people, the people of the Amorites. They are for their height or stature compared to the Cedars, and for their strength and valour to the oaks. Their height was like the height of the Cedars, & he was strong as the oaks.  

Their height was like the height of the Cedars.  
IN Syria, and especially in mount Lebanon, the Cedar trees grew very high. Sennacherib King of Assyria by his message to Hezekiah King of judah, giveth testimony hereunto. His message is, 2. King. 19.23. With the multitude of my chariots, I am come up to the height of the mountaines, to the sides of Lebanon, and will cut down the tall Cedars thereof. Succidam altitudinem Cedrorum eius, so he speaketh in the Hebrew, I will cut down the tallness of the Cedars of Lebanon. The words are repeated, Esa. 37.24. I will cut down the tallness of the Cedars of Lebanon. The tallness of the Cedars] out of doubt they are very high.  
The Cedars of Lebanon, Esa. 2.13. are said to be sublimes& elevatae, high and lifted up. In Tremellius his translation, they are celsissimae& elatissimae, most tall and towering. Out of doubt they are very high.  
If human authority may be added to divine, Theophrastus in his fift book of his history of Plants, chap. 9. saith, that the Cedar for its length or height is {αβγδ}, its worthy admiration. Rovillius in his history of Plants, lib. 1. cap. 11. affirmeth, that the Cedar of Phoenicia or Syria beareth a body streight and very tall, mounting above all other trees. Arias Montanus saith as much: Cedrus vbicumque fuerit, the Cedar wheresoever it groweth, it ouertoppeth all other trees, and is above all pre-eminent and conspicuous. To prove it, he bringeth those words of the spouse concerning her beloved, Cant. 5.15. His countenance is as Lebanon, excellent as the Cedars: that is, his heroical proceritie and the majesty of his countenance is like unto the Cedars of Lebanon.  
The Spouse thus comparing the countenance of her beloved, to mount Lebanon and the Cedars there, intimateth, that the increase of the knowledge of God and his worship shall be so great, as that the open profession of Christ, for its durableness& stability, may well be likened to mountaines: and that the Cedars of Lebanon do not so much ouergrow other trees in tallness; as true Christian religion for its reverend majesty shall ouergoe whatsoever blind, bushy, and thorny superstitions.  
It is out of doubt. Cedar trees are very high. So high, that never man, never giant was so high. How then is it, that my text thus speaketh of the Amorites, Their height was like the height of the Cedars?  
It is by a figure, which the Greekes call Hyperbole. Whereof many instances may be alleged out of holy Scripture. In the 2. of Sam. 1.23. it is said of Saul and jonathan, They were swifter then Eagles, they were stronger then lions. Swifter then Eagles, and yet the Eagle of birds is the swiftest; stronger then lions, and yet the lion of Beasts is the strongest. They were swifter then Eagles, they were stronger then lions: they are two Hyperboles, or proverbial speeches. By them the holy Ghost lets us understand, that Saul and jonathan, were exceeding swift of foot, and strong of body.  
In psalm 107.26. it is said of the waves of the Sea in a great tempest; They mount up to heaven, they go down again to the depths. They are two Hyperboles. By them the Psalmist setteth as it were before our eyes, the greatness of the danger, wherein they often times are, that trade by Sea.  
In Genes. 13.16. The Lord said to Abram, I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. I will make thy seed ●s the dust of the earth, saith the Lord. It is an Hyperbole. S. Austine so takes it, de Civ. Dei lib. 16. c. 21. And well. For who seeth not, how incomparably greater the number of the dust is, then the number of all the men, that ever haue been, are, or shall be, from the first man, Adam, to the end of the world, can be? And therefore where the Lord saith, I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; we are not to imagine that the posterity of Abram, was to be in number as the dust( all the people of the earth put together cannot stand in this comparison) but wee are given to understand, that they were to be a very great people.  
I pass over with silence, many instances of like nature, and return to my text, where it is said of the Amorites, Their height was like the height of the Cedars. The speech is proverbial, its hyperbolical. We may not from it collect, that the Amorites were as high as the Cedars, but this onely that the Amorites were a people very tall and high of stature. never did any man equal the Cedars in height: yet show me a man, that is of a vaste body, and of an unusual proceritie, I may take up this Scripture phrase, and say of him; His height is like the height of Cedars.  
Thus you see the Amorites for their height or talnes are likened to the Cedar. For their strength or valour they are resembled to the oak, in the next words: He was strong as the oaks.  
The figure of speech is, as before. Its proverbial. The oak you know, is a hard kind of wood, strong, firm, and durable. Hence is the proverb, Quercu robustior, or robore validior, stronger then the oak. never was there man of so firm a constitution, that he can properly be said to be stronger then the oak: Yet show me a man of extraordinary strength, I may take up this Scripture-phrase, and say of him, Fortis ipse quasi quercus, he is strong as the oaks. And in this sense it is here said of the Amorite, He was strong as the oaks.  
That the Amorites were of an unusual and extraordinary height and strength, as they are here described by our Prophet Amos, you may further know by the relation which the Spies made unto Moses after their return from the search of the Holy land. Their relation is, Num. 13.28. The people be strong that dwell in the land; we saw the children of Anak there. At the 32. verse they speak more fully: All the people, that we saw in it, are men of great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants, and we were in our own sight, as grasshoppers, and so were we in their sight. By this relation of the Spies you see, that the Amorites, the inhabitants of the land of Canaan, were more, then ordinary tall and strong.  
The tallest and strongest of the Amorites( of these Amorites, which the Lord destroyed before Israel) was Og the King of Basan. Of his height and strength, the Iewes make strange reports. For his height they say: he was in his cradle and swaddling clouts thirty cubits high, and as he grew in yeares, so grew he in tallness. For his strength they say, when he had heard that the tents of the children of Israel, took up the space of three miles, he rooted up a mountain of like space, and set it on his head, with purpose to cast it vpon the tents of Israel: but as he carried it, Ants made a hole through the midst of it, and so it descended and restend vpon his neck: whence by reason of his teeth excessively increasing and running into the holes of the mountain, the mountain stuck so fast, that he could not remove it, to cast it, as he had purposed, vpon the camp of the Israelites. This the Iewes do writ in their book of Benedictions; and Lyra in his postil vpon Num. 21. makes mention of it: but withall censures it to be so absurd, that it needs no other refutation: yet he makes mention of it, that we may see quanta coecitas est in judaeis, how blind the Iewes are, to beleeue such fables.  
It is, I grant, one of those jewish fables, whereto S. Paul wished Titus, chap. 1.14. not to give any heed: and I beleeue it no more, then I do, that the giant Antaeus was threescore cubits high, because Gabinius in the 17. book of Strabo his 
pag. 960.  geography affirms it: or that in Scythia in a rock by the river tires, there was to be seen the print of Hercules his foot of two cubits length, because Herodotus in his 
pag. 110.  Melpomene is the relator of it.  
Yet beleeue I, that Og the King of Basan was of more then ordinary tallnes and strength. And you will beleeue it too, if you will estimate a monument of his, which was to be seen in Rabbath, the metropolitical city of the children of Ammon, now called Philadelphia. The monument was a bedstead of his. It is described, Deut. 3.11. His bedstead was a bedstead of iron: nine cubits was the length thereof, and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man. Of a man of reasonable stature; not of a giant, nor of a dwarf. Nine cubits long was his bedstead, and bedsteds usually exceed the common stature of men by two feet: therefore the stature of Og was about seven cubits and a foot. So he was about three yards, two foot, and six inches high. Such an unusual tallnes could not but be accompanied with strength answerable to it: and therefore Og the King of Basan was of extraordinary tallnes and strength If the rest of the Amorites were any thing like unto Og, then might the relation of the Spies be just: 
Num. 13.28,  The people of the land are strong; 
vers. 32.  they are men of a great stature: and my text saith well, Their height was like the height of the Cedars, and he was strong as the oaks.  
Thus haue you the description of the Amorites, They were tall of stature, and strong of body. Tall and strong. Yet, were they not thereby the more acceptable to the Lord. The Lord, notwithstanding their talnes, and their strength brought them to ruin. For so it followeth: Yet destroyed I their fruit from above, and their roote from beneath. The lesson which we are to take from hence is: God respecteth not, the tall man for his talnes, nor the strong man for his strength.  
Its true. 
1 Sam. 16.7.  God seeth not as man seeth. Man indeed looketh on the outward appearance; but God looketh on the heart. Man usually esteems of a man, by the beauty of his face, by the fairness of his countenance, by the comely feature of his body. God doth not so.  
Saul, the first of the Kings of Israel, was a choice young man, and a goodly: there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person then he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher, then any of the people. He is so described, 1. Sam. 9.2. So is he, chap. 10.23. Saul, when he stood among the people, was higher, then any of the people, from the shoulders and upward. In the next verse Samuel asketh the people: do you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? What is the peoples answer? They shout, and say; God save the King. They saw him a goodly man of person; and therefore judged him fit to be a King. But the Lord, who seeth not as man seeth, and respecteth not mans outward appearance, rejected him from being King. His talnes, and the goodly proportion of his body were no privilege unto him. You are to beleeue it vpon the Lords own words, 1. Sam. 16.1. There the Lord tells Samuel, that he hath rejected Saul from reigning over Israel.  
Vpon the rejection of Saul, the Lord 
1. Sam. 16.1.  provided him a King among the sons of jesse the Bethlehemite, and Samuel was to anoint him. Samuel for that purpose went unto 
vers. 4.  Bethlehem, and called for jesse his 
vers. 5.  sons. 
vers. 6.  Eliab the eldest, came first in place. Him would Samuel haue anointed. His motives were two. Abulensis quaest. 22. in 1 Sam. 16. sets them down. One was, the prerogative of birth in Eliab; the other was, his faire countenance and goodly stature.  
Eliab had the prerogative of birth: he was the first-borne son. Some of the prerogatives of the first-borne son are couched by old jacob in his prophecy concerning his eldest son, Reuben, Gen. 49.3. Reuben, thou art my first-borne, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Prior in donis, maior in imperio; so the vulgar Latin concludes that verse.  
Prior in donis] There is the first prerogative belonging to the eldest son; it concerns his profit. Prior in donis; he was first to be respected in the division of his Fathers inheritance; he was to haue a double portion of all his substance, according to the commandment, Deut, 21.17. The Father shall give to his eldest son a double portion of all that he hath. The reason is annexed: For he is the beginning of his strength: the right of the first born is his.  
Maior in imperio] It is the second prerogative of the eldest son. It concerns his honor and state of authority. He had a certain regal principality& rule over his brethren. It appeareth by the blessing which Isaac bestowed vpon jacob, who had gotten the birth-right from his brother Esau, Gen. 27.29. Be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mothers sons bow down to thee.  
Onkelos paraphrasing the prophecy of jacob concerning Reuben, mentioneth a three-fold prerogative of the eldest son. Reuben, it was thy right to haue received three better portions, then thy brethren; the priest-hood, the birth right, and the kingdom.  
Now, if the eldest son had such prerogatives; if he were prior in donis, and was to haue the best respect in the division of his Fathers inheritance: if he were maior in imperio, and had regal principality and rule over his brethren, if the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power were his; if his were the priest-hood, the birth-right, and the kingdom; why might not Samuel, think Eliab, Iesses eldest son, to be the man, whom the Lord had chosen to be King over Israel, rather then a younger brother?  
A second motive, why Samuel might think Eliab fit to be the anointed king of Israel, was Eliabs faire countenance, and his goodly stature. Euripides could say, {αβγδ}, beauty, its worthy an Empire. Atheneus the Dipnosophist, 
Cap. 7. pag. 366.§ 18.  lib. 13. affirms it, and porphyry in the second Chapter l of his Introduction cites it. beauty, its worthy an Empire. Priamus in Homer, admiring the beauty of Agamemnon, saith unto Helena, 
Iliad. γ 169.  with these mine eyes I never yet beholded man so faire; and adddeth 
V●●s. 170.  {αβγδ}, In his countenance he is like a King. Many Nations( saith Athenaeus in the same place) haue chosen for their Kings the fairest among them. And well. For {αβγδ}, beauty, it best of all beseemeth Kings.  
Now if Eliab were of a faire countenance, and of a goodly stature, why might not Samuel think Eliab to be the man, whom the Lord had chosen to be King over Israel, rather then any other of his brethren, who could not be compared unto him, either for fairness of face, or for goodliness of stature?  
Thus, what for priority of birth, and what for comeliness of person, Eliab was by Samuel thought to be the man, whom the Lord had chosen for his King among all the sons of jesse. It seems, Samuel thought so. For when Eliab was brought before him, he looked on him, and said of him: Surely the Lords anointed is before him, 1. Sam. 16.6. Surely, Eliab is the man, whom the Lord hath designed to be his anointed.  
But the Lord, the Lord who seeth not as man seeth, who respecteth not mans outward appearance, he refused Eliab. Eliab was no King for him. For thus saith the Lord to Samuel concerning Eliab. 1. Sam. 16.7. look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature, because I haue refused him. Eliab, notwithstanding the priority of his birth, and notwithstanding the comeliness of his person, he is refused: and david, little david, little in his fathers eyes, and little in the eyes of his brethren, neglected and despised of all( for he was the youngest of all) he is chosen to be the Lords anointed. He is taken 
P●al 78.70.71.72. 1. Sam. 16.11. 2. Sam 7.8.  from the sheepe-folds, from following the Ewes great with young, and is placed in rule and government, to feed jacob the people of the Lord, and Israel the Lords inheritance.  
Thus much may serve for the confirmation of my propounded doctrine: God respecteth not the tall man for his tallness, nor the strong man, for his strength: You may add, nor the great man, for his greatness, nor the rich man for his wealth, nor the wise man, for his wisdom. The reason I haue already touched. It is expressed, 1. Sam. 16.7. The Lord seeth not as man seeth. For man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart. He looketh on the heart: and therefore he chooseth not as man chooseth, the tall, the great, the strong, the rich, the wise; but the low man, the little man, the weak man, the poor man, the foolish man. Whereto else tendeth the Apostles speech to the faithful among the Corinthians, 1. Cor. 1.26. You see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confounded the wise: and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confounded the things that are mighty: and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. And what is the end of all? Its this: that no flesh should glory in the presence of God. It is the use we are to make of the doctrine now delivered.  
We are urged unto it, Ierem. 9.23. There thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving kindness, iudgement, and righteousness in the earth. In like sort say we: Let not the tall man glory in his tallness, neither let the strong man glory in his strength, though the height of the one be like the height of the Cedars, and the other be strong like the oaks, yet let them not glory therein: but let them glory in this, that they understand& know God to be the Lord, which exerciseth loving kindness, iudgement, and righteousness in the earth: that is, in the Apostles phrase, 1. Cor. 1.31. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. And again, 2. Cor. 10.17. He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. All other glorying is vain. glory not in thy tallness; what can it avail thee? Glory not in thy strength; it cannot help thee. Say thou wert as tall as the Amorites in my text, and thy height were like the height of the Cedars; say thou wert as strong as they, strong as the oaks: yet notwithstanding the one, or the other, height or strength, thou mayst perish and come to nought, as they did. glory thou therefore in the Lord.  
Here may the man that is low of stature, or weak of body, be comforted; for as much as God seeth not as man seeth, nor chooseth as man chooseth. Be thou little, or be thou weak, thou art never a whit the further from the grace& favour of God. No further then Zacheus was. Zacheus was a very little man. In the 19. of Luke, ver. 3. it is said of him {αβγδ}, that he was little of stature. Iesus passed through jericho. Zacheus was very desirous to see him, but could not, for the press of the people; because he was little of stature. To supply this defect of his, he gets him up into a three, and seeth Iesus. Iesus for it spake graciously unto him: Zacheus, make hast, and come down, for to day I must abide at thy house. You see, Iesus respected Zacheus for all his little stature.  
He was of little stature] Statura brevis,& magnus in opere; S. 
T●m. 8. fol. 310. H.  Austin saith it, Enarr: in Psal. 129. Zacheus was in deed little of stature, but was great in good works. Great in his love toward Iesus, whom he was so desirous to see; and great in charity towards men, to whom he was ready to make a fourfold restitution, if he had done wrong to any.  
Zacheus, little of stature! Chrysologus Serm. 54. thus meditates vpon it: 
Pag. 225.  Satis hic animo magnus erat, qui pusillus videbatur in corpore. Nam mente tangebat coelos, qui corpore homines non aequabat. Zacheus was great enough in mind, albeit he was but little in body: in body he was no match for men, and yet his mind reached up to heaven. Whereupon he frames this exhortation: Nemo de brevitate corporis, cvi addere nile potest, curet; said vt fide emineat, hoc procuret: Let not any man be grieved, because he is little of stature, whereto he cannot add one cubit, but let every mans care be, to be eminent above others in faith.  
You haue hitherto heard of the variety of mens statures: you haue heard of the Amorites, that their height was like the height of the Cedars: Of King Saul, that he was higher then any of his people, from the shoulders and upward; of Eliab, that he was high of stature; of Zacheus, that he was low of stature: This variety of mens statures is by every dayes experience confirmed unto you. And why is, there such variety of mens statures?  
One reason may be to stir us up to this consideration; that God is the most provident author of every mans stature. It is not in man, to add any thing to his stature: not one cubit, saith our saviour, Mat. 6 27. He saith it again, Luke, 12.25. Which of you with taking thought, can add one cubit to his stature? No man. No man can do it. Nay, it is not in man, to amend the imperfections, wherewith he is born into the world. The man that was born blind confesseth it, joh. 9.32. Since the world began was it not heard, that any man opened the eyes of one that was born blind. We cannot supply any defect wherewith we are born into this world; much less can we add any thing unto our stature? It may thus far serve for our instruction, Vt ex illo capite neminem contemnamus, vel exagitemus, saith Franzius Disp. 2. in Deuter. Thes. 92. that we despise not any man, nor speak ill of him for his stature, be it great or little, or for any defect he hath in nature from his nativity.  
A second reason, why there is such variety of statures in the world, may be to let us understand, that a mans stature of itself is not to be reckoned as a part of his felicity or glory. For if a great and a goodly stature be as common, nay, more common to the wicked, then to the godly, as S. Austin seems to prove, De Civit. Dei. lib. 15. cap. 9. why should a godly man boast himself of his great and goodly stature? Especially, sith for the most part, men that are conspicuous for their elegant and well featured bodies, are defective for understanding, wisdom, and piety.  
Baruch observes it, Chap. 3. ver. 26.27.28 There were( saith he) giants, famous from the beginning, that were of so great stature, and so expert in war. Those did not the Lord choose, neither gave he the way of knowledge unto them. But they were destroyed, because they had no wisdom, and perished thorough their own foolishness. His observation is: there were giants, men of great stature, yet were they without knowledge, without wisdom. Great men, and yet fools. Whereas pumiliones, dwarfs, little men, men of very little stature, sometime scarce a cubit high, do excel in fortitude, understanding, and wisdom, as the but now cited Franzius hath noted.  
Tydeus corpore, animo Hercules. Its an old proverb. Tydeus was a man of very little stature, but( as Menander the Historian saith) {αβγδ}, he was Hercules for his mind. The proverb, appliable to such as being of little stature are of an undaunted courage, sheweth, that many a little man is such.  
Many a man of little stature is of the livelier wit. So it pleaseth God, our most wise, and provident God, to temper the gifts of the body and mind in men of diuers statures. He doth not always give all to one; but for the most part he recompenseth the defects of the body with the endowments of the mind. give me the endowments of the mind; what care I for the stature of my body. Aequè enim brevis,& longus vivit, saith Musculus Comment. in Matth. 6. As long lives the short man as the tall man. Nihil detrimenti habet brevis statura, nec plus aliquid habet longa: The short stature hath no loss, neither hath the long stature any advantage for heavenly affairs. Be my stature what it will; let me be transformed by the 
Rom. 12.2.  renewing of my mind I am well; For so shall I prove what is that good, that acceptable and perfect will of God, which is our 
1. Thes. 4.3.  sanctification. Blessed is that man, whatsoever his stature be, that shall be so transformed by the renewing of his mind, that he may prove what is that good, that acceptable and perfect will of God: which is his sanctification.  
I haue stood long vpon the second part of this verse, the description of the Amorites: the time requireth, that I go on with the third part. It is the explication, or the amplification, of the ruin of the Amorites. The words are,  
Yet I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
The words are proverbial, they are figurative, they are metaphoricall. I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. The meaning is, exterminavi eum totum, 
Drusius.  quantus, quantus erat: I haue wholly cast him out, I haue utterly destroyed him.  
The like phrase we meet with, job 18.16. Its there said of the wicked man: His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off. The comparison stands between a wicked man, and a dry three. A dry three may seem to be firmly rooted, and may haue faire and wide spreading bows, when its good for nothing, but to be cut down and cast into the fire. So it is with the wicked man. All his pomp, all his power, all his excellency, all his honor, all his glory( which are to him as the fruit and the roots are unto a three) shall more then suffer an Eclipse, they shall utterly vanish. His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branches be cut off.  
I cannot give you an easier or plainer exposition of the allegory, then Bildad the Shuhite doth in the same chapter of the book of job, and the verse following: His remembrance shall perish from the earth, and he shall haue no name in the street. He shall haue no name in the street! Whats that? Its this: His old friends and acquaintance shall not so much as speak of him but to vilify him; as to say, He was a wicked wretch, an adulterer, an usurer, a thief, a drunkard, a slanderer, a swearer, a blasphemer, a man, that neither feared God, nor loved his neighbour. Vpon such a man, the wicked man, Salomon hath passed his censure, Prov. 2.22. He shall be cut off from the earth, he shall be rooted out of it. This also may serve for an exposition of the allegory: His roots shall be dried up beneath, and above shall his branch be cut off.  
The like allegory you see, is in my text: I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
Fruit and roots] That is, saith Lyranus, patres& filios, fathers and their sons. Paulus de palatio by the fruit and the roots understandeth viros, mulieres, parvulos; men, women, and the little ones. The little ones are the fruit, men and women are the roote. Albertus Magnus will haue the fruit to be divitias, aedificia, culturam; their riches, their buildings, their husbandry; and the roots to be, tribus, familias,& successionem filiorum& nepotum; their tribes, families, kindreds, and the succession of their sons and nephews. Arias Montanus takes the fruit and the roots to signify omnem illius gentis familiam, posteritatemque, all the lineage of that nation and their posterity.  
I pass by other like interpretations: these few may give us the true meaning of the words we haue in hand. The words are an explication or rather an amplification of the first part of this verse, concerning the destruction of the Amorites. There the Lord saith, I destroyed the Amorite before them: here he saith, I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath. From hence we know, that it was not any gentle stripe which the Amorites received, not any light incision, not any small wound, but that it was their extermination, their contrition, their universal overthrow, their utter ruin. Fruit and root, Prince and subject, Parents and children, old and young, they were all destroyed. For thus saith the Lord, I destroyed their fruit from above, and their roote from beneath.  
But when did this great destruction befall the Amorites? It bef●ll them in the dayes of Moses, when the Lord delivered over into the hands of Israel, 
D●ut. 2.33.  Sihon King of the Amorites, 
Num. 21.34. Deut. 3.3.  and Og the King of Bashan. Then did Israel smite both those Kings, Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan. Them they smote with the edge of the sword, them and all their people; and took their Cities, all the●r Cities, and utterly destroyed the men, the women, and the little ones of every city: they left none alive, They destroyed their fruit from above, and their roots from beneath. These famous victories, gotten by Israel over those two mighty Kings, are described Num. 21. and Deut. 2.& 3.  
Is Israel now the conqueror? Is it the sword of Israel that smiteth Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, them, and their people, their men, women, and little ones? How then is it, that the Lord in my text takes it to himself, and saith, I destroyed the Amorite, I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath?  
The answer is easy. Israel indeed smote the Amorites; but it was by the power of the Lord, not by any power of their own. Moses confesseth it of Sihon, King of the Amorites, Deut. 2.33. The Lord our God delivered him unto us, and we smote him, and his sons, and all his people. He confesseth it likewise of Og King of Bashan, Deut. 3.3. The Lord our God delivered into our hands Og the King of Bashan, and all his people: and we smote him until none was left to him remaining. Israel could not smite till God had delivered. God first delivered, then Israel smote. Israel smote the Amorites, not by any power of their own: they did it by the power of the Lord. And what is done by the power of the Lord, may well be said to be done by the Lord.  
In regard hereof it is, that the Psalmist, Psal. 135.10. ascribeth the victory, whereof we now speak, immediately unto God: whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he in heaven and in Earth, in the Seas, and in all deep places. He smote great Nations, and slay mighty Kings; Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og King of Bashan: and all the kingdoms of Canaan. And gave their land for an heritage, even an heritage unto Israel his people.  
The like he doth in the next psalm: and in the like words, Psal. 136.17. O give thanks unto the Lord, To him, which smote great Kings, and slay famous Kings: Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, and gave their land for an heritage, even for an heritage unto Israel his seruant. In both psalms you see the destruction of the Amorite ascribed to God himself, and his sole power.  
So is it, Psal. 78.55. but more generally: The Lord! He cast out the heathen before Israel, he cast out the Amorites, and made the Tribes of Israel to dwell in their Tabernacles.  
But no where so plainly is this great work of casting out the Amorites and other the heathen before Israel, attributed unto God, as Psal. 44. There the people of God groaning under their affliction in the midst of their enemies, do thus begin their confession, vers. 1. We haue heard with our ears, O God, our fathers haue  told us, what work thou didst in their dayes, in the times of old. What this work was they express vers. 2. Thou didst drive out the Heathen with thine hand] Thou with thy hand didst drive out the Amorites, and other the Heathen, and in their rooms didst plant our fore-fathers. This was a great work, and it was Gods work. That it was Gods work and his alone, they yet further aclowledge, vers. 3. Our forefathers, they got not the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save them: but thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance, O God, did stablish them.  
God was all in all in the overthrow of the Amorites, and the rest of the Heathen. By his strength, by his might, by his power onely were they overthrown. And therefore albeit Israel smote with the sword Sihon King of the Amorites, and Og the King of Bashan, them and their people, their men, their women, and their little ones, sith they did it onely by the strength, might, and power of the Lord, the Lord in my text doth rightly challenge the whole glory of this overthrow unto himself; saying first, I destroyed the Amorite before them: and again, I destroyed his fruit from above, and his roots from beneath.  
From hence we may take a profitable lesson. Its this, Though God use means for the performance of his counsels, yet the accomplishment and glory of them, belongeth to him alone.  
This truth is so evident, that it needs no further proof. Israel, the people of Israel, they were the means which God used for the performance of his counsels vpon the Amorites, even to destroy them, and to roote them out from being a people, but the accomplishment and the glory of that great work was the Lords alone. The people of Israel, had they had much ado to overcome their enemies, the Amorites, they might happily haue imputed somewhat to their own force. They might haue said; Shewed we not great power in the battle? behaved we not ourselves like men? Did not we fight valiantly?  
But when their enemies were driven like chaff with the wind; when they, who erst were stour, and strong; were tall as the Cedars, and strong as the oaks; when they should extraordinarily be dismayed; should haue no more heart then a silly sheep hath; but should be scattered at the first onset; should be so cowardly, as that their enemies might at their pleasure slay them, till they were weary of slaying them; what can be said of it? what can be thought of it? This is all. The Lord, who is Lord of battels, though he use means for the performance of his counsels, and for the achieving of his victories, yet will he haue the accomplishment and the glory of all to be peculiar unto himself. Thus is my doctrine illustrated.  Though God use means for the performance of his counsels, yet the accomplishment and glory of them belongeth to him alone. 
The reason hereof is, because all power is Gods: and whatsoever power man hath to execute or perform what the counsel of the Lord hath appointed, its all derived from God.  
The use is, to teach us, to yield God the honor of all the victories, that he giveth us against our enemies. The honor of all victories must be his. When I say, all victories, I mean not onely the victories of Princes, when they make war, or win a battle in the field, but even our private victories too: as, when we haue been assailed by some particular man, and are escaped from his hands; this is a victory, and the honor of it must be the Lords.  
If a neighbour, an unkind neighbour, hath done us any wrong, or hath put us to some trouble,& we are delivered from it, we must assure ourselves, it is God that hath given us the vpper hand, to the end, that we should always haue our mouths open to give him thanks for it. This must we do; but this is not all. We must with the mouth give thanks to God for giuing us the vpper hand against those that haue wrongfully molested and vexed us; and besides, we must endeavour by our whole life to show forth, how much we are bound to God for our deliverance. This is the scope, this is the end of our redemption and salvation,( according to old Zacharies prophecy, Luk. 2.74.) that being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, we might serve God without fear, in holinesse and righteousness before him all the dayes of our life.  
Thus far of the 9. verse.    

THE XV. lecture.  AMOS 2.10. 
Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and lead you forty yeares through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite.  
IN this tenth verse are recounted two other benefits, which Almighty God was pleased to bestow vpon his people, the people of Israel. One was, Their deliverance from egypt. The other, Their protection and preservation in the wilderness.  
Their deliverance from Egypt is set down, in the first clause; Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt.  
Their protection and preservation in the wilderness, in the next: And lead you forty yeares through the wilderness.  
The end of both followeth in the end of the verse: To possess the land of the Amorite.  
They were delivered from Egypt, and were for forty yeares protected in the wilderness, that at length, and in their appointed time, they might possess the land of the Amorites.  
We are to begin with their deliverance from Egypt. Its in the first clause of the verse: Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt.  
This deliverance of theirs out of Egypt was before the Amorites were destroyed, and yet the destruction of the Amorites is specified in the former verse. Why is the order of Gods benefits so inverted? Why is the benefit, that was first collated vpon Israel, spoken of in the second place?  
Some think it was advisedly and of purpose done, to preoccupate and prevent an objection, which otherwise Israel might haue made. In the former verse, ver. 9. it is said, that the Amorites were destroyed, root and fruit, utterly destroyed before Israel. Now that Israel should not boast of that overthrow, or ascribe it to the prowess and valour of their ancestors, their deliverance out of Egypt is next set down, in this 10. verse, to put them in mind of the miserable estate and condition, wherein their forefathers lived in Egypt: to this sense: think ye, O ye children of Israel, that the Amorites were destroyed by the prowess and valour of your fore-fathers? think it not. Remember Egypt. Remember how there they groaned under the heavy yoke of oppression, and were not able to help themselves, and must of necessity haue perished, had not the Lord with his stretched-forth arm delivered them.  
Others are of opinion, that this deliverance of Israel out of Egypt, is in the second place, and after the destruction of the Amorites, set down, onely by a custom of the Scripture.  
Of this opinion I find S. jerome to be. His rule is: The Scripture in setting forth the praises of God, doth not always observe the order of the history: but it often comes to pass, Ut quae prima facta sunt, extrema dicantur,& quae novissima, referantur ad prima: Things first done are last spoken of, and things last done are first recited. This he will haue us to learn out of two psalms, the 78. and 105. in which signorum potentia, non ordo describitur, the power of Gods wonderful works, and not their order is described: and out of two other psalms, the 3. and 52. ubi, quae prius facta sunt, narrantur extrema,& quae extrema, referuntur in principio: What is first done is last spoken of, and what is last done is first mentioned. The third psalm was composed by david, when he fled from Absalom, his son: the 52. when Doeg the Edomite came unto Saul, and  told him, that david was come to the house of Ahimelech. That of Absalom is registered, 2. Sam. 15.14. This of Doeg, 1. Sam. 22.9. The relation of Doeg is first chronicled, and long after that, Dauids flight from Absalom:& yet Dauids flight from Absalom is first mentioned in the Book of the psalms, and long after that, the relation of Doeg unto Saul. The order of the history is not observed.  
Nor is it observed in this our text. The order of the history is: first God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, Exod. 12.51. He made them to pass through the midst of the read Sea, as vpon dry land, Exod. 14.22. And when they had finished their two and forty journeys, through diuers wildernesses, then gave he them victory over Sihon King of the Amorites, Num. 21.24. The Amorites were last of all destroyed, and yet are they here first mentioned. Non est obseruatus ordo, saith Mercer; the order of the history is not observed. Ribera also notes it. Mathurinus Quadratus here frames a rule, like to that of St. jerome, Scriptura in recensendis Dei beneficijs curiose non servat ordinem. The Scripture in rehearsing Gods benefits doth not curiously keep the order, but oftentimes it falls out by a figure, which the Greekes do call {αβγδ}, that what was first done, is last of all rehearsed; and what was last done is first of all recited. From hence we may deduce this conclusion: Though it be our duty carefully to remember the manifold blessings and benefits, which God in mercy from time to time hath bestowed vpon us; yet is it not necessary, that we ever curiously observe their order, and the time when they were bestowed.  
You see the custom of Scripture is our warrant, to speak of that first, which was last done for us; and of that last, which we first received. But, first or last, we must remember all.  
Hereto belongeth holy Dauids admonition, Psal. 103.2. which he there proposeth under the form of an exhortation. He exhorteth himself to bless the Lord: bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Forget not all his benefits! Nay: Forget not any of his benefits. So much the Hebrew phrase intendeth. bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not any of his benefits. A necessary admonition. We forget nothing sooner then a benefit, whether we receive it from God or man. But iniuriarum tenacissima est memoria; our memory for injuries, is very tenacious; its a hold-fast. Let an injury be done us, we will not forget it. Yea let one of us bestow vpon another any benefit, be it never so little, the knowledge whereof should not be imparted from the right hand to the left, as our saviour Christ speaketh in his Sermon vpon the Mount, Matth. 6.3. how long, how long will we retain the memory of it? Our nature! its corrupt. Our disposition! its perverse. Who seeth not, what need there is, that we exercise ourselves in retaining the memory of Gods benefits? Wherefore let every one of us stir up himself to so holy an exercise, as david did himself: Let us daily sing unto our souls: bless the Lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Forget not All! Nay; Forget not any of his benefits. Remember them all, either first, or last.  
Now from the non-obseruance of the order of the history in this enumeration of Gods benefits vpon Israel, we are particularly to speak of the benefit mentioned in the second place. It is their deliverance out of Egypt. The words are, Also I brought you up from the land of Egypt.  
I] jehovah. It is his name, ver. 6.& 11. I] jehovah, the onely true, everlasting and Almighty God; I, a trinity in unity, and the unity in trinity; Father, son, and Holy Ghost; I, who destroyed the Amorites before you and for your sakes; I also brought you up from the land of Egypt.  I brought you up. 
It well expresseth the original, which word for word is, ascendere vos feci. I made you to ascend. Nam ex Aegypto ascenditur Iudaeam versus, saith Drusius: from Egypt to judaea you must ascend: and it is a tradition of the Hebrews, judaea est altior Egypto: judaea stands higher then Egypt. Its affirmed, Deut. 10.22. Its there said, that jacob with threescore and ten persons went down into Egypt. Ia●●● with his family went from Canaan, from judaea; and went ●●●●ne into Egypt. Canaan therefore and judaea stood higher then Egypt. I brought you up[ or, I made you to ascend] from the land of Egypt.  From the land of Egypt. 

Maginus in descrip. Aegypti pag. 203. a  Egypt is a most noble region, and famous, much spoken of by writers, sacred and profane.  
Some would haue it to be one of the parts of the world, a diverse part from Asia and Africa; and to be between them both.  
Others supposing the river Nilus, the great river of Egypt, to be the fittest bound to part Asia from Africa, do make Egypt to partake of both, Asia and Africa. One part of Egypt they place in Asia, the other in Africa.  
The Iesuite Lorinus, Comment. in Act. Apost. cap. 2.10. makes it a part of Asia Maior. He saith it is a well known region of Asia the greater near unto Africa.  
But 
Lib. 4. Geogr. cap. 5. Tab. 3. Aphricae pag. 98.  Ptolomee, and the greatest part of Geographers, and other writers, holding the gulf of Arabia, or the read Sea, to be the fittest bound to sever Asia from Africa, haue placed Egypt in Africa. This is the most received opinion, and worthiest to be embraced. The land of Egypt is in Africa, and is by an 
george. Abbot the description of the world. I. 4. b.  Isthmos, or a narrow whit of ground, joined to the Holy land. It was of old a land very fruitful, as fruitful, as any almost in the world: though in these dayes it doth not answer to the fertility of former times.  
From the land of Egypt] The Hebrew calls it the land of Mizraim. Its so called in my text, and else-where generally in the holy Scriptures: and hath its name from Mitzraim, one of the sons of Ham: of whom we red, Gen. 10.6. He first inhabited that part of Africa, which was afterward called Egypt.  
When it first began to be called Egypt, its not easily defined. Some say, it was first called Egypt in Moses his time: when Ramesses surnamed Egyptus, son of Belus, and brother of Danaus, was King of the land. Ramesses, otherwise called Aegyptus, began his reign in the 29. year from the going of Israel out of Egypt. Of this opinion is 
Ad annum Mundi 2482.  Funccius in his chronology.  
S. 
Willet vpon Gen. c 10. p. 120 Peret. in Gen. Tom. 2. lib 15. Disp. 1. p. 412.  Augustine lib. 18. de civ. Dei. cap. 11. following 
Ad annum Mundi 3720.  Eusebius in his Chronicle, saith, this happened in Iosuahs time, more then eight hundred yeares after the flood.  
According to the computation of Manethon an Egyptian Chronographer, cited by Iosephus in his 
Pag. 451. b  first book against Apion. It was three hundred ninety and three yeares after Moses leading Israel out of Egypt.  
whensoever it was first called Egypt, its not much material. Were it first so called in Moses his time, or after, in Iosuahs time; or yet after 393. yeares from Israels going up from thence, it was many a year so called before our Prophet Amos wrote this his prophecy. And yet our Prophet here retaineth the old Hebrew name Mizraim. Also I brought you up {αβγδ} from the land of Mizraim, it is in our Language, from the land of Egypt.  
But what benefit was it for Israel to be brought up from the land of Egypt? Had they not there a sweet habitation? Were they not planted in the best of the land? in the land of 
Gen. 47.11.  Ramesses, in the land of 
Vers. 6.  Goshen?  
It may not be denied, but that Egypt of itself was a very goodly, fruitful, and commodious country: yet was it very beneficial to the Israelites, that they were thence delivered: and that in two respects: one was, because the people of the land were superstitious the other, because they were full of cruelty.  
First, the Egyptians were a superstitious people. They had as the Greeks, and Romans had, their Gods maiorum gentium, and their Gods minorum gentium. Gods of greater authority, and Gods of less. They had for their Gods many a b●ast. Athenagoras a Christian Philosopher, in his ambassage or apology for the Christians to the Emperours Antoninus and Commodus, witnesseth, that they bestowed divine honors vpon Cats, and crocodiles, and Serpents, and asps, and Dogs.  
Arnobius in his first book against the Gentiles, saith; they built stately Temples felibus, scarabais,& buculis, to Cats, to Beetles, to heifers.  
Cassiodore in his tripartite history lib. 9. cap. 27. tells of the Image of an Ape, which they adored: and cap. 28. he saith, that a nest of Rats was their God.  
Many other 
Accipitres Noctuas Hircos, Asinos Hieronym. in Esai 11. Tom. 5. p. 51. a Cironius Hieron. in Ioel. 3. Tom. 6 pag. 67. d.  beasts did they adore. Here their superstition restend not: it proceeded to the plants of the earth, to base plants; to leeks, and onions. leeks and onions were to them for Gods.  
Porrum& 
Hieron. in Esai 46. Tom. 5. pag. 172. a  caepe nefas violare— juvenal. Sat. 15. could note it. O, it was a wicked and detestable act, to do any hurt to a soldier-like or onion. At such their ridiculous superstition he by and by scoffeth, O sanctas gentes, quibus haec nascuntur in hortis Numina?  
Surely, they are holy Nations, that haue such Gods growing in their gardens. Mad Egypt. So the Poet stiles it in the beginning of his satire. And could it be less then mad, when it was besotted and bewitched with such foul and monstrous adoration?  
Well might Minutius Felix in his Octavius call those Gods of the Egyptians, non numina, said portenta. Gods they were not, they were monsters. Well might 
Geverharl Elmenhorst. come. ad Minutium Felicem. pag. 41.  Salisberiensis in his first book de nugis cvrial. cap. 10. call Egypt, Matrem superstitionis, the mother of superstition. For, as 
Tom. 5. pag. 170. c.  S. jerome in his Comment. vpon Esay 45. witnesseth: never was there any Nation so given to idolatry, or worshipped such a number of monsters, as Egypt did.  
This notorious superstition and idolatry of the Egyptians, so much spoken of by Christian writers and others, is also in the sacred volumes of Holy writ censured and controlled. In Exod. 12.12. the meanacing of the Lord is against them: Against all the Gods of Egypt I will execute iudgment, I the Lord. The gods of Egypt, that is, the Images, and the idols which the Egyptians adored and worshipped. Concerning which 
De quadraginta duabus mansionibus Mans. 2 Tom. 3. pag. 42.  S. jerome in an Epistle of his to Fabiola, reporteth out of the Hebrew writers, that in very same night the Children of Israel departed out of Egypt, all the Temples of Egypt were overthrown, siue terrae motu, sine iactu fulminum; either with earth quakes, or thunderbolts. These Hebrew writers say further, eâdem nocte lignea idola putrefacta fuisse, metallica resoluta& fusa, lapidea comminuta: that in the same night all the wooden Images were rotten, all the mettall Images were dissolved and molten, all the ston Images were broken. If so it were, it was doubtless a great work, a great iudgement of God vpon those Egyptian monsters.  
In Esay 19.1. their confusion is again foretold. Behold, saith the Prophet, the Lord rideth vpon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall move at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. Where the idols of Egypt are the heart of Egypt. They are called the heart of Egypt; because the heart of the Egyptians did wholly depend vpon them, for relief and succour. The Lord rideth vpon a swift cloud and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall move at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it. The Idols of Egypt shall move and melt at the presence of the Lord.  
In Ierem. 43.13. their desolation is likewise denounced. There the Lord threateneth to sand Nabuchadnezzar, the K. of Babylon, his seruant into Egypt. What shall he do there? He shall break the Images of Bethshemesh, that is in the land of Egypt, and the houses of the Gods of the Egyptians shall be burnt with fire.  
Thus you see it confirmed not onely by Christian writers, and others, but also, by the sacred volumes of holy Scripture; that the Egyptians were a superstitious and an Idolatrous people.  
Superstitious were they, and Idolatrous? happy then wast thou, O Israell, that the Lord brought thee up from the land of Egypt. live in Egypt thou couldst not with a good conscience, nor would the Egyptians willingly suffer thee to worship God, otherwise then themselves did. To haue worshipped as they did, must needs haue been a Hell unto thy soul: and to haue done otherwise, must needs haue brought certain danger to thine outward estate. aclowledge it therefore for a great benefit and blessing of God vpon thee, that he brought thee up from the land of Egypt.  
God in reckoning up this favour of his, his bringing up Israel out of the land of Egypt, teacheth us, what an intolerable thing it is, to live among Idolaters; and what a special favour it is, to be delivered from amongst them. And this should stir us up to a thankful recognition of Gods goodness towards us, who hath delivered the Church, wherein we live, from the Babylonish and Romish idolatry; wherein our ancestors were nus-led and trained up, to worship and adore, not the true and living God, but Angels and Saints, damned ●●●les it may be; silver and gold; stocks and stones; Images and idols; and what not?  
From such gross and palpable Idolatry we are by Gods goodness delivered: and now do( as a long time we haue done) enjoy the bright sunshine of the 
1. Tim. 1 11.  glorious gospel of the blessed God, our Lord and saviour Iesus Christ. Being now delivered from the 
Colos. 1.13.  power of darkness, under Antichrist, and translated into the light of Christs gospel, Let it be our daily care( for it is our duty) to walk worthy the light, 
Ephes. 5.8.  as children of light; to walk in truth, Ep. 3. joh. ver. 3. to walk in love, Colos. 5.2. to walk in newness of life, Rom. 6.4. to walk, not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Rom. 8.1. If we walk after the flesh, we shall mind the things of the flesh; we shall be carnally minded, and our end shall be death; but if we walk after the spirit, we shall mind the things of the spirit, we shall be spiritually minded, and our end shall be life and peace.  
The choice is not difficult. Life is better then death. If you choose life, you must abandon and forsake the 
Gal. 5.19.  works of the flesh, which cause death. adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 
Vers. 20.  hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, 
V●rs. 21.  envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, usury, extortion, oppression, and such like, are works of the flesh, and do shut you out from life. Yet may life be yours, if you will be 
Vers. 18.  lead by the spirit. 
Vers. 22.  love, ioy, peace, long suffering, gentl●nesse, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, are the fruit of the spirit. Let these dwell among you, and life shall be yours. The God of life shall give it you.  
Hitherto you haue the first respect, why it was beneficial& good for the people of Israel, that they were brought up from the land of Egypt. It was good for them because the people of the land were superstitious and idolatrous, and among such there is no good living.  
The other respect now followeth. It was beneficial and good for the people of Israel, that they were brought up from the land of Egypt; because the people of the land were full of cruelty, and held Israel in subiection and servitude.  
Egypt was long a harbour to the Israelites, but at length it proved a Gaole unto them. The posterity of jacob finds too late, what it was for their forefathers, to sell jacob, a slave into Egypt. There arose up a new Pharaoh, a new king over Egypt: he knew not joseph. Then, then were the Israelites contemned as drudges. 
Exod. 1.11.  Task masters must be set over them, to afflict them with their burdens. Why so? How had they offended? They prospered too fast. For thus saith Pharaoh to his people, Exod. 1.9. Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier then we. Come on, let us deal wisely with them, lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that when there falleth out any war, they join also v●to our enemies, and fight against vs. For this cause, because they prospered too fast, were task-masters set over them, to afflict them with their burdens.  
But, the more they were afflicted, the more they multiplied and grew. This did not a little grieve the Egyptians. The Egyptians therefore made the children of Israell to serve 
Vers. 13.  with rigour, 
Vers. 14.  and held them in bondage without mercy: and made their lives bitter unto them in that cruel bondage, in day, and brick, and all manner of work in the field. All their bondage wherein they served them, was full of tyranny.  
The cruelty of the Egyptians here stayeth not. The hopes of succession for Israel must be prevented. Women, midwiues must be suborned to be murtherers, to kill every wild that should be born of an Hebrew woman. A prodigious cruelty, that a man should kill a man for his sexes sake! yet would pharaoh haue done it.  
The 
Vers. 17.  fear of God taught the midwiues to disobey the unjust command of Pharaoh. They disobeyed it; they well knew it was no excuse for so foul a fact, to say, we were bidden to do it. God said unto their hearts, Thou shalt not kill. This voice was louder, and more powerful, then Pharaohs.  
What the midwiues would not, that must Pharaohs people do; they must 
Vers. 22.  cast into the river and drown, all the sons that were then born. They did it. The cruelty which did but smoke before, doth now flamme up: its become so shameless, that now it dares proclaim tyranny. All the male children are cast into the river.  
Nor could Pharoahs fury here be appeased. He will haue the 
Exod. 5 6.7 8.  task of the Children of Israel to be increased. They must make brick as before, as much as before; yet shall they not haue any allowance of straw, as they were wont to haue. While possible tasks were imposed, there was some comfort; their diligence might save their backs from stripes. But, to require tasks not possible to be done is tyrannicall, and doth onely pick a quarrel to punish. They could neither make straw nor find it, yet must they haue it. O cruelty! O tyranny.  
For such cruelty and tyranny, practised against the children of Israel by the Egyptians, Egypt itself is in holy Scripture, styled, The house of servitude, or bondage. Exod. 13.3.14. Exod. 20.2. Deut. 5.6. And in sundry 
Deut. 6.12. And 7.8.& 8.14& 13.5.10 josh. 24.17. judge. 6.8.  other places. It is styled likewise the iron furnace, Deut. 4.20. 1. Kin. 8.51. Ierem. 11.4.  
Egypt( you see) was the house of bondage, it was the iron furnace, wherein the children of Israel were 
Act. 7.19.  evil entreated, suffered affliction, and endured much misery. You will confess, that therefore it was beneficial and good for them that they were from thence delivered. And well may you. For the Lord himself reckons up this their deliverance for a benefit unto them, and by them to be remembered. From hence issueth this doctrine: temporal benefits, and bodily favours are not to be forgotten.  
I will not now stand to amplify or enlarge this doctrine. In the beginning of this exercise, I exhorted you, that you would not forget any one of Gods benefits bestowed vpon you. temporal benefits, and bodily favours, haue been plentifully shewred down vpon us by almighty God. It is 
Psal. 100.3.  He that hath made us, not we ourselves: it is He that provideth for us, not we ourselves. S. Austin in his 21. chap. of his Soliloquies, sweetly meditateth hereupon: From heaven, from the air, from the Earth, from the Sea, from light, from darkness, from heat, from shade, from due, from rain, and winds, and showers, and birds, and fishes, and beasts, and trees, and from the diversity of herbs, and fruit of the earth, and from the service of all creatures, which serve for mans use, Thou, O Lord hast provided, to comfort man withall.  
St Austines Lord is our Lord, the Lord of all the world. He hath preserved us, our bodies, and all our lims, to this very hour: he hath delivered us from many dangers, and distresses: He hath so blessed our going out, and coming in, when we haue traveled from home, that we haue returned home in good health, and disposition: whatsoever good we haue had, we haue had it from the Lord. Offer we therefore unto him, the sacrifice of praise.  
Hitherto you haue seen the deliverance of the people of Israel out of Egypt. It was an exceeding great benefit unto them, that they were thence delivered: First, because the Egyptians were Idolaters, and to live among Idolaters is a very Hell. Secondly, because they were kept under by the Egyptians with extremity of servitude and bondage. The seruant in the z Poet could say, 
Plautus Captivis Act. 1. Sc. 2. vers. 10.  
Omnes profectò liberi Inbentiùs  
Sumus, quam servi:   
every man prefereth freedom before slavery. The Israelites could do no less: they could not but account it a great favour of God towards them, that they were by him freed from the slavery they endured in Egypt. God when he begins a good work, will perfect it. He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt: if he had then left them, he had left them a prey and spoil unto their enemies. It was against Gods goodness so to do: and therefore he protected and preserved them in the wilderness, which is the next benefit in this verse mentioned to haue been bestowed by the Lord vpon his people, the people of Israell, in these words, I lead you forty yeares through the wilderness.  
A wonderful benefit. wonderful: whether we consider the multitude that were lead; or the place, through which they were lead; or the time, wherein they were lead. every circumstance is wonderful, and proclaimeth the great power of the Lord. The multitude, that was lead, was very great; the place, through which they were lead was very barren: and they were a long time in leading.  
The first circumstance, is of the multitude, which were lead. The number of this multitude is set down, Exod. 12.37. They were six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children. A most wonderful increase from twenty souls. Old Iacobs twenty souls which he brought down into Egypt, in spite of their bondage and bloodshed, go forth six hundred thousand men, besides children. tyranny is too weak, where God bids increase and multiply. The Church of God shall increase, maugre the malice of man, or devill. In affliction, in oppression, in tyranny the good herb ouergrowes the weeds: the Church out-strips the world. Had the Israelites lived in ease and delicacy, while they were in Egypt, would they haue been so strong, so numerous? Who can say it? This I am sure of; never did any true Israelite loose by his affliction.  
Six hundred thousand men, besides children, go up out of Egypt. All Israelites. But these were not all. For there went up also with them, a mixed multitude: and flocks and herds, even very much cattle; as you may red, Exod. 12.38.  
This mixed multitude what it was, it is not certain. It is probable, that it consisted of Egyptians, and other Nations, sojourning in Egypt, who being moved and prepared with those mighty wonders and miracles which they saw in Egypt, might thereupon resolve to join themselves to Israel, to the people of God. whatsoever they were, this mingling of diuers other Nations with the people of God, was a lively type and evident demonstration of the calling of the Gentiles.  
Six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children; and a mixed multitude, a multitude of sundry sorts of people, went out from Egypt with Israel, and flocks, and herds, even very much cattle. But which way went they? They went through the wilderness: It is the second circumstance I am now to point at.  I lead you through the wilderness. 
Through the wilderness! A sandy and an vntracked wilderness! There they might err: there they might starve for want of food, and other provision.  
But against all such accidents and casualties, they were secured. God himself 
Exod. 13.21.  went before them. How could they but cheerfully follow, when they saw, God lead them? God lead them by 
Num. 14 14. Deut. 1.33. Psal. 78.14.  pillars: by a pillar 
1. Cor. 10.1.  of cloud, and by a pillar of fire. Pillars they were for firmness: they were of Cloud and fire, of visibility and use. The greater light obscureth the less; therefore in the day time he lead them, not by fire, but by a Cloud. In the night nothing is seen without light; therefore in the night time he lead them not by a cloud, but by fire. The cloud defended them from heat by day: the fire digested the rawnes of the night. God put himself into those forms of gracious respects, which might best fit their then necessities.  
But where did God show himself so graciously present unto his people Israel in the cloud, and fire? or in what wilderness was it? It was in the wilderness of Etham, which was a great and a sandy desert, lying from the land of Goshen in Egypt, to the read Sea and beyond it. This is plain by, Exod. 13.20. where we red, that the Children of Israel took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in 
Num 23.6.  Etham in the edge of the wilderness And the Lord went afore them by day in a pillar of cloud, to led them the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, to go by day and night. He took not away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.  
From 
V●rs. 7.  Etham they removed, and encamped before Piha-hiroth, between Migdol and the read Sea, over against Baal-zephon: so we red, Exod. 14.2.  
From hence, from Pi-hahiroth they removed again and passed through the midst of the 
Exod. 14.22.  read Sea. Through the read Sea, and not drowned? It was even so. The Lord caused the Sea to go back by a 
Vers. 21.  strong East wind, a whole night, and made the Sea dry land: And the Children of Israell went into the midst of the Sea vpon dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them, on their right hand, and on their left. Were the waters a wall unto them? O, the never too-much admired protection of the almighty. That, the Sea, the read Sea, which they feared would be their ruin, became their preservation. I now see, God can easily make the cruelest of his creatures to become our friends, and patrons.  
The Israelites were safely passed through the read Sea: they passed by 
Heb. 11.29.  faith. The Egyptians pursued after them 
Exod. 14.23.  to the midst of the Sea, and were drowned; for they had not faith. It was Gods pleasure to get him honor vpon them: 
Vers. 17.  vpon Pharaoh, vpon all his host, vpon his closets, and vpon his horsemen. The Sea was ready to work his will; shee shut her mouth vpon the Egyptians, shee swallowed them up in her waves, and after shee had made sport with them a while, shee cast them up vpon her sands for a spectacle of triumph to their aduersaries.  
Let our contemplations be lifted up to those walls of waters, which gave Israel safe passage, and overwhelmed the Egyptians: we shall see the condition of the children of God, and his enemies in this world. In this world the children of God are beset with walls of waters too: on the right hand with the waters of prosperity; on the left hand with the waters of adversity: and yet, through a true faith they walk through both, they are hurt by neither, they arrive on the other side at their wished-for harbour in safety: whereas the enemies of God, the sons of unbelief and impiety, are confounded in midst of the waters. The waters of prosperity make them forget God, the waters of adversity make them curse God. Both, the waters of prosperity, and the waters of adversity, do overwhelm them with confusion.  
We are not yet out of the wilderness of Etham. For from the read Sea, Israel went three dayes journey in the wilderness of Etham, and pitched in Marah. The story is so, Num. 33.8. In the 15. of Exodus, vers. 22. it seemeth to be called the wilderness of Shur. For there you may thus red: Moses brought Israell from the read Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur, and they went three dayes journey in the wilderness.  
From hence many think this wilderness of Shur, to be the same with the wilderness of Etham. Some will haue Etham to be the general name of the whole wilderness, and Shur onely a part of it. Others will haue Shur to be the general name of the whole wilderness, and Etham onely a part of it. But neither can be so. The wilderness of Shur, and the wilderness of Etham are not the same: they are altogether diverse. The wilderness of Etham was a part of Egypt, as hath already been shewed: the wilderness of Shur was not a part of Egypt: therefore the wilderness of Etham, and the wilderness of Shur were not the same.  
That the wilderness Shur was no part of Egypt, I gather from the first of Samuel, Chap. 15. vers. 7. where I red, that Shur is over against Egypt. Its over against Egypt; therefore it is no part of Egypt. The like collection I make from the 25. of Genesis, ver. 18. there I find, that Shur is before Egypt, as a man goeth to Assyria. Its before Egypt; therefore not in Egypt, nor any part of Egypt: therefore Shur is not Etham.  
Why then doth Moses in the places now alleged, seem to make Shur and Etham all one? I answer, if wee rightly understand Moses, Moses doth not make them all one. The words of Moses I thus explicate: Moses brought Israel from the read Sea, that they might go forward into the wilderness of Shur: but before they came thither, they spent three daies journey in the wilderness of Etham.  
We haue almost lost ourselves in these two wildernesses, Etham, and Shur. We must make more hast through the rest. I will not much more then name them. The next wilderness they came unto was the wilderness of 
Num. 33.11.  Sin, Exod, 16.1. After that they pitched in the wilderness of 
Vers. 15.  Sinai, Exod. 19.1. From Sinai they came to the wilderness of Paran, Num. 10.12. thence to the wilderness of 
Vers. 36.  Zin, which is Kadesh, Num. 20.1. and then to the wilderness of 
Vers. 44.  Moab, Num. 21.11. Here at Ieabarim they finished their 38. journey. They had four more to make. They soon made them; and last of all they pitched in the plains of Moab by jordan nere jericho, Num. 33.48.  
You haue now heard of many wildernesses. They are all contained in the wilderness mentioned in my text: I lead you through the wilderness. The wilderness. Not the wilderness of Etham onely; but the wilderness of Shur too, and the wilderness of Sin, and all other the wildernesses, through which the Children of Israel travailed in their way to the land of promise. They were many wildernesses; yet my text speaketh as of one, I lead you through the wilderness.  
So speaketh the Psalmist, in that his remarkable exhortation, to give thankes to God for particular mercies. It is Psal. 136.16. O, give thankes 
Psal. 136.1.  unto the Lord, unto the 
Vers. 2.  God of Gods, unto the 
Vers. 3.  Lord of Lords, to him, who lead his people through the wilderness. So also he speaketh, Psal. 78.52. The Lord! He guided his own people in the wilderness like a flock. In both places, you hear onely the sound of a wilderness: and yet were they wildernesses, through which the Lord lead and guided his people Israel.  
Let it be our comfort. God never forsakes his people. When he hath lead them through one wilderness, he will led them through a second, through a third, through all: He will never leave them, till he see them safely arrived in the place, where they wish to be. No expense of time can make him to relent. If we shall need his protection for forty yeares together, for forty yeares together we shall be sure of it. Israel had it. My text avows it.  I lead you forty yeares through the wilderness. 
It is the third circumstance I noted in Gods protection of his people in the wilderness; the circumstance of Time. forty yeares.  
forty yeares were the people of Israel in the wilderness. From Egypt to the wilderness of Sinai, where their 
Num. 33.15. exod. 19.1.  twelfth mansion was, they came in seven and forty dayes. There they continued almost a year. From thence, from the wilderness of Sinai, by many journeys they came to mount 
Num. 20.22.& 33.37.  hoar, where was their four and thirtieth mansion, in the wilderness of Zin or Cades. In coming thither they spent nine and thirty yeares. There in mount hoar, 
Num. 20.23.& 33.38. Deut. 32.50.  died Aaron their priest. He died in the fortieth year after the Children of Israell were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first day of the fift month. Now had they but few journeys to make: they had but eight to make; all eight with good success they made in the remainder of that fortieth year: and they pitched in the plains of 
Num. 33.48.& 22.1.  Moab by jordan near jericho, where was their two and fortieth, and their last mansion.  
Well might that be their last mansion. For now they had gotten the possession of the land of the Amorite: which in my text is put for the end, why they were brought up out of the land of Egypt, and were lead forty yeares through the wilderness: I brought you up out of the land of Egypt, and lead you forty yeares through the wilderness,  

To possess the land of the Amorite.  
HEre was the fulfilling of that promise, which was long before made to Abraham. The promise was first made to Abraham, when from Haran he was come into the land of Canaan, Gen. 12.7. unto thy seed will I give this land. It was renewed unto him after his return from Egypt to the land of Canaan, Gen. 13.15. All the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. It was once more renewed, Gen. 15.18. unto thy 
Gen 26.4. Deut. 34.4.  seed haue I given this land from the river of Egypt, unto the great river, the river Euphrates. The 
Gen. 15.19.  Kenites, and the Kenizites, and the Kadmonites, 
Vers. 20.  and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, 
Vers. 21.  and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgasites, and the jebusites. Ten sundry Nations are rehearsed, whose countries are promised to the seed of Abraham. Among them are the Amorites.  
The Amorites country is by promise given to Abrahams seed, and Abrahams seed in the posterity of jacob possessed it; but, some four hundred and twenty yeares after the promise. From the promise to their going forth out of Egypt, were four hundred and thirty yeares: to which if you will add, their forty yeares journey in thc wilderness, you haue the full number of four hundred and twenty yeares, the space between the promise, and the performance.  
Abraham, he believed the promise so many yeares before it was to take effect. Great was his faith. He leaving his own country, his kindred, and his fathers house, comes unto a people who knew him not;( and he knew not them) takes possession for that seed which he had not, which in nature he was not like to haue; of that land, whereof he should not haue one 
●rt. 5.7.  foot, wherein his seed should not be settled for almost five hundred yeares after. O, the power of faith! It prevents time: it makes future things as present. If we be the true sons of Abraham, and haue but one grain of his faith, we haue already the possession of our land of promise the celestial Canaan: though we sojourn here on earth, as if we sought a country, yet haue we it already: we haue it by faith.  
The seed of Abraham, the children of Israel, after their forty yeares travail in the wilderness, got possession of the land of the Amorite, which long before was promised unto them. It may teach us thus much:  
In whatsoever God promiseth, he approveth himself most faithful, both in his ability, and performances. At the very time prefixed, and not before, he vnchangeably performeth what he promised.  
If so: then when we are in any distress, and haue not speedy deliverance according to our desires, we must wait the Lords leisure, and must expect with patience till the time come, which is appointed by him for our ease and relief. We must ever trust our God on his bare word: we must do it with hope, besides hope, above hope, against hope. For the small matters of this life we must wholly rely vpon him. How shall we hope to trust in him for greater matters, for impossibilities, if we trust him not for smaller matters, for probabilities. How can I depend on God for raising my body from the grave, and for saving my soul from Hell, if I will distrust him for a morsel of bread towards my preservation.  
The Lord, who brought Israel out of Egypt, and lead them forty yeares through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorite, and all that while nourished and fed them; not with bread nor wine, nor strong drink, but miraculously with water out of the hard rock, with quails, with Manna from heaven; and so blessed the very clothes and the shoes they wore, that neither their clothes nor shoes all that while were waxed old; he is the same Lord still: still, as ready to be to his faithful ones a present help in all their troubles.  
He hath brought us out of Egypt too. Attendamus ergo nos, fratres; so S. Austin bespoke his Readers, Tract. 28. in johan: and so let me conclude: Attendamus ergo nos fratres: Brethren, and the rest dearly beloved, let us diligently observe it, and make we it the matter of our daily meditation: Educti sumus de Aegypto, we are brought out of Egypt. There were we in bondage to the devill, as to a Pharaoh; there Lutea opera in terrenis desiderijs agebamus, dirty works in the earthly desires of our flesh were the fruits of our labours. Let it suffice that we haue been such, that we haue been seruants, Luteis operibus peccatorum, to the dirty works of sin, as to the tyranny of the Egyptians. Now are wee passed through baptism as through the read Sea, therefore read, because it is consecrated with the blood of Christ. In this Sea, the read Sea of baptism, the Egyptians our enemies, even all our sins, are drowned. Now are wee in the wilderness, in eremo huius vitae( saith the same Saint Austine lib. 50. Homil. 20.) we are in the wilderness of this life. Here Christ is with vs. He protecteth us, he preserveth us, he feedeth us with his Word and Sacraments. His word is a light unto our steps, to guide us that we err not. His Sacraments are two: that of baptism assureth us, that the blood of Christ, applied to our souls, cleanseth us from all our sins: the other, of his Supper, is a sign, a seal, a pledge unto us, of him, our saviour, Christ Iesus, given for us, and to vs.  
Thus passing through the wilderness of this world, wee shall in the prefixed time, the due time appoynted by the Lord, Patriam promissionis ingredi; We shall haue the full fruition of the promised land, of the supernal jerusalem, of the land of the living, of the kingdom of heaven. To which God bring us all.    

THE XVI. lecture.  AMOS 2.11. 
And I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
THe blessings and benefits which Amos in this Chapter remembreth to haue been bestowed by almighty God vpon his people, the ten tribes of Israel, are partly corporal, and partly spiritual. Of their corporal benefits I haue heretofore in your hearing discoursed in my two former Sermons. They were the destruction of the Amorites before them, and for their sake, vers. 9. their deliverance out of Egypt, their protection and preservation in the wilderness for forty yeares, to the end that they might at length possess the land of the Amorite, ver. 10. These were notable benefits, though they were but corporal. But the benefit, whereof I am now to speak, is spiritual. It is the doctrine of the sincere worship of God, and of eternal salvation, together with the free use and passage thereof: or if you will, it is the ordinary ministry of the Word, thus expressed, vers. 11.  
And I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites, &c.  
In these words I commend unto you two general parts. One is, A description of the now mentioned spiritual benefit: I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites.  
The other is, A testification, that such a benefit was bestowed; Is it not even thus, o ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
In the description we may note: 

1. Quis: Who was the bestower of this benefit, I, the Lord.  
2. Quomodo: How it was bestowed; by a raising up. I raised up.  
3. Quid: What was bestowed: Prophets and Nazarites.  
4. Quibus auxilijs; what help was used; No stranger, no foreigner had here ought to do: they were their own sons, and their own young men, that were employed. I raised up of your sons, &c.    
The testification followeth: you may also call it an asseveration. Its set down in the form of a question: where you may observe, who moves the question, to whom it is moved, and what the question is. The Lord is he, that moves the question; the children of Israel are they, to whom it is moved: the question is, Is it not even thus? Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
Such is the division of my text. I might handle each part precisely: but that happily would seem sulphureous. I make choice therfore, to apply myself, after my old and wonted fashion, to fit an exposition to the words, as here they are conveyed unto us, by the ministry of Amos: and this with all brevity and plainness.  
And I] I, the Lord. I, who destroyed the Amorite before you, and for your sake; I, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, I, who for forty yeares together lead you through the wilderness, that you might possess the land of the Amorites; I, who thus blessed you with corporal benedictions, haue not been wanting to you in spiritual; I also raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazarites.  
I raised up] {αβγδ} word for word: feci surgere, or feci vt surgerent, I made to arise, I made Prophets to rise out of your sons. I made them to rise; that is, feci vt existerent, I made them to be. In this sense I find the word used, Deut. 34.10. {αβγδ} And there arose not a Prophet since in Israell like unto Moses. There arose not, that is, there was not. There was not a Prophet since like unto Moses. So Mat. 11.11. where the greek is {αβγδ}, the Vulgar Latin hath, Non surrexit. Our now English renders it, There hath not risen. Among them that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater then John the Baptist. There hath not risen, that is, there hath not been. Among them that are born of women, there hath not been a greater then John the Baptist. So here; I haue raised up, that is, I haue made to be. I haue made your sons to be Prophets.  
I haue raised up of your sons] aliquot è filijs vestris, saith Mercer, some of your sons; such your sons as Ioel speaketh of, Chap. 2.28. I will power out of my Spirit vpon all flesh, and your sons, and your daughters shall prophecy. Or, of your sons] de hominibus vestri generis, saith Peter à Figuero, of men like yourselves; of your brethren; so they are called, Deut. 18.15. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren like unto me. Of your sons] or of thy brethren. The signification is one saith Drusius. Of your sons] not strangers, or foreigners, but such as were home-bred, and of your own lineage, saith Brentius. Of your sons] that is( say some Hebrewes, R. david, and R. Solomo) ex parvulis, of your little ones; such as were Samuel and ieremy. I raised up of your sons.  
For Prophets] Such, as should, not onely preach my will unto you, and instruct you in the way of righteousness, but also admonish you, and fore-tell you, what was to come to pass in future times.  
Prophets] I red in the old Testament of two sorts of Prophets. Some were taught in schools under the discipline of other Prophets; who were heretofore called filii Prophetarum, sons of the Prophets. They are so called, 2. King. 4.1.& 6.1. Others had their calling immediately from God, and were by him extraordinarily inspired with gifts from above; and so were sent forth to the exercise of their holy function. Of both these Amos chap. 7.14. maketh mention. There he saith unto Amaziah: I was no Prophet, neither was I a Prophets son, but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit. This he speaketh of himself, as he was before his calling. I was no Prophet, immediately called of God; nor was I the son of a Prophet; I was not trained up or taught in any of the schools of the Prophets: but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of Sycomore fruit. He had no other calling, till the Lord was pleased to advance him to the dignity and office of a Prophet: and then was his calling extraordinary. Amos tells, how it was, vers. 15. The Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, go prophecy unto my people Israel.  
The Prophets mentioned in my text, may be of both sorts: such as had their institution in the schools of the Prophets, and such as were called of God immediately and extraordinarily. God was the raiser up of both. Yet especially by Prophets here, I understand, such as had their calling of God immediate, and extraordinary. And these were fitted to their holy function sundry ways: as, by dreams, by visions, by inspiration of the holy Spirit, by express word, uttered by some angel representing God; and by God himself, speaking to them face to face.  
That they were fitted to their prophetical function by dreams and visions. We know by, Num. 12.6. where the Lord thus speaketh unto Aaron, and to miriae: hear now my words. If there be a Prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. We know it likewise by Elihues words unto job, chap. 33.14. G●d speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth vpon men, in slumbrings vpon the bed: Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction. It may also be gathered out of the euen-now cited place of Ioel, chap. 2.28. I will power of my Spirit vpon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. dreams and visions, you see, were means by which almighty God fitted his Prophets to the exercise of their holy function.  
They were likewise fitted thereunto, by the inspiration of the holy Ghost. S. Peter saith it, Epist. 2. chap. 1. vers. 21. Holy men of God in old time spake, as they were moved by the holy Ghost. So were they, by the express word of some angel representing God; as, Gen. 19.13. There shall you find two Angels instructing Lot concerning the overthrow of sodom. And sometime they were enabled to their holy calling by God himself, speaking to them face to face. So was Moses. The Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. Exod. 33.11.  
Now whether Prophets of old time, were enabled to the exercise of their sacred function by God himself, speaking unto them face to face, or by the apparition of Angels representing God, or by the inspiration of the holy Spirit, or by visions, or by dreams, it was out of doubt a great blessing unto Israel, to haue Prophets sent unto them: and therefore saith the Lord unto them, I raised up of your sons for Prophets. It followeth, And of your young men for Nazarites.  
Of your young men] It is emphatically spoken. For though young men for the most part are addicted unto pleasures, yet did God raise up of them, some, that should withdraw themselves from the pleasures of this world, either for a time, or for ever; and these were called Nazirites; Naziraei. They were called Nazaraei, quasi Separatitij, saith Mercer; as Separatists, or men separated from wine, and vulgar delights, that they might the more freely apply their wits and studies to the law of God and his worship.  
Nazarites] Nazarai: They are so called by the author of the Vulgar Latin, and so almost by all the Ancient, and by many modern interpreters, by Benedictus, Castalio, and Caluin, by Iunius and Tremellius in their Bible printed by Wechell at Francford A. C. 1579. But the same Iunius and Tremellius in their later editions of the Bible, do call them Neziraeos, Nezirites, so doth Vatablus. Drusius calls them Naziraeos, Nazirites, so doth Pagnine in {αβγδ} Nezirites or Nazirites. Well may they be so called for distinctions sake, even to distinguish them from Nazarites.  
Christ is called a Nazarite, Matth. 2.23. {αβγδ}, which is by many translated Nazaraeus, a Nazarite. He dwelled in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Prophets, He shall be called a Nazarite. {αβγδ}, a Nazarite. Our now English well translates it a Nazarene; for Iesus, Marc. 1.24. is called {αβγδ}, a Nazarene. Nazaraeus and Nazarenus, each name is derived from Nazareth the city, wherein Iesus had his habitation.  
Wherefore they who interpret that, Matth. 2. {αβγδ}, he shall be called a Nazarite,& do think that S. Matthew had respect to the Nazarites of the old Testament, as to the types of Christ, may well be deceived. Some, I grant, are of opinion, that S. Matthew doth allude to those voluntary and vowed Nazarites, of whom we red, Num. 6. and some, that S. Matthew hath reference to Samson, who was a Nazarite by Gods singular ordination. But in these opinions I find no solidity: for they haue no ground either in the name of Nazarite, or in the matter.  
Not in the name. The name of Nazarites in the old Testament is Nezirim, by the letter Zaijn, from the root Nazar, which signifieth to separate: but the name in S. Matthew according to the Syriack Paraphrast is Notzraia, by the letter Tsadi, from the roote {αβγδ} which signifieth to keep. There is therefore no ground in the name, why any should think, S. Matthew alludeth to the Nazarites of the old Testament.  
Nor is their any ground in the matter. For Christ did, what was not lawful for Nazarites to do. It was not lawful for Nazarites to 
Num. 6.3.  drink wine; Christ 
Math. 11.19.  drank it. It was not lawful for the Nazarites to come near 
Num. 6.6.  unto a dead body: Christ came near unto the 
joan. 11.38.  dead, and touched them. It was not lawful for the Nazarites to suffer a 
Num. 6.5.  razor to come vpon their heads; they were to let the locks of the hairs of their head grow: but its likely that Christ did not wear long hair; it may be gathered from 1. Cor. 11.14. and from the common custom of the Iewes. There is therefore no ground in the matter, why any should think, that S. Matthew alludeth to the Nazarites of the old Testament.  
The Nazarites of the old Testament, I  told you, were for distinction sake called by Iunius, Tremellius and Vatablus, Nezirites, and by Drusius and Pagnine, Nazarites. It is according to the Hebrew points. The Hebrew is {αβγδ} The right of this appellation is approved by the Septuagint, judge. 13.5. where the angel of the Lord tells Manoahs wife, that she shall conceive and bear a son, on whose head no razor shall come, {αβγδ}, for the child shall be called a Nazarite unto God. Some in that place for {αβγδ}, do red {αβγδ}, a Nazir or a Nazarite of God; and this reading is approved by 
Not. in editionem LXX.  Eusebius. Likewise judge. 16.18. Samson tells Delilah all his heart, and saith unto her, There hath not come a razor vpon my head, {αβγδ}, for I am a Nazarite of God. In that place for {αβγδ}, some red {αβγδ}, as Eusebius witnesseth in his 7. book of evangelical Demonstration, chap. 5. A Nazirite. {αβγδ}, saith he, is according to the Septuagint {αβγδ}, holy; according to Aquila, {αβγδ}, a separation; according to Symmachus, {αβγδ}, untouched: from hence {αβγδ}, a Nazirite, signifieth either one that is holy, or one that is separate, or one that is untouched, integrious and unspotted.  
{αβγδ}, a Nazarite is one, that is holy, according to the Septuagint. Whence they haue a threefold reading of my text: I raised up of your young men; {αβγδ}, for a sanctification: or, I raised up of your young men, {αβγδ}, for men sanctified; or I raised up of your young men, {αβγδ}, for Nazirites.  
For Nazarites] certainly they were so called of Nazar, which signifieth to separate. For they were separated from the vulgar sort of men, by a certain course of life, whereto they were to be tied by vow. The law that concerneth them is in the sixth of Numbers. The law hath sundry branches.  
One is, whosoever shall separate himself to vow the vow of a Nazirite, to separate himself unto the Lord, he shall not drink wine or strong drink, or any thing that shall make him drunken: he shall not eat grapes moist or dried, he shall not eat any thing that is made of the Vine three from the kernels to the husk. This branch you haue vers. 3.& 4.  
The second branch of the Law is: whosoever shall separate himself to vow the vow of a Nazarite, there shall no razor come vpon his head, the locks of the hair of his head shall be suffered to grow. It is in the 5. verse.  
The third branch is: He shall not defile himself with the dead: that is, He shall not come into the house where a dead man is, neither shall he follow a dead corps to the grave. This you haue vers. 6, 7, 8.  
The fourth branch is: If he that hath vowed the vow of a Nazarite, shall very suddenly and unawares come near unto a dead body, he shall renew his Naziriteship; thus: first he shall shave his head: secondly, he shall offer up sacrifices. These sacrifices were two Turtles or two young Pigeons, and a lamb of the first year. One of Turtles or Pigeons was to be offered for a sin-offering, the other for a burnt o●fering; and the lamb for a trespass offering. This you haue vers. 9, 10, 11, 12.  
The fift branch is: When a Nazarite shall haue fulfilled the vow of his Naziriteship, four things are to be performed; three of them by the Nazirite, the fourth by the Priest: First, the Nazirite shall offer up certain sacrifices, vers. 14, 15, 16, 17. Secondly, he shall shave his head, vers. 18. Thirdly, he shall burn the hair of his head in the fire which is under one of the sacrifices, vers. 18. Fourthly, the Priest shall take certain parts of the sacrifice, and shall wave them for a wave offering before the Lord, vers. 19, 20. I haue given you the law of the Nazarite in five branches. It is the law, to the observance whereof the Nazirites in my text were obliged. I raised up of your young men for Nazirites.  
Nazirites] You now see what they are. They were young men consecrated to the study of the word of God, and trained up thereunto, even from their childhood, under a severe discipline, and an austere course of life, that at length they might be able to go before the people, as well by soundness of doctrine, as by the example of a good life.  
I raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites.] Prophets, and Nazirites. Some haue put this difference between them: that the Prophets indeed taught the people the law of God, and withall foretold things to come: whereas the Nazirites did only teach the law. Be it so or otherwise; the meaning of my text is this. God would haue the ministery of his word to be ordinary, and perpetual, among the Israelites, and for that end, he gave them Prophets of their sons, men of riper yeares; and Nazirites of their young men, who were to be trained up in schools among them, there to be fitted for the holy ministery. Such is the blessing( and it is a very great one) which is here mentioned to haue been bestowed by the Lord vpon Israel. It is( as I said in the beginning of this exercise) it is the doctrine of the sincere worship of God, and of eternal salvation, together with the free use and passage thereof: or, if you will, it is the ordinary ministery of the word. The doctrine which hence I would commend unto you, I deliver in this position; The ministery of the word of God freely exercised in any nation, is to that nation a blessing of an inestimable value.  
I need not be long in the proof of this truth; you already give your assent unto it. The word of God, its a jewel, then which nothing is more precious, unto which any thing else compared is but dross; by which any thing else tried is found lighter then vanity: its a trumpet, whereby we are called from the slippery paths of sin into the way of godliness. Its a lamp unto our feet, its a light unto our paths, Psal. 119.105. Its the 
Matth. 4.4. Lu●. 4.4. Ier●m. 15.16. Ezech. 3.3. Revel. 10 9. Ezech. 2.8. Wis●. 16.26.  food of our souls; by it our souls do live, Deut. 8.3. Its {αβγδ}, 1. Pet. 1.23. incorruptible seed. seed committed to the earth, taketh roote, groweth up, blossometh, and beareth fruit. So is it with the word of God. If it be sown in your hearts, and there take roote, it will grow up, blossom, and bear fruit unto eternal life. In which respect S. james, chap. 1.21. calls it {αβγδ}, an engrafted word, engrafted in your hearts, able to save your souls.  
Sith the word of God is such, doth it not follow of necessity, that the ministery of it, freely exercised in any Nation, will be to that Nation a blessing of an inestimable value? Can it be denied? The Prophet Esay, chap. 52.7. with admiration avoucheth it: How beautiful vpon the mountaines are the 
Nahum 1.15.  feet of him, that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth? S. Paul is so resolved vpon the certainty of this truth, that Rom. 10.15. he resumeth the words of the Prophet. How beautiful are the feet of them, that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things?  
confer we these two places, one with the other, that of Esay, with this of Paul, and we shall behold a heap of blessings showering down vpon them, to whom God sendeth the ministers of his gospel; for they bring with them the word of salvation, the doctrine of peace, the doctrine of good things, and the doctrine of the kingdom. Such is the gospel of Christ.  
First, it is the word of salvation. The gospel of Christ is called the word of salvation, first, because it is the power of God unto salvation, as S. Paul speaketh. Rom. 1.16. It is the power of God unto salvation, that is, it is the instrument of the power of God; or it is the powerful instrument of God, which he useth to bring men unto salvation. And secondly, because it teacheth us concerning the author of our salvation, even Christ Iesus.  
An angel of the Lord appeared unto joseph in a dream, and saith unto him: joseph, the son of david, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost: And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name 
Luk 1.31.  Iesus: for he shall save his people from their sins, Matth. 1.21. He shall save his people, that is, he shall be their saviour.  
Iesus, he is the saviour of his people, merito,& efficacia, by merit and by efficacy. By merit; because he hath by his death purchased for his people, for all the elect, the remission of their sins, and the donation of the holy Spirit, and life eternal. And by efficacy; because by the Holy Spirit, and by the preaching of the gospel, he worketh in the elect true faith, by which they do not onely lay hold on the merit of Christ in the promise of the gospel, but also they study to serve God according to his holy commandements.  
An angel of the Lord relating the nativity of Christ unto the shepherds, Luk. 2.10, 11. saith unto them. fear not, For I bring you glad tidings of great ioy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of david, a saviour, which is Christ the Lord. unto you is born a saviour: where you haue, what you are to beleeue of the nativity of Christ. He is born a saviour unto you. unto you: not onely to those shepherds, to whom this angel of the Lord speaks the words; but unto you. unto you: not only to Peter and Paul and some other of Christs Apostles and Disciples of old, but unto you, unto you: unto every one of you in particular, and unto me. When I hear the Angels words, Christ is born a saviour unto you, I apply them unto myself, and say, Christ is born a saviour unto me. In this persuasion and confidence I rest, and say with S. Paul, Gal. 2.20. I live, yet not I now, but Christ liveth in me, and that life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. Christ is born a saviour unto me.  
Peter filled with the Holy Ghost seals this truth, Act. 4.12. There is no salvation in any other, then in the name of Iesus Christ of Nazareth. There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, then the name of Iesus Christ of Nazareth. again Act. 15.11. he professeth it: We beleeue, that through the grace of the Lord Iesus Christ, we shall be saved. It must be our belief too, if we will be saved. We, we in particular must beleeue, that through the grace of the Lord Iesus, we shall be saved. We shall be saved! Whats that? It is in S. Pauls phrase, we shall be made alive, 1. Cor. 15.22. As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive.  
St Austine Ep. 157. which is to Optatus, doth thus illustrate it: Sicut in regno mortis nemo sine Adam, ita in regno vitae nemo sine Christo: As in the kingdom of death there is no man without Adam, so in the kingdom of life, there is no man without Christ: as by Adam all men were made unrighteous, so by Christ are all men made righteous: sicut per Adam omnes mortales in poenâ facti sunt filii seculi, ita& per Christum ●mnes immortales in gratiâ fiunt filii Dei: As by Adam, all men mortal in punishment, were made the sons of this world: so by Christ all men immortal in grace are made the sons of God.  
Thus haue I proved unto you, that the gospel of Christ is the word of salvation, as well because it is the power of God unto salvation, as also because it teacheth us of the author of our salvation.  
Secondly, it is the doctrine of Peace. The gospel of Christ is called the doctrine of peace, because the ministers of the gospel do publish and preach Peace. This Peace which they publish and preach is threefold: between 

God and man.  
Man and man.  
Man and himself.    
First, they preach Peace between God and man: that Peace, which Christ hath procured us by the blood of his cross, Coloss. 1.20. In which respect he is called our Peace, Ephes. 2.14. For in him hath God reconciled us unto himself, 2. Cor. 5.18.  
Secondly, they preach Peace between man and man. They exhort you with the Apostle, Rom. 12.18. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, haue peace with all men, and 2. Cor. 13.11. Be of one mind, live in Peace. live in Peace, and the God of Peace shall be with you.  
Thirdly, they preach peace between man and himself: between man and his own conscience. It is that Peace, whereof we red, Psal. 119.165. Great Peace haue they which love thy Law, O Lord, and nothing shall offend them; they shall haue no stumbling block laid in their ways: though outwardly they be assaulted by adversity, crosses and troubles, yet within they are quiet: they haue the Peace of conscience; they are at Peace with themselves.  
From this threefold peace published and preached by the ministers of the gospel of Christ, the gospel of Christ may well be called, the doctrine of Peace.  
Thirdly, it is the doctrine of good things. The gospel of Christ is called the doctrine of good things. Of good things! The name of gospel in the greek tongue imports as much. The Greekes call it {αβγδ}; the word signifieth a good message, that is, a happy, and a joyful message of good things.  
What else I pray you is {αβγδ}, that, which you call the gospel, but a celestial doctrine, which God first revealed in paradise, afterward published by the patriarchs and Prophets, shadowed out in sacrifices and ceremonies, and last of all accomplished by his only begotten son? God who is onely good, yea, is goodness itself, is the author of the gospel, and therefore the gospel must needs bring with it a message of good things. The message it bringeth is this; that mankind is redeemed by the death of Christ, the only begotten son of God, our messiah and saviour, in whom is promised and preached to all that truly beleeue in him, perfect deliverance from sin, death, and the everlasting curse. Could there be any more happy or welcome tidings to mankind, then this was? Out of doubt the gospel of Christ is the doctrine of good things.  
Fourthly, it is the doctrine of the kingdom. The gospel of Christ is the doctrine of the kingdom. Its so called, Luk. 4.43. where Christ saith of himself, I must preach the kingdom of God to other Cities also. So is it, Mark. 1.14. there the evangelist saith of Christ, that he preached the kingdom of God in Galilee. This kingdom is twofold; of Grace, and of Glory: of Grace here on earth, and of glory hereafter in heaven. Of grace here: here Christ reigneth in the souls of the faithful by his word and holy Spirit. Of glory hereafter, when Christ shall haue delivered up the kingdom to God the Father, as Saint Paul speaketh, 1. Cor. 15.24.  
If so it be: if the gospel of Christ be the word of salvation: if it be the doctrine of Peace, of Peace between God and man, between man and man, between man and himself: if it be the doctrine of good things, of our deliverance from sin, from death, and from the curse of the Law: if it be the doctrine of the kingdom; the kingdom of grace, and the kingdom of glory. then must it be granted, that the Ministers of the gospel do bring with them blessings of an inestimable value. And such is my doctrine; The ministery of the word of God freely exercised in any nation, is to that nation a blessing of an inestimable value.  
T●e use hereof concerneth the Ministers of the gospel, and their auditors. First, the Ministers of the gospel. They may here be put in mind of their duty, which is willingly and cheerfully to preach the gospel. This their duty may be called a debt. S. Paul calls it so, Rom. 1.14, 15. I am debtor both to the Grecians and to the Barbarians, both to the wise men, and to the unwise. Therefore as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you also that are at Rome. S. Paul ( you see) acknowledgeth a debt, and makes a conscience of discharging it. The obligation or bond whereby he was made a debtor was his apostolical calling: his debt was, to preach the gospel: the persons to whom he was indebted, were Greekes and Barbarians, the wise and the unwise. His good conscience to discharge his debt, appeareth in his readiness to do it: I am ready, as much as in me is, to preach the gospel.  
S. Paul may be unto us a pattern of imitation. We also must aclowledge a debt, and must make a conscience of discharging it. The obligation or bond whereby we are made debtors is our ministerial calling. Our debt is, to preach the gospel. The persons to whom we are indebted, are our own flock, our own people, the people over whom the Lord hath made us overseers. Our good conscience to discharge our debt will appear in our readiness to do it. I, and every other minister of the gospel must say, as S. Paul doth, I am ready, as much as in me is, to preach the gospel to you. So far forth as God shall permit and make way for discharge, I am ready to preach the gospel to you. Nothing hath hitherto, or shall hereafter with hold me from paying you this debt, but onely the impediments which the Lord objecteth.  
Secondly, the use of my doctrine concerneth you, who are the hearers of the word. You also may here be put in mind of your duty, which is patiently and attentively to hear the word preached. Of your readiness in this behalf I should not doubt, if you would but remember what an unvaluable treasure it is, which we bring unto you. Is it not the word of salvation, the salvation of your souls? Is it not your peace inward, and outward, your peace with God, your peace with man, your peace with your own consciences? Is it not the doctrine of good things, your deliverance from sin, from death, and from the curse of the Law? Is it not the publication of the kingdom of God, his kingdom of grace, wherein you now may live, tha hereafter you may live in the kingdom of glory? Is it not even thus? Can it be denied?  
beloved in the Lord, the Lord who raised up unto the ten Tribes of Israel of their sons for Prophets, and of their young men for Nazarites, he raiseth up unto you of your sons Ministers, Prophets, and Teachers; and of your young men, such as may be trained up and fitted in the schools of the Prophets, in our Naioths, in our Uniuersities for a present supply, when God shall be pleased to remove from you, those which haue laboured among you, and are over you in the Lord.  
Its an admirable and a gracious dispensation from God, to speak unto man, not in his own person, and by the voice of his 
Exod. 20.18, 19.  thunderings and lightnings, or with the noise of a trumpet, as he did vpon Mount Sinai, when he gave the Law( for then should we run away, and cry unto Moses, or some other seruant of God, speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die) but by Doctors, Pastors, and other Ministers, men of our own nature, flesh of our flesh,& bones of our bones, men subject to the same 
James 5.17.  passions, whereto we are. Admirable and gracious is this dispensation.  
God thus borrowing, and using the tongues of men to speak unto men, doth it quasi imperans, non quasi mendicans,( as Bernard speaketh Serm. 5. vpon the Canticles) he doth it not begging, but commanding: and in that he doth it, indulgentia est, non indigentia; it is not from any want in himself, but it is from his indulgence and favour unto us: and in doing it non efficaciam quaerit, said congruentiam, he seeks not any strength to his own words, but congruence and proportion to our infirmities? Its even so. For we were not able to bear the glory of that majesty, if it did not in some sort hid and temper itself under these earthly instruments.  
Now therefore when we take the counsels of God from the lips of our sons, and of our young men, from the lips of our Brethren, from the lips of the Mi●isters of the word of God, we may say of them, as the men of Listra once said of Paul and Barnabas, but renouncing the idolatry of the speech, Act. 14.11. God is come down to us in the likeness of men. God is he that speaketh from above, that blesseth and nurseth, that bindeth and looseth, that exhorteth and dehorteth by the mouth of his Ministers.  
For this respect and relations sake between God and his Ministers, whom it hath pleased him to dignify and honour in some sort with the representation of his own person vpon earth, they haue ever heretofore been holden in very reverend estimation. Such was the estimation holden of S. Paul by the Galatians. S. Paul himself confesseth it, Gal. 4.14, 15. where he bears them record, that albeit through infirmity of the flesh, he preached the gospel unto them at the first, yet they despised him not, nor rejected him, but received him as an angel of God, even as Christ Iesus: yea, that if it had been possible( Nature and the Law forbidding it) they would haue plucked out their own eyes, and given them to him.  
But why speak I of the reverend regard given to Saint Paul, or to any other the Ministers of the word of God in the primitive times of the Church? look ye but to the dayes of late, to the dayes of your Fathers; and you will see them in very high esteem. Then, though your Priests, were but Lignei sacerdotes, wooden priests, priests of Babylon, that were your leaders and your guides, you highly honoured them. You bestowed vpon them your eareings, and your frontlets, your lands and revenues to maintain them in their covents, and cloisters. To every friar that drew you aside to confess you, you submitted yourselves, with Pater meus es tu, you are my Father, my ghostly Father. So far were you from despising or rejecting them, that ye received them as Angels of God, yea as Christ Iesus himself. Such honour had the Priests in your fore-fathers dayes.  
No marvel, will some say. For then Religion had eaten up policy, the Church had devoured the Common-wealth, cloisters were richer in treasure, then Kings houses, all the wealth& fatness of the Land was swallowed down into the bellies of Frieryes and Noneryes. No marvel if then Priests were held in high esteem. But now the times are changed, and we with them.  
True, I grant: the times are changed indeed. For as a worthy prelate yet living ( Lect. 34. in Ionam) speaketh: Now policy hath eaten up Religion, the Common-wealth the Church, and men rob God, as God expostulateth, Malac. 3.8. Men rob God against all equity and conscience. But wherein do they rob him? In tithes and offerings. His tithes and offerings are translated to strangers: they eat the material bread of the Prophets, who never give them spiritual food: and they that serve not at the Altar, do live by it: whereas many a Minister, that serveth at the Altar, hath not whereon to live. Hence is the ministery grown into contempt; and they who should be honoured for their calling sake, are for their wants sake very basely thought of.  
I speak not this to tax you of this place: you rob not God, but do duly pay your tithes and offerings; the Church here hath its right; and ever may it haue to your comfort. But I do it to move you to lift up your hearts to the throne of grace, and to bless the Lord, for as much as when the tithes and offerings of some of your neighbour Villages are made appropriate, yours are by Gods goodness exempted from the spoil, and reserved to their proper use: whereby you may in all ages be provided, though not of Prophets and Nazirites, such as God raised up unto Israel, but of Pastors and Teachers, such as may be able to break unto you the bread of life, and to preach unto you the gospel of Christ, which is the gospel of salvation, the gospel of Peace, the gospel of good things, and the gospel of the kingdom of God.  
Hitherto you haue heard, that God bestowed a benefit of inestimable value vpon the ten tribes of Israel, in raising up unto them of their sons for Prophets, and of their young men for Nazirites.  
Now followeth the Testification that such a benefit was bestowed; you may call it an asseveration. Its propounded by way of question, wherein you may observe, 

Who moves the question.  
To whom it is moved, and  
What the question is.    
The Lord is he, that moves the question, the children of Israel are they to whom the question is moved: the question is, Is it not even thus? Is it not even thus, o ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
Neither the time, nor your patience will give way to the several handling of these particulars: nor is there any need of enlargement, the words are so plain and without obscurity. The question is vehement, it urgeth the Israelites, it calls their consciences to witness.  
Is it not even thus, o ye children of Israel, saith the Lord?  
Say, O ye children of Israel; haue I not done so and so for you? Haue I not bestowed such and such benefits vpon you? Can any of you deny it? Vtique nemo, saith Rupertus: ther's none of you can be so impudent as to deny it. I, the Lord, who destroyed the Amorite before you and for your sake; I, who brought you up out of the land of egypt, and lead you forty yeares through the wilderness, to possess the land of the Amorites; I, even I, also raised up of your sons for Prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel? I, the Lord, ask you the question, Is it not thus?  
The points of doctrine from hence to be collected are diuers;  
1. God will haue the blessings and benefits which he bestoweth vpon us, ever to be had in remembrance.  
2. We must aclowledge, that whatsoever good we haue, we haue it from the Lord.  
3. The blessings which God bestoweth vpon us, are nothing inferior to those he bestowed vpon the Israelites.  
I make this plain by a brief collation of the blessings bestowed by the Lord vpon them and vs.  
The Lord brought Israel out of egypt, the house of bondage, with a mighty hand, and he overthrew Pharaoh in the read sea: the same Lord hath delivered us from as great a bondage, hath freed us from the house of Hell, and hath spoyled that infernal Pharaoh, the devill.  
The Lord gave unto the Israelites the land of the Amorites for their possession, when he had driven out the Amorites from before their face: the same Lord hath given us a good land for our possession, and hath from out our Churches expulsed the spiritual Amorite, Antichrist, Balaam of Rome.  
The Lord raised up unto Israel of their sons for Prophets: the same Lord hath raised up unto us of our sons for Prophets; he gives us orthodoxal and sound interpreters of his holy word, and Pastors, to declare unto us, what his sacred will is.  
The Lord raised up unto Israel of their young men for Nazirites: the same Lord hath given us schools and Nurseries of good literature for the training up of our young men, as Nazirites, in knowledge and in piety; yea, he hath given us {αβγδ}, one most holy Nazirite, even Christ Iesus; in whom he maketh us all {αβγδ}, that is, Nazirites, that is, Christians, sanctifying us by his Holy Spirit in baptism, wherein we promised to forsake the devill, and all his works, and to give up ourselves wholly to the obedience and service of our Lord and saviour Iesus Christ.  
Haec frequenter& seriò cogitemus fratres. dearly beloved, let us frequently& seriously think of these things. So shall we the more esteem Gods benefits bestowed vpon us, and shall the less abuse them, and shall the longer enjoy them. Which God of his infinite mercy grant unto us through Iesus Christ our Lord.   

THE XVII. lecture.  AMOS 2.12. 
But ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink, and commanded the Prophets, saying, prophecy not.  
IN this prophetical Sermon written by Amos concerning the Israelites, I haue heretofore in my eight Lecture vpon this Chapter, observed four principal parts; 

A Reprehension.  
An Enumeration.  
An exprobration, and  
A Commination.    
The first is, a reproof of Israell for sin, vers. 6.7.8.  
The second, a recital of the benefits which God hath bestowed vpon Israel, vers. 9.10.11.  
The third, a twyting of Israel with their vnthankefulnesse, vers. 12.  
The fourth, a threatening of punishment to befall them, from the 13. verse, to the end of the Chapter.  
Of the two former, the Reprehension and the Enumeration, you haue at sundry times already heard. Now are we to proceed to the exprobration, contained in the words at this time red unto you.  
For our easier understanding whereof, we are to cast back an eye vpon those benefits which in the precedent verses are mentioned to haue been bestowed by the Lord vpon his people Israel. They were either corporal or spiritual corporal, as the destruction of the Amorites before the Israelites, and for their sakes, vers. 9. their deliverance out of Egypt, their protection and preservation in the wilderness for forty yeares together, that at length they might possess the land of the Amorite, vers. 10. And spiritual, as the doctrine of the sincere worship of God, and of eternal salvation, together with the free use and passage thereof, expressed, vers. 11. by the raising up of their sons for Prophets; and of their young men for Nazirites.  
These were very great benefits, and worthy all thankful acknowledgement. But the people of Israel, were so far from giuing thankes for them, that they 
Ruffinus.  vilely esteemed them, and too too contemptuously rejected them. This appeareth in this 12. verse, which I therefore call an Exprobration, an upbraiding, or twyting of Israel, with the foulness of their 
Albertus Magnus.  ingratitude. Two things here are laid unto their charge: one is, Their soliciting the Nazirites to break their vow. The other is their hindering the Prophets in the execution of their function. The first in these words, ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink. The second in these, ye commanded the Prophets, saying prophecy not. Of these in their order.  
The first is, their soliciting the Nazirites to break their vow: Ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink.  
Of the name of Nazirites, and of their institution, I spake in my last exercise out of this place. I will not now spend time vpon the repetition of that, I then delivered. It shall suffice, if I add but a word or two for the further illustration thereof.  
The 
Babington in Num. 6.  Nazirites had their name of Nazar, which signifieth to separate. They were young men, separate from the ordinary course of men, and bound to a certain peculiar course and profession of life. They were Ecclesiae ornamenta, saith 
harmony. in 4 lib. Moses.  Calvin, ornaments of the Church, and God would in them, as in a glass make his honor and glory in some sort to appear. They were, quasi pretiosae gemmae, to shine as rich jewels among the people of God. They were, tanquam signiferi, antesignani,& deuces, as standard-bearers, ring-leaders, and chieftains to show the way of divine worship unto others.  
Singular was the honor and dignity of this order and calling of Nazirites. ieremy in his Lamentations chap. 4.7. thus sets them forth. Her Nazirites were purer then snow, they were whiter then milk, they were more ruddy in body then Rubies, they were like polished Saphyres.  
The author of this order and calling is God. This appeareth by the verse next before my text. There the Lord hath said, I haue raised up of your young men for Nazirites.  
The first branch of the Law, that concerneth this order and calling is accurately described, Num, 6.3, 4. whosoever shall vow the vow of a Nazirite, he shall abstain from wine and strong drink, he shall drink no vinegar of wine, or vinegar of strong drink, neither shall he drink any liquour of grapes, nor eat moist grapes nor dried. All the dayes of his Naziriteship shall he eat nothing that is made of the vine three from the kernels even to the husk.  
These Nazirites for the time of their Naziriteship were to apply themselves wholly to the study of the law of God, and therfore was abstinence from wine and strong drink enjoined them. God would haue them refrain all things that might trouble the brain, stir up lust, and make them unfitly disposed for so holy a study: of which sort are wine and strong drink.  
Salomon so accounts of them, Prov. 20.1. For there he saith, Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging, and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise. Salomons Mother doth likewise so account of them, Prov. 31.4. There her counsel to her son is: It is not for Kings, O Lemuel, it is not for Kings to drink wine, nor for Princes to drink strong drink: lest they being drunken, forget the Law, and pervert the iudgement of any of the afflicted. For this cause also were the Priests forbidden wine, when they were to go into the tabernacle of the Congregation, and that vpon pain of death. The prohibition is, Levit. 10.9. There thus saith the Lord to Aaron; do not drink wine, nor strong drink, thou nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the Tabernacle of the Congregation, lest ye die. It shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations. Hitherto I refer that, Exech. 44.21. No priest shall drink wine, when he entereth into the inner court.  
From the places now alleged ariseth this position: sobriety is a virtue fit for all men, but especially for Ministers of the word and Sacraments. Especially for Ministers. The reasons are:  
First, it is not for Ministers to speak foolishly, or to do any thing undecently. Yet can they not but offend both in the one and the other, if they suffer themselves to be overcome with swilling of wine or strong drink.  
Secondly, it is for Ministers, to be vigilant in their vocations; to be diligent in their ministerial employments, in reading, in study, in meditation, to be devout in their prayers unto God for themselves& the people, over whom God hath made them overseers; to handle the word of life reverently, and to dispense it in due season to every weary soul. Yet must they needs fail in the performance of these duties, if they give themselves to the drinking of wine and strong drink.  
Here may all that serve at the Altar be admonished, evermore to be mindful of their calling, and of the hatred which God hath of excess in men deuouted to his service, above all others; as also of the fearful iudgement, that will in the end without all fail ensue. For if of all it be true, that the drunkard shal never enter into the kingdom of God( which you know to be true, and the holy Spirit hath passed it for a truth, 1. Cor. 6.10.) then must it needs be sealed up in the conscience of any Minister, that a Minister through his excess in drinking causing the holy things of God to be despised, shall never, never come within the gates, of that eternal ioy, but in stead thereof shall reap the reward of his sin in everlasting torments, both of body and soul. But this by the way.  
The thing wherewith the Israelites in my text stand charged, is, their giuing the Nazirites wine to drink. The Israelites knew full well, that it was the peremptory mandate and express commandement of the Lord, that the Nazirites should abstain from wine, and strong drink: yet did they contrary thereunto give unto the Nazirites wine to drink.  
gave they the Nazirites wine to drink? was this such an offence, that God should take displeasure at it? To what end then serves the precept of giuing wine to him, that is ready to perish through the anxiety and bitterness of his mind, that thereby he may be cheered and comforted? The precept is, Prov. 31.6. give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more. In vain were this precept, were the drinking of wine an offence, whereat God should take displeasure. And S. Paul doth amiss, 1. Tim. 5.23. to wish him to drink no longer water, but to use a little wine for his stomachs sake, and his often infirmities; if the drinking of wine be an offence. If the drinking of wine be an offence, why doth the same Apostle tell the Romans, chap. 14.17. that the kingdom of God consisteth not in meate and drink, thereby giuing them liberty, not onely to eat, but also to drink what they would, even to drink wine?  
To this I say: It is not of itself any offence to drink wine, or to give others wine to drink; but herein consisteth the offence of the Israelites, that they gave the Nazirites wine to drink contrary to the Law of God, and his holy commandement. Tolle verbum Domini, et liberum est vinum bibere: add verbum Domini,& vinum exhibere aut bibere, tam grande est nefas, quàm adulterium aut latrocinium. So Brentius. Let there be no law, no commandement of God against the drinking of wine, and you may at your pleasure drink wine: But if Gods law and commandment be against it, then for a man to drink wine himself, or to give others wine to drink, its as great a sin, as adultery, or robbery.  
Adam in Paradise had a law given him, that he should not eat of the three of knowledge of good and evil. The law is expressed, Gen. 2.17. Of the three of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. To eat an Apple was of itself but a small matter; but the Law of God, whereby the eating of the Apple was forbidden, was a matter of great weight. The very eating of the Apple God did not much care for: it was the observance of his commandement, and the obedience thereunto, that he required.  
Saul had a commandement given him, that he should go down to Gilgal, and tarry there seven dayes, till Samuel should come, and direct him what to do. The commandement is expressed, 1. Sam. 10.8. Thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven dayes shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and show thee what thou shalt do. According to this commandement, Saul went to Gilgal, and tarried there 
1. Sam. 13.8.  seven dayes according to the set time that Samuel had appoynted. The seventh day a little before Samuel came, Saul 
Vers. 9.  offered a burnt ofring. 
Vers. 10.  As soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Samuel came. Saul understanding thereof went out to meet him, that he might salute him. Samuel seeing what was done, tells Saul, that he had done 
Vers. 13  foolishly in not keeping the commandement of the Lord his God, which he commanded him: and withall foretells him of a heavy iudgement to befall him, 
Vers. 14.  Thy kingdom shall not continue. The offering of the Holocauste or burnt offering to the Lord, was it not of itself a good work? Yet because Saul offered it out of due time, namely before Samuel was come, it was sin unto him, and the loss of his kingdom. Did the Lord care for the preoccupation, or prevention of so little time, as if it were a matter of itself to be regarded? No: it was the observance of his commandement, and the obedience thereunto, that he required.  
So for my text I say: The giuing the Nazirites wine to drink, was not of itself a matter that the Lord much regarded: but it was the observance of his commandment, and the obedience thereunto, that he required. The commandement I even now repeated unto you out of Num. 6. The sum of it is, The Nazarite shall abstain from wine and strong drink. Contrary to this commandement, did the Israelites here give unto the Nazarites wine to drink: which is the thing, wherewith they are here twyted, to this sense: Ye gave the Nazarites wine to drink: in so doing you made proof of your contempt of my Law, and your disobedience thereunto. I looked you should haue been thankful unto me, for bestowing so great a benefit vpon you, as is the order and calling of the Nazarites, for the training up of your young men in piety and religion: but you, unthankful you, haue repaid me with contempt, and disobedience, you haue solicited the Nazarites to break their vow and contrary to my Law, ye gave them wine to drink. The doctrine we are to gather from hence, is, Disobedience against Gods holy laws and commandments, is a sin, carefully to be eschewed by every child of God.  
As by the knowledge of light we may know what darkness is, and by the knowledge of good what evil is, so by the knowledge of obedience towards God, we may know what disobedience against him is. Of obedience towards God I entreated in my fift Lecture vpon this Chapter. I then handled this conclusion. Obedience to the commandements of the Lord, is a duty, which the Lord requireth to be performed by every child of his. Whence by the Law of contraries followeth my now conclusion; Disobedience against the commandements of the Lord, is a sin, which the Lord requireth to be eschewed by every child of his.  
For the illustration of this conclusion we are to note in man a twofold disobedience; one in the state of corruption, the other in the state of regeneration. Disobedience in man in the state of corruption, is an evil quality inbred in him by nature, whereby he is made of himself altogether unable and unwilling to live in subiection unto God, to hear his voice to obey his will, or to do what he commandeth. By this disobedience man is not able to do any thing, but hate God, his word, his will, and whatsoever is pleasing to him. He ever rebels against God, he ever resisteth the will of God, he ever despiseth the commandements of God, and embraceth with all his might what God forbiddeth.  
How great this disobedience is, the holy Scripture doth evidently demonstrate, when it describeth the nature of man, his thoughts, his counsels, his affections, his desires, his actions in the state of corruption, and before his regeneration. So it calls us 
Num. 20.10.  rebels, Ezech. 2.3. impudent children, and stiffe-hearted, vers. 4. Gods aduersaries and his enemies, Esay 1.24. Children of 
Ephes. 5.6. Colos. 3.6.  diffidence and incredulity, Ephes. 2.2. Children of wrath, ver. 3. Children of darkness, Ephes. 5.8. Children of the 
1. joh. 3.8. joh. 8.49.  devill, 1. John, 3.10. It saith of us, Gen. 6.5. that every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is onely evil continually. It saith of us, job 15.25. that we stretch out our hands against God, and strengthen ourselves against the almighty. It saith of us, Ephes. 4 17. that we walk in the vanity of our mindes; that having our understanding darkened, we are alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in us, because of the blindness of our hearts, that as men past feeling, we haue given ourselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness, even with greediness.  
Such is the disobedience that is in man, while he is in the state of corruption before he is regenerate. There is another kind of disobedience in man, when he is in the state of Regeneration.  
This disobedience is common to every child of God, while he liveth in this world, albeit in some it be greater, in some less, as regeneration is perfecter in some, then in others. This I thus describe: disobedience in man in the state of regeneration, is an evil quality inbred in him by nature, whereby he is made unable to yield due subiection unto God wholly on every part, with all his heart, and all his might, or, so to obey his holy will simply in all things, and always without tergiversation, as never to decline from the rule of true obedience.  
By this disobedience we are all made guilty of the wrath of God, of damnation, and of eternal death. The consideration hereof made david Psal. 130.3. to cry out unto the Lord: If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities: O Lord, who shall stand? It drew from him that humble supplication, Psal. 143.2. O Lord, Enter not into iudgement with thy seruant: for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. It wrested from him that same confession, Psal. 32.6 namely, that the very godly, haue need to pray for the remission of their sins. There speaking of the remission of sins he saith; For this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee. For this, for the remission of sins, shall every one that is godly pray unto thee, O Lord. From hence is it, that our blessed Lord, and saviour Iesus Christ taught his Apostles, the most perfect Christians that ever were, and therefore the most godly, to pray for remission of their sins.  
This disobedience, which as yet resideth in us, in the best of us, S. Paul elegantly describeth, Rom. 7.14. where thus he speaketh in his own person as a man regenerate: we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. 
Rom. 17.15.  For that which I do, I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 
Vers. 16.  If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law, that it is good. 
Vers. 17.  Now then, it is no more I, that do it, but sin, that dwelleth in me. 
Vers. 18.  For I know that in me( that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing. For to will is present with me: but how to perform that which is good, I find not. 
Vers 19.  For the good that I would, I do not: but the evil that I would not; that I do, &c.  
I am not ignorant, that the Pelagians of old, and diverse of late, as Erasmus, Ochinus, Castellio, Faustus, Socinus the Samosatenian, Iacobus Arminius, and their adherents do affirm, that S. Paul speaketh these words, not of himself, as a man regenerate, but doth in them describe a man that is a profane, incontinent, sensual, unregenerate, or doth describe the nature of man after his fall, what and how much he is able to do without the grace of God.  
This their opinion is erroneous. The truth is, that S. Paul in the place alleged, speaketh not of any other but of himself, not as he was in pharisaism, under the law; but as he was now, when he wrote this Epistle, in the state of grace, a man regenerate. This great combat in S. Paul, now regenerate; between the 
Rom. 7.23.  law of his mind, and the law of his members, between the 
Vers. 22.25.  law of God and the law of sin, between the 
Vers. 22.  inward man and the outward, between the 
Vers. 18.  flesh and spirit, doth clearly show, that the holiest man living hath a tincture of disobedience against the Lord his God. This is the second kind of disobedience, which I noted to be in man, as he is in the state of regeneration: and serveth for the illustration of my propounded doctrine, which was, Disobedience against Gods holy laws and commandments, is a sin, which the Lord requireth to be eschewed by every child of his.  
Disobedience, not onely that, which is in every man that is yet in the state of corruption, but that other too, which is incident to the truly regenerate, is a sin carefully to be eschewed by every child of God. every child of God should be unwilling to displease God: and what can more displease him then disobedience?  
Disobedience! Gods curse is vpon it. The curse is, Psal. 119 21. Maledicti, qui declinant amandatis tuis; cursed are they that do err from thy commandments. Maledicti, a Deo scilicet, Cursed of God are all they, of what estate or condition soever they are, that do err, in their life and conversation, from his commandments, which he hath prescribed as footsteps and paths for men to tread in. Cursed are they that do err, he saith not, they that haue erred; for they that haue erred, may haue repented; but cursed are they that do err from thy commandments.  
And here by erring we understand, not, every offence indifferently, but an unbridled licence to offend; we understand, not every slip, but a falling away from God. We understand, not every disobedience, of ignorance, or infirmity, but the disobedience of pride and presumption. Maledicti, Cursed are they, that do err from thy commandements.  
The like Curse is, Deut. 27.26. Maledictus, qui non permanet in sermonibus legis huius, nec eos opere perficit. Cursed be he that continueth not in the words of this law to do them. It is cited by S. Paul, Gal. 3.10. Cursed is every one, that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the law to do them. In both places the end of the Law is pointed at. It is not {αβγδ}, but {αβγδ} not so much contemplation, as action. for the Law was given, not onely to be known, but also to be performed: and therefore, Rom. 2.13. it is avouched, that not the hearers of the Law are righteous before God, but the doers of the Law shall be justified. The covenant of the Law requireth from us absolute obedience. In this obedience these things must concur according to the tenor of the Law.  

1. It must be performed by ourselves; for the law reveals not the Mediator.  
2. It must be inward, as well as outward.  
3. It must be perfect in parts and degrees.  
4. It must be constant and continual from the first moment of our conception, without the least interruption through the whole course of our lives.   
The least thought dissonant to the law inuolues us in disobedience, and lays us open to the Curse. Maledictus, Cursed be he, that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law, to do them.  
Vae vobis is no better then a Curse, and that shall you find denounced to the disobedient, Ecclus. 41.8. Vae vobis impij Viri qui dereliquistis legem Altissimi; scilicet per inobedientiam, saith Antoninus Sum. part. 2. Tit. 4. cap. 2. Woe be unto you, ungodly men, which haue forsaken the law of the most high God, through your disobedience: Vae vobis, woe be unto you. And why so? The reason is added: For if you increase, it shall be to your destruction: And if you be born you shall be born to a curse: and if you die, a curse shall be your portion, Vae vobis, woe be unto you, ye ungodly men, which haue forsaken the law of the most high God, through your disobedience.  
Is disobedience thus cursed? Then must it be punished. For as Dicere Dei is facere, so Maledicere Dei is malum poenae facere. If God saith a thing, he doth it: and if he nurseth he punisheth. He nurseth disobedience, and therefore he punisheth disobedience.  
He punisheth it, saith Antoninus, three manner of ways.  
First, per afflictionem corporis, by afflicting man in his body.  
Secondly, per impugnationem orbis, by setting the whole world against man. and  
Thirdly, per privationem numinis, by depriving him of the vision of God.  
First, God punisheth disobedience, by laying affliction vpon man in his body. For the disobedience of Adam, he saith unto Adam, Gen. 3.17. Maledicta terra in opere tuo. Cursed be the earth for thy work, for the work of thy transgression, for thy sin, for thy sake. Cursed be the earth of thy body, for thy body is but earth: cursed shall it be, and many ways afflicted. thorns and Thistles, diverse passions and infirmities, shall it bring forth unto thee. All the evils of punishment, whereto these weak bodies of ours are subject, hunger, and thirst, and heat and could, and travail, and trouble, and misery, and calamity, and weakness, and diseases, yea, and death too: together with that never-ceasing rebellion of the flesh against the Spirit, called in Scripture, the Concupiscence of the flesh, which cleaveth fast unto us all our life long, and is the fountain and root of all our evil deeds, all these are vpon us for disobedience.  
Secondly, God punisheth disobedience by setting the whole world against man. For as it is Wisd. 5.21. Pugnabit cum illo orbis terrarum contra insensatos. The world shall fight with him against the unwise; the world shall take part with God against the disobedient. The world, that is, all the creatures in the world whereof we red, vers. 18. Armabit creaturam ad vltionem inimicorum; The Lord, he shall take to him his iealousy for complete armor, and make the 
Wisd. 5.17.  creature his weapon, for the reuenge of his enemies. Where by the creature, I understand 
Lorinus.  vniuersitatem creaturarum, the university of Creatures, all the Creatures in the world; orbem terrarum, even the whole world of Creatures. God shall make the creature his weapon for the reuenge of his enemies, and the world shall fight with him against the unwise.  
The thunderbolt is his weapon against the disobedient, vers. 21. Then shall the right-ayming thunder-bolts go abroad; and from the clouds, as from a well drawn bow, shall they fly to the mark, They shall fly to the mark, as from a bow: therefore are they called the Lords arrows, Psal. 18.14. The Lord thundered in the Heauens, and the highest gave his voice: he sent out his arrows, and she shot out lightnings; so did shee scatter and discomfit the wicked. The like sentence you haue, job 27.2. where the thunder is called, the noise of this voice of the Lord, and the sound that goeth out of his mouth, 
job 37.4.  the voice of his excellency, the voice wherewith he thundereth 
Vers. 5.  marvelously. This his voice, the thunder, he 
Vers. 3.  directeth under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth. The thunder, the Creature of the Lord, is the Lords weapon wherewith sometimes he revengeth the wicked and disobedient.  
So is the hail: so is the water; so is the wind. These also fight with the Lord, against the disobedient. Their fight is described, Wisd 5.22. hailstones full of wrath shall be cast as out of a stone-bow against the wicked, and the water of the sea, shall rage against them, and the floods shall cruelly drown them. Yea, a mighty wind shall stand up against them,& like a storm shall blow them away.  
hail! It was one of the great plagues of Egypt, Exod. 9.23. hail with Thunder, and fire mingled with hail, a very grievous hail was vpon the land of Egypt: it smote all that was in the field, 
Exod. 9.25.  both man and beast: it smote every herb of the field, and broke every three thereof. With hail stones the Lord fought for josuah, when he went up to the rescue of Gibeon against the five Kings of the Amorites, josh. 10.11. The enemies were discomfited, and a great slaughter was made of them: yet more died with 
Ecclus 46.6.  hailstones, then were slain with the sword.  
The Lord hath a treasury of hail, for the time of his battailes. You may red of it in the book of job, chap. 38.22. There the Lord thus questioneth with job: Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, which I haue reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? I could yet farther tell you out of the revelation of S. John, chap. 16.21. of a hail, a great hail, that fell from out of heaven vpon men, every ston thereof was about the weight of a Talent, and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail: for, the plague thereof was exceeding great. But I haue said enough to prove that the hail, the creature of the Lord, is the Lords weapon, wherewith sometimes, he revengeth the wicked and disobedient.  
From the hail come we to the Water. Of the fifteen signs, that shall be before the last Iudgement, and are by 
in 4. Sent. Dist. 48. Dub. 3.  bonaventure, Holkot, 
In eundem Dist. qu. 3.  Richardus de Mediâ Villâ, and 
Lorinus come. in Sup. 5.23.  others cited out of S. jerome( though Eusebius Emissenus in his Sermon vpon the second Dominical of Advent citeth them out of the Annales of the Iewes) the first is, that the Sea shall swell fifteen cubits high above the tops of mountaines, and shall not run back, but there consist like unto walls. For the truth whereof I can say nothing. But thus much Christ telleth us, Luk. 21.25. that before that great day, the Sea and waves shall roar. Granatensis in his exercises thus meditateth vpon the words: Most of all other elements, the Sea shall at that time show greatest rage and fury, and the waves thereof shall be so high and so furious, that many shall think, they will utterly overwhelm the whole earth. Such as dwell by the Sea-side shall be in great dread and terror for the incredible and unusual swelling and elevation of the waters: and such as dwell farther off shall bee wonderfully afraid, and even astonished at the horrible roaring and noise of the waves, which shall be so extremely outrageous, that they shall be heard for many a mile off.  
But what speak I now of waters, that shall be hereafter? There was a flood of waters in the dayes of Noah, that prevailed vpon the earth for an hundred and fifty dayes together; you all know it, Gen. 7.24. The Waters then prevailed against man for the sin of man, the fruit of his disobedience.  
And they shall again prevail, if Gods pleasure be such; and the disobedience of man shall so require. For the almighty, he, who shut up the Sea with doors, when it broke forth as a child issueth forth of his mothers womb, as job speaketh, chap. 38.8. and made the clouds to be a covering for it, and swaddled it with a band of thick darkness; and established his decree vpon it, and set bars and doors unto it, and said: Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed, he, the almighty, can easily vnbarre those doors, and let the waters loose to fight his battles. Hereof we haue had a late woeful and lamentable experience. 
See my twentieth Lecture vpon Amos 1.14. pag. 241.  The woeful news and report of floods in this country of ours nine yeares since, may hereof be your remembrancers. It shall ever stand for good, that the water, the creature of the Lord, is the Lords weapon, wherewith sometimes he revengeth the wicked and disobedient.  
The wind is next. The wind! The Lord bloweth it out of his mouth, job 37.10. it is called the breath of his mouth, job 15.30. he bringeth them out of his 
Ierem. 10.13.  treasuries, Psal. 135.7. He flieth vpon the wings thereof, Psal. 18.10. and walketh vpon the wings thereof, Psal. 104.3. He weigheth the winds job 28.25. He 
Mark. 4.39. Luk. 8.24.  rebuketh the winds, Matth. 8.26. he commandeth the winds, and they obey him, Luk. 8.25.  
Memorable was the victory of the Emperour Theodosius, against the traitor, and rebel Eugenius. Eugenius was like to haue had the vpper hand. It pleased the almighty vpon the prayers which the Emperour made unto him for aid and assistance, to work a strange act. He sent a Wind to take part with the Emperour. It was a most unusual and mighty wind. It blew with such force and violence, that it broke the array of Eugenius his souldiers, did beate back their arrows, their darts, and their iauelings, vpon themselves; did strike their targets out of their hands; did bring vpon them incredible abundance of dust and filth: and did drive the arrows of the Emperours side, with such forcible flight against them, that they soon gave the field for lost. The story is ecclesiastical, written by Socrates lib. 5. cap. 24. by Theodorite lib. 5. cap. 24. by Sozomene lib 7. cap. 24. by Nicephorus lib. 12. cap. 39. and recounted by Cassiodore in his Tripartite lib. 9. cap. 45. and by Claudian the Poet in his Panegyricke to Honorius. I could here tell you how the winds fought for us against that great Armada and invincible navy, that was provided for our overthrow: but I may not now stand vpon amplifications. Its out of doubt: the wind, the creature of the Lord, is the Lords weapon, wherewith sometimes he revengeth the wicked and disobedient.  
every other creature of the Lord, hath his place, to fight the Lords battels against the disobedient. To avenge Gods quarrel against the disobedient, the heaven, that is over our heads, shall become as brass, and the earth that is under us, as iron, Deut. 28.23. heaven and earth shall fight for him. 
Levit. 26 22. Ezech. 5.17.  Wild beasts, evil beasts, all the beasts of the field shall fight for him, Esay. 56.9. every feathered fowle shall fight for him, Ezech. 39.17. The silliest of creatures etiam vermes,& pulices,& musca,& araneae, saith 
Summa Theol. part. 2. Tit. 4. cap. 2§. 1.  Antoninus, worms, and pleas, and flies, and spiders, shall all fight for him. So true is that which in the second place I affirmed; God punisheth disobedience per impugnationem orbis, by setting the world against man.  
Thirdly, God punisheth disobedience per privationem Numinis, by depriving man of the vision of God. This appeareth by the severity of that sentence which the judge of all flesh, the judge of quick and dead, shall at the last day pronounce against the Reprobate for their disobedience to Gods holy laws and commandments. The sentence is expressed, Mat. 25.41. Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devill and his Angels.  
Depart from me] There is preuatio numinis; a separation from the face of God, an exclusion from the beatifical and blessed vision of God.  
Depart from me ye cursed] Cursed are ye, and therefore depart. Cursed, because ye haue not obeied the Law of the Lord: Cursed, because ye haue contemptuously rejected the holy gospel: Cursed, because ye haue trodden under foot the sweet grace of God freely offered unto you: Cursed, because ye haue been so far from relieving the weak and poor members of Christ, as that ye haue rather oppressed and crushed them with wrong& violence. Cursed are ye and therefore depart.  
Depart from me ye Cursed, into everlasting fire] Behold, the torment, where into the disobedient shall be cast, and the infinite of it. Its fire, and fire everlasting. But why fire? Are there not other kinds of punishments in Hell. Yes, there are. Dionysius the Carthusian in his third Novissimum art. 6. reckoneth up eleven kinds: the Centuriators in their first century lib. 1. cap. 4. nine kinds. Durandus de S. Porciano in 4. Sent. Dist. 50. qu. 1. diverse kinds. Why then doth the judge in pronouncing the sentence of the damned speak onely of fire? cajetan saith it is, propter supplicij vehementiam; for the vehemency of the punishment: because, of all the punishments in Hell that shall torment the body, the fire is the sharpest. So saith 
in Mat. 25. qu. 403.  Abulensis, In afflictivis, nihil est nobis tam terribile, quam ignis; of things that may afflict our bodies, there is nothing so terrible unto us, as fire. So Durandus in the place now cited,§. 9. Of all the punishments in Hell, wherewith the body shall be tormented, the punishment of fire is the greatest; quia, quod est magis activum, est magis afflictivum; the more active any thing is, the more it tormenteth: but the fire is maximè activus, and therefore maximè afflictivus; the fire is the most active, and therefore it most of all tormenteth. For this cause, when other punishments are in Scripture passed over with silence, the sole punishment of fire is expressed, because in it, as in the greatest of all, all other punishments are understood.  
Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devill and his Angels] Prepared of God the Father by his eternal decree of absolute reprobation. Prepared for the devill and his Angels] God from everlasting determined concerning such Angels, as should fall, not to confirm them in good, but to turn them out of heaven, and to exclude them from eternal beatitude, together with their head& prince, the devill. The devill and his Angels] Horrenda societas! Such shall be the companions of the cursed and damned after this life ended.  
I must draw towards an end. dearly beloved, you haue hitherto heard concerning Disobedience, that it is a foul sin; that God nurseth it, and doth punish it: that he punisheth it, first per afflictionem corporis, by laying affliction vpon man in his body: secondly, per impugnationem orbis, by setting the whole world against him, and thirdly, per privationem numinis, by depriving him of the beatifical and blessed vision of God: which of all the punishments of Hell is far the greatest, far greater then the punishment of fire.  
What now remaineth for us, but that we labour to eschew and to fly from so damnable a sin? and to embrace the contrary virtue, due obedience to the holy will of God? Let not the pleasures of sin, the lusts of the flesh, the riches, the snares, the cares of this world, nor any transitory delight that may tickle man for an hour, but will wound him for ever, let not all these, nor any one of these, involve us in the gulf of disobedience against the holy gospel of Christ, and the eternal will of God.  
But think wee, oh think we ever, that there is a heaven, a God, a Iesus, a kingdom of glory, a society of Angels, a communion of Saints, ioy, peace, and happiness, and an eternity of all these: and strive we with all humility and obedience to the attainment of these; so shall God in this world shower down vpon us his blessings in abundance, and after this life ended, he shall transplant us to his heavenly Paradise. There shall this corruptible put on incorruption, and our mortality shall bee swallowed up of life.   

THE XVIII. lecture.  AMOS 2.12. 
But ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink; and commanded the Prophets, saying, prophesy not.  
THat these words are an exprobration, an upbraiding or twiting of Israel with the foulness of their ingratitude, I signified in my last exercise out of this place. I then observed in the words a double oversight in the Israelites: the first was, that they solicited the Nazirites to break their vow; the second, that they hindered the Prophets in the execution of their holy function. The first in these words, ye gave the Nazirites wine to drink: The second in these, ye commanded the Prophets, saying, prophesy not. Of the first then. Now of the second.  
My method shall be first, to take a view of the words: then, to examine the matter contained in them. The words are, ye commanded the Prophets, saying, prophesy not.  
ye commanded {αβγδ} It is in Pihel, from the roote {αβγδ} and it signifieth, to give in charge, to will, to command. If it be joined in construction with {αβγδ} it properly signifieth to forbid, as vpon this place the learned Parisian Professor of the Hebrew tongue Mercer, hath observed. So shall the words sound thus: You, unthankful Israelites, you to whom I haue raised up of your sons for Prophets, you haue taken vpon you authority over my Prophets, to forbid them to prophesy in my name, and to threaten them, if they obey you next, that it shall fare the worse with them.  
With this exposition agreeth that of Calvin; whose note is, that {αβγδ} the word in my text signifieth Praecipere vel jubere, to give in charge, to will, or to command, vel statuere, quùm intercedit publica autoritas, to appoint or to ordain by public authority. Hereto assenteth Petrus Lusitanus. By the word mandabatis or praecipiebatis, which in the Hebrew is {αβγδ} he understandeth edicta publica, public edicts or proclamations against such, as should dare to preach true doctrine unto the people. So shall the words sound thus: You, unthankful Israelites, you, to whom I haue raised up of your sons for Prophets, you haue not onely in secret corners, in your private conventicles, murmured against, repined at, or cried out vpon my Prophets, but also by public order and proclamation you haue enjoined them silence. ye commanded the Prophets, saying, prophesy not,  
The Prophets] What Prophets? We are to distinguish betwixt the Priests of the sanctuary, and Ieroboams priests: between stars in the right hand of Christ, fixed in their stations, and planets of an uncertain motion; between shepherds and hirelings. There was an Aaron, and there was an Abiram; there was a Simon Peter, and there was a Simon Magus; there was a Iude, and there was a Iudas. Not every one that calls himself a Prophet, is by and by a Prophet; for even the woman jezebel calleth herself a prophetess, Revel. 2.20. Baal had his four hundred and fifty Prophets; not one of them a true Prophet; all of them against Elias, the Prophet of the Lord, 1. Kin. 18.22. Ahab had his four hundred Prophets; not one of them a true Prophet; all of them against Micaiah, the Prophet of the Lord, 1. King. 22 6.  
Against such intruders, seducers and lying Prophets we are armed with an admonition from the Lord, Ierem. 23.16. There thus saith the Lord of Hosts, harken not unto the words of the Prophets, that prophesy unto you; they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. In this rank of seducers and lying Prophets, I place those upholders of the man of sin, Priests& Iesuites, who from the Seminaries beyond the Seas come over hither into this our Country, here to sow the seeds of disloyalty and blind superstition in the hearts of the people. God hath not sent them, yet they run; God hath not spoken to them, yet they prophecy: as ieremy speaketh of the false Prophets in his dayes, chap. 23.21. They prophecy lies in the Lords name, and cry, I haue dreamed, I haue dreamed, vers. 25.  
dreams they haue: but what truth, what true vision? I answer in the words of ieremy, chap. 14.14. They prophecy unto you a false vision, a divination, a thing of nought, and the deceit of their own hearts. Their sweet tongues utter unto you as deadly poison, as is 
Deut. 32.33.  the poison of Dragons, or the venom of asps. They will 'allure you with plausible notes of Peace, Peace. But take heed, you can expect no peace from them. No peace, either to the weal public, or to the private conscience of any man. Not to the weal public: for, their conspiracies are nefarious and bloody. Not to the private conscience of any man: for, to be reconciled to that unsound Church of theirs, the Church of Rome, to partake of their formal, and counterfeit absolution of sins, to hear and see their histrionicall Masses, to visit the shrines& relics of the dead, to say a number of Pater-Nosters, or Ave-Maries vpon beads, to invocate Saints, to adore Images; can these, or any such forgeries yield any peace to a distressed conscience? No, they cannot. Yet care not these false teachers and seducers, so they may with such their untempered mortar of unwritten traditions, daub up the walls of their Antichristian synagogue.  
Now, will you know what shall be the portion of such intruders, seducers, and lying Prophets? ieremy will tell you chap. 23. that the Lord is 
Ierem. 23.30, 31, 32.  against them: that the 
vers. 19.  whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth against them in a fury, even a grievous whirlwind, which shall fall vpon them grievously: that the 
vers. 20.  anger of the Lord shall not return, until it haue executed his will vpon them: that the Lord will bring vpon them an 
vers. 40.  everlasting reproach, and a perpetual shane.  
Their cup is tempered with no less gull and bitterness by the Prophet Ezechiel chap. 13. There, for following 
Ezech. 13.3.  their own spirit, for resembling 
vers. 4.  the foxes in the deserts, for neglecting 
vers. 5.  to go up into the gap, to make up the hedge for the house of Israel,& to stand in the battle in the day of the Lord, for seeing 
vers. 6, 7.  vain visions, for speaking lying divinations, for building and 
vers. 10.  daubing up walls with untempered mortar, they are accursed. Their curse, what for the head thereof and for the foot, is full of unhappiness. It entereth with a Vae prophetis insipientibus, woe unto the foolish Prophets, vers. 3. and it bids farewell with an Anathema, with a cursed excommunication, vers. 8, 9. I am against you, saith the Lord God. Mine hand shall be vpon you; ye shall not be in the assembly of my people, ye shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel; ye shall not enter into the land of Israel. A heavy sentence! Will you haue the plain meaning of it? Its thus: The Lord is against all false Prophets; He will come unto battle, and will fight against the wicked crew, even with that sharp two-edged sword, which proceedeth out of his mouth. His hand shall be vpon them, for their destruction and ruin. They shall not be of the number of Gods elect. They shall 
Psal. 69.28.  be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous. They shall never enter into that celestial jerusalem which is above, and is the habitation of the blessed.  
You haue heard in general of Prophets, true and false. I should now speak somewhat more distinctly.  
There are two sorts of false Prophets: Some haue no calling at all; some haue a calling, but without efficacy. Of the first sort were these Priests in judah, who were neither chosen by man, nor called of God; of whom the Lord complaineth Ierem. 14 14. 
Ierem. 14.15.& 27.15.& 29.8, 9.  I sent them not, neither haue I commanded them, neither spake I unto them, yet they prophecy: and chap. 23.21. I sent them not, yet they ran, I spake not to them, yet they prophesied. Of the second sort, were those Prophets in Israel, whom men choose, but God called not. Of such some would haue these words, Hos. 9.8. to be understood, The Prophet is the snare of a fowler in all his ways, and hatred in the house of his God.  
In opposition to these, there are of true Prophets two sorts also. Both of them are lawfully called to their holy function; some by God alone, some by God and man. The holy Prophets in the Old Testament, and the blessed Apostles in the New, had their calling from God alone: but timothy, Titus, and the seven Deacons, and the residue of religious and godly Doctors and Pastors of the Church, had and haue their calling, both from God and man.  
This distinction thus given, it is now easy to define, who the Prophets are, that are meant in my text. They are true Prophets, such as had their calling immediately from God, and from him alone: even those holy men of God, who lived in the time of the old Testament; some of which had the honour, to be the blessed pen-men thereof. Such were the Prophets, whom the Israelites commanded, saying, prophecy not.  
prophecy not] speak not any more unto us in the name of the Lord. What? No more! Can there be any one so execrably audacious, as utterly to forbid the passage of the word of God? any forehead so brazen, as simply and precisely to reject it? Its not to be imagined. The most wicked dare not do it. Yet would they by their wills haue less liberty of speech permitted to Gods Prophets, Ministers, and seruants: they would haue their tongues somewhat tied, that they might not by their crying out against sins, vex and gull their seared consciences.  
Hitherto we haue taken a view of the words. It followeth, that we examine the matter contained in them.  ye commanded the Prophets, saying, prophecy not. 
Hoc nimirum erat, saith Rupertus, non solum loqui, said etiam agere contra Spiritum Sanctum, qui loquebatur per as Prophetarum: This indeed were not onely to speak against, but also to do against the holy Ghost, who spake by the mouth of the Prophets. He noteth the disordered and frantic humour, that was in the people of Israel, to vilify and neglect those Prophets and teachers, which the Lord out of the abundance of his mercy had sent unto them, to be their guides and directors in the way of true piety and religion. The lesson we are to take from hence, I give in this proposition, The wicked are evermore in a readiness to do all the disgrace and despite they can to the true Prophets of the Lord, and his Ministers.  
This truth grounded vpon my text, and thereby sufficiently warranted, may further be illustrated by other places of this volume of the book of God.  
In the seventh Chapter of this prophecy we see what course entertainment our Prophet Amos receiveth from Amaziah, a Priest of Bethel. He there forbids Amos to prophecy any more in the kingdom of the ten Tribes; and adviseth him to get him away by flight to the kingdom of judah, where the Lords prophets were better welcome and more regarded: and tells him that in Israel, they needed no such Prophets, nor cared for them, nor would suffer them to preach so plainly to their King jeroboam. Will you haue Amaziahs own words unto Amos? They are in the twelfth and thirteenth verses. O thou Seer( for he that is now 
1. Sam 9 9.  called a Prophet, was before time called a Seer) O thou Seer, go, flee thee away into the land of judah, and there eat bread, and prophecy there. But prophecy not again any more at Bethel: For it is the Kings chapel, and it is the kings Court.  
Was the entertainment, of the Prophet ieremy found in jerusalem, any whit better? Not a whit. In the 18. chapter of his prophecy, vers. 18 I find the men of judah plotting against him. Come, say they, let us devise devises against jeremiah: Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. In the 20. Chapter, ver. 2. I find him smitten and put in the stocks by Pashur, the chief governor of the Lords house. In the 26. Chapter, vers, 8. I see him again apprehended; threatened with death, and arraigned. In the 33. chapter, vers. 1. I see him shut up in the Court of the prison. In the 38. Chapter, vers. 6. I find him let down with cords into a miry and dirty dungeon. And all this befell him, because he prophesied in the name of the Lord.  
The usage of Micaiah the Prophet is likewise memorable. King Ahab, K. of Israell 
2. Chro. 18.7.  hateth him, 1. King. 22.8. Zedekiah 
Vers. 23.  smiteth him on the cheek, vers. 24. and Amon, the governor of the city is commanded to put him 
Vers. 26.  in prison, and to feed him with bread of affliction, and with water of afflicton, vers. 27.  
There was a Seer, a Prophet, called 
2. Chro. 16.7.  Anani. He had a message from the Lord to Asa King of judah, and did faithfully deliver it. But for so doing the King was in a rage with him, and put him in a prison-house, 2. Chron. 16.10.  
As ill affencted to the Prophets of the Lord were the people of judah for the most part of them. And therefore is Esay chapter 30.8. commanded to writ it in a table, and to note it in a book, that it might be for the time to come for ever and ever an evidence against that people, that they were a rebellious people, lying children, children, that would not hear the Law of the Lord: such, as blushed not, to say to the Seers, See not, and to the Prophets, prophecy not unto us right things: but if you will needs be Seeing, or prophesying, or Preaching, or speaking unto us, then speak unto us smooth things, prophecy deceits: Get you out of the way; turn aside out of the path: cause the Holy one of Israel to cease from before vs. Strange that there should be in the people of the Lord, such contempt, such a detestation of the Prophets of the Lord! But you see the lot of Gods Prophets under the old Testament.  
Were they more regarded in the time of the New? It seems not. For it could not but fall out with them according to that prediction of our saviour Christ, Mat. 23.34. Behold, saith he, I sand unto you Prophets, and wise men, and Scribes, and some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of them shall ye scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute them from city to city. According to this prediction it came to pass.  
Some they killed. They killed 
Euseb. Histor. Eccles. lib. 2. ca. 9  james, the brother of John, with the sword, Act. 12.2. Some they crucified. They crucified Christ himself, the Lord of life, Act. 3.15. Some they scourged. They scourged Paul. He shall testify for himself, 2. Cor. 11.24. Of the Iewes five times received I forty stripes save one. and vers. 25. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Some they persecuted from city to city. So they dealt with Barnabas, Act. 13.50. Some they vexed with many kinds of cruelty. S. steven may be one instance. They gnashed on him with their teeth, Act. 7.54. They smote him with their tongues, saying, we haue heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God, Act. 6.11. They came vpon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council, vers. 12. They cast him out of the city, Act. 7.58. and they stoned him, vers. 59. In a word, they made such 
Act. 8.3.  havoc of the Church in those prime dayes thereof, as that the messengers of God were enforced through the bitterness of their spirit to complain with the Apostle, Rom. 8.36. 
Psal. 44.22.  For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we are counted as sheep appoynted for the slaughter. And thus you see what is the portion of Gods Ministers under the new Testament. under both New, and Old, they are liable to the disgraces and vexations of this wicked world. So true is my proposition.  The wicked are evermore in a readiness, to do all the disgrace and despite they can to the true Prophets of the Lord, and his Ministers. 
Yet not to them onely, not onely to the true Prophets of the Lord, and his ministers; but to you also of the laity, to as many of you, as haue a true desire to live in the fear of God, and to die in his favour: to as many of you, as are willing to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, that ye may live 
Tit. 2.13.  soberly justly, and piously in this present world. Your lot will be the same with ours. The wicked will be evermore in a readiness, to do unto you also, all the disgrace and despite they can.  
You must put on the livery and cognisance of Christ, as well as wee. The most principal and royal garment, which he wore, while he lived vpon the earth, was affliction. Affliction! It must be your coat too, it must be your livery. You will hold him for an undutiful, and an ungracious child, that is ashamed of his father: you will take him for a malapert and a saucy seruant, that refuseth to wear his masters livery; Christ is your Father; he is your Master. Take heed then, that you show not yourselves undutifully ungracious, malapert, or saucy, in refusing to be, as he was, clothed 
revel. 19.13.  with a vesture dipped in blood.  
The 
Mark. 3.17.  sons of Thunder, james and John, would needs be advanced in the kingdom of Christ, to sit, the one on his right hand, the other, on his left. But what doth Christ? Doth he grant their request? He doth it not. He thus speaks unto them: 
Mat. 20 22. Mark. 10.38.  Are ye able to drink of the cup, that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism, that I am baptized with? Vpon their answer which is affirmative, we are able, Christ farther saith unto them, ye shall indeed drink of the cup, that I drink of, and with the baptism that I am baptized with, shall ye be baptized. But to sit on my right hand, and on my left hand, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared. It is as if Christ had said in fewer words, ye must of necessity bear the cross, before ye can wear the crown.  
But you will say; james and John were of the number of the twelve Apostles; and that they indeed by their calling were to take up their cross, and to follow Christ: but what is that to us? to us, who are not of the rank? who are not Prophets? nor Apostles, nor Ministers? S. Paul shall answer you for me, 2. Tim. 3.12. All that will live godly in Christ Iesus, shall suffer persecution.  
Thus haue you my doctrine enlarged: The wicked are evermore in a readiness, to do all the disgrace and despite they can, not onely to the true Prophets of the Lord, and his Ministers, but also to the true seruants of God, of what vocation, estate, or condition soever they be.  
Now let us a little examine the reason why the wicked should stand thus affencted towards the godly. The reason is, because they hate the Godly. They hate the Godly: and therefore will they do them all the disgrace and despite they can.  
The wicked hate the Godly. It is no new thing: Its no rare thing. No new thing; for 
Gen. 27.41.  Esay hated jacob, 
Gen. 21.9.  Ismaell Isaac, and 
Gen. 4.8.  Cain Abell. Its no rare thing; for it is exceeding common at all times, in all places. The consideration whereof made S. Peter thus to speak unto the faithful in his dayes; beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing were come unto you. think it not strange; its no strange thing. It is Epistle 1. chap. 4.12. So S. John, Epist. 1. chap. 3.13. marvel not my brethren, if the world hate you. marvel not. Its no point of wisdom to wonder at that which is neither Magnum, nor Novum, nor Rarum. If it be not a great thing, or new, or rare, marvel not at it.  
A Father of the schools, 
Comment. in 1. Johan. 3.  Aquinas avoucheth it, that there is no cause of marvel, if it be not either great, or new, or rare. Now that the world, that is, amatores mundi, the louers of the world, wicked, carnal, irreligious, and profane men living in the world, should hate the Godly, non est magnum: it is no great matter.  
The physician that binds a frantic man, if he be bitten by him, non reputat magnum, he counts it not any great matter; but excuseth his patient for his frenzies sake. The wicked are as this frantic man; the Godly as the physician: whence it is, that vpon those words, Gen. 4.8. Cain rose up against Abel; for against Abel, the gloss saith, 
Contra medicum.  against his physician. Thus you see, its not magnum, no great matter, that the wicked do hate the Godly.  
Nor is it Novum, nor is it Rarum; its neither new, nor rare, as you haue already heard. Its no great matter, nor is it any new thing, or rare that the world should hate you, therefore marvel not, if it hate you! Yea, say I: it were much to be marveled at, if it should not hate you. For such are the contrary dispositions of Saints, and worldlings, of the wicked and the Godly, that of necessity there will ever be occasioned contentious oppositions between them. The consideration hereof drew from S. james those words, chap. 4.4. Know ye not, that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Know ye not, that is, saith Aquinas, Ignorare non debetis, ye ought not to be ignorant of this, that the amity of the world is enmity with God; and that whosoever is a friend of the world, he is the enemy of God: I may add, yea, and of the Godly too.  
Hereto agreeth that demand of S. Paul 2. Cor. 6.14.15. What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? What communion hath light with darkness? What concord hath Christ with Belial? God is righteous, the world is wicked, and 
1. Johan. 5.19  lieth altogether in sin, therefore there can be no fellowship between God and the world. God is 
1. I hang. 1.5.  light, he is the 
Iam. 1.17.  Father of lights; in him there is no darkness at all: The world what is it but 
Ephe. 5.8.  darkness, what but a receptacle of the unfruitful 
Vers. 11.  works of darkness? therefore there can bee no communion between God and the world. Christ is holy, altogether holy, and immaculate; Belial is wicked, he is the Prince of wickedness: therefore there can be no concord between Christ and Belial.  
Now if there can be no fellowship, if no communion between God and the world; can we look there should be any fellowship, any communion, between Saints& worldlings, between the godly, and the wicked, between such as love God, and such as love the world? If there be no concord between Christ and Belial, can we expect there should be any concord between true Christians and Belialists, between the followers of Christ, and the sons of Belial?  
It cannot be expected. These, whom I call Belialists or the sons of belial, worldlings and the wicked, are such as love the world: the other, whom I call true Christians, or followers of Christ, Saints,& the godly, are such as love God. The repugnancy that is between the qualities of these two, is elegantly delivered in holy writ.  
The louers of God are 
Rom. 8.14. Galat. 5.18.  lead by the Spirit of God; they 
Galat. 5.16.  walk in the Spirit, and bring forth the 
Vers. 22.23.  fruits thereof, as love, ioy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, and such like; but they that love the world, are invested, with 
Ver. 19.20.21  adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like. What greater repugnancy can there be then this?  
again, they that love God, are 
2. Tim. 2.22.  of pure hearts, and of r 1. Tim. 1.5. good consciences, they 
Coloss. 1.22.  present themselves holy, vnblameable and vnreproueable in the sight of God; they serve the Lord 
Johan. 4.23.  in Spirit and in truth: but they that love the world are of 
Psal. 14.1. And 53.1.  corrupt hearts, of 
Tit. 1.15.  defiled minds and consciences, their works are 
Psal. 14.1.  abominable, they are 
Psal. 58.3.  deceitful from the womb, they are altogether 
Psal. 14.3.  become filthy, their service of God is but a flattering of him; for they 
Psal. 78.36.  lie unto him with their double tongue. What greater repugnancy can there be then this?  
Once more. They that love God, cast all their 
1. Pet. 5.7.  care vpon him; they are 
Vers. 8.  sober and vigilant: for they know that their adversary the devill, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking, whom he may devour: but they that love the world, like the fool in the psalm 
Psal. 14.1.& 53.1.& 10.4.  say in their heart, there is no God. sobriety they care not for, vigilancy, they will none of it. 
Philip. 3.19.  Minding earthly things,& glutted with the pleasure thereof, their sole care is, 
Rom. 16.18.  to serve their own belly, 
Philip. 3.19.  their God is their belly, their glory is their shane, their end is damnation. What greater repugnancy can there be then this?  
Will it now please you to collect with me? the qualities of the wicked, the sons of Belial, worldlings, such as love the world, are wholly repugnant and contrary to the qualities, of the Godly, the followers of Christ, Saints, such as love God: and therefore there can be no agreement between them: No better then was between Cain and Abel. And that you know was bad enough. For Cain slay Abel. And wherefore slay he him? S. John gives you the reason, 1. Epist. 3.12. Because his own works were evil, and his brothers righteous.  
Thus far of the hatred of the wicked against the Godly, the true reason of my doctrine, which was: The wicked are evermore in a readiness, to do all the disgrace and despite they can, not onely to the true Prophets of the Lord, and his Ministers, but also to the true seruants of God, of what vocation, estate, or condition soever they be.  
Let us now make some use of that which hath been hitherto delivered, for the bettering, and the amendment of our sinful lives.  
First, the Ministers of Gods word, may from hence learn, not to take it unto heart, if such, as are bound by the Law of God and nature, and by all good order, to yield them due love and reverence, shall in pride and contempt insult over them, to disgrace and to despite them. They may well remember, that it s neither great, nor new, nor rare thing, that they meet with such course entertainment in the world; forasmuch as they cannot be ignorant, that the world hateth them. And what if the world hate them! Shall they therefore be altogether dejected? They need not. For Christ gives them encouragement and comfort, John. 15.18. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  
The argument is drawn ab exemplo, from Christs own example. The world hateth me, you know it to be so, you see it. It needs not then to be any disparagement to you if it hate you, it hated me before it hated you. Cur ergo se membrum, supra verticem extollit? S. Austine propounds the question Tract. 88. in johannem. Why doth a member extol itself above the head? Recusas esse in corpore, si non vis odium mundi sustinere cum capite: thou refusest to be in the body, if thou wilt not with the head sustain the hatred of the world.  
A second argument of encouragement and comfort to us against the hatred of the world; is drawn from the nature of the world, vers. 19. If ye were of the world the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I haue chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. This argument is evident even to the common sense of men; who cannot but know, that between contraries there is no argreement, and between men of unlike qualities, no full consent of minds. It is then as if Christ had thus said: The world loues none but his own; none but those that are addicted, devoted, and wholly given over to it: but you are not of the world; therefore it loues not you. You are not of the world; for you are mine; and 
johan. 8.23. and 17.14.  I am not of the world. I haue separated you from the service of the world, to do me service; and therefore the world hateth you.  
A third argument of encouragement and comfort to us, is vers. 20. Remember the word, that I said unto you: The seruant is not greater then the Lord: if they haue persecuted me, they will also persecute you. This argument is like the first: Its drawn from Christs own example, as that was. All the difference is: the first specifieth the hatred of the world; this the effect of that hatred, Persecution.  
Thus stands the argument. The world persecuteth me; you are my witnesses it doth so. think it not much then, if it also persecute you. Remember the word that I said unto you; The 
Matth. 10.24 I●han. 13.16.  seruant is not greater then the Lord. 
Salmeron Tom. 9. come. Tract. 60  Si me Dominum, Regem, caput, magistrum, persecutisunt, vos quoque servos ac subditos meos, membra mea, atque discipulos meos persequentur. If they haue persecuted me your Lord, your King, your head, your Master, they will also persecute you, my seruants, my subiects, my members, my disciples. If they haue called me a 
johan. 10.20  mad man, one that hath a devill, 
Mat. 27.63.  a seducer, 
Mat. 26.65.  a blasphemer, 
Mat. 11.19.  a glutton, a wine-bibber, a friend of Publicans and sinners, will they not much more speak of you reproachfully? 
Mat. 10.25.  If they haue called the Master of the house beelzeebub, how much more shall they call them of his household so? Turpe profectò est,& dedecore plenum, Rege in castris vulnerato existent, milites eius sine vulnere in civitate epulantes manner, saith Salmeron: It were very base and shameful, for souldiers to remain in the city at ease without hurt, while their King lies wounded in the camp. Pudeat, saith Saint Bernard Serm. 5. in Festo omnium Sanct. pudeat sub spinato capite, membrum fieri delicatum: It were a shane for us to live deliciously and in pleasures, saith our head, Christ, was crwoned with thorns.  
I conclude the first use: Let the wicked fret, and fume, and stamp, and stare, and grudge, and murmur against us, let them forbid us to prophecy, let them refuse to hear us, let them lay vpon us all the disgrace and despite they can; yet will we possess our souls in patience, knowing it to be a faithful saying, which S. Paul hath. 2. Tim. 2.11.12. that, if we die with Christ, we shall also live with him, and if we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him.  
A second use is for all other the true seruants of God, of what vocation, condition, or estate soever they be: for as much as the wicked lye in wait for them also, to do them all the disgrace and despite they can, as hath already been proved unto you. The use is to admonish you, that ye take it not to heart, if they, who are bound by the law of God and nature, by the bond of neighbour-hood, and our Christian profession, to love you, and to tender your good, shall in pride and contempt insult over you, to disgrace and to despite you.  
The arguments for your encouragement and comfort in such a case, may be the same with those, which I but even now produced for the encouragement and comfort of ourselves in the like: will you haue them summed up unto you? Then thus.  
You find but course respect and entertainment in the world, because the world hateth you. It hateth you. marvel not at it, nor fear it. For first it hated Christ, before it hated you.  
Secondly, the world would love you, if you were his own. But you are not. You are not of the world, and therefore the world hateth you. Be of good comfort: you are not of the world, for Christ hath chosen you out of the world, to be his beloved.  
Thirdly, the world from hating you proceedeth to persecute you. Let not this discourage you. For it persecuted Christ first. They haue persecuted Christ, and therefore will they persecute you. 
Math. 10.25.  It is enough for the Disciple, that he be as his Master, and the seruant as the Lord. Christ is your Master, he is your Lord: you are his disciples, you are his seruants. Let his 
1. Pet. 2.21.  example be your rule; be it our rule too,( for herein we are all equal) be it the rule of direction to us all; the rule of all our sufferings. 
vers. 23.  When he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed his cause to him, that iudgeth righteously. Here is matter worthy our imitation.  
The resolved Christian hereupon thus sweetly meditateth. Shall Christ lye in the manger, and we ruffle it out in our palaces? Shall he mourn in sackcloth, and wee bath in pleasure? Shall he fighting in our defence, be wounded and crucified among theeues; and shall we disport and solace ourselves with fond and vain delights? Shall he bee pierced through with the sword of Gods iustice for our sins, and shall we be unwilling to suffer any thing for ourselves? This were too too unnatural and unkind.  
Let not therefore the cross adventures that may betid us, dismay us: Let not the cruelty of our enemies, the sharpness of our miseries, the continuance of our afflictions, daunt us: but let us( following the aduise of S. Peter 1. Ep. chap. 4. vers. 13.) Let us rejoice, in as much as we are partakers of Christs sufferings. So when his glory shall be revealed, we shall be glad also with exceeding ioy. Thus much of the second use.  
A third followeth. You remember the doctrine.  The wicked are evermore in a readiness, to do all the disgrace and despite they can, not onely to the true Prophets of the Lord and his Ministers, but also to all other, the true seruants of God, of what vocation, estate, or condition soever they be. 
The use is, to reprove those, who esteem not aright of the sufferings of the godly. Let a godly man be humbled under the cross, let him feel the hand of God vpon him; how will some wonder at him, as at a 
Ps. 102.6, 7.  Pelican of the wilderness, as at an owl of the desert, as at a sparrow that sits alone vpon the house top? They will hold him for a great sinner, and will measure his condition by the chastisement, that he endureth.  
Did not Eliphaz deal so with job? From the afflictions, the miseries, the calamities, that job suffered, Eliphaz concludeth, that job is no innocent man, no righteous man, but a deep dissembler, and a hollow-hearted hypocrite. His censure of job you may find chap. 4.7. Remember I pray thee, saith Eliphaz to job, Remember I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off?  
Who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? It was Eliphaz his error, to collect, because job was afflicted, and that most grievously, that therefore he was to perish, or to be cut off utterly. God suffereth not his elect children, such as job was, utterly to perish, or to be cut off. He afflicteth them, but with a purpose to deliver them; his hand is sometimes vpon them, but it is for their good, not for their ruin. For albeit they may seem to us to perish, when in the fire of their calamities and trials, they are surprised by death, yet they perish not; the Lord, he receives them into his glory, and to a more happy life.  
Wherefore to Eliphaz his question, Who ever perished being innocent? Or where were the righteous cut off? I answer; If Eliphaz take the words of perishing, and cutting off, in the strict sense and properly, I answer, never did the innocent perish, never was any righteous man cut off. But if he take the words in a larger sense for wallowing in misery, or lying in affliction; my answer then, is the same that S. gregory hath lib. 5. Moral. cap. 14. Saepè quip hîc& innocents pereunt,& recti funditùs delentur. Surely here in this world the innocent do oftentimes perish, and the righteous are utterly cut off: said tamen ad aeternam gloriam, pereundo seruantur: yet in perishing, and in being cut off, they are reserved to eternal glory.  
Si nullus innocens periret, if no man should perish, that is innocent, why should the Prophet Esai. say, chap. 57.1. The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart! Si rectos, Deus providendo non raperet, if God in his providence should not take away any righteous man, why should the wise man, chap. 4.11. say, The righteous was speedily taken away, lest that wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul? Si justos, animadversio nulla percuteret, if no punishment should smite the just, why should S. Peter say, 1. Ep. 4, 17. The time is, that iudgement must begin at the house of God?  
Now, dearly beloved, sith it may in some sense bee truly said of the man that is innocent, that he perisheth; and of the righteous man, that he is punished, is taken away, is cut off; and of the faithful of Gods house, that iudgement must begin with them: let it ever bee our care to esteem aright of the afflictions of our neighbours, and to judge of them, with a righteous iudgment. Though they be judged, be plagued, be smitten of God, it is not for us slightly to regard them, to despise them, or to hid our faces from them: it is our parts rather to haue a fellow-feeling and a tender compassion of their trials.  
It were an vnchristian, an uncharitable, yea a hellish conceit, thus to infer: My neighbour, such a man, or such a man, is exercised under the cross, and is sensible of the scourge of God vpon him, therefore he is in Gods disfavour, and a very grievous sinner. No such inference is allowable in Christs school. In his school, these maxims pass for good. Where God purposeth to heal, he spareth not to lance. He ministereth bitter sirupes to purge corrupt humors: he sends embassies of death and reuenge, where he meaneth to bestow eternal life. I conclude with that blessing which S. james chap. 1.12. bestoweth vpon the afflicted. Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.   

THE XIX. lecture.  AMOS 2.13, 14, 15, 16. 
Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.  
Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself.  
Neither shall he stand, that handleth the bow, and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself, neither shall he, that rideth the Horse, deliver himself.  
And he, that is courageous among the mighty, shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.  
WE are now come to the fourth part of this first Sermon of Amos, concerning the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. I heretofore called it a Commination. So I call it still. For here are the Israelites threatened with punishment for the enormity of their sins, expressed, vers. 6, 7, 8. and for the foulness of their ingratitude, laid to their charge, vers. 12. In this Commination we may observe two things.  
First, how the Lord, in respect of the sins of Israel, and of their unthankfulness for benefits bestowed on them, esteemeth of them, vers. 13. Behold, I am pressed under you as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves.  
The other is, a menacing or threatening of punishment to befall them: I may term it, A sending of defiance unto them; a denouncing of war against them, vers. 14, 15, 16. Wherein we may note three things.  
The first is, impotentia fugiendi, their vnablenesse to escape the flight in the day of battle: thus set down in the 14. vers. The flight shall perish from the swift. And vers. 15. thus: He that is swift of foot, shall not deliver himself: neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.  
The second is, Debilitas in resistendo, their weakness in resisting the enemy thus set down, vers. 14. The strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself, and vers. 15. thus: Neither shall he stand that handleth the bow.  
The third is, Fugafortium: the flight of the valiant, and stout of heart, set down in the last verse, and there amplified by the adjunct of nakedness: He that is courageous among the mighty, shall flee away naked in that day. Then followeth the confirmation of all, {αβγδ} saith the Lord: the Lord, who is the truth, and is omnipotent. He is the Lord of Hosts; if he 
Psa. 14.27. 2. Chro. 20.6. ilb. 9.12. Pro 21.30. Dan. 4.32.  purpose to do a thing, who shall disannul it? if his hand be stretched out, who shall turn it back?  
My meditations for this time will be confined within the limits of the 13. vers. Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. In the handling whereof, my order shall be first to run over the words; then to draw from them, some profitable note of doctrine.  

Behold.  
THis particle, set in the front of this verse, is as it were a watchword to stir up our attentions, for as much as we are to hear of some important matter. A learned divine in his exposition vpon the fift of Nehemiah hath a like note: This word Ecce, lo, mark, or Behold, ever betokeneth throughout the Scripture some notable thing very good, or very ill, that is spoken of immediately afterward, and such a one as commonly falleth not out among men: and the holy Ghost of purpose useth to mark such notable things, with this word Ecce, lo, mark, or Behold, to put men in remembrance, and to awake them to the consideration of the weighty matter that followeth, that they should not lightly pass over it, but deeply mark and consider it.  
The jesuit Lorinus Comment. in Act. Apost. observeth out of holy Scripture, diverse acceptions and uses of this particle, Ecce, Behold.  
First, it noteth rem novam, ac inopinatam, atque mirabilem: some thing that is new and unlooked for, and wonderful: as Act. 1.10. while the Apostles looked steadfastly toward heaven, at the time of Christs ascension, Ecce, Behold, two men, or two Angels in the form of men, stood by them in white apparel. So it is used by the blessed Virgin in her Magnificat, Luk. 1.48. Behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. Where Ecce, Behold, rem magnam, novam,& admiratione dignam, designat, saith Alfonsus Salmeron. Behold! it designeth and pointeth out unto us, some great matter, new, and admirable, such as is, creaturam in lucem edere creatorem famulam Dominum generare, Virginem Deum parere. What greater, what newer, what matter more wonderful, then that a Creature should conceive in her womb and bring forth her Creator, a handmaid her Lord, a virgin, God? It is so full of wonder, that the Prophet Esay foretelling it, chap. 7.14. stamps it with an Ecce, Behold, Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son.  
The evangelist S. Matthew, chap. 1.23. reciting the Prophets prediction, leaves not out this stamp, Behold: Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son.  
The angel Gabriel, who was sent from God to the virgin Mary, to report unto her, this great wonder, omits not this stamp, Ecce, Behold. See the Angels words, Luk. 1.31. Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Iesus. This the Postillers do call Ecce admirativum, an Ecce of Admiration: and it is the first use of the particle Behold, observed by Lorinus.  
Secondly, it betokeneth propinquum tempus, some time near at hand, as Esai 41.27. The first shall say to Sion {αβγδ} Behold, behold them, or behold these things, and I will give to jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings. The place I understand of Christ, who is Alpha, or primus, the first; and Euangelista, he that bringeth the good tidings: him God giveth to Sion, and to jerusalem, and in him, Ecce ecce ista erunt: Behold, behold all the promises of God shall come to pass, and that speedily. This is true of Christ, who saith in the revelation, chap. 22.7. Behold, I come quickly; and Vers. 12. Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be. If I would imitate the Postillers, I could call this Ecce Admonitivum, an Ecce of Admonition, a warning word for every one to be in a readiness to embrace Christ at his coming.  
Thirdly, Ecce, Behold, is a note of asseveration, or certainty, and is put for Sanè or Certè, verily or certainly. Such it is Iere. 23.39. Ecce, Behold I, even I will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and cast you out of my presence, And I will bring an everlasting reproach vpon you, and a perpetual shane, which shall not be forgotten. Behold I will do it; I will surely do it.  
Fourthly, Ecce, Behold, is a particle, ordinarily used by God in his Comminations, when he threateneth some great and heavy punishment to come. as Ezech. 5.8. Thus saith the Lord against jerusalem, Behold, I, even I am against thee, and will execute iudgments in the midst of thee, in he sight of the Nations, And, chap. 6.3. Thus saith the Lord against Israel, Behold, I, even I, will bring a sword vpon you, and I will destroy your high places. And against Tyrus, chap. 26.3. Behold, I am against thee, O Tyrus, and will cause many Nations to come up against thee, as the Sea causeth he waves to come up. And against Zidon, chap. 28.22. Behold, I am against thee, O Zidon, and I will be glorified in the midst of thee. And against Pharaoh chap. 29.3. Behold, I am against thee, Pharaoh, King of Egypt- I will put hooks in thy jaws. Many other like places I might allege yet farther, to show unto you, the frequent use of this particle, Ecce, Behold, in the Comminations of Gods punishments But I will not hold you any longer with this discourse.  
Sufficient shall it be for you at this time to bee advertised, that as often as you meet with this word Ecce, Behold, in the sacred Volume of the word of God; so often you haue a watch-word, to stir up your attention, to listen to the matter that ensueth, for its weight and worth. Such is it in my text. Behold. Your attention is called vpon, to give ear to that which followeth.  I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. 
I am pressed] {αβγδ} It is in Hifhil, the roote of it is {αβγδ} which in Hifhil is sometimes Transitiue, sometimes Intransitiue or neutral: from whence there is a twofold Interpretation of this place. One is, I am pressed under you as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves; the other, I will press your place, as a Cart full of sheaves presseth. That is our textual reading, this our marginal. Some incline to that; some to this. Each hath a proper, and a profitable understanding. First of the first.   

Behold, I am pressed under you as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves.  
THis meaning the Vulgar Latin seemeth to express; Ecce, ego stridebo subter vos, sicut stridet plaustrum onustum foeno: which I find thus handsomely translated in an old English Manuscript( some take it to be Wickliphes) lo, I shall sound strongly under you, as a wain charged with hay soundeth strongly. S. jerome thus glosseth it. As a cart or wain, that is full laden with stubble or hay, maketh a noise, soundeth out, and howleth: so I, not any longer enduring your sins, but as it were committing stubble to the fire, shall cry out.  
With this exposition of S. jerome, agreeth that of gregory the great, Moral. 32.6. Who there takes these words of my text to intimate, that God under the burden of sins maketh a noise and crieth out. Aliquando( saith he) etiam insensatis rebus propter infirmitatem nostram altâ condescensione se comparat: God sometimes condescends to our weak capacities, and for our infirmities sake compares himself to things void of sense: as here: Behold, I shall skreeke, or cry out under you, as a cart or wain full laden with sheaves skreeketh or crieth out. For, because fenum est vita carnalium, the life of carnal men is as hay, according to that, Esa. 40.6. Omnis caro fenum, All flesh is grass, the Lord patiently enduring the life of carnal men, testifieth of himself, more plaustri fenum se portare, that like unto a cart or wain he is charged with hay. Now for him, Sub feni onere stridere, to skreeke out under a load of hay, it is nothing else, but pondera& iniquitates peccantium cum querelâ tolerare, with complaint to tolerate the burdens and iniquities of sinful men.  
This his construction seems probable to Ribera. Probable to him: but it is good with Brentius, good with gualther, good with Drusius, good with Winckelman, good with others with Remigius, with Albertus, with Hugo, with Lyra, with Dionysius, as Castrus hath observed.  
According to whom; the true meaning of my text is, as if the Lord should thus haue said: Behold, O ye Israelites; 
Ama● 3.2.  you, whom onely of all the families of the earth I haue known; you, whom I haue born, 
Deut. 1.31.  as a man doth bear his sin; you, whom I haue carried in my bosom, 
Num. 11.12.  as a nursing father beareth the sucking Child; You, once my 
De●t. 9.26.29  people, and mine inheritance, whom I brought forth out of Egypt, by my mighty power, and by my stretched out arm, Behold: Behold such hath been, and is your 
Deut. 9.29.  stubbornness, such your wickedness, such the multitude of your sins, that I am 
Esa. 1.14.  weary to bear them: Behold, I am pressed under you, as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. As many sheaves, as much hay or stubble is unto a cart, so are you to me, in regard of your sins you are so to me; so troublesone, so grievous, that I even faint under you, and am not able any longer to bear you.  
Its a very grievous complaint; and may teach us thus much: that our sins are sometimes burdensome and grievous unto God. It is my doctrine: Our sins are sometimes burdensome and grievous unto God.  
Such were the sins of the old world, we know it by, Gen. 6.5, 6. For God saw, that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was onely evil continually. And it repented the Lord, that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. It repented him, and grieved him at his heart.  
Such were the sins of judah. We know it by the first Chapter of the prophecy of Esai. The complaints which God maketh there, do prove it: vers. 21. How is the faithful city become an Harlot? It was full of judgements, righteousness lodged in it; but now murtherers. Thy silver is become dross, thy wine is mixed with water. Thy Princes are rebellious, and companions of theeues: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them. And verse 14. Your new moons, and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth, they are a trouble unto me, I am weary to bear them. You see; the sins of judah were a trouble unto God, he was weary to bear them. They were burdensome and grievous unto him.  
Such were the sins of Israel, we know it by the 43. chap. of Esai. There verse 24. thus saith the Lord to Israel: Thou hast made me to serve with thy sins; thou hast wearied me with thine iniquities. What! Was God made to serve with the sins of Israel? Was he wearied with their iniquities? Its more then evident: the sons of Israel, were burdensome, and grievous unto God.  
Are not the sins of the whole world such? Are not our sins such? Sweet Iesus, thou knowest they are such. The labours, the troubles, the miseries, the griefs, the torments which in the dayes of thy flesh, from the first hour of thy nativity, to the last moment of thy suffering vpon the cross, thou hast endured for us, are so many demonstrations, that our sins are such; that they are burdensome and grievous unto thee.  
dearly beloved, behold we Christ Iesus in the 
Phil 2.7.  form of a seruant, laid in a 
Luk 2.7.  manger, exiled 
Matth. 2.14  from his country, 
M●t. 13.55.  reputed for a Carpenters son, yea for a 
Mark 6.3.  carpenter; 
Mat. 4.2.  hungering, 
I●h. 4.7& 19.28.  thirsting, 
I●h 8.23. &c.  reviled, railed vpon, 
●●k 22.63.  shamefully abused; and in an agony, 
●e●s. 44.  sweeting great drops of blood; we must confess our sins to haue been the cause of all.  
Behold we his glorious head crwoned 
Mat. 27.29  with thorns; behold we his sweet face 
Mat. 26 67 Mark 14.65.  buffeted and spit vpon; behold we his harmless 
I●h 20.20, 25  hands distilling forth gore blood; behold we his naked side 
Joh. 19 34 37  pierced through with a sharp spear; behold we his undefiled feet, which never stood in the way of sinners, dented through with cruel nails; wee must confess our sins to haue been the cause of all.  
Our sins the cause of all! Esay confesseth it, chap. 53. 4 Surely, He[ Christ Iesus] hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows: he was wounded 
Esa. 53.5.  for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was vpon him, and with his stripes we are healed. S. Matthew repeats it, chap. 8.17. himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. So doth S Peter, 1. Epist. chap. 2.24. Christ his own self bare our sins in his own body on the three: by his stripes are we healed. S. Paul speaks as plainly, Rom. 4.25. Christ was delivered for our offences: and 1. Cor. 15.3. Christ died for our sins. Our sins are the cause of all Christs sufferings.  
Our sins the cause of all Christs sufferings! Its even so S. Augustin Meditat. cap. 7. doth thus elegantly deliver it: The sinner offendeth, the just is punished; the guilty transgresseth, the innocent is beaten; the wicked sinneth, the godly is condemned; that which the evil deserveth, the good suffereth; the seruant doth amiss, the master maketh amends; man committeth sin, and God beareth the punishment. So true is my doctrine, Our sins are sometimes burdensome and grievous unto God.  
So burdensome, so grievous, as that he is enforced to complain, as here he doth against Israel, I am pressed under you, as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves. Stands it thus beloved? May our sins be burdensome and grievous unto God? May they press him, as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves? Make we hereof this use; to hate sin, to detest it, to fly from it, as from the devill, who is the Author of it.  
Syracides in his Ecclesiasticus, chap. 21. to incite us to the hatred of sin, to the detestation of it, and to fly from it, compareth sin to a Serpent, to a lion, to a two edged sword. To a Serpent, vers. 2. Flee from sin, as from the face of a Serpent; for if thou comest too near it, it will bite thee. To a lion in the same verse, Flee from sin as from a lion; the teeth thereof are as the teeth of a lion, slaying the souls of men. To a two edged sword, vers. 3. Flee from sin as from a two edged sword; for all iniquity is as a two edged sword, the wounds whereof cannot be healed.  
But what is a two edged sword? what the teeth of a lion? what the face of a Serpent? what the devill himself, to the love of God? Flee from sin for the love of God, that with thy sins thou be not burdensome and grievous unto God. If we cannot but sin( as, the truth is we cannot, such is our imperfection) yet let us not increase the measure of our sin, by any wicked malice. If we cannot stay ourselves from going in the paths of sin, yet let us stay ourselves for going on therein. Stop we the course of our sins, as the Lord shall enable us; and let us not, by the fullness of their measure, pull vengeance from heaven, whether God will or no. A heavy day and hour will it be to you, to me, to any, if the Lord shall once say unto us, as here he doth to Israel, I am pressed under you, as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves.  
again, stands it thus, beloved? May our sins be burdensome and grievous unto God? May they press him as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves? Make we then here of a second use, even to admonish such sinners as are obstinate and impenitent. They may from hence be remembered, that if they be burdensome and grievous unto God, [ with their obstinacy and impenitency] God will be burdensome and grievous unto them with his plagues.  
obstinacy, impenitency! O let sins of such an elevation be far from our Coasts. If we drive God to call a convocation of heaven and Earth, as Esa. 1.2. hear O heauens, and give ear O earth: I haue nourished and brought up Children, and they haue rebelled against me; if we drive him to call on the mountaines& the foundations of the earth to hear his controversy, as Micah 6.2. hear ye, O mountaines, the Lords controversy, and ye strong foundations of the earth; the Lord hath a controversy with his people, and will pled with them: if we drive him to his old complaint, Hos 4.1. There is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land, By swearing, and lying, and killing, and stealing, and whoring ye break out, and blood toucheth blood: if we thus and thus force God, what shall become of us in the end? Will he not again force us, to cry out, howl, and repent, that ever wee thus and thus forced him? Yes, without all controversy he will. He will poure out 
Nahum 1 6.  his fury like fire, he will throw down rocks before him; and shall we then be able to stand? Its impossible we should, unless truly and unfeignedly renouncing all show of obstinacy and impenitency, we become dutiful and obedient children to the Lord our God. O how desirous, how earnest is our sweet saviour, we should be such? How pathetically doth he persuade our, and the whole Churches reformation? Cant. 6.13. return, return O Shulamite; return, return. Let our reply be, with Saint Austine, Domine. da quod jubes,& jube quod vis, Lord, give us ability to return to thee, and then command us to return: or with ieremy chap. 31.18. turn thou us unto thee, o Lord, and we shall be turned; thou art the Lord our God.  
Thus haue you my doctrine, and the uses thereof. My doctrine was: Our sins are sometimes burdensome and grievous unto God. My first use was; an incitement to the detestation of sin in general. My second was, a caveat against the foulest of sins, obstinacy and impenitency. My doctrine branding our sins with burdensomenesse and grievousness in respect of God; I grounded vpon the complaint, which in my text, God maketh against Israel; I am pressed under you, as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaves. God is pressed under our sins; therefore our sins are burdensome unto him, they are grievous unto him.  
But here it may be questioned, how God can be said to complain of our sins, to be burdened with them, to be grieved at them, sith in himself he hath all pleasure and content? He dwelleth in such 
1. Tim. 6.16.  light, such brightness of glory, as never mortal foot could approach unto: the sight of his face is to us on earth unsufferable; no mortal eye ever saw him, nor can see him: he 
Esa. 57.15.  inhabiteth the eternity, is the 
Esa. 44.6.  first, and is the last, and 
Mala. 3.6.  changeth not; yea, hath not so much as a 
Iam. 1.17.  shadow of change. How then is it, that he oft complaineth? how can he be burdened? how grieved?  
Complaints, we know, are the witnesses of a burdened, and grieved soul. God here complaineth of pressure, that he is pressed under Israell, as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves: from whence the collection is, that the sins of Israel are burdensome and grievous unto God. But can this be so indeed? Can our sins be burdensome unto God? Can they be grievous unto him? or can God complain that they are such? What can be said unto it?  
Will you, that I speak properly, without a figure? Then thus I say: God cannot complain, because he cannot be burdened, or grieved. Could he be burdened or grieved, he could suffer: But he cannot suffer. every blow of ours, though we were as strong and high, as the sons of Anak, light short of him. If some could haue reached him, it had gone ill with him long ere this. But God cannot suffer. So true is that axiom of the schools: No passion can befall the deity. Aquinas 1. qu. 20. art. 1. thus delivers it: Nulla passio est in Deo; there is no passion in God: and lib. 1. Contra Gentiles cap. 89. In Deo non sunt passions affectuum; there are no aff●ctiue passions in God. By affectiue passions he understandeth the passions of the sensitive appetite, which therefore are not in God, because God hath no such appetite, as Ferrariensis hath well observed.  
Well then, if these passions of complaining, of repenting of grieving, of fainting, and the like, cannot properly be said to be in God, how are they so frequently in holy Scripture ascribed unto him?  
My answer is, they are ascribed unto him {αβγδ}, per {αβγδ}, abusively, by an Anthropopathie. It is Athanasius his golden rule {αβγδ}. Say God complaineth; say he repenteth; say he grieveth; say he fainteth, or is wearied; all these are spoken of God for our capacities, but are to be understood, as its fit for God.  
God in holy Scripture speaking of himself as if these passions were familiar with him, he appears as transfigured into the likeness of our nature, and in our own familiar terms speaketh to our shallow understandings. As an old man speaking to a child, frames his voice in a childish phrase. So God speaking to us men, speaks as the manner of men is to speak. {αβγδ}( saith Athanasius Disput. contra Ariam in Niceno concilio) for our imbecility God thus speaketh: he descends to our capacities: and that men may in some measure know him, he will bee known as man; by passions or affections, by complaining, by repenting, by grieving, by fainting. By these he signifies not what he is indeed, but what is needful for us to know of him. For we well acquainted with the use of these natural passions in ourselves, may the better guess at the knowledge of that God, to whom we hear them ascribed by translation. By translation, not properly: or as one well saith, per figuram, non naturam, by a figure, not by nature: or as the schools speak quoad effectum, non quoad affectum, in the effect, not in the affection; So Aquinas Par. 1a. qu. 21. art. 3. C.  
But having entreated else where of this question, Whether there be any affection or passion in God, in my 17. Sermon vpon Hoseah chap. 10. I now say no more of it. Onely I conclude it affirming with gregory Moral. lib. 20. cap. 23. that God is, Sine Zelo Z●lans, sine irâ irascens, sine dollar& poenitentiâ poenitens, sine misero cord misericors, sine praevisionibus praesciens: that God is zealous without zeal, angry without anger, grieving without sorrow, repenting without penitency, pitiful without pity, foreknowing without foresight. There is no passion at all in God.  
Thus haue you my answer to the question even now propounded. The question was: How God may be said to complain of our sins, to be burdened with them, or to be grieved at them, sith in himself he hath all pleasure and content? My answer is, He cannot be said so to do in a proper sense and understanding, because God is not obnoxious to any passion, but improperly, in a figure, abusively, metaphorically, by an Anthropopathie, and metonymically, he may well be said so to do: he may well be said to complain of our sins, to be burdened with them, and to be grieved at them. So he complaineth against Israel, here in my text; I am pressed under you, as a Cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.  
Hitherto haue I stood vpon the first Interpretation of these words, depending vpon the intransitiue or neutral signification of the Hebrew verb {αβγδ} I am pressed. The other Interpretation growing vpon the transitiue signification of the same verb, is put in the margin of our newest English translation, and thus it is, I will press your place, as a Cart full of sheaves presseth.  
It is the very reading of Tremellius and Iunius. jonathan doth not much varie from it; nor R. Abraham, and other Hebrew Doctors, nor the wise men of spain, as Pagnine hath observed. Our new expositors for the most part do mention it, Calvin, and Danaeus, Brentius and Winclelman, Mercerus and Quadratus, Christopherus à Castro, and Petrus à Figuiero, I will press you.  
In an old English Bible, It may be Taverners translation) I find this place thus interpnted; I will crashe you in sunder, like as a wain crasheth, that is full of sheaves. I will crash you, or, I will press you: the meaning is the same: and thus I paraphrase it,  
I] the Lord, jehovah, your Lord God, will press your place, wheresoever it shall be; But how? Either as a cart full loaden with sheaves presseth] the earth, and whatsoever else it passeth over; or as a cart full loaden presseth the sheaves in the threshing floare: or as a cart full loaden with sheaves is itself pressed. I will press you, as a cart full of sheaves presseth, or is pressed.  
By this second Interpretation of my text, my text is Comminatorie. The Lord threateneth to punish Israel for their sins; to punish them non levi manu, aut viribus languidis, not with a light hand, or languishing force, said magno nisu ac robore, but with great endeavour and strength. I will press you, as a cart full of sheaves presseth, or is pressed.  
God ever just, and immutable, assigneth to like sins like punishments. We for sinning come not short of the Israelites. May we not then well expect their punishments? Yes doubtless, we may: and this Commination may be as well to us, as to them; I will press you, as a cart full of sheaves presseth, or is pressed. From this Commination we may take this lesson: God will never suffer sin to escape altogether unpunished.  
He will not. His commination of punishment given in Paradise to the transgressor of his law, is a proof of this truth. The Commination is, Gen. 2.17. In the day that thou eatest thereof,[ of the three of knowledge of good and evil] thou shalt die the death. Adam transgressed the Law; it was his sin; the punishment of it, in him and his whole posterity, is death.  
Hitherto belongeth that malediction, Deut. 27.26. which is repeated, Gal. 3.10. Cursed is every one, that continueth not in all things, which are written in the book of the Law, to do them. Now God is ever true in his sayings, and he ever performeth, what he saith. If thou then fail in the performance gf any one Commandement of his Law, or of any branch thereof, the Curse layeth hold on thee, and obligeth thee to punishment.  
In the first Chapter of the Epistle to the Rom. vers. 32. we know it to be {αβγδ}, the Law of God, his righteous and just Law, his Law of Nature, that, they which do such things,( as are there rehearsed) are worthy of death. Art thou filled with unrighteousness, with fornication, with wickedness, with covetousness, with maliciousness? Thou art worthy of death. Art thou full of envy, of murder, of debate, of deceit, of malignity? Thou art worthy of death. Art thou a whisperer, a backbiter, a hater of God? Thou art worthy of death. Art thou despiteful, or proud or a boaster, or an inventor of evil, or disobedient to thy parents? thou art worthy of death. Art thou without understanding, or without natural affection? Art thou a covenant breaker, or implacable, or unmerciful? Thou art worthy of death. It is {αβγδ}, the Law of God, his righteous and just Law, his Law of Nature, that they which commit such things, are worthy of death. They are worthy of death: and death must be their wages. It must be so.  
So true is my Doctrine, God will never suffer sin to escape altogether unpunished.  
For the further illustration of this truth, I might produce the suffrages of the ancient; of Austine, and of gregory. But having elsewhere done that in my 18. Sermon vpon the 10. of Hoseah, I will not now again do it: and what need I draw from the Riuers, when I am full of the fountain? Yet may I not end, without making some use hereof.  
My first use shall be, to reprove such as teach otherwise, as Socinus Osterodius, Gittichius, and other the enemies of Christs satisfaction. They will thus argue: if God will never suffer sin to escape unpunished, then belike he casteth all men into Hell, there to be punished with infernal torments.  
I answer, No said quosdam infernalibus poenis punit, caeteris peccata remittit: far bee it from God, that he should punish all, the Elect as well as the Reprobate, with infernal torments. Some, all the Reprobate, he so punisheth: but to others, to all the Elect, he forgives their sins.  
Their reply here is: Doth God forgive the Elect their sins? Why then it is likely, he leaves them altogether unpunished.  
Our answer is: Not so. God doth not leave the sins of the Elect altogether unpunished; but doth punish them all, by translating their sins from them, to his own son, Christ Iesus: according to that, Esay 53.6. The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities. The sum of all is; Our transgressions, our iniquities, our sins God punisheth in Christ, and for his sake forgives them vs. Thus far the reproof.  
My second use is, a short word of exhortation. Will not God suffer any sin to escape altogether unpunished? What then shall become of us, beloved? Our sins! Are they not impudent and vnblushing? Are they not acted with lifting up the hand, and heel against God? The hand in opposition, the heel in contempt? Our sins! They keep not low water; the tide of them is ever swelling: they are objects to the eye of the world, and are proud, that they are observed.  
I haue red of two ladders, by which men climb to heaven; prayers and sins: the godly by their prayers; the wicked by their sins. By thi● latter ladder did sodom and Niniv●h climb. O let not our sins bee such climbers! Rather then they should press into the presence chamber of heaven, and grow acquainted with God, let us keep them down, and here punish them. For they must be punished.  
Must be! Yea, saith S. Austine Enarrat. in Psal. 58. Iniquitas omnis, parva magnáue fit, puniatur necesse est: every sin, be it great, or be it little, must of necessity bee punished.  
Must it! By whom? He there tells you, aut ab ipso homine poenitente, aut a Deo vindicante; either by man repenting, or by God revenging. For quem poenitet, scipsum punit, who so repenteth of his sins, he punisheth himself for his sins. Ergo, fratres, puniamus peccata nostra: therefore brethren, let us be our own punishers: punish we ourselves, our sins, that God may haue mercy on vs.  
He cannot show mercy vpon workers of iniquity, quasi blandiens peccatis, aut non eradicens peccata, as if he flattered men in their sins, or had no purpose to roote out sin.  
Prorsus aut punis, aut punit. Beleeue it either thou must punish thyself, or God will punish thee. Vis non puniat, punitu. Wilt thou that God should not punish thee, then punish thou thyself: and wash away thy sins with the salt and bitter tears of unfeigned Repentance, through a lively faith in the blood of our Lord and saviour Iesus Christ: So shall not thy sins be laid unto thy Charge: but they shall be as a bundle that is bound up and is cast into the bottom of the Sea: they shall never rise up against thee.  
If thou thus punish thyself, God will not complain of thee, that he is pressed under thee as a Cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves: nor will he threaten, to press thee, as a Cart full of sheaves presseth, or is pressed.  
Now forsaking the ladder of our sins, climb we to heaven with the ladder of our prayers.  
O Lord, our God, the giver of all grace, grant, we beseech thee, that we may vnfainedly bewail our sins, be they never so small, and may amend all without excuse, as well our secret sins, as those that are known, that we may in thy good time be translated from this valley of sins, to that thy blessed habitation above, where we may with all Saints for ever sing: Halleluja, salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God for evermore. Amen.    

THE XX. lecture.  AMOS 2.14, 15, 16. 
Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty deliver himself.  
Neither shall he stand, that handleth the bow, and he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself, neither shall he, that rideth the Horse, deliver himself.  
And he, that is courageous among the mighty, shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.  
THE defiance is set, the trumpet is blown, the war is proclaimed from the majesty of heaven, against the kingdom of the ten tribes of Israel. Such was the height of their impieties, discovered, vers. 6, 7, 8. such the foulness of their ingratitude, blazed vers. 12. that they could not look for less, then a dissipation, a dispersion and overthrow by war.  
The proclamation you heard of, of late, out of the 13. verse, it was made, either by way of a grievous complaint, Behold, I am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed, that is full of sheaves: or by way of a terrible commination, Behold, I will press you, as a cart full of sheaves presseth, or is pressed.  
The success and event of this war now followeth, vers. 14, 15, 16. wherein three generals haue been observed: Impotentia fugiendi, Debilitas in resistendo, and Fuga fortium.  
The first was, their impotency and vnablenesse to escape by flight in the day of battle: the second, their debility and weakness in resisting the enemy: the third, the flight of their most valiant and stout of heart. Three generalls they are, and are by our Prophet divided into seven several branches: in which he describes gravitatem tribulationis, as Castrus speaketh, the grievousness of their tribulation; or as Quadratus, summam calamitatem& augustians, the extreme misery and anguish, whereinto they were to fall.  
He sheweth Gods judgements to be ineluctable. If he will the punishment of any, there is no place for refuge, no evasion, no means to escape. Neither he that is of an expedite and agile body, nor the strong man, nor the mighty, nor the bow-man, nor the swift of foot, nor the horseman, nor the courageous and stout of heart, shall be able to help himself in that day, in the day of Gods revengement.  
Thus haue you summarily the scope of our Prophet in this Scripture, and the meaning thereof. I must now descend to the particulars. The first of the seven miseries, here foretold to betid the Israelites, is in the beginning of the 14. verse.  

The flight shall perish from the swift.  
IT is an Hebrew phrase. I meet with the like, Psal. 142.4. Perijt fuga à me. So david in extreme danger in the cave, complaineth: The flight perished from me, or Refuge failed me; or, I had no place to fly unto: that is, I saw not which way I might escape; all hope of evasion was gone from me; I was in mine own eyes, of necessity to haue perished. Perijt fuga à me, The flight perished from me.  
The like form of speech is, Ierem. 25.35. Peribit fuga à pastoribus,& saluatio ab optimaribus gregis: The flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the chief of the flock: that is, The shepherds shall haue no way to flee, and the principal of the flock, the Rams of the flock shall haue no way to escape; Peribit fuga, the flight shall perish from the shepherds, and safety from the chief of the flock.  
So, job 11.20. it is part of the infelicity of the wicked, Peribit fuga ab cis, flight shall perish from them, that is, they shall not escape.  
The meaning of this phrase is well expressed, Amos 9.1. Non erit fuga cis qui fugient,& non saluabitur ex cis, qui fugerit. He that fleeth of them, shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them, shall not be delivered. Surely from such peribit fuga, flight shall perish; flee they may, but by their flight they shall not escape.  
Peribit fuga, the flight shall perish from the swift. As the flight perisheth, so may other things be said to perish, the Law, and counsel, and the Word; the Law from the Priest, and counsel from the wise, and the word from the Prophet. jer. 18.18.  
So, Ezech. 7.26. it is said, The law shall perish from the Priest, and counsel from the Ancients. And Ierem. 49.7. counsel is perished from the prudent. And Esai. 29.14. the wisdom of the wise men shall perish.  
Now for the law, and the word, and wisdom, and counsel to perish from the Priest, from the Prophet, from the Wise, from the Prudent, and from the Ancient, what else is it, then for such men to be destitute of such things; the Priest of the Law, the Prophet of the Word, the wise, the prudent, and the ancient, of wisdom and counsel?  
So touching my text, I say, for the flight to perish from the swift, it is nothing else, then for the swift to be destitute of flight, to be deprived of flight, to be altogether unable to flee away, when he would.  The flight shall perish from the swift. 
The swift! Who is that? The old Hebrewes say, it is jeroboam, son of Nebat 
1. King 11.40. , who fled from Salomon into egypt, as S. jerome, and after him 
Christoph, à Castro.  Remigius, Rupertus, Albertus, Hugo, and Dionysius haue observed. This jewish conceit is in this place enlarged: As by the Swift they understand jeroboam, son of Nebat, who fled from Salomon; so by the Strong, they understand 
1. King 15.16.  Baasha, that warlike King, who all his dayes had war with Asa King of judah; by the Mighty, King 
1. King. 16.16.  Omri; by the Bowman, 
Cap. 19.16.  jehu, the son of Nimshi, who slay King Ioram with an 
2. King. 9.24.  arrow; by the Swift of foot, King 
2 King. 15.19.  Menahem; by the Horseman, King 
Cap. 15.25.  Pekah, the son of Remaliah; and by the courageous and stout of heart, K. 
Cap. 17 1. &c.  Hoshea, son of Elah, the last of the Kings of Israel.  
But these are Hebraeorum somnia, as Lyra calls them; or, as Mercerus, Nugamenta: they are jewish dreams and toys, unworthy the majesty of holy Scripture. I therefore pass them over: and do understand this branch, of the flight perishing from the swift, with the other six that follow, of the utter subversion of the state of Israel, and the final captivity of that people when they were carried away by Salmanassar into Assyria. In that day( a heavy day to them) neither he that was of a swift, an expedite and an agile body, nor the strong man, nor the mighty, nor the archer, nor the swift of foot, nor the rider, nor the courageous and stout of heart, found any means to save or help himself.  
From the first of these seven miseries thus expressed in this first branch, The flight shall perish from the swift, we may take this lesson, When God resolveth to punish man for sin, there is no refuge for him, no evasion, no escaping by flight, though he be of a swift, an expedite, and an agile body.  
This truth Albertus would ratify with those words, Prov. 9 2. Velox pedibus offendet. He that is swift of foot offendeth, stumbleth, hitteth against some ston, or stump, and so falleth, and is overtaken. But the allegation is impertinent. The words are against rash and unadvised actions in the course of mans life; and do bear with them this sense: As he that runneth hastily, if he look not to his feet, that he may choose the good way, and leave the bad, is in great danger of continual falling: so he, that hastily and without due deliberation goeth about this or that, may easily transgress before he be ware. This sense is natural to the words, as we render them: He that hasteth with his feet, sinneth. If thou run hastily to evil, thou sinnest against God and thine own soul.  
The other place alleged by Albertus to prove, that there is no evasion, no escaping for the swift, is more pertinent. It is in Esay chap. 30.16. Velociores erunt, qui persequentur vos. think you not by flight to save yourselves: for they, that shall pursue you, shall be as swift as you, or swifter.  
As pertinent is that of the Preacher, Eccl. 9.11. There is no race to the swift, or, in running it helpeth not to be swift. The meaning of it the Chaldee Paraphrase thus expresseth: though men be as swift as Eagles, yet shall they not by running help themselves, or deliver themselves from death in the day of battle. The Hebrewes refer this to Hasahel, one of the sons of Tzeruiah, who though he were an exceeding swift runner, as light of foot as a wild row, as he is described, 2. Sam. 2.18. yet could he not escape, but he must be slain 
2. Sam. 2.23.  by Abner.  
We red of diuers, swift of foot beyond admiration: of Atalanta in the 
Ovid. Metam. lib. 10. fab. 14.  Poet, who seemed Scythicâ non segniùs ire sagittâ, to run as fast, as an arrow flieth from a strong bow: of Camilla in an other 
Virg. Aeneid. lib. 7.  Poet, that she did cursu pedum, with her swift feet, outrun the winds; that she flew over standing corn, nec teneras cursu laesisset aristus and did no hurt to the ears thereof; that she journeyed vpon the restless and swelling Ocean, and never dipped the sole of her foot therein. Of Iphictus in 
In sacro sermone.  Orpheus, 
Dionysius lib. 28.  Nonnus, and 
Hesiodus. Demaratus. Hygin. Astrom. lib. 2. in Orione.  others, that he likewise ran over standing corn without hurt unto the ears, and walked vpon the Sea: of Orion, Neptuns son in Hyginus, that he could run vpon the waves of the Sea: of Arias, Menecles his son, in the greek 
ilb. 1. Epig. 3. Antipater.  Epigram, that running in a race from the beginning to the end no man could see him, so swift he was of foot.  
But these I take to be either fabulous, or hyperbolical. Yet say, there were such; say, there are such; I say, neither was there for them, neither is there for these, any evasion, or escaping from God. No, not any at all. My Prophet in the next verse, the 15. of this Chapter, speaks it in plain terms; He, that is swift of foot, shall not deliver himself.  
Not deliver himself! and yet swift of foot. It is even so. Why may he not attempt to flee? Perchance he may: yet shall his attempt be frustrate: for thus saith the Lord, Amos 9.1. He, that fleeth, shall not flee away, and he that escapeth, shall not be delivered. Yea, saith he, though they dig into Hell, thence shall mine hand take them: though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down. And though they hid themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence; and though they be hide from my sight in the bottom of the Sea, thence will I command the serpent and he shall bite them. And though they go into captivity before their enemies, thence will I command the sword, and it shall slay them. In this hyperbolical exaggeration,( for such it is in the judgements of S. jerome, Remigius, Albertus, Hugo, and Dionysius) he sheweth, how impossible it is for man, by seeking to flee, to lurk, or to hid himself, to exempt himself from the power or wrath of GOD.  
This impossibility of hiding ourselves from the power, or wrath of God, either in heaven, or Hell, or Sea, or dark place, or any where else, is elegantly and fully illustrated by the sweetest singer of psalms, David, Psal 139.7.  
Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall 〈◇〉 fly from thy presence?  
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in Hell, behold, thou art there.  
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the Sea,  
even there shall thy hand led me, and thy right hand shall hold me.  
If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me: even the night shall be light about me.  
Yea the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.  
You see, nor heaven, nor Hell, nor Sea, nor darkness could hid david from the presence of God. Could they not hid david, and shall they be able to hid others? They shall not. God makes it good by that his vehement asseveration, Ierem. 23.23. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God a far off?  
Can any hid himself in secret places, that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? do not I fill heaven, and Earth, saith the Lord? You see again: At hand or further off, in heaven, or Earth, in places of most secrecy, our Lord he is God, he seeth all things, he fills both heaven and Earth. Thus haue you the confirmation of my doctrine, which was, When God resolveth to punish man for sin, there is no refuge for him, no evasion, no escaping by flight, though he be of a swift, an expedite, and an agile body.  
Is there no refuge for us, no evasion, no escaping by flight, when God will punish? No, there is none. How can there be any? sith our persecutors shall be swifter then the Eagles of the heaven to pursue us vpon the mountaines, and to lay wait for us in the wilderness: according to the mone that the daughter of Sion maketh, Lament. 4 19. Flee we, as we may, to mountaines, to the wilderness, to hid ourselves; our flight shall be in vain: for our persecutors shall be swifter then the Eagles of the heaven; they whom God will employ, to be the executioners of his displeasure towards us, shall still haue means to overtake us, and to find us out.  
Will there be no refuge for us, no evasion, no escaping by flight, when God will visit for our sins? What shall we then do beloved? What? Vis audire consilium? Wilt thou hear counsel, saith S. Austine in his sixth Treatise vpon S. Iohns Epistle, Si vis ab illo fugere, ad ipsum fuge; If thou wilt flee from him, flee to him. Ad ipsum fuge confitendo, non ab ipso latendo. Flee to him by confessing thy sins, but hid not thyself from him. later enim non potes, said confiteri potes. For its impossible thou shouldst lie hide from him, yet mayst thou confess thyself unto him. Say unto him, 
Psal. 91.2.  Refugium meum es tu, Lord thou art my refuge and my fortress: my God, in thee will I trust. Refugium meum es tu, Lord thou art my refuge.  
To like purpose the same S. Austine vpon Psal. 71. saith, Non est quo fugiatur ab illo, nisi ad illum, there is no flying from God, but by flying to Him. Si vis evadere iratum, fuge ad placatum, if thou wilt flee from him, as he is angry, flee to him as pacified.  
So vpon Psal. 75. Non est, quo fugias à Deo irato, nisi ad Deum placatum; there is no flying from God angry, but to God pacified. Prorsus non est, quo fugias, beleeue it, there is no flying from God. Vis fugere ab ipso? fuge ad ipsum. Wilt thou needs flee from him? then flee to him.  
Flee to him! From whence and whither? Can I flee from any place where God is not, to some place where he is? Or is he not every where? Fills he not heaven and Earth? How then can I flee to him?  
understand not any local flying de loco ad locum, but a flying de vitâ advitam, de actu ad actum, de bonis ad meliora, de vtilibus ad vtiliora, de sanctis ad sanctiora, as Origen speaketh, Homil. 12. in Genesin, and so mayst thou flee to God. Flee from life to life, from an evil life to a good life; from act to act, from an evil act to a good act; from good to better; from profitable courses to more profitable; from sanctified thoughts to more sanctified; and thou dost flee to God. The performance of this thy flight must be, non passibus pedum, said mentis profectibus, not by the agility or swiftness of thy feet, but by the increase or bettering of will and understanding.  
Thus to flee to God, is nothing else, then to draw near unto him, to haue access unto him, to come unto him.  
To draw near unto him we are exhorted, Iam. 4.8. Draw nigh unto God, and he will draw nigh to you. Draw nigh to God! but how? Pedibus, aut passibus corporis, with your bodily feet or paces? No, said cordis, but with the feet and paces of our heart. Per bona opera, saith the gloss, by good works: per morum imitationem, saith Aquinas, by honesty of life and conversation: fide, affectu, pijs precibus, saith another, by true faith, by sincere affection, by godly and devout prayers. Such are the feet, such the paces of our hearts; by which, if we are contrite, broken, and sorrowful in spirit, for our sins already past, and are careful to prevent all occasion of sin hereafter, we draw nigh to God; yea, we haue access unto him.  
To haue access to God we are invited, Psal. 34.5. Accedite ad eum& illuminamini,& facies vestrae non confundentur: Let your access be to God, and be lightened, and your faces shall not be confounded. And this access to God, according to S. Austine vpon Psal. 145.16. is to be, animo, non vehiculo; affectibus, non pedibus; with the mind, not with a chariot; with our affections, not with our feet.  
So the same Father vpon the 59 psalm. Our access to God must be, non gressu pedum, non subvectione vehiculorum, non celeritate animalium, non elevatione pennarum, not by running with our feet, not by hurrying in a coach, not by riding vpon the swiftest of horses, not by mounting up with feathered wings; said puritate affectuum,& probitate sanctorum morum, but with purity of affections, and sanctity of behaviour.  
This our access unto God, is nothing else, then our coming unto God. The invitation to come unto him is general, Matth. 11.28. It is there made by our Lord 
Rom. 1.3, 7.  Iesus Christ, our 
Matth. 1.21.  saviour, and 
Galat. 3.13.  Redeemer, the 
Revel. 17.14.  Lord of Lords, and King of Kings, the head of all principality and power, the ioy and crown of all Saints, the assured trust and certain 
Col●ss. 1.27.  hope of all the faithful: and its made unto all: Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  
Come, Come unto me. Quibus gressibus ad semetipsam nos veritas vocat? Christ the Truth, calls us; but how shall we come unto him? Quibus gressibus? by what steps or paces? gregory frames the question, Moral. lib. 21. cap. 4. and there gives this answer: Ad se quip venire nos Dominus praecipit, nimirùm non gressibus corporis, said profectibus cordis: its true; the Lord commands us to come unto him, not with the motion of our bodies, but with the proceedings of our hearts.  
Thus I haue made plain unto you, what it is Ad Deum fugere, to flee to God. Its nothing else, then Deo appropinquare, ad Deum accedere, ad Deum venire: to draw nigh to God, to approach unto him, to come unto him: but whether we flee, or draw nigh, or approach, or come unto him, the understanding of all must be spiritual. Our wings, our chariots, our coaches, our feet, wherewith we are to fly, to draw nigh, to approach, to come to God, are all spiritual.  
And what are they? They are contrition, faith, and obedience. With these we approach, we draw nigh, we fly, we come to God. Ut miseri ad misericordiam, vt nudi ad divitem, vt famelici ad panem, vt infirmi ad medicum, vt servi ad dominum, vt discipuli ad magistrum, vt caeci ad lumen, vt frigidi ad ignem; as the wretched to the merciful, as the naked to the rich, as the hunger-staruen to bread, as the sick to the physician, as the seruant to his Lord, as the scholar to his Master, as the blind to the light, as the could to the fire: so Hugo Cardinalis vpon the 4th of S. james.  
Now with these three, Contrition, Faith, and Obedience, the inseparable companions of true and unfeigned Repentance, let us make hast to God, and fly we with all speed from the wolf to the shepherd, from death to life, from our sins to our saviour, from the paths of Hell, full of all darkness and horror, to the way of heaven, full of all true ioy and pleasure. So will God draw nigh to us, Liberando ab angustijs, gratiam dando,& de virtute ad virtutem promovendo, saith the same Hugo: he will free us from distress, will give us of his grace, and will promote us from virtue to virtue.  
Thus shall it be with us, if with the affection of the spouse in the Canticles we call vpon the Lord. Her affection is seen Chap. 1.4. Draw me, saith she, and we will run after thee. Say we with like affection, Lord draw us and we will run after thee. Draw us and we will run.  
That we may begin zealously to run after God, we haue need to be drawn, and that with great force. For unless he draw us, we cannot 
Joh. 6.44.  come to him, we cannot follow him. But if he once draw, Lo, then we hasten, then we run, then we wax hot. Wherefore let the Lord draw us, let him pull us out from the bondage of our sins, let him deliver us from this wicked world; let him powerfully incline our wills and affections towards him, let him give us strength to cleave unto him; and then we, and all the faithful, will at once with speed and earnestness, fly unto him, draw nigh unto him, haue our access unto him, and come unto him.  
Hitherto of the first branch of this fourteenth verse, expressing the first of the seven miseries here foretold to betid the Israelites, that, the flight should perish from the swift. Now followeth the second, and it concerneth their strong men;   

And the strong shall not strengthen his force.  
THE strong, {αβγδ} He in whom is strength; strength not of mind, but of body; he shall not strengthen his force] though he be {αβγδ}, very strong and Iustie, yet {αβγδ}, he shall not retain his force: so daunted shall he be in heart, and his courage so abated, that he shall not dare for his own defence to use the strength he hath. He shall be, as if he had no strength at all. The lesson to be taken hence, is: When God means to punish, a mans strength will not help him.  
It will not. For as it is in the song of Hannah, the mother of Samuel, 1. Sam. 2.9. By strength shall no man prevail. No man against God. For God is almighty. He removeth the mountaines, and they know not: He overcometh them in his anger. He shaketh the Earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. He commands the sun, and it riseth not: and sealeth up the stars. He alone spreadeth out the Heauens, and treadeth vpon the waves of the Sea. He maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the South. He doth great things past finding out: yea, and wonders without number. He is the almighty: Who ever hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? So devout job, chap. 9.4. It is as if he had thus briefly argued: God is Almighty: and therefore there is no contending against him, no withstanding him, by any strength of man.  
Here may the strong be admonished, that they glory not in their strength, nor put their trust in it. I would wish them to listen to the words of S. Austine in his Enarration vpon the 33. psalm: Ad Dominum omnes, In Deo omnes: Get ye all to the Lord, trust ye all in God. Spes tua Deus sit, fortitudo tua Deus sit, firmitas tua Deus sit, exoratio tua ipse si, laus tua ipse sit; finis, in quo requiescas, ipse sit; adiutorium, cûm laboras, ipse sit: Let God be thy hope, let him be thy fortitude, let him be thy strength, let him be thy reconcilement, let him be thy praise, let him be thy end, wherein thou mayst pleasure and solace thyself, let him be thy refuge in time of trouble. Ad Dominum omnes, in Deo omnes: Get ye all to God, rest ye all in God. Trust not in thyself, nor in thine own strength.  
But thou wouldst still be reputed for strong and valiant. Wouldest thou so? Then be thou so: but take this for thy character; Thou strong and valiant man, be thou the master of thyself; subdue thy passions to reason; and by this inward victory work thou thine own peace. Be thou afraid of nothing, but of the displeasure of the Almighty, and run away from nothing but from sin. look not on thy hands but thy cause; not how strong thou art, but how innocent. Let goodness ever be thy warrant, and I assure thee, though thou mayst be ouer-mastered, yet shalt thou never be foiled. For Deus-fortitudo tua, God will be thy strength.  
Thus haue you heard in brief of the second misery, here foretold to betid the Israelites, that, the strong should not strengthen his force. The third is,   

Neither shall the mighty deliver himself.  
THE mighty {αβγδ} Gibbor. he that excelleth in strength; in strength, not of body onely, but of mind too. This stout and douty man is called by the Septuagint, {αβγδ}, a man of arms, a fighter, a warrior; such a one as hath {αβγδ}, as S. cyril speaketh, and is skilful in military affairs. This man for all his skill, strength, and valour shall not deliver himself.  
himself] The Hebrew is {αβγδ} Naphscho, his soul or life. His soul, that is, his life. Well. For what is life, but as the Philosopher defineth it, {αβγδ}; the composition and colligation of the soul to the body. The soul for life! It is often so put in holy Scripture. As 1. King. 19.4. Elias, in the wilderness, requesting for himself, that he might die, said, It is enough now, O Lord, take away my soul from me. My soul, he meant his life. So jonas, chap. 4.3. O Lord, Take away my soul from me. That by his soul, he meant his life, it is plain: for he addeth, It is better for me to die, then to live. Satan, job 2.4. thus saith unto the Lord; Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath, will he give for his soul. For his soul, that is, for his life: and so the greek Scholia vpon the first of S. james do expound it: {αβγδ}, The soul is also called life, as in these words; All that a man hath will he give {αβγδ}, for his soul or life.  
God telleth the rich man in the gospel, who was talking of larger buildings, when the building within him was near pulling down, and thought he had goods enough for his soul to delight in, when he had not soul enough to delight in his goods, Thou fool, this night {αβγδ}, this night do they require and redemaund thy soul of thee, Luk. 12.10. Thy soul, that is, thy life, for the meaning is, this night thou must die.  
S. Austine in his second book concerning Christ his Sermon vpon the Mount, vpon these words, Nonne anima plus est, quàm esca? Is not the soul more then meat? saith, Animam hoc loco pro istâ vita positam noverimus, know we, that the soul in this place is put for this life, whose retinacle or stay, is the corporal sustenance we daily take. According to this signification is that also spoken, joh. 12.25. Qui amat animam suam, perdet illam, he that loveth his soul shall loose it. In each place, the soul is put for life; and accordingly is it rendered in our newest English: in the one place, Is not the life more then meate? in the other, He that loveth his life, shall loose it.  
As in these now-cited places, and 
Psal. 31.13. Act. 20 24. in 〈◇〉. &c.  many other, Anima pro Vitâ, the soul is put for the life; so is it in my text: The mighty shall not deliver his soul, that is, his life. The meaning is, He shall not save his life; he shall not save himself.  
The doctrine to be taken from hence is this, No man can be privileged by his might, against the Lord.  
No man can. The Wiseman affirmeth it, Eccles. 9.11. There is no battle to the strong; {αβγδ} Laggibborim; to the mighty, to the man of arms there is no battle, no victory in battle. The Psalmist speaks it plainly, Psal. 33.16. A mighty man is not delivered by much strength, {αβγδ} Gibbor, a mighty man is not delivered from the danger and power of his enemies, by much or great strength, of himself, or others for him. This mighty man in the Vulgar Latin, is styled a Giant: Gigas non saluabitur in multitudine virtutis suae; A Giant shall not be safe in the multitude of his strength. Little david, but a 
1. Sam. 17.42.  youth, without 
vers. 39.  armor, only with 
vers. 50.  a sling and a ston, slay the Philistim, great goliath. It is true; No man is privileged by his might against the Lord.  
The reason hereof is that, 1. Sam. 2.2. Non est fortis, sicut Deus noster: There is none strong, like our God. None so mighty, none so potent, as our God. Men of this world, may seem to be mighty, and of great power: but, our God in heaven is mightier, and doth whatsoever pleaseth him, even vpon the mighty here on the Earth.  
From hence may the mighty man take instruction; the instruction that is given him, Ierem. 9.23. Let not the mighty man glory in his might: But if he will needs glory, let him glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth the Lord. Vpon this Lord, the Lord of heaven and Earth, 
Iudeth 9.12.  creator of the waters, and King of every creature, let us wholly depend; being well assured, that none of these outward things, agility of body, strength, might, or the like, can be any way available to us, if Gods special blessing be not vpon them.  
Thus much of the third misery, here foretold to betid the Israelites, which hath ended the fourteenth verse. The fourth followeth, and is expressed in the first branch of the fifteenth verse: these words,   

Neither shall he stand, that handleth the bow.  
HE that handleth the bow, is in the language of the Septuagint, {αβγδ}, the bowman, the archer, the shooter. He shall not stand] he shall not dare to abide his ground: or, if he abide it, he shall not be able to bend his bow; so through fear shall the 
Dan. 5.6.  joints of his loins be loosed, and his knees shall smite the one against the other. This anguish or perplexity shall betid him, according to jonathan in his Targum {αβγδ} Bicrabha, in time of skirmish and fight, even then, when his bow should stand him most in stead. By this bow. I understand, not the bow alone and arrows, but every other weapon and instrument of war. From hence ariseth this doctrine, Its not the bow and arrows, or sword, or any other instrument of war, that can any whit avail us, when God will punish.  
For proof hereof I produce the iudgement of God vpon Gog, the chief Prince of Meshech and Tubal, Ezech. 39.3. where thus saith the Lord, Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, and I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause think arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Bow and arrows! There is no help in them. None at all: nor in the sword; nor in any other military engine. Therefore doth the Psalmist, Psal. 44 6. renounce all trust in them. His words are, I do not trust in my bow, neither can my sword save me. His bow and sword, he doth not much care for. Wherein then is his trust? It is in the might and strength of God. Gods power was his buckler, whereto he trusted for his own defence, and for the discomfiture of his enemies.  
It is the use we are to make of the doctrine now propounded. We must not repose our trust in any external help, the bow, the sword, or the like, for this were indeed, to rob God of his glory, and to run to the creature for help. Our help is but one; and that is the Lord of Hosts. Dominus Deus auxiliator meus: Esay proclaimeth it twice in one chapter, chap. 50. First vers. 7. The Lord God is my helper: secondly, vers. 9. Behold, the Lord God is my helper. The Lord God is my helper, behold, he is my helper. Surely Esay looked for no help, but from the Lord his God.  
Nor did ieremy look for any, but from the same eternal fountain of help: and therefore, chap. 20.11. he saith: Dominus mecum est, quasi bellator fortis: the Lord is with me, as a stout or mighty warrior.  
Nor did david look for any, but from the same. He Psal. 18.2. acknowledgeth the Lord, and him onely, to be his strength, his succour, his fortress, his deliverer, his God, his rock wherein he trusteth, his buckler, the horn of his salvation, and his high tower.  
The like he doth, Psal. 144.1, 2. Where, what is his strength, but the Lord? What his goodness, his fortress, his high tower, his deliverer, his shield, but the Lord? The Lord alone is he, in whom david trusteth. The bow, the sword, the spear, and every other military weapon, he knew to be mere vanity without help from the Lord: and therefore the Lord was to him in stead of all.  
And let the Lord be to us in stead of all, in stead, of bow, of sword, of spear, of buckler, of shield, of fortress, of tower, and of every other military engine, and under 
Psal. 36.7.  the shadow and 
Psal. 61.4.  covert of his wings, we 
Psa. 119.117.  shall be safe.  
Must the Lord be unto us in stead of all? In stead of bow, of sword, of spear, and the rest? Ergóne omnis armorum vsus abijciendus? What? Shall we therefore condemn, cast away, or neglect, the bow, the sword, the spear, all kind of artillery, furniture, or munition that men do use, either for the private defence of themselves, or for the public of the Country?  
No, in no wise. This were too too anabaptistical. And I am no Anabaptist, that I should maintain it to be unlawful for a Christian, either to make weapons for the use of man, or to use them being made. They deny it to be lawful to use the sword. I affirm it to be lawful. My assertion is; All men into whose hands God putteth the sword, may use the sword, even to strike and kill, if need be. Now God putteth the sword first and principally into the hand of the public Magistrate, who when just occasion serves, may draw it out. And sometime he putteth it into the hand of a private man. A private man when he is assailed of his enemy, may take the sword in way of his own defence, and may( if there be no other help) kill his enemy therewith, so he do it not vpon any malice, but onely because he cannot otherwise escape, and save his own life.  
Now to the question: My answer is; Non reijcitur vsus, said fiducia. The bow, the sword, the spear, and other instruments of war, are not to be condemned, not to be cast away, not to be neglected, but to be used. Non reijcitur vsus, said fiducia; their use is not forbidden, but our trust in them. The use of all kind of weapons is common as well to the wicked as to the godly: the difference is in the trust. The wicked, they use them, and trust in them; the godly, they use them too, but their trust mounts higher, even to the Lord of Hosts. The distinction then here to be observed is, Ut vsus creaturis fiducia vero creatori deputetur. use the bow, the sword, the spear, and every other martiall weapon when thou shalt haue just occasion; but see that thy trust be ever in the Lord.  
S. Chrysostome vpon those words of the 44. psalm, I trust not in my bow, neither shall my sword save me, saith: Why then dost thou use them? Why art thou armed? Why handlest thou the bow? Why the sword? The answer there is returned; Because our God hath so commanded, therefore I use them: {αβγδ}, yet I cast my whole care on him; in him I do wholly trust. Thus {αβγδ}, thus fortified& fenced with power from above, we are to fight against our visible enemies: and thus fortified and fenced with power from above, we are to fight against our spiritual enemies. The chief of them is the devill.  
Our fight against him is a daily fight. For our direction in this fight, we haue S. Chrysostomes direction. When thou art to combat with the devill, say, I trust not in my weapons. I trust not in mine own strength, or mine own righteousness, but in the mercy of God: say with Daniel, chap. 9.18. O my God, incline thine ear and hear: open thine eyes, and behold our desolation; we present our supplications before thee, not for our own righteousness, but for thy great mercies.  
save us, O Lord, save thy people, from the power and fury of this immortal enemy. Though as a roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom he may devour, yet shall we, placing all our hope and confidence in thee our Lord and God, be safe under thy protection. Protect& keep us, O Lord, among the manifold dangers of this life, and in thy good time, by the conduct of thy favour, bring us home from this valley of misery and mourning, to that our hoped-for country of eternal glory, where we may with all Saints sing unto thee a perpetual hallelujah. salvation and glory and honour unto the Lord our God.    

THE XXI. lecture.  AMOS 2.15, 16. 
And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself, neither shall he, that rideth the Horse, deliver himself.  
And he, that is courageous among the mighty, shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.  
I Now bring you the remainder of the fourth part of Amos his first Sermon. I called it heretofore a Commination. I still call it so. It containeth menacings, or threats against the kingdom of the ten tribes, the children of Israel for the foulness of their ingratitude. These menacings or threats proceeding from him who onely is omnipotent, and all-sufficient to effect what he threateneth, even from the Lord, jehovah, do plainly demonstrate, that Gods judgements are ineluctable, not to be avoyded. If God will the punishment of any, there is no place for refuge, no evasion, no means to escape. Neither he that is of an expedite and agile body, nor the strong man, nor the mighty, nor the bow-man, nor the swift of foot, nor the horseman, nor the courageous, and stout of heart shall be able to help himself in that day, in the day of Gods vengeance.  
seven particulars are here disabled from helping themselves, in that day, when the Lord will be pleased to execute vengeance for sin. Of four of them, you heard at large in my last Lecture out of this place, that, neither he that is of an expedite and agile body, nor the strong man, nor the mighty, nor the bow-man, can any way help themselves. Let it please you now to give ear; and you shall hear as much of the other three; of the swift of foot, of the horseman, of the courageous and stout of heart. Begin we with the swift of foot. It is the next branch that followeth, vers. 15.  

And he that is swift of foot shall not deliver himself.  
THe original is; the swift of foot shall not deliver. Shall not deliver! What shall he not deliver; Supply the defect according to the last clauses of this and the former verse: and the full shall be, Velox pedibus, non liberabit animam suam, the swift of foot shall not deliver his soul; His soul, that is, his life, or himself.  
The Author of the Vulgar Latin here readeth, Velox pedibus suis non salvabitur the swift of foot shall not be saved. So doth S. jerome; so the Septuagint; so an old 
In Bibliothecâ Nicolsonianà in aede Christi Oxen.  English Manuscript. Some red thus: The swift of foot shall not escape, as the chaldee Paraphrast, and Montanus, and Munster, and our late Church Bible.  
Admit of which reading you will, you cannot miss of the true understanding of the place. red if you will; the swift of foot shall not be saved, or, shall not escape, or, shall not deliver himself; you will forth-with understand, that, a man cannot by the swiftness of his feet outrun God. This is the very marrow of that lesson, which we are to learn from hence. The lesson is: The swift of foot hath no advantage above others, for the saving of himself, if God do once resolve to punish.  
This agreeth with that which I haue observed vpon the first clause of the 14. verse: The flight shall perish from the swift. With that, this which we haue now in hand is coincident. The flight shall perish from the swift, and, The swift of foot shall not deliver himself; these two, to the understanding are but one, and do yield unto us one and the same observation. The observation is,  
When God resolves to punish man for sin, there is no refuge for him, no evasion, no escaping by flight, though he be of a swift, an expedite, and an agile boat.  
This truth stands ratified with that in the ninth Chapter of this prophecy, vers. 1. Non erit fuga eis, quisugient,& non salvabitur ex eis, qui fugerit. He that fleeth of them, shall not flee away; and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered. And with that Eccles. 9.11. There is no race to the swift, or, In running it helpeth not to be swift: that is, as jonathan expounds the place; Though men be as swift as Eagles, yet shall they not by running help themselves, or deliver themselves from death in the day of battle.  
The many evidences of holy Writ, which are usually brought to prove, that God is every where present, and in all places at once, may serve for a further ratification of my propounded doctrine. For if God be every where present, if he be at once in all places, then certainly there is no refuge for man against him, no evasion, no escaping by flight. Nor the caues of the earth, nor the secrets of walls, nor the darkness of the night, nor the distance of place by land or by sea, can hid us from his presence.  
Can they not? How then may that be excused which we red of Adam and his wife, Gen. 3.8. that they hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden? How that which we red of Cain, Gen. 4.16. that he went cut from the presence of the Lord? How that which we red of jonah, chap. 1.3. that he, when he was sent to Ni●iveh, rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the L●rd.  
These scruples I am now to remove: The first concerneth Adam and his wife, their hiding themselves among the trees of Paradise. Some say; Adam hide himself through fear, not as if he could flee from God, but because he thought himself unworthy to come into Gods sight. So Irenaeus lib 3 adversus haereses cap. 37. He seems to take in good part this flight of Adam, and his endeavour to hid himself, as if it proceeded from a pious and profitable fear and dread of an humble and repentant soul.  
Other say, that Adam exceedingly troubled in mind, much ashamed and afraid, that he had transgressed the commandement of God, like unto a mad man, that knows not which way to turn himself, went about to hid himself. So S. Austine lib. 11. de Genesi ad literam cap. 33.  
A third opinion there is, that taxeth Adam and eve of infidelity and impenitency, for hiding of themselves: as if guilty of transgression, they had thought simply to hid themselves from the presence of God. Of this opinion I find Rupertus, who Comment. in Genesin lib. 3. cap. 12. thus expresseth himself. Abscondendo se, vterque de Deo malè sensit,& sibi insipienter providit, tanquam impaenitens, tanquam infidelis. Adam and his wife in hiding themselves thought amiss concerning God, and provided foolishly for themselves, as if they had been impenitent and vnbeleeuing.  
It is no ill or idle opinion, to say that, Perhaps Adam and his wife, for want of experience( for they had never fallen before) might think, that by running among the trees of Paradise they might hid themselves. But when God had once found them out( and quickly he found them out) they could not any longer so think. Then they could not but be resolved vpon this; that there is no fleeing away, no hiding of ourselves from the presence of God.  
Thus is the first scruple removed. Adam and his wife hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of a garden. They hide themselves, that is, they would haue hide themselves, they would but could not.  
The second scruple, concerneth cain his going out from the presence of the Lord. If Cain could go out from the presence of the Lord, how is the Lord every where present?  
For answer hereunto we are to note, that the presence of God doth sometime in holy Scripture betoken the place of his presence; the place where God was first worshipped by sacrifice, and shewed visible signs of his presence: And that it doth sometime signify the grace of God, his favour, his care, his providence, and protection. In both these respects may Cain be said to haue gone out from the presence of the Lord. For first he was expelled from the land of his nativity, from that land where God was wont to show his face, and under the visible form of human nature, to talk with man familiarly: and secondly he was excluded from Gods grace and favour.  
Thus much doth Cain himself confess, vers. 14. Lord, saith he, Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hide, and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth. Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth, that is, Thou expellest me from my native soil, which to me is most dear& sweet, wherein I was born, haue been bread up, and haue lived with my parents and kins-folke even unto this day: thou drivest me out from a most fruitful and pleasant land, a land, that is next to the Paradise of the earth; a land, which thou hast consecrated to thyself, to be the land of thy sacrifices oblations, and holy worship; a land wherein thou art wont to manifest thyself unto men, and to instruct them by thy sacred oracles, and answers. From this land, the land of my nativity, thou drivest me out.  
And from thy face shall I be hide] I shall for ever and every where, find thee displeased with me, angry at me, and mine enemy, to the intolerable horror and amazement of my mind: thou wilt not deign to look vpon me with the eyes of thy mercy, but wilt for ever hid thy face from me, and so deprive me of thy singular benevolence, care, tutele and protection. So was Cain hide from the face of the Lord, and so went he out from his presence. Otherwise he could not be hide, he would not go out from the presence of the Lord.  
The third scruple concerneth jonah his fleeing to Tarshish, from the presence of the Lord. If jonah could flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord, how is the Lord every where present?  
Of this fleeing of jonah from the presence of the Lord, there is a twofold understanding. Some thus understand it; that he left the whole border and ground of Israel, where the presence of the Lord, though it were not more then in other places, was yet more evident by the manifestations of his favours and graces towards them. There was the ark of the covenant, and the sanctuary, there the Lord gave them answer by dreams, and oracles: there were other more special favours of the Lords abode there.  
Others by this fleeing of jonah from the presence of the Lord, do understand his turning his back vpon the Lord, his shaking off the yoke of the Lord, his wilful renouncing the Commandement of the Lord; his departing from his duty and from the execution of his office, enjoined him by the Lord.  
In the language of the Scripture, they are said to be in the Lords presence, or to stand before the Lord, who do carefully attend his pleasure, and are ready to receive and execute whatsoever he imposeth. In the 10. of Deut. vers. 8. The Tribe of Levi is separated by the Lord, to stand before the Lord. To stand before the Lord, that is, as it is there expounded, to minister unto the Lord, and to bless in his name.  
So is the phrase used by Elias, 1. King. 17.1. Where thus saith he, unto Ahab: As the Lord God of Israell liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be due nor rain these yeares, but according to my word. The Lord God, before whom I stand; that is, the Lord God, whom faithfully I do serve. And so is it by Elizeus in those his words to Naaman the Syrian. 2. King. 5.16. As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, I will receive no blessing of thee. As the Lord liveth before whom I stand, a witness to my actions, the searcher of my heart, whose honour and service I tender more then mine own gain, I will receive no blessing, no reward of thee.  
Now if they, who duly serve the Lord, are said to stand before the Lord, and to be in his presence, then may they who cast off the yoke of the service due unto him, well be said to hid themselves from the face of the Lord, and to flee from his presence.  
We see now what this phrase of fleeing from the presence of the Lord doth mean. It gives us to understand, that jonas, as a fugitive and refractory seruant ran from the Lord, breaking his bonds of duty, and making no conscience or care to do him service.  
Thus are the scruples done away and my doctrine stands good,  
There is no refuge, no evasion, no escaping, no hiding, no fleeing from the face of the Lord, from his presence, from his iudgments, no not for the swift of foot.  
Well. What if the footman for all his swiftness cannot save himself; fares it not better with the horseman? Cannot he deliver himself? No. He cannot. He is disabled in the next words,  
Neither shall he that rideth the horse deliver himself.  
This rider of the Horse is in the Septuagint {αβγδ}, the horseman. cyril calls him so. So doth Castalio, and Taverner, in his English translation. In the Vulgar Latin he is Ascensor equi. So is he in S. jerome. The appellation pleaseth Luther, and Calvin, and Osiander. Nor doth gualther dislike it. For he hath, Qui ascendit supper equum. Ascensor equi, or qui ascendit supper equum, he that mounts on horseback. He is with Tremellius, and Iunius, insidens equo; so is he with Vatablus, with Mercer, and with Piscator: Insidens equo, he that sits on horseback. With Drusius he is Vector equi, with Brentius Vestus equo. Vector equi, or Vectus equo, he that is carried on horseback. With Oecolampadius, he is equitans Equum, he that rideth the horse. This last reading is that which the learned translators of our now English Bible haue made choice of. He that rideth the horse. This rider of the horse, this horseman, mounting, sitting, or, carried on horseback shall not deliver himself.  
Shall not deliver himself. In the Hebrew it is, he shall not deliver his soul. So is it in the Chaldee. The reading is retained by Brentius, Calvin, Drusius, Vatablus, and Mercer. In the Septuagint it is {αβγδ}, he shall not save his soul. It is the very reading of S. jerome, and S. cyril, and the author of the Vulgar Latin: and is followed by Luther and by Munster.  
He shall not deliver, he shall not save his soul. His soul, that is his life. Whence some do red: He shall not save his life; so Castalio, so Osiander, and so our countryman Taverner in his old English translation. Let the reading be soul, or Life, man himself is meant: and therefore some haue red, He shall not deliver himself. So Tremellius and Iunius, and Piscator: and so we red in our newest English Bible, He shall not deliver himself.  
Thus haue you the grammatical sense and understanding of these words, He that rideth the horse shall not deliver himself: This rider of the horse, this horseman mounting, sitting, or carried on horseback, shall not deliver, shall not save his soul, his life, himself. The lesson we are to learn from hence, is, He that is mounted on horseback, hath no advantage above others, for the saving of himself, if God do once resolve to punish.  
Be thine horse every way answerable to that Horse( of which thou mayst red in the book of job chap. 39.) whose neck is clothed with thunder, the glory of whose nostrils is terror; that paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in his strength, and goeth on to meet the armed men; that mocketh at fear and is not affrighted, and turns not back from the sword: no, though the quiver rattle against him, though the spear and shield do glister, yet swalloweth he the ground with fierceness and rage. The sound of the trumpet terrifieth him not, but rather rejoiceth him: for he smelleth the battle a far off, the thunder of the Captaines, and the shouting. Be thine horse every way answerable to this horse, yet repose not any confidence in him for thy safety: for he will fail thee.  
He will do so. What else is it that thou readest, Psal. 33.17. An horse is a vain thing to save a man, neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Let S. Austine instruct thee, Mentitur tibi equus, quamdò promittit salutem: if thy horse promise thee safety, he lieth unto thee. The promise of a horse! Nunquid equus alicui loquitur,& promittit salutem? Doth a horse speak to man? doth he promise him safety? It cannot be. Yet when thou considerest the comely feature and proportion of thy horse, his stout courage, his admired swiftness, ista omnia, velut promittunt tibi de illo salutem, all these things do, as it were promise thee safety by him. said fallunt, si Deus non tuetur, but without the especial blessing of God all these things will fail thee. For, Mendax equus ad salutem, an horse is a lying thing for safety, a vain thing to save a man, and shall not deliver any man by his great strength.  
This is it, which you may red in the book of proverbs chap. 21.31. The horse is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the Lord. Let the horse be made ready, let him be thoroughly furnished for the war, yet rely not vpon him for thy safety. For safety, all safety is of the Lord, and of him alone. Let the Lord rebuk, yea, let him but speak the word, both the chariot and horse shall be cast into a dead sleep. So we red, Psal. 76.6. The meaning is: By the onely word of the Lord it often comes to pass, that they who trust in their Chariots and Horses, do vanish& come to nought, like a dream, yea, like the shadow of a dream.  
Pharaoh, proud and cruel Pharaoh, sorry that he had let the children of Israel go, would needs go fetch them back again. He assured himself before hand of success, either to spoil them, or to reduce them to bondage. In the strength of his conceit, furnishing himself with horses and chariots of war, six hundred chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, accompanied with his nobles, captaines, and souldiers he marched furiously and pursued the Israelites, even to the midst of the read Sea: To the midst of that Sea they came,& no one wave rose up against them, to wet so much as the hoofes of their horses. When they were come so far( too far to return) they were suddenly stricken with their last terror. Their chariots and horses, in which they trusted, failed them, as having done them service enough, to carry them into perdition. For the Sea shut her mouth vpon them, and swallowed them up in her waves: you know it to be so, Exod. 14.26. Where is now the safety, which they promised themselves by their Horses and Chariots? I must again say, Mendax equus ad salutem, A horse is a lying thing for safety, a vain thing to save a man. Thus is my doctrine confirmed; He that is mounted on horseback, hath no advantage above others, for the saving of himself, if God do once resolve to punish.  
Now let us make some use of this doctrine. It may first serve for reproof of such, as for the time of war do glory in the multitude and strength of their horses, and presume that they shall prevail and get the victory by the valour of their horsemen. The holy Scripture would haue them to be of an other mind, and to be persuaded, that victory is ever from the Lord, and from him alone, and that without him the horse and the rider can do nothing. But they will not change their mind, they will not be thus persuaded. To these therefore thus saith the Lord God, the holy one of Israel, Esa. 30.15. In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence, shall be your strength; and ye would not. But ye said; No, for we will flee vpon horses, and will ride vpon the swift. Will you flee vpon horses? therefore shall ye flee. Will ye ride vpon the swift? therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. A thousand of you shall flee at the rebuk of one: or at the most at the rebuk of five shall ye flee till ye be left as a beacon vpon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign on a hill.  
Against these there is a curse gone forth, Esa. 31.1. Woe be unto them that go down to Egypt for help, and trust in horses, and comfort themselves with chariots, because they are many; and with horsemen, because they are lusty and strong: but look not unto the holy one of Israel, nor seek the Lord.  
Concerning these I now say no more. I go on with a second use: and that is, to admonish ourselves, that we put no trust, no confidence in horse, chariot, horsemen, or like external mean for safety. Sith it is evident, that these cannot deliver us, from any the least iudgement, that God in his displeasure shall lay vpon vs. Let us for ever trust in the Lord alone, and his power. It is a sweet strain which the faithful haue in their song, Psal. 20.7. Hi, curruum,& illi equorum; nos vero nominis jehovae Dei nostri recordamur. Let it be the matter of our meditation in the day of trouble and distress. Say we in faith and a sure hope; Some trust in Chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. We will remember him, to put our trust in him, and to settle our hope on him alone. So shall a blessing attend vs. It is promised, Ierem. 17.7. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Blessed is he! What is that to say? It followeth: he shall be as a three planted by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, whom the heat, when it cometh, cannot hurt, whose leaves are always green, that is not careful in the year of drought, and never ceaseth from yielding fruit.  
In this comparison between a faithful man, that trusteth in the Lord, and a three planted by the waters side, we may note the steadfastness and stability wherewith the faithful people of God are supported, so, that they can never fall away from faith, and from the grace of God: whereby is condemned the doctrine of doubting, that Popish doctrine, very pernicious, yea, deadly to every soul, that shall drink it in. But I will not here make any excursion. Let that which hath already been delivered suffice for the explication of the 15. verse. The sixteenth followeth.   

And he that is courageous among the mighty shall flee away naked in that day, saith the Lord.  
HE that is courageous among the mighty] This courageous man is in the Hebrew thus described, the stout of heart among the mighty. In the Vulgar Latin thus: Robustus cord inter forts, the strong of heart among the stout. This reading is embraced by Brensius, and Osiander, and Luther, and Calvin, and gualther. Some vary the phrase; as thus; fortis animo inter robustos, the stout of courage among the strong; so Drusius. Some thus, fortis animo inter potentissimos, the stout of courage among the mighty; so Tremellius, Iunius, and Piscator. Some thus, qui roborat cor suum inter robustos, he that strengtheneth his heart among the strong, so Vatablus Munster thus translates it, qui inter forts virili est cord, he that is of a manly heart among the stout. In taverners translation thus I red; He that is as manly of stomach as a giant. In our late Church-Bible thus; He that is of mighty courage among the strong men.  
The reading of the Septuagint is far different. They thus: {αβγδ}. It is so in the frankford Edition. S. jerome thus renders it; Inventum cor eius inter potentes, his heart is found among the mighty; for {αβγδ}, some haue {αβγδ}, so it must be, inventum cor eius in potentatibus, his heart is found in potentates or dominions. Its obscure enough. S. cyril vnfolds it: he finds his heart mightily oppressed with terrors, and without resistance gives the victory to the spoiler.  
The former readings, Latin and English, are more natural, and do better express the original. Ours is good; He that is courageous among the mighty {αβγδ} bagibborim in potentibus, or inter potentes, among the mighty. The Hebrewes by the particle ב In or Inter, do use to signify the highest degree, the superlative. jael the wife of Heber the Kenite, judge. 5.24. is styled, benedicta inter mulieres, blessed among women. The phrase is used by the angel in his have Maria, luke. 1.28. Benedicta tu in mulieribus. Elizabeth repeats it, vers. 42. Benedicta tu inter mulieres. Benedicta in mulieribus, or inter mulieres, Blessed in, or among women, that is, Benedictarum benedictissima, of women, that are blessed, the most blessed; blessed above all.  
Such is the exposition that Petrus Lusitanus gives of these words, robustus cord inter forts, the strong of heart among the stout, that is, saith he, robustorum cord robustissimus,& sortium sortissimus, of the strong of heart the strongest and of stout men the stoutest: or as Castalio hath it, militum animosissimus, of cannoners the most courageous& hardiest. With us, he is the courageous among the mighty.  
Of this courageous man, courageous among the mighty, notwithstanding his strength, his might, his manhood, his valour, his stoutness, his hardiness, his couragiousnes, it is said, that he shall fly away.  
{αβγδ} ianus, he shall flee away. Shall he flee away? How is it possible? Is not the contrary already confirmed by all the passages of the two precedent verses, the 14. and the 15? Yes it hath. I therefore understand by this flying away, not simply a flying away, but onely a desire, or an endeavour to fly away. He shall fly away, that is, he shall desire to fly away, or, he shall endeavour to fly away; yet to his little or no advantage, though his desire or endeavour be to fly away naked.  
He shall flee away {αβγδ} hharom naked. A man is sometimes said to be naked, when he wanteth necessaries for the supply of present occasions. It is said of Saul, 1. Sam. 19.24. that he stripped off his clothes, and prophesied, and was all that day and all that night naked. I cannot imagine, that Saul was indeed altogether naked, but he is said to be so, because he had laid aside his princely robes; as R. Chimchi thinketh; or because he had put off his military apparel, and was now as another common person, as Iunius supposeth; or because he was sine pallio prophetico, because he had not on a Prophets cloak, as Drusius affirmeth observat. lib. 14. c. 14. So is Esay said to haue gone naked, chap. 20.2. because he was nudatus vest suâ propheticâ, because he had loosed the sackcloth from off his loins, and had put off his prophetical attire.  
In the second of Samuel, chap. 6.20. Michal telleth david, that he had vncouered himself, or made himself naked. And why? but because he had put of his princely apparel, and danced in a linen Ephod.  
Naked also may they be said to be, that haue no good apparel, no good clothing on. So are the Apostles said to be naked, 1. Cor. 4.11. even to this present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and haue no certain dwelling place. We are naked, that is, saith Drusius, non ita been vestiti, we are not very well clothed. No more were that brother and sister, of whom S. james speaketh, chap. 2.15. They were naked: Naked, that is, male vestiti, or necessario vestitu destituti; they were ill clothed, or wanted necessary apparel.  
By the places now alleged you see, that he may be said to be naked, that is not simply and altogether so. So of the courageous man in my text it is said, that he shall flee away naked. Naked, that is, unarmed, without armor: having cast away his weapons, and all other instruments of military discipline; content to escape with life, if he may be so happy; but shall not: for there is no escaping, as you well know by that you haue already heard.  
But when shall this courageous man be in such a streight, as that he shall be fain to flee away naked? It shall bee, saith my text {αβγδ} Baijom habu, in that day. In that day, the day of Gods iudgement: in that day, when God will exercise his iudgment against the rebellious, and refractory.  
This day may be called the day of the Lord, whereof we red, Esai. 13.6. howl ye, for the day of the Lord is at hand: it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. It is so called, Ioel 1.15. Alas for the day: for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.  
This day, the day of the Lord, for the horror thereof, is by our Prophet Amos called darkness, chap. 5.18. Woe unto you, that desire the day of the Lord: to what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness and not light. A day, and yet darkness! a day and no light in it! Its even so: and is repeated by an {αβγδ}, vers. 20. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light? even very dark and no brightness in it. I cannot better set forth unto you the state of this day, then the Prophet Zephaniah doth, chap. 1.15. red him, and you shall find this day, the day of the Lord, to be a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wastnesse and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm. No marvel then if our courageous man, the courageous among the mighty, shall endeauou or desire to flee away naked in that day.  
But shall he endeavour, or shall he desire to do it? Yes. He must be fain to do it. For it followeth by way of confirmation {αβγδ} Neum jehovah, saith the Lord.   

Saith the Lord.  
THis is the conclusion and confirmation of all. The Lord, the 
Deut. 32 4.  God of truth, who 
Num. 23.19. Tit. 1.2. Ha●. 6.18.  lieth not nor deceiveth, whose words are 
2. Cor. 1.20.  yea and amen, who ever 
Num 23.19.  doth according to that he saith, and accomplisheth what he speaketh, he it is, that here threateneth the courageous among the mighty, that they shall flee away naked in the day of their visitation. And so out of doubt it came to pass.  
It came to pass in the dayes of Peka K. of Israel, at what time Tiglath Pilesar K. of Assyria came up against the Israelites, took diuers of their Cities, the whole Region that was beyond jordan, the possession of the Reubenites, Gadites, and half tribe of Manasseh, yea all the land of Nephthali: and carried some of their inhabitants captive into Assyria. 2. King. 15.29.  
After that in the dayes of Hoseah son of Elah, the last of the Kings of Israel, this prediction was fulfilled, at what time Salmanasser King of Assyria invaded Israel, the kingdom of the ten Tribes, took Samaria, and carried much people away into Assyria. Of this we red 2. King. 17.6.  
In that day, that day when Tiglath Pilesar prevailed against Israel, and that day wherein Salmanasser was conqueror, he that was courageous among the mighty, was fain no doubt to run away, and that naked, according to this prediction, He that is courageous among the mighty, shall flee away naked in that day. My observation from hence is this: It is not a stout courage, a valiant heart, or a bold spirit, that can stead a man in the day of Gods vengeance.  
Beleeue it, it is not. For in that day, the stoutest, the most valiant and bold, shall be stricken with astonishment of heart, 
Deut. 28.28.29.  and shall grope at noon dayes, as the blind man doth in darkness. It shall then be with him, as it was with Belshazzar the King, Daniel 5.6. His countenance shall bee changed, his thoughts shall trouble him, the joints of his loins shall be loosed, and his knees shall smite one against the other. Yea then( for then will the Lord arise to shake terribly the earth) then shall he go into the holes and clefts of the ragged rocks, and into the caues of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. So saith Esay elegantly, chap. 2.19, 21. And say you now, what can a stout courage, a valiant heart, a bold spirit stead a man in that day, in the day of Gods vengeance? You must needs confess, it can stead him nothing.  
Nothing! Let us then for our good make some profitable use hereof. We shall the better make it if we will sum up together those natural abilities, which our Prophet Amos hath here disabled, from yielding any help unto us in the day of God his revengement: If neither he that is of an expedite and agile body, nor the strong man, nor the mighty man, nor the bow-man, nor the swift of foot, nor the horseman, shall in that day be able to deliver or help himself: if he that is courageous among the mighty, shall be fain to run away naked in that day, whence then shall we in that day look for safety? It must not be from any aid of man.  
Now the use we are to make hereof is, that we trust not in man, or in any thing that is in or about man. To this duty we are advised by the Prophet Esai, chap. 2.22. Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of? If you will be safe and without danger in the day of trouble, Cease from man; See that ye haue no confidence, no affiance in him, as though against God or without God he were able to help you. His breath is in his nostrils; his soul, his vital spirit, his life is but a blast, and is gone with a puff. Then where is his help? weak, frail, and brittle man, wherein is he to be accounted of? Is he to be accounted of for any thing that is in him? for his activity, for his dexterity, for his valour, for his wisdom, or the like? No: for if he be gone, all these are likewise vanished.  
But may he not be accounted of for somewhat that is about him? for his riches, for his munition, and weapons of defence, for his honour, and the reputation he holdeth in the state wherein thou livest? No, no. For what cares the almighty for these? The Psalmist was not ill advised, Psal. 146.3. Where he thus adviseth us: Put not your trust in Princes, nor in any son of man, in whom there is no help, his breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day his thoughts perish. See man here pictured and drawn forth in lively colours: Put not your trust in Princes] not in Princes? Why? Is not their authority and pre-eminence here exceeding great? Yes. But they are sons of men] Well. Be it so. The sons of men are creatures not far inferior to the Angels. True. But there is no help in them] no help in them? Why so? Their breath goeth forth] They die. What if they die? Is there no place for them in heaven among the stars? No, they return to their earth] there to participate with rottenness and corruption. What if corruption be in their flesh, may not their intendments and devises be canonised and kept for eternity? No, they may not. For in that very day their thoughts perish] their thoughts are as transitory as their bodies, and come to nought. And therefore put not your trust in them; not in Princes, nor in any son of man.  
Wherein then shall we put our trust? even in the Lord our God. To this trust in the Lord, we are invited, Psal. 118.8, 9. It is botter to trust in the Lord then to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord, then to put confidence in Princes. Is one better then the other? Why, then both may be good, and it may be good to put confidence in man. Not so. You may not take the word better in this place to be so spoken. For if you put any confidence in man, you rob God of his glory; which to do can never be good. I therefore thus expound the words: It is better] by infinite degrees, absolutely and simply better, to trust in the Lord] to trust steadfastly in him alone, then to put any confidence] any manner of trust or confidence, in man] of what estate or dignity soever he be, though he be of the rank of Princes, who haue all the power and authority in the world. Its every way better to trust in the Lord, then to trust in such, ever good to trust in the Lord, but never good to trust in man. Trust we in the Lord, and blessed shall we be: but cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm; the Lord himself hath said it, Ierem. 17.5.  
Now therefore, O Lord, since thou hast from hence taught us, that from the aid of man there is no safety to be expected, neither from him, that is of an expedite, and agile body, nor from the strong man, nor from the mighty man, nor from the bow-man, nor from the swift of foot, nor from the horseman, nor from the courageous among the mighty, nor from any thing else that is in man, or about him, give us grace we beseech thee, that in thee alone wee may place all our hope and confidence. In thee alone our God and Father of mercies do we trust: and do thou according to the multitude of thy compassions look vpon vs. hear the supplications of us thy poor seruants, living far, as banished men in a savage country. Protect, wee beseech thee, and keep our souls among the many dangers of this mortal life, and bring us by the conduct of thy gracious favour into that thy sacred habitation, and seat of eternal glory. Grant this unto us, most dear Father, for thy best beloved son Iesus Christ his sake.    
FINIS.   

A Table of such particulars as are contained in this commentary.  

A  

Abraham, his mildred speech to Lot. 29  
access to God. 347  
No accident in God. 114  
Adam, 287. 360  
adultery, 148  
Adulterers. 148  
natural Affection. 28  
Affliction. 254  
Alexander the sixth. 157  
An Altar, of earth. 169 

of ston. of Holocausts. ibid.    
There was but one Altar. 169  
The Altar a type of Christ. 170  
Popish Altars. 171 

none such in the primitive Church Ibid.    
Our Altar now, not material. 172 

It is our heart. 177    
The Ammonites, enemies to the people of God. 18 

Excluded from that Church. 18    
The Amorite 214 

destroyed. ibid    
Amorites, they were tale and strong. 226 

They were destroyed. 236    
Amos. 307  
Amos, why he first prophesied against foreign nations. 2. 47  
Antaeus. 226  
Antiochus. 149  
Antonius Caracalla. ibid.  
Arias. 344  
Asaphel. 343  
Aspasia. 149  
Assurance of our faith. 7.  
Atalanta. 343  
Atheists, denying God and his truth. 12    

B  

Men of Base estate comforted. 45  
Beasts worshipped for Gods. 247  
beauty. 229  
Behold. 322  
Benefits, the order of Gods Benefits Not observed. 242  
We must remember Gods Benefits. 252  
The Bible the greatest treasure. 54  
The Bible must be had. ibid.  
The Bible to be red. ibid.  
Men Blaspheme God. 152  
Gods name Blasphemed. 150  
Our Bodies a sacrifice. 174  
The goods of our Bodies, must be offered. ibid.  
The Bond of blood. 28 

of christianity. ibid    
The greatest Bond between men. ibid  
A Broken spirit. 176  
D. Bucknham. 89  
The burial of the dead. 27    

C  

Cain. 360. 361  
Camilla. 343  
A Calumniator. 138  
A calumny. ibid.  
Carioth. 33  
Cedars. 223 

They grow high. ibid.    
Cerijoth. 33  
We haue been Chastised of God. 42  
Christ, our altar. 170 

His benefits towards vs. ibid  
His death and passion. ibid    
A Christian in name. 106  
A Christian who. ibid  
The Church of God. 253  
A city not safe against God by munition &c. 35  
consanguinity. 27  
Contempt. 64  
Contempt of the law of the Lord. 67  
Contempt may be a sin and not. 65  
covetousness. 133  
The causes of our Crosses is sin. 60  
cruelty. 23. 133  
cruelty against the dead. 25  
cruelty displeaseth God. 23. 37    

D  

Darius. 98. 149  
The natural man in darkness. 86  
david chosen king. 230  
david George. 89  
The Day of the Lord. 134. 371  
cruelty towards the Dead. 25  
burial of the Dead. 27  
Death of 4. sorts. 36  
Death terrible. 37  
Death considered in a double respect. 38  
Death to be feared, of whom. 39  
Death welcome to the penitent. 38. 40  
Of three things no Definition. 112  
The Denying of a contrary is sometime an affirmation. 70  
All must once Die. 36. 37  
Disobedience. 74. 77. 289. 292  
Dispensations Popish. 155  
Doggs thankful. 207  
Draw nigh to God. 347  
A Drunkard. 182. 286 

described. 182    
drunkenness: the effects of it. ibid &c.  
Our Dwelling houses a blessing unto vs. 35    

E  

Eagle: swifter then Eagles. 224  
The Edomites descended from Abraham. 22  
Egypt, 345. 250 

Where situate. 245.    
The Egyptians superstitious. 246 

Their Gods. ibid.  
Their cruelty. 251    
The Israelites brought up from the land of Egypt. 244. 245  
Eliab: jesse his eldest son. 228 

liked by samuel. 229. 230  
faire of countenance and of goodly stature. 229  
refused. 230    
No Escaping from God. 342  
Etham. 255  
No evasion from God. 342  
The cause of evil is sin. 60  
Extortion. 133  
God wholly an Eye. 105  
The Eyes of the Lord, behold all things. 104    

F  

Faith: the power of it. 260  
Assurance of our Faith 7  
perseverance in our Faith. 8  
faithful: their steadfastness and stability. 368  
Our first parents Fall. 10  
The Famine of jerusalem. 100  
Fathers. 83  
Our Fathers not simply to be followed in matters of religion. 92  
The Papists follow their Fathers in religion. 93  
Fire. 34. 97  
No Fleeing from God. 342. 360  
Flee to God. 346  
The father of a fool rejoiceth not. 70  
Fornication. 149 152 

abstain from fornication. 152  
name not Fornication. ibid.    
Fornication unlawful by the law of nature. 153.  
Fornicators. 149  
freedom. 253  
Fridericke the fourth. 94  
fruit. 237    

G  

Gentiles their calling. 254  
Their Gods. 247  
Giants. 234  
glory only in the Lord. 231  
God: his counsels. 238 

all power is his. 239  
the honour of victories is his. 239  
is present every where 344  
seeth all things. 104. 345  
is all in all in the overthrow of his enemies. 218  
and in the upholding his children. 218. 219  
faithful in his promises. 260  
a present help. 261    
What God is. 113  
No accident in God. 114.  
Gods attributes, negative. 113 

affirmative 114    
God is unpartial. 103  
Goods external we must offer up in sacrifice. 173  
Goods of the body must be offered. 174  
Goods of the mind to be offered. 176  
Goods unlawfully gotten, not fit to be employed in Gods service. 200 

nor in the service of Idols. ibid.    
The gospel of Christ. 272 

its the word of salvation. ibid  
the doctrine of peace. ibid  
the doctrine of good things. 275    
Great personages punished by God. 44  
Grubenheimer. 88    

H  

hail. 295  
Hanani. 308  
Hearers of the word, must be attentive. 16, 50  
A faithful Heart. 178  
Our Hearts must not be set on the outward things of this world. 45  
heaven. 139  
Hell. 210  
Hercules: the print of his foot. 227  
A Horse a vain thing. 366  
A Horse described. 365  
The Horseman 364  
Hyperbole. 224. 225    

I  

K. james. 94  
idols. 80  
Idolaters: Its a blessing to be freed from them. 249  
Iehouah. 5. 49. 112  
ieremy. 307  
Iewes: their captivity. 98 

their return from captivity, ibid    
The Iewes a stiff-necked people. 83  
The destruction of the Iewes foretold. 97  
jerusalem. ibid. 107 

had faire appellations. 99. 107  
Afflicted with famine. 100    
The destruction of jerusalem. 101. 102 

the desolation foretold. 100    
Impiety taken for Impiety by God wheresoever he findeth it, 104  
Like Impieties like punishment 105  
Incest. 148  
Incestuous persons. ibid,  
Incestuous marriages. 149. 155  
Incestuous marriages among the heathen, 149  
Incontinen 153  
John of Leyden, 88  
John the thirteenth. 156  
John the three and twentieth. 157  
johannes de Casa. ibid.  
jonah. 360. 362  
Iphictus. 343  
Israel. 150 

their sins. 161  
their prerogatives. 150    
Israels unthankfulness, 207. 209  
The people of Israel: their number when they went out of Egypt. 254  
judah. 55, 80. 111  
The kingdom of judah. 55. 97  
Iudas. 210  
Iudges admonished. 195  
Iudgement beginneth with Gods children. 108  
The Iudgement of God exercised vpon great ones. 44  
The last Iudgement. 296  
Iulia. 149  
Gods Iustice goeth on slowly. 62  
Iustices admonished. 195    

K  

Kerioth. 33  
kindred. 29, 148    

L  

The Law of the Lord. 66  
The Law of the Lord not to be contemned. 67  
It surpasseth all other laws. 66  
A lye in words. 81 

in manner. ibid  
in things. ibid    
Lies. 81 

in the worship of God, ibid  
of two sorts, ibid  
in commerce with men of three sorts. ibid    
An exhortation to love. 30  
The praises of christian love. ibid  
Lying down at meat. 162  
lions thankful. 208 

stronger then lions. 234    
carnal Lusts. 159  
Fleshly Lusts. ibid    

M  

magistrates. 195 

their duty. ibid    
Man should be courteous. 24  
Men of two sorts. 39  
martyrdom. 174 

in peace. ibid.    
Martin of Polonia. 171  
means used by God. 238  
Ministers of the gospel 272 

Their duty. 276. 286    
The ministery of the word. 271  
Micaiah. 308 

Mirraim, 246    
Moab. 18. 32. 36  
The Moabites: 22 

there inhumanity. 19  
their pride, ibid,  
their cruelty. 22    
A cruel Mother. 101  
Munition. 35    

N  

Naked. 370  
The Names of God. 4. 144 

how profaned. 146  
how sanctified. 147    
Nazarene. 268  
Nazarites. ibid, 

their law. 270, 284    
Nazirites. 268  
Nazirites. 268    

O  

Obedience. 76  
Obedience better then sacrifice. 73. 74  
Obedience to the commandements of the Lord 73  
Og K. of Bashan. 226. 236 

height and strength. 226  
his bedstead. 227    
oak, strong as the oaks, 225  
Oppression, 133, 187. 188 

unlawful. ibid,    
Oppressions of this age. 187, 188  
oppressors hated, 194  
Oppressors of the poor God seeth, 197  
One poor man may not oppress another. ibid  
The Order of Gods benefits inverted. 242  
Orion. 343    

P  

pain the companion of a fault. 105  
A Painter of Prussia. 88  
The Paradise of heaven. 139  
The Patience of God. 21, 42, 45, 61  
Paulus the third. 157  
Taking of tyrants. 165  
We enjoy Peace. 45  
perseverance in faith, 8  
Persons. 103  
Persons not respected by God, ibid  
Pharaoh, 366  
pus the third. 157  
Pledges. 165  
A poor mans Pledge not to be taken, 166  
poor: God pleadeth their cause. 130. 135 

do good to them, 138  
they will carry thee to heaven, 139    
For the poor oppressed consolation, 135  
The poor not to be turned out of his way. 138  
The poor that are wicked, 136  
Popes wicked. 156 

incestuous, ibid    
Popes dispensations, 155  
Powder treason. 219  
Promis●s of God. 260  
Preachers, must deliver the word of God, 15, 50  
God Present every where.  
Prophets, 265, 303 

how instructed. 266    
True Prophets two sorts, 306  
False Prophets two sorts, 305  
Lying Prophets. 303  
Punishment followeth wickedness. 103    

R  

To Raise up. 264  
Rechabites, 76  
Rehoboam. 56  
Repent. 46  
Repentance. 46, 78, 202  
Restitution. 201  
The Rider. 364  
Roote. 235    

S  

Sacrifices under the law. 172 

of two sorts. 172    
propitiatory, expiatory, or satisfactory. 172  
eucharistical or gratulatory. 172 

eucharistical of three sorts. 173  
evangelical. 177    
The Sacrifices of God. 176  
Gods Sacrifice must be the fattest. 175  
Salmanasser. 372  
Saul. 288  
Saul: a good man of person. 228 

rejected by the Lord. ibid.    
God the author of Holy Scriptures. 14 50 

Speaketh in the Scriptures 13    
The holy Scriptures of no private motion. 13  
The Scriptures vilified by Papists. 14 

51. magnified. 54. 55  
easy. 90  
had free passage in old time. ibid  
diversly resembled. 91    
In the Scriptures Christians generally had knowledge. 94  
The read Sea. 255  
sheep in England cruel. 193  
A Shouting. 40  
Shur, 255  
Sihon K. of the Amorites. 236  
sin a grievous burden. 1 

punished by God in the Angels. 21  
The cause of our crosses. 60  
to be punished. 104  
resembled. 106  
the effects of it. 124    
grievous sins, haue grievous punishments. 62  
Elee from sin. 106  
God will punish sin, in his dearest children. 107  
Its a part of Gods iustice, to punish sin. 108  
The filthiness of sin. 150  
An exhortation against sin. 60  
Our sins press into Gods presence. 42  
God punisheth for one sin. 62  
every sin is to be punished. ibid  
Our state of sin and death. 10  
sins procure Gods wrath. 20  
sins hated of God. 20. 59  
Sixtus the fourth. 157  
sobriety. 286  
sons. 265  
The eldest sons prerogative. 14. 13  
{αβγδ}. 28  
The Spanish invasion. 298  
Stand before the Lord. 363  
Stature. 233  
Our States of regeneration and election. 11  
Stratonice. 149  
Stwes in Rome. 157 

patronised. ibid  
confuted. 158    
Swift of foot. 359    

T  

Testament. 

the Old. 53  
the New. ibid.    
thankfulness in doggs. 207 

in lions 208    
An exhortation to thankfulness. 211  
Three and four Transgressions. 57. 116  
Thunder. 295  
Tiglath Pileser. 372  
The Translations of the Scriptures into vulgar tongues, withstood by Papists. 88 

their exceptions. ibid.    
Treasures of wickedness, profit not. 71  
God is True, 6  
We must strive to be True, as God is True. 11  
Trust not in wealth nor in any worldly help. 220  
Trust not in external helps. 367  
Trust in the Lord. 368. 374  
Trust not in man. 373  
Trumpets used in war. 40. 41  
God is Truth in himself, in his words and in his works. 6  
We must be thankful to God for our knowledge of the Truth. 8  
We must strive to represent God in Truth. 10. 12  
A Tumult. 40  
An exhortation to turn to the Lord 46  
Tydeus. 234  
tyranny. 253    

V  

The execution of Vengeance proper to the Lord. 33.  
Victories. 239  
villages depopulated. 193  
Vnthankefulnesse. 205. 211 

Odious before God. 205. 211  
forbidden. 206  
reprehended. ibid,  
punished. 209    
Usurie. 133    

w  

To walk. 84 

how we are to walk. 249    
The Water, 296  
war the executioner of Gods vengeance, 41  
A Way taken properly& figuratively 137  
Wealth: trust not in it, 220  
The wicked man, 235  
wilderness of Etham. 254 

of Shur. 256    
The wind. 297  
Wine allowed, 181 

to be avoided, 184  
forbidden to the Nazirites, 285  
to Priests, 286  
to Kings. 285    
Wine given to the condemned, 186 

of the condemned, ibid    
The abuse of Wine. 181  
A Woman of Munster. 88  
An english Woman. 89  
The Word of God praised, 16, 272 

magnified, 54, 55  
not to be declined from, 85  
to be embraced with diligence, 87  
compared to a lamp or, light, 86    
We must be thankful for having the Word of God. 87  
The Church of Rome with-holds the Word of God. ibid,  
The works of God internal and external. 7    

Z  

Zacheus, 201, 232  
Zedechiah K. of judah. 97.    
FINIS.