The Magistrates Scripture, Part
THE MAGISTRATES SCRIPTVRE.
PSALME. 82. 6. 7.
I hauehave said yee are gods, and yee all are the children of the most highest, but you shal die like men & fall like one of the Princes.
I May call this text the Magistrats scripture, considering the state of kings & gouernors, how much good they might do, and how little they performe. God becomes a rememberancer vntounto them, and first shewes what a high calling Princes and rulers hauehave: and then least they should be proud of it, & make their magistracy a chaire of ease, he turnes vponupon them againe, as though he had another message vntounto them, & tels them, that though they be aboue other, yet they shall die like other: and though they iudge here, yet they shall be iudged hereafter, and giuegive account of their stewardship how they hauehave gouerned, as straite as their subiectes how they hauehave obeyed. A good memorandum for all in authoritie so to deale in this kingdome, that they lose not the kingdome to come.
I have said yee are gods, &c. How can he call them gods, which cals himselfe the onelyonly God, & saith, there are no more gods but he? Esay 44. 5. 45. 21. I hauehave made thee Pharao his God, saith God to Moses, Exod. 7. 1. because he had giuen him power to speake vntounto Pharao in his name, and to execute his iudgements vponupon them. Out of this name, Rulers may learne how to gouerne, & subiects how to obey. As inferiour Magistrates do nothing but as the superiour Magistrate prescribeth: so they which rule vnderunder God, for God, must rule by the prescript of God, and do nothing but as their conscience tels them that God would doe himselfe. Therefore they which vse their power against God, which beare the person of God, and execute the will of the diuell: which make lawes against Gods law, and be enimies to his seruants, are worse then Balaam, which would not curse whom God blessed, and so much as in thē lieth, make God a lier, because they cannot so wel be called gods as diuels; such gods go to hell.
I hauehave said yee are gods, &c. First this name enformes vsus what kind of rulers & magistrates we shold choose. Those which excell all other men like gods amongst men: for a king should be a man after Gods owne heart like Dauid, as all those whom God set ouer his people in his merciemercy, and not in his anger, had some note of excellencie aboue the rest, which God chose them by, as it is the Magistrates marke: the mildest man, Numb. 12. 3. or the wisest man, 1. Reg. 4. 31. or the iustest mā, Heb. 7. 2. As though if al these had met in one, the Inquisition should hauehave stayed there, & all giuegive place to him: but our vertues are so singled that he which was called the mildest, is not called the wisest, and he which was called the wisest is not called the iustest, as though God found some defect in his owne election, for when he chose one milde, another wise, and another iust: he shewed that hee would hauehave one which is milde, and wise, & iust, like himselfe. Elisha thought that the single spirite was not enough, but required that the spirite of Eliah 2. King. 2. 9.might be doubled vponupon him, because he was a Prophet which should teach other. So we should picke out thē which hauehave a double spirit to be Magistrats, because they must gouerne other; as God picked forth Iosua in Moses his roome. He might hauehave chosen manie out of all Israel, which had the spirite of wisedome, but he chose Iosua, of whom he saith that he was full of the spirite of wisedome, Deut. 24. 9. Shewing that if one be better then another, he should be chosen before the rest. Therefore Samuel went ouer all 1. Sam. 16. 5.the sonnes of Ishai, to annoint a successour to Saul, and put backe one after another which thought themselues fit: yet there was but one amongst them which pleased God, & the Prophet could scarce discerne him: so necessarie it is that this choice be committed to none but the godly, because he which would hauehave chosen the best, yet liked another before him. Therefore there was such a scrutenie 1. Sam. 10. 20.amongst the tribes to finde out the mā whom God had chosen, as Iethro taught Moses to cull Exod. 18. 21.out of all the people, those which had best courage and feared God, and dealt truely, and hated couetousnes. Therefore a wicked man may not supply the place of God, as the Scribes & Pharisies sate in Matth. 23. 2.Moses chaire, but as it is said of Iudas, let another take his place: so let better take their place, for they which are called gods must be like God. If all should be holy as he is holy: how much more should they be pure as he is pure, wise as he is wise, iust as he is iust, which beare his name, which supplie his person, and guide the world to good or euill. If the race should be to the swift, and the battell to the strong, then as Saul did exceed all the men of Israell from the shoulders vpward: 1. Sam. 9. 2.so he which commaunds other, should exceede other in gifts of grace, that they may know him from the rest, and say this is hee that excells the rest in vertue, as Saul did in stature: like the king of Bees, which is fairest of all the hiue. Therefore if Pharao would let none but Ioseph gouerne Egypt, in whom was the spirite of God, Gen. 41. 38. much more ought Christian Princes in the choosing of Iosephs in their common wealthes. And therefore they ought not to be like Rehoboam, which made them his counsellers, whom he should hauehave banished the court, 1. Reg. 12. 8.
Secondly, this extolleth the calling of Magistrates, as Iacob honoured Iosephes children, whē he said they should be called after his name: so God honoureth the Magistrates, when he giues them his owne name, calling them gods, as though there were a kind of godhead in them. These things pertaine to the wise and they themselues doe not alwayes see it: yet he which hath a spirituall eye, and carrieth the paterne of God in his heart, may see another likenesse of God in Magistrates then in common persons: as the builders of the temple had a speciall wisedome and spirite, which God gaue them for that work which they were chosen vntounto. So when Samuel had annointed Dauid, he saith that the spirite of the Lord came vponupon 1. Sam. 16. 13.Dauid from that day forward, as though he had another spirite after, then he had before. So there is a difference betweene kings and subiects: though they be not gods, yet they are liker God then other: the Prince is like a great image of God, the Magistrates are like little images of God, appointed to rule for God, to make lawes for God, to reward for God, to punish for God, to speake for God, to fight for God, to reforme for God: and therefore their battailes 1. Sam. 28. 26. 2. Chron. 9. 6.are called the Lords battailes, and their iudgements the Lords Psal. 2. 6.iudgements, and their throne the Lordes throne, and the kings themselues, his kings, to shew that they are al to god like hands: by some he reacheth merciemercy, by some iustice, by some peace, by some counsell, as Christ distributed the loaues and the fishes Matth. 14. 19.by the hands of his disciples: this God requires of all, when he cals them gods, to rule as he would rule, iudge as he would iudge, correct as he would correct, reward as he would reward, because it is said that they are in steede of the Lord God, to doe 2. Chron. 9. 8.as he would doe. This is a good studie for Magistrates in all their iudgements to consider, what God would doe, because they are in steede of God. I rule for God, I speake for God, I iudge for God, I reward for God, I correct for God: how would God doe? how would he determine? And it shall be my sentence: as we should thinke how Matth. 11. 29.Christ prayed before we praie, and how hee spake before we speake, because his actions are our instructions: so they should thinke how Christ would iudge before they iudge, because Gods law is appointed for their law. Such a thought must needs leuell Deut. 17. 19.the way before them, and put them in minde of a good and iust, and holy iudgement, because God is good, and iust, and holie.
Thirdly, they are called gods, to teach them how they should gouerne, howsoeuer other care for the glorie of God, the performance of his wil, the reformation of his church, Princes, and rulers, which are gods themselues, are to doe the businesse of God as their owne busines: because they are gods, Gods businesse is their busines, Gods law is their law, Gods honour is their honour. When the king, or iudge, or magistrate doth seek the kingdome and glorie of God, he should thinke that he seekes his own kingdome and glorie, and therefore seeke it and further it as earnestly & diligently as he would his owne, and rule and iudge, and speake, and punish, and consult, as he would for himselfe: euen as Dauid counted Gods Psal. 139. 21.foes his foes, and Gods friends his friends: and Moses persecuted Exod. 32. 27.thē which were Idolaters against Num. 16. 15.God, as he did them which were traitors to him.
Fourthly, they are called gods to encourage them in their office, and to teach them that they need not feare nor dread the persons of men, but as God doth that which is iust and good without the iealosie of men; so they should forget themselues to be men, which are led by the armes betweene fauour and feare, and thinke themselues gods which feare nothing. This boldnes is so necessarie in them, which shold iudge all alike, that in Deut. 3. 28. Moses encourageth Iosua: in Iosua. 2. 18. the people encourage him: in the 9. verse, God doth encourage him, saying, that he wil be with him: but here he is with him, for hearing God call them gods, shewes that God is there, nay, that they are as God, which powres such a princelike 1. Sam. 10. 9.spirite vponupon them, as he did vponupon Saul, so soone as he was king. So hearing that they are gods, it should change them, and make them excell the order of men, vntill they resemble God, after whō they are named: as Salomon studied 1. King. 3. 9.and prayed till hee was wiser then al that he gouerned. Then 1. King. 4. 30.they need not blush to read this testimonie, I hauehave said ye are gods, &c. or else it will seeme a checke vntounto them. As manie sit in gods place, and yet neuer knew that the scripture called them gods, nor 1. Sam. 25. 25.why they hauehave this name no more then Naball: so many play Nabal in their offices, and are readier to aske who is Dauid? who is Christ? when his cause comes before them, then speake or doe any thing for him. But the womē go before them like Abigail, as though God would shame them with the weaker vessel. Doth anie man but they forget his name? Princes and rulers hauehave manie names of honour, but this is the honorablest name in their titles, that they are called gods: other names hauehave bene giuen them of men for reuerence or flatterie, but no mā could giuegive them this name but God himselfe. Therfore their name is a glasse wherin they may see their duetie, how God doth honour thē, and how they should honour him, and think what am I more then he, that God should set me in his owne chaire, & giuegive me his owne name more then to another? he hath not done so to al. They which are called his children are happie, they which are called his disciples at happie, they which are called his seruants are happie: but how happie are they whom he calleth gods? It seemes that if he could hauehave called them by a higher name then his owne he would hauehave called them by some other name; but this word is enough to put them in minde of all that they should do: thinke that yee are gods, and it wil make you ashamed to obey the diuel, or the world, or the flesh in any thing. Therfore how can that Romish Antichrist, which sits in the 2. Thess. 2. 4.temple of God with his kings & Magistrates, and set themselues against God be called gods? Are they gods where Gods cause is worst heard? are they gods which make lawes against God? Are the gods persecuters of Gods childrē? Nay doth he notly which cals thē noble, or soueraigne, or gracious? If they deserue not their titles, how do they deserue their places? Can they thinke of their names and not be abashed? Can they sit downe in Gods place and speake against him? iudge against him? decree against him? Doth iniquitie become gods? doth partialitie become gods? do bribes become gods? They are greedie gods, Idol gods, belly gods, and may be termed gods, because they are like 2. Cor. 4. 4.the God of this world, which do but staie like Nebuchadnezar, Dan. 4.vntill their iniquities be full, that they may be cast out like beastes, a derision to them whom they gouerne.
But they which regard this honorable testimony of God, as Nehemiah said, whē he was tempted Nehem. 6. 1….to fly, should such a mā as I fly? So whē they are tēpted with bribes, say, should such a man as I take bribes? Should such a man as I do wrong? Should such a man as I be a liar? or swearer? or a scoffer? or a drunkard? or a gamester? or an vsurer? or a prophaner? vpō whom all eyes are set to take their example, and would harken sooner then vntounto God himselfe? Thē he resolueth to rule according to his name, knowing that all the soules which might be wonne by him, shalbe required of him, as the sins of Israel were imputed to Ieroboam. Thus God doth flatter them as it were to profite them, 2. King. 15. 30.and cals them gods, to teach them their duetie to God. All should be godly, but they shold be like gods: that is, as I may say, more thē godly, or the next to God in godlines. If anie come betweene, they loose their honour, and should thinke themselues put downe like a guest which is set lower, or a Iustice turned out of his office. For so God doth humble them, and disgrace them which dishonour their callings, as he did Saul when the princely spirit departed from him, his sons & his daughters, and his subiects did fauour 1. Sam. 22. 7.Dauid more then him, that he 1. Sam. 19. 4. & 17. 1. Sam. 21. 17.could do nothing with them: because God did not louelove him, he would not let his seruants louelove him: but when Dauid came to the 1. Sam. 14. 45.crowne, because he had grace with God, he prospered in all that he went about, & reformed what 2. Sam. 5. 10.he would; for the Lord (as he saith) subdewed the people to him, that is, made them incline to his will: as we read of Saul, in the beginning of his raigne before he had rebelled, a band of mē did cleaue vntounto him: of whom it is said, whose hearts God had touched: as though while the rulers hearts 1. Sam. 10. 26.do stand toward God, the peoples harts should stand towards them, & they should carry thē like God to all their desires: as it is said of Dauid, whatsoeuer the king did, 1. Sam. 3. 26.pleased all the people.
Thus their name tels them how they should rule, and by consequent, teacheth vsus how we shold obey. God cals them gods, therefore he which contemneth them contemneth God: God cals them fathers, therefore we must reuerence them like fathers: God cals them Kings, Princes, Lords, iudges, powers, rulers, and gouernors, which are all names of honour: & shall we dishonour whom God doth honor? Our first lesson is, Feare God: the next is, Honor Prou. 14. 21.the king, 1. Pet. 2. 17. We may not put king before God, nor any other before the king, that is as Paul interpreteth, We must obey Rom. 13. 5.for conscience sake, not against cōscience, for thē we put the king before God, which Christ saith, hauehave no power but from God, & Iohn. 19. 11.therfore cannot make themselues magistrates, no more thē they can make thēselues gods. As none but God could giuegive this name, so no man which exalteth himselfe can chalenge this honor, no more thē Heb. 5. 4.Simon Magus was greater because Acts. 8. 9.he called himselfe a great mā; but they to whō God saith, I hauehave called you gods, as though he had the naming & appointing of thē. EueryEvery power is frō God, for by nature Rom. 13. 7.no mā can chalēge power ouer other, but by the word: & therfore euerie soule which is subiect to God, must be subiect to them, for 1. Pet. 2. 23.he which cals them kings, cals vsus Iere. 27. 12.subiects: this is their patent, as the queene of Sheba said to Salomon, 2. Chron. 9. 8.that God hath chosen thē kings, and set them vponupon the throne. As he said, and all things were made, Gen. 1.so as he saith all things should be. Therefore vnlesse I say, that they hauehave their ordination from God, though they be lords, and Iudges, & Magistrates, yet are no Lords, no Iudges, no Magistrats of God. And therefore the Pope and his Cardinals, to whom God neuer said, Yee are Lords, or Iudges, or Magistrates, are no Lords, no Iudges, no Magistrates of God: but that which the Lord saith, they are that they are, & no more, thogh they put on a triple crown, and as the Lord cals them, so men should call them, if they were worthy to be called as others were, Watch men, Pastors, Doctors, & Teachers: but seeing they be not worthie of these titles, why should they hauehave higher? They which giuegive them more then the Lord giues them, make thē proud and insolent, and tyrannous, more then they which are Lords and Iudges, and Magistrates in deede. But for these titles and base borne honour, which they hauehave incroched from men that puffe them, & trouble them like Sauls armor, 1. Sam. 17. 39.they would either intend the dutie of ministers, and teach as the Apostles did, or else forsake those offices, and be ashamed of abiding in that calling which belongeth not vntounto them; as Zacharie speaketh: Zach. 13. 4.whereas now they are so combred & mingled, as one saith of the Pope, he is neither God nor man: so may it be said of both him and his Cardinals, that they are neither good ministers, nor good magistrates, but linsie wolsie, a mingle mangle betweene both, and like neither. Seeking a superfluous title, they hauehave forgotten all necessarie studies: for they neuer preach nor write, but to maintaine their kingdome, which fals like the towre of Babel, Gen. 11.faster then they build. Therefore as Naomi said, call me no more Naomi, which signifieth beautiful, but cal me Mara which signifieth Ruth. 1. 20.bitter. So they may say, call vsus no more bishops, or pastors, or doctors, which signifieth preachers, but cal vsus robbers, & sleepers, and giants, & pharisies, whom we succeed, for they hauehave no other reasō why they shold be called bishops which do not watch, or pastors which do not feed, or doctors which do not teach, but that the Idols were called gods, though Exod. 20. 23.they were vnlike God. If their bodies had growne as far out of square since Christs ascension, as their titles, & pompe, and honor, they might stand in the maine sea and not drowne, for their heads would be aboue the water. It followeth. But ye shal die as a man. Here he distinguisheth betweene mortall gods, and the immortall God. Yee hauehave seene their glorie, now behold their end, They shall die like other. It had bene a great Sessions for all other to die, but for Magistrates, for Princes, for Kings, for Emperors to die as they die, what a battell is this? which leaues no man aliue, shall the gods die to? He giues them their title, but he tels them their lot. Though their power, though their welth, thogh their honour, though their titles, though their tyrannie, though their traine, though their friends, though their ease, though their pleasure, though their diet, thogh their clothing be not like other, yet their end shall be like other, nay their ends are like to be more feareful thē other: for God makes them examples of great mē, as he did of Pharao, & therfore we see so manie strange and sodain deathes of Princes more then of other. Exod. 9. 16.Therefore he spake with the least when he said, Yee shall die like other: for few of them escape the sword, knife, or poison, which other neuer feare: but if all your subiectes were your friends, yet yee shall die like other: for are ye not cold when winter comes? are ye not withered whē age comes? are yee not weake when sicknesse comes? and shall yee not go whē death comes? Therefore be not proud of thine honor, as though it would last alwayes, for thou shalt die, and then all thine honor shall forsake thee, and another shall rise in thy place, as great as thou, and when his glasse is run, another shall follow him, and so another till death hauehave all. Be not cruell in thine authoritie, as though it would last alwayes, for thou shalt die, and then thine authority shall die with thee, & they which remaine aliue shall send curses after thee, because thy life was a scourge. Be not secure for thy wealth, as though it would last alwayes, for thou shalt die, & then another shall take thy riches, and thou shalt go to giuegive account how thou camest by them. How many things doth he implie whē he saith ye shall die? this is a barre in their armes, which makes the proudest peacocke lay downe his feathers so often as he thinks vpō it, though he pricke them vp againe. Whereby the holy Ghost would hauehave them learne, that nothing will make them liue, and rule, and deale so well in their thrones, as to remember that they shall die and shortly giuegive account for all. Signifying that prosperity makes vsus forgetfull of our ende, and that these mortall gods liue as though they were immortall. A hard thing for Princes to remember death, when they hauehave no leisure to thinke of it, but chop in the earth before they be ware. Like a man which walketh ouer a field couered with snow, sees not his way, but when he thinkes to run on, suddenly falls into a pit: euen so they which hauehave all things at will, and swim in pleasure, which as snow couereth their way and dazeleth their sight, while they think to liue on & to reioyce still, suddenly rush vpō death, & make shipwrack in the calme sea. Therfore it is good for them to heare they ar gods: so it is meet to know they shal dy. Wherfore ye shall dy saith he in the next words, as if he would preuent some conceipt that they would take of words which he cast out before, he cools them quickly before they swel, & deferres not to another time, but where he calles them gods, there he calles them wormes meat, lest they should crow betweene the praise and the checke.
I hauehave saide ye are gods, but ye shall die. But for this die manie would liue a merrie life, and feast, and sport, and let the world slide: but the remembrance of death is like a dampe which puts out all the lights of pleasure, and makes him rub, and frowne, and whine which thinks vponupon it, as if a mote were in his eye. O how heauie tidings is this to heare thou shalt dy from him which hath life and death in his owne hands: when the messenger is sent to thē which raigne like gods: as if he should say, euen you which glister like Angels, whom all the world admires, and sues, & bows to: which are called honorable, mightie and gracious Lords: I will tell you to what your honor shall come: first yee shall wax old like other, then yee shall fall sicke like other, then yee shall die like other, then yee shalbe buried like other, then yee shalbe consumed like other, then yee shalbe iudged like other, euen like the beggers which crie at your gate. One sickens, the other sickens: one dies, the other dies: one rots, the other rots. Looke in the graue & shew me which was Diues, and which was Lazarus. This is some cōfort to the poore, that once he shall be like the rich: one day he shall be as welthie, as mightie, as glorious, as a king: one houre of death will make thē al alike: they which crowed ouer other, and looked downe vponupon them like oakes, other shall walke vponupon them like wormes, and they shall be gone as if they had neuer bene. Where is Alexander that conquered all the world, and after sought for another, because one would not satisfie him? Where is Zerxes, which could not number his armie for multitude? Where is Nemrod which built his nest in Gen. 11. 4.the clouds? Where is Sampson which slew an armie with the iaw of an asse? Where is Constantine, Nero, Galigula, Titus, Vespatian, Domicius, thunderboltes in their kinds? One hundred Princes of England are dead and but one aliue: the rest are gone to giuegive account how they ruled here, when they sustained the person of God. VVho vvould hauehave thought (saith Ieremy) that the enimy should hauehave entered into Ierusalem, and spoiled that faire Citie? yet he brake into it, and Ierusalem was ransackt like other. Who would hauehave thoght that Herod which was honored like a God, should hauehave bin deuoured with wormes, and sauour that none could abide him? yet while he was in his pomp, sodainly he was strokē, & al his glorie eatē with worms. Who wold hauehave thought that Iesabel that beautiful tēptation, shold hauehave bin gnawn of dogs? yet she was cast to dogs, & not an ear left to seasō the graue. What wold he think that should hauehave seene Salomon in his roialty, & after see him in the clay? O world vnworthie to be beloued who hath made this proud slaughter? Age, Sicknes, & Death: the three sōmoners which hauehave no respect of persons, made them pay the ransome thēselues, & bow to the earth whence they came: there lie the men which were called gods. How soone the flower of this world is faded! Yesterday the tallest Cedar in Libanus, to day like a broken sticke troden vnderunder foote: yesterday the stateliest vpō earth, to day shrowded in earth, forsaken, forgotten, that the poorest wretch aliue would not be like vntounto him, which yesterday crouched & bowed to his knees. Then wo to them which had the names of God and the sinnes of men, for the mightie (saith Esay) shalbe mightily tormēted All their friends, and subiects, and seruants forsake them, because they go to prison, to trie the merciemercy of hell, & take what the spirite of darknesse will heape vponupon them. There lie the men which were called gods, and thus ends the pilgrimage of kings, princes, and rulers, this is our life: while we enioy it we loose it: like the sunne which flies swifter then an arrow, and yet no man perceiues that it moues. He which liued 900. yeers could not Gen. 5. 27.hold out one houre longer, and what hath he now more then the child which liued but a yeare? Where are they which founded this goodly Citie? which possessed these faire houses? which walked these pleasant fields? which erected these stately tēples? which kneeled in these seates? which preached out of this place but 30. yeares ago? Is not earth turned to earth? and shall not our sunne set like theirs whē the night comes? Yet we cannot beleeue that death wil deale with vsus. as he hath dealt with them: though all men die, yet euerie man dreames, I shall scape, or at least I shal liue till I be old. This is strange, men cannot thinke that God will doe againe that which he doth dayly, or that he will deale with them as he deales with other. Tell vsus that all other shall die, and we beleeue it: tell one of vsus that we shall die, and we beleeue it sooner of all then of one: though we be sore, though we be weak, though we be sicke, though we be elder then those whom we follow to the ground. So they thought which lie in this mould vnderunder your feet, as you do. If wisedome, or riches, or fauour could hauehave entreated death, these which liued before vsus would hauehave kept our possessions frō vsus: but death would take no baile, we are all tenants at will, and we must leaue this cottage whensoeuer the landlord wil put another in our roome; at a yeares, at a monethes, at a weeks, at a dayes, at an houres warning or lesse. The cloth which we weare vponupon our backes, the graues which are vnderunder our feet, the sunne which sets ouer our heads, the meate which goes into our mouthes, do cry vntounto vsus, that we shall weare, & set, & die, like the beasts, and soules, and fishes, which now are dead in our dishes, but euen now were liuing in their elements. Our fathers hauehave sommoned vsus, and we must sōmon our children to the graue. Euerie thing, euerie day suffereth some eclipse, nothing stands at a stay, but one creature cals to another, let vsus leaue this world. while we play our pageants vponupon this stage of short continuance, euerie man hath a part, some longer, & some shorter, & while the actors are at it, sodainly death steps vponupon the stage like a haulke, which separates one of the doues from the flight, and shootes his dart, where it lights, ther fals one of the actors dead before them, & makes all the rest agast. They muse and mourne, & bury him, and then to the sport againe: while they sing, and play, and daunce, death comes againe and strikes another: there he lies, they mourne him and burie him, as they did the former, and play againe: so one after another till the players be vanished, like the accusers which came before Christ, and death is the last vponupon the stage. So the figure of this word passeth away. Manie which stand here may lie here or elsewhere within this tweluemoneth: but thou thinkest it is not I, and he thinketh it is not he, but he which thinketh so, commeth soonest to it: if we should liue but a yeare, we would prepare our selues to die, and do all that God would hauehave vsus, that we might liue in heauen, and scape the fierie lake, where the glutton hath not a droppe of water to coole the tip of his tongue. But now we know not whether we shall liue a week to an end, we wil do nothing that he bids vsus, but abide the venture: so one is taken after another, and because we are not readie, therefore we go against our will like Lots wife out of Sodom. This is our fashion to set the best last, vntill we cannot forsake our sinnes, nor hope of merciemercy. Thus I hauehave proclaimed to all Kings, Princes, Iudges, Counsellers, and Magistrates, that which Esay did to one, Set thy thinges in order for thou shalt die. Yet 25. yeares were behind, when the Prophet warned him to set all things in order, yet I cannot promise you 25. yeares, for many princes doe not raigne so long, for one that doth. That which Esay spake to one, heere God pronounceth of all, Yee shall die: therefore take the message which is sent vntounto you, & when you thinke of your honor, think of your end. These two remembrances to beare in mind, that yee are gods, and thinke that yee shall die. The holy ghost thought enough to teach you how to liue, and how to rule: and for vsus that hauehave not so much as the name of an immortall thing, like them which are called gods, that we may be like God hereafter: let vsus prepare before the accompt, for none are in heauē, but they which left the world before the world left them.