Twenty-One Sermons on Amos 1

the riches of his goodness and forbearance, and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? It leadeth to repentance. It is vouchsafed unto us to the amendment of life. And thus is my observation established,

One reason hereof is; because if after threatening repentance follow, it procureth the forgiveness of sin, and taketh away the cause of the punishment. Sin is the cause of God's judgments; this we heard even now. If the cause be removed, the effect will cease. For so saith the Lord, Ez • ch. 33.14, 15. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die, if he turn from his sin and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

A second reason I take from the end of God's threatenings. The end whereat he aimeth, when he threateneth, is not the destruction of them that are threatened, but their amendment. For thus saith the Lord, Ezech. 18.23. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die, and not that he should return from his ways and live? This by way of interrogation. But it is by way of assertion, Ezech. 33.11. and is backed with an oath; As I live saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. As I live, it is so. Here may we say, as Augustine some-where said of Christ: Felices nos, propter quos ipse Deus iurat; Happy are we for whom God himself sweareth. But infoelices, si ne iuranti quidem credimus; Wretched are we, if we believe him not upon his oath.

I shall but point at the uses of this doctrine, because I have handled them at large in my fourth Sermon upon this Chapter.

The first is to teach us, that in the greatest and most fearful threatenings of God's judgments, there is comfort remaining, hope of grace and mercy to be found, health in sickness, and life in death.

The second is a warrant for us of the Ministry to propound unto you the threatenings of God with condition of repentance: and thus we offer unto you grace and mercy, to as many of you, as shall be of humble and contrite hearts.

The third is a warning unto you, to all that have this grace and favor with God to be hearers of his holy word. It is your parts whensoever you shall hear of the threatenings of God's judgments against sinners, to stir up yourselves unto repentance, thereby to prevent the wrath of God and to stay his judgments.

The fourth is to assure us, that if God threaten and no repentance follow, then certainly the threatenings pronounced will come to pass. God threateneth not in vain, nor doth he terrify us without cause. If we prevent not his threatenings by true repentance, his threatenings will prevent us by just execution.

And so much be spoken of the first doctrine arising from this circumstance of the siege of Samaria, foretold so long before it took effect. A second doctrine arising from the same, is,

Enemies are by God himself raised up to invade a land for the punishment of the sins of Prince and people. Unless God send them, they cannot come near our Cities, they cannot besiege us. God doth raise them up.

He raiseth up the Medes against the Babylonians, Isaiah 13.17. I stir up the Medes, who shall not regard silver, nor shall they delight in gold. Their bows shall dash the young men to pieces; they shall have no pity on the fruit of the womb; their eye shall not spare children; Babylon the glory of Kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.

He raiseth up the Chaldeans against the kingdom of Judah, Habac. 1.6. I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty Nation, which shall march thorough the breadth of the land, to possess the dwelling places that are not theirs.

He raiseth up the Romans against Jerusalem, Luke 19.43. The days shall come upon 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 within thee; they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another.

God is he that raiseth up enemies against a Land to invade it. Did not God send them, they could do nothing against us.

The reason is, because they have no power against us, except it be given them by God. So Christ told Pilate, John. 19.11. Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above.

The uses follow. One is to teach us not to fear man, but God, that gives power unto man.

A second is to admonish us, that we be not like the dog that snatcheth at the stone that is cast at him without regard unto the thrower. If God send an enemy to invade us, our eye must be upon God that sendeth him.

A third is to advise us, to labor to be at one with God. It will be our best bulwark against an inuader.

And so I come to gather a third doctrine from this circumstance of the siege, An adversary there shall be even round about the land.

In circuitu terra: He shall so beset the land round about, that there shall be no evasion for any of the inhabitants. My observation shall be that of Brandmyller in his Typicall Analysis,

The extent or greatness of the Kingdom whereof thou art, what can it avail thee? He that once for sin covered the whole earth with an army of waters, can now for sin enuiron the greatest kingdom of the earth with an army of warriors. And flagellum inundans cum transierit, eritis ei in conculcationem, Isaiah 28.18. When the over-flowing scourge shall pass thorough, then ye shall be trodden down by it. Eritis ei in conculcationem, that is, saith Saint Jerome, you shall suffer all those torments, which you thought you should never have suffered. The threatenings which you thought should never come to pass, shall come to pass upon you. An adversary there shall be even round about the Land.

Shall be! But yet there is none. O let us therefore with a sweet feeling acknowledge the infinite love and compassion of God towards this Kingdom, in so long preserving it from all hostile invasion. There was indeed an invasion in the year 88. intended against this Kingdom by a supposed invincible Armado. It gloried in strength, munition, ships, preparations and confederates. It was the Lord's mercy towards us to cross, to curse that proud attempt. The winds and seas by his appointment fought against them, and we were delivered. For that deliverance, we then sang songs of thanksgiving: then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with joy.

Now since it hath pleased God to continue unto us hitherto our peace and plenty; and we sit everyone under his Vine, and under his Fig-tree, whilst our neighbor-nations are shaken and tossed with the tempest of wars, and all things round about us are in an uproar; Let us bless God's holy name for it: and pray we for the continuance of this our happiness: that there be no taste of the sharpness and misery of war among us, that there be no assaulting of our Cities, that there be no sorrow of heart, nor weeping of eyes, nor wringing of hands, nor shriking of voices among us. Will you take direction for your prayer from the royal Prophet? Pray then as he hath directed, Psalm. 144.12. Pray, that our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth, that our daughters may be as corner stones polished after the similitude of a palace, that our garners may befull, affording all manner of store: that our sheep may bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our streets: that our Oxen may be strong to labor; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. O happy is that people that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.

I have done with the Siege, and am come to the Victory.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Vehoridh mimmek gnuzzek, word for word, and he shall cause thy strength to come down. Dejiciet à te robur tuum, He shall cast down thy strength from thee, so Tremellius, Piscator, Drusius, and Gwalther; Tollet, he shall take it away from thee, so Calvin; Detrahet, he shall pull it down, so Vatablus; Deducet, he shall bring it down, so Oecolampadius. The Vulgar Latin turns it passively, Detrabetur ex te fortitudo tua, thy strength shall be brought down from thee. So doth Brenz with his Dejicietur, thy strength shall be thrown down.

By this same strength, be it robur, or fortitudo, Junius understandeth that, whereby they heaped up the treasures of violence and robbery. Drusius understandeth their strong Castles and fortified Cities. Some understand Riches. And so qui opibus valent, potentes vocantur, they that excel in riches, are called mighty men.

Albertus Magnus will have this strength to be, whatsoever it was wherein they put their trust, as in some fortification: whether it were the substance of their riches, or the munitions of their Cities, or the multitude of their soldiers, or the armies of their adherents. Whatsoever it be, down it must. When God meaneth to give victory to an inuader, no strength shall be able to withstand him. My observation here shall be that of Albertus,

No strength! None at all. So saith Isaiah, Chap. 2.12. The day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, upon everyone that is lifted up; upon all the Cedars of Lebanon, upon all the Okes of Bashan; upon all high Mountains and Hilles; upon every high Tower, and upon every fenced wall; upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all Pictures of desire: the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of man shall be made low. The Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. In that day when the Lord shall send a power against a Land, for the iniquity thereof, all strength shall fail before him.

This is that we read, Isaiah. 26.5. In the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength: For he bringeth down them that dwell on high; the lofty City he layeth it low; he layeth low even to the ground; he bringeth it even to the dust. There is no strength against him.

Erit fortitudo vestra, vt fauilla stupae, your strength shall be as the imbers of tow, & opus vestrum, and the work of your strength shall be as a spark; they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them, Isaiah. 1.23. There is no prevailing by strength against the Lord: it is the acknowledgement of Hannah in her song of thanksgiving, 1 Sam. 2.9. Our Prophet Amos, Chap. 2.14. hath thus delivered it; The strong shall not strengthen his force. And thus is my observation confirmed;

One reason is, because God overthroweth the greatest strength that man can erect, even at his pleasure.

A second is, because there is no strength, but it is of God and from God. Vastatum superrobustum roborat, Amos 5.9. God above is he that strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, and maketh the spoiled to come with might against the fortress.

I will but name the uses. One is, to teach us, never to put any affiance in our own strength, but so to use all good means for our defense, that still we rely upon the Lord for success.

A second is, to stop us from glorying in our strength. There is a caveat against it, Ierem. 9.23. Let not the strong man glory in his strength. If he will needs glory, let him glory in the Lord. Let his glorying be in imitation of the royal Prophet, Psa. 18.2. The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer: my God, my strength in whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. The Lord is my strength.

A third is to admonish us of a duty of ours, which is, in trouble sometimes, yea always, to approach unto the throne of grace by humble prayer, to beg of God his protection against all the assaults of our enemies, that they never prevail against us to take away our strength.

I am come to my last circumstance, the circumstance of the spoil, in these words,

Et diripientur palatia tua, And thy palaces shall be spoiled. The Vulgar Latin saith, Diripientur aedes tuae, thy houses shall be spoiled. Petrus Lusitanus preferreth Palaces, as best agreeing with the Hebrew. He is in the right. palaces are named, because Conquerors when they have won a City by assault, do enter into the fairest, stateliest, and most princely houses, presuming to find in them the greatest booties.

These Palaces are by some taken Metonymically to signify either the goods heaped up in them, or the possessions belonging to them.

We shall not do amiss if we follow the letter, and take these Palaces, as they are, for the Palaces of Samaria, wherein the Princes, Magistrates, and Rulers of Samaria, did store up the treasures of violence and robbery, as we saw upon the former verse. So the meaning may be thus: Palatia tua, Thy Palaces, O Samaria, which were as the receptacles, caves, or dens, in which thou didst treasure up thy goods gotten from the poor by violence and wrong, diripientur, they shall be spoiled: thou hast spoiled others, therefore shalt thou thyself be spoiled. Sic erit poena sceleri consentiens; so shall the punishment be agreeable to the offense. Observe here,

This is that which is vulgarly said, In quo quis peccat, in eo punitur; as a man offendeth, in the same manner will God punish him.

They who sought the life of Daniel, sinned in causing him to be cast into the Lions den. How were they for so sinning punished? God might have revenged himself upon them by his own immediate hand, but would not. They were punished the same way: they were cast into the Lions den, and so perished, Dan. 6.24.

It was David's sin to commit adultery with Uriah’s wife, and to slay her husband with the sword of the Ammonites. How was he for so sinning punished? He was paid home and punished in his own kind. To reward and serve him, as he had served others, God as a just Judge raiseth up evil against him out of his own house. His own sons break out into the same sins; they rise up against him, and one against another. A tent is spread for Absalom upon the house top, and he lieth with his fathers Concubines in the sight of all Israel, 2 Sam. 16.22. Amnon deflowreth his sister Tamar, 2 Sam. 13.14. to revenge this, Absalom causeth his brother Amnon to be slain, verse. 28.

Blood requireth blood. Hereof are we assured, Gen. 9 6. Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his bleud be shed. So saith our Savior in the Gospel, Matth. 26.51. All they that take the sword, shall perish with the sword. The like is that in the Revelation, Chap. 13.10. He that killeth with the sword, must be killed with the sword. Blood requireth blood. And though peradventure a murderer do escape the hand of the Magistrate, yet will the vengeance of God find him out. We see this in Joab: he shed innocent blood, the blood of Abner, and Amasa, two Captains of the Hosts of Israel. He escaped a long time, as if his murders had been forgotten, but at length vengeance came home unto him, and suffered not his hoary head to go down to the grave in peace; for his blood was shed, 1 King. 2.34.

Memorable is the example of Adoni-Bezek, who being taken by Judah and Simeon, had his thumbs and great toes cut off. Herein he confessed that the justice of God had found him out, and requited him in his kind, according to his own cruelty. For saith he, Threescore and ten Kings, having their thumbs and their great toes cut off, gathered their meat under my table: as I have done, so God hath requited me, Judge. 1.7. Thus was cruelty repaid with cruelty in the same kind.

A like example is that of Agag, King of the Amalekites. He having made many a woman childless, is repaid in the like; and is himself hewed in pieces by Samuel, with this Item; As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women, 1 Sam. 15.33.

If Haman set up a gallows to hang up Mordecai, Haman may be the first that shall be hanged thereon, Esther 7.10.

It is the law of equality and equity, that men suffer the same things of others, which they have offered unto others. Our Savior Christ in his Sermon upon the Mount thus delivers it; With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again, Matth. 7.2. Whereupon one saith after this manner; He that rashly and unjustly censureth others, feeleth at one time or other the smart of it in the like kind. For God doth justly raise up others to censure him, that thereby he may be recompensed. According to this law of equity it is said, Reu. 3.10. He that leadeth into captivity, shall be led into captivity: And Isaiah 33.1. They that deal treacherously with others, shall have others to deal treacherously with them; and they that spoil others, shall themselves be spoiled. This last is the very measure, that is in this my text threatened to the ten Tribes. They spoiled the poor, treasuring up in their palaces the goods taken from them by violence and robbery, and therefore shall their palaces be spoiled. Thus far is the confirmation of my doctrine, which was,

Are punishments proportionable to the offenses? One reason hereof may be, because the justice of God is hereby cleared, and the mouth of iniquity stopped. When God retaileth us according to the sin that we have committed, what can we allege or answer for our selves? Surely, we cannot have any excuse, pretence or allegation for our selves, but must confess with our own mouth, and against our selves, that God is righteous, and that our selves are wicked.

A second reason may be taken from the equity of this kind of proceeding. It is meet that malefactors have their deserts; nor can they complain of injustice, so long as they receive their own. God will give to every man according to his works: he will give them wages according to their deservings. Upon this equity is grounded the Law of retaliation, by which God requireth of the hands of Magistrates, that they recompense life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe, Exod. 21.23. The Law is repeated, Levite. 24.19, 20. If a man cause a blemish in his neighbor: as he hath done, so shall it be done unto him. Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him again. Now if God hath made a law for Magistrates to recompense the sinner according to the manner of his sin, we may not doubt but that God himself will measure his punishments according to the rule of justice and equity. Upon the ground of these reasons, my doctrine standeth,

Now one use of this doctrine is to teach us, to set a watch over our selves, to keep out the practice of sin, that carrieth such a tail and train after it. The sinner shall ever find a punishment answerable to his sin. This is a notable bridle to induce us to abstain from all kind of sin: to abstain from whoredom and drunkenness, the sins that rage among carnal men. Because Magistrates are slack and careless in punishing of these sins, God bringeth upon such as continue in them very loathsome and noisome diseases; meet punishments for such filthy sins. And if we be wise to commit new sins, God only wise, will catch us in our wisdom; he will be wise enough to find out punishments that shall be proportioned to our transgressions. Pro mensurâ peccati erit & plagarum modus; as our sin is, so shall be our punishment.

Again, from hence we learn to be patient under the punishments that do befall us. Since God doth punish us in that wherein we have offended, when we feel that God hath found us out, and that neither our selves, nor our sins can any longer be hidden from his eyes, let us humble our selves under his mighty hand, and hold our peace, because he hath done it.

Thirdly, this may serve to check all cruel and merciless oppressors, such as grind the faces of the poor, and spoil the needy by their covetous and corrupt dealing, pulling from them, that which is their own, without conscience of sin, or feeling of judgment to come. God suffereth such to have their time, while he holdeth his peace, and letteth them alone, to fill up the measure of their sins. Yet hath God his seasons too, and hath determined what to do, and how to deal with such offenders: the spoiler shall be spoiled, the robber shall be robbed, the oppressor shall be oppressed: and they that deal violently with others, shall have others to deal violently with them. Wherefore, whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, even so do unto them, for this is the Law of equity.

THE Fourteenth Lecture.

THis verse belongeth to the Commination that went before. The Commination was a denunciation or a menacing of the judgment of God against the Kingdom of the ten Tribes, the people of Israel. The judgment was a conquest by war, and that was described by three circumstances, the siege the victory, and the spoil: all which were handled in my l • st Sermon. Now is the conquest amplified, from the sad and fearful event thereof, which our Prophet here delivereth by a Similitude taken from the experience of a Shepherd. Such shall be the conquest of the Assyrians against the Israelites, that the Israelites shall be no more able to resist the Assyrians, than a silly Sheep is able to resist a Lion.

The Israelites trusted in the multitude of their people, in the valor of their soldiers, in their fenced Cities, among which the chief were Samaria and Damascus; for they had enlarged their territories even unto Damascus. Therefore it seemed to them impossible, that any foreign power should prevail against them. To beat down this vain confidence of theirs, Amos here bringeth this rural and pastoral Similitude, assuring them, that those things, whereupon they rely for safety, shall be so far from doing them any good, that few, very few of them shall escape the hand of the enemy.

For our more easy proceeding at this time, let it please you to observe with me two things:

• 1 An introduction to a similitude, Thus saith the Lord.
• 2 The similitude it self; As the Shepherd taketh out, &c.

The Introduction gives credit and authority to the Similitude.

The Similitude hath two parts, the two usual parts of a Simile.

• 1 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Proposition.
• 2 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Reddition.

The Proposition: A Shepherd taketh out of the mouth of a Lion two legs or a piece of an ear.

The Reddition: So shall the children of Israel be taken out of the hands of Salmanassar.

The things compared are;

First, a Lion, and Salmanassar King of Assyria.

Secondly, a Sheep, and the Children of Israel.

Thirdly, some fragments of a devoured sheep; two legs, or a piece of an ear, and the small number of the Israelites that should escape.

These Israelites are here described ab ipsorum securitate, from their security or lack of care. They live nicely a • d delicately in all pleasure and delight, full of confidence, that no evil shall at any time touch them. They dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

Samaria and Damascus, Cities of strength and fortification, were unto the Israelites as their beds of repose and rest: They thought themselves safe, and out of danger, by the aid and succor of Ci • ies so well fenced: but were deceived. For thus saith the Lord, As the Shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the Lion two legs or a piece of an ear: so shall the children of Israel be taken out, that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

Such is the division of this Text. I now descend to a special handling of the parts. The first is, the Introduction to the Similitude.

Thus saith the Lord.

This Introduction I heretofore copiously handled. I met with it in the first Chapter of this book five times, in the second, thrice; and once before in this: and therefore the less need is there, that now I insist upon it. Yet may I not leave it vnsaluted, since our Prophet here repeateth it. And he repeateth it to justify his calling: to show, that albeit he formerly lived the life of a Shepherd, yet now he ha • h his calling to be a Prophet from the Lord, Jehovah. Whence my observation is:

This truth is by the Apostle, Hebr. 5.4. thus delivered: No man taketh this honor to himself, but he that is called of God, as Aaron was. Now that Aaron and his sons were consecrated to the Priests office by the authority and appointment of God, it is plain by the eighth Chapter of Leviticus, wherein are set down the sacrifices and ceremonies used at the Consecration, together with the place and time thereof. Thereby it appeareth, that the office of holy Priest-hood was not of man, nor from man; but God Almighty did first institute and ordain it by his own express commandment. Then being ordained, he confirmed the honor and reputation of it, by that great miracle of the budding of Aaron's rod, Num. 17.8. The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded Almonds. Thus was the institution of holy Priesthood from God alone.

This honor the holy men of God, of old time, took not to themselves. Nor Isaiah, nor Jeremiah, nor Ezekiel, nor any of the residue, took this honor to themselves, but were all called of God, and in the name of God they declared unto the people his visions and his words: which is intimated by those passages, very obvious in the writings of the Prophets; as the vision of Isaiah, the vision of Obadiah, the burden of Nineveh in the book of the vision of Nahum; the burden which Habakkuk the Prophet did see; the burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi: the word of the Lord which came to Hosea, to Joel, to Jonah, to Micah, to Zephaniah, to Haggai, to Zachariah. The Lord hath spoken; Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord; Saith the Lord. By these and the like passages they show their calling to have been from God; Not one of them took this honor to himself.

Nor did Christ himself take this honor to himself, but with warrant of his Fathers calling. For so I read, Heb. 5.5. Christ glorified not himself to be made an High Priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, today have I begotten thee, He, even God the Father, gave him this honor. And hereunto doth Christ himself bear witness, in all those places of the holy Evangelists, wherein he acknowledged himself to be sent of God.

The holy Apostles of Christ, whence had they their calling? were they not all openly ordained by Christ himself? Never did any of them execute that office, but with protestation, that they had their calling from God, and therefore their writings begin: Paul a servant of Jesus Christ called to be an Apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father. James a servant of God, and of the Lord Jesus Christ: Peter an Apostle of Jesus Christ: Jude the servant of Jesus Christ: the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servant John. Thus had Christ's Apostles the assurance of their calling from God.

So had the blessed Evangelists. So, all those, whom Christ gave unto his Church for the instruction thereof, Ephes. 4.11. He gave some Apostles; and some Prophets; and some Evangelists, and some Pastors and Teachers. It is true, that Christ himself is the chief builder; for so he saith, Matth. 16.18. Super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam; upon this rock will I build my Church, and he builds it through his holy Spirit; yet he doth use Prophets, and Apostles, and Evangelists, and Pastors, and Teachers, as vnderwork men for this building, even unto the end of the world. And all these have the assurance of their calling from God. Who so hath it not, he is not to be vouchsafed the name of Prophet, or Apostle, or Evangelist, or Pastor, or Teacher: for he is an Intruder.

And great is the danger of Intrusion. Every Intruder was to be put to death. The Law for it is, Num. 1.51. Every stranger that cometh nigh unto the Tabernacle, shall be put to death: The stranger, any one that is not of the tribe and family of Levi, that breaketh into the Levites function, and meddleth with holy things beyond his calling, he is to be put to death.

An example hereof we have in the Beth-shemites, 1 Sam. 6.19. who, because they had looked into the Ark of the Lord, contrary to the Law, were smitten with a great slaughter to the number of fifty thousand and threescore and ten men.

The like we have in Uzzah son of Abinadab, 2 Sam. 6.6. who because he touched the Ark of God contrary to the Law, was punished with sudden death, and stricken with the immediate hand of God that fell upon him, to the terror of others, and to work reverence in the hearts of all men toward the sacred things of his service.

Add hereto the example of Uzziah, King of Judah, 2 Chron. 26.16. He for invading the Pri • sts office, for burning Incense upon the Altar of Incense in the Temple of the Lord, was stricken with a leprosy.

And Gideon that valiant man, who judged Israel for forty years, intermeddled too far with the Priests office, when he made the golden Ephod, Judge. 8.27. All Israel went a whoring after it, and it became a snare to Gideon himself, and to his house.

Now from the danger of intrusion, thus laid open, we may infer the unlawfulness of meddling with ministerial function in the Church, without assurance of calling from God.

The same may be inferred upon the blame which God layeth upon false Prophets, Ierem. 14.14. I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake I unto them, yet they prophesy. And Chap. 23.21. I have not sent these Prophets, yet they run: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. They have prophesied? What; but lies, though in my name? they have prophesied false visions, and diuinations, things of naught, and the deceit of their own heart. Thus have they done, but I sent them not, nor commanded them, nor spake unto them. This blame thus laid by the Lord upon wicked and false Teachers for running before they are sent, and preaching before they are called, enforceth the acknowledgement of the point hitherto delivered, that

This calling, the assurance whereof we are to have, is either immediate and • xtraordinary, or mediate and ordinary. The first is, where God calleth immediately without the ministry of man; so were the Prophets and Apostles called. The other is wherein God useth the ministry of man, as at this day, in the designment of every Minister unto his function. Both these callings, as well the mediate as the immediate, the ordinary as the extraordinary, are of God: that of God alone; this of God by man: and of this especially is the doctrine hitherto proved to be understood: we cannot expect a blessing upon our labors, except G • d hath called us: so necessary is God's calling to the ministry of the Church.

The point hitherto handled serveth for the confutation of the Anabaptist, and other fanatical spirits, who run without calling, and preach though they be not sent: contrary to that of Saint Paul Rom. 10.5. How shall they preach, except they be sent? And yet will these men, if they meet with a Minister that is lawfully and orderly called, demand of him, Quis te elegit? Sir, Who hath chosen you? though themselves have no calling at all; no, not from their blind Church: as Gastius hath observed in his first book of the errors of the Catabaptists. Yea, their assertion is; that, if a man understand the doctrine of the Gospel, be he either Cobbler, or Botcher, or Carpenter, or what else, he is bound to teach and preach. This is observed of them by Chemnitz in his Treatise of the Church, Chap. 4.

With these Anabaptists I may join the Photinians, who deny the nec ssity of vocation in the Ministers of the Church. Socinus in his Treatise of the Church, Theophilus Nic • laides, in his defense of that Treatise, Osterodius, Radeccius, Shemalizius, and the Catechist of Racow: all these are against a necessity of calling in the Ministry, and do here stand convicted of that their error.

So do all those lay people, men or women, who in the case of • upp • sed necessity do adventure to administer the Sacrament of Baptism, which together with the preaching of the word, the Lord hath invested in the persons of Ministers duly called, Mat. 28.19. Go ye and teach all Nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Ghost. Go ye, teach and baptize. Go ye. It is our Saviors precept to his Apostles, and in them to their successors, Ministers duly called. None of the Laity, nor man, nor woman, hath part in this function. And how can it be imagined, that women, whom Saint Paul hath excluded from preaching, 1 Cor. 14 34. should be permitted to administer any Sacrament? They may not so much as Baptize.

Its objected: women may teach their families; therefore they may also baptize.

Our answer is, that the Consequent holds not. Women may teach, as they are private Christians, but not as Ministers: Baptize they cannot, but as Ministers; this being every way, in every respect and manner proper to a Minister.

It is further objected from the example of Zipporah, Exod. 4.25. Zipporah. Moses wife, circumcised her son. In the place of Circumcision, Baptism hath succeeded; why then may not women nowadays Baptize?

I answer: Circumcision was not of old so appropriated to the Levites, as Baptism is now to the Ministers of the Gospel. And therefore its no good Consequence; Some that were not Levites did Circumcise; therefore some that are not Ministers may Baptise.

Again, what if Zipporah sinned in Circumcising her child? Must she be a pattern to other women to Baptize? Calvin is not afraid to prove she sinned, and his proof is sound, in the fourth of his Institutions, chap. 15. §. 22. though Bellarmine labor to refute him. It was doubtless an inexcusable temerity •• her to circumcise her child in the presence of her Husband, Moses, not a private man, but a prime Prophet of the Lord, than whom there arose not a greater in Israel, which was no more lawful for her to do, than it is at this day for a woman to Baptise in the presence of a Bishop. And how can she be excused from sin in that her act, since she murmured against the ordinance of the Lord, and reviled her husband? weigh but the bitterness of her speech: Surely, a bloody husband art thou to me, because of the Circumcision.

Thirdly, say she sinned not in circumcising her child (which yet I may not grant) then I say, the fact might be extraordinary, and therefore not to be imitated without like dispensation.

Fourthly, some think she was only the hand of her husband in his weakness; and so the fact shall be not hers, but her husbands.

For these reasons, the example of Zipporah doth not advantage the Papist, or Lutheran, in their error about Gy • aecobaptismus, or women's Baptism.

But may they not Baptise in case of extreme necessity?

No, not then.

Why then, the child may die unbaptized, and so be in certain danger of damnation.

We make a great difference between want of baptism and the contempt thereof. The contempt ever damneth; so doth not the want. By want I mean, when God so preventeth by death, that Baptism cannot be had according to the manner allowed in the holy Word of God. In this case the child that dieth unbaptized is not in any danger of damnation. For as Comestor in his Evangelical History, cap. 197. saith, Sine Baptismo saluatur homo cum eum excludit articulus necessitatis, non contemptus religions: A man may be saved, though he be unbaptized, if Baptism be excluded through the instant of necessity, and not by contempt of religion. So before him taught Saint Bernard, Baptismat • s fructu priuatur, qui baptizari contempsit, non qui non potuit: It is in his Epistle to Hugo de S. Victore, Ep. 77. He is deprived of the benefit of Baptism, that despiseth Baptism, not he that cannot have it. This truth he supporteth by two chief pillars of the Christian Church, Saint Ambrose, and Saint Augustine.

Saint Ambrose in his funeral Oration of the death of the Emperor Valentinian, doubteth not to say, that Valentinian was Baptized, because he desired Baptism, not because he had it. Certe quia poposcit accepit, doubtless because he desired it, he had it. God accounts us to have, that we unfeignedly wish.

Saint Augustine, lib. 4. de Baptismo contra Donatistas, cap. 22 saith that faith is available to salvation without the visible Sacrament of Baptism, but then, Cùm ministerium Baptismatis non contemptus religions, sed articulus necessitatis excludit; When the ministry of Baptism is excluded not of contempt, but of necessity.

I could here show unto you from the testimonies of our learned adversaries, that the absolute necessity of Baptism is not • ustifiable by the practice of primitive antiquity: but I stand not in this Mount of God to read a Controuersie. I shut up this Discourse with the words of Saint Bernard in the Epistle above alleged; Nequaquam omnino possum des • erare salutem, si aquam non contemptus, sed sola prohibeat impossibilitas: I cannot altogether despair of the salvation of such as depart this life without Baptism, if it be not done of contempt, but when as Baptism cannot possibly be had.

Now of the souls of Infants, who live nor to desire Baptism, what shall I say? May not the desire of others be theirs as well as the faith of others believing, and the mouth of others confessing is theirs? Here it is safe to suspend, and dangerous to pass judgment. Secret things belong to God. He that made all souls knoweth what to do with them, neither will he make us of his counsel. Our resolution must be to honor good means and use them; to honor Baptism and use it if we may; and in the necessary want thereof to depend upon God, who can work, beyond, without, and against means.

You see how far I have been carried with the objection drawn from women baptizing in case of necessity, whereby they are intruders into that function which is appropriate to the Ministers of the Word. If they will needs be meddling with a calling, I will show them a calling of their own, wherewith they may busy themselves.

As the Minister holds, his calling from God, so doth every other member of the Church. There is not a member of the Church, man or woman, but holds a particular standing and function from God, and is ranked in order by God's special providence and calling. And it is to great purpose, that you all know this in your own particulars. For

First, it enforceth diligence. If God hath set thee in thy calling, then it stands thee upon to discharge the duties of thy calling with all sedulity and alacrity.

Secondly, it may admonish thee not to pass the bounds of thy calling. Seeing thou art in thy place by the Will of God, thou must take heed that thou go not beyond thy limits, either by using unlawful courses, or by intruding into other men's functions.

Thirdly, it may teach thee that thy particular calling is to serve the general. Every Christian hath two callings; a particular, and a general. The particular, which is also personal, is the external designment of a man, to some outward service in the Church or common wealth, to the discharge of special duties in regard of the distinction between man and man. The general calling is the calling of Christianity; it is the singling out of a man by special sanctification to glorify God, and to seek out his own salvation in the things of the Kingdom of Christ: this is common to every member of the Church, to all believers. Both these callings, general and particular must be joined together in our life, as the body and soul in man. Where they are not joined together, there may be a show of Christianity, but the substance will be absent. Christ's Commandment, that men seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, is a demonstration, that men ought not so to follow their outward business and employments, as to omit the means of knowledge and grace. The particular calling must serve the general.

Fourthly, from this consideration, that we hold our particular callings from God, we are to learn contentment in the willing undergoing of the daily molestations, troubles, and crosses, that do befall us in our several courses and kinds of life. It is a lesson, in the practice whereof Saint Paul had well profited. I have learned, saith he, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content, Philip. 4.11. He knew how to be abased; and he knew how to abound. Every where and in all things he was instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Let us set him for the pattern of our imitation, and we will be content with what we have, be it much or little. If we have little, our account shall be the less; if more, we are bound to do the more good.

I have done with the Introduction to the similitude: It is time that I proceed with the similitude it self.

Hereof I find diverse expositions. Some will have this similitude to signify, that few of the Israelites shall be delivered from the spoil of Samaria, and those such as shall be sick, weak, and feeble, and therefore shall be despised and left behind as unprofitable, and of no use to be carried into captivity. And this is the exposition of Theodoret, Vatabius, Isidore, Rupertus, and Montanus. Christophorus à Castro thus gives it in his paraphrase: As when a Lion hath eaten his fill, and hath satiate his hunger, the shepherd findeth two legs, or a leg, or a piece of an ear, to show that the sheep hath been worried: so of the whole body of Samaria, one or other, a few, a very few shall be delivered from the slaughter of the enemy, and they unprofitable, as being wretched and sick, lying by couples in the side of a couch, as well in Samaria as in D • mascus.

O • hers will have this similitude to be understood by a Sarcasme or Irrision, as if our Prophet here scoffed at the Israelites for their vain confidence which they put in Samaria, and D • mascus, thus: As a shepherd useth to save from the mouth of a Lion that hath devoured a sheep, one or two legs, or the tip of an ear: so surely shall the children of Israel save themselves from the mouth of the Assyrians, trusting in the strength of Samaria, and in the help of Damascus or of the King of Syria, in whom they think, as a wearied man is refreshed in his bed, so themselves to be safe from their enemies: whereas indeed it shall be nothing so. And this is the exposition of Saint Jerome, Remigius, Albertus, Rupertus, Hugo and Dionysius.

The third exposition is Lyraes; He will have this similitude to signify, that very few of the Israelites shall be delivered, and they such, as shall escape by flight either to King Ez • kiah, to the Kingdom of Judah, to save themselves there in plagú lectuli, in the side or corner of a bed, that is, in Jerusalem, where the Temple was Dei lectulus, God's bed, as its called, Cant. 1.16. Lectulus noster floridus, our bed is decked with flowers; or to the Kingdom of Syria, to save themselves there in Damasci grabuto, in a couch at Damascus.

Of these expositions I prefer the second, which I touched in my division of the Text. Now let us a little look upon the words. The Proposition is,

A shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the Lion two legs or a piece of an ear] This he doth according to the Law, Exod. 22.13. If a sheep be torn in pieces by wild beasts, the shepherd is to bring it, or the remnants of it, a leg, or an ear, or the like, to the owner for a witness that it is torn, and he shall not need to make restitution thereof unto the owner, so he did his best to rescue it. For a shepherd is of duty to rescue his flock. David did it valiantly. As he kept his fathers sheep, there came a Lion, and took a Lamb out of the flock; and he went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when the Lion arose against him, he caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him, 1 Sam. 17.34. My shepherd here is not so happy to save his sheep: but his sheep being devoured, he findeth some part of it, two legs, or a piece of an ear, whereby he may excuse himself to his Master for his lost sheep. These parcels, leg or ear, he taketh Ex ore Leonis.

Out of the mouth of the Lion] Non ex ore Lupi, sed ex ore Leonis. He saith not, out of the mouth of the wolf, but out of the mouth of the Lion. For a thing is recovered with more difficulty and with greater danger from a Lion than from a Wolf. Johannes Leo in his description of Afric: Credat qui volet, quicquid Leo prehenderit, etiamsi Camelus foret, rostro aufert; Believe it he that will, whatsoever a Lion catcheth, though it be a Camel, he beareth it away in his mouth. Hence its proverbially said, Ex ore Leonis, out of the Lions mouth, for, out of extreme danger: and its used when a man hath deliverance beyond hope. Saint Paul useth it, 2 Tim. 4.17. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , I was delivered out of the mouth of the Lion: the Lion, not the Devil, as Ambrose saith, nor Festus the President of Judea, as Primasius affirmeth; but Nero, proud and cruel Nero, persecuting Nero, as its expounded by Chrysostom, Theodoret, Theophylact, Oecumenius, Aquinas, and Eusebius.

The royal Prophet hath it, Psal. 22.21. Serua me ex ore Leonis. The words are a part of Christ's Prayer, Save me from the mouth of the Lion. Some will have that Lion to be the Devil; some Pilate, some Caiaphas, some Herod. Lorinus will have him to betoken Principes & potentes, all the chief Priests, Scribes, the Elders of the people, all that were the crucifiers of Christ.

Here it is in proper terms, without a metaphor, The shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the Lion two legs, or a piece of an ear. Yet will Albertus have this Lion to be, either the King of Babylon, or the Devil. He addeth by way of explication, Os tyranni violentia est, os Diaboli peccatum: the mouth of a Tyrant is violence, the mouth of the Devil is sin.

This Lion Carthusian in his moral explanation expoundeth by the Devil, so doth Salmeron in his Tropologie. And I deny not but that the Lion doth many times in a moral and tropologicall sense signify the Devil. But if we will follow the letter of my Text, this Lion doth well resemble the King of Babylon, or the King of Assyria, Salmanassar.

It is not unusual for a Lion to resemble a King. This resemblance is, Prov. 19.12. The Kings wrath is as the roaring of a Lion. The roaring of a Lion is fearful and terrible to the beasts of the forest, so is the wrath of a King to his subjects. The like is that, chap. 20.2. The fear of a King is as the roaring of a Lion. The fear of a King; the terror which the anger or wrath of a King striketh into his subjects, is as the roaring of a Lion, very terrible. The Lion hath a Bear for his associate, Prov. 28.15. As a roaring Lion and a ranging Bear; so is an ungodly Prince over the poor people. An ungodly Prince is unto the people over whom he ruleth, as a roaring Lion or a ranging Bear to a Lamb or Kid. Thus doth a Lion resemble a King, either in good or ungodly.

Not amiss then is it, that Salmanassar, King of Assyria, that great and mighty King, who was to carry away into captivity the ten Tribes of Israel, is here compared unto a Lion: according to the sense above given. Such shall be the conquest of the Assyrians, under the conduct of Salmanassar against the Israelites, that the Israelites shall be no more able to resist the Assyrians, than a silly sheep is able to resist a Lion.

Now to the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the Reddition, the other part of this Similitude.

Of both these Cities, Samaria and Damascus, I have heretofore entreated out of this place: Of Damascus upon the first Chapter of this, verse. 3. and 5. Of Samaria upon the ninth verse of this Chapter.

Samaria was the City royal of the ten Tribes. King Omri bought the hill of Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built a City thereon, and called it after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria. It remained the chief seat of the Kingdom, as long as the Kingdom endured.

Damascus was the Metropolitical, the chiefest City of Syria. Isaiah calls it the head of Syria. Julian in his Epistle to Sarapion stiles it the City of Jupiter, and eye of the whole East, Holy and Great Damascus. Tzetzes upon Lycophron, the Trophy of Jupiter, because Jupiter there conquered the Titans.

These two Cities, Samaria and Damascus, Cities of strength and fortification, were unto the Israelites as their beds of repose and rest: here they thought themselves safe, did eat, were filled and became fat, living nicely and deliciously in full ease and pleasure. So much is meant by this their dwelling in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch.

In the corner of a bed, in a couch.] Sermo est de lecto discubitorio sieve tricliniari, saith Villalpandus in Ezech. 23. The speech is of a triclinary or parlor-bed, of such a bed, whereon of old time men used to take and eat their meat. It was the use of old to have a dining room, Chamber, or Parlour, wherein stood three beds whereon they sat at meat, compassing the table on three sides; the fourth side was left free and clear for waiters. To this ancient custom our Prophet here alludeth: as also he doth, Chap. 6.4. They lie upon beds of iuory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the Lambes out of the flock, and Calves out of the midst of the stall, and Chap. 2.8. They lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every Altar. When I handled those words, I spake at large of this custom. Amos now again alluding to it, giveth us to understand, that the Israelites desiring to lie in angulo lecti, that is, in capite lecti, at the beds head, in the chiefest place, feasted it sumptuously and deliciously as well in Samaria, as in Damascus: Little thought they of going into Captivity.

Now take the similitude to the full. As when a Lion hath eaten his fill, and hath satiate his hunger, the shepherd findeth two legs, or the tip of an ear, to show unto the owner, that his sheep was worried: so the children of Israel, here a man, and there a man, few of them, very few, shall be taken out of the mouth of the Lion, King Salmanassar, though they trust in the strength of Samaria, and in the succor of Damascus, thinking thereby to be safe, as in a bed of rest or feasting.

We have gone the greater part of our journey; let your attentions bear me company, for the little that is behind. Our Prophet here deriding or scoffing at the Israelites, for their confidence in the multitude of their people, in the valor of their soldiers in their fenced Cities, in the strength of Samaria, in 〈◊〉 succor of Damascus, teacheth us, that

All such confidence is with all diligence to be shunned. Divine prohibition is against it, Psal. 118.8. Put no confidence in man, no not in Princes: and Psal. 146.3. Put not your trust in Princes, nor in any son of man. The prohibition is divine: Put no confidence in man; and therefore all such confidence is to be shunned.

Now the reasons why no confidence is to be put in man, are diverse.

One is, because it is manifest idolatry so to do. To withdraw and remove the affections of the heart from the Lord, and set them upon other things, cannot be less than Idolatry.

A second reason depending hereupon, I take from the description of confidence. It is described to be indubitata spes futuri auxilij; It is the undoubted hope of future succor, which is due to God alone. And therefore to put our confidence in man, is to deny God his due.

A third reason is taken from the condition of man, in whom some put their trust. The condition of man! What is that? David breaks forth into admiration of it; Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him? or the son of man, that thou makest account of him? And then shapes unto himself an answer; Homo vanitati similis factus est; Man is like to vanity, Psal. 144.4. Like to vanity! Well were it for him were he only like unto it; Veruntamen vniuersa vanitas, omnis homo viuens; Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity, Psal. 39.5. Every man at his best state altogether vanity! Surely, men of low degree are vanity; and men of high degree are a Lie. Lay them in the balance, they are altogether lighter than vanity, Psal. 62.9.

What! Man, who hath an admirable feature, and aboundeth with created excellencies, is he made like unto vanity? Nay, is he altogether vanity? Nay, is he lighter than vanity? What then can his life be? Pa •• •• ies, its but a tabernacle, 2 Cor. 5 4. and if a tabernacle stand a year, its much. Peter calls it grass. Epist. 1. Chap. 1.24. and grass grows but a Summer. David calls it a flow • r, Psal. 103 15. and a flower hath but his month. Isaiah describes i • by a day, Chap. 21.12. and a day hath but a morni • g and an evening. Job compares it to a shadow, Chap. 14.2. and a shadow hath neither year, nor summer, nor month, nor day, but an hour. Mose • likens it to a thought, Psal. 90 9. and of thoughts there may be an hundred in an hour. So short a life what else doth it argue, but that man is vanity?

And what so little a creature is there, that yields not an argument to prove man's vanity? A little hair in milk strangles Fabius: the stone of a Raison Anacreon; a fly Pope Adrian the fourth. The Myuntines were chased from their habitations by Gnats; the Atariotes by frogs, some Italians by mice, some Medians by sparrows, the Egyptians oftentimes by grasshoppers. And if Pharaoh ask, who is the Lord? Frogs, and Lice, and Flies, and other the basest vermin shall be his Challengers, and Conquerors, and Jailor's; and ask, who is Pharaoh? so vain a thing is man.

The fourth reason against confidence in man, I take from the dangerous effects thereof. First, it bringeth upon us the curse of God: for thus saith the Lord, Ierem. 17.5. Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm. And he whom God curseth, shall be accursed. Secondly, it makes us liable to God's just vengeance. So were the people of Judah, for the confidence they had in Rezin and Remaliahs son, Isaiah 8.6. So they, who strengthened themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and trusted in the shadow of Egypt. The strength of Pharaoh was their shame, and the shadow of Egypt their confusion, Isaiah 30.3. And so (to omit many other) the Israelites in my Text, for relying upon the multitude of their people, the valor of their soldiers, their fenced Cities, the strength of Samaria, and the succor of Damascus.

Thus have you the reasons of my Doctrine: why there is not any confidence to be put in creatures, either in the strength of man, or the munition of 〈◊〉 • s.

The use is to admonish us, that we depend not upon the vain and transitory things of this life, but upon God alone, who only is unchangeable and unmovable: that we resign our selves wholly into his hands, and confess before him, in the words of the Psalm 91.9. Tu es Domine spes mea: Thou art, O Lord, my hope. Sweet is the meditation of Saint Bernard upon the place: Let others pretend merit, let them brag that they have borne the burden and heat of the day, let them tell of their fasting twice a week, let them glory that they are not as other men; Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est, ponere in Domino Deo spem meam; but its good for me to cleave fast unto God, to put my hope in the Lord God.

Sperent in ali • s alii, Let others trust in other things; one in his learning, another in his nobility, a third in his worth, a fourth in any other vanity, Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est, but its good for me to cleave fast unto God, to put my trust in the Lord God.

Dearely beloved; if we shall sacrifice to our own nets, burn incense to our own yarne, put our trust in outward means, either riches, or policy, or Princes, or men, or mountains, forsaking God, God will blow upon these means and turn them to our overthrow. Wherefore though we have all helps in our own hands to defend our selves, and offend our enemies, as that, we are fenced by Sea, fortified by ships, blessed by Princes, backed with friends, stored with munitions, aided with confederates, and armed with multitudes of men, yet may we not put our trust herein; for nobis etiam adhaerere Deo, bonum est; its also good for us to cleave fast unto God, to put our trust in the Lord God, who alone gives the blessing to make all good means effectual.

There is not much remaining. The small number of the Israelites that were to be delivered from the fury of the Assyrian, resembled by the two legs, or the tip of the ear taken by the shepherd out of the Lions mouth, yields us this observation: that

When God punished the old world, the world of the ungodly, bringing the flood upon them, he saved Noah the eighth person, the preacher of righteousness. When God condemned the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah with an overthrow, turning them into ashes, making them an ensample unto those that after should live wickedly, he delivered just Lot from among them.

There is a remnant left, Isaiah 1.9. Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. You see a remnant reserved, though it be very small. Yea sometimes there is a reservation of so small a remnant, as is hardly visible; as in the days of Elijah, who knew of none but himself. I only am left, saith he, 1 King. 19.14. Yet God tells him, verse. 18. of seven thousand in Israel, which never bowed their knees to Baal. I find, Joel 2.32. deliverance in mount Zion, deliverance in Jerusalem, and deliverance in the remnant, when the Lord shall call. There is then a remnant to be called, even in greatest extremity.

Wherefore you, the Elect and chosen children of God the Father, be ye full of comfort: take unto you, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of gladness for the spirit of heaviness, rejoice ye, be glad together and be ye comforted. Let the Prince of darkness, and all the powers of Hell, assisted with the innumerable company of his wicked vassals upon the Earth, join together to work your overthrow, they shall not be able to effect it. For God, even your God, will reserve unto himself a remnant.

And what is this remnant, but pusillus grex? Its a little flock, the chaste Spouse of Christ, the holy Catholic Church. Extra cam nulla est salus: Out of it there is no Salvation, for he that hath not the Church for his Mother, shall never have God for his Father. So much for the explanation of this twelfth verse. And God's blessing be upon it.

THE Fifteenth Lecture.

THe words of the Lord are just, by whom soever they are uttered: and the authority of the holy Spirit is wonderful, by whom soever he speaketh. Non minùs de ore pastoris, quam de ore Imperatoris pertonat: he thundereth, or he speaketh with as much Majesty from the mouth of a shepherd, as from the mouth of an Emperor. Amos our Prophet, is this shepherd from whom the holy Spirit here thundereth. Before he came with a proclamation to the palaces of Ashdod, and to the palaces of the Land of Egypt. Now he comes with a Contestation to the house of Jacob. Hereafter you may hear his message to the King of Bashan, that are in the mountains of Samaria, Chap. 4.1. If Amos had from a shepherd been advanced to the Majesty of a King, as David was, what could we wish should have been added to the greater majesty of his elocution? The contestation is the thing whereupon I shall at this time principally insist.

The words are a Prosopopaeia: the Almighty is brought in, calling upon his Priests and Prophets to give ear unto him, and to bear witness of the calamities which he was purposed to lay upon the house of Jacob: that when he should punish them for their evil deeds, he would visit their Temple, and proudest buildings with desolation.

The parts are two:

One is a mandate for a Contestation, or Testification.

The other is the matter to be testified. That verse. 13. This verse. 14, 15.

For the first, these particulars may be observed:

• 1. Who it is that gives the mandate? It is he that best may do it, Even the Lord. The Lord God, the God of Hosts.
• 2. To whom he gives it: Sacerdotibus, & Prophetis, to his Priests and Prophets: for to them is this by an Apostrophe directed.
• 3. How he gives it; thus, Audit & contestamini, Hear and testify.
• 4. The place where this testification is to be made, In domo Jacob, In the house of Jacob.

Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of Hosts, Vers. 13.

In the other part, which is of the matter to be testified, we may observe,

1. That God is fully resolved to punish Israel for sin: A day there is wherein the Lord will visit the transgression of Israel upon him, Vers. 14.

2. That this punishment, so resolved upon by the Lord, shall reach unto their holiest places, to their houses of Religion, to their Altars in Bethel: the horns of the Altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground, verse. 14.

3. That this punishment shall extend to the palaces, the chiefest places of their habitation, even to their demolition and ruin. The winter-house shall be smitten, so shall the summer-house: the houses of Ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, verse. 15.

4. The seal and assurance of all, and that we have in the end of this Chapter, in two words, saith the Lord.

Thus have you the division of this text: the branches are many; all observable, and worthy your attention. Order requireth that I begin with the first part, which was the mandate for the testification: the first branch whereof was of the giver thereof: and that was He, that might best do it, even the Lord, called here Dominus Jehovah, Deus exercituum; The Lord God, the God of Hosts.

These names of God have no small weight. They serve to seal the truth of this Prophecy. Amos might have said in brief, Saith the Lord, or the Lord God, as he had said oft before: but not content therewith, he now addeth a third title or appellation, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Elohei hatzebaoth, the God of Sabaoth. He is called also Iehouatzebaoth, 1 Sam. 4.4. the Lord of Sabaoth. In your Te Deum, that excellent Canticle of Ambrose and Augustine, he is styled the Lord God of Sabaoth, Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth.

This name of Sabaoth is retained by Saint Paul, Rom. 9.29. and he hath it from Isaiah 1.9. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and made like unto Gomorrah. Saint James hath it in his Epistle, Chap. 5.4. Behold, the hire of the laborers which have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and their cry is entered 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , into the cares of the Lord of Sabaoth.

There are of the Ancient, who have taken this name, Sabaoth, for one of the names of God. Saint Jerome Epist. 136. writing to Marcella of the ten Hebrew names of God, saith, the fourth is Sabaoth. Quartum nomen Dei est Sabaoth, quod Septuaginta virtutum, Aquila exercituum transtulerunt: The fourth name of God in Hebrew is Sabaoth, which is by the LXX. translated Virtutum, by Aquila, Exercituum. Both words Virtutes and Exercitus, signify the same thing, military forces, an host or band of armed soldiers.

Isiodore Bishop of Hispalis, Orig. lib. 7. cap. 1. agreeth with Saint Jerome; Quartum nomen Dei, dicitur Sabaoth, quod vertitur in Latinum, exercituum sieve virtutum; de quo in Psalmo ab Angels dicitur, Quis est iste Rex gloriae? Dominus virtutum? The fourth name of God is Sabaoth: turn it into Latin, it will be Exercitus, or Virtutes, hosts or bands of armed soldiers: whereof the Angels in the Psalm do speak; Who is this King of glory? Dominus virtutum, the Lord of Hosts, he is this King of glory.

The Author of the Looking-glass in the ninth Tome of Saint Augustine's works, the tenth Chapter of that book speaketh thus unto the Lord: Tu mitis & benign, fortis & zelotes, & Sabaoth inuictissime: O thou meek and gracious, strong and jealous, and most invincible Sabaoth.

Origen. Hom. 4. in Esaiam, upon those words of the Song of the Seraphim, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Sabaoth, saith, Sabaoth is by Aquila's interpretation Dominus militiarum, the Lord of Hosts. But in this place he seemeth to be maimed and imperfect. Drusius in his 23. Epist. corrects him by adding Adonai unto Sabaoth; thus: Adonai Sabaoth is by Aquila's interpretation, Dominus exercituum, the Lord of Hosts. So the meaning is good, and is confirmed by Epiphanius lib. 1. haeres. 26. Aquila everywhere in the Old Testament, for Adonai Sabaoth, hath 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , and that is, Dominus exercituum, the Lord of Hosts.

As for Saint Jerome and Isidore, and the Author of the Looking-glass; Drusius is of opinion they were deceived, in taking Sabaoth for a name of God. Believe me, saith he, Sabaoth is never said of God, but it is either Deus Sabaoth, or Dominus Sabaoth, either the God of Sabaoth, or the Lord of Sabaoth. And he is in the right. For indeed Sabaoth is no name of God; nor is it ever found alone, if it be spoken of God.

Elegantly to this purpose saith Epiphanius lib. 1. Haeres. 40. against the Archontici: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the name of Sabaoth hath the interpretation of Hosts: and therefore the Lord of Sabaoth is the Lord of Hosts. It is well known to everyone that is conversant in holy Scripture, that the Scripture, where it useth the name of Sabaoth, speaketh not after this manner, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Sabaoth hath said unto me, or Sabaoth hath spoken; but thus, Dicit Dominus Sabaoth, saith the Lord of Sabaoth; and that is, if you will interpret, the Lord of Hosts.

Saint Ambrose his interpretation of this name Sabaoth, I may not well pass by. It is Lib. 4. de fide ad Gratianum, cap. 1. There upon those words of the 24. Psalm, Dominus Sabaoth, ipse est Rex gloriae, the Lord of the Sabaoth, he is the King of glory, he saith, Sabaoth interpretes alicubi Dominum virtutum, alicubi Regem, alicubi Omnipotentem interpretata sunt. Interpreters have rendered the name of Sabaoth, sometime by the Lord of Hosts, sometime by the name of King, sometime by the name of Almighty. But the place is manifestly vicious. For Sabaoth nowhere signifieth a King: nor have Interpreters anywhere so rendered it. To correct that error, Drusius for Regem readeth exercituum; and he proves his correction out of Eucherius, whose words are Sabaoth, exercituum, sieve virtutum, ant vt aliqui volunt, omnipotence. Sabaoth is for signification as you would say, of armies; or of hosts, or omnipotent.

Sabaoth is rendered Omnipotent, or Almighty, by the Septuagint, as in other places, so in this text of mine, wherein for Elohe hatzebaoth, the God of Sabaoth, they have 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , God Almighty. Whence is that rule of Saint Jerome to Damasus, Epist. 142. We are to know, that wheresoever the Seuentie Interpreters have expressed Dominum virtutum, and Dominum omnipotentem, the Lord of Hosts, and the Lord Almighty, there in the Hebrew it is Dominus Sabaoth, which is by Aquila's interpretation, Dominus militiarum, the Lord of Hosts. The Lord of Hosts, by Aquila's interpretation, is God the Almighty by the interpretation of the Septuagint.

Well. Elohe hatzebaoth, the God of Sabaoth; Be he with the Greeks, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; or be he with the Latins, Dominus, or Deus virtutum, or Militiarum, or Exercituum; all will be well expressed in our language with one title, The Lord, or God of Hosts.

But what are these Hosts whereof God is the Lord? There is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , an host of Heaven, Act. 7.42. And what that is, Saint Jerome expoundeth to the noble Lady Algasia, Epist. 151. quaest. 10. The Host of Heaven, is not only the Sun and Moon, and glistering Stars, but also the whole multitude of Angels, and their armies: called in Hebrew Sabaoth, which is in Latin Virtutum or Exercituum. Hispalensis for this host of Heaven, doth reckon up in the place above alleged, Angels, Arch-angels, Principalities and Powers, and all the Orders of the armies celestial, of whom God is the Lord. For they are all under him, and subject to his sovereignty.

It is true what those Ancients have said of the Host of Heaven. True it is that the Angels are of this army. Micaiah tells King Ahab so, 1 King. 22.19. I saw the Lord sitting on his Throne, and all the Host of Heaven standing by him, on his right hand, and on his left. There the Host of Heaven are the Angels, who attend the Lord, to put in execution whatsoever he shall command. At the birth of Jesus Christ our Savior the Angel that appeared unto the shepherds, had with him a multitude of the Heavenly Host, Luke 2.13. and that multitude was of Angels: and they were (by likelihood) created in the first day with the Heavens, because those sons of God did shout for joy, when God laid and fastened the foundations of the earth, Job 38.7. These the sons of God, the Angels, sweetly described by the Nightingale of France to be,

these, the Sons of God, the Angels, are of the glorious Host of Heaven.

So are the Stars, the Sun, the Moon, the goodly furniture of the visible Heavens; they are all of the Heavenly host. So shall you find them called, Deut. 4.19. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars, even all the Host of Heaven. Of this host of Heaven it is prophesied, Isaiah. 34.4. All the Host of Heaven shall be dissolved, and the Heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf-falleth off from the Vine, and as a falling fig from the fig-tree. As for the Stars, they in their courses fought against Sisera, Judge. 5.20. The Sun and the Moon stood still; the Sun upon Gibeon the Moon in the valley of Ajalon, till the people of Israel had avenged themselves upon their enemies, the Amorites, Ios. 10.12. The Sun, the Moon, the Stars, all the twinkling spangles of the firmament, you see, are of God's host.

Nor is G • ds host only of Celestial creatures, but also of all other creatures in the world. In the second Chapter of Genesis v. 1. where it is said, the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them, by all the hast of them, we are to understand all creatures in the Earth and Heavens, which stand as an army servants to the Lord, and are by him comm • nded. That all things are God's servants is avowed, Psal. 119.91. The Heaven and Earth continue to this day according to the ordinances of the Lord, for they are all his servants. Heaven and earth and all things therein contained Continue] safe, sound, and sure, even to this day] wherein we live, and so shall do to the worlds end, by the ordinance and appointment of God, for all are his servants; all creatures yield obedience to him, as servants to their masters. They are all by him commanded. For thus saith the Lord, Isaiah. 45.12. I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands have stretched out the Heavens, and all their host have I commanded. The innumerable Hosts of creatures both in Heaven and Earth are all by God commanded.

Now from this which hath hitherto been delivered, the reason is plain, why this title of God Elobe hatzebaoth, the God of Sabaoth, or the God of Hosts, is by our Prophet added to the two former appellations, Adonai Jehovah, the Lord God. It is, the more lively to set forth his rule, dominion, and sovereignty over all. It showeth that as an army or an Host of soldiers obeyeth their. Emperor or commander; so all things, all creatures, celestial, terrestrial, and infernal, are of God's host, and do yield unto him, as to their Emperor and commander, all obedience. They all stand ready in martial order and battle-ray, pressed to do whatsoever God willeth: and therefore is the Lord God, the G • d of Sabaoth, or the God of Hosts.

From this consideration, that our Lord God is the God of Hosts, we are taught the fear of so great a Majesty. For who is he, that will not fear him, by whom he shall find himself to be beset and compassed about with very many and potent armies; above, beneath, before, behind, on the one hand, and on the other, that there can be no evasion, no escaping from him? Our God, is the God of Hosts. Man, sinful man, how shall he consist, if God once arm his hosts against him? The fear of God will be his surest refuge. Fear him, and all his Hosts shall be on your side, and fight for you. Fear him, and both floods and rocks shall fear you: all winds shall blow you happiness: ship wracks shall avoid the place where your foot treadeth; & as to the apples of God's own eyes, so shall all his creatures yield to you reverence: they shall not dare to approach the channel where your way lieth. Hills shall fall down, & mountains shall be cast into the sea: but who so feareth the Lord he shall never miscarry. This fear of the Lord will both land your ships in an happy haven, and after your travels upon the earth, will harbor your souls in his everlasting Kingdom.

And thus much be spoken of the first thing observed in this Mandate, even the Giver thereof, the Lord God, the God of Hosts. I proceed to the rest.

The next is, who they are to whom this Manda te is given, and they are Sacerdotes & Prophetae, Priests and Prophets. For to them is this passage by an Apostrophe directed. To them. It appeareth by the manner of giving the Mandate; it is given in two verbs Imperative, Audit & Contestamini, Hear ye, and testify: and it further appeareth by the specification of the parties, concerning whom the Mandate is: they are of the house of Jacob. The house of Jacob, is the Kingdom of the ten Tribes, or the Kingdom of Israel. Understand then by the house of Jacob, the people of Israel; to whom Priests and Prophets were ordinary messengers from the Lord. And thus have I couched together three particulars of the Mandate.

• 1. To whom it is given: to Priests and Prophets.
• 2. The manner how it is given, Audit & contestamini, Hear and testify.
• 3. The place, which, or the parties, whom it concerneth, the house of Jacob. Hear and testify in the house of Jacob.

Saint Jerome and Lyra do take this Mandate to be of a larger extent, than to Priests and Prophets. They will have it to be given unto all: to all people: as if all people were here commanded to hear what the God of Hosts saith, concerning the subversion of the Kingdom of the ten Tribes, and thereof to bear witness to the house of Jacob, that they hearing, might be converted from their evil ways.

But Remigius, Albertus, Hugo, Dionysius, Vatablus, Montanus, and others, do affirm more truly, that Priests and Prophets are here called upon, to hear from the mouth of the God of Hosts, the destruction that is eminent and ready to fall upon the house of Jacob, and thereof to bear witness unto them, vt credant & resipiscant, that they may believe and repent them of their sins, and so be delivered. Valde enim proficuus est concionator, qui dicit, quae audiit ex ore Domini: for surely he his a very profitable Preacher, who speaketh only that which he hath heard from the mouth of the Lord. Wherefore to Priests and Prophets be it said; Audit & contestamini; Hear and testify. First hear, and then testify. Whence the observation is,

He is first to hear, and then to testify what he heareth. Nemini licet prophetare, nisi quae priùs à Domino audierit, saith one: It is not lawful for a man to prophecy, I say, it is not lawful for a man to preach, but such things as he hath heard of the Lord.

But doth the Lord nowadays speak that he may be heard of his Ministers? Yes. And I untie the knot by a distinction.

There is a twofold hearing of God when he speaketh, or a twofold hearing of the word of God, Auditus externus and internus, an outward, and an inward hearing. These two are sometimes severed, and sometimes they are joined together. For some there are that do hear only outwardly, but within they are deaf. Of those it may be said, as it is of the Idols of the Heathen, Psal. 115.6. They have ears but they hear not. They hear but understand not what they hear, These are they that receive the seed by the ways side, Matth. 13.19.

Others there are that hear not with the outward ear: all their hearing is within; it is in the heart; there they hear God speaking to them by the inspiration of the holy Spirit. Such was the hearing of the Prophets of old.

Besides these, some there are that hear both outwardly and inwardly, with the ear and with the heart. Such a hearing is peculiar to the faithful: of whom I understand that, Rom. 10.17. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith cometh by hearing; that is, faith is bred in the hearts of the elect by the external hearing of the Word, the holy Spirit working in them. The Preachers sound unto their ears the doctrine of the Word. The ears convey it to the mind: but that is blind to conceive divine matters. Wherefore comes God's holy Spirit, who through the doctrine received in at the ear, illuminateth the understanding, openeth the heart, and inclineth the will, to conceive what the Preacher hath delivered, to give assent unto it, and to delight therein. Thus comes faith by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Whence we may gather this definition of Faith: Faith is a true persuasion of the mercies of God merited by our Lord Jesus Christ: and we attain unto it, by the Spirit of God, giving us this true persuasion through the doctrine of the Gospel.

Now the hearing, whereby the Minister of the Gospel heareth the word of God, or God speaking to him, is a mixed kind of hearing: it is partly inward, by the secret operation of the blessed Spirit; and partly outward, by the revealed word of God, expressed in the Sacred Scriptures.

For God in the Scripture speaketh unto us, as it were face to face, or mouth to mouth, as plainly as he spake out of the cloud, Matth. 17.5. when that voice was uttered; This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And surely, if God were now to give his voice from Heaven, he would speak no otherwise than he speaketh in the Scriptures. And therefore are we commanded, John. 5.39. to search the Scriptures. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , search the Scriptures, he saith not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , read the Scriptures, but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , search them. The truth and sense of the Scripture is profound and deep; it is as gold, that lieth, not upon the face and outside of the Earth, but in the veins thereof: it is as the marrow, the pith, the heart of a tree, that is not in the bark, but is covered with the bark. Off must the bark, if we will have the pith: and we must dignity deep in the ground, if we will have any gold: so must our search be with diligence, beyond the bark and outside of the letter, if we will partake of the treasure that is hidden under it, and hear God speaking unto us.

Christ confuting the Sadducees for the point of the Resurrection, saith unto them, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : You err, not knowing the Scriptures; implying, that, if they had been diligent in the search of them, God would therein have spoken to them, and directed them in that truth.

Saint Peter Ep. 2. Chap. 1.19. commending the faithful of his time, for their diligence in the Scriptures, saith unto them, we have a most sure word, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a prophetical word, whereunto you do well that you take heed, as unto a light, that shineth in a dark place; intimating, that, that same 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that same prophetical word, or word of prophecy, or word uttered by the Prophets, is nothing else but the word of God, conveyed unto us by ministry of his Prophets.

That so it is, we are assured by the Protestation that God himself maketh, Hos. 12.10. I, that am the Lord thy God, I have spoken by the Prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by hand or by the ministry of the Prophets. The like phrase is used by Haggai, Chap. 1.1. to show that his prophecy was the very word of God: In the second year of the reign of King Darius came the Word of the Lord by the hand, or by the ministry of Haggai the Prophet unto Zerubbabel. Haggai was but a conduit to convey the Word; the Word was the Lord's. This is that we read, Hebr. 1.1. that God at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets.

Hence appeareth the harmony, consent, and agreement of all the Prophets even from the first unto the last. Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, and the rest, not one of them spake one word of a natural man in all their ministry; but only the words of him that sent them: they spake not of themselves; it was God that spake in them. Whensoever was the time, whosoever was the man, wheresoever was the place, whatsoever was the people, the words were God's. God spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets.

And for this cause when we preach unto you, we say not, you are to believe us in what we say, quia nos dicimus, because we say it, but quia dicit Dominus, because the Lord saith it. And if it be demanded, whence it may be known that our sayings are the Lord's sayings, we answer it is known ex Scriptures, by this or that place of Scripture. To the Scriptures we are tied, as the Levites were to the Law, Deut. 17.11. From the Law they might not decline either to the right hand or to the left; nor may we from the Scriptures. They were to teach according to the Law; and we according to the Scriptures. The voice of the Law was their rule, the voice of the Scriptures must be ours.

The voice of the Scriptures must be our rule. But saith the Romanizing Papist, the Scripture hath no voice at all, but is res muta, a dumb thing. The Bishop of Poitiers, in the infamous conuenticle of Trent, was of this mind, Scripturam esse rem inanimem at{que} mutam, that the Scripture is a dead and a dumb thing, as are all other Politic Laws. Albertus Pighius before that time had discovered his opinion of the point: Esse Scripturas mutos iudices, that the Scriptures are dumb judges: and therefore unfit to have matters of controversy put over to their judgment. Petrus à Soto saith as much in effect, calling the Scripture, Literam mutam, non respondentem, a dumb letter that gives no answer. This is but one of the many blasphemies which Papists have uttered to the disgrace of holy Scripture: against whom to the honor thereof, we maintain this assertion,

Scripturam non esse mutam, ac vocis expertem; the Scripture is not dumb and speechless, but hath a voice, a clear voice, easy to be heard, except we be deaf.

For the confirmation of this our assertion, I produce that of Saint Paul, Rom. 3.19. Whatsoever things the Scripture saith, it saith to them that are under the Law: the Greek word is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , it speaketh to them that are under the Law. It speaketh, therefore it is not dumb.

Moses ascribeth to the Law a mouth, Deut. 17.11. and Pagnines translation there, is ex ore Legis: the Priests were to teach according to the mouth of the Law. And why, I pray you, hath the Law a mouth, if it cannot speak?

If exhortations of holy writ do speak, why may not precepts, prohibitions, expostulations, and other passages speak as well? There is an exhortation that speaketh unto you as children, Hebr. 12.5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , it speaketh, and thus it speaketh: My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him.

The Scripture everywhere speaketh: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a phrase often iterated in the New Testament, is a sure evidence that the Scripture is not dumb. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Rom. 4.3. What saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God; and it was counted unto him for righteousness. That Scripture is Gen. 15 6. and therefore the Scripture in Genesis speaketh, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Rom. 9.17. The Scripture saith unto Pharaoh. What? Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee: that Scripture is Exod. 9.16. and therefore the Scripture in Exodus speaketh.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , Rom. 10.11. The Scripture saith; whosoever believeth in him, in Jesus Christ, shall not be ashamed: that Scripture is Isaiah 28.16. and therefore the Scripture in Isaiah speaketh.

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith the Scripture, from this phrase so often reiterated in the New Covenant, I may conclude for the whole Scripture, that it hath a voice and speaketh: and therefore that it is neither dead nor dumb, as the above alleged Popish Authors have imagined.

It hath a voice and speaketh. This voice is the voice of God. For God in the Scriptures speaketh with us familiarly, as a friend speaketh with a friend. Quasi amicus familiaris, sine fuco ad cor loquitur indoctorum at{que} doctorum, Augustine to Volusian Epist. 3. God in Scriptures daily speaketh to us; and he speaketh plainly to the heart, as well of the unlearned, as of the learned, to the heart of everyone of us. Now as God in the Scriptures speaketh to us, so we cannot but acknowledge that he speaketh, unless we be without his holy Spirit. Sic enim loquitur nobiscum, vt nos eius sermonem intelligamus, Ambrose to Irenaeus Epist. 5. So God speaketh with us, that we may understand his speech. And this that, which above I undertook to prove, that God nowadays speaketh, that he may be heard of his Ministers. And since he so speaketh, my doctrine will thereupon follow:

He is to hear what God speaketh, before he make his contestation to the house of Jacob. It is the order prescribed in my text: Hear first, then testify, Hear and testify in the house of Jacob.

The use of the point now delivered is twofold: one concerneth the Preachers of the Gospel; the other the Hearers.

The Preachers are to hear what God speaketh, and then to testify and bear witness thereof to the house of Jacob, to the people of God. They must remember they are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , 2 Cor. 5.20. Ambassadors of God in Christ's stead: and that to them is committed the ministry of reconciliation: and therefore they may not broach or publish any v • in imaginations of their own, but those things only which God g ueth them in charge. They must hear what God saith, and that alone must be their message.

Again, they must remember they are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , John. 15.27. and Act. 1.8. they are witnesses for Christ. They are to bear witness to the truth of Christ's person; to his threefold office, his Priestly, Princely, and Prophetical office, and to the benefits that do flow from thence for the edification of the Church. All this they are to hear from the mouth of God speaking in his holy Word, and thereof to make their contestation in the house of Jacob, to bear witness thereof to God's people, not by their preaching only, but if need be, by their dying too.

The other use is for hearers. For if the Preacher be first to hear what God speaketh, and then to testify the truth thereof to the house of Jacob, the people of God; then are the people of God, all the house of Jacob, to give attentive care to the Preachers message.

Hearers in hearing are to know that they are to deal with God, and are to receive the Word delivered by the Minister, not as the Ministers word, but as the Word of God. Such Hearers were those Thessalonians commended by S. Paul. Epist. 1. Chap. 2.13. For this cause, saith he, thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. The example is well worthy our imitation.

Beloved, if an earthly Prince speak or send a message to us, we give all show of reverence, and hear him with diligence. This Word whereof we now entreat, is not of flesh and blood; it proceedeth not from Kings or Emperors, or Parliament, or from Councils of men, but from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ. When this Word is read, Princes and Emperors stand up, and lay down their sword, and uncover their head, and bow their body in token of reverence, because they know it to be the word of God, which God himself hath uttered, that it should be as the dew of Heaven to moisten our dry souls, as a Well of water springing up to everlasting life, as a savor of life unto life, and the very power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Without this Word we are undone, we perish: we receive no comfort, we see not the light; we grow not in faith, we abide not in the Church of God.

Wherefore, suffer ye a word of exhortation. It shall be in S. Peters words, 1 Epist. 2.2. As new borne babes desire ye the sincere milk of the Word, that ye may grow thereby. Be ye so affected to the word of God, as new borne infants are to their mothers milk. You know well how that is: A little infant even by the instinct of nature, almost as soon as it is borne, seeketh that nourishment; it is not long well without it; when nothing else will, that will still it. So, even so be ye affected; long ye after the word of God, as your spiritual nourishment, rejoice in it, place your happiness in the use of it; let it be your chiefest comfort.

This indeed hath been evermore the right disposition of God's holy ones. O, how great was the felicity that David felt in this word of God? In one Psalm, Psal. 119. He preferreth it before profit, before pleasure, before glory.

Before profit, V. 127. I love thy Commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Before pleasure, verse. 103. How sweet are thy words unto my taste? yea sweeter than honey unto my mouth. Before glory, verse. 57. Thou art my portion, O Lord, I have determined to keep thy words, and verse. 111. Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage forever, for they are the rejoicing of my heart. Now because in a spoil all those things do meet together, Profit in the treasure, Pleasure in the overthrow, and Glory in the conquest or triumph, he addeth verse. 162. I rejoice at thy Word, as one that findeth great spoil. Thus was holy David determined and resolved to content himself with the word of God instead of all profit, pleasure and glory. For his profit, was his support in trouble and adversity; his pleasure, was the peace of a good conscience; his glory, was to be in the favor of God. All which is wrought by the precious and invaluable word of God.

This word of God was unto Jeremiah, Chap. 15.16. the joy and rejoicing of his heart. And Ezekiel's roll, the symbol of this word, was in his mouth as honey for sweetness, Chap. 3.3. And John's little book, which he received from the Angel, the badge of this word, was in his mouth sweet as honey, Reu. 10.10.

When Philip was gone down to the City of Samaria, and had preached Christ unto them, the text saith, there was great joy in that city, Act. 8.8. When the same Philip had taught the mystery of Christ to the Eunuch, the Eunuch went on his way rejoicing, in the same Chapter, verse. 39. The Angel relating to the shepherds the Nativity of Christ, said unto them, Fear not, for behold I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all people, Luk. 2.10.

Good tidings of great joy! Happy shepherds to hear so good tidings from an Angel! Princes would have been glad to have heard it: but they heard it not. Yet to Princes as well as to others this good tidings of great joy belongeth. Good tidings of great joy! Great joy it is, first in respect of the matter thereof, which is very great; even our reconciliation with God. Secondly, it is great joy for the diuturnity and stability thereof; it abideth and continueth constant forever. Thirdly, it is great joy for the universality of it: it reacheth unto all; generibus singulorum, to all kinds of people, though not singulis generum, to all particulars of all kinds, but only to such as shall receive it by a true faith. Last of all, it is great joy, quia spiritual, because it is spiritual, and belongeth to the salvation of the whole man, body and soul. And the good tidings of this great joy is derived unto us in these our days through the ministry of the word of God.

Wherefore, dearly beloved, let me again put you in mind of your Christian duty concerning this word of God, that as new borne infants ye desire the sincere milk thereof to grow thereby. Long ye after it; it is your spiritual nourishment: rejoice in it; place your happiness in the use of it: Let it be your chiefest comfort.

Whensoever you shall hear this word of God read, or preached, remember whose Word it is you hear: and think ye thus every man with himself: Surely this is the word of my gracious God. My God openeth his mouth from Heaven above and speaketh to me, that he might save me. He speaketh to me to keep me from error; to comfort me in the troubles and adversities of this life, and to guide me to the life eternal.

If you stand thus affected to the word of God; if you desire the sincere milk thereof for your spiritual food, as the little infant doth the mothers milk for its bodily food: if you find yourselves truly to love it, carefully to desire to understand it, and to take comfort in the exercises of it; thank God for it; it is a good sign; and pray God to increase it.

But if this word of God be a burden to thee; if like a potion it go down against thy stomach, if thou carest not how little thou be acquainted with it; if thou esteemest not the exercises of it; take heed, bewail thine estate; it is a fearful token; pray God, if thou love thine own soul, to remove such thy dullness from thee.

And let this suffice to have been delivered upon my second observation: which was,

It was grounded upon those words of the Mandate, Audit & contestamini. Hear and testify. First hear what God speaketh, and then make your contestation, testify and bear witness of that you have heard. Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voices like trumpets: show unto the house of Jacob the calamities which I have resolved to bring upon them: Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob. Hereupon I ground my third observation: it is this:

He fore-showeth them before hand. The universal deluge was a very grievous calamity. God foreshowed it unto Noah, the Preacher of righteousness, long before he brought in the Flood, Gen. 6.13.

The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah was great, their sin was very grievous, and therefore was God resolved to destroy them: yet would he not do it, till he had told Abraham and Lot thereof: the one, Gen. 18.17. the other, Gen. 19.13.

The seven years of famine which were to consume the land of Egypt, God foretold to Joseph, seven years before they came, Gen. 41.25.

A man of God is sent to Eli, to foretell him of the evil that should befall his house, 1 Sam. 2.27. The Prophet Jeremiah is sent to the Jews to foretell them of the seventy years of their captivity in Babylon, Ier. 25.12. And here in my text, Priests and Prophets are called upon, to foretell to the house of Jacob the miseries that were ready to fall upon them. Thus stands the doctrine firm;

Our Prophet expressly and confidently avoucheth it, verse. 7. of this Chapter. Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret to his servants, the Prophets.

In my exposition of those words, I gave of the point in hand a larger prosecution, than the remainder of this hour will afford. As now, so then I proved from the evidence of the word, that God never bringeth any grievous calamity upon any people or nation, or private person, but he doth evermore first forewarn the same and foretelleth it.

And hereof I gave two reasons: one in respect of the godly; the other, in respect of the wicked.

For the Godly. God is unwilling at any time to take them at unawares. He loveth them: he would not have any of them perish, but would they should all repent, and so prevent his judgments. He is prone to do good, but slow to punish; and therefore praedicit flagella, vt peccantes resipiscant; He fore-showeth his judgments, to draw us to the amendment of our lives.

Now for the wicked. He fore-warneth them also of his future judgments, ne dicere queant, se illa euentura non audiuisse, that they may not be able to say for themselves, they had no fore-warning. So are they left without excuse; their mouths are stopped, and God's justice is cleared.

Wherefore, beloved, let us acknowledge the great mercy, and wonderful patience of our good and gracious God, in that he vouchsafeth so to deal with us, to retire us from sin. He needs not, nor is he bound to deal so kindly with us. For it is our part upon our own peril to take heed of his judgments that they overtake us not. Yet so good is the Lord, so loving, so merciful, so patient, so desirous is he, we should escape the misery, which we have deserved, that he sends unto us his letters of love, the holy Scriptures, by his Ministers, to fore-warn us of the evil day.

A sly and subtle adversary, would steal upon us when we should least think of him, and take us at any advantage: but our loving God seeks not for advantages against us. He rather provideth us means for our safety. The means are the letters of his love, as even now I called them, the sacred Scriptures. Them he conveyeth to us by his servants, his Ministers, by whom he invites us to good, and deters us from evil: propoundeth rewards for well doing, and punishments for ill; threateneth unto us the torments of Hell, if we continue in sin, and so bridleth our wantonness; promiseth the joys of Heaven if we turn unto him by repentance, and so spurs on our slothfulness. So gracious a God fore-warneth ever before he striketh.

And now most gracious and loving Father, we most humbly beseech thee, not only to fore-warn us, before thou strike; but also to give us grace to take heed by thy warnings that thou strike us not. So will we arise, run, and open unto thee: arise by faith from the sepulcher of sin; run with hope, to the gates of thy mercies; and open with love our broken and contrite hearts, that thou mayest come in and dwell with us. Even so be it most merciful Father, for thy sweet Son our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ his sake. Amen.

THE Sixteenth Lecture.

THis passage of holy Writ is a Prosopopaeia. The Almighty is here brought in, calling upon his Priests and Prophets to give care unto him, and to bear witness of the calamities which he was resolved to lay upon the house of Jacob. His resolution was, when he should punish the Israelites for their evil deeds, then to visit their Temple and stateliest buildings with ruin and desolation.

The words I heretofore divided into two general parts▪

That was verse. 13. this verse. 14. and 15.

For the first these particulars have been observed;

• 1 Who it is that gives the Mandate. Even the Lord; the Lord God, the God of hosts.
• 2 To whom he gives it: Sacerdotibus & Prophetis; to his Priests and Prophets. For to them is this passage by an Apostrophe directed.
• 3 How he gives it: Audit, & contestamini, Hear and testify.
• 4 The place where this testification was to be made, in domo Jacob, in the house of Jacob. Hear and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord God, the God of Hosts, verse. 13.

In the other part, which concerneth the matter to be testified, we may observe:

• 1 A resolution of God, to punish Israel for sin: There shall be a day, wherein the Lord will visit the transgression of Israel upon him, verse. 14.
• 2 That this punishment so resolved upon by the Lord, shall reach unto their holiest places, to their houses of religion; to their Altars in Bethel: the horns of the Altar shall be cut off and fall to the ground, verse. 14.
• 3 That this punishment shall extend to the chiefest places of their habitation; even to the demolition and ruin of their dwelling houses: The winter house shall be smitten, so shall the summer house: the houses of iuory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, verse. 15.
• 4 The seal and assurance of all, in the two last words of this Chapter, Neum Jehovah, saith the Lord.

Such are the parts of this Scripture. Of the first general, which was the Mandate for the testification, and of the particulars therein, I discoursed in my last Sermon out of this place. Now I am to descend to the second general, which is of the matter to be testified. The first branch therein is, of God's resolution to punish Israel for sin: and that is in the beginning of the fourteenth verse.

By the words its plain, that a day should come, wherein God would punish Israel for his transgressions. That day some ancient Rabbin's refer to the earthquake, that was in the days of Uzziah King of Judah, whereof we find mention made in the first Chapter of this Prophecy, verse 1. and Zach. 14.5.

Some refer it to the time of King Josiah's reign, when he brake down the Altar that was at Bethel, and the high place there, 2 King. 23.15.

Others hereby do understand that day, wherein Samaria was captivated by the Assyrian King, Salmanassar, 2 King. 17.6.

Whensoever that day fell out, it was the day of the Lord's visitation, the day wherein the Lord visited Israel for his iniquities.

This word, to visit, signifieth a remembrance, providence, care and performance of a thing spoken, be it good or evil: and it belongeth unto God to visit both ways, either for good or for evil, either in mercy or in judgment.

It was for good that the Lord visited Sarah, Gen. 21.1. The Lord visited Sarah, as he had said; and the Lord did unto Sarah, as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time, of which God had spoken to him. This was a visitation for good; a visitation in mercy.

Such is that whereof dying Joseph tells his brethren, Gen. 50.24. I die: and God visiting will visit you, and will make you go up out of this land, unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. God visiting will visit you. He meaneth a visitation in mercy; God will surely visit you in mercy. And so he did when they had been bond-slaves in Egypt four hundred and thirty years. For at the end of those years, even the self same day that those years were ended, it came to pass, that all the Hosts of the Lord, the Tribes of Israel, went out from the land of Egypt. Out they went with an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians. And so God visiting visited his people Israel, according to his promise made by Moses, Exod. 3.16. This was a visitation for good; a gracious and merciful visitation.

But gracious and merciful above all was the visitation of our Lord Jesus Christ, when with a true and everlasting redemption he redeemed all true Israelites from sin, and death, and Satan. It is the visitation for which Zacharias in his Canticle blesseth God, Luk. 1.68. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel. And why blessed? for he hath visited, and redeemed his people. He hath visited his people; visited in the better part; visited in mercy; in exceeding great mercy.

Beloved, since Christ hath visited us in our persons, it is our parts to visit him in his members. We are all his Stewards; and the good things he hath lent us are not our own, but his: if the goods of the Church, we may not appropriate them: if of the Common-wealth, we may not enclose them. You know it is a vulgar saying: He is the best subject, that is highest in the subsidy book. Let it pass for true. But I am sure he is the best Christian that is most forward in Subsidiis, in helping of his brethren with such good things as God hath bestowed upon him.

Besides this visitation for good, and in mercy; there is also a visitation for evil and in judgment. Thus to visit, is to visit in anger or displeasure. And so by a Synecdoche of the Genus for Species, to visit is to punish. Thus is God said to visit, when with some sudden and unlooked scourge or calamity, he taketh vengeance upon men for their sins, which for a long time he seemed to take no notice of.

So God visited the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, Exod. 20.5. He visiteth, not only by taking notice of, and apprehending children in their fathers faults, but also by punishing them for the same; in as much as they are given over to commit the transgressions of their fathers.

David in his devotions calleth upon the Lord to visit the Heathen, Psal. 59.5. O Lord God of Hosts, the God of Israel, awake thou to visit the Heathen. Where, to visit, is to visit for evil, to visit in judgment, in anger and displeasure, it is to correct, it is to punish.

To such as depart from the Law of the Lord, and from that rule of righteousness which it prescribeth them to walk in, the Lord himself threateneth, that he will visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes, Psal. 89 32. And there to visit is taken in the worse part, for, to visit in judgment, in anger or displeasure, for as much as it bringeth a rod and stripes with it. It is to correct, it is to punish.

There is, Isaiah 10.12. a commination against the King of Assyria, that same rod of hypocrites, that his pride should be broken. It is thus delivered: I will visit upon the fruit of the proud heart of the King of Ashur, and the glory of his high looks. And there also to visit is in the worse part, for, to visit in judgment, in ire, anger, or displeasure: It is to correct, it is to punish.

As in the now alleged places to visit signifieth in the worse part, to visit in judgment, in ire, anger, or displeasure, and by a consequent, to correct or punish; so doth it in my Text. And therefore for Visitabo, Junius hath animaduertam. This same visiting is with him a punishing.

In the day that I shall visit] or punish. What? Prauaricationes Israel, saith the Vulgar Latin. The preuarications of Israel. The preuarications of Israel are his swaruings from truth, reason, and honesty. Junius translates them, Defectiones, the reuoltings or slippings of Israel. Our English hath the transgressions of Israel, by which name sins are called, because they exceed the bounds and marks which God by his Law hath appointed unto us, for the moderating of our desires and affections. Some here have Scelera Israel, the wickedness, lewdness, or naughtiness of Israel.

These general appellations do direct us to particular sins, to covetousness, to pride, to cruelty, to unjust exactions, to robbing and spoiling of the poor; these were the sins that reigned and raged in Israel; in the Kingdom of the Ten tribes, or the Kingdom of Israel, called in the precedent verse, The house of Jacob: and these were the sins, for which the Lord was resolved to punish Israel; as it is also signified in the second verse of this Chapter. There is a Visitabo as well as here: Visitabo super vos omnes iniquitates vestras. I will visit upon you, or I will punish you, for all your iniquities: Visitabo, I will do it; I will visit, I will punish. I, the Lord God, the God of Hosts, will visit the transgressions of Israel upon him. Whence ariseth this observation:

The Visitabo in my Text doth warrant this truth. A day there shall be, wherein Visitabo, I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him. I shall do it.

When the world was grown so foul with sin, that it deserved to be washed with a flood, God himself undertook the visitation, Gen. 6.7. I will destroy man, whom I have created from the face of the earth. And verse. 17. Behold I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh.

Concerning the sin of the people, that great and grievous sin, when they made them God's of gold, the Lord saith unto Moses, Exod. 32.34. In the day when I visit, then will I visit their sin upon them: When I see good to punish them, I myself will punish them.

For the disobedient and despisers of the will of the Lord, the Lord hath a Visitabo too, Levite. 26.16. Uisitabo vos velociter; I will visit you quickly with terrors, with consumptions, with burning agues, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart, with the sword, with famine, and with pestilence. Visitabo vos velociter, I will quickly visit you. I will do it.

Monstrous and grievous were the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, that were to be revenged by so fearful a judgment, as is a rain of brimstone and fire. But how fell that rain upon them? The Text is, Gen. 19.24. The Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven. The Lord rained, saith the Text. Then not man, not devil, not necromancy, not anything in nature was the cause that this befell those Cities; but the very power and wrath of God, of a displeased God, at so great abomination as was there committed, sent down that rain upon them. The Lord was he that gave that rain.

Prodigious were the plagues wherewith the land of Egypt was visited. I look into the Sacred story, and there I see above them, thunder, hail, lightning, tempests: one while no light at all, another while such fearful flashes as had more terror than the darkness. I see under them, the waters changed into blood; the earth swarming with frogs and grasshoppers. I see about them swarms of flies, by which the land was corrupted. I see their fruits destroyed, their cattle dying, their children dead. Turning mine eyes unto themselves, I see them very loathsome with lice; and deformed with scabs, boils, and botches. Grieuous indeed were these visitations, but who was he that wrought them? It was the Lord. For so the Text runneth, Exod. 7.5. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt.

Who was it but the Lord that smote Nabal, that he died? 1 Sam. 25.38. Ask of Isaiah, who it is that formeth the light, and createth darkness; that maketh peace, and createth evil? he will tell you it is the Lord that doth all these things, Chap. 45.7. It is the Lord doth all. Light and peace are the symbols of prosperity; darkness and evil, of adversity; so the meaning of the place will be, that the Lord is a doer, not only in the prosperity, but also in the adversity, wherewith this life is seasoned.

Thus have you the confirmation of my observation, which was, that

One reason hereof is; because nothing is done in this world, but the Lord is the principal doer of it. Nothing is done without him: no, not in the carriage of a lottery, which in man's judgment seemeth of all things to be the most casual; yet therein doth God's hand appear. Solomon avoucheth it, Prov. 16.33. The lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposition thereof is of the Lord. Let Lots be cast into the lap, some hat, or cap, or pot, or box, some secret and close place, from whence the drawing of them forth may seem to be merely accidental: yet it is nothing so. For God by his infinite and eternal providence doth both generally and particularly, wholly and altogether direct and order them. Now if God's hand be found in the disposing of Lots; shall it not be found in the ordering of the visitations and punishments that are incident to us in this life for our evil deeds?

Another reason hereof may be, because all power is of God and from him alone. There is no creature in the world, devil, man, or other, that hath power any way to hurt or molest us, but from the Lord. All power is his. He alone makes the earth to open her mouth, and swallow up his adversaries. He alone removeth mountains and overturneth them. He it is, that saith to the North, Give up; and to the South, Keep not back; and to the Deepe, Be dry. He divideth the roaring Sea, measureth the winds and waters; ruleth in the kingdoms of men. Whatsoever he is pleased to do, that doth He in Heaven and in Earth: in the Seas, and all deep places. There is no power, but from him. And therefore for this reason also it is true, that

From the reasons of this observation, proceed we to see what profit we may reap from hence, for the bettering and amendment of our sinful lives.

First, from hence we learn in all our troubles and calamities to look up to God, as the chief and principal Author of them, from whom they come; and upon our selves and our sins, the sole procurers of them, and for whose sake they are sent. Eliphar among his aduertisements given unto Job, hath this for one, Misery cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground, Job 5.6. Warning Job thereby to have an eye to God, as the Author of his affliction.

Its very true, affliction comes not upon us at all adventures: it proceedeth not from the Earth, or the Air, or the Heaven: it is the hand of God that is heavy upon us for our sins. Great is our folly, that we gaze about here and there, wandering up and down in our own imaginations, and searching all the corners of our wits to find out the causes of our calamities without us, whereas indeed the true and right cause of them is within us. We are evermore accusing either heat or cold, or drought or moisture, or the air, or the ground, one thing or other to be the cause of our miseries, but we will not be brought to acknowledge their true and proper cause, even the sin that reigneth in us. I deny not, but the Lord hath secret causes, whereof we know not, either the manifestation of his own works, or the trial of our faith; yet the revealed and original cause of all our miseries, hath his beginning and spring-head from within us; from our iniquities.

The Prophet Jeremiah, Lament. 3.39. makes this enquiry: Wherefore should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sin, wherefore should he complain? Whereunto he fits this answer, man suffereth for his sins: implying thus much, that it is mere folly for a man to vex his soul, in mis-judging of his estate, and seeking by-paths to wind himself out of miseries; since miseries befall no man, but for his sins. Whereupon sweetly Pelican, Non murmuret afflictus contra Dominum, Let not the man that is in affliction murmur against the Lord, for the Lord doth all things well. Sed si quid patitur imputet peccatis suis, quae Deus impunita non sinit: But if he suffer anything, let him lay the blame thereof upon his sins, which God leaveth not unpunished.

Our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, having cured the man that had been diseased eight and thirty years, and finding him in the Temple, advised him to consider the cause of his so long and lamentable a visitation; saying unto him, Behold, thou art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee, John. 5.14. intimating, that his disease of so long continuance was laid upon him for his sins. Out of doubt this diseased man thought himself happy, when he was restored to health: yet lest he should rest therein, our Savior telleth him, he must change his heart, and sin no more, lest a worse thing should befall him. Sciebat Dominus ei quem salvum fecerat, meritis peccatorum illum etiam carnis accidisse languorem: Augustine de fide & operibus, cap. 20. The Lord knew, that that same infirmity of body upon the man, whom he had healed, befell him for his sins sake.

I need not press other instances of holy Writ for the further illustration of the point in hand, since my Text is plain for it. By my Text its plain, that the visitation which the Lord was resolved to lay upon the house of Jacob, was for the preuarications thereof; it was for their reuoltings, and transgressions, and wickedness: it was for the sins of Israel. The sins of Israel were the cause of God's visitation upon them.

Wherefore, Beloved, let every visitation of God upon us, be unto us a Sermon of repentance, to put us in remembrance of our sins, and to admonish us, not to sow anymore upon the furrows of unrighteousness, lest we reap a more plentiful harvest of affliction, and whensoever any visitation shall be upon us, let us desire God to sanctify the cross unto us, that it may consume sin in us, and provoke us to a more holy conversation. Thus have you your first use.

Now in the second place, the consideration of this truth, that whatsoever visitation or punishment befalleth any of us in this life, it is laid upon us by the hand of God, may teach us to have patience in our troubles, not to repine or grudge when we are under the rod of affliction. Since it is the hand of God that doth visit us, we are to take it patiently, as a dutiful child beareth the chastisements of his loving father.

This was the practice of holy David, Psal. 39.9. where he saith, Obmutui & non aperui os meum, quoniam tu fecisti; Lord I was dumb and opened not my mouth, because thou didst it: Quoniam tu fecisti, because thou didst it: this was the fountain, whence he drew his patience. To the revilings of the wicked, to their reproaches, to their malicious detractions, to their scoffings, to their injurious speeches, Obmutuit, he answered not a word, but was as the man that is dumb, as he that hath no tongue, as he whose mouth is shut: he excused not himself, he returned no evil language, but he held his peace and bore it patiently. The fountain of this his patience was, Quoniam tu fecisti, because thou didst it. Lord, thou didst it: But thou art a Father, I am thy son: therefore what thou didst, thou didst it for my good; and therefore I hold my peace.

Out of this fountain Job drew his patience. When he had lost his children, and was deprived of all his goods, he murmured not, nor charged he God foolishly. All he said was, Dominus abstulit, the Lord hath taken away, and he hath done so by good right, Quia etiam dedit, for first he gave it, Job 1.21. The ground of this his patience was, Domine tu fecisti; Lord, thou hast done it. Thou Lord hast taken from me my children, and all my substance; and therefore I hold my peace.

Out of this very Fountain Christ himself drew his patience; when commanding Peter to put up his sword into the sheath, he asked him this question, Calicem, quem dedit mihi Pater, non bibam illum? The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? Domine tu fecisti; my Father hath tempered this cup for me, and I will drink it. This cup is the cup of the Passion of Christ, the cup of his sufferings, which God gave unto him, Vt Pater, non vt Iudex, saith Rupertus. God gave this cup unto him, as a Father, not as a Judge: and he gave it to him, Amore, non irâ; voluntate, non necessitate; gratiâ, non vindictâ. It was of love, not of wrath; it was voluntary, not of necessity; it was of grace, not for vengeance, that this cup was given him. But how did he drink it? Here may we with Cornelius Mussus, Bishop of Bitonto, in his Passion Sermon cry out; O infinitam dulcis Jesus nostri patientiam! O the infinite patience of our sweet Jesus! Dedit illis carnem suam, vt tractarent eam pro suâ libidine; he committed unto the Jews his flesh, to do with it at their pleasure. They insulted over him, and he resisted not; they threatened him, and he answered not: they loaded him with injuries, and he sustained them; they bound him fast, and he withstood them not; they smote him, and he endured it; they flouted him, and he held his peace; they railed against him, and he defended not himself; they cursed him, and he prayed for them. O the infinite patience of our sweet Jesus, which he drew from this fountain, Domine tu fecisti; Lord, thou hast provided this cup for me, and I refuse it not!

Domine tu fecisti; Lord thou hast done it: It is the bottomless fountain of patience, never to be exhausted or drawn dry. If thy wife, thy children, thy kinsfolks, thy friends or others be taken from thee by the stroke of death; if thou lose thy goods by water, by fire, by war, or otherwise, thou mayest refresh thy languishing soul with the water of this fountain; Domine tu fecisti; Lord thou hast done it.

If thyself be visited with sickness, and so, that there is no soundness in thy flesh, nor rest in thy bones; yet if thou draw from this fountain, the sorrow and bitterness of thy visitation will be asswaged. It must needs be a great comfort to every child of God to meditate hereupon, that our sickness, yea that every pang and fit of our sickness is from God; that the manner of it, the measure of it, the time of it, and the matter of it is of God. And it may give us good assurance that God will be merciful and gracious unto us, seeing he that striketh us is our loving Father, and in the stroke cannot forget his former compassions, but will make all things fall out to further our salvation. God is faithful; he layeth not upon us more strokes than we are able to bear, but maketh a way for our escape. He strengtheneth us upon the bed of languishing, and maketh all our bed in our sickness. He putteth our tears into his bottle. Are they not all in his book? His left hand is under our head, and his right hand embraceth us. Beloved Christians, we should comfort one another in these things.

Thirdly, is it true, Beloved? Are all our visitations and punishments in this life laid upon us by the hand of God? Here then may we take direction, whither to make our recourse in the day of visitation. And whither may that be, but to the same hand of God that visiteth? God