THE CRY OF ENGLAND.  
A Sermon preached at Paul's Cross in September 1593. by Adam Hill Doctor of Divinity, & published at the request of the then Lord Mayor of the City of London, and others the Aldermen his brethren.  
LONDON Printed by Ed. Allde, for B. Norton. 1595.   

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE Lord Maior of the famous City of London, and the right Worshipful the Aldermen his brethren, and the Commons of the same, Adam Hill Professor of Divinity, wisheth grace, peace, and life everlasting.  
THere be four things in the earth very small, & very wise (as witnesseth wise Solomon): 
Prou. 30.25, etc.  the Pismires, a people not strong, yet prepare they their meat in the summer; the Coneys a people not mighty, yet make they their houses in the rock; the Grasshopper hath no King, yet go they forth all by bands; the Spider taketh hold with his hands, and yet is he in King's Palaces: So must we provide now in the summer time, while the Gospel shineth out of the face of Christ jesus, against the winter, which hath in it three months, death, judgement, and hell: that as the Emmet escapeth the annoyance of the three winter months, so we may escape the terror of death, the rigour of God's judgement, and the torments of hell. The Coneys build their house in the rock: so we may not trust to our riches which are uncertain, to our bow which will break, to our spear which shall be knapped asunder, to our horse which is a vain thing, to our hosts of men which are but flesh, to our Captains which are but locusts, to men which are mortal, or to Princes which shall die; but to the Lord, which can keep our eyes from tears, our feet from falling, and our life from death. The Grasshoppers albeit they have no king, yet they go forth by armies: we have a father to rule in the house, a preacher to teach in the Church, a gracious Prince, with many honourable Senators to rule our Realm, & yet there is strife in every house, sedition in every City, and sects in every Church; and therefore our house will fall, our kingdom shall be desolate, and our church will be the synagogue of satan. The spider is in King's palaces: but we dwell some of us in the lusts of the flesh, some in the treasures of the world, and some are as envious as the devil; few there are that say with David, 
Psal. 84.2.  My soul longeth, yea and fainteth for the Courts of the Lord, for my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. To move my countrymen therefore to a general, speedy, and hearty repentance, I have laid down in this treatise, the cry not of Sodom, but of England; which if it be diligently weighed, 
Luke. 21.34.  I doubt not but we shall take heed to ourselves, lest our hearts be oppressed with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life. We shall be watchful, 
Matt. 24.24. Mich. 6.8. Rom: 12.12. Rom. 12.11.  we shall do justly and love mercy, we shall be instant in prayer, we shall be fervent in the spirit, we shall not persevere in sin but continue in prayer without ceasing, saying: Turn thy face away from our sins, 
Psal. 51.9.  O Lord, & blot out all our offences: 
Psa. 19.8, etc.  remember not against us the former iniquities but make haste & let thy tender mercy prevent us: help us O God of our salvation for the glory of thy name, and deliver us, and be merciful to our sins for thy name's sake: so we thy people and sheep of thy pasture shall praise thee for ever, and from generation to generation will set forth thy praise: which God give us grace to do for his sons sake Christ Jesus: to whom with the holy Ghost be all honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen.  
Yours in the Lord, Adam Hill, Minister.   

THE CRY OF ENGLAND.  Genes. 18. ver. 21, 22. 
Because the cry of Sodom & Gomorrha is great, and because their sin is exceeding grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to that cry which is come unto me, and if not, that I may know.  
OF all the holy Scriptures, there is not one example more frequently used of the Prophets & Apostles to fear the people from sin, than this general, severe, and fearful destruction of the Sodomites. The Prophet Jeremy saith, 
jer. 49.40.  As God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha with the places thereabout saith the Lord, so shall no man dwell there, neither shall the son of man remain there. 
Amos. 4.11.  So saith the Prophet Amos, I have overthrown them as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrha, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the fire, yet have ye not repent. And the Prophet Zephanie saith, 
Zeph. 2.9.  Surely Moab shall be as Sodom, and Ammon as Gomorrha, the breeding of nettles and salt pits, and a perpetual desolation: So likewise it is said in the Evangelists, And whosoever shall not receive you, 
Mat. 10.14. Mat. 6.11. Luke. 9.5.  nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house, or that city, shake off the dust of your feet, truly I say unto you, it shall be easier for them of the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgement than for that city. And in the second Epistle of S. Peter it is said, 
2. Pet. 2.6.  And turned the cities of Sodom & Gomorrha into ashes, condemned them & made them an ensample unto them that should afterward live ungodly. 
Jude 7.  So in Jude, As Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities round about them which in like manner as they did, committed fornication, and followed strange flesh, are set down for an ensample, and suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.  
As all the Prophets and Apostles, yea and Christ himself have unto their hearers, set down Sodom and Gomorrha as an ensample of God's justice against sin & impenitent sinners: so do I purpose (by God's grace) to handle this fearful panolethrie or utter destruction to this City of London; assuring myself, that if this exhortation work not in you a broken heart, you shall by the iron rod of God's wrath, be broken in pieces like a potter's vessel, you shall be like the breeding of nettles and salt pits, you shall not only have a perpetual desolation in earth which is lamentable, but also suffer the vengeance of eternal fire which is intolerable. 
A comparison betw●ene Sodom and London.  Sodom was in a fruitful valley, so is London: in Sodom there were gorgeous houses and fair works, so there are in London: in Sodom they did eat and drink, and fulfil the lusts of the flesh, so do they in London: Sodom was in captivity under Chedor Laomer, and freed by Abraham; London (& all England) was in subjection to the Pope, & hath been freed by our gracious Queen Elizabeth: Sodom had Lot (the Preacher of righteousness) sent unto them whose spirit they vexed; London hath had many godly Fathers sent unto them, whom they revile: Sodom was not moved to repentance, neither with their captivity nor deliverance, therefore they were destroyed; London is not moved neither with persecution nor peace to repentance, therefore London, except it speedily repent, shall be brought to a perpetual desolation, and to the vengeance of eternal fire.  
In the sins of Sodom are three things to be noted: first, the evidency of their sins, which is noted in the word cry: secondly, they had many sins, which is noted in the word great: thirdly, their sins were heinous, which is noted in these words, exceeding grievous. The evidency of sin as it was in Sodom so was it saith Esay in jerusalem: 
Esa. 3.9.  The trial of their countenance testifieth against them, yea, they declare their sins as Sodom, they hide them not. And are not the sins of England manifest? do our Papists hide their sin? do they not call idolatry catholic religion? 
Manifest idolatry in England:  they are worshippers of images, which are vain, unprofitable & abominable. Images are vain both in respect of the maker, which is the cause efficient, & in respect of the matter, in respect also of the form, and of the end.  
In respect of the maker images are vain, for he is vain in thought, in word, in deed, and in his essence: 
Psa. 94: 11.  in thought, for the Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, they are but vain. In word, 
Psa. 12.2.  for they talk of vanity every one to his neighbour. 
jer. 101.5.  In deed, for they are vanity, and the work of errors, in the time of their visitation they shall perish. In essence, 
Psal. 39.11.  for surely every man is vanity: man therefore being vain in thought, word, deed, & essence, must needs make a vain image. The matter also of images is vain, for they are made either of gold, silver, brass, clay, stone, or wood: & therefore the Prophet Baruch saith, 
Bar. 6.5, 6, 11  These Gods of wood, silver and of gold, can neither defend themselves from thieves and robbers: for they that are strongest take away their gold, silver, and apparel wherewith they be clothed, and when they have it, they get them away.  
The form also of images is vain, for they have eyes and see not, 
Psal. 115.5, 6.  noses have they and smell not, ears and hear not, mouths and speak not, feet and walk not. Finally, images are vain also in respect of the end, for they help neither the teacher, nor the hearer, nor the minister, nor the receiver of the sacrament, nor him that prayeth. Therefore the Sun, Moon, and Stars, are better than images, nay, the door of the house, or a scarecrow in the fields is better, for all these do serve unto some end, but images to no end.  
The images therefore of the Papists are as vain as the images of the heathen, and so are they all as unprofitable: For as Paul saith, they are nothing. An idol is nothing in the world. 
1 Cor. 8.4.  For this cause Zachary calleth the unprofitable minister, 
Zach. 11.17.  an idol pastor: so the Magistrate that doth not defend the poor and fatherless, & see that such as be in necessity & need, 
Psal. 82.  have right, is an idol magistrate: the father that bringeth not up his children in the fear of the Lord, is an idol father: so the husband that loveth not his wife as his own flesh, as his own body, & as Christ loved the congregation, is an idol husband: the wife that is froward, the child that is disobedient, the servant that is unfaithful, the subject that is disloyal, are all idols, insufficient for any spiritual use and therefore unless they repent, they shall be burst in pieces by the iron sceptre of God's justice, and so destroyed, as they shall never be builded again.  

The idolatry of the Papists as abominable, as the idolatry of the heathen.  As the idolatry of the Papists is vain & unprofitable: so is it as abominable as the idolatry of the heathen; for as the heathen in the time of war did invocate Mars & Bellona, so the Papists do invocate S. George: the heathen in poverty went to Ceres, the Papists to Saint Anne: the heathen in sickness went to Aesculapius, the Papists to Saint Roche: the heathen in captivity went to Liber, the Papists to Saint Leonard: the heathen in hunger went to Bacchus, the Papists to S. Urban: the heathen in sea-storms went to Neptune, the papists to Saint Nicholas: the heathen in childbirth went to Juno, the papists they went to our Lady. And herein they do offend most grievously for three causes: first because they attribute to the Saints omnipotency: secondly, because they attribute to them universal knowledge: and thirdly, because they make them more merciful than Christ. Further, as the heathen did consecrate Troy to Neptune, Cyprus to Venus, Athens to Minerva, Carthage to Juno, and Rome to Jupiter: so the papists dedicated Spain to Saint James, Germany to Saint George, France to Saint Denis, Scotland to saint Andrew, Ireland to saint Patrick, and Rome to Peter and Paul. And as the heathen have consecrated their head to Minerva, their heart to Juno, their breast to Mars, their tongue to Mercury, their arms to Hercules, their liver to Cupid, their throat to Bacchus, their belly to Ceres, their secrets to Venus, their palms to Apollo, and their spirit to Jupiter: so the papists have for the headache Anastasius, for their eyes Otilia, for the teeth Apollonia, for the neck S. Blaze, and for the belly Erasmus. And as the heathen dedicated the boar to Mars, the goat to Bacchus, the peacock to Jupiter, the swan to Apollo, the dove to Venus, the night-crow to Minerva, the wheat to Ceres, honey to Mercury, and the rose to Cupid: so the Papists consecrated their sheep to Vandolius, their horse to Eulogius, their oxen to Pelagius, and their pigs to Saint Anthony.  
As therefore it is an abomination to call upon any but on him, on whom we believe: so to commit ourselves, or ours, to the defence or custody of the creatures, which should dwell under the protection of the highest, 
Psal. 91.1. Psal. 18.2.  and which should have the Lord to be our rock, and our fortress, and him that delivereth us, our God, and our strength, in him we should trust, our shield, the horn also of our salvation, and our refuge, is a great abomination: for the honouring of abominable images, 
Sap. 14.27.  is the beginning, the cause, and the end of all evil. I end therefore with this notable saying of S. Jerome writing upon Ezechiel: 
Jerome in Ezech.  Cursed is every man that putteth his trust in man, though they be Saints, or though they be Prophets. Because therefore idolaters are the cause of the overthrow of the land: God in his holy word commandeth that they should be destroyed. 
Deu. 13.6. etc.  If thy brother the son of thy mother, or thy own son or thy daughter, or the wife that lieth in thy bosom, or thy friend which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying: Let us go and serve other Gods (which thou hast not known, thou I say, nor thy fathers) any of the gods of the people which are round about you, near unto thee or far from thee, from the one end of the earth unto the other: thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hear him, neither shall thy eye pity him, nor show mercy, nor keep him secret, but shalt even kill him, thy hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and then the hand of all the people.  
The sin not only of idolatry is manifest, but also the sin of blasphemy. 
Manifest blasphemy in England.  What bargain almost is made without swearing? what oath is ministered in the judgement seat without forswearing? what sports without blasphemy? what country, what city, what town, what house, or what tongue is not infected with this sin of swearing? the old man sweareth by custom, the young man & child by imitation, the gentleman sweareth of lustiness, the poor sweareth for necessity, the thief sweareth to cover his fault, the harlot to deny her crime: and albeit not man but the Lord our God commandeth us saying; 
Exod. 20.  Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain: yet all the desperate people of this declining age, are so given to swearing, as though no man could be saved happily, unless he did swear continually. Can a bitter fountain send out sweet water? no more can a blasphemous mouth speak to the praise of God.  

The first argument against swearing drawn from the person of God. Psal. 139.3.  There be five things in God which every blasphemer should consider of: the first is, that he is present in all places, and therefore David saith; Thou compassest my paths, and my lying down, and art accustomed to all my ways. Secondly, he knoweth all things, for there is not a word (saith David) in my mouth, 
Psal. 89.4.  but thou knowest it all, O Lord. Thirdly, there is truth in the Lord, 
Psal. 5.6.  God loveth no wickedness, neither shall any evil dwell with him, the foolish shall not stand in his sight, for he hateth them that work iniquity, he will destroy them that speak lies. Fourthly, God is righteous, and therefore the Psalmist saith, 
Psal. 119.137.  Righteous art thou (O Lord) and righteous are thy judgements, thou hast commanded justice by thy testimonies, and truth especially.  
God is righteous: first, because he judgeth in equity, With righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity: secondly, because he judgeth without respect of persons, 
Rom. 2.9. etc.  Tribulation and anguish shall be upon the soul of every man that doth evil, of the jew first and also of the Grecian, but to every man that doth good shall be honour and glory, and peace, to the Jew first, and also to the Grecian: for there is no respect of persons with God. Thirdly, God is just, because he leaveth no sin unpunished; Bind not two sins together, 
Syr. 12.14.  for there shall not one be unpunished. For as no virtue is of God unrewarded, so there shall be no sin unpunished. Fourthly and lastly, in God is all power; Our God is in heaven, 
Psal. 118.3.  he doth whatsoever pleaseth him. From heaven he cast down the Angels, from Paradise Adam, he made the earth to swallow up Corah, the floods to cover Pharaoh and his host, the sons of Aaron to be slain in the temple, Jezabel to be cast out of her chamber window, Holofernes to be murdered in his bed, and Ely to break his neck sitting on the threshold. Wherefore excellent is that saying of Bernard, 
Bernard in Psal. 139.  God is in himself as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: in the world, as the author and governor of it; in the angels, as the favour and beauty of them: in the church, as a father of a family in his house; in the soul, as a bridegroom in his chamber: in the just, as a helper and protector; in the reprobate, as a dread and horror. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? no man goeth from him, but to him: from his severity, to his goodness; from an angry God, to an appeased: For what place can receive him that flieth, but there thou mayst find his presence? God is present, therefore the blasphemer should fear him; God knoweth all things, therefore the blasphemer should praise him: in God is truth, therefore the blasphemer should hate lies: in God is justice, therefore he rewardeth the good and punisheth the evil: in God is power, therefore he can do what pleaseth him: fire, hail, storms and tempests fulfil his commandments: yea, there are spirits created for vengeance, and in their suriousnesse they hasten their torments, they will not overpass the commandment of the Lord. The Prophet jeremy saith, 
jer. 4.2. The 2. argument against swearing, drawn from the manner and ma●●er thereof.  thou shalt swear the Lord liveth, in truth, judgement, & righteousness: in truth, in respect of the thing; in judgement, in respect of the swearer; in justice, in respect of the cause: truth excludeth a false oath, judgement a rash oath, justice an unlawful oath but our blasphemers swear not in truth, but in falsehood; not in judgement, but rashly; not in justice (that is first for the glory of God, secondly, for the safety of their neighbour, thirdly, for their own necessity, and four when they are required of the Magistrate for just causes) but in common speech unlawfully, in buying and selling deceitfully, and in sporting and playing most damnably. Further, 
Eph. 4.25. Psal. 32.5. Esa. 50.4. 1. Thes. 5.14. Psal. 51.14. The 5. argument against swearing, drawn from the use of the tongue.  the tongue being given of God to speak the truth, to confess our sins, to teach, to comfort the afflicted, & lastly, to praise the Lord: the blasphemer setteth forth leasing, increaseth his sins, is an ensample of corrupt manners, bringeth no comfort but the plague of God to his house, and dishonoureth the Lord, whom he should praise with soul, heart, heart, tongue, flesh, and with all his powers & members for ever. A thief stealeth but for necessity, but a blasphemer sweareth in a bravery: the harlots do sin but in darkness, the blasphemer offendeth openly: the covetous man offendeth but seldom, the blasphemer often, & at every word: the slanderer offendeth but against his brother, but the blasphemer dishonoureth God his father. There are but 3. sorts of languages in the world, 
The 4. argument against swearing, drawn from the customs of speech. Psal. 84.4.  the best is the heavenly language, whereof David thus writeth, Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord, they shall always be praising & magnifying thy name. There is another language that is earthly, whereof Saint John writeth, 
john. 3.31.  He that is of the earth, is of the earth, and speaketh of the earth. There is also an infernal language, which is nothing but cursing: 
Esa. 8.21.  therefore as it was said to Peter, 
Mark. 14.40.  Surely thou art one of them, for thou art of Galilea, and thy speech is like; so because of the abundance of the heart the tongue speaketh: you may thereby know who is of heaven, who of earth, & who of hell. They that praise the Lord are heavenly indeed, & their conversation is in heaven: they that speak of the earth, are earthly; but they that curse and swear, are already damned, their speech is like. As he is a Spaniard that naturally and properly speaketh Spanish, & he a Frenchman that speaketh French, and hea Welshman that speaketh Welch: so he that speaketh of the praises of God is a saint, he that speaketh of the earth is an earthly man, and he that is a swearer, is of the devil. The bitter stream proveth the fountain to be bitter, the leaves show what the tree is: so the blasphemous words of wicked men do show that they come from the bitter root of infidelity. No man receiveth gold but he weigheth it: no man hath ground but he encloseth it: why then? do not our swearers weigh their words, and hedge in their tongue, because as S. James saith, 
jam. ●….  It is set on fire of hell: when therefore hell fire ceaseth, the blasphemers of God's name will cease. And hereunto agreeth the saying of jesus the son of Syrach, 
Syr. 23.13.15.  Use not thy mouth to ignorant rashness, for therein is the occasion of sin: the man that is accustomed to opprobrious words, will never be reform all the days of his life; and such a one was Shimei. 
1. sam. 16.7.  King Lewes the eleventh having an accustomed swearer in his Court, cut off his lips: and being demanded of his Courtiers, why he executed so grievous a punishment? he answered, Would my lips were so cut off, that I had never a swearer in my Kingdom. But the only cause why swearing is so frequent in England, is the negligence of Princes, 
Why swearing is so frequent in England.  which punish not this offence; and the fearfulness of the Ministers, who dare not reprove this sin in Gentlemen and noble personages, and especially the evil example of parents: who neither leave this sin themselves, nor yet punish it severely in their posterity. The blasphemies and perjuries of England, have infected every Country, City and House of this land: therefore without a general, hearty, and speedy repentance, perpetual desolation, & the vengeance of eternal fire will fall upon the father and the son, the pastor and the people, the private man and the magistrate for ever.  

Profanation of the Sabbath, a manifest sin in England.  Profanation of the Sabaoth is another of the evident sins of England. We are willed to hollow our Sabaoth, Gen. 2.23. Exo. 20 11. Exod. 31.17. Deut. 5.14. Heb. 4.4. Jer. 17.21, 22, 23, 24. Ezech. 20.12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 and yet in all places, and of the greater part of the people of this land, the Sabbath is profaned with dancing, stage-playing, bearbayting, bowling, & with all manner of abominations. And not only the holy word of God, but the ancient Fathers and the civil Law do speak of the sanctification of the Sabbath. 
Aug. in Psal. 32.  Augustine on the 32. psal. saith, It is better to dig than to dance on the Sabbath. 
Chrisost. in homil. 48.  Chrisostome in his 48. homily saith, Where wanton dancing is, there no doubt the devil is present: for God hath given us these members not to dance, but that we should walk modestly, and not to dance impudently after the manner of Camels (for not only women but Camels dance undecently) but that we should stand in the company of the Angels: and if the body be deformed by dancing, how much more is the soul? in these dances the devil danceth: with these dances they are deceived of the ministers of the devil. 
Ambrose Lib. 3. de virg.  Ambrose in his 3. book of Virgins, thus writeth: What say ye, O holy women? you see what ye ought to teach & unteach your daughters: she danceth, but the daughter of an harlot; for she that is chaste & shamefast, teacheth her children religion, & not dancing. And as these inveigh against dancing, 
Lactant. lib. 4. cap. 20.  so doth Lactantius against stage-playing, in his 6. book, cha. 20. I know not (saith he) wherein there can be a more vicious corruption than in plays: for the Interludes do speak of the deflowering of virgins, & of the loves of harlots: & the more eloquent they are that have feigned those abominations, the more the elegancy of the sentences doth persuade, and they stick more easily in the memory of the hearers, the verses which are numerous and eloquent. The tragical histories also do set before our eyes, the patricides and incests of evil kings, & do show their wickedness on the stage: the unchaste gestures of the players also what do they teach, or stir up in us but lusts? whose bodies being made weak and wanton in imitating the going and apparel of women, do countersaite unchaste women with unhonest gestures.  
What shall I speak of ballads, which teach the doctrine of corruptions, which teach adulteries whiles they feign, and by feigned adulteries instruct to true? what may young men and maids do, when they see these things to be done, and to be seen of all men gladly and without shame? they are warned therefore what they may do, and they are inflamed with lust, which is most provoked with seeing, and every one according to his sex prefigureth himself in those images, and do allow them, while they laugh at them; and vices cleaving unto them they return to their houses most corrupt: neither only children, which should not be endued with vices in their first age, but also old men, whom it becometh not to sin, do fall into the same path of iniquities. It is clear by this that hath been alleged, that as the Prophets and Apostles have taught the sanctification of the Sabaoth: so the Fathers have walked in the same steps; yea, godly Princes have made laws for sanctifying the Sabaoth. Leo and Anthemius (being religious Princes) writing to Armasius, commanded him in these words; That the festival days being dedicated to the excellent Majesty of God, should neither be occupied in pastime and pleasure, neither be profaned in exacting of tributes: likewise we decree (say they) that the Sunday shall be reverently honoured, that it shall be exempted from all business; in this day let no suretyship be taken, let no man be summoned to appear: let no man use pleading, and let no causes or matters of controversies be heard. And a little after it followeth, neither do we suffer, that this day being exempted from all travel, should be spent in wantonness and filthy delights, that there be any interlude or pageant played on the dominical day, or any game or pastime in the place of exercise called Circus, or the lamentable spectale of beasts: yea although the solemnity of our birth happen upon this day, let it be deferred: if any man on this day shall have any access to spectacles, or under the pretence of private or public affairs, shall be an Apparitor or Sergeant to any judge, violating or breaking these Statutes, let him lose the commodity of warfare, and run into the prescription of attainder.  
The holy Prophets and Apostles commend unto us the hallowing of the Sabaoth, the Fathers exhort us to the same, the laws of godly Princes command it, yet we continue in England wilful contemners of this precept. The sanctification of the Sabaoth consisteth in four things. 
The sanctification of the Sabaoth consisteth in 4. things.  First of all, holy men ought to enter into the Church, where the Gospel must be expounded and declared; by the which the Auditory may learn what to think of God, what is the true service of God, and how the name of GOD may be glorified. Secondly, there must be prayers & petitions made unto God for the necessity of all men. Thirdly, we must extol the goodness of God, giving thanks for his daily and inestimable benefits; which giving of thanks excludeth four things, first contempt of God, secondly forgetfulness of God, thirdly malice, four the abuse of God's creatures. And the sacraments must religiously be celebrated, if the time, occasion, and custom of the Church do so require: for it is chief required in the fourth precept, that we should diligently observe and devoutly exercise the holy sacraments and holy rites of the Church being lawful, profitable, and necessary. Fourthly, humanity and beneficency must take place in the Church, all men must learn daily to be beneficial in giving of alms privately, but to be most liberal publicly whensoever necessity of the time and opportunity shall so require. Whereas we should spend our sabbath in hearing and reading of the word of God, we spend it in reading of vain & wicked pamphlets: whereas we should then make petition to God for our necessities, we wander up & down after deceitful vanities: where we should be thankful to god, especially on that day for his benefits, we misspend our time in idle pastimes: & lastly, where we should be liberal to the poor, we are prodigal to minstrels, bearkeepers players, & to all masters of vanities: for as much then as all divines & godly princes have approved the sanctification of this day, & now all sorts of people profane the same, the old aswell as the young, the father aswell as the son, the master aswell as the servant, the minister aswell as the auditory, & the magistrate with the private man: & neither the commandment of God is feared, nor the example of our maker imitated, nor the admonitions of the prophets regarded, nor the counsels of the apostles followed, nor the reprehensions of the fathers esteemed: it cannot be but this profanation of the Sabaoth so general, so frequent, & so continual, crieth to the Lord for a perpetual desolation, & for the vengeance of eternal fire.  
Murder also is another sin that crieth for vengeance, 
Gen. 4.10.  The voice of thy brother's blood (saith God) crieth unto me from the earth. 
Murder a manifest sin that crieth for vengeance.  To lose our wealth it is grievous, but to lose our good name more grievous, but to lose our life that is most grievous of all. First it is an heinous offence that one man should kill another: secondly it is more heinous, when a superior killeth an inferior: thirdly, it is a most heinous offence, when one brother killeth another, as Cain killed Abel: four it is more detestable, when a wicked man killeth a righteous: fifthly, & that for the sincere worship of God: sixtly, if he do it of a pretended hatred: and seventhly if he do it after admonition. In England man killeth man, the lord the tenant, the brother his brother, the wicked the good, & that for the true worship of God, and of hatred, and after godly admonition. Therefore as the blood of Abel cried from the earth unto the Lord, so doth the blood of the Saints shed in the late days of Queen Marie, cry for vengeance against the wicked.  

Gen. 9.6.  Who so sheddeth man's blood, by man let his blood be shed: for after his own image God made man. First here we learn that man was made to praise God: whosoever then killeth man, hindereth the glory of God. Secondly, how was man created? in righteousness, holiness, mercy, truth: these virtues being essential in God, are accidental in us: whosoever therefore murdereth a man, destroyeth those virtues, wherein man doth participate with the nature of God. Thirdly, sith God made man after his own likeness: here we learn that God loveth man above all the creatures of the world, & we ought not to hate him whom God loveth. Fourthly, sith man is the image of God and doth excel all creatures; whosoever murdereth him, destroyeth the most excellent workmanship of God.  
But how little we regard these things, it is manifest by the wilful murders often committed in and about London; whose blood no doubt crieth to God, as Abel's did, out of the earth. For first God is the judge of the quick and the dead. Secondly, he is the avenger of all evil; for albeit men will wink at murder, yet God will not. And therefore the Prophet David crieth out; 
Psal. 94. 1ST.  O God to whom vengeance belongeth, thou God to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself: arise thou Judge of the world, and reward the proud after their deserving. Thirdly, the just (as Abel was) do peculiarly belong to God. 
Psal. 10.16.  The poor committeth himself to thee: for thou art the helper of the fatherless. 
Zach. 2.8.  He that toucheth you (saith the Lord) toucheth the apple of mine eye. Precious therefore is the blood of the Saints in God's sight, and shall be of God himself in time avenged.  

sodometry & whoredom cry for vengeance.  sodometry also and unnatural lust crieth to God for vengeance & punishment. King Henry the eighth of famous memory, when he visited the Abbeys of England by Thomas Lee, Richard Layton, and Thomas Bedel Archdeacon of Cornwall, being Doctors of the Law, & by Thomas Barthlet public Notary, in the year of our Lord God 1538. In the Abbey of Battle were found 16 Sodomites, in Christ-church at Canterbutie 9 and in every Abbey were found some to be Sodomites, others to be adultrers', some having four, some five, some ten, some twenty harlots, as in a Book called a breviary of those things that were found in Abbeys, convents, etc. it doth at large appear. And because that sodometry and whoredom had made them very infamous, one of their own friends thus wrote of them, 
Non male sunt monachis grata indita nomina patrum  
Cum numerent natos hic & ubique suos.  The acceptable names of fathers were aptly given to Monks, for they were able to tell their children both here and there in even place. Saint Paul against whoredom thus writeth; Meats are ordained for the belly, 
1 Cor 6.13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20.  & the belly for the meats, but God shall destroy both it and them; now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body: and God hath also raised up the Lord, & shall raise us up by his power. Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbidden. Do ye not know, that he which coupleth himself with an harlot, is one body? for two (saith he) shall be one flesh: but he that is joined to the Lord, is one spirit. Flee fornication: every sin that a man doth as without the body: but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his own body. Know you not, that your body is the temple of the holy ghost, which is in you, Whom ye have of God? and ye are not your own, for ye are bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your own body, and in your spirit, for they are Gods.  
Here are 7 arguments against whoredom: 
7. arguments against whoredom.  the first is of the punishment in the 13. vers. where he saith that meats are for the belly, & the belly for meats, but God will destroy both it and them; for gluttony and drunkenness are maintainers of venery: the second argument is drawn from the condition of our bodies, in the same verse, the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; for as God is worshipped in heaven of angels which are spirits, so will he be worshipped in earth of men which have bodies; and therefore our bodies shall be raised up to glory: the third argument is drawn from an absurdity; It is against reason saith the apostle, that our bodies, being the members of Christ, should be made the members of an harlot, & so to bring them from high dignity, to most vile indignity: the 4. argument is drawn from the comparison of God and an harlot; for he that joineth himself with an harlot, is one with an harlot in affection, and shallbe one with an harlot in affliction; but he that coupleth himself to the chaste God, shall be one with God in glory for ever: the fifth argument is drawn from the effects of fornication, for the fornicator defileth his body with the pocks, leprosy, and many other loathsome diseases; and therefore unnaturally sinneth against his own body, shortening his life by wasting the vigour of his body. The sixth argument is drawn from the purposes, whereunto the body is destinated; your body is the temple of the holy Ghost, and you are not your own, therefore in it God must be worshipped & not the devil. The seventh and last argument is taken from the law, in the last verse; you are bought with a price, that is, not with gold nor silver, but with the most precious blood of Christ; therefore not only our soul must magnify the Lord, and our spirit rejoice in God our Saviour, but also our flesh must rejoice in our God; and in the life and death of our bodies God must be glorified, bowing our knees to GOD the father of our Lord jesus Christ, which leadeth us to life, and not to whores and harlots, 
Pro. 7.27.  Whose ways go down to hell.  
Jeremy's prophecy is fulfilled in them, & will be fulfilled in us; 
jer. 5.7.8.9.  Though I fed them to the full, yet they committed adultery, & assembled themselves by companies in the harlot's houses: they rose up in the morning like fed horses, for every man neighed after his neighbour's wife. Shall I not visit these things saith the Lord? shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? climb upon their walls and destroy them, take away their battlements, for they are not the Lords. The harlot calleth her pleasure solace, and so do our delicate dames of England: but Jeremy saith, this sweet sin will have sour sauce. For it will cause the walls of our Cities to be razed, & the battlements of our house to be beaten down. God be merciful unto this pleasant Island & bless it: for if every house of our land shall be destroyed, where this loathsome sin of lechery hath been shamefully committed (as the monks houses were) our fairest Cities (no doubt) will come to ruinous heaps.  
GOD brought the Sodomites into captivity, to show them, that he did hate their sin, yet would they not repent; GOD brought them out of slavery by Abraham, to teach them that he was merciful to the contrite, yet would they not repent. We have been under the tyrant of Spain in the late days of Queen Marie, yet we forsake not our former fornications: we have been delivered by her Majesty, yet we run on desperately into all manner of abominations, forgetting the grief of our calamity, and the comfort of our deliverance, the quietness of our private estate, the peace of our kingdom, or the felicity which we have by the word of God.  
Oppression of the poor is another sin that provoketh GOD to plague us. 
Oppression of the poor crieth for vengeance. Exo. 3.7.  I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, & have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 
jam. 16.  Do not the rich oppress you by tyranny, and draw you before judgement seats? who oppresseth? Pharaoh the tyrant, Nimrod the mighty, and Nabal the rich. Those that should give do take away; those that should feed, do fleece; those that should be merciful, be unmerciful. Whom do they oppress? their brother, their own flesh, the Lords brother, and the Lords apple of his eye. And what brother? his poor, needy, destitute, and afflicted brother; and to whom he should give, from him he doth take by violence; & whom he should comfort, him he doth spoil. How doth he oppress? by his money & his might. God hath given them riches and authority, to defend the poor & fatherless, to see such as be in need and necessity to have right; and with their wealth and might they oppress & deceive, they grind the face of the poor, and bray them as it were in a mortar: 
jer. 5.  their houses are full of riches gotten by deceit.  
When do they oppress? in the time of the Gospel. Elisha said unto his man when he had taken gold and garments of Naaman; is this a time to take money & to receive garments, and olives, 
2. King. 5.26.  and vineyards, and sheep, and Oxen, and men servants, and maid servants? So say I to the Nimrodical oppressors of England, is this a day of peace and of joy? is this a time to smite down the people of the Lord, & to murder his heritage? and to devour widows houses, & to eat up the people like bred? 
Gal. 6.10.  While we have time, we should do good to all, 
2. Cor. 6.2.  especially to the household of faith; & in this time we do ill. This is the day of salvation; & we make it the day of our destruction. 
2. Cor. 6.2.  This is the time accepted; and we by our oppression of the poor will turn it into the day of vengeance. 
Syr. 10.8.  Because of unrighteous dealing, wrong, blasphemies, and other deceits, a realm shall be translated from one people to an other.  
Where is this oppression? in the judgement seat. How is the faithful City become an harlot? 
Esay. 1.21. etc.  it was full of judgement, justice lodged therein, but now they are murderers: thy silver is become dross; thy wine is mixed with water, thy Princes o'er rebellious and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts and followeth after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the widows cause come before them. They turn judgement into wormwood, 
Amos. 5.2.  & leave off righteousness in the earth. What abominable sin is this, that those who should defend the poor, 
Psal. 82.3.  and see that such as be in need and necessity have right, do add affliction to the afflicted? 
job. 24.15.  that those who should be eyes to the blind, do pull out their eyes? and those that should be a leg to the lame, 
job. 29.15.  do break his bones in pieces? and those that should pull the spoil out of the jaws of the oppressors, commit violence, robbery & murder themselves? and those that should give the pure silver of righteousness, give the heavy burden of oppression? and they that should give the wine of comfort, give the water of tears? and they that should minister judgement, give the wormwood of affliction? and they that should be the staff of the poor man's estate, are an yorne rod to bruise them in pieces: being turned from fathers to tyrants, from magistrates to thieves, from judges to murderers, from Princes to Lions, from Gods to devils. For the covetous oppressor when he should give, he saith it is too much; when he should receive, he saith it is too little; when he should forgive, he saith it is too great; when he should repent, he saith it is too soon; when he should come to hear the word of God, he saith it is too far: and thus as he holdeth his needy brother under his yoke, so the devil holdeth him fast in his snare, that he shall never escape, but shall have judgement without mercy, because he hath showed no mercy. 
Esay. 10, 1.  So true is the prophecy of Esay, Woe be unto you that make unrighteous laws, to rob the widows and the fatherless. For as the Prophet David saith, 
Psal, 32, 1.  God standeth in the congregation of Princes, he is a judge amongst Gods. And therefore albeit God in his secret judgement, doth suffer the great & mighty oppressors to go on in their unconscionable dealings, yet in the end he will bring them to judgement, and then (as the Psalmist saith) he will set in order all their sin. 
Psal, 50.  I might here speak the like of murmuring & rebellion, which are sins that provoke the wrath of God; but time will not give me leave.  
I will now go to the sin of all sins, which no doubt will procure to this land a general, fearful, and severe destruction: this sin is Atheism. 
Atheism a manifest sin that crieth for speedy vengeance.  The Idolater is a breaker of the second precept, the blasphemer of the third, the profaner of the Sabbath is a transgressor of the fourth, the rebel of the fifth, the oppressor of the sixth, the Sodomite of the seventh; but the Atheist is a wilful contemner of all. For he denieth GOD the father, he trampleth under his foot the blood of our Saviour, he dishonoureth the spirit of grace; in his heart he is an infidel, in his tongue a blasphemer, to his Prince a traitor, to his country a rebel, to his house a poison, to his friends a plague: wheresoever he goeth, the earth is accursed; wheresoever he speaketh, the air is infected; and wheresoever he dwelleth, there dwelleth the wrath of God for ever.  
The star confessed the son of God, for it led the wise men to Christ: 
Mat. 3.10. Mat. 8.27. Mat. 21.5.  the sea and the winds did obey him; the ass did bear him to jerusalem; the fishes obeyed him when they came into the Apostles nets; 
joh. 21.6. Mat. 17. ●7. Mat. 27.51, 52.  so did the fish that brought money in his mouth to pay their tribute; the Sun at his death was abashed, the earth did tremble, the stones did cleave asunder, and the graves did open: but our Atheists, more insensible than the stone or stars, more hard hearted than the flints, more stinking than any carcase, do not acknowledge Christ to be the son of God. Nay the very devils confess Christ to be the Son of God. 
Mat. 5.7.  what have I to do with thee Jesus the most high God? and Jesus I know, and Paul I know, 
Act. 19.15.  saith the devil. But our Atheists worse than the devil in this respect, have so hardened their heart, that they deny jesus to be the son of God: and therefore sith they will not acknowledge him to be a Saviour, they shall know him to be a judge, whose power they cannot resist, whose wisdom they cannot deceive, whose justice they cannot corrupt, and therefore will punish them without respect of persons.  
Manasses was an idolater, but he repent: Paul was a blasphemer, but yet he was made a Preacher: Lew was a Publican, but yet he became an Evangelist: Peter did forswear his master, but yet he continued an apostle: David was an adulterer, and yet a Prophet: Zache was an oppressor, but yet he was converted and said: 
Luke. 19.8.  Behold Lord the one half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken from any man by forged cavillation, I restore him four fold. Zache did give the half of his goods, we will not give the hundred part: Zache gave of his own, we will not give of that we have wrongfully gotten: Zache gave his goods, we give of the worst things we have: Zache gave presently, we defer till we be sick or dead. Thus we see that Idolaters, blasphemers, extortioners & adulterers, have turned themselves unto the Lord, but no Atheist: for they go from worse to worse, they go from sin to sin, they never come into the righteousness of God, they are vessels of dishonour, they are clouds without water carried about of winds, corrupt trees, and without fruit, 
jude. 12.13.  twice dead, and plucked up by the roots, they are the raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame, they are wandering Stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.  
Against those therefore we must pray, 
Psa. 109.7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 14, 15. A prayer against Atheists.  as David did against them in his time, When he shall be judged let him be condemned, and let his prayer be turned into sin: let his days be few, and let another take his charge, let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow, let his children be vagabonds, & beg and seek bread, coming out of their places destroyed: let the extortioner catch all that he hath, & let the stranger spoil his labour: let there be none to extend mercy unto him, neither let there be any to show mercy upon his fatherless children, let his posterity be destroyed, & in the generation following let their name be put out, let the iniquity of his fathers be had in remembrance with the Lord, and let not the sin of his mother be done away, but let than alway be before the Lord, that he may cut off their memorial from the earth.  
As poison when it entereth into the body, it infecteth first the veins, secondly the blood, thirdly, the members, & last of all the heart: so Atheism begun in the veins of the lighter sort of people, and from thence it hath crept into the blood & generosity of this land, by means whereof it is spread into all the members and parts of this realm: God keep it from the heart, that is, from the Court & the City of London. If my flesh were of stone, if I had the learned tongue of Esay, or my face were of Adamant as Ezechias was, if I had that spirit of fortitude, which was in Elias, or that bold spirit that was in John Baptist, if my bones were of brass, and my sides of steady steel: 
Mat. 14.4.  then as John said to Herod: It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife. And as Elias said to Ahab: 
●. King. 18.18.  Thou art he that troubleth all Israel: so I should say to our Atheists, it is not lawful for them to eat, drink, live or breath among christians, for they are the cause that this land will be brought to an everlasting destruction. My heart trembleth, and my eyes shed tears to see the faintness of myself and my brethren, that this sin of Atheism openly committed is not openly reproved, that others may fear. We shall say in time to come as the Prophet said: 
Esay, 6.5.  Woe be unto me because I held my peace.  
As the sins of Sodom are evident, 
In Sodom were many sins and so there are in England. Exo, 19, 4, 9  so are they many: Behold this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of Idleness, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. Pride is of 2. sorts, carnal and spiritual: carnal pride is that which consists in the decking & trimming of the flesh, against which Paul thus writeth: 
Rom, 13, 4.  Take no thought of the flesh to fulfil the lusts of it. And women are forbidden to wear broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, 
1. Tim, 2, 9 1, Pet, 3, 3.  or costly apparel. And the like is also inhibited by Saint Peter. This pride was in the harlot, 
Prou, 7, 16, 17.  who said: she had decked her bed with coverings and clothes of Egypt, and made her head to smell of myrrh, Aloes, & Cinnamon. And this pride Saint Paul reproveth, when he willeth us not to fashion ourselves according to this world. 
Rom, 12, 2.  But notwithstanding, pride is first in all ages, as in children, young and old. Secondly, in every sex, as in men and women. Thirdly, in all estates, as in magistrates & private men. Fourthly, in all times, as in popery, and in the Gospel. Fiftly, in all places, as in the market and in the temple.  

Apparel was ordained for three causes.  Apparel was given for three ends: for honesties sake to cover our unseemly parts: for necessity's sake, to defend us from the injury of the weather: and for dignities sake both to distinguish men from beasts, & men of high degree from the lower sort. GOD clothed the noble subject of the soul with a vile body, 
Phil. 3.21.  to teach us that we should not deck our vile body with gorgeous apparel, not agreeing either with comeliness, necessity, or our calling. 
Cyprian.  I think it good (saith Cyprian) that not only maids and widows, but also married women be warned, that they should by no means adulterate the work of God, 
jerom.  and his making: for as jerom saith: These things are the nourishments of lust, and the tokens of an unchaste mind: How can she weep for her sins, or lift up her eyes and countenance to heaven, whom God doth not know? Thomas deceived judas by trimming of apparel, jezabel painted her face to deceive jeho, Cleopatra painted her face to deceive Antonius, who being overcome of Octavian, he killed her himself and buried her alive with an asp in the sepulchre of Antonius.  
Ambrose in his Hexameron saith, 
Ambr. in hexamer.  do not take away the picture of God, and take on thee the picture of an harlot, for that picture doth not become thee, but is faulty, not of simplicity but of deceit, it beguileth and deceiveth: so that thou canst not please him whom thou desirest to please, which understandeth that it is not his but an other man's that pleaseth, and thou despisest thy maker, whose workmanship is defaced. For as Jerome, noteth: 
jerom.  If a woman deck herself that she may provoke the looks of men towards her, although there follow no harm, yet she shall suffer eternal condemnation, for she hath offered poison, if any will drink of it.  
Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, & scarlet, 
Apoc. 18.16.17.  & gilded with gold, and precious stones, and pearls: for in one hour so great riches are come to desolation. Here ye see that pride goeth before, and destruction cometh after. So the Prophet Esay showeth how this pride is punished with a general & severe desolation: 
Esay. 3.19.17.  Because (saith he) the daughters of Zion are haughty and walk with stretched out necks and wandering eyes, walking and mincing as they go, & making a tinkling with their feet, therefore shall the Lord make the heads of the daughters of Zion bald, & the Lord shall discover their secret parts: in that day shall the Lord take away the ornament of the slippers, & of the calls & the round tires, the sweet balls and the bracelets, and the bonnets, the tires of the heads, and the slops & the headbandes, and the tablets, & the earrings, and the mufflers, the costly apparel, and the veils, the wimples, and the crisping pings, all the glasses, and the fine linen, & the hoods, & the lawns: and in steed of sweet savours there shall be stink, & in steed of a girdle a rent, and in steed of dressing the hair, baldness, & in steed of a stomacher, a girding of sackcloth, & burning in stead of beauty: thy men shall fall by the sword, and thy strength in the battle. Then shall her gates mourn and lament, and she being desolate shall sit on the ground. Carnal pride is reckoned but a small fault, but yet as ye do well see, and learn out of the holy Scriptures, it bringeth sword, mourning, and utter desolation.  
But consider I pray you the course of this world: Christ saith, we should take no thought for apparel, & all our delight is to go brave: the Isralites did wear their garments forty years, & we must change our apparel every term: Christ commanded his Disciples they should have but one coat, & we must have for every day in the week a coat Jhon Baptist was clothed in a Cannels skin, but we must be clothed (with Dives) in purple & fine white, & with Herod we must be attired in gorgeous apparel, & therefore with Dives & Herod we shall suffer a sudden confusion.  
Queen Hester said: 
Hest. 14.16.  Thou knowest O Lord that I hate the token of my pre-eminence & worship, which I bear upon my head, what time I must show myself and be seen, and that I abhor it as unclean cloth, and that I wear it not when I am quiet and alone by myself. As this good Queen did abhor pride in apparel, so the daughters of vanity now adays do highly esteem it: But as in a coffin when it is most sumptuously decked there is (no doubt) a dead carcase there lying: so where ye see the daughters of men to have their broidered hair, their gold and pearls, contrary to the rule of the Apostle: there (no doubt) is a dead stinking soul. Democrates said: There were two ornaments of a woman, 
2. Tim. ●.  few words, and few garments. The woman of Lacidemon refused precious garments sent them by Dionysius: the Roman matrons sent back again golden robes given them freely by Pyrrhus. I will end therefore with an history of the Bactrians, whose wives fell from the pride of apparel to whoredom, not only with their servants, but with strangers: and they got such a mastery, and rule over their husbands, that albeit their husbands did see them committing adultery, yet they durst not reprove them.  
But as I would have the dames of England to leave wanton and superfluous apparel, so I will with Tertulian commend unto them a good suit of raiment, Come forth (saith Tertulian) ye women beautified with the ornaments of the Apostles, 
Tertulian.  having the whiteness of simplicity, the redness of chastity, having your eyes painted with shamefastness, and your spirits with silence, having in your ears the word of God, and tying to your necks the yoke of Christ, subject your head to your husbands and you shall be brave enough, occupy your hands with wool, fasten your feet at home, and you shall please more, then if you were clad in gold: deck ourself with the silk of sincerity, with the Satin of sanctity, and with the purple of probity, & you shall have God to be your paramour: Thus far of carnal pride.  
Spiritual pride is of four sorts, blasphemy, arrogancy, vaineglorye, and self-love. In blasphemy offended Nabuchadnezar: Is not this great Babel which I have built for the house of my kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty? 
Dan. 4, 27, Blasphemy the sin of Sodom and England.  Such Babylonian blasphemers have we in England. james saith, 
jam. 1.19.  Every good gift and every perfect gift cometh from above from the father of lights: but the blasphemer thinketh his riches to come from fortune, and corporal gifts to come from nature, and gifts of the mind to come by study and experience. Therefore as Nabuchadnezer was turned into a beast, until he did acknowledge these things to come from God: so all they that call their gorgeous houses their own, as Nabuchadnezar did: or do say, their barneful of corn is for themselves, as the rich man did: 
Luke 12. Exod. 14. Num. 16.  or boast of their armies, as Pharaoh did: or brag of their holiness, as Dathan did: or do pride themselves in their kingly estate, as Saul did: or of their tyranny, 
1. Sam. 15. 1. King. 12. Esay 37. jud. 6.15. Hest. 4. Acts. 12.  as Roboam did: or of their victories, as Sanacherib did: or of their prowess, as Holofernes did: or of their wit, as Aman did: or of their eloquence, as Herod did: or of their stock, 
john 9  as the Jews did: These all have the pride of Sodom, and shall have the punishment of Sodom unless they repent.  
Arrogancy is another sin of Sodom fallen, 
arrogancy the sin of Sodom and of England.  and of England falling: and that is, when we confess we have received all good gifts from God: but we say we have merited them. Which sin Saint Paul eftsoons reproveth: 
Ephe. 2.8.9.  By grace are ye saved, and that of faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of GOD, not of works, lest any man should boast himself. If we be not saved of ourselves, nor of works, how is it true that we be saved by merits? Aquinas bringeth many reasons to prove that we are not saved by works, which neither the seminaries which come from Rheimes, nor the jesuits which come from Rome can confute. 
7. Reasons against merits out of Aquinas.  The first is, the indignity of our merits: For I count (saith Saint Paul) that the afflictions of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall be showed us. 
Rom. 8.18,  secondly, we can not merit, by reason of the contrariety between the body and the soul: For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, 
Ephe, 5.15.  and the spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary one to another, so that ye cannot do these things as ye would. The third reason why we cannot merit, is because of the corruption of the flesh. 
Sap. 9.15.  For the corruptible body is a burden unto the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind full of cares.  
The fourth reason why we cannot merit, is the straightness of the way. 
Mat. 7.13.  Enter in at the straight gate, for it is the broad gate and wide way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat, because the gate is strait, and the way narrow that leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.  
The fifth reason why we cannot merit, is because of the difficulty of good works, for virtue is occupied about that which is difficult. For it is an hard thing to believe, but it is easy to presume or despair: it is hard to be liberal, but it is easy to be covetous, or prodigal: it is hard to be valiant, but it is easy to be rash or timorous.  
The sixth reason why we cannot merit, is the incertitude of our own righteousness: We have all been (saith Esay) as an unclean thing, 
Esay. 69.6.  and all our righteousness is as filthy clouts: for our righteousness is neither pure, perfect, nor perpetual.  
The seventh and the last reason is, the straightness of the judge: 
Psal. 143.2.  Enter not into judgement with thy servant (saith David) for in thy sight shall no man living be justified. If David cannot be justified in the sight of GOD, neither can the proud Pharisey, saucy Sadducey, or popish Pelagian.  
Such arrogant Papists are well termed to be full of wind: For as the wind first distinguisheth the light, secondly extinguisheth the dew, and thirdly bloweth up the dust: so this vaunting of merits darkeneth the pure light of God's glory, it drieth up the dew of his grace in them and so puffeth them up with a swelling conceit of their own holiness, that they attribute that to nature which is due to grace, and that to merit which is due to the promise, and that to the flesh which is due to the spirit, and that to works which is due to faith, and that to the Law which is due to the Gospel: and finally that to man which is due to God.  

Vain glory the sin of Sodom and of England. Apoc. 3, 16, 17.  Vaineglorye is another kind of pride: this was in the Church of Laodicia: Thou sayest I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not how thou art wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind and naked. This vainglory was in Alexander, whom parasites had persuaded that he was a God: but in the end when he perceived he must die, he uttered these words: Now I perceive I am but a mortal man. Let us not be desirous of vainglory, 
Gala. 6.26.  saith the Apostle. We cannot glory of things past, for in times past we have committed more offences then good deeds: we cannot glory of things present, because we are in exile: we cannot glory of things to come, because there is coming, death and judgement.  
Vaineglorye is hardly shunned for three causes: first because it ariseth of well doing, even as the moth is bred in the garment when it consumeth, and the worm in the wood which it rotteth. Secondly, all other vices are overcome of some virtue: as adultery by chastity, covetousness by mercifulness, and hatred by love: but vaineglorye ariseth of well doing. Thirdly, by how much the more vainglory is kept down, by so much the more it is increased. For every evil ariseth of an evil, but only vainglory proceedeth of well doing.  
Praise is desired ordinately or inordinately: ordinately, for the glory of God: 
Mat, 5, 16.  But let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. And secondly, for the profit of our Neighbour, procure things honest in the sight of all men. 
Rom. 12.17. 1. Cor. 10.33.  I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they might be saved.  
Inordinately, men seek praise: first, when they desire to be praised for those things that be not worthy of praise, as for riches and temporal things which are but vain. Secondly, if they glory in their sins: why boastest thou O tyrant, that thou art able to do mischief? 
Psal. 52.8.  thirdly, when it is done in contempt of our neighbour, or of God. For they loved the praise of men, 
john 12.43.  more than the praise of God. Now unto the King everlasting, 
1. Tim. 1.17.  immortal, invisible, unto God only wise, be honour and glory for ever and ever, Amen. fourthly, when a man sinneth to get praise: 
Mat. 6.1.  Beware that ye give not your alms before men to be seen of them, or else you shall have no reward of your Father which is in Heaven. How many vaineglotious persons are in England, which boast of the multitude of their riches, rejoice in iniquity, and love the praise of men more than the glory of God: you may know by Cato's rule for he saith: Neither shalt thou praise nor dispraise thyself, for this do fools that are vexed with vainglory. If all those that praise themselves be fools, than the world is full of fools, and these say there is no GOD: But he that sitteth in heaven will laugh them to scorn, yea, 
Psal. 2.4.  the Lord will have them in derision.  
another kind of pride is self-love, 
Self-love the sin of Sodom and of England. Mal, 2, 10.  of the which Malachi writeth: Have we not all one Father? hath not one God made us? why do we transgress every one against his Brother? This vice was in the Pharisey: 
Luke 18.11.  I am not (saith he) as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, nor as this Publican. When Saul was little in his own sight, 
1. Sam, 15, 17  he was the head of the tribes of Israel. But when he despised David, a better man than himself, God brought him low again. John Baptist humbled himself, and said: 
Mat. 3.11.  He was not worthy to unloose the latchet of our saviours shoe: But Christ said: He was a Prophet, and more than a Prophet. 
Mat. 11.11. john 8, 33.  The jews said, that they were the children of Abraham, and never served any man. But Christ said, 
john. 8, 44.  Ye are of your Father the Devil. We may not therefore with the pharisees judge others and prefer ourselves before them.  

Five reasons why we may not judge our brethren.  For first humanity doth require that we should not rashly censure the faults of other men. Secondly, our own infirmity should move us to the same, 
jam, 3, 2,  for in many things we offend all. Now do we see our own faults, which are in the piece of the wallet that hangeth behind us. Thirdly, we are fellow-servants, and being therefore in the same condition, we should live in charity which covereth the multitude of sins. Fourthly, Christ is the only judge of the quick and the dead, and therefore we may not male partly ascend into his tribunal seat. Fifthlye, our judgements are to be suspected, because we see only the outward and not the inward parts. 
Basil.  Basill saith: The wicked man doth most easily condemn the good, but the good doth not easily condemn the wicked. Most justly therefore saith the Apostle. 
Rom, 14, 4.  Who art thou that misdeemest an other man's servant? he standeth or falleth before his Lord. Saul breathing out mischief against the church of God, was suddenly called, and of Saul became Paul, of a proud Pharisie an humble penitent, of a malicious persecutor a zealous Apostle, and laboured more in his vocation then all his fellows.  
Augustine saith, 
Au. de verb. dom. ser. 1●.  we must despair of none as long as the patience of God doth lead him to repentance, neither he, that will not have the death of a sinner, but that he should turn and live, doth take him out of this life. He is a Pagan to day, how knowest thou but he may be a Christian to morrow? he is an unbelieving jew to day, what if to morrow he attain to the Catholic religion? he is a schismatic to day, what if to morrow he embrace the unity of the Church? what if those in whom you find all kind of error and condemn as most desperate, shall repent before they end their life? Therefore brethren, this doth the Apostle warn you, judge not any man, before the time come.  
This rule of the Apostle as Augustine noteth, condemneth the pharisees that were in Christ's time, the Catharoi that were in Cyprians time, the Donatists that were in Augustine's time, and the Martinistes of our time. They have written a book of Martin Marprelate, I hope hereafter they will write a book of Martin marpharisey.  
For as Augustine noteth in a Treatise he hath of the conflict of virtues and vices, 
August.  self-love giveth us this counsel, thou art better than all others in eloquence, riches, and honours, and in all gifts both spiritual and corporal, despise therefore all and make thyself better than all: so saith Martin, that he is better than the Bishops and Ministers of this land.  
So said the false Prophets in Esayes time. 
Esay 65, 5.  Stand apart, come not near, for I am holier than thou. But albeit Martin hath many followers, which hope by sacrilege to enrich themselves; yet let them hearken what God speaketh by the mouth of his Prophet: 
jer. 2.35.  Behold, I will enter into judgement with thee, because thou sayest I have not sinned.  
Absolom when he persuaded the people to rebellion, said, Oh that I were made judge in the land, 
1, Sam. 15.4, 5.  that every man which hath any matter in controversy might come to me, that I might do him justice, and when any man came near to him and did him obeisance, he put forth his hand and took him and kissed him: and that he stole the hearts of the people.  
As Absolom made the people believe he would do justice better than David: so doth Martin make the World believe, that he will minister discipline a great deal better than the grave fathers of this land; and to this end he bendeth himself to drive our Bishops out of their houses, as Absolom did his father. But I pray God give them grace to remember the tragical end of Absolom, that so they by repentance may escape the like. For otherwise God will be avenged of the reproaches & slanders that have been used against Ministers and Prophets. 
Zach, 2, 8.  For he that toucheth you (saith God to his prophets) toucheth the apple of my eye.  
Fullness of bread is another sin that forerunneth our overthrow, 
Fullness of bread, the sin of Sodom and of England. Eccl. 2, 4, etc.  for fullness of bread causeth curiosity. For than we make us great works, build us houses, plant vineyards, make us gardens, and plant in them all manner of trees; then we make cisterns of water, to water therewith the woods that grow; then we get us servants and maids, possession of beeves and sheep; then we gather up silver and gold, and the chief treasures of Kings; then we provide us men singers and maid singers, and the delights of the sons of men. As fullness of bread causeth curiosity, so curiosity causeth pleasure: 
Amos 6, 3, etc.  so that the wicked Put far away the evil day, and approach to the seat of iniquity, they lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their beds, and eat the Lambs of the flock, and the Calves out of the stall, they sing to the sound of the viol, they invent to themselves instruments of music like David; they drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with sweet ointments, and no man is sorry for the affliction of joseph. 
2, Tim, 3.4.  And as Paul saith, They are lovers of pleasure, more than lovers of God. As fullness of bread causeth curiosity: and curiosity pleasure: so pleasure is the cause of security. 
Psal, 10.41 etc.  The wicked is so proud he careth not for God, neither is God in all his thoughts, his ways are always prosperous, therefore defyeth he all his enemies, for he saith in his heart, I shall never be moved, there shall no harm happen unto me: and again a little after, 
Psal. 10, 11.  God hath forgotten, he hideth away his face, and will never see it.  
This was the estate of the Sodomites, to put far from them the evil day, to give themselves (as Christ saith) to eating, drinking, building, planting, and to voluptuousness, to say they should never be moved nor be in danger: to trust to their riches which were uncertain, 
1, Tim, 6, 17. Psal, 46, 19  to their Castles which were ruinous: to their bow which was broken: to their spear which was knapped a sunder: to their horse which was but vain: to their hosts of men, which were but Grass, 
Esay 40.  to their Captains which were but Locusts: to their Princes, which are but mortal: 
Psal 46.  to their counsels which are of none effect. 
Psal, 33.   
What is the cause that the tyrants of the earth forget the fall of Pharaoh? fullness of bread. What is the cause the idolatrous papists of England remember not the violent death of the idolaters? fullness of bread. 
Exo, 32.28.  What is the cause that murmurers of our time, forget the fearful destruction of the murmuring Jews? fullness of bread. 
Num, 26, 65.  What is the cause that fornicators remember not the slaughter of the twenty and four thousand? 
Num, 24, 9  fullness of bread hath set this judgement out of their sight. Why do we cast out of our remembrance the drowning of the whole World? which was so general, that a dove could not pitch her foot on any ground, 
Gen, 8, 9,  fullness of bread hath set this judgement of GOD out of our sight. Why do we forget Sodom and Gomorrha (of the which not only Moses hath written, but Esa●e, jeremy, Amos, Zephanie, all the Evangelists, and Peter and Jude) which was destroyed with fire & brimstone, in such sort, that to this day no grass can grow in it, no bird can fly in it, no fish can live in the waters of it, no cattle on the ground, nor no man in the Country? fullness of bread hath set this fearful judgement declared by Moses, repeated by the Prophets, preached by the Evangelists, and inculcated by the Apostles, far out of our sight.  
Why do we bury in oblivion the desolation of the jews, which was most lamentable. First, because it was in the feast of the passover, when they were all assembled together. secondly, because of the domestical sedition, for there were three Ruffians that strived in the City for the government, John, Simon, and Eleazar, and these so skirmished one with the other, that in one day eight thousand, and in an other day ten thousand or more were slain within the walls. thirdly, by reason of the plague which was so dreadful, that from the fourteenth day of April, unto the kalends of july, there died in the pestilence a hundredth fifteen thousand and eighty.  
Fourthly, by reason of the famine which was so extreme, that the husbands pulled the meat out of their wives mouths, the parents from the children, the children from the parents, the Brethren from the sisters, sisters from the brethren; they did eat hay, old leather plucked off their targets, ox dung, and pigeon's dung, and a noble woman dwelling in a street called Batezor killed her own infant to eat it, but before she killed him, she uttered these words with tears, and kissed him saying; o wretched child for whom shall I keep thee in war, famine, and sedition? if thou goest to the Romans there is bondage, and before bondage goeth famine, and the seditious will afflict us worse than both: woe be unto me most wretched mother; I did hope that thou shouldst bury me, but now alas pinching famine (which pierceth my bowels and marrow) forceth me that I must bury thee again in my belly, whom before I have carried in my womb; and when she had wept and kissed him often, she put her child behind her and killed it with a dagger, & said be thou to me meat: to the seditious Erinys, and to the world a fable. Fiftly, it was grievous, because two thousand killed themselves. sixly, because the Senators were put to most vile works. Seventhly, because this was all done of the enemies of religion. Eghtly, because it was in the time of harvest. And lastly, because of the great number slain, which were 110000. and of the captains which were 97000. what maketh us I say, to forget this heavy downfall of the jews (which perished with famine, pestilence, the sword, and captivity) but fullness of bread.  
David though he repent for his whoredom and murder, yet his punishment was so great, 
Psal. 38.3.  that he said, There is nothing sound in my flesh because of thy anger, neither is there rest in my bones because of my sin. 
Psal. 6.6.  I cause my bed every night to swim, and water my couch with tears. 
Psal. 38.10.  My strength faileth, and the light of my eyes ever is not my own. Yea his own Son Absalon first drove him out of his house, secondly, deflowered his own wives, thirdly, Absalon was hanged, four, for one Urias were slain three of David's sons, Ammon, Absalon, and Adonias. Therefore well saith David, My flesh trembleth for fear of thee, 
Psal. 119.120.  and I am afraid of thy judgements.  
David was afraid of God's judgements, because the sword never departed from his house; but we that live in fullness of bread; we fear not the judgements of God in the slaughter of the idolaters, the destruction of the murmurers, the murder of the fornicators, the pitiful desolation of jerusalem, the drowning of all the world, the burning of Sodom and Gomorrha in the vengeance of eternal fire.  
Wherefore it is better to eat the bread of affliction, and drink the water of tears, then to have fullness of bread to fulfil the lusts of the flesh and the measure of iniquity. And better it is to go to the house of mourning, 
Eccl. 7.4.  then to the house of joy. And to this purpose our Saviour Christ saith, Woe be unto them that are full, 
Luke 6.25.  for they shall hunger; woe be unto you that now laugh, for ye shall weep and howl. For they that have lived here in pleasure and laughter, shall go the black way with sighs and tears, from God and his Angels, from saints, from joy and felicity, to the fiends of hell, to sup in the palace of darkness, with the Princes of horror, at the table of vengeance, in the Chair of calamity, with the Crown of death upon their head; and the devil shall punish them until they cry out with Cain, 
Gen. 4.13.  My punishment is greater, than I am able to bear.  
Idleness is an other sin which crieth for vengeance, against which Paul thus writeth: 
Idleness the sin of Sodom and of England. 2. Thes. 6. etc.  We command you in the name of Christ jesus, that ye withdraw yourselves from every Brother which walketh inordinately, and not after the institution he hath received of us: for ye yourselves know, how ye ought to follow us, for we behaved not ourselves inordinately amongst you; neither took we bread of any man for nought, for we wrought with labour and travail, night and day, because we would not be cha●geable to any of you: not but that we had authority, but that we might make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even when we were with you, this we warned you of, that if there were any that would not work, he should not eat. For we heard that there were some amongst you which walk inordinately and work not at all, but are busy bodies: therefore them that are such, we command and exhort by our Lord jesus Christ, that they work with quietness, and eat their own bread.  
First Paul commandeth them not in his own name, but by the authority of Christ, that they should labour. Secondly, he saith that idleness is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a perturbation of the order of God, who hath appointed every man his personal vocation, wherein he must stand and labour. Thirdly, idleness is contrary to the institution and doctrine of the Apostle. fourthly, he teacheth them to labour by his own example, for albeit he had authority to reap their temporal things, because he taught them spiritual; yet he would not be burdenous unto them, but got his living with his own hands. Fifthly, he saith; That he that will not labour, must not eat. 
Psal. 128.2.  For every man must eat the labour of his own hands. sixly, idle persons are busy bodies, being most pestilent people to the Church of God. For a great part of their life they spend in doing ill, a greater part in doing nothing, but the greatest part of all in meddling with that, they have nothing to do withal.  
Of the idleness of Ministers, (how they seek their own, 
Phil. 2.21. Phil. 3.19.  and not these things which are Jesus Christ's; whose end is damnation, whose God is their belly, whose glory is their shame, which mind earthly things) Saint Paul with tears complaineth. Of the idleness of Magistrates, how they lie upon beds of ivorye, 
Amos. 6.4. etc.  and stretch themselves forth on their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the Calves out of the stall, and drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with sweet ointments: 
Bar. 3.17.  and take their pastimes with the fowls of the air, and gather up silver as the dust: and care not for the affliction of Joseph: The prophets cry out in every place.  
Three great and horrible sins come of idleness: 
Three great sins come of idleness, murder, whoredom, and theft.  The first is murder, for when Cain was idle, he killed his brother. And idleness is the cause of so many frays and bloodsheds, that are in & about London. For as the scripture saith; they lie in wait, which cannot be performed without idleness. I would wish that young Gentlemen and serving men were kept from idleness, and then no doubt they would keep themselves from homicide. The second sin that cometh from idleness, is whoredom; for David being idle, and having slept on his bed, lusted after Ber-sheba. And it being demanded why Aegistus was an adulterer, it is answered he was an idle person. Take away idleness, and loves arts will be at an end No marvel therefore if there be such whoring in England, sith there is abundance of idleness. All our vain Ballads and wanton books whence come they but from idleness? 
7. Causes of whoredom.  Learned men have noted seven causes of whoredom. First, original sin; secondly, the outward sense; thirdly, the temperature of the body; four, the devil; fifthly, conversation with women; sixtly, idleness, seventhly, the memory of women. The devil then causeth idleness, idleness causeth us to remember women, remembrance causeth concupiscence, & concupiscence causeth adultery. The third sin that cometh of idleness is theft. Enter not (saith Solomon) into the way of the wicked, and walk not in the way of wicked men, 
Pro. 4.19. etc.  for they cannot sleep unless they have done evil, and their sleep departeth except they cause some to fall; for they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of robbery. Idleness causeth poverty, poverty famine, & famine causeth robbery: & therefore Solomon prayeth, 
Pro. 3.8.9.  Give me not poverty, nor riches, feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full & deny thee, & say who is the Lord? or least I be poor and steal, and take the name of my God in vain. Wherefore as you have made many laws against murder, whoredom, and theft: so I pray you make severe laws against idleness, for all idle persons are either busy bodies, murderers, adulterers, or thieves. Christ reproving those that stood idle in the market place said; 
Mat. 21.6. Rhabbanus in Mat.  Why stand ye here all day idle? Rhabbanus writing upon this place, saith thus. First he reproveth them for the want of reason, o thou sluggard, thou deformed monster, I speak to thee, thou hast the belly of an ostrich, the throat of a dragon, the thighs of an elephant, the feet of a camel, the legs of an Ass, and the head of a Cow: heaven and earth do move, and every creature, the Plannettes are turned about with their maker, the stars do shine, the winds do arise, the rivers do run, the fire doth inflame, the earth doth fructify, the trees do bud, the birds do sing, the beasts do seek their pray, the fishes do search the bottom of the Sea; all things do as they be made, only thou remainest unmovable, to whose care all things are subject. Thy creator hath commanded that whiles thou hast time, thou shouldest work. The Angels thy watchful keepers invite thee, the devils do mock thee: arise therefore O sluggard and go to the emmet and learn wisdom of him; for whilst the Harvest is, he gathereth the best grain and layeth them up in his house, he repaireth the decayed places, that he may exclude the Winter storms. This summer our Harvest is our life: the Winter shall be of three months, in the point of death, in the day of judgement and in deep hell, in all which shall happen fearful tempests. Arise therefore O sluggard, and gather the grains of grace.  
Secondly, he reproveth them in regard of the necessity of the place agreeing; for as in heaven all men shall rest, and in hell all suffer, so in earth all must labour. 
john 5.15.  Christ saith, My father worketh hitherto, and I work: and Saint Paul saith; 
Rom. 8.26.  The spirit itself maketh requests for us with sighs that cannot be expressed. Noah planted a vineyard, Abraham, Isaac, and Jaacob were shepherds, the judges sat in the gates and ministered justice, the kings and valiant captains fought the Lords battles, all the people of GOD in this life have either laboured in manual arts, or in teaching, or in governing, or in counseling. For the Church is a vineyard, wherein are diggers and deluers; a Harvest wherein are labourers; a ship wherein are either painful Mariners, or fight soldiers; a house, wherein every one hath his ministry; a body, wherein every member hath his office; here therefore to stand idle, is a great shame.  
Thirdly, they are reprehended in respect of the strength of their bodies: Why stand ye? Impotent persons as Lazarus was, lie at the doors and cannot stand, therefore they are to be refreshed by others: but those that have a sound mind in a sound body, they ought not to stand idle, but to walk in their vocation honestly. Standing water soon stinketh, so idle persons are an abomination to the Lord: Iron that lieth still, rusteth; so idle persons give themselves either to murder, whoredom or theft. Therefore as an idol is a vain and abominable thing, which hath eyes & yet seethe not, ears and heareth not, a nose and smelleth not, feet and walk not: so to see a man whose wit is pregnant, and body strong, to be unexercised both in mind and body, is a sin not to be suffered in the common wealth, or in the Church of God. For as the tree that beareth no fruit is to be hewn down and cast into the fire: so the man that is unprofitable to the Church of God, shall by the axe of God's judgement, be hewn down and cast into hell fire, though he were the highest cedar in Libanus.  
Fourthly, he reproveth them in respect of the time, for the day is appointed to labour, and the night to rest: 
Psal. 104.24.  The sun ariseth, the Lions retire and couch in their dens, than man goeth forth to his work and to his labour: So this being the day of salvation, 
2: Cor. 6.2. Gala. 6.10.  and the time accepted: we ought while we have time to do good. Man's life is but short: First, because we should withdraw our love from the world: secondly, that we might not be weary of well doing: thirdly, that we should not spend our life unprofitably: four, to show the love of God, who for a days labour giveth us the penny of eternal life: fifthly, hereby we learn that God hath chosen man to eternal life, because he would suffer him to be here but a little while: sixtly, that we should make very great haste to enter into our rest. As therefore man will labour earnestly and diligently that he be not prevented with the night, so will the godly also labour earnestly in their vocation in this precious, short, and irrevocable time of their life, because after death there is no day, but night, no time accepted, but the day of vengeance.  
Fiftly and lastly, the idle are reproved for the continuance of time, all the day: wherefore it is a shame for a Christian man to be idle in the church of God: a greater shame to be idle in the time of the Gospel, but to be idle all day is the greatest shame in the world. If you will not come into the vineyard at the sixth hour, come in at the ninth: if not at the ninth hour, come in at the eleventh hour: but if you will come neither at the first nor last hour, then shall you never receive the reward of everlasting life: they that came in at the last hour shall be first, but they that came not in at all, were refused as loiterers, and condemned as unprofitable, or rather abominable reprobates.  

unmercifulness to the poor, the sin of Sodom and of England.  unmercifulness to the poor is a sin also that procureth the wrath of God upon us. For as God only giveth us all that we have, and giveth it to us freely & abundantly beyond our desert or desire: so God willeth us to feed the hungry, to give drink to the thirsty, to  the naked, to redeem the prisoner, and to visit the sick, promising that what we give to those, we give to his brethren: 
Mat. 25.40.  and therefore we are to ponder first, what a dignity it is to be a brother to Christ; secondly, that all things are ours; thirdly, we are hereby made conformable to Christ; four, we that are merciful excel the Angels; fifthly, that this brotherhood doth excel all carnal cogitation.  
If then God being bountiful unto us, we are unkind to our brethren, we are justly condemned to eternal fire: first, because of the facility of the petition, for what doth he ask? a piece of bread, a cup of drink, an old garment, or a piece of silver: who will deny this to the hungry, thirsty, naked, or captive brother of Christ? secondly, because of the misery of him that asketh, for he is poor, thirsty, naked, or a prisoner. Thirdly, because of the compassion of nature that should be in us, for he is a man, and therefore we must weigh who asketh, what he asketh, and of whom. He that asketh is a man, so art thou: he is frail, so art thou: he is miserable, so art thou: what doth he ask? bread, drink, a garment, or silver, which is none of thine, for thou art but a steward of it: But thou being a sinful man dost beg of God, and thou beggest righteousness. Now if thou being a man dost deny thy equal, when he asketh that which is not thine: how darest thou being far inferior to God, ask of him righteousness or mercy? thou wilt not give to thy neighbour temporal things, how shall God give to thee eternal things?  
The fourth thing that should move us to mercy, is the desire of the promise: for God promiseth us a kingdom: 
Mat. 25.24. etc.  Come (saith Christ) ye blessed of my Father, inherit ye the kingdom prepared for you before the foundations of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me meat, I thirsted, and ye gave me drink, I was naked and ye clothed me, I was a stranger, and ye lodged me, I was sick, and ye visited me, I was in prison, and ye redeemed me The kingdom of God (which in dignity is highest, in liberty free, in peace secure, in honour glorious, in cleanness pure, in society of angels joyous, and perpetual in the affluence of riches) the influence of pleasures, and the confluence of all Saints, is promised for a piece of meat, a draft of drink, a night's lodging, an old garment, or a piece of silver. Is not he a wise merchant, that changeth lead for gold, a copiehold for an inheritance, and for a house a kingdom? so do all those that be merciful to the poor.  
The fift thing that should move us to mercifulness, is the dignity of the receiver: for whatsoever ye give to the poor, ye give to Christ. We ought to give to the poor for his own sake, for our sake, and for Christ's sake: for his own sake, because if he be in the state of grace, he is the child of God, if he be a sinner, he is the workmanship of God: and therefore albeit he is to be punished, because he is an offendor; yet he is to be pitied because he is a man, and he must see in us the work of mercifulness, that he may glorify our Father which is in heaven. For thy own sake also thou must be merciful: For Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy: 
Mat. 5.7. jam. 2.13.  and there shall be judgement merciless to him that showeth no mercy: but if thou wilt not do it for his sake, nor for thine own sake, at least wise do it for Christ's sake, who saith: In as much as ye have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, 
Mat. 25.40  ye have done it unto me: for Christ reckoneth it given to himself, whatsoever is given to the poor. What a dignity than is this for us, which indeed are but dust, earth and ashes, to be accounted givers unto him, which is the giver of all things?  
The sixth thing that should move us to mercy, is the supper abundance of honour, because Christ doth vouchsafe to receive meat, drink, and lodging at our hands. If the Queen of England should acknowledge herself to have received at our hands, meat, drink, raiment, or silver, were we not greatly honoured? how much more when the son of God, King of kings, Lord of lords, and God of gods: doth so magnify us, that he acknowledgeth himself to be indebted unto us, when we do but our duty?  
The seventh thing that should move us to mercy, is the justice of the gift, for his own things he accepteth at our hands, as though we had given them: he giveth us bread, and yet he saith, we give him bread; he feedeth us, and yet he saith, we feed him; he giveth us wine, and yet he saith, we give him drink; he giveth us houses, and yet he saith we lodge him; he clotheth us, and yet he saith we  him; he healeth us when we are sick, and yet he saith, we visit him; he delivereth us being prisoners, and yet he saith, we have redeemed him. Thus the Lord of all things maketh himself a servant, the owner of all the beasts of the forest maketh himself hungry, 
Agge. 28.  and he that saith: Gold and silver is mine, maketh himself a beggar to provoke us to mercifulness.  
Now because neither the facility of the petition, nor the misery of the afflicted, nor the compassion of nature, nor the desire of the promise, nor the dignity of the receiver, nor the superabundance of honour which he giveth, nor the justice of the gift can move us to be pitiful to the poor, therefore it is the sin of Sodom which was burned, & the sin of jerusalem which was sacked, and the sin of this iron age, which shall be condemned.  
Under the name of the poor, are meant the ministers of God, poor scholars which are the seed plot of the Church, poor soldiers, poor impotent men, as Lazarus was, sick men, prisoners and banished men: to be unmerciful to these is the sin of Sodom, and a sin that never leaveth crying to God, till it hath brought down on the merciless extreme damnation: For we should love them, and we hate them; we should hear them, and we stop our ears; we should visit them gladly, and we disdain them: we should speak to them gently, and we speak roughly; we should have compassion on them, and we are incompassionate towards them: we should do them good, and we do them harm: we should defend them from evil, and we smite them. Are we merciful to the poor ministers in these days? do we give, or rather pull away from them? what mercy is showed to poor scholars in Oxford or Cambridge? what relief have soldiers? who refresheth the bowels of hunger-starved Lazarus? where these are spoiled or despised, there God himself is spoiled and contemned.  
If these shall be condemned that will not give their own, what shall those be that take away from the poor? what shall become of our Martinistes, that abhor Idleness, 
Rom, 2.22.  and commit sacrilege? what shall become of the tyrants of England, which join house to house, 
Esay. 5.8.  and land to land, that there may be no dwelling for the poor? as we see in many desolate places of england. What shall befall them which grind the faces of the poor, and bray them as it were in a mortar? what vengeance shall they receive, 
Mich. 3.2.3.  which hate the good and love the evil, and pluck off their skins from them, and their flesh from their bones, and they eat also the flesh of my people (saith God) and flay off their skin from them, and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces as for the pot, and as flesh within the cauldron. Martin findeth fault that a Minister should have two benefices, but for a nobleman or Gentleman which hath six he reprehendeth it not. The Ministers (saith he) join house to house; there be those in England that have & do daily pull down houses, wherein have been families like flocks of sheep, & now there is nothing but a shepherd and his dog: for the fruitful land is become a wilderness. What is the reason, he reproveth the ministers so sharply, and leaveth the other unreproved? rete non tenditur accipitri nec miluo, his qui malefaciunt nobis: illis qui nihil faciunt, tenditur: the net is not laid for the hawk or the kite, or them that do ill; it is laid for them that do no harm. So no man speaketh against him that committeth sacrilege, Usury, violence and oppression; which burn up the vineyard, 
Esay. 3.14. Abac. 2.12.  and have the spoil of the poor in their houses; and build up Zion with blood: as a cage is full of birds, 
jer. 5.27.  so are their houses full of riches gotten by deceit, thereby they are become great and rich. unmercifulness is the sin of Sodom, much more is rapine, and sacrilege, violence and usury. All these are in England, therefore perpetual desolation is at hand. Will ye see the guilt of sin? remember Cain wandering. Will ye see the fury of sin? remember Saul raging. Will ye see the fear of sin? remember Balthasar trembling. Will ye see the ignominy of sin? remember Haman hanging. Will ye see the end of sin? remember Sodom and Gomorrha; and the countries round about burning in the vengeance of eternal fire for ever.  
The sins of Sodom were not only manifest and many, but also exceeding great, 
The sins of Sodom are exceeding great, and so are the sins of England.  and so are the sins of England. Sin is aggravated 1. by the multitude of sinners: 2. by evil examples in Magistrates, ministers, and fathers: 3. by impunity: 4. by encouragement in evil: 5. by study to do mischief: 6. by perseverance in sins. In Sodom there was multitude of offenders, for they did offend all; of every age, as children, young and old men, of every sex, as men and women; & of every estate; as the magistrate and subject, the priest and people, the master and servant, the father & son, and the husband and wife.  

Children have exceeding great s●●…es. Psal. 22.31.  First, for our children (I tremble to speak it) being our seed that should serve the Lord after us: as soon as they are borne they are so accustomed to blaspheme, that they fill every street, every house, and every high way with it: and if it be true which the wise man saith: that the plague of God departeth not from the house of the swearer: then no doubt it will fall upon the posterity of our English nation.  

Eccles. 12.1. Young men have exceeding great sins.  Secondly, for young men which should remember the Lord in the days of their youth, their heads are full of drunkenness, their eyes full of adultery, their toungful of filthy communication, their ears full of ribaldry, their hands full of blood, their feet run to vanity, their understanding is blind, their affection froward, their heart is lewd and unsearchable. If they learn not this lesson out of the Psalm. 
Psal. 25.7.  O remember not the sins of our youth, but according to thy mercy think uppin us: they must learn this lesson to their confusion, 
Psal. 14. ●.  destruction and calamity is in our ways, there is no fear of God before our eyes.  
Concerning old men, 
Tit. 2.2. Old men have exceeding great sins.  they should be sober, grave, modest, sound in faith, charity and patience. They should be sober, and they are given to drunkenness; chaste, and they are given to wantonness; discreet, and they are most foolish; sound in faith, and they are as ignorant as horse and mule; in charity, and they are full of envy; in patience, and they are most wayward.  
You have heard of every age, now shall you hear of every sex, that is of men and women. It hath been an ancient strife whether is the most excellent creature, 
Men and women have exceeding great sins.  the man or the woman; but now they strive whether may excel other in viciousness. For men are recusant Papists, so are women; men are murderers, so are women, for they murder their own infants, men are adulterers, thieves, slanderers, and covetous persons, so are women. In S. Peter's time wives were so subject to their husbands, that they which obeyed not the word, 
1. Pet. 3.1.2.  might without the word be won by the conversation of their wives, whilst they beheld their pure conversation, which was in fear. 
2 Tim. 1.5.  In Paul's time Lois and Eunice brought up Timothy in the word of God. 
Luke 8.23.  In Christ's time Mary Magdalene out of whom went seven devils, and joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward. Susanna and many others ministered unto Christ of their substance. Though Nabal was a churl, yet Abigail his wife was a virtuous woman. But in our days it is as it was in Sodom; children young men and old, yea men and women, all do sin, they sin often, and they sin grievously.  

Magistrates have exceeding great sins. jath. 18.21. Jer. 4.22.  Now let us look into all estates; magistrates should be wise, fear God, love the truth, and abhor covetousness. But our magistrates are wise to do evil, to do well they have no knowledge. They should fear God, and they fear man; they should deal uprightly, and they turn justice into oppression; they should abhor covetousness, and they join house to house, & land to land, & they eat up the poor like bread. The foundation then of our common wealth being feeble, the walls of our vineyard being tottering, and the hedges of our Church being broken down; what is to be looked for but a speedy & fearful destruction.  
Magistrates are called Gods, to show that they should be meek, 
Num. 12.3. 1. King 4.34. Heb. 1.2.  wise, just. They are called Gods for the advancement of their vocation: for as jacob called joseph's son after his own name, so God to honour magistrates calleth them after his own name; because neither the loftiness of their estate, nor the pleasures of this life, nor the tempests nor troubles of this dangerous world, nor the flatteries of the wicked should make them to pervert justice: but God's law should be their law, God's honour should be their honour, God's kingdom should be their kingdom, and Gods enemies should be their enemies. And therefore the wicked may not be spared either for love of friend, hatred of enemy, desire of reward, or fear of superior. To be called God's servant is an honourable title, to be called disciple of Christ is more honourable, and to be called the son of God most honourable; but to be called God, this is a name, than the which there cannot be a greater. Men may be called noble of their parents, and learned of their arts: but to be called Gods is a nobility that cometh of virtue: therefore for a God to be a briber, scoffer, swearer, liar, drunkard, or usurer, is a most absurd thing. Should such a man as I flee? 
Neh. 6.11.  saith (Nehemiah) the Prophet: So, for a magistrate to be a covetous God, an idol God, or a belly God, is a great shame. For as David excelling Saul in virtue, was chosen to be king, and Saul rejected, so the wicked shallbe humbled, and the virtuous exalted. Now because our higher powers have in them base villainies, our Fathers are tyrants, our heads are giddy, our men are beasts, and our God's devils: it is a fearful token of our future desolation.  

Subjects have exceeding great sins.  As the Magistrates have sins exceeding great, so have the private men. Saint Paul willeth us to submit ourselves to our magistrates; which subjection containeth 5. things: first, that we acknowledge them to be appointed our governors from God, for he himself saith, 
Pro. 8.15.  by me kings do reign: Secondly, that we should yield them reverence with fear: 3. that we should obey them in the simplicity of heart: 4. that we be thankful unto them in heart & deed: 5. that of all the Prince's actions we give a gentle interpretation. For as a bitter medicine doth oftentimes more good than a sweet: so the actions of Princes, whether they like or dislike us, aught to be gently interpreted. But we think not our governors to be advanced by God; for if we did, then should we reverence them; but we as beasts void of reason, speak evil of them that are in authority: 
Jude 10.  And for reverence we render contempt, for obedience, murmuring; for thankfulness, ingratitude: and like busy bodies, we give a sinister interpretation of all public actions. Even as the people murmured against Moses, so do we against her majesty: and the reason is, every man is wise in his own conceits, every man will be a head, every one a teacher, every one a reformer; no man will be a member, a learner, or a Disciple. Hereof the Prophet Esay prophesied long before: 
Esay 3.5.  Children shall presume against the ancient, and the wise against the honourable. If this saying were true in the Prophet's time, it is most true in our time. This was the wrack of jerusalem, and this will be the ruin of England. For our young divines being children in understanding (making themselves to be Doctors of the law, and yet understanding not what they speak, or whereof they affirm) do speak against the fathers of the Church, not only with permission, but with approbation and applause. And if they shall be thus dealt withal that are worthy of double honour; 
1. Tim. 5.15.  then others may think also, 
Ministers have exceeding great sins.  that their honours will fall to the dust.  
Concerning the Ministers of our land, which should be the light of the world and the fault of the earth; how dark, 
Mat. 13.14.  and unsavoury are they? 
Zach. 11.17. joh. 10.5. joh. 10.8. joh. 10.12.  for some are idols, some are strangers, some are thieves and robbers, some are hirelings. The idol shepherd is an abomination, the stranger they know not, the thief and robber doth kill and destroy, the hireling doth fly when he seethe the wolf coming. There be many false Prophets, 
Mat. 24.22.  and false Christ's, and shall show great signs and wonders to deceive the very elect, if it were possible. Yea as Paul saith, All seek their own, 
Phil. 2.21.  and not those things which are Jesus Christ's.  
Which of our Bishops or Clergy, doth exhibit to the maintenance of poor scholars in Oxford or Cambridge, being the seminary of the Church of God? I know many fine wits and young men of good hope, who for want of exhibition, must either apply themselves to be serving men, which is not well; or else go to Rheims which is worse; or else to anabaptistical Schismatics, to trouble the peace of the Church, which is worst of al. The noble and wealthy of this land shallbe justly condemned, for that they have not been bountiful to the professors of learning; but most justly we of the spirituality; for having been nourished ourselves by this godly means, yet we neglect the doing of so honourable and necessary an action. Albeit therefore many have great livings, yet as Paul saith, 
1 Cor. 9.14.  they have it but to live: to live saith Bernard, not to be rich, not to be proud, not to be wanton, not that he should build great palaces, not that he should advance his kindred with the wealth of the Church, nor marry his Nephews, his Sons and his Daughters with the Church goods. Two things I note out of this saying of Bernard, 
Bernard.  the one that Bishops had Sons and daughters, and therefore were married, against the Papists; the other is, they had great wealth, against the Martinistes: to use these things is lawful, to abuse them is unlawful.  
Finally, some of our Ministers are as covetous as Ahab, some as full of scoffing, as Jsmael, some as wanton as Solomon, some as traitorous as judas, some as ignorant as an ass, and some as ambitious as the devil.  
Chrysostome said. 
Chrisostom.  If thou seest a tree that beareth no fruit, the cause is in the root; so where the people live wickedly, the cause is in the Ministers. For either they are so ignorant they cannot, or so fearful they dare not, or so slothful they will not do their duty. And therefore he saith, many in name, and few in deed; and in his eight Homily upon the third of the Acts, he marveleth that any of us do enter into the kingdom of heaven: for as the parrots spoke the words of men, so we speak the words of the Apostles; and not only our words are vain, but our works are abominable.  
Concerning the hearers of the word, from some the Devil stealeth the word out of their hearts, 
Hearers have exceeding great sins.  others are choked with the cares and pleasures of this life, others are so hard hearted and impenitent, that a man were as good preach to the insensible stones, as to them. We are commanded not only to hear the word, but to understand it; Hear and understand, saith Christ; 
Mat. 15.10.  neither should we only understand it, but lay it up in our heart; and therefore Mary is commended, 
Luke. 10.51.  that she keep all Christ's sayings in her heart. And we should not only love the word, 
jam. 1.21.  but be doers of the same.  
But some will never hear, as our Papists; some do hear and not understand, as the ignorant; some understand the word, but love it not, as the hypocrite; some do hear, understand, and love it, but are not doers of the word, as vain Gospelers.  
Paul saith, 
2. Tim. 4.2.3.  Preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, improve, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine; for the time will come, when they will not suffer wholesome doctrine, but having their ears itching, shall after their own lusts get them a heap of teachers.  
Learned Divines have noted eight causes of heresies: the first is ignorance, which indeed is the mother of seductions. For ignorance is not only destitute of upright judgement, but also is in danger of the wickedness of deceitful men, and therefore the Apostle commandeth, Brethren be not children in understanding, 
1. Cor. 14.28.  but as concerning maliciousness be children. The crafty Papists therefore which got both gain and Lordship over the people, did care by all means to keep the deceived multitude in ignorance. Secondly, a wavering mind followeth this ignorance; whereby it cometh to pass, that they which are children in understanding, are carried about with every blast of vain doctrine. This wavering the Apostle reproveth, 
Eph. 4.11. etc.  He gave some to be Apostles and some Prophets, some Evangelists, and some Pastors and teachers, for the gathering together of the Saints, for the work of the ministry, and for the glorification of the body of Christ, till we all meet together in the unity of faith, and knowledge of the same God, unto a perfect man, and unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ. That we henceforth be no more children, wavering, and carried away with every wind of doctrine by the deceit of men, and with craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive. This ignorance therefore and wavering of mind, doth open the door to all heresies and errors, and maketh the unskilful multitude to follow heretics & deceitful men. Thirdly, where the vice of curiosity taketh effect, there every heretical deceit prevaileth: for assoon as any new or unaccustomed thing is taught, they which are curious, desiring to know what it is, do greedily hear, read, and entertain it.  
Fourthly, this happeneth to them which are as it were slaves to their lusts, when they hear a doctrine pleasing their desires, by and by they note it, and apply both their ears and their heart to it. Of this the Apostle foretold; For the time will come, 
2. Tim. 4.3.4.  when they will not suffer wholesome doctrine, but having their ears itching, shall after their own lusts get them an heap of teachers, and shall turn their ears from the truth, and shall be given unto fables. Sound doctrine to the corrupt flesh languishing in desires, is as a medicine to a sick man: for even as a faithful Physician is grievous to a sick man, forbidding him those things which he greatly desireth, and commanding him those things which are contrary to his desires; and as a deceiver is acceptable, who regarding his own profit, yieldeth to his desires: in like manner the Apostle did foresee that the doctrine of truth would be grievous to carnal men, and servants of their own lusts; & therefore they would turn away their ears from it to false teachers, & their fables (being not grievous but joyous to the flesh) they should greedily embrace. 5. Whosoever hath such itching ears, they are always unstable. 6 S. Peter saith; that unlearned and unstable men pervert the scriptures unto their own destruction: 
2. Pet. 3.16.  for they are lighter than a reed & moved with every wind. 7 Ignorance therefore joined with a desire of novelty, being coupled with instability, maketh the simple people to receive chaff for wheat, dross for gold, vinegar for wine, poison for meat, & falsehood for truth. Some hearers are compared to stones, they profit nothing; some to thorns, they choke the seed which is in them with voluptuousness; some to Swine, for they rail against the Preachers: some to dogs, for they are willing to devour us. This froward and crooked generation that despise the word and kill the prophets that are sent to them, shall have their house desolate.  

Father's have exceeding great sins.  Father's also have exceeding great sins. For fathers own to their sons. 1. love; 2 diligent education; 3. wise government; that they be not corrupted either with too much cockering, or with overmuch austerity; 4. to bring up their children in good arts & godliness; 5. to correct them if they do not their duty. But our parents in steed of love use fond affection: and for government we may say as Themistocles said, I rule Athens, my wife ruleth me, and my child ruleth my wife: and whereas they should be instructed in good arts and in pity, they are instructed in carding, dicing, dancing, hawking and hunting. lastly, where they should correct their children for offending, they rejoice in their wickedness. job and jeremy did curse their father that did beget them, and the mother that did bear than, because they were borne to such trouble and miseries: but the children of our time will curse their parents because they are nourished up in wickedness for the torments of hell, which are ceaseless, endless, & remediless. Father's will teach their sons to have their barns full of corn with the rich man, their purses full of money with the rich glutton, their houses full of plate with Ezechius, their backs full of gorgeous apparel with Herode, their table full of dainty dishes with Assuerus, but they are unfurnished of all kind of virtues and heavenly graces: and therefore though they & their parents spend their days in wealthines, yet in a moment they go down to hell.  
Children own to their parents, 
Children have exceeding great sins.  first the love of the heart, and they wish them dead to have their goods; secondly honour, and they dishonour their parents; thirdly sustentation in necessity, and they rob their parents; four service in all obsequies, & they are rebellious; fifthly reverence in words, and they are taunters: sixtly obedience in honest things, and they are disobedient; seventhly pardon in offences, and they like Cham discover their Parent's shame; eightly tolerance in adversity, and they refuse to acknowledge their parents; Therefore noble houses are decayed, the posterity of the rich are brought to scarcity, the extortioner consumeth their wealth, and horrible is the end of the unrighteous generation. For either with Absolom they are hanged, or with the Sons of Eli they are slain; or with the sons of job their brains are dashed out; or with the sons of Saul they are beheaded; or with the children of jerusalem they are brought to a perpetual desolation. To tell here how some are scoffers with Ishmael; some adulterers with the sons of Eli; some bribers as the sons of Samuel; some thieves as the sons of Achan; some gluttons as the sons of job; some Atheists, neither serving God, nor honouring the Magistrate, nor loving the Minister, nor reverencing the aged, nor obeying their father, nor submitting themselves to their mother, nor pitying the poor, nor regarding their consanguinity, were too long for me to speak, and tedious for you to hear: only this I say, our children are the children of wrath and of endless destruction for the most part.  
Evil example of Magistrates, Ministers and Fathers, 
Evil example of Magistrates maketh sin exceeding great.  are an other means to aggravate sin. For when Israel coupled himself to Baal Peor, the Lord being angry said thus to Moses. Num. 25.4. Take all the heads of the people and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the indignation of the lords wrath may cease from Jsrael. Magistrates should be men noble in birth, in knowledge and in virtues. As they have a crown of pure gold, so must they shine in purity to their subjects; as they are decked with precious stones, so must they shine in excellent virtues; as they wear chains of gold, so they must be endued with wisdom, justice, fortitude and temperance; as they have a sceptre, so they may not he bended from justice to oppression, or from clemency to foolish pity. They are the Sun of the common weal, therefore if they be darkened, there must needs follow horror and confusion: they are the heart of the political body, if they be poisoned with the venom of sin, the whole body must needs be infected to death. jeroboam made all the people to commit idolatry; Baasha slew Jeroboam and all his house, and left none alive, 
1. king. 15. 2● 9 etc.  because of the sins of Jeroboam which be committed, and wherewith he made Israel to sin by provocation. So is it written of Baasha, that he made all Israel to sin. 
1. King. 16.11.  But Baasha and all his posterity were destroyed for it. Zimri also was burnt, 
1. King. 16.18.19.  because he walked in the sins of Jeroboam, and made all Israel to sin. Omri also walked in the sins of Jeroboam, 
1. King. 16.26.  and made all Israel to sin. The like may be spoken of Ahab and of other wicked Kings: for there are many causes why they fall: 1. the loftiness of their estate, because they have none to control them; 2. the abundance of all things; 3. the delights which they have in this world; 4. their liberty because they are above all, and subject to none; 5. the example of wicked governors; 6. the troubles of worldly things; 7. slatterye, than the which nothing is more pernicious. 
Evil examples of ministers maketh sin exceeding great.  The evil example of Ministers doth likewise make sin heinous, for the Minister must be an example to his flock, and zealous of good works: but if he be either a proud person and lover of pre-eminence, as Diotrophes was; or a lover of the world, as Demas was; or a covetous caitiff as judas was; or a false Prophet, as were those that fed at the table of jezabel; then (no doubt) but they draw the people from religion to superstition, from the spirit to the flesh, from Christ to the world, and from God to the devil. If there be a tree withered (saith Chrysostome) the fault is in the root: 
Chrysostome.  so if ye see the people irreligious, the fault is in the Ministers, and this is a true saying in Augustine, Gregory and Bernard; He that liveth ill in the sight of those over whom he ruleth, as much as in him lieth killeth them; for whose life is abominable, his doctrine cannot not be acceptable.  
There are three things necessary for a Preacher, 
3. Things necessary for a Preacher.  knowledge which is noted in the book sent to Ezechiel; eloquence which is noted in the hot coal that purged Esay; holiness of life, which is noted in the hand sent to jeremy. If a Preacher lack knowledge, he is an idol; if he lack utterance, he is an infant; but if he lack holiness of life, he is a devil. It sorroweth me to think of the Ministers of England, for either we never learn to speak, which is slothfulness; or else we speak before we learn, which is rashness; or else we learn & never speak, which is idleness; or else we speak to please itching ears, which is flattery; or else we speak falsely against the truth, which is impiety.  
The evil example therefore of the Ministers which have gifts given them from above, to gather together the body of Christ, and yet do scatter: which should build up the house of the Lord, and do destroy it, which should sow the pure seed of the word of unity, and they sow the darnel of dissension, is an other heinous crime which provoketh to eternal destruction.  
The like may be said of Fathers, who participate the name of God our eternal father, 
Evil example of Father maketh sin exceeding great.  because they should beget us in the word of truth bring us up in the fear of the Lord, and by their example teach us to worship our God, and serve him in holiness & righteousness all the days of our life. But (good Lord) how far are we from this duty? for we bring them up in dancing, dicing, and dalliance, not in religion; we teach them to oppress & deceive in bargaining, we confirm them in idolatry and schisms, and make them instruments of iniquity. What is the reason that we have so many recusant Papists in England but only this, the ill example of their fathers? What is the reason our Saboths' be openly profaned throughout this land? ill example of the fathers: for whereas they should specially care that day of the Lord, to instruct their families in the faith of Christ, they do that day bring them forth to lead their dance in contempt both of God's commandment and his Ministers. Happy are those that may say with David, 
Psal. 22 4.5.  Our fathers hoped in thee, they trusted in thee, they hoped in thee, and were not ashamed; they trusted in thee & were not confounded. But we must pray with David, 
Psal. ●9. 8.9.  Remember not our old sins, but have mercy upon us and that soon, for we are come to great misery. For if God be not merciful unto us, we shall all both the father and children come shortly and suddenly to eternal misery.  
Impunity also causeth our sins to be exceeding great. 
Impunity maketh sins exceeding great. Eccle. 7.17.  I have seen all things (saith the Preacher) in the days of my vanity, there is a just man that perisheth in his justice, & there is a wicked man that continueth long in his malice: 
job. 21.23.  job speaking of these saith; They spend all their days in wealthiness, & in a moment they go down to hell. David saith thus, 
Psal. 33, 12.  And these are the wicked, yet prosper they always, and increase in riches. And a little after he saith; Surely thou hast set them in slippery places, O how suddenly do they parish, consume, & come to a fearful end? Augustine in his select sentences thus writeth, 
Augustine.  the forty two sentence. There is nothing more miserable than the felicity of sinners, whereby a penal impunity is nourished, and the evil will as an inward enemy is strengthened. 
Chrysostom.  Chrysostom on the first chapter of the Hebrews & his second Homily thus saith; But besides all other evils, riches have also this mischief, that rich men sinning wickedly, are defended from punishments: & he that possesseth riches though he always sin yet he is not restrained with any punishment, but always he receiveth the wounds of sins without any remedies, and no man checketh him for it. And Augustine in a treatise he hath of the Martyrs saith; The men of this world are unhappily happy, for they are for a time happy, and for ever miserable: but the Martyrs are happily miserable, for they are miserable for a season, and happy for ever.  
For that then the manifest and many sins of England are not punished, we have no cause to rejoice in it, but rather to fear that the dilation of our punishment will be more grievous, for though he cometh with leaden heels, he striketh with iron hands, recompensing the tardity thereof with the gravity. Being then we see the idolaters to sin manifestly, the blasphemers to swear outrageously, the Saboths' of the Lord to be profaned notoriously, murders to be pardoned, adulterers to be winked at, robberies to be counted purchase, slander & railings to be accounted zeal, and covetousness to be reckoned theft, & oppression wisdom: sith I say, all these sins are not only unpunished which is lamentable: but also maintained, which is damnable: it cannot be, but that God which made all the world of nothing, will bring the wicked to nothing: & he that governeth in equity, will destroy them that work iniquity. He is by name almighty, therefore he shall consume away all the wicked like dross. He is the Lord of hosts, therefore men, Angels, and devils are at his commandment; he is the holy God of heaven, therefore he will destroy all the wicked from the earth: he is a king for ever, therefore all the wicked kingdom of the earth shallbe brought to desolation. For as the Preacher saith, 
Eccle. 8.11.  Because sentence against an evil work is not speedily executed, therefore the heart of the children of men is fully set in them to do evil.  
Pontius in his 9, chapter of liberality, 
An example for Londoners wives, Pontius.  showeth; that a certain rich woman, had but one only son, whom she brought up so wanton, that he became a thief, and was brought to the gallows: and seeing his mother, he desired to speak secretly with her, and when she put forth her mouth to kiss him, he Bitten of her nosthrilles and did spit them on the ground (using these words) let this be an example for motherly education. Senica the master of Nero, which is said to be a master of his vices, not because he did provoke him to evils, but because he did not restrain him from it, he is reported to be butcherly murdered of Nero his scholar. Hemingius on the second epistle of john, noteth that a fellow was accused of 7. murders. The judge being greatly moved with the atrocity of so heinous crimes, studied what worthy punishment might be inflicted on him. An Advocate pleading for the transgressor, proved that the malefactor had committed but one murder and the judge the other six: and being demanded how, he replied, that if the homicide had been put to death at the first murder as he deserved, than those six had not been slain. The pardon therefore of the judge, was the cause that those other six were slain. To this may be added the fearful break-neck of Eli, who for not punishing his sons, drew a tragical punishment upon both himself and his sons also. Let every Prince therefore draw out his sword, and every father exercise his rod, otherwise the scourge of God's wrath, & the sword of vengeance will suddenly and severely fall upon them; 
Pro. 13.24. Sir 7.6. Encouragement in sin, maketh sin exceeding great. Pro. ●. 11. etc.  for he that spareth the rod hateth the child. Seek not to be a judge, lest thou be not able to take away iniquity.  
Encouragement in sin, is another thing that maketh sin exceeding great: do not our murderers and thieves, encourage one another to mischief, saying: Come with us, we will lay wait for blood, and lie privily for the innocent without a cause, we will swallow them up alive like a grave even whole, as those that go down into the pit: We shall find all precious riches, and fill our houses with spoil. Cast in thy lot among us, we will all have one purse. Do not our harlots encourage men in wickedness, saying as doth the harlot. 
Pro. 17.18. etc.  Come let us take our fill with love until the morning, let us take our pleasure in dalliance, for mine husband is not at home, he is gone a journey far off. He hath taken with him a bag of silver, and will come home at the time appointed: and stolen waters are sweet, and the bread that is privily eaten hath a good taste. 
Pro. 9.17.  Do not our extortioners and usurers animate one an other in mischief? saying: 
Sap. 2.10.11.  Let us oppress the poor that is righteous, let us not spare the widow, nor reverence the white hairs of the aged, that have lived many years. Let our strength be the law of unrighteousness: for the thing that is feeble is reproved as unprofitable. Do not our covetous cornmongers provoke one another to afflict the people of God, as did the wicked in Amos time, saying: 
Amos. 8.5.  When will the new month begin, that we may sell corn, and the Sabbath that we may set forth wheat, and make the Ephasmall and the shekel great, and falsify the weights by deceit: that we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for shoes, and sell the refuse of the wheat.  
If these things be among the people of England, as they were among the jews; or rather if England doth justify jerusalem, as jerusalem justified Sodom and Gomorrha: then no doubt as God spared not the natural olive, so he will not spare the wild: for we blush not to commit idolatry and blasphemy, to profane our Sabaoth, to rebel, to murder, to go a whoring, to rob, to oppress, to commit usury, to slander our brethren, or revile our fathers. Very well saith Tully: without shamefastness nothing is right, nothing is honest. But better saith Bernard, spiritual shamefastness is the glory of the conscience, the keeper of a good name, the honour of life, the seat of virtues, the praise of nature, and the badge of all honesty: but where this virtue wanteth, there is scorn and contempt of God.  

Study io do mischief maketh sins exceeding great. Mich. 2.1.  Study to do mischief is also another thing that maketh sin heinous. woe unto them that imagine iniquity, & work wickedness upon their beds, when the morning is light they practise it, because their head hath power. The soul of man being made after the image of God, aught to have God always for his object.  
So saith Mary: 
Luke. 1.46.47.  My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour. For the soul is more excellent, than all the creatures of the world, and all things are vile in respect of the soul. Gold being in dirt is defiled, but the soul is not defiled with the body of clay: Wine mingled with water is corrupted, but the soul joined with the body, is pure.  
The Stars and the Sun are darkened with the clouds, but the soul of man seeth, though being hid in an obscure body: and therefore David setteth it down most plainly, where he saith: 
Psal. 84.2.  My soul longeth yea and fainteth for the courts of the Lord: for my heart and my flesh rejoice in the living God. And Augustine most plainly saith: 
Augustine.  Thou hast made us O Lord, for thee therefore my heart is greatly unquiet, if it do not rest only in thee.  
O soul (saith Bernard) made after the image of GOD, beautified with his likeness, redeemed with Christ's blood, espoused to him in faith, endued with the holy ghost, deputed among the Angels, capable of blessedness, & an heir of bliss, what hast thou to do with the flesh? The habitation of the soul by affection is in heaven, as proveth Paul, Our conversation is in heaven. 
Phil. 3.20.  It is a base thing therefore to take a cottage for a city; the world is a cottage, heaven is the city of saints. When then the soul of man desireth gold, he can never have all the gold of the world: when he desireth rule he can never have the rule of all the world; when he hunteth for the praise of men, he cannot have the praise of all the world: but that soul which possesseth Christ, possesseth all things. As God hath given us Christ jesus, so hath he given us all things. 
Rom. 8.32.  Who will then study for riches, which is vanity; or for pleasure, which is hurtful; or for sin, which is damnable: and forsake God which is truth, Christ which is mercy, and the holy Ghost which is consolation.  
Finally, all earthly things be of a short continuance, the things in heaven (which are the object of the soul) are eternal. All things in earth are grievous, for they are full of miseries; things in heaven are delightful. The studies of mortal things do not perform those things they promise: for as Basil noteth: Things past are vanished and passed our senses; things present slay away before they be tasted; things to come sith they are not present afflict us with their want. All worldly things are unstable: for as a flower they sprout up, and fall again, and never continue in one estate: 
job. 14.2.  for we are whole and sick, rich and poor. Lastly, they that gather riches, cannot tell to whom they shall leave them. To set our delight therefore on short things and not in eternal; to set our studies on troublesome things, not in happy things; to set our affections on earthly things that content us not, and leave heavenly things that yield full contentation; to apply our mind to the instable things of this world, leaving the certain treasures of heaven, is a sin that argueth God's displeasure, and procureth a speedy and fearful destruction.  
Perseverance in sin is another thing, 
Perseverance in s●nne maketh sin exceeding great.  that procureth the vengeance of God to fall inevitably upon us. An hundred years was the ark in making, and in all that time the people repent not; therefore the flood came upon them and drowned them. Lot preached to Sodom and Gomorrha, they repent not but vexed the spirit of Lot; therefore fire from heaven consumed them. To jerusalem did God send his Prophets, wise men and Scribes, but the people did kill and crucify them, scourge & persecute them from city to city, therefore their house is made desolate. So to the people of England (I sorrow to write it) the Gospel is the smell of death: 
2. Cor. 2.6. Rom. 2.4. Gal. 5.13.  the long suffering of God is abused to impenitency. Christian liberty is turned into wantonness: the supper of the Lord is received to our judgement. 
Cor. 11.29.  Christ himself is a stone to stumble at, 
2. Pet. 28.  and a rock of offence. The conscience of men is defiled, 
Tit. 1.15.  therefore nothing is clean to them, Wherefore this exceeding great sin of obstinacy is to be punished with an exceeding great plague.  
It is a grievous thing that a man professing himself to forsake the devil, the world and the flesh, should break this vow & covenant, which he hath made with the holy God, the searcher of his heart & veins, and the judge of the quick & dead. But it is more grievous when not only we have contemned the majesty of God, and proudly resisted his law, and defiled the image of God; but also have given ourselves to be followers of the devil, and do serve him as a prince, & a God in all unholiness and unrighteousness for ever. But it is a most grievous sin, that in the time of the Gospel we are obdurate in sin. For this being the day of salvation & the time accepted, we turn it into the day of destruction and time of vengeance. To stumble in the night it is dangerous, but to fall backward in the light of the Gospel is damnable. David sinned but in his youth, we in our youth are wantoness, in our middle age proud, in our old age covetous: and the older we are, the more wicked we are. It is the nature of a man to sin, it is the nature of a Christian man to repent, but it is the nature of the devil never to repent, 
Augustine.  saith Augustine it a treatise of the contrition of the heart.  
For as much then as the sinful generation of this realm of England will never repent, but stop their ears when God calleth them, fleeth from the Lord when he seeketh them, and shutteth up their hearts when he knocketh to come into them; there must be either a general tepentance, as there was in Niniveh, or else there will he a general destruction as there was in Sodom, which was in this manner. In Gen. 19.24.25. 
Gen. 19.24.25.  Then the Lord reigned upon Sodom & upon Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that that grew upon the earth. Of this dreadful desolation you shall read in Deutronomium 26.23. Esay 13.14. jere. 50.40. Eze. 18.49. Hos. 11.8. Amos 4.11. Luke 17.29. and Jude 7.  
First, he is noted who destroyed Sodom, the Lord: secondly how he did rain upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire: thirdly, from whence, from the Lord from heaven. The Lord which made Sodom & Gomorrha a pleasant and fruitful vale, for the sins of the people brought it unto utter desolation He did rain: the end of rain is the fertility of the earth: the Sodomites turned the fertility of the earth into pride, 
Ezek. 16.  fullness of bread, idleness, and unmercifulness to the poor: and therefore when this wickedness was to be punished, it was revenged not with famine, pestilence or sword, but as the wicked had perverted themselves, so the Lord perverted the rain, not to the nourishment of the earth, but to the sterility of it; and gave them for dew, brimstone, and for water, fire. Strabo in his book seemeth to give some natural causes of this destruction: But Moses showeth it came from the Lord, who is able and willing to punish strange sins with strange plagues.  
Further we are here to learn in that it did rain, that abundance of fire fell from heaven: so great is the treasure in heaven of those things whereby vengeance is to be taken on the reprobate on the earth Deut. 32.34.35. 
Deut. 32.34.35.  Is not this laid in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures, vengeance and recompense are mine, Moreover where he saith, he overthrew the cities and all the plain, and all the green things of the earth; we are to remember there are two sorts of destructions: the one, 
2. Sorts of destruction.  whereby cities are so overthrown, that after peace made they may be re-edified again. These kinds of subversions have but a temporal scourge to chastise the wicked. The other, whereby in a perpetual destruction both the inhabitants, and cities, and fields are unrecoverably destroyed So was Sodom and Gomorrha destroyed with all their inhabitants, and in all the plain, with trees, herbs and plants: & the monuments of this destruction remain to be seen at this day, the shadows of cities, the rocks exust, the earth full of ashes, heaps of salt, a filthy smell, a dreadful sight, and a filthy lake.  
Here let every good man think, 
A note for England.  that if the Sodomites provoked so great wrath against them which were guided but only by the law of nature, how much more detestably do they offend, which have received the light of the Gospel, & yet commit the sins of Sodom? Matth. 10.14.15. 
Mat. 10.14.15.  And whosoever shall not receive you nor bear your words, when you depart out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say unto you, it shall be easier for them of the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgement, then for that city.  
5 God doth not only say that the contemners of the Gospel shall be grievously punished, but he saith, it shall be more easy for the Sodomites, and more grievous to the contemners of his word.  

Right instructions to be learned out of the subversion of Sodom and Gomorrha.  In this subversion are these things to be committed to memory. First, it is an easy thing with God to punish the wicked, and even as easy as to send down rain from above.  
Secondly, many ways hath God to subvert the wicked: the old world he drowned with water, the Egyptians had divers plagues, their waters were turned into blood, the frogs crept into the king's chamber, they were punished with gnats, flies, pestilence, biles, hail, locusts, darkness, and the sudden death of the first borne of AEgipt. The murmurers in the book of Numbers, some were swallowed up into the earth, some were consumed with fire from heaven, and the tempters were all destroyed in the wilderness with fiery serpents.  
The third thing memorable is this, that the judgement of God cometh suddenly: for when they were eating & drinking, building and planting, suddenly came fire from heaven and consumed them. 
1. Thes. 5.3.  So Paul saith it shall be in these later days: For when they shall say peace and safety, then shall come upon them sudden destruction, as travel upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.  
Fourthly, the wicked shall not escape when the judgement of God cometh on them. Therefore the flight shall perish from the swift, 
Amos 2.14.  and the strong shall not strengthen his force, neither shall the mighty save his soul. 
Amos. 9 ●.  And he that flieth of them shall not fly away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered.  
Fiftly, sins do shorten our lives, for the most part of the Sodomites were no doubt in their youth, when the fire fell on them. 
Psal. 55.23.  And thou O God shalt bring them down into the pit of corruption, the bloody and deceitful men shall not live half their days.  
Sixtly, sins being continued, do always bring new plagues. The old world was drowned with water, but Sodom was destroyed with fire: therefore it ought not to be incredible, that all the world shall be burned with fire. The heaven of heavens is the Lords, but the earth he hath given to the sons of men; so he gave a fruitful plain to the Sodomites, but when they abused it, he rained down fire & brimstone as plentiful as rain. So because in these last times we abuse the creatures in riot and excess, God no doubt will according to his word consume the whole world with fire.  
Seventhly, they that live wickedly shall die miserable. The Sodomites lived in pride, therefore they came to shame, they were unmerciful to the poor, therefore they had judgement without mercy.  
Lastly, God will revenge all injuries done, especially those that are committed against his ministers. 
Zach. 2.8.  For he saith, He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine eye. And Psal. 105.15. 
Psal. 105.15.  Touch not mine anointed, and do my Prophets no harm. I'm for mocking the minister of God, Noah was cursed in himself, in his children, in earth, in heaven, of God and of men: so the viperous brood of Cham, which scorn the reverend fathers of the Church, shall be accursed for ever: The unclean Sodomites were burned to ashes, and condemned because they vexed the righteous soul of Lot: so our murmurers shall taste of the like fearful judgement, and also the whole land, for soothing them in their ishmaelitical scorning, if speedily and hearty they do not repent, which God give them and us also grace to do, that we being delivered from the dreadful wrath of God, which hangeth over our heads for our many manifest and exceeding great sins, may from one generation to another live to praise the Lord all the days of our life. 
Num. 6. 2● 25.  The Lord bless and keep this Realm. The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be merciful unto us, the Lord lift up his countenance upon us, and give us his peace, for his sons sake Christ jesus. To whom with the holy spirit be all honour and glory, for ever and ever, Amen.  
FINIS.