The True Treasury, Chapter 7
CHAP. VII.
A Second Exhortation is now to be addreſſed to all of all ſorts, and that is to ſtirre men up to a thr…efold duty. 1. To be thankfull to God that gave us his Word, and to his ancient people the Jewes, by whoſe hands hee conveyed it to us Gentiles. 2. To reade it diligently. 3. To rely upon it confidently, both for counſell and comfort.
Sect. 1.
BE thankfull firſt, and chiefly to God for entruſting us with this true treaſure, for concrediting unto us theſe lively Oracles, for drawing ſo neare us, and dealing ſo familiarly with us, as he hardly ever did with any before us. For what nation is there ſo great, that hath God ſo nigh unto them, Deut. 4 7, 8. Mich. 6.7, 8. Eſay 5.and that hath ſtatutes and iudgements ſo righteous, &c. He hath ſhewed thee, O England, What is good, and may juſtly demand, as of old, what cold I have done more for thee that I have not yet done?Deu. 33.29, 32. Happy art thou O Iſrael! who is like unto thee, O people ſaved by the Lord, &c. Before the Covenant with Abraham, all nations were alike reſpected: but after it was ſaid; J will be thy God, Gen. 17 7.and the God of thy Seed; the Church was divided from the reſt of the world, as light was from darkeneſſe in the firſt Creation, as the Sabbath from other dayes by divine conſecration,Act. 14.16. as Goſhen was from the reſt of Aegypt in that wonderfull ſeparation. All other Nations he ſuffered to walke in their own waies, to ſit in the dale of darkneſſe and ſhadow of death: but in Judah was God knowne, his name was great in Iſrael. Pſal. 76.1, 2.In Salem was his Tabernacle, and his dwelling place in Sion. Hence that beautifull Land (though part of the Continent) is called an Ile, Eſay 20.6. Deut. 7.6. foreignas ſeparate from other peoples … and the inhabitants therof are called Gods peculiar, his incloſures the people of his purchaſe that comprehended, as it were, all his gettings, the ſheepe of his paſture, yea his ſon, his firſt-borne, to whom he gave (for a childs-part) right iudgements and true Lawes, Hoſ 11 34. Exod. 4.2….good Statutes, and iuſt Commandem…nts, Nehem. 9.13. He ſhewed his word unto Jacob, his acts unto the children of Iſrael. He hath not dealt ſo with my Nation, &c. Pſal. 147.19, 20. By the dim light of nature they might get ſome glimpſe of God as a Creatour, not as a Redeemer, of his eternall power and Deity, rendring men without excuſe, not of the riches of his patience leading men to Repentance. Hence David, Pſal. 93.5. Having declared the teſtimonies of the power of God,Rom. 1.20. Rom. 2.4. that are to be ſeen in the very waves of the Sea, concludes the Pſalme with, Thy teſtimonies, O Lord, are very ſure: intimating, that there is no certain or comfortable knowledge of God to be got, but only thence. Nevertheleſſe thoſe poore Ethniks, for their unthankfullneſſe for that little they had, and becauſe that when they knew God (after a ſort) they glorified him not as God,Rom. 1.20. neither were thankfull, God gave them up to a reprobate ſenſe; as likewiſe he did the idle ſervant to the tormentour for not improving his one talent. O then what will he do, or rather what will he not do to us, that have made ſo little of ſo many advantages:Pſal 8….15. Cant. 2.12. Pſal. 84. that have heard the joyfull ſound, the voyce of the Turtle ſo long in our Land: that have ſeen the face of God ſo frequently and familiarly in his Ordinances, had the everlaſting Goſpell ſo puerly and powerfully preacht amongſt us, even the revelation of the myſtery that was kept ſecret ſince the world began, but is now made manifeſt, and by the Scriptures of the Prophets according to the Commandement of the everlaſting God made known to all Nations for the obedience of Faith. To God only wiſe be therfore glory, through Chriſt Jeſus for ever, Rom. 16.25, 26, 27.
The greatneſſe of this inexplicable benefit will the better appeare to us if we conſider it as cloathed with theſe enſuing circumſtances.
Firſt, that this good Word of God is come to our hands (after ſo many ages) ſo perfect and entire wanting nothing, that no part of the holy Canon is periſhed, not a haire of this ſacred head miſſing.
Next that we have it ſo exactly and exquiſitely rendred and tranſlated into the vulgar tongues. A priviledge that our fore-Fathers wiſh… well to, but obtained not. It were a great grace, ſaith Lambert the Martyr, if we might have the word of God diligently and often read and ſung unto us, in ſuch wiſe that the people might underſtand it. Then ſhould it come to paſſe that Craftſ-men ſhould ſing ſpirituall Pſalmes,Acts and Monuments, fol. 1015. ſitting at their work, and the Husband-man at his Plow, as wiſheth S. Hierome, Bugenhagius a famous Divine of Germany was ſo joyfull of the Dutch Bible, in tranſlating wherof out of the Hebrew and Greek Originals, he and ſome other learned men had laboured together with Luther; Melch. Adam in vita Bugenhagij.that every yeare he invited his friends on that day of the MonethMonth, whereon the worke was finiſhed, and called it the Feaſt of the tranſlation of the Bible.
Thirdly, that we have the whole will of God in ſo little a room, in ſo portable a Volume. Jn reading many books there is no end, Eccleſ. 12.12.and much ſtudy is a wearineſſe to the fleſh. It duls the ſpirits, wearies the body, marres the eyes (thoſe Muſarum perſpicilli, Dieſtius.as one tearms them) waſts the marrow, ſpends the time, ſhortens the life, but brings no ſound ſatisfactory knowledge. He that loveth reading (of humane Authors, I meane) ſhall not be ſatisfied with reading,Eccleſ. 1.8. as the Eye is not ſatisfied with ſeeing, nor the Eare with hearing: As thoſe that have a flux, though they take in much, yet are neither fuller, nor fatter.Multi propter arborem ſcrentie amit…unt arborem vitae. And which is worſe, many for the tree of knowledge ſake, looſe the tree of life, as one ſaith: Like Jſrael in Egypt, they are ſcattered all over the Land to pick up ſtraws to load themſelves with thick clay, Habac. 2.6.not minding that which mainly concerns them, the knowledge of the Scriptures,Diſcamu… in terris quorum ſcientia perſeveret nobiſcum in coelis, Hierom. the learning of that out of the Bible here on Earth that may ſtick to them for ever in Heaven. Theſe ſeek after aſſes with Saul, after ſervants with Shimei, and looſe themſelves therewhile: They drinke deepeſt of thoſe Authours, whereof to ſip were ſufficient; ſith we may ſooner ſurfet, than ſatiate our ſelves of ſuch,The epitom… of Toſtatus upon Matthew containes above a thouſand pages i… folio. I ſpeak not only of thoſe fabulous and frivolous fancies. But books of better note and uſe there are not a few in this ſcribling age, which yet by their intolerable prolixity are over-tireſome and tedious to the intelligent Reader;Salmeron hath his twelve volumes upon the Euangeliſts Sixt Senenſ. Bibl l. 4. Occidit que legen do plurima potius quam optima ſcrib. the gains will not pay for the pains. As voluminous Toſtatus, trifling Turrion, and Salmeron, that wearieth and well nigh killeth his Reader with infinite diſcourſes De verbis Dominae, that is, Of the words that the Virgin Mary ſpake to the Angell, and to her couſin Elizabeth, Ex cutab. Nundini Autumn. A. 1671. — tenent inſanabile nultos Scribendi caco…thes, Iuven.twelve Books diſtinguiſht into two tomes were printed at Ʋenice Anno Dom. 1617. Paleattus Arch-Biſhop of Bonony made a great Book of the ſhadow of Chriſts body in a Sindon, and it was commented upon by the Profeſſour of Divinity there;Wolphius mem. lect. pitty it were that he had had not written ſomthing of that holy relique, the taile of that aſſe wheron our Saviour rode, which they ſhew at Genua, and adore with great humility. Amidſt all which maſſe and multitude of books wherwith the world is now-adaies peſtered, who ſees it not a ſweet mercy, and juſt matter of thankfulneſſe, that we have ſo much in ſo few; the whole will of God compacted and contrived into ſo little a volume, that we may make it our vade mecum, our conſtant companion and counſellor,Melch. Adam de vit. Ger. theol. as Plato did his Sophron, George Prince of Anhalt his Siracides, Cr nmer his new Teſtament, which he learn…d by heart in his voyage to and from Rome, Act. and Mon.whither he was ſent by King Henry the eighth about the divorce. Eſpecially, ſince it is of ſo excellent and exquiſite uſe, good for all occaſions, and in all things neceſſary; ſo plain and perſpicuous, that we need ſeek no further; ſo full and perfect that it is able to make not the Vulgar only (as Bellarmine ſomewhere grants) but the man of God thoroughly furniſhed, that is, the Miniſter himſelf; who in Francis Junius his judgement, needs no more books in his ſtudy beſides the Bible, but Cevallerius, his Hebrew Grammar, Calvins Jnſtitutions, and Beza's Confeſſion: And yet he is both to know and declare the whole counſell of God. For if Ʋarro the Romane upbraided the Heathen Prieſts (and worthily) that there were many things in their rites and Religions,Ʋivi… in Aug. de civ. Dei, lib 4 cap. 1. wherof they were ignorant: How much more unſeemly is it in a Miniſter of the Goſpell, that hath ſo large a direction in ſo little a volume, not to preſerve and preſent knowledge to the people?
Fourthly, who ſeeth not a mercy in this that we have the Scriptures ſo well digeſted and diſtinguiſhed by Books, Chapters and Verſes, whereby (with the helpe of Tables and Concordances eſpecially) we can eaſily and readily turn to any place we need or deſire. In the Apoſtles times,foreign. all they could ſay for the help of the hearer was, It is written, or it is contained in the Scripture, as 1 Pet. 2.6. without particular quoting the place where. After this they had their partitions,Lege Caſaub. Not. in Mat. 1. ſections, ſpeciall portions of Scripture, ſet out, but Chapters were not heard of (as now) till the yeare of grace, 1195. nor verſes, till alate deviſed by Robert Stevens that learned French Printer:Scultet. Annot. in Marc. a great eaſe both to the Preacher and Reader.
Fifthly, that it comes to us ſo light cheap, is cauſe of thankfullneſſe; which our godly Anceſtours ſo hardly got and gladly bought at ſo deare a rate; ſome of them gave five marks, ſome more, ſome leſſe for a Booke in King Henry the eigths dayes, ſome gave a load of hay for a few Chapters of Saint James or of Saint Paul in Engliſh.Act. and Monfol. 756. To ſee their travells, charges, earneſt ſeeking, burning zeale, readings, watchings, ſweet aſſemblies, love, concord, &c. may make us now, in theſe our dayes of free profeſſion, bluſh for ſhame. Plato for three books gave thirty thouſand florens. S. Hierom… learnt Hebrew with the hazard of his life. Capnio paid a Jew that read Hebrew to him at Rome, for ſo many houres ſo many crownes in gold. The Booke of books, the beſt of all Authors commeth now to us upon eaſieſt tearms and rates, ſo exactly tranſlated,Iohnſt. de Naturae conſtan. Neand Chron, pa. 144. ſo fairly printed, as was never ſeen before.
Adde hereunto in the ſixth place, that God (in theſe laſt dayes eſpecially) hath ſent and ſtir…d up many burning and ſhining lamps, many diligent and dexterous interpreters to lay all levell and plain afore us, to break the ſhell, that we may come at the kernell,*Iudg. 7.15. to roll away the ſtone from the Wells mouth, to remoove rubs and difficulties, to clear dark and doubtfull places; ſo that not only Jacob and his ſons (Schollers and Miniſters) but alſo the cattell and the ſheep, that is the illiterate and ignorant may drink freely of theſe waters of the Sanctuary; as Origen allegorically expounds it.Origen. contra Celſum. The Jewes alſo had their Interpreters. Hence that of the Apoſtle, 1 Cor. 1.20. Where is the wiſe? that is, the teachers of traditions: Where is the Scribe? that is, the textmen that ſtuck to the litterall interpretation: Where is the diſputer of this world? that is, the teachers of Myſteries and Allegories, which miniſter Queſtions rather than edifying which is in Faith, 1 Tim. 1.4. and are no better, faith one, at beſt, then the froth of the Scriptures. But how weakly and corruptly theſe exerciſes were performed by thoſe ſlubbering Prieſts, and blind Phariſees of old, our Saviour partly ſhewes and confates in the Goſpell: And how poorly and ſlenderly by the Friars and poſtillars alate, is well to be ſeen in their writings at this day extant. Scarce was there any Commentary on the Bible for many hundred years better than the gloſſe of Orleans, Hugo de ſancto Claro, and Peter Comeſtor, by all which the Scriptures were as a claſped Scriptures were as a claſped book even to the ſimpler ſort of their Clergy. Certain Monkes there were that took it for a ſingular glory to write upon the Revelation, but ſuch wretched Note, as Thomas and Nicholas, and (after them to mend the matter) Paſſavantius made upon that excellent Work, De civitate Dei; Wherby they have bemired and utterly marred the ſenſe of it, as Eraſmus ſhews in the Proverb. Aſinus ad paleas. Scultet. Annal. dec. 2 p. 117.Apocalypſis, ſaith Faber the Auguſtinian, comes of Apo re, and clipſor, velo. And Alexius Grad the Dominican, as Bucer relateth it, ſaid that he had read ſomewhere in the Dictionaries that Cephas ſignifieth a head, and that therefore Peter was head of the Church. This buzzard ſaw not what the Evangeliſt had ſo plainely ſet downe, that Cephas ſignifieth a Rocke, to be skilfull in the Greek tongue was in thoſe dayes ſuperſtitious, but to be an Hebrician, was little leſſe then hereticall. Latine was ſo ill underſtood of many of their Prieſts, that he held himſelfe ſufficiently well excuſed from paving the Church-way with the reſt of his neighbours that could alledge for his purpoſe that of Jeremy. Paveant illi, Alex. Cook.ego non paveant. Another for Sumpſimus read Mumpſimus, and becauſe he had long uſed it ſo, would not alter it, for any admonition. Parens when he was young (begging an almes according to a ſuperſtitious cuſtome of thoſe times) had this anſwer from a Fryer:Becman de Orig ling lat. Nos pauperi fratres, nos nihil habemus, an piſcimus, an caro, an panis, an miſericordia habemus. And if any went about to ſhew them their bard and barbarous miſtakes, they ſhrowded themſelves under that of Gregory. In vita Parei operib praefix.Non debent verba coeleſtis or aculi ſubeſſe regulis Donati. Now God hath graciouſly removed this Remora to the profitable reading of his ſacred word, by ſtirring up ſtudious men to labour after learning which was almoſt baniſhed out of the world, and all places ore-ſpread with baſeneſſe and barbariſme. Look how in the firſt plantation of the Goſpell in Europe, he ſhipped the Arts before into Greece; that they might be Harbingers unto it (as Tertullian ſpeaketh) or (as Hierom) the munition to batter the ſorts of the wiſe, meaning of ſend the ſouldiers ſoon after: So in the reviving of the Goſpell, in the late Reformation, there ſeemed to goe before it a general reſurrection of all humane learning, and the effectuall means of all this, that nob…e invention of Printing; which ſeems reſerved to the waightieſt times of the Church, even the revealing of the Weſterne Antichriſt: Melancth. Chron l. 5.Wherunto that Eaſterne Antichriſt hath lent us his hand: I mean the Turke, that never did any good to Chriſtendom but this, and this againſt his will, in ſending the Greeke tongue (by the ſack of Conſtantinople, and ruin of Greece) into theſe Weſterne climates. Thus canes lingunt ulcera Lazari. Gods will is done by the wicked though beſide their intention. He hath given gifts to men, even to the rebellious, Pſal. 68.18.common gifts of illumination, interpretation, &c. That he may dwell on Earth, to wit, in his Religion and Worſhippers, who being wiſe Merchants, beſides the pearle of price, ſeek alſo other goodly pearles: Mat. 13.45, 46.make much of common gifts beſtowed many times upon unſound and unſanctified Interpreters for their behoofe and benefit. It is well ſaid in the Law that apices iuris non eſt ius. It is as true in Divinity, that the letter of the word is not every where the Word of God; but the right meaning therof. Gods Word fooliſhly underſtood is none of his,Ʋerbum Dei ſtolidè intellectum non eſt verbum Dei. ſaith Theodoret. The occaſion, ſcope, phraſe of the Holy Ghoſt, coherence, conſent with other places is well to be weighed. For our help hereunto, and that we may read with judgement, Chriſt in his wonderfull Aſcention gave gifts to men, ſome Apoſtles, Rom. 10.14. Gal. 3.2. Act. 8.30. Mal. 2.7.ſome Prophets, &c. with charge not only to propound to his people the word in groſſe, but alſo fruitfully expound it, rightly divide it, fitly apply it, be as ſo many ſpeaking Commentaries upon it, non libro, ſed labro conſervantes ſcientiam, bringing forth new and old ſtore, as good Scribes, and ſpeaking home to mens hearts to edification, exhortation and comfort, 1 Cor. 14.13. This, this is to do the work of an Evangeliſt, for every ſound is not Muſicke, nor every Pulpit-Diſcourſe, preaching) and is therfore perhaps, tearmed prophecying by Saint Paul, becauſe the matter of Preaching in thoſe daies was the Scriptures of the Prophets, in opening whereof the Servants of God were then eſpecially converſant. As alſo now the Church (bleſſed bee GOD) abounds with thoſe that want for no parts, that ſpare for no paines; but as Candles waſte themſelves to give light to others, and as clouds ſweete themſelves to death for common benefit, lay forth their talents to the utmoſt, that they may lay all knots and cragges levell, pave men a pathway to Chriſt, and ſo give them the knowledge of Salvation by the Remiſſion of their ſinnes.Luk. 1.77. Thus Paul reaſon'd with the Jews of Theſſalonica out of the Scriptures, opening and alledging, &c. laying it before their eyes, as the word ſignifies, and making it as cleare as the noone-day light, by expreſſe teſtimony of the word and due deduction therehence,Acts 17 3,4. foreign ob oculos ponens i… tam maniſeſtè exponens quàm cernimus quae ſpectanda proponuntur, Beza. that this Jeſus whom J preach unto you, ſaith the Text, is Chriſt. And this is ſtill the guiſe of all godly Preachers to ground their Diſcourſes upon the written word, preſſing the people either with the very direct words or firme conſequences, as our Saviour dealt by the Sadduces, Math. 22.32. And Saint Paul by the Corinthians, 1 Ep. 7.10. To the married J command, yet not J, but the Lord, let not the wife depart from her husband. In ſo many words the Lord hath not ſaid it, but plainly for the ſenſe, when hee ſaid, Therfore ſhall a man leave Father and mother, and cleave to his wife. And againe, That which God hath ioyned together, let no man put aſunder. Now that which the Miniſters in this ſort, ſpek out of the word, is the word: and muſt be ſo reputed and received: according to that in the Goſpel, He that heareth you heareth me. And again, J am with you to the end of the world. And that of the Prophet Eſa 59.21. where God maketh a covenant with Chriſt that thoſe words of his which he put into his mouth ſhould not depart out of the mouth of his ſeed, nor out of the mouth of his ſeeds ſeed for ever.
Laſtly, ſtirre up your ſelves to thankfullneſſe for this,Rom. 10.6, 7, 8 that Gods Word is ſo nigh us, even in thy mouth and in thine heart, and that is the Word of Faith that we preach; So that we need not ſay, who ſhall go up to Heaven or down to the deep for it. We need not travell hundreds of miles as the Queen of Sheba, or ride abroad to heare the Prophet,2 King. 4.23. as the good Shunamite did cuſtomarily every Sabbath and new moon. We need not ſend down to Aegypt with old Jacob for that Bread of Life, wherwith we are daily and daintily fed; or go on Pilgrimage to Paleſtina and Syria for it with the ſeduced Popelings.See Hiſt. of holy warre. Dan. 12. We need not run too and fro to increaſe knowledge, as thoſe in Daniel, nor trudge from place to place, as our godly fore-Fathers in times of perſecution.George Eagles ſirnamed Trudge-over. Act. and Mon. Rev. 6.6. Theſe be not thoſe unhappy dayes (praiſed be God) of the black Horſe, wherin there is but a ſmall meaſure of wheat for a penny, and three ſmall meaſures of barly for a penny. Wiſdome hath killed her beaſts amongſt us: ſhe hath mingled her wine,Prov. 9.2. Hiſt Aethiop. chap. 137. In all the vaſt continent of Afrique, there is not any region entirely poſſeſſed by Chriſtians, but the kingdome of Habaſſia, Sands. ſhe hath alſo furniſhed her Table. Alvarez tels us in his Hiſtory of Aethiopia that at his being at the King of Habaſſiars Court, there were Embaſſadours ſent out of Nubia, to intreat for a ſupply of Miniſters to inſtruct their Nation, and to repair Chiſtianity that was gone to ruine among them, but they were rejected. A dolefull caſe doubtles, when the children come to the womb, and there is none to deliver, or cry for bread and there is none to break it unto them: They runne too and fro to ſeeke the Word of the Lord, Amos 8.12.and cannot finde it. But this is not our caſe (God be thanked) we never yet taſted of that Famine of the Word, nor have bin forced to wander for it from Sea to Sea: but as in Aegypt every city had their Barns and ſtore-Houſes,Gen. 41.48. ſo is it heere. And as Manna fell at their very doors, it was but ſtepping out and taking it up, ſo is it with us; all the feare is leſt God cut off this Manna from our mouthes for loathing it, leſt he ſend in the Aſſyrians to drinke up our milke, Ezek. 25.4. leſt he call for his love-tokens backe again which we have ſet light by, and then follow utter deſertion and deſolation: Good turns aggravate unkindneſſes, and our offences are increaſed by our obligations. Abuſed mercy turns into fury,Laeſa patientia fit ſuror. as Moſes ſtaffe caſt from him into a Serpent; and as Aiax his Sword given him by Hector, ſo long as he uſed it againſt his Enemies, ſerved for help and defence: but after he began to abuſe it to the hurt of hurtleſſe Beaſts, it turned into his owne Bowells. When the old world would not bee warned by Noahs preaching, but grew foule and ſtanke, God ſaw it but time to waſh it with a flood.Gen. 6.11. When neither Lots godly admonitions, nor their owne late deliverance from Kedar-laomer and his company could mend or melt the ſinnefull Sodomites. God rain'd downe Hell from Heaven upon them. The Land of Shinar, where they built Babel, was part of the Garden of Eden (as moſt Geographers thinke,) whereof though the amenity and chiefe beauty were deſtroyed by the deluge,Plin. lib 6. c. 26 Herodot: l. 1. c. 19…. Cecidit roſà manſit spina, Bucholc. foreign Herod Ier 51 9. Iſa 13.21. yet is it ſtill fruitfull above beeleefe, and returnes the ſeede beyond credulitie. Nevertheleſſe, becauſe GOD would have healed Babylon, but ſhe was not healed; therefore was it made not onelyonly a place of Nettles and Salt-pits, but alſo of Dragons and Divells. The Sword, Famine and Peſtilence, were but the beginning of ſorrowes to the Jewes for their hatefull unthankfullneſſe and contempt of the Goſpell: Mat. 24.8.This was it that filled up the meaſure of their ſins;Mat. 23.32. and brought Gods wrath upon them to the utmoſt. Pererius the Jeſuite commenting upon thoſe words,1 Theſ. 2.16. The ſinnes of the Amorites are not yet full, If any aske,Gen. 15. ſaith he, why England continueth to flouriſh notwithſtanding the cruell perſecution of Catholikes (execution of Traitours, he ſhould have ſaid) there? Our anſwer is ready; becauſe their ſinne is not yet full, ſed veniet tandem iniquitatis complementum, ſaith hee; but it will not be long ere their iniquity bee finiſhed, and ere that bee made up that is yet wanting to their juſt weight, that God may fall upon them with his full weight: A bliſter on that foule tongue! GOD fore-fend and prevent their long-lookt for day. Oh pray that the Sunne of that morning may never ariſe, or that Day bee numbered to the Moneths of the yeare, wherein it ſhall bee ſaid, that our Candle-ſticke is remooved, that the Arke is departed from our Engliſh Iſrael.
Ah ne diem illum poſteri
Ʋivant mei, quo priſtinum
Ʋertantur in lutum aurea
Quae nos bearunt ſaecula!
If any thing ever undo us, it will be our hatefull unthankfullneſſe for the Goſpell of peace, according to that Prophecy of Luther. Three things, ſaith he,Melch: Adam in vita Luth. will deſtroy Chriſtian Religion, carnall Security, worldly pollicy, and forgetfullneſſe of the benefits received by the Goſpell. Of all things God cannot abide to be forgotten. Therfore the Jſraelites were ſo often charged by Moſes not to forget the Lord in the good Land whither they were going;Deut. 6.12. & 8.11, 14. & 9.7, &c. which becauſe they did,Amaſios meos Tremell. Hol. 2.8, 9. the flood-gates of Gods wrath was ſet open upon them to the utmoſt. Becauſe they ſay J will goe after my ſweethearts, and remembred not that J gave her corne, and wine, and oyle, &c. therfore I will take away my corne in the time therof, and my wine in the ſeaſon therof, &c. Ingratitude forfeits mercies as Merchants do all to the King, by non-payment of Cuſtome. Becauſe Pharaoh ſaith the River is mine owne, therfore ſaith God, I will dry up the River, Ezek. 29.3 9. Eſa. 19.5, 6. with Deu. 11.9, 10. The River Nylus watereth Aegypt, and makes it fruitfull. The Aegyptians uſed in mockery to tell the Graecians, Creditur Egyptus ca…uiſſe juvantibus arva. Imbribus at… a…nis ſicca utſſe novem, Ov d Vide Senec nat. quaeſt. l. 4. c. 2.that if God ſhould forget to rain, they might chance to ſtarve for it. They thought the rain was of God, but not the River. God therfore threatens to dry it up, and ſo he did. Tamberlane having overcome Baiazet, asked him whither ever he had given God thanks for making him ſo great an Emperour, who confeſſed ingenuouſly he never thought of it.L…unclav: in Annal: Turc. To whom Tamerlane replyed that it was no wonder ſo ungratefull a man ſhould be made a Spectacle of miſery. To live under the ſound of the word is a greater favour, than (without it) to be made Monarch of the whole world. For foure benefits Plato was eſpecially thankfull, 1. That he was made a reaſonable creature, and not a beaſt. 2. That hee was a man and not a woman. 3. That hee was a Grecian and not a Barbarian. 4. That hee was borne in the daies of Socrates and bred a Scholler under him. How much more cauſe have wee to bleſſe God that wee were not borne Pagans or Papagans, but brought foorth in theſe glorious and golden dayes of the Goſpell.foreign. Plutarch. Demarathus of Corinth was wont to ſay that thoſe Grecians loſt a great part of the comfort of their lives that had not ſeene great Alexander ſitting in Darius his Throne. But Bucholcerus more truely pronounced thoſe men unhappie, that were Nati & Donati, borne and buried before the Reformation of Religion begun by Luther: and himſelfe he held moſt happy,Mel Ad. in vit. Ger theol pag. 550. that his birth fell out in Melancthons time, a famous inſtrument of that renowned Reformation. This is yet our caſe, and long may it be. Great heede is to be taken that we force not God for our Vnthankfullneſſe, to take his own and be gone, as he did in Ezekiel; where hee makes many remooves,Ezek 9, 10, 11 and ever as hee went out, ſome judgement came in, as hee did from thoſe ſeven once flouriſhing Churches of Aſia, Rev 2, & 3.now a habitation for Jim and Ohim, as he hath not long ſince done from that large region of Nubia in Affrique, S. Ed Sands Survey of Weſtwhich had from the Apoſtles time, as it is thought, profeſſed the Chriſtian Faith, till ſomewhat above an hundred yeares ſince it hath again forſaken it, and imbraced partly Mahometiſme, and partly Idolatry, and meerely through Famine of the Word, and lacke of Miniſters. Laſtly, as he did from our fore-Fathers in Q. Maries dayes. And will ye know the reaſon? heare it from a Martyrs mouth.Acts and Mon: Ye all know (ſaith M. Bradford in a letter of his written out of priſon) there was never more knowledge of God (viz. in the dayes of King Edward) and leſſe godly living, and true ſerving of God. It was counted a fooliſh thing to ſerve God truly, and earneſt Prayer was not paſt upon; Preaching was but paſtime; communion was counted too common; Faſting to ſubdue the fleſh was farre out of uſe; Alms was almoſt nothing; Malice, Covetouſneſſe and uncleanneſſe was common every where, with ſwearing, drunkenneſſe and idleneſſe. God therfore now is come, as ye have heard me preach, &c. God forgive me mine unthankfullneſſe: It is I Lord that have ſinned againſt thee. It is my Hypocriſie,Ib. 1477. vain-glory, ſecurity, idleneſſe, unthankfullneſſe, ſelf-love, and ſuch like which have deſerved the taking away of our good King, of thy Word and true Religion, of thy good Miniſters by exile, priſonment and death,Hoſ. 14.2. Amos 4.1…. &c. Thus he: and thus we ſhould take unto us words and meet the Lord, if ſo we may prevaile, that he cauſe not our Sunne to go down at noone and darken the Earth in the cleare day, as he threatneth, Amos 8.9. The very courſe of the Sunne may well warne us of the courſe and progreſſe of the Goſpell, which went firſt forth from the Eaſt (that is Judaea) to the South (that is Greece) and from thence paſſed to the Weſt, (that is the Latines) till now it is turned to the North (which is the utmoſt angle of this Vniverſe) even to us, and ſo it hath almoſt finiſhed its courſe. Wherfore as much as it is the pitching time of the day,1 Ioh. 2.18. 2 Kings 4.27. Judg. 19.9. it is the laſt houre, lay wee hold upon our Lord Chriſt, as the Spouſe did, and although he make as if he would go further, conſtraine we him, Luke 24.29.as thoſe Diſciples did at Emaus, by our importunity, ſaying, Abide with us, for it is toward Evening, and the day is far ſpent; why ſhouldſt thou be as a ſtranger in the Land, Ʋeſpera nunc venit, nobiſcum, Chriſte, maneto: Extingui lucem ne patiare tuam.as a wayfaring man that turneth aſide to tarry for a night only? Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midſt of us, and wee are called by thy name, leave us not, Jer. 14.8, 9.
Sect. 2.
BVt ſecondly, as we are bound to God for his Word, ſo to the Jews, Gods depoſitaries and diſpenſers of his word, his treaſurers, and, as it were the keepers of his Cabinet,Act. 7. to whom firſt were committed theſe lively Oracles, and by whom they were tranſmitted and brought ſafe to our hands.Godw: Antiq: Hebr. Their Maſorites have carefully reckoned and ſummed up, not the verſes onelyonly, but all the words and letters of each book of the old Teſtament:Rom. 15.27. which as it is an argument of their induſtry, ſo is it an ingagement on…our part, ſith we are partakers of their ſpirituall things: and cannot miniſter unto them of our carnall, yet to pitty them and pray for them. Let Salomon (I meane Chriſt) have his thouſand of thanks. Cant. 8.12.Let thoſe alſo that have kept the fruit of his Vineyard (whereof wee have ſo freely fed) have their two hundred: thanke we muſt the ſender of this ſweet fruit, but withall pay the Meſſenger that brought it. Let it not be forgotten that the Law came out of Sion, Eſay 2.3. Pſal. 110.2.and the Word of the LORD from Hieruſalem to all the ends of the Earth, that to them pertained the Adoption and the Glory,Rom. 9.4, 5. the giving of the Law and the promiſes; that of them were the Fathers. Yea of them as concerning the fleſh came Chriſt, who is God bleſſed for ever,Rom. 10.1. Amen. Let our hearts deſire therfore and Prayer to God for Iſrael be, that they may be ſaved. They before the time of our calling, praid heartily for us, as appears, Can. 8.8, and by ſundry Pſalms: and from them we received the word and worſhip of God.Iohn 10.34. & 15.25. The Law is called their Law. And for the Goſpell, if they had not rejected it, we had never received it, Act. 13.46. Rom. 11.11. and verſ. 28. The poore, the maimed, the halt and the blind had never bin admitted, if the gueſts that were invited, had not refuſed to come, Luk. 14.21. They refuſed Chriſt that came into the world to ſave them, and ſhamefully nayled him upon the Croſſe, for the which they are become a renegate people now 1600. years together; without Church, without Common-wealth, without forme or face of government good or bad, their pleaſant Land turned into a wilderneſſe, their fruitfull country into a dry and barren deſert. Strabo indeed ſpitefully depraves the countrey; affirming it (at beſt) to have bin hungry and unfruitfull, not much to be envyed or deſired of any. But (beſides the teſtimony of holy Scripture, that it was a Land flowing with milke and hony) Rabſhakeh confeſſeth, that it was a Land of corne and wine, 2 King. 18.32.a Land of bread and vine-yards, a land of oyle olive and honey. Tacitus alſo tells us, that it is a fat and fertile ſoile; Another, that it is ſumen totius orbis; Heidelſeld.the rockes yeelded them honey, and flints, oyle, Deut. 32.13. As for the chiefe City Jeruſalem, that City of God, the valley of viſion, the viſion of peace. Pliny witneſſeth that it was the moſt famous of all the Citties of the Eaſt, wee may add of the whole world: becauſe it was the Mother of us all, the chiefe Church to the which all other Churches conformed themſelves, and were wont to reſort for direction, and deciſion of their Controverſies:Act. 15.2. and from the which they all went,Act. 8.4, 5. & 11.19, 20. that firſt carried the light of the Goſpell to the Genetiles. Their debters therefore we are ſurely. Rom. 15.27. neither may we hate their name and their Nation, but love them and pray for them, yea weepe and bleed over them as our Saviour did, Luke 19.41. And the rather becauſe the unſpeakeable miſeries then foretold by him are long ſince befallen them, ver. 34, 44. Ʋeſpaſian is reported to have broke in upon them, 1, at the brooke Cedron, where they apprehended Chriſt: 2, at the ſame Feaſt of Paſſeover that Chriſt was taken at: 3, to have whipped them in the place where they whipt our Saviour: 4, to have ſold thirty of them for a penny,Adricom. in Ach Apoſt. fol. 282. Lib. 7. bell… Iud cap. 17. as they bought and ſold the Sonne of God for thirty pence. In that laſt deſolation by Titus, Joſephus tells us of a thouſand thouſand of them ſlaine, and ninety ſeven thouſand carried captive. Such affliction befell them then as never had beene from the beginning, nor ſhall be to the worlds end: ſo our Saviour had foretold it, Mar. 13.19. Ever ſince this, they have continued a diſperſed and deſpiſed people, abhorred of God and men, and exiled out of the world, as it were, by a common conſent of Nations, for their inexpiable guilt in murdering their Maker. The firſt countrey of Chriſtendom, out of which they were caſt, without hope of returne was England, by King Edward the firſt, Anno Dom. 1290.Breerewoods Enquiries. Out of France, 1307. Out of Spaine, 1492. Out of Naples and Sicily, Polyd. Virgil. pag. 327.1539. Out of Portugall, 1597. Their Meſſias is expected of the Tribe of Judah, which was ſetled in Portugall, where they boaſt ſtill to have millions of their race, to whom they give compleate diſpenſation to counterfeit Chriſtianity even to the degree of Prieſt-hood;Blounts voyage into the Levant, p. 121. and that none are diſcovered but ſome hot ſpirits whoſe zeale cannot temporize. The reverence to the Meſſias makes them breed their children up in Portugall ſpeech, and make it their domeſtique tongue, where ever they dwell. They remaine to this day a very exceeding great people: So that in Conſtantinople and Teſſalonica there are eſtemed to be about 160000 Jewes. But in Jeruſalem there be not to be found at this time a hundred houſholds of them, ſaith Breerewood; yet there are ten or more Churches of Chriſtians there. Adrian the Emperour, for their ſedition under Captaine Barchocab, drove the Jewes utterly out of Jewry; Funccij Chronol.ſet a Sow of white Marble over the chiefe gate of Jeruſalem in reproach of their religion, and commanded them by Proclamation,Yet they afterward obtained once a yeare to goe in, and bewaile the deſtruction of their temple, giving a peece of money to the ſouldiers. And ſo they that bought Chriſts blood, are glad to buy their owne teares, as S. Hierom noteth. Tom. 6. p. 256. Funccius. not ſo much as to looke toward that Land from any Tower or high Mountaine. In Cyprus they are ſo hated for a bloody Maſſacre they made there of the Inhabitants in Traians time, that its preſent death for a Jew to ſet foot on that Iland; yea though he be driven in thither by a tempeſt, or caſt upon that coaſt by ill accident, he is truſſed up immediately. And albeit they have indeavoured from time to time to ingratiate and curry favour with Emperours, Heathen, and Chriſtian, yet they could never doe it to any purpoſe. Titus indeed would have preſerved the Temple as a Wonder of the world, a Monument of Magnificence,Ioſephus. from being burnt, but could not; ſuch was the outrage of the ſouldiers. And Julian the Apoſtate, to ſpite the Chriſtians, permitted the Jewes and incouraged them to reedifie their Temple of Jeruſalem at his charge:Ammian. 23. Socrat 3. Theodoret. Bucbalc. Func. howbeit attempting it, they were hindred from Heaven by a mighty Earth-quake, together with balles of fire iſſuing out of the foundation, and conſuming the builders. But Caius the Emperour caſt them out with contempt, and would not heare Philo their Countrey-man (an excellent Oratour) making apology for them againſt Appion of Alexandria, their deadly enemy. Whereupon Philo comforted his collegues and companions ſaying,Bono animo nos eſſe oportet quious iratus eſt Caius: quia neceſſe eſt adeſſe divinum, ubi humanum ceſſet auxilium. Be of good cheare, my friends; God will not faile to helpe, where mans helpe faileth. A pious ſpeech, but not appliable to ſuch a people; who were not now to expect helpe from God, but from Caeſar whom they had lately prefer'd before the Sonne of God, and were therefore worthily now rejected of both. A couple of their Rabbines alſo in the yeare 1530,R David Reubenita & R. Shelonioh Mol…u ſet upon Charles the fifth, to perſwade him to Judaiſme: but with ill ſucceſſe; for one of them was burnt at Mantua in Italy, Alſted Chronol. pag. 426.and the other put to a cruell death in Spaine, for that bold attempt.Beza in Mat. 5.46. Publicans they are at this day to the Turkes, farmers of their cuſtomes and tributes, and to the Chriſtians where they are ſuffered to dwell, they ſerve for huckſters and brokers to improve under-hand their unlawfull rents to the utmoſt proportion, as being permitted to ſtraine up their uſury upon the Chriſtian (for among themſelves they no where uſe it) to eighteene in the hundred. But in Turkey, Sands his Relation of the Weſt. Relig.though every Viſier and Baſſa of State is reported to keepe a Jew of his private Councell, whoſe malice, wit, (for they are generally found to be the moſt nimble and Mercuriall wits in the world) and experience of Chriſtendome,Blunts voyage into the Levant, p. 114. with their continuall intelligence, is thought to adviſe moſt of the miſchiefe, which the Turke puts in execution againſt us: Yet generally, they are ſo hated of the Mahometans, that they uſe to ſay in deteſtation of a thing,In execrationibus dicunt, Iudaeus ſim ſi fallo. Sanctius in Zach. 8.13. I would I might die a Jew then; or, Let mee be a Jew, if I deceive thee. And Biddulph tells us, that in Conſtantinople and Theſſalonica (where are ſo many thouſands of them) if they but ſtirre out of doores at any Eaſter-time betweene Maunday-Thurſeday at noone, and Eaſter-eve at night, the Chriſtians, among whom they dwell, will ſtone them; becauſe at that time they derided, buffeted, and crucified our Saviour. Thus as they uſe to ſay (poore ſoules!) amongſt themſelves,Moſes Gerundinenſis. there is an ounce of the golden calfe in all the puniſhments that befall them: ſo no doubt there is a pound of that direfull and dreadfull execration, His blood be upon us and our children, for the which wrath is now come upon them to the uttermoſt. They cloathed themſelves with a curſe, Pſal. 109.18.and it is come into their bowels as water, and like oyle into their bones. Their mouth is ſtill full of curſing and bitterneſſe. Rom. 3.They curſe the Lord Chriſt in a covert abbreviature of his name, calling him in relation to his death on the Croſſe,Ieſum Iudaei corruptè & improbè ſcribunt foreign adeo que , ſub tribus literis abbreviatis intelligunt vocabula foreign deleatur nomen ejus. Si tranſcas Iudaeu… Zeloten, aud…es foreign ethnice ſpurle: quod nuper Wormatiae petulant a lole cens praetereuntibus nobis acclamabat. Par. in Rom. 11.25. the woofe and the warp. They curſe alſo his ſervants, cloſing their daily prayers with a Maledic Domine Nazareis, calling them Gentiles, nay baſtard Gentiles, nay divels in their ſalutations by craft, and under a ſhew of courteſie. Therefore alſo are themſelves become a curſe among the Gentiles, as was fore-propheſied by Zachary, Zach. 8.13. as who ſhould ſay, God make thee as a Jew. The Turkes (whom they call Iſhmaelites) will not ſuffer them to turne Turke, unleſſe they will be baptized: as neither will the Papiſts ſuffer them to turne Chriſtians, unleſſe they will quit all their goods to the Chriſtians, under pretence that thoſe goods,They entertaine Chriſtians with Shedwilcom, welcome divell. Hei Iſord. Sands his Survey of Weſt. being gotten by uſury, are part of the divels works. which in baptiſme they profeſſe to renounce. This is cold comfort to men of their mettalls, and a maine meanes to keepe them Jewes ſtill, ſtiffe in their owne religion, which yet is part of their calamity. For they pay to the Pope and other Princes in Italy a yeerely rent for the very heads they weare.Ibid. Beſides other meanes to rack and wreck them in their purſes at pleaſure: they being uſed as the Friars to ſuck from the meaneſt, and to be ſucked by the greateſt. This is a preſſure they grievouſly groane under, and doe therefore call ſo loud for their long-lookt-for Meſſiah,Tantis expoſ…unt ululatibus, D. …rideaux Lect. crying; Let thy kingdome come quickly and in our daies. Bimberah. Beiamenu. Lightſ MiſcellThat earthly kingdome they meane that the Diſciples of our Saviour alſo (being ſowred with the leaven of the Phariſees) ſo dreamt and doted on; and wherein they will not endure that Chrſtians ſhould have any ſhare or intereſt. Rather then any ſuch thing ſhould be, they would crucifie their Meſſias a hundred times over, they ſay. And as for thoſe few Jewes that turne Chriſtians in Italy, they pretend that they are none of them,Blunts voyage. but poore Chriſtians hired from other cities to perſonate their part. Thus hath God to all other their plagues and puniſhments,Mat. 13.14. Mar. 4.12. Luk. 8.4. Ioh. 22 40. Act. 28.26. Rom. 11.8. added this worſt of all, of a fat and hard heart: according to that of the Prophet ſo often cited in the New Teſtament againſt them. He hath given them the ſpirit of ſlumber unto this day.Ezr. 10.2. But yet there is hope in Iſrael concerning this: Act. 3.17. Ioh. 16.2. Rom. 10.2.for they have rejected the Goſpell, not out of meere malice, but ignorantly, out of a blind zeale. Beſides, blindneſſe is but in part happened to Iſrael, Rom. 11.25, 26. (it is not a totall nor a finall obſtinacy) untill the fullneſſe of the Gentiles be come in, and ſo all Iſrael ſhall be ſaved. This he calls a myſtery, becauſe no man can conceive how it ſhould be: But yet he would not have us Gentiles ignorant of it, that remembring our ingagement,Ioh 4. and that ſalvation is of the Jewes, wee may further their converſion, by crying day and night,Pſal. 14.7. O that the ſalvation of Iſrael were come out of Zion, &c. and not hinder it, as the Papiſts doe by their abhominable idolatries and exactions, and the common proteſtants by their damnable oathes and blaſphemies (a ſinne that they very Turkes puniſh, and the Jewes aſſigne for the cauſe, wherefore the Turkes have ſo prevailed againſt us.) And laſtly, (as the beſt of us may doe) by our dulneſſe to this duty of pittying and praying for them, and ſo promoting their converſion: for the which neglect they have, I feare, an unanſwerable action againſt us.