Exposition of the Dominical Epistles and Gospels, Section 18

Exposition of the Dominical Epistles and Gospels · Section 18

p. 193ESAY 57.21.

There is no peace to the wicked, saith my God.

This text is a proclamation of warre against the wicked, enemies to God and his Gospell, wherein, obserue

the

thing proclaimed: No peace to the wicked. An heauy doome, whether we consider the time, the matter, or the men: for there is no time, no peace, no wicked, if impenitent, excepted.

person proclaiming: the

Prophet, as Herald.

Lord, as chiefe Cō mander,

able to make this war, because God.

willing to maintaine this war, because my God.

This sentence would not be so grieuous, if it were not so generall, if any wicked man at any time could inioy any kind of peace: but the proposition is an vniuersall negatiue; non est pax impi…s.

Our and other translations hauehave it not in the time past, non erat, there was no peace; nor in the future, non erit, there shall be no peace; but in the present, there is no peace. Or as it is in the originall, indefinitely without a verbe, naming no time, that wee might feare this iudgement at all times: hhLipsius de consiantiâ. l. 2. cap. 13.Cognatum, imò innatum omni sceleri sceleris supplicium. In the words of Saint iiRom. 6.23.Rom 6:23Paul, the wages of sinne is death; as the worke is ready, so the pay present, nec aufertur, nec defertur, if impiety, no impunity; When sin is kkIam. 1.15.Jas 1:15finished, it hath his hire; llSeneca in Hippoly…o.scelus aliquis tutum, nemo securum tulit.

If we consider a wicked man out of mmHugo Cardinal. in loc.Christ, he hath neither here peace of grace, nor hereafter peace of glory; but as he passeth from sinne to sinne, he goeth as it were from diuell to diuell, euen from hell to hell, from the p. 194flashes to the flame, from hell internall, to hell eternall.

As this includes all time, so likewise excludes all peace. For albeit nnReioy…der. pag. 163.Harding found a great difference between no bread, & not bread; yet Interpreters here make no difference betweene not peace, and no peace. For the wicked hauehave no peace with man, no peace with God, no peace with themselues. None with man: for as it is said in the verse before my text, The wicked are like the raging sea, whose waters cast vp dirt and mire. They are of their owne nature turbulent; but if we stir them a little, then they fume and some like the sea, both actiue (saith ooIn loc.Musculus) and passiue, being neither peace makers, nor peace takers.

For nature and scripture tell vsus plainly, that righteousnesse is elder sister to peace. So said ppEthic. lib. 8. cap. 3.4.8.Aristotle natures chiefe Secretary, that agreement in euill is not louelove, but conspiracie. So Dauid, a man after Gods owne heart, and a penner of Gods owne will, **Psal. 85.10.Ps 85:10iustitia & pax osculatae sunt; righteousnesse and peace hauehave kissed each other. As Augustine vponupon the place, fiat iustitia, & habebis pacem, if thou wilt hauehave peace, worke righteousnesse; first eschew euill, and doe good, then seeke peace, and insue it: Psal. 34.13. Nay, you need not seeke it, for it will finde you; peace will come of it selfe to kisse righteousnesse. On the contrary, no truth, no mercy; where there is no louelove of good, there can be no good of louelove; no true friendship, except it be qqHi…ron. epist. Paul. Tom. 3. fol. 1.Christi glutino copulata, glewed together in Christ; a man can hardly be true friend to any, that is not first truly friend to truth it selfe.

It was an excellent speech of rrEuseb. de vita Constant. lib. 1. cap. 13.Constantius, how can they be faithfull vntounto their Prince, who are persidious and vnfaithfull vntounto their God? I tell thee, saith Augustine to Martianus, Epist. 155.albeit you were mine old acquaintance, yet neuer my friend, vntill you were my louer in Christ.

And therefore when tt2 King. 9.2 Kgs 9Iehoram said vntounto Iehu, Is it peace? Iehu replied; What peace, whil… the whordomes p. 195of thy mother Iesabel, and her witchcrafts, are yet in great number?Cor. 6.14. What fellowship hath righteousnesse with vnrighteousnesse? what communion hath light with darknesse? what concord hath Christ with Belial? As Ismael that was borne after the flesh, persecuted Isaac that was borne after the spirit, euen so it is now, saith Paul: Galat. 4.29. The xxApoc. 12.7.Rev 12:7Dragon and his armie, will fight against Michael and his Angels.

It is then an idle phantasie to dreame of an vnity with the Papists, of an vniformity with the Schismatikes: for so long as the one is an enemy to truth, and the other an enemy to peace; so long as both are set on mischiefe, combined in faction, howsoeuer different in faith, I must tell you from Esay, and Esay from the Lord, There is no peace to the wicked.

Paex nostra bellum contra Satanam (saith yyLib. ad Martyres.Tertullian) our peace is a continuall warfare against Satan and his complices. As Christ, so the zzLuther. loc. com. Tit. de conciliatoribus.Church must suffer and ouercome in medio inimicorum, in the midst of all our enemies: Psal. 110.2. The builder of Gods house must hauehave a trowell in one hand, and a sword in another. Nehe. 4.17.

And here let not the carnall Gospeller hold himselfe exempted, in being of no side: for pax, (as the aaThomas, 22. quaest. 29. art. 1.schoole speaks) is tranquill…tas ordinata: Goodnesse is foreign wickednesse, foreign: where there is no order, there can be no peace, but a Babell of confusion: howsoeuer worldlings account the drunkard a good fellow, the fornicator a kind man, the flatterer a louing soule; yet the truth is, there is no peace in things that are wicked, and therefore no peace with men that are wicked. And as they can hauehave no peace with the godly, so but little agreement among themselues: bbEsay 9.21.Isa 9:21Ephraim is against Manasses, and Manasses against Ephraim, and both against Iuda. The Pharises against the Sadduces, & the Sadduces against the Pharises; both against Christ. The Pelagians against the Manichees, and the Manichees against the Pelagians; both against the Catholikes. The Pope against the Turke, the p. 196Turke against the Pope, and both against the truth.

All the vices are iarring in extremity, couetousnesse fighting against prodigalitie, basenesse against pride, rashnesse against dastardy;Esay 19.2.Isa 19:2 nay, many times, Egyptians are set against Egyptians; and birds of a fether doe not alway flie together; for the ddEsay 21.2.Isa 21:2transgressor is against the transgressor, and the destroier against the destroier: a drunkard will stab a drunkard, a theefe rob a theefe, a traitor proue false to a traitor, proditoris proditor, one wicked wretch is executioner of another.

They be so far from the peace betweene man and man, as that they want the louelove which is betweene beast and beast: for if one sheep be faint, the rest will stand between it and the Sunne, till it be comforted; if one hog hunted, the whole heard will muster together to reuenge it. Of Bees it is reported, aegrotante vnâ lamentantur omnes, if one sicke, all sory: yea some beasts are more kind to man then mankind. In humane story we reade of gratefull Lions, of kind Eagles, of trusty dogs, qui mori pro dominis, & commori cum dominis parati; saith Ambrose in his eeLib. 6. cap. 4.Hexameron.

In holy Bible, we finde that ff1. King. 17.1 Kgs 17Eliah was fed by rauens, and ggDan. 6.22.Dan 6:22Daniel not hurt among hungry lions. hh…yprian. ser. de orat. dominic.O detestandam humanae malitiae crudelitatem! aues pascunt; ferae parcunt; homines saeuiunt. O hatefull cruelty! the birds feed, the beasts fauour; but one man is a woolfe, yea a diuell to another. In this the wicked resemble iiPsal. 121.4.Ps 121:4God, that they neither slumber nor sleep, but like the kkIohn 10.10.John 10:10diuell, in that they watch as the theefe to spoile and destroy, seeking whom they may deuoure: 1. Pet. 5.8. For to render good for euill, is the part of a Saint: to render good for good, the part of a man: to render euill for euill the part of a beast, but to render euill for good onelyonly, the part of a diuell. And yet such is the fashion of the wicked, llPsal. 140.….Ps 140imagining mischiefe in their hearts, and stirring vp strife all the day long. Their throat is an open sepulcher; the poison of Asps is vnderunder their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitternesse, p. 197their feet are swift to shed blood, their teeth are speares and arrowes, and their tongue a sharpe sword. More sharpe (quoth mmSer. de triplici custodiâ.Bernard) then the speare which pierced our Sauiours sweet side. For this doth not only wound Christs mysticall body, but also dismember it, in the Commonweale making so many factions, as there are functions; in the Church, so many Creeds, as heads: as the same Father sweetly; Non iam exanime fodit, sed facit exanime fodiendo: Longius thrust thorow a body that was dead, but the wicked a body that is quicke. nnPsal. 14.7.Ps 14:7Destruction and vnhappinesse is in all their waies, and the way of peace hauehave they not knowne: in their bed appointed for rest, they plot how to be turbulent, (as the ooPsal. 7.15.Ps 7:15Prophet speakes) they trauell with mischiefe, and bring forth vngodlinesse. In a word, these are the troublers of Israel, thornes in our eies, pricks in our sides, bellowes & brands of sedition, hating the good, not louing the bad; crossing themselues, at war with all: There is no peace to the wicked saith my God.

The second kind of peace is betweene God and man, our reconciliation to God by the mediation of Christ, who is our ppEphes. 2.14.Eph 2:14peace. So the glosse interlin…al, and other expositors generally, there is no peace, that is, no Christ to the wicked. The scripture tels vsus, how that we were the sonnes of wrath, enemies of God; fire brands of hell, aliants from the Common-wealth of Israel, and strangers from the couenants of promise. But Christ God and man; and therefore most fit to be the Mediator qqAugustin. confess. lib. 10. cap. 43.betweene the mortall sinner, and immortall Iudge: dying for our sinnes, and rising againe for our iustification, is peace to them that are far off, and peace to them that are neere, saith the Lord in this Chapter. That is, as the Fathers rrHieron. in loc. ex Paul. Ephes. 2.17.Eph 2:17expound it; peace to the Gentiles a far off, and peace to the Iewes that are neere.

This one blessed Peacemaker hath made attonement for both, and appeareth in the sight of God daily, to plead our pardon as a faithfull intercessor and aduocate, in whom onelyonly God is well pleased; and without whom, p. 198God is no hearing God, no helping God, no sauing God, no louing God to vsus at all.

And without faith the Gospell is no Gospell; the sacraments are no sacraments; Christ is no Christ. Faith is ffChurch hom. of saluation. part. 2.Iohn the Baptist, shewing the Lambe of God, which taketh away the sinnes of the world: yea Saint Thomas, first handling, then applying the wounds of Christ; euen the spirituall hand that puts on Christs robe of righteousnesse.

The wicked then hauing no true faith, hauehave no true Christ; and hauing no true Christ, they can hauehave no true peace with God; the grace of our Lord in redeeming, the louelove of God in electing, the fellowship of the holy Ghost in comforting is far from them; so long as they continue in their sinnes and vnbeliefe, so long they be traitours, enemies, rebels vntounto the King of all Kings; he proclaimes war, and they can hauehave no peace.

Thinke on this, ye that forget God. ttEsay 5.Isa 5Yee that ioine house to house, and lay field to field, till there be no place for other in the land: ye that rise vp early to follow drunkennesse, and are mighty to powre in strong drinke. Ye that speake good of euill, and euill of good; which put light for darknesse, and darknesse for light, &c. uuMatth. 5.25.Matt 5:25Agree with your aduersary quickly, while you are in the way: xxEsay 55.6.Isa 55:6seeke the Lord while he may be found, and call vponupon him while he is nigh. yyMatth. 23.37.Matt 23:37O Ierusalem, Ierusalem, thou that killest the Prophets, and stonest them that are sent vntounto thee. zzHeb. 13.22.Heb 13:22Suffer the words of exhortation; aaPsal. 95.8.Ps 95:8harden not your heart, but bbLuke 19.4….Luke 19:4euen in this day heare the voice of the ccIohn 1.23.John 1:23Crier; confesse thy rebellion, and come in to the Lord thy God: ddIoel 2.13.Joel 2:13for he is gentle, patient, and of much mercy: desire of him to create in thee a eePsal. 51.10.Ps 51:10new heart, and to giuegive thee one drop of a liuely faith, one dram of holy deuotion, a desire to ffMat. 5.6.Matt 5:6hunger and thirst after righteousnesse. Suffer not thine eies to sleep, nor thine eie lids to take any rest, vntill thine ggPsal. 32.1.Ps 32:1vnrighteousnesse is forgiuen, and sinne couered; vntill thy peace be made with God, and thy pardon p. 199sealed. O pray, pray, that thou maist hauehave this peace. O pray, pray, that thou maiest feele this peace: for it is the third kinde; the peace of conscience betweene man and himselfe.

There are foure kinds of conscience, as hhLib. de conscientiá, sect. 2. fol. 1784.Bernard hath well obserued.

1. A good, but not a quiet.

2. A quiet, but not a good.

3. Both good and quiet.

4. Neither good nor quiet.

The two good belong properly to the godly; the two bad vntounto the wicked, whose cōscience is either too too quiet, or else too too much vnquiet; in neither peace: non est gaudium impijs, as the Translators of the Septuagints reade: non est iiEm. Sa. notat. in loc.gaudere impijs, There is no ioy to the wicked. Somtime their conscience is too too quiet, as kk1. Tim. 4.….1 Tim 4Paul speakes, euen feared with an hot iron, when habit of sin takes away the sense of sinne, when as men are past feeling, in a reprobate sense, giuen ouer to worke all vncleannes euen with greedinesse: Ephes. 4.19.

This is no peace but a numnesse, yea a dumbnesse of conscience. For at the first eueryevery mans conscience speaks vntounto him, as llMatth. 16.22.Matt 16:22Peter to Christ; Master looke to thy selfe: Her prick-arrowes, as the shafts of mm1. Sam. …0.Ionathan forewarne Dauid of the great Kings displeasure: but if wee neglect her call, and will not lend our eares while she doth spend her tongue, this good Cassandra will crie no more.

Now it fareth with the maladies of the minde, as it is with the sicknes of the bodie. When the pulse doth not beate, the bodie is in a most dangerous estate: so if conscience neuer prick vsus for sinne, it is a manifest signe our soules are lulled in a deadly sleepe. That schoole will soone decay, where the monitor doth not complaine; that armie must necessaril…e be subiect to surprise, where watches and alarums are not exactly kept; that towne is dissolute, where no clocks are vsed: …o likewis… …ur little citie is in great peril…, when our conscience i… …ill and p. 200sleepie, quiet but not good; tunc maxime oppugnaris, si t… nescis oppug…ari, saith nnTom. 1. fol. 2.Hier…me to Heliodore. None so desperatly sicke, as they who feele not their disease. Saint ooConfess. lib. 1. cap. 13.Augustine notably: Quid miserius misero non miserante seipsum? and ppEpist. 2.Bernard; Ideo dolet charitas mea, quòd cùm sis dole…dus, non doleas; & inde ma is miseretur, quòd cùm miser sis, miserabilis tamen non es: and qqTom. 1. fol. 231.Hierome to Sabinian; Hoc plango, quòd te non plangis.

rrLuke 11.21.Luke 11:21When the strong man armed keepes …is hold, the things that are possessed are in peace. Where Diuines obserue, that vngodly men already possessed with Satan, are not a whit disquieted with his temptations. As God is at open war, so the diuell is at secret peace with the wicked: but yet, saith ssAd Heliodor. de vita Eremet.Hierome, tranquillitas ista tempestas est. This calm… of conscience will one day prooue a storme. For as God said vntounto ttGen. 4.7.Gen 4:7Cain; If thou doest ill, sinne lieth at the doore. Where wickednesse is compared to a wilde beast, which dogs a man wheresoeuer hee goeth in this wildernesse. And albeit for a time it may seeme harmlesse, for that it lieth asleepe, yet at length except men vnfainedly repent, it will rise vp and rent out the very throte of their soules. A guiltie conscience being once roused and awaked thoroughly, will make them like those who lie on a bed that is too strait, and the couering too short, who would with all their heart sleepe, but cannot; they seeke for peace of minde, but there is no peace to the wicked, s…i…h my God.

As the cōscience was heretofore too too quiet, so now too too much vnquiet. As godly men hauehave the first fruits of the Spirit, and certaine …asts of heauenly ioyes in this life: so the wicked on the contrarie feele certaine flashings of hell flames on earth. As there is heauen on earth, and heauen in heauen; so hell on earth, and hell in hell: uuCartbusian. in 3 sent. dist. 22.an outward hell, and an inward; outward, in outward darknesse mentioned in holy Scripture, where there shall be xxMatth. 25.30.Matt 25:30weeping and gnashing of teeth; at this feast (as Bishop yyScr. ad cl…rum to the Conuocation.Latymer wittily) there can bee no mirth where p. 201weeping is serued in for the first course, gnashing of teeth for the second.

Inward hell is an infernall tormenting of the soule, void of hope, faith and louelove: this hell the diuels hauehave alwaies in thē, and reprobate forlorne people carrie about thē, insomuch that they can neither disport themselues abroad, nor please themselues at home; neither comforted in companie, nor qui…ted alone, but in all places and times, Erinnys conscie…tiae, (so zzComment. in …. Cor. 11.Melanc…hon calles it) hellish hags and infernall …uries affright them.

aaTom. 8. sol. 286Au…ustine in his …narration of the 45. Psalm, thus liuely describes the wofull estate of a despairing sinner: F… giet ab agro ad ciuitatem, à publico ad domum, à domo in cubiculum: He runnes as a mad man out of the field into the citie, out of the citie into his house; from the common roomes in his house to his chamber, from his chamber into his studie, from his studie to the secret closet of his own heart: & ecce hostē suum inuenit, quo confugerat, seip sum quò fugitur…s est: and then last of all, he is content least of all, himselfe being greatest enemie to himselfe.

The blinde man in the bbMark 8.…4.Mark 8:4Gospel newly recouering his sight, imagined trees to be men; and the Burgundians (as ccLib. 1. cap. 11.Comi…aeus reports) expecting a battell, supposed long thistles to be launces: so the wicked in the darke, conceit eueryevery thistle to be a tree, eueryevery tree a man, eueryevery man a diuell, afraid of …uery thing they see; yea many times of that they doe not see.

ddAnglican. histor. ab. 25.Polydore Virgil writes that Richard the 3. had a most terrible dreame, the night before Bosworth field, in which hee was slaine: hee thought all the diuels in hell halled and pulled him in hideous and vgly shapes. Id cred… non fuit somnium, sed conscientia scelerum: I suppose (saith Polydore) that was not a fained dreame, but a true torture of his conscience, pr…saging a bloodie day both to himselfe, and all his followers.

The penner of the Latine Chronicle, de vitis Archiepiscoporum Cantuariensium, in the life of Archbishop Hubert, p. 202records a will of a couetous oppressor in this forme. Lego omnia bona mea domino regi, corpus sepulturae, animam diabolo: The godly mans will alway runnes in this stile:

Terram terra tegat, daemon peccata resumat,

Mundus res habeat, spiritus astra petat:

I bequeath my bodie that is earthly to the earth, my sins which are diuellish vntounto the diuell, my goods that are worldly to the world, my soule that is heauenly to heauen: but this vnhappie wretch in great despaire yeelded vp his coyne to the King, whom hee had deceiued, and his soule to the diuell, whom he had serued.

It is written by eeLanquet. chron. fol. 146.Procopius that Theodoricus, as he was at supper imagined he saw in a fishes head the visage of Symmachus a Noble man whom hee had vniustly slaine; with which imagination he conceiued such terror, as that he neuer after enioyed one good houre, but pining away ended his vnfortunate daies.

Cardinall ffSleidan. com. lib. 23. in fine.Crescentius the Popes Vicegerent in the Chapter of Trent, on a time writing long letters vntounto Rome, full of mischiefe against the Protestants and cause of Religion, had a sudden conceit that the diuell in the likenesse of a huge dogge, walked in his chamber, and couched vnderunder his table, the which affrighted him so much, as that notwithstanding the counsell and comfort both of friends and Physitians, hee died a disconsolate death.

To conclude this argument, the diuell Iudas out of the hell of his conscience, was Bailiffe, Taylor, witnesse, Iurie, Iudge, Sheriffe, deaths-man in his owne execution.

Thus as you see, the wicked hauehave no peace with man, no peace with God, no peace with themselues. The very ggClc.name of peace betweene man and man is sweete, it selfe more sweete, hhPsalm. 133.Ps 133like the pretious ointment vponupon the head of Aaron, that ranne downe vntounto his beard, and from his beard to the skirts of his clothing. Yet the peace of conscience is farre sweeter, a iiProu. 15.15.Prov 15:15continual feast, a daily Christmas vntounto the good man; as the rich Epicure, Luke 16. so p. 203the godly fareth deliciously eueryevery day. The man that trusteth in the Lord is fat, saith kkProu. 28.25.Prov 28:25Salomon, he feedes himselfe on the mercies of God, and merits of Christ. And so the peace of God passeth all these: for it passeth all vnderstanding, without which one gift all other are rather curses then blessings vntounto vsus. As llCyril. Alexand. in loc.Cyril excellently, Domin… priuante suo gaudio, quod esse potest gaudium? It is the mmLuke 2.25.Luke 2:25consolation of Israel and solace of the Church: nnZachar. 9.9.Zech 9:9Reioyce greatly ô daughter Sion, shout for ioy ô daughter Hierusalem, for behold thy King commeth vntounto thee. That God is our God, that Christ is our Christ, that the King of all Kings is our King, that he is reconciled vntounto vsus, and we to him, is a ioy surpassing all ioyes, a iubilation as the Scripture termes it, which can neither be suppressed, nor yet expressed sufficiently.

How wretched then are the wicked in being debarred of all this sweete? of all this exultation, of all these iubilees of ioy? for if they can hauehave no peace abroad, no peace at home, no peace with themselues, no peace with other, no peace with man, no peace with God; assuredly the proposition is most true, There is no peace to the wicked.

Yea but you will say, ooMark 10.18.Mark 10:18there is none good except God, all of vsus are gone astray, if we say wee hauehave no sinne, the truth of God is not in vsus. Of what kinde of wicked is this then vnderstood? Answere is made, that this onelyonly concernes incorrigible, malicious, impenitent, senselesse sinners. For when once men feele their sinnes, and repent for their sinnes, grieuing much because they can grieue no more; then in such as ppRom. 5.20.Rom 5:20sinne aboundeth, grace superaboundeth, qqRom. 8.28.Rom 8:28all things worke for their good; euen sinne which is damnable to other, is profitable to them, occasioning rr2. Cor. 7.10.2 Cor 7:10repentance, neuer to be repented. ssLuth…r. loc. com. tit. d… vulneribus consci…ntiae.Remember the speech of God to Rebecca; The greater shall serue the lesser. Albeit our spirituall enemies are stronger, and our sinnes greater then we; yet they shall serue for our good, the greater shall serue the lesse. God who p. 204can bring sweet out of sower, and light out of darknesse, shall likewise bring good out of euill.

Such offenders hauehave peace with men, so far ttRom. 12.18.Rom 12:18as is possible with all men, uuEphes. 4.3.Eph 4:3indeuoring to keep the vnity of the spirit in the bond of peace.

Secondly, being iustified by faith, they hauehave peace toward God in Christ: Rom. 51.

Lastly, Christ dwelling in their heart, they want not peace of conscience, but abound with ioy in the holy Ghost: Rom. 14.17.

When sinners are rather passiue then actiue in sinne; when it is rather done on them, thē of them; albeit their conscience accuse them of the fact, yet it doth not condemne them of the fault: and so there is all kind of peace to the penitent; no kind of peace to the wicked imp…nitent, saith my God.

Hitherto concerning the thing proclaimed. I come now to the person proclaiming, in these words, saith my God. The subordinate proclaimer is Esay; the principall, God himselfe.

As heretofore the Prophet, so now the Preacher is not onelyonly the mouth of God, as Luther cals him: but as xxIohn 1.23.John 1:23Iohn Baptist said of himselfe; The very voice of God. For albeit we speake, yet it is Christ who by vsus, and in vsus calleth vntounto you: 2. Cor. 5.20. See Epist. dom. 3. & Gospel. dom. 1. and 4. in Aduent.

If then the Lord hath said it, yyBullinger. in loc.let no man doubt of it; Heauen and earth shall passe, but not a iot of his word shall passe: he is not like man, that he should lie, or like the Sonne of man, that he should deceiue. Yea, that we might the better obserue it, Almighty God hath spoken once and twice, as it is in the 62. Psalme. For the Lord had made this proclamation once before in the 48. chap…er, at the last verse. So that as zzDe adulterinis coniugijs ad Pollentium. lib. 2. cap. 4.Augustine in the like case, verba toties inculcata, vera sunt, viua sunt, sana sunt, plana sunt. One text repeated twice, pressed againe and againe, must needs be plaine and peremptory. And assuredly (beloued) p. 205if we further examine the person of this Chiefe, we shall finde him able to make this war, because God, and willing to maintaine this war, because My God. He is stiled elsewhere the Lord of hosts, and therefore all creatures as his warriours, are ready pressed to reuenge his quarrels, and to fight his battels. His souldiers against the wicked, are either celestiall, or terrestriall, all the Creatures in heauen and on earth. In the beginning God created the heauen and the earth, Gen. 1. and all that therein is, Exod. 20. And in this acception, according to the Bible, which is a lantern vntounto our feet, and a guide vntounto our paths, I finde three heauens, as Paul saith, he was taken vp into the aa2. Cor. 1….2.2 Cor 1:2third heauen:

the

1. Airy.

2. Starry.

3. Glorious.

Airy heauen is all the space from vsus vntounto the firmament: so the birds which flie betweene vsus and the starres, are called in holy writ; the fowles of bbG…n. 1.28.heauen. In this heauen are meteors, haile, wind, raine, snow, thunder, lightening, all which are at Gods absolute command, to serue such as serue him, and to fight against them that fight against him. As when the wicked old world was filled with cruelty; The windowes of ccGen. 7.Gen 7heauen were opened, and the raine was vponupon the earth forty daies and forty nights; insomuch, that this one souldier of the Lord, destroied all his enemies, eueryevery thing that was vponupon the earth from man to beast; onelyonly Noah, Gods holy seruant, remained, and they that were with him in the Arke, whom the raine did not hurt, but rather helpe: for the deeper the flood, the safer the ship; the water had peace with Noah and his company, but open warre with all the rest of that old world.

So likewise the Lord out of heauen, rained fire and brimstone vponupon the ddGen. 19.Gen 19Sodomites; and hailestones out of heauen vponupon the cursed Amorites at Bethoron, and they were moe, saith the eeIosua 10.Josh 10text, that died with the haile, then p. 206they whom the children of Israel slew with the sword.

But what need we looke so far? the great wind ffDecember 30.this yeere, the ggFrom 2…. December, to lan. 15.great frost the last yeere sensibly demonstrate this point. What a wracke on the s…a, what a worke on the earth occasioned by the one? what a dearth, and so by consequence, what a death ensued vponupon the other? If God cast forth his ice like morsels, who is able to abide his frost? Psal. 147.17.

To step higher, the second heauen is the firmament, coelum quasi coelatum, because it is ingrauen, & as it were enameled with glorious lights, as Moses in the first of Genesis, God made two great lights, the greater to rule the day, the lesser to gouerne the night: he made also the stars, and placed them in the firmament of heauen.

Now this heauen hhPsal. 19.1.Ps 19:1declares the glory of God, and the firmament shewes his handy worke: though they want vnderstanding and are dumbe, yet they trumpet forth his worthy praises in such sort, that there is neither speech nor language, but their voice is heard among them. And as they speake for God, as schollers, so they fight also for God as souldiers; for the starres in their course fought against Sisera: Iosua 5.20. and when Duke Iosua fought against the wicked Amorites, he said in the sight of Israel; Sunne, stay thou in Gibeon, and thou Moone in the valley of Aialon; and the Sunne abode, and the Moone stood still, vntill the people of God auenged themselues vponupon their enemies; the Sunne abode, and hasted not to goe downe for a whole day: Iosua 10.13.

iiPsal. 8.1.Ps 8:1O Lord our gouernour, how excellent is thy name in all the world! When I consider the heauens, euen the works of thy hands, the Sun and the Moone which thou hast ordained, what is man that thou art so mindfull of him? or the son of man that thou shouldst thus regard and gard him? The third heauen is called by Philosophers, empyreum: by Diuines, the glorious heauen: by kk1. King. ….27.scriptures, heauen of heauens, or heauen aboue the visible heauens. In this heauen Almighty God hath two sorts of tall

p. 207wariours:

Angels.

Saints.

Angels are llLuke 2.13.Luke 2:13heauenly souldiers, ministring spirits of God, instruments of his mercy toward the good, executioners of his iudgements vponupon the bad. When Iosua was about to sacke Iericho, an mmIosua 5.Josh 5Angel appeared vntounto him as a Captaine with a drawne sword to fight for his people. When Zenacherib and his innumerous host came against Israel, the Angel of the Lord in one night slew one hundred, eighty, and fiue thousand: 2. Kings 19. The first borne of Egypt, slaine by an Angell: Exod. 12. blasphemous Herod smitten with an Angell: Acts 12.23. To conclude this argument, Angels at the last and dreadfull day shall binde the nnMat. 13.Matt 13tares, that is, make fagots of the wicked, and cast them into hell fire. As they pitch their tents about Gods elect, being the Saints guard and nurses, as it were, to ooPsal. 91.12.Ps 91:12carry them in their armes, lest at any time they hurt their foot against a stone: so contrariwise, speedy messengers and Ministers of Gods anger vntounto the reprobate.

Now for Saints, albeit they be milites emeriti, (as the ppConsule com. Godes. Stewchij. ad Veget. lib. 2. cap. 3.Romans speake) souldiers discharged the field, past fighting, past sighing, for all teares are wiped from their eies; euen so saith the spirit, they rest from their labours, and their good works follow them: Apocalyp. 14.13. The… be past warfare, and now liue in eternall welfare, crowned as conquerors in heauen, where there is neither militia, nor malit…a.

Though, I say, their fight be ended, and they rewarded with an immortall crowne of glory, yet for as much as there is a communion of Saints, a fellowship betweene the triumphant Saints in heauen, and the militant Saints on earth; the blessed soules departed and deliuered out of the miseries of this sinfull world, howsoeuer they be secure for themselues, yet are they carefull for vsus: as qqD. Reynold de Idolat. lib. 1. cap. 1.our Churches in their Harmonie speake, de foelicitate suà securi, de nostrà salute soliciti: they wish well vntounto vsus, and p. 208pray still for vsus in generall, albeit they know not our wants in particular. Howsoeuer they fight not any longer against Gods enemies with pen or pike, with paper or powder, yet they continually fight against them with push of praier, as Saint rrApoc…l. 6.10.Iohn expresly; The soules of them that were killed for the word, cried with a loud voice, saying; How long Lord, holy and true! dost not thou iudge and reue…ge our blood on them that dwell on the …arth? Albeit they contend not with earthly weapons, yet they maintaine Gods quarrell with heauenly wishes in generall against Satan and his kingdome, out of zeale and heat to Gods cause, not out of any spleene or hate to any of the wicked in particular; I dare not say so: for whe…e the spirit hath not a pen to write, the Pastor must not hauehave a tongue to speake, not the people an eare to heare; but that the blessed soules in heauen pray for vsus, against our enemies in generall, is an article of faith, and an euident truth of the Bible.

I come from Gods selected band in heauen, to the common band, the host of his creatures on earth, the which containes both sea and land, and all that is therein, euermore willing to fight in this quarrell.

The ssE…od. 14.red sea did ouerwhelme proud Pharaoh, and all his host, euen all his horses, his chariots, and horsemen. Anno 1588. the sea and fish in the sea fought against the superstitious Spaniard, enemy to God and his true religion: a wonderfull worke, which ought to be had in perpetuall remembrance. I say, wind and water ouercame that inuincible army, prepared for our destruction; in such sort, that the ttTreat. to Mendoza.popish Relator he…reof confessed ingenuously, that God in that sea-fight, shewed himselfe a very Lutheran, and meere Protestant.

The floods and inundations which happened in diuers parts of this kingdome within these few yeeres, here should not be passed ouer with dry eyes. If the Lord had not according to his infinite greatnes and goodnesse, fettered the waters of our seas, as uuHerodot.Xerxes did the waters p. 209of Hellespontus. If God had not gathered the waters together on an heape, and laid them vp in the deepe, as in a treasure house: Psalme 33.7. If hee had not spoken to the flood, xxIob 38.11.Job 38:11IIitherto s…lt thou goe, but no further, and here shall it stay thy proud waues, assuredly there had followed a great doomesday to this Iland. yyPsalm. 77.16.Ps 77:16The waters saw thee, O L…rd, the waters saw thee, and were afraid; zzPsal. 72.18.Ps 72:18Blessed be the Lord God, euen the God of Israel, which only doth wondrous things; and bl…ssed be the n…me of his Maiesty for euer▪ and let all the people …, Amen, Amen.

I passe to the shore, to drie land, aaNumb. 16.30.Num 16:30which opened and swallowed vp quicke, Cor…h, Dath…n, and Ab…ram.

In this one Prouince are sundrie rankes of fighting souldiers, armies o… fell dragons, of hissing serpents, of roring lions, of deuouring wolues, of other wilde beasts in the forrest, and cattell vponupon a thousand hils; all which named, and all other not named, are readie with force and furie to crush the wicked, and at Gods alarum to breake them in pecces like a potters vessell.

Euen the least of these creatures is strong enough, if God set them to fight; an host of frogges, an armie of grashoppers, a swarme of flyes, able to dismay Pharao and all his people; a few rats troubled all the citizens of bbMunster.Hamel; a few wormes deuoured ccAct. 12.23.Acts 12:23Herod; a little gnat choked a great man, yea the greatest monarch in his own conceit, Adri…n the Pope.

The very senselesse creatures hauehave sense and feeling of the wrong done to God. In Siloam (as we reade in the ddLuke 13.4.Luke 13:4Gospell) a tower fell vponupon eighteene p…rsons and slew them. In eeLanquet. chro. fol. 95.Rome fiftie thousand men were hurt and slaine with the fall of a Theater, as they were beholding the games of the Sword-players. ffStow.Anno 25. Reg. Eliz…b. the scaffold about Parisgarden vponupon a Sunday in the afternoone fell downe, which instantly killed eight persons, and hurt many moe. A faire warning to such as profane the Sabbath, and delight more in the crueltie of beasts, then in the workes of merciemercy, which are exercises p. 210of the Lords day. The time will not suffer me to name, much lesse to mufter all the rest of Gods war…iers on earth: I will only remember one, whom, I thinke, you feare most, namely the plague, fitly called by the Canonists, bellum Dei contra hom…es, the warre of God against men, and by the Scripture, the gg1. Chron. 21.301 Chr 21:30sword of God, and hhPsal. 91.5.Ps 91:5ar…o…r of his anger.

In the yeere 1006, there was such an vniuersall plague thoroughout the whole world, that the liuing were not able to burie the dead, as Sigisbertus and iiZuing…r. in Thea…ro. volum. 2. lib. 7. pag. 544.other report. Anno 1342. there was in kkSabellicus lib. 8 Ae…ead. 9.Venice such a pestilence, that the hundreth person was scarsly l…ft aliue, insomuch that the State made a law, that whosoeuer would come and dwell at Venice two yeeres, he should instantly be made free.

About the ye…re 1522. there died of the plague in llLa…quet. chro. fol. 280.Millaine fiftie thousand within the space of foure moneths. In mmStowes abridgement.Norwich from the first of Ianuarie to the first of Iuly, 57104. In nnIdem.Yarthmouth within the space of one ye…re 7052. In London and the liberties thereof, from the 23. of December 1602. vntounto the 22. of December 1603. there died of all diseases, as was accounted weekely, 38244. whereof of the plague 30578. and from that time to this day, the Citie not yet free. This last yeere past, as appeares in your own bils, there died 2262. Lay this heauie iudgement to your heart, heare this proclamation againe and againe, There is no peace to the wicked.

As the ooIob 5.….Job 5stones of the field are in league with the righteous, and the beasts at peace with the godly, they may dwell safe in the wildernes, and sleepe in the woods: Ezech. 34.25. so contrariwise the stone shall crie …ut of the wall, and the beame out of the timber against the wicked: Habacuk 2.11.

Their sinne begets their sorrow, their faults increase their foes, euen their tables are made snares, and their i…orie beds accus…rs, and their seeled houses witnesses against p. 211them; all things which were giuen for blessings are become curses vntounto them: and that which is most strange, beside these two great bands of souldiers, one common in earth, another select in heauen; there is yet a third of rebels, euen of the very diuels in hell; for albeit they be ppIude epist. v. 6.reserued in euerlasting chaines vntill the iudgement of the great day; yet God infinite in his power and wisedome, who brings light out of darknesse, doth make good vse of these bad inst…uments.

It is said in the first of Sam. chap. 16. that the euill spirit of the Lord vexed Saul; it was Gods spirit which came vponupon Dauid, but it was a malignant spirit which was on Saul; and yet this spirit is called s…ri…us Domini, the spirit of the Lord, because the Lord qqImmissus seu permissus à Domino. Em. Sa. not. in loc.sent that euill spirit, and suffered it to torment Saul, as rrAd Simplician. lib. 2. qu. 1.Augustine and ss2. Sen…. dis…. 44Lombard hauehave well expounded that place. So likewise w…e reade in the Gospell, that the foule spirits made some d…ase, some dumbe, casting one into the water, another into the fire; all which actions, as they were actions, proceeded from God for the Scripture tels vsus plainly, ttRom. 13.1.Rom 13:1there is no power but of God.

Happily some will say, the diuels assault the good so well as the bad. We wrestle (saith uuEphes. 6.12.Eph 6:12Paul) against principalities, against powers, against the prince of darknes: for Satan goes about like a roring lion, seeking whom he may deuoure. Answere is made, that God suffers Satan to tempt his children onelyonly to trie them, but suffers him to tempt the reprobate, so farre, as to destroy them: the temptations of the good are instruction; of the bad, destruction, vtter ruine of bodie and soule. In what a miserable case then is eueryevery wretch irrepentant? xxEsay 5.18.Isa 5:18drawing iniquitie with cords of vanitie, and sinne as it were with cartropes, yyRom. 2.5.Rom 2:5heaping vp wrath against the day of wrath. For the number of his enemies is without number; the number of the blessed Saints is innumerable: Apocalyp. 7.9. After these things, I beheld, and loe a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kinreds, and people, and p. 212tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lambe, clothed with long white robes, and palmes in their hands. The number of Angels is infinite: Thinkest thou (said Christ to Peter, in the 26 of S. Matth…w) that I cannot now pray to my father, and he will giuegive me moe then twelue legions of Angels?

A legion is **Dionysius Hal. lib. 1.3000. footmen, and 300. horsemen; or as Caluin vponupon the place, 5000. foote, 500. horsemen; as zzLib. 2. de re militari cap 2. See the view of certaine militarie matters annexed to Tacitus in English.Vegetius, 6000. in all; and …uery particular Angell able in one night, to kill, as is recorded in the storie of Senn… cherib, one hundred, eightie and fiue thousand. The number of starres in the skie, of fowles in the aire, of fish in the sea, of beasts in the field, of diuels in hell are without number: How infinitely infinite then is the number of all his enemies? in what a f…arefull …state doth hee stand, when as God and man, Angels and Diuels, saints and sinners, heauen and earth, fish and fowle, beasts and birds, other and himselfe; in a word, all that is within him, all that is without him, all that is about him, combine themselues together to maintaine Gods holy warre against him?

I know there are degrees of sinners, as there are degrees in sinne; some be fautores, some actores, a third sort authores. Of the first, Seneca wittily, Nihil interest fa…eas ne sceleri an illud facias: It is in a manner all one to commit and commend a villanie. Non caret scrupulo occultae societatis, qui manifesto discrimini non occurrit, saith Gregorie: He is suspected to be an abetter of euill, who doth not endeuour to better the euill. A commoner then that flattereth, a Commander that fauoureth vngodly wretches in a citie, lets in so many strong foes, to cut your throtes, and ruine your estate.

Yet actors on the stage be worse then idle sp…ctators: for howsoeuer sinne be commendable, because common, as aaDe gubernat. Dei, lib. 5.S…lui…nus complained in his time; In h…c scelus res deuoluta, vt nisi quis malus fuerit, saluus esse non possit: In plaine English, except a man be first bad, he cannot be p. 213reputed a good fellow: Yet horrible blasphemers, incorrigible drunkards, shamelesse whoremongers, makebate pettifoggers, malcontent accusants on the one side, recusants on the other, are the very men and meanes, which bring and keepe the dearth and plague so long among you.

But authors of euill and plotters of mischiefe are worst of all; as it appeares euen by Gods owne censure giuen of the first sinne in Paradise, where the serp…nt had three punishments inflicted vponupon him, as the originall contriuer; the woman two, being the mediate procurer; and Adam but one, as the partie seduced. Applie, for I can no further amplifie.

When bbC…dren. hist. pag. 542.Phocas had built a mightie wall about his palace, for his securitie, in the night he heard a voice: O King, though thou build as high as the clouds, yet the citie might easily be taken, the sinne within will marre all: ccSer. 87.as see Ambrose notably; Grauiores sunt ini…ci mores praui, quam hostes in…esti: Wicked manners are stronger then armed men. If God be with vsus, who can bee against vsus? if we stand against God, who can withstand him?

And as God is abl…, because God. so willing to maintaine this warre, because my God: that is, the God of his people, whom the wicked persecute: for his Grant is faire in letters patent to ddGen. 12.3.Gen 12:3Abraham and his seed for euer: I will blesse them that ble…e thee, and curse them that curse thee. Or, my God ▪ that is, the God by whom I speake, who dealeth alway with his seruants according to his word.

The gods of the Gentiles are lying gods, and dying gods: but my God is the truth, and the life, who can neither deceiue nor be deceiued. Or, my God, because wee must not only beleeue the Maior of the Gospell, but the eeBucer.Minor also, saying with Thomas my Lord; with Mary, my Sauiour; with Esay, my God. If we can gaine this assumption, it will bring vsus to the most happie conclusion; enioying peace of conscience which is an heauen on p. 214earth, & peace of glory, which is heauen in heauen. VntoUnto which, hee bring vsus that hath made peace for vsus, euen Christ Iesus the righteous▪ to whom with the Father, and the holy Ghost, as we are bound, so let vsus heartily yeeld all honour, &c. Amen.