SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE HIS MAJESTY.  

1. The bridegrooms Banquet.  
2. The Triumph of Constancy.  
3. The Banishment of Dogs.   
By FRANCIS ROLLENSON, bachelor of Divinity.  Omnia pro veritate nihil pro tempore. 
AT LONDON Printed by T. Snodham for Roger jackson, and are to be sold at his Shop in Fleetstreet, over against the Conduit. 1611.   

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, THOMAS, LORD ELLESMERE, LORD CHAUNCELOUR OF ENGLAND.  
RIght Honourable, Preaching, and Printing of Sermons, if both be done for the glory of God, and the good of his Church, are like the Two silver Trumpets of the Tabernacle, excellent instruments to call men to Christ, but if in Printing and Preaching, Divines seek their own glory, and thirst after popular applause, than they be but Trumpets of Rams-hornes, whose sound levels not the walls of jericho, but Jerusalem with the ground: I dare not avow that these my labours, Preached and Printed, be Trumpets of Silver, for than should I paralele the proud Pharasie in justifying myself; neither will I acknowledge them to be of horn, for so should I wilfully brand mine own actions with shame, and carry Cain's mark ever upon me; let the censure be referred to him, who is the searcher of the reins, and whose allseeing eye hath over-lookt the aim and intention of my heart, upon which this Nil ultrà is graven; Deo & Ecclesiae; For God and his Church; This God by One star conducted the wise men from the East, when they came to worship the star of jacob, and offer their Gold, Incense, and Myrrh to our King, Priest, and Prophet Christ: but he hath directed me to your Lordship's presence by Two stars fixed by his gracious goodness in the firmament of your noble heart, Virtue and Honour; there to make an oblation, not of Myrrh, Incense, and Gold, but of one slender talon, and Two poor Mites, Three worthless Sermons, preached as once our Saviour did in a Ship royal, but written out for the press, as jonah prayed in the Whale's belly; I know that the Magis of our Church do daily cast out of their abundance, Rich offerings into your Treasury, to whose writings I may justly apply that of the Poet, and call them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The Garden and Table of Alcinous, so well fraught and furnished they be with Knowledge, judgement, Wit, and Elegancy; but the poor Widow must do as she may, not as she would: They that cannot bring Gold and Pearls to the building of the Tabernacle, must present a Rams-skin and Goates-haire; All the patriarchs wore not Particoloured coats; and all the Servants had not five Talents; They then that have but one Talon in their Purse, and one Coat to their back, must measure their actions by their ability, even as God himself by balance doth distribute his Graces; Yet many things in themselves of no moment, are highly priced, because of their dedication to the Temples (saith Pliny.) The two Tables being but of stone, were reverently regarded, because in them the finger of God writ the Law; nay, the very Besoms and Ash-pannes of the Temple were much esteemed, because they were instruments in the Lord's house; so I hope these my Endeavours shall purchase the better Respect in the opinion of the Readers, for that they were, and are dedicated to the devout ear of his Sacred Majesty, the invincible defender of the faith, and to the judicious eye of your honourable self, being a bountiful Nurcing-father of our Church; which if it shall please you out of your True worth favourably to Accept, patronize and Protect, I will boldly promise to second them with a better Present. And thus as most bounden in duty, ready in service, and daily in Prayer, unto Almighty God, to be your Honour's guide and fortress both in this life and the life to come, I rest most humble at your honours command,  
FRANCIS ROLLENSON.   

THE bridegrooms BANQUET.  CANT. CANT. 5. CAP. 1. VER. 
I am come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I gathered my myrrh with my spice: I ate mine honeycomb with mine honey, I drank my wine with my milk: eat, O my friends, drink, and make you merry, O well-beloved.  
SAlomon, the Author of this Text, was a King, a Philosopher, a Preacher, and a Prophet, and therefore he may fitly be compared to the Cherubin, which 
a Ezech. 10.14.  Ezechiel saw in his vision, for as they had the face of a Lion, a Man, an Ox, and an Eagle, even so Solomon, first, he was a royal Lion of the Tribe of judah, sitting upon an 
b 1. Reg. 10.18.19.  ivory throne, supported by twelve artificial Lions, emblems of Royalty and Courage, which two like 
c Ex. 28.30.  urim and Thummim in Aaron's breastplate, aught to be engraven in every Prince's heart. Secondly, he had the face of a Man, witness his Aphorisms of moral Philosophy, the proverbs; 
d Hieron. in Proverb.  by which he instructs men of green and unripe years in virtue and godliness: Thirdly, he was an vn●●usled Ox, labouring in God's harvest, treading out the Corn; and trampling the Chaff under his feet, for being Ecclesiastes, in his Sermons, he doth unmask that Babylonish strumpet, Vanity, raising the whole architecture of his speech upon this foundation. 
e Eccles. 1.1.  Vanity of Van ties, all is Vanity. Lastly, he had the face and the wings of an Eagle. For what Prophet ever mounted to so high a pitch, as this sweet Singer of Israel, in his Song of Songs, that volume of mysteries; called by Saint 
f Orig. Proam. in Cant.  Origen, Epithalamion, because it contains the wooing and the wedding of the Son of God and his Spouse the Church, whose Love was from the beginning, but their Marriage in the fullness of time: Every line in this song is the language of love, and every word relisheth heavenly passion; but this Verse which I have chosen for my Text, doth especially describe. First, the Consummation of their Marriage; secondly, the Wedding feast; thirdly, the entertainment of the guests: which three are the main branches, growing out of this stem.  
I am come, etc.] In these words is the Consummation of Christ's marriage, by which is understood the Union of the two Natures, Divine and human, the Contract whereof was God's Promise of Christ's coming, and the Consummation his Nativity.  
In an Espousal or Contract, 
g Cod. lib. 5. tit. 4. leg. 7. Gordian. Cod. lib. 5. tit. 4. leg. 12. Dioclesian.  the Consent both of Parents and Parties is necessarily required: So here: first God the Father is content, that his Son shall come into the world, and be made like unto us in all things, sin only excepted; it was his own decree: for all mankind in 
h Rom. 5.12.  Adam being corrupt, 
i Con. Mogunt. cap. 5.  Quia primorum hominum peccatum in omnes homines transivit & secum suam poenam traxit; because the sin of the first Man was derived by propagation unto all men, and drew the punishment with it. God looked upon the posterity of Adam with two eyes, the first being like a Doves eye washed with milk, the second like a flame of fire, Mercy, and justice, according to whose several views he made two Decrees, the one of Election, the other of Reprobation; which two resemble the two streams that issue from the throne of God, 
k Dan. 7.10.  the one being all fire, the other 
l Revel. 22.1.  Water of life. 
m Ephes. 1.4. Rom. 9.16.  Election is the decree of God, whereby on his own free will, he hath ordained certain men to salvation, without any foresight of their good works, to the praise and glory of his grace.  

n Rom. 9.21.  Reprobation is God's decree, whereby according to the most free, and just purpose of his will, he hath determined to reject certain men, unto eternal destruction, to the praise of his justice. These decrees are built upon two several foundations, 
o Rom. 11.32.  Adam's sin is the ground of Reprobation: of Election 
p Heb. 5.5.  Christ jesus is the foundation, called of his Father from all eternity, to perform the office of a Mediator, that in him all those which should be saved might be chosen; as than he was predestinate to be the Reconciliation betwixt God and mankind, so likewise there was preordained a Marriage, or uniting of the two Natures, Divine and human.  
Secondly, the Bridegroom he is willing, for he confesseth as much by the mouth of the Psalmist, saying: 
q Psal. 40.  In the volume of the book it is written, that I should fulfil thy will, O my God, I am content to do it, thy law is within my heart. Ever since the making of this decree, God the Son and his spouse the Church, like a pair of Turtle Doves, have loved and wooed each other, as appeareth by those sweet passions, with which this Song is full fraught, and yet from the time that he was first promised, till the fullness of time when he was conceived, 
r Cant. 2.9.  He ever stood behind the wall, looking through the windows, and appearing through the grates: These windows were the Sacraments, Circumcision, and the Paschal Lamb; these Grates the Tabernacle of Moses, and the Priesthood of Aaron, all of them principal Types and figures of the Messiah. 
s Cant. 2.3.  Thus for a long time the Church, under his shadow only had delight, and his fruit was sweet unto her mouth. But at length she grows lovesick, and cries, 
t Cant. 2.5.  Stay me with flagons, and comfort me with Apples: for I am sick of love. 
u Cant. 1.1.  Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for his love is better than wine. As if she should have said, how long will he appear unto me only in types and figures? when shall mine eyes see the Salvation of God, which he hath prepared to be a light to the Gentiles, and the glory of the people Israel. 
x Cant. 4.16.  Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruit.  
Let the word be made flesh and dwell amongst us. Our Saviour therefore 
y Cant. 4.9.  whose heart from the beginning she had wounded with one of her eyes, and a chain of her neck. Because he would not suffer her to pine away, and languish with expectation, answers her saying, I am come into my garden my sister, my spouse. As if he should have said: the Contract of Marriage, which by my Father's decree was from eternity, is now consummate by my Nativity: In which Consummation three Circumstances may be considered.  
First, the publishing of the Banes by the Angel Gabriel, thus speaking to the Virgin Mary: 
z Luc. 1.28.  Hail thou that art freely beloved, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women; and having thus saluted her, he tells her, that she shall conceive and bear in her womb a Son, and call his name jesus: But how shall this be, saith Marry, seeing I know no man? this she speaks, saith Theophilact, not doubting of the event, but inquiring the manner: The Angel answers her: 
a Luc. 1.35.  The holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the virtue of the most high shall overshadow thee. Vide hic (saith Cyprian) cooperantem simplicem trinitatem, Quae est virtus altissimi? nisi Christus, virtus & sapientia patris, etc. See here the whole Trinity are at work together; what is this virtue? but Christ the virtue and wisdom of his Father; of whom is this Virtue? but of the most high: Although then the Son alone was conceived and incarnate, yet both the Father and the Holy Ghost were present to sanctify his conception, which is the second circumstance and the manner of the Marriage. He was not conceived of the seed of joseph and Mary, as Ebion dreamt, but by the holy Spirit, of the seed of Mary alone, as may appear by these testimonies. 
b Gen. 3.15.  The seed of the woman shall bruise the Serpent's head. Fear not joseph 
c Mat. 1.20.  to take Mary for thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the holy Ghost. A strange conception: here is Aaron's rod cut from the stem blossoming, and a Virgin without a man conceiving. Christ was conceived by the holy Ghost, there is an argument of his Divinity; and borne of a virgin, there is a proof of his humanity; so he is neither God only, having an airy body, as Apelles the heretic thought, nor mere man as the 
d Epipha. lib. 2. tom. 2. haeres. 69.  Arrians surmised, but God and Man united, one Christ, conceived by the holy Ghost, and borne of the Virgin Mary, which nativity of Christ is the third circumstance, and the very form of the Marriage, betwixt him and his Spouse the Church.  
Our Saviour out of the Virgin's womb came like a Bridegroom out of his chamber full of glory, and yet in all humility; 
e Philip. 2.6.7.  For being in the form of God, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, he made himself of no reputation, took on him the form of a servant, and was made like unto men, and was found in shape as a man. This his lowliness appeareth further in the very choice of his Mother, who was a poor Virgin, betrothed unto a Carpenter. He was conceived when she was a Virgin betrothed, but he was borne when she was a Virgin married, because he would honour both Single life, and the marriage bed. A Virgin she was to fulfil the Prophecy of Isaiah, saying: 
f Isai. 7.14.  A virgin shall conceive and bear a Son. Ante partum, in partu, post partum Virgo, saith S. Jerome: Before, at the very instant and after her delivery a Virgin, not past fourteen years of age (as Augustine and Chrysostome writ) Flos ipse, in the flower of her youth she bore him, who is the 
g Cant. 2.1.  Rose of the field, and the Lily of the valleys. A Virgin, but yet very poor: God ever looks on the inside, but the world on the outside of a man. Let one be as foolish as Nabal, and have ears as long as Midas, yet if he have mount Carmel for his Lordship, and as it is in the Proverb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, swim up to the ears in rivers of gold, the world will honour him, and bow the knee unto him, as the idolatrous jews did to the golden Calf of Horeb: but God's eye searcheth the heart and the reins; he regardeth the poor and the needy, for ever they be most religious, most virtuous: he chose David from the sheepfold, following the Ewes great with young to reign over Israel; and he makes choice of one of the daughters of David, to be the Mother of his Son, though she was so poor, that the place of her Delivery was a Stable, and her first begotten sons Cradle a Cratch. Why should any man be proud of his wealth then, seeing both she whom all generations call blessed, and he that is Lord of heaven and earth, were both very poor? why should any man like Ephraim, be fed with wind, and puffed up with his descent, his alliance, his worm-eaten antiquity, seeing Christ was the Son of a poor Virgin, betrothed and married to a Carpenter; and yet both he and she were of the royal line of David? 
h Psal. 132.  To whom the Lord had sworn in truth, and he did not shrink from it, saying, of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne. Thus was the marriage consummate betwixt Christ and his Church in the Virgin's womb: this womb was the milky way, by which he came into his garden, Oh blessed was that womb of her that bore him, and those paps that gave him suck!  
The second general branch, is the Marriage feast of Christ, in which, first let us see the Banqueting place: secondly survey his Banquet.  
Christ makes his Banquet in a Garden, but which of his Gardens is it? for Christ hath three. The first is Hortus potentiae, the second Hortus gratiae, the third Hortus gloriae. His first Garden is the kingdom of Power, and this is very large and spacious, stretching itself from the highest heavens, to the nethermost parts of the earth: for his power is infinite; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, saith Damascen, He can do all things that he will. His second Garden, is the kingdom of Grace in this world, whereby he reigneth in the faithful by the holy Ghost, of this Daniel speaketh, saying; 
i Dan. 7.13.14.  As I beheld in visions by night, behold one like the Son of man came in the clouds of heaven, and approached unto the ancient of days, and they brought him before him, and he gave him dominion, and honour, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall never be taken away, and his Kingdom shall never be destroyed. His third garden is the kingdom of Glory, which is already in part begun, because he is ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of his Father, but shall be complete at the general resurrection, when the Elect being gathered together, shall reign continually with Christ. Neither the first nor this last Garden, is the place where the Banquet is kept, but only the second: in this the Bridegroom gathers his Myrrh with his spice, in this he eats his honeycomb with this honey, in this he drinks his wine and milk.  
The kingdom of Grace is here called a Garden, and this Garden is either shut up or not shut up. The Garden not shut up is the Church visible, in which grows as well the fruitless Cedar, as the fat Olive; the bitter Coloquintida, as the sweet figtree; the pricky Bramble as the cheerful Vine, for the Church visible, is like unto 
k Gen. 7.8.  Noah's Ark, in which were stabled, beasts, both polluted and impolluted, it is like 
l Gen. 37.3.  joseph's Coat, made of divers colours; for in it are men of divers dispositions; a Simon Peter, and a Simon Magus; a judas the brother of james, and a judas Ishcariot; a Priscilla and a Saphira; good and evil; Elect and Reprobates: here only is the difference, the Wicked are weeds, and grow without privilege, they live in the outward assembly of Christians, yet are they not the true members of Christ's body. 
m 1. joh. 2.19.  They went out of us, but they were not of us, saith john. 
n Dec. P. 2. caus. 24. q. 3. cap. 8.  Ad ecclesiam Dei non pertinent illi, qui in eius unitate corporaliter mixti, per pessimam vitam seperantur: They belong not to the Church, which being corporally mixed in the society thereof, are separated by an evil life. In this Garden be divers beds of Spices; so says the Spouse, 
o Cant. 6.1.  My well-beloved is gone down into his Garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the Gardens, and to gather Lilies: These Beds of spices be particular Churches; as for instance ours in England, it is a Bed of Spices, a Society of the Elect: for here we have, 
p Cant. 4.14.  Spikenard, Saffron, Calamus, and Cinnamon, with all the trees of Incense, Myrrh and Aloes, with all the chief spices. We have true Preachers, whose tongues never cleave to the roof of their mouth. Silver trumpets, and golden bells, that ring out peals of God's praises in Zion, and sound out his wonders in jerusalem. We have zealous professors, in colour like white Lilies for their pure faith, and as sweet as Incense for their charity, which that they may still more and more increase; 
q Cant. 4.16.  Arise O North, and come O South, and blow on our bed, that the spices thereof may flow out: But alas, how can they? for the Enemy hath sown three poisonous weeds in our Bed, Atheism, Papisme, and Simonisme, which like tars choke the wheat, and hinder the growth of our better plants. The first and the worst is Atheism; for are there not amongst us whole kennels of 
r Apo. 22.15.  Dogs, whose foreheads are brass and iron; impudent, audacious, blasphemous, and conscience-cauterized fools, 
s Psal. 104.  which in their hearts say there is no God? holding 
t 1. Cor. 2.14.  the Gospel of his kingdom to be mere foolishness; and Scriptures fables, coined and stamped for currant, only to awe the world; were there not such monsters, why is the profession of Religion grown policy? and Christians in name become Machevillians in practice; as mutable as Proteus, as changeable as the Chameleon, temporising their Consciences, to day a Papist, to morrow a Protestant, the next day any thing for advantage, a Turk, a jew, an Infidel. 
u Psal. 10.11.  Tush, if there be a God, he hath forgotten, he hides away his face and will never see. Thus spoke their Tutor Auerrhoes, denying God's presence and providence hereupon earth; Against the jews the Queen of Saba, and against these Atheists the very Gentiles shall rise in judgement: for they having nothing to direct them but the glimmering light of Nature, would acknowledge both a God, and his divine providence. 
x Arist. 1. de ani.  Aristotle commends Anaxagoras, because he taught that there was an immixed and most simple understanding, which knew all things, & this is God. The Platonists called him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, because he is the Beholder of all things whatsoever, & Orpheus confessed that there was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, One begotten of himself, by whom all things were made, and this is God: and yet we have fools amongst us. which in their hearts say there is no God. The second weed is Papisme, a weed that overspreads our Bed, for evil weeds ever grow apace: it is like Lotos which Homer speaks of, he that tastes it is bewitched with the sweetness thereof, like the companions of Ulysses: for doth not Papistry dispense with all licentiousness? and hath not the whore of Babylon 
y Revel. 17.4.  a golden Cup in her hand, with which she makes drunken the inhabitants of the earth? and yet this weed must grow still; who plucks it up? it is cropped sometimes I confess, and the leaves are cut off, but as long as the root is quick, both leaves and branches will increase and multiply like the Heads of Hydra. Upon this weed breeds, the Grasshopper, the canker-worm, the Caterpillar, and the Palmerworm, which make our Vines waste and pill the bark off our fig-trees; I mean those 
z Revel. 9 7.8.  Locusts (spoken of by john the Divine) coming out of the smoke of the bottomless pit, whose form is like unto horses prepared for battle; and on their heads as it were ermines of gold, their faces like unto the faces of men, their hair like the hair of women, & their teeth like Lions. In a word, the whole Swarm of jesuits and Seminaries, Romish Alastores, Evil spirits, which must not be driven away with David's Harp, but Elijahs sword: These make profession of Religion, yet are their actions died in blood; they vow voluntary poverty, yet aim at crowns, and are ever meddling in matters of State; they seem human, and as tenderhearted as women, (Oh, there is their equivocation) but their Teeth are Lion-like; their designs violent; their stratagems cruel. These jebusites live amongst us, and are pricks in our sides; they have ever yet been forgers of I reason, and even now no doubt they are hammering some mischief; and yet must they still gall us; I, what remedy can be found? Pluck down the Cages of these unclean birds, and give the law liberty to punish their harbourers without any respect of persons, then see if these Locusts do not quickly vanish away like smoke, and fly to their smoky dungeon. The third weed is Simonisme, the root whereof was first set by Simon Magus, 
a Act. 18.18.  who offered Peter money for the gift of the holy Ghost: and at this day it is watered by Bells Priests, and Baal's Prophets, such as make their profession a mere Mechanic Trade, or Occupation; and their ministery a Ladder only, to climb to preferments. Mercenaries no true Pastors; Creepers in through the window, no true Preachers: you shall know them by their works, for they seek their own, and not Christ's; they feed upon the fat of the flock, and  themselves with the wool, but suffer the sheep to starve for want of food: They be like unto the 
b Strab. Geog. lib. 15.  Astomi, of whom Strabo writes, which people have no mouths, but only a certain hole in steed thereof, whereby they receive the sweet sent of flowers, which is their sustenance: So these Simonistes have no mouths to show forth the praise of God, but only a tongueless hole, by which they suck up the sweetness of Church-livings, purchased by bribery at Steeple-faire. Well, it was not so from the beginning; for Aaron's 
c Exod. 28.34.  rob round about the skirts was hung with golden bells and Pomegranates, the first betokening Doctrine, 
d Mal. 2.7.  the second Hospitality, to signify, that the Priests lips should preserve Knowledge, and his mouth should be a silver bell, to call the people to God's tabernacle: likewise his door must be ever open to the harbourless, and his bread continually cast upon the waters. Sed motos praestat componere fluctus. I must speak as 
e Pli. lib. 35.8.  Timantes painted Polyphemus, only showing you the thumb of these Monsters, thereby you may proportionate their whole bodies: and as 
f Aug. Ep. 48.  S. Augustine said of the tars, Totus mundus in maligno positus est propter Zizania quae sunt per totum mundum: So may I say of these three weeds, Atheism, Papisme, and Simonisme, by them our bed of Spices is almost spoiled.  
Secondly, the Garden shut up, is the Church Invisible, of this Solomon thus speaketh, 
g Cant. 4.12.  My sister, my spouse is as a Garden enclosed, as a Spring shut up, and a Fountain sealed up. Which invisible Church, is the Catholic Society of the faithful, elected and chosen to eternal life, and it is said to be invisible, because it is only of the Elect, who are not Visible to men, but only to God: 
h 2. Tim. 2.19.  for he alone knoweth who are his. The Papists utterly distaste this distinction of visible and invisible, and yet they themselves confirm it, saying: 
i Inter relig. Caes. cap. 9  Ecclesia quatenus constat membris talibus, quae secundum charitatem viwnt, Sanctorum est tantum, & eatenùs spiritualis & invisibilis. The Church as it consisteth of such members which live after the rule of Charity, is only of the Saints, and is so far forth spiritual and invisible: To this also their own decrees give consent: 
k Dec. P. 3. dist. 2. cap. 9  Societas corporis & membrorum Christi est Ecclesia, in praedestinatis. The society of the body and the members of Christ, is the Church, consisting of the predestinate. This Garden than is like the garden of Eden, which was kept by a Cherub, 
l Gen. 3.24.  shaking a fiery sword; This Cherub is Christ, who suffereth no unclean thing to enter into it, neither whatsoever worketh abomination or lies, but they which are written in the book of life. In the old Paradise grew two principal trees, 
m Gen. 3.22.  the tree of Life, and 
n Gen. 2 17.  the tree of Knowledge, the like are in this garden: For 
o joh. 3.15.  whosoever believeth in Christ, shall not perish, but have eternal life; here is the tree of Life, 
p joh. 17.3.  And this is life eternal, that they know thee to be the only very God, and whom thou hast sent jesus Christ; Here is the tree of Knowledge. And as Eden was watered with 
q Gen. 2.  four Rivers, Pishon, Gihen, Hiddekel, and Perath, so hath this enclosed Garden, the Church invisible, four waters of comfort, namely: Election, Vocation, justification, and Glorification: 
r Rom. 8.29.30.  for whom God hath predestinate to be made like the Image of his Son, them also he calls, whom he calls, he justifies, and whom he justifies, them will he also glorify. Of these Waters, whosoever drinks, shall never thirst again; for they shall be in him a Well, springing up into everlasting life. This Garden is the place whither Christ comes to prepare his Banquet; and a Banquet he provides very delicious, for it is Myrrh and Spice, the honeycomb and the honey, Wine and Milk.  
I gathered my Myrrh with my Spice, etc.] These words may bear a double sense: First, Myrrh is a gum very bitter, but Spice is sweet; by Myrrh therefore may be understood the Law, by Spice the Gospel: for the Law is bitter, it shows us our sins, the Gospel is sweet, for it applies a remedy: the Law is a Rod of iron, called by 
s Zach. 11.7.  Zacharie, Bands; the Gospel is like Aaron's Rod, bearing fresh Almonds, named by the same Prophet Beauty: the Law is a 
t Numb. 17. Deut. 18.16.  flaming fire, that consumes; the Gospel, the Cooling water of the Rock which comforts: the Law is the savour of death; the Gospel of life: 
u Amb. in 11. ad Rom.  Nam data est Lex (saith Ambrose) ut humanum genus terrore manifestatae legis froenaretur. The Law was given that mankind might be terrified with the manifestation thereof: But of the contrary part, 
x Amb. in 3. ad Rom.  evangelium gaudium operatur: the Gospel worketh joy.. Our Saviour therefore making his marriage feast, gathers Myrrh and Spice, the one Bitter, the other Sweet, and mixeth them together: for if he had given his Guests Myrrh only to eat, they would have cried out like the children of the Prophets, 
y 2. Reg. 4.40.  Mors in olla, Death is in the Pot: because the 
z 2. Cor. 3.6.  Law is a kill letter, and causeth death: and if he had set before them Spice alone, then might they have thought, that the Law was wholly abrogate: no, he came not to destroy, but to fulfil the Law; therefore he gathers Myrrh and Spice together, qualifying the bitterness of the Law, with the sweetness of the Gospel.  
Secondly, by Myrrh and Spice, I rather think that the Spirit of God means the preaching of the Gospel. 
a 2. Cor. 2.16.  Which is the savour of life unto life, and of death unto death, and therefore it is both Bitter and Sweet; first, it is sweet, for it is the 
b Luc. 24.46.  preaching of repentance, and forgiveness of sins in the name of Christ, and therefore it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Greek, which word amongst profane writers, signifies joyful news; So Aristophanes useth it, saying, 
c Aristoph. in equit.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I have told them good tidings; and can any thing be sweeter to the soul of man, than the Gladsome Report of eternal life revealed in the Gospel? Secondly, it is Bitter, but yet this Bitterness is not properly in the Gospel, but is caused by the wilful contempt and disobedience of the hearers, by whose perverse nature the sweetness thereof is turned to bitterness; to the faithful believers the Gospel bringeth comfort and peace, if it do not so to others, the fault is in themselves. Again, the Gospel is both Sweet and Bitter, Sweet in itself, but very Bitter in the Profession: this we may gather by the 
d Revel. 10.10.  little book that john ate, given him by the Angel, which, in his mouth was sweet as honey, but in his belly as bitter as Wormwood; This Book is the Gospel, which in the mouth of a good Minister, is wondrous sweet and comfortable, but in his belly extreme bitter; because the true Preachers of the word, 
e 1. Tim. 3.12.  and all that live godly in Christ jesus, do ever suffer persecution; they in this world have the same entertainment that their Master Christ had amongst the jews, Gall, Vinegar, and a Whip: but of the contrary part, in the Carnal-Gospellers mouth this Book is ever bitter, but yet sweet in his belly; for it is death to him to preach the word in season, and out of season: Oh no, he hates a Pulpit as much as the 
f 1. Sam. 5.5.  Priests of Dagon do the Threshold upon which their God broke his neck: to him it is pain to speak, for like Demosthenes when he was bribed to hold his peace. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, he is troubled with a Siluer-angina, which stops his mouth, and makes him dumb; but in his belly it is sweet: for the profession of the Gospel, enriches, promotes, and prefers him, and thereby he grows as fat as a Bull of Basan; but mark his end, as judas said unto the high Priests servants concerning Christ, Whom I kiss, take him, that is he: So says the world to the Devil: Whom I kiss, lay hands on him, he is thine own.  
Secondly, saith Christ, I ate my honeycomb with my honey.] Hereby is understood that Peace which our Saviour hath made betwixt his Father and us. The sin of Adam and Eve in Paradise, made the breach betwixt God and mankind: the death of Christ made the atonement and reconciliation, so saith the Apostle, 
g Rom. 5.10.  When we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son. As than Samson in his Riddle said unto his Companions, 
h judg. 14.14.  Out of the eater came meat, and out of the strong one came sweetness: Which was meant of a dead Lion, in whose belly Bees had hived and made honey; so I may say of Christ: for he was a 
i Reu. 5.5.  Lion of the Tribe of judah, and from him being crucified for our sins, and slain for our redemption, we receive our honey and our honeycomb, that is to say, Peace with God the Father. Christ therefore is called the 
k Esay. 9.6.  Prince of Peace, at whose birth a Choir of Angels sung this Ditty, 
l Luc. 2.14.  Glory be to God in the high heavens, and peace in earth, and towards men good will. Be the Sea never so rough and turbulent, yet when the halcyon hatcheth, it is ever calm: whereupon ariseth this Proverb, Halcedonia sunt circa forum, All is well, all things are quiet: So when they Virgin Mary brought forth the Saviour of the world; the forehead of God all rugged with anger, for the sin of Adam, grew smooth and amiable: 
m Coloss. 1.20.  For it pleased the Father, that in him should all fullness dwell, and by him to reconcile all things to himself, and set at peace through the blood of his cross, both the things in earth, and the things in heaven.  
But here it is said, I ate my honeycomb with my honey; honey is sweet and good, I confess, and the Spirit of God useth It and Oil, for the two emblems of Peace and Plenty, as we may read in the song of Moses, saying, 
n Deut. 32.13.  He carried him up to the high places of the earth, that he might eat the fruits of the fields, and he caused him to suck honey out of the stone, and Oil out of the hard rock: But for the honeycomb, why should Christ eat it? 
o Zeph. 3.3.  Wolves are very hungry, that will not leave the bones till the morrow: And so is Christ, though he be not a Wolf, yet he is a Lamb that is both hungry and thirsty, till he have taken away the sins of the world: and therefore he Eats his honeycomb with his honey: so greedy is he to cancel the hand-writing which was against us, so desirous of our peace and reconciliation. S. Bernard writing upon this word 
p joh. 19.28.  Sitio, I thirst, which our Saviour spoke hanging upon the Cross, makes this Dialogue betwixt Christ and himself. Sitio, saith Christ, Quid sitis Domine? saith Bernard: Christ answers, Sitio salutem vestram, vestram fidem, vestrum gaudium. To this Sitto, I will add Esurio, and then will the Dialogue be complete I hunger, I thirst, saith Christ, Lord why art thou hungry, why art thou thirsty? say we: he replies, I hunger and thirst for your salvation, for your faith, for your joy, for your peace and atonement with God; and this peace hath he made, this league hath he ratified.  
Thirdly, saith Christ, I have drunk my wine with my Milk, etc.  
There be three kinds of wine: the first is called, Vinum vanum & detestabile, a vain and detestable kind of wine, so called in regard of the effects that flow from the superfluous drinking of it: for too much 
q Hose. 4.11.  takes away the heart of man, saith Hoseah, and is the very bellows and incentive of Lust and wantonness; too much of it makes vials of vengeance be powered upon our heads: so saith Isaiah, 
r Isai. 28.1.  Woe be to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, for his glorious beauty shall be a fading flower. And for this cause, as 
s Pli. lib. 14. cap. 13.  Pliny reports, the Ladies of Rome were forbidden Wine by the laws, Ne in aliquod dedecus prolaberentur, for fear of dishonouring themselves. The second is, Vinum durum & execrabile, a harsh execrable wine. Of this Moses speaketh, saying, 
t Deut. 32.32.33.  Their Wine is of the Vine of Sodom, and of the Vines of Gomorrah, their Grapes are Grapes of gall, their clusters be bitter: Their Wine is the poison of Dragons, and the cruel gall of Asps. This is the pure Wine of the wrath of God, which Reprobates drink in hell. I keep the good Wine until now, and it is dulce & delectabile, sweet and delightsome, a Wine that cheers the heart of man, a wine that turneth every thought into joy: and this is it that Christ mixeth with milk, and drinks a health to his well-beloved; by which is understood Grace and Mercy, as it is in the Prophecy of Isaiah, saying, 
u Esa. 55.1.  Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and ye that have no silver, come, buy, and eat, come, I say, buy wine and milk without silver, and without money: So likewise in joel, 
x joel. 3.18.  In that day the mountains shall drop down new Wine, and the hills shall flow with milk: this wine is Grace, this milk is Mercy, which Christ offereth unto all that will come unto him.  
I drunk my Wine with my milk.] This mixture is remarkable, Wine and Milk Blent: show that the work of our Redemption, the Grace and Mercy of God in Christ jesus, meet together and kiss each other, whereby we may gather, that Grace, whereby we are justified, and made acceptable before God, is no quality inherent or dwelling in ourselves, as the 
y Bell. de great. lib. 1. cap. 3.  jesuite avoucheth, but proceedeth from the Mercy of God, imputing unto us the righteousness of his Son: So saith S. Paul, 
z 2. Cor. 5.21.  He hath made him to be sin for us, that knew no sin, that we should be made the righteousness of God in him: So likewise Augustine, 
a Aug. de verb. Apost. Serm. 15.  justitia sit, sed ex gratia sit, a Deo tibi sit, non tua sit: Sacerdotes tui inquit induantur justitia: vestis accipitur, non cum capillis nascitur, etc. Let there be righteousness, but let it be of grace, let it be of God, let it not be thine own; Let thy Priests, saith the Psalmist, be clothed with righteousness; clothing is received outwardly, it groweth not in us as our hair, nor as the sheep are clothed of their own: So then justifying grace is no more ours, nor inherent in us, than the vesture or garment, with which we are clothed, which is not in us, but only adhereth, and is applied to us. And is not this an excellent Banquet; Where Myrrh and Spice is the Preaching of the Gospel, the honeycomb, and the honey spiritual peace, and the wine and milk Grace and Mercy?  
The third and last general part, is the Entertainment of the guests, in these words, Eat O my friends, drink and make you merry, O well-beloved. In which, I will observe two things: first, Who be the guests, that Christ invites? Secondly, what is their entertainment.  
The Guests are our saviours well-beloved friends, a selected number, not the whole fry of the world, for, as 
b joh. 10.15.  he died only for his sheep, so was he borne only for the Elect, his well-beloved friends. This Doctrine is gainsaid by Pellagius, who as S. Augustine affirmeth, taught that the Grace of God, was not only in respect of the outward means offered unto all, but even in his eternal Decree and purpose ordained for all, if they would receive it; his reasons be, because S. Paul saith, 
c 1. Tim. 2.4.  That God will that all men shall be saved, and S. Peter. 
d 2. Pet. 3.9.  The Lord would have no man to perish, but would have all men come to repentance. Likewise, 
e 1. Tim. 2.5.  Christ gave himself a ransom for all: 
f 2. Cor. 5.15.  Christ died for all; as then all the World lays claim to his Cross, so in like manner to his Cratch; as he suffered death for all: so was he borne for all, and therefore the Guests that Christ calls to his Banquet, that is, to the Participation of his spiritual Graces, is no particular number, but the whole world. In answering these arguments, we must first consider the Will of God, and secondly, the Death of Christ. God's will is twofold, Arcana & revalata, his Secret will and his Revealed will. Now then those places of Scripture which Pellagius allegeth, are to be understood of Gods Revealed will, for by It he would have all men to be saved, because he rejoiceth not at the destruction of his creature: but if we consider his Secret Will; then must we needs confess, that 
f Mat. 20.16.  Many are called, but few are chosen: then must we needs acknowledge, 
g Pro. 1.26.  That he rejoice that the destruction of the wicked: then must we of necessity conclude, that from eternity his will is, that some shall not be saved, because he respecteth a further end; namely, the setting forth of his own glory, which consisteth as well in justice as in Mercy. Secondly, touching the death of Christ, that he died for all men, is most certain, the Apostle affirms it; yet because else where the Spirit of God saith, 
h joh. 10.15.  That he died for his sheep, and for the 
i Ephe. 5.25.  Church: lest the Word should seem to thwart itself, we must not take the letter, but follow the Sense, which is this. The death of our Saviour in respect of its sufficiency, hath satisfied for all men; but is 
k Mag. sent. li. 3. dist. 20.  efficacious only to those which were foreordained to life aeternal in Christ jesus: so saith Augustine: 
l Aug. tom. 7. add artic. fals. imposit.  Quoad magnitudinem & potentiam precij, Sanguis Christi est redemptio totius mundi, quoniam tamen non omnes captivitate eruti sunt, redemptionis proprietas hand dubipenes illos est, qui membra sunt Christi: In respect of the greatness of the price, the blood of Christ is the redemption of the whole world, but because all are not redeemed from captivity, the proper effect of redemption is only wrought in the members of Christ. So likewise for his Birth, I say with Ambrose, 
m Amb. lib. 3. de fide. cap. 4.  Ille quidem misericordia sua omnibus natus est, sed perfidia hocreticorum fecit, ut non omnibus nasceretur qui omnibus natus est. He in mercy was borne for all, but the unfaithfulness of heretics is the cause that he which is borne to all, is not borne for all. Therefore the Elect only are the selected Guests, whom Christ invites to his banquet, saying; Eat O my friends, drink, and make you merry, O Well-beloved.  
Secondly, What is their entertainment? Marvelous kind and loving; as may appear by the bridegrooms words, Eat, drink, and be merry.  
But me thinks this is a strange speech: why doth he that saith 
n Luc. 6.25.  Woe be to them that be full, here bid us eat and drink? Why doth he that saith, Woe be to them that laugh, here bid us be merry? What are God and Mammon confederate? is there friendship betwixt Christ and Belial? no, far be it from us so to imagine, for these words are the language of the Spirit, howsoever the flesh may mis-expound them: They be like Music, which according to the hearers disposition, doth ever alter its operation; for play upon an instrument before a Tiger, and he will grow more furious, and rend his own flesh from his bones for anger: but let the Dolphin or the Hart hear any melody, it so ravisheth and delights them, that thereby they may be trained to their death: even so let one of those, whom lucilius calleth Venties, Bellie-gods, or him that Athenaeus terms 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Wine-bottle and a Mealebarrell, read these words and he will forthwith grow more luxurious, for his apprehension will reach no further than the flesh-pots of Egypt. Let any of our Hermaphrodites, effeminate and wanton chamberers hear them, and they will presently begin to be as mad-merrie as the 
o Pom. Mel. lib. 1.  Tabareni, of whom Pomponius Mela writes, which do nothing all day long but make merry, pipe and dance: but of the contrary part, the Regenerate whose ears are circumcised; they hear Christ's voice, and they know his heart. They hear him say, Eat O my friends, and they know that he means Myrrh and Spice, the Gospel; the food of the hungry soul, which every one that hopes to be saved must be willing to eat. They hear him say, Drink O my friends, and they know it is Wine and Milk, Grace and Mercy; which whosoever refuseth being offered him, will Christ at the last day reject with an Into maledictie, depart thou cursed. They hear him say, Be merry O my well-beloved, and they know it is because the Honeycomb with the honey is eaten by Christ, that is to say, he hath made our peace with God the Father. Eat O my friends, saith Christ; he invites all to his Table, the word is preached to all, but all will not hear it, all will not come to his Feast? for they have either married a Wife, or hired a Farm, or bought a yoke of Oxen, and therefore they must be excused. These are the children of Martha, they are ever cumbered about worldly affairs, and wholly drawn from God, by the devils three golden hooks; Honour, Pleasure, and Wealth.  
Others being bidden, in plain words refuse to come; for they had rather, like the barbarous 
p Pom. Mel. lib. 1.  Trogloditae, feed on Toads and Serpents, than Myrrh and Spice: their stomachs are only for traditions of men; their plaits distaste the Word of life: such be our English Recusants, to whom if I were jacob Isachars blessing should be theirs; which was this: 
q Gen. 49.14.  Isachar is a strong Ass couching betwixt the burdens; why may not I term them so, seeing that Gregory commenting upon these words in job: the 
r job. 1.14.  Oxen were ploughing, and the Asses feeding in their places by them; by Oxen understand the Clergy, and by Asses the laity, which must feed by the Oxen, and believe as the Church believes; being contented with an implicit faith; for Ignorance is the mother of Devotion, and so do our Recusants, whose backs are even broken with the burdens of Antichrist and his disciples. Some again will come and sit down at the Table of Christ and eat, but they never digest the Myrrh and Spice: such are they, which either in heart being Romish, will come to the Church to save their Lands, or else being Atheists, and of no Religion, come for fear of being suspected to be Papists, you shall know them by their attention; for like as Adders refusing the voice of the Charmer, do ever stop one ear by laying it close to the ground, and the other with her tail, so they bar the entrance of the Word; either by worldly Cogitations or private Conferences, but of the contrary part, the Elect which are the true friends of Christ, they come to the table willingly & eat cheerfully, for they ever hunger and thirst after righteousness: what though the Word be bitter in respect of the Profession? yet it is sweet in regard of Contemplation, & therefore they eat it as the food of their Souls. Secondly saith Christ; Drink O my friends.] Here our Saviour exhorts us, to embrace his grace & mercy, being freely offered unto us. And who would not pledge this health, considering that he which drinks shall never thirst again? 
s Apulei. lib. 3.  Apuleius reporteth an excellent speech of a certain wiseman at his table, which was this; Prima eratera ad sitim pertinet, secunda ad hilaritatem, tertia ad voluptatem, quarta ad insaniam. The first bowl of wine is drunk to quench the thirst; the second, to provoke mirth; the third, for pleasure, the forth makes a man mad: But it is far otherwise in drinking this Wine and Milk: for the first draft, is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, 
t Esa. 53.11.  a fullness of knowledge by the illumination of God's spirit: the second is, Certitudo salutis, 
u Gal. 4.6.  certainty of salvation, revealed unto us by the same Spirit, which in our hearts cries Abba Father: the third is, Confidentia, 
x Heb. 4.6.  Confidency: whereby we approach boldly to the Throne of Grace: the fourth is, 
y Ephe. 1.5.  Adoptio, Adoption; by which we receive power to be actually accounted the Sons of God by Christ. O let us therefore drink this Wine and Milk, that we never hereafter may thirst again.  
Thirdly saith Christ; Be merry, O my Well-beloved.] Nay further, Be drunken; for so is it word for word in the Hebrew; be drunken, but 
z Ephe. 5.18.  not with Wine, for that is a voluntary madness and the Souls corruption: Be drunken, but not with sin, 
a Esay. 29.9.  for then the Soul staggers, & falls into a spiritual slumber: but be drunken with joy, because I have Eat my Honeycomb with my Honey, & purchased your 
b Ephe. 2.15.  peace. Be merry, because I have bailed you out of Death's dungeon, and delivered you from the bondage of Satan. Be merry and rejoice always, because your names are writ in Heaven. Lastly, be even drunken with mirth and joy because being my friends upon earth, you shall be filled in heaven with the pleasures of God's house. To which holy tabernacle, he that was born for us bring us: to whom with the Father, & the holy Spirit, be all honour and glory now and evermore.  
FINIS.   

The second Sermon. THE TRIUMPH OF CONSTANCY.  APOC. 3.11.12. VER. 
Behold, I come shortly hold that thou hast: that no man take thy Crown.  
Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the City of my God, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new Name.  
AT the two ends of the 
a Exod. 25.13.19.20.  mercy-seat, were set two Cherubims of beaten Gold, whose wings were stretched out on high, and their faces one against an other, both towards the mercy-seat. This Seat of Mercy is 
b Rom. 3.24.  Christ: these Cherubims, the Prophets and the Apostles, both which in all their Writings, look and level their pens at Christ, who is the true propitiatory. The Prophets being the Apostles of the Law, were taught of God in 
c Num. 12.16.  Dreams & Visions, both that the Messiah should come into the world to suffer, and also what should happen before his birth: The Apostles being the Prophets of the Gospel, were after the same manner instructed in all occurrences concerning the Church till the last day, & Christ's coming into the world to judge. Of this rank was john, an Apostolical Prophet, and a Prophetical Apostle, as appeareth by this Book of the Apocalyps, being a Register of intricate Visions; wherein there be couched as many 
d Hier. ad pauli.  mysteries as Words. The Author hereof was Christ, the Secretary john; the place in which he penned it Pathmos, an Island in the 
e Strab. lib. 13.  Aegaean Sea, whither he was banished by 
f Eus. eccle. hist. lib. 3. cap. 18.  Domitian the Emperor; The time when these Visions were seen, was the Lord's day: and his first Vision was of one like unto the Son of Man, having in his right hand seven stars, and standing in the midst of seven golden Candlesticks; the Mystery hereof is revealed by Christ, saying: The seven Stars are the Angels of the seven Churches, & the seven Candlesticks, are the seven Churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thiatira, Sardi, Philadelphia, and Laodicia: to the Angels or Bishops whereof our Saviour writes seven Epistles, commending some, reproving others, and exhorting all to Perseverance, to Patience, to Repentance: but to omit the rest, at the seventh verse of this Chapter gins the Epistle to the Angel of Philadelphia, a City of Misia in Asia: 
Strab. lib. 12.  in the first part whereof he commendeth the Angel's patience, threatens his enemies, and assureth him of aid and assistance. In the latter part, which is my Text, he first exhorts him to Constancy, in these words; Behold, I come shortly, hold that thou hast, that no man take thy crown.] Secondly, recounts the rewards of Conquerors, saying; Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out, and I will write upon him the Name of my God, and the Name of the city of my God, which is the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new Name.  
The Exhortation lies in these words, which are the very Navel of the Verse: Hold that thou hast, about which these two Motives twine, like the Serpents about Mercuries rod. First; Behold, I come shortly: secondly, that No man take thy Crown. Hold that thou hast: Constancy and Perseverance are in the scriptures set forth by four Metaphors, Ploughing, Running, Standing and Holding. For the first, our Saviour saith, 
g Luc. 9.62.  No man that putteth his hand to the Plough, and looketh back, is apt to the Kingdom of heaven. This Plough is God's service, and the Profession of Christ; to which when a man hath once settled himself, he must by remembering Lot's wife, take heed that he look not back. Religion is fitly resembled by the Plough, for the life of a true Professor and a Ploughman are alike, both full of labour and travail: the one eats his bread in the sweat of his face, the other groaneth continually under the Cross. To this Plough, all that hope for heavenmust put their hands; for the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, (saith Christ) therefore we must take pains for it, and continue constantly at our work, without looking back from Zoar to Sodom, and from the pains of the Plough to the pleasures of the world.  
For the second S. Paul saith; 
h 1. Cor. 9  So run that you may obtain; In some sort all men run, but because all do not obtain, it seemeth there is Error either in the choice of the way, or in the manner of running. There is but one way to heaven 
i Mat. 7.13.  and it is narrow and straight; & this is Christ, the 
k Luc. 14.6.  Way, the Truth, and the Life, whosoever followeth not this Path, wandereth from the Truth, and therefore looseth aeternal life: as the Way, so the manner of running is but One, it must be without ceasing, stop, or stay, 
l Mat. 10.22.  for only he which continueth unto the end shall be saved.  
For the third, the same Apostle saith; 
m Ephe. 6.14.  Stand therefore, & your loins girded about with Verity. Now what else is it to stand, but to be 
n Ephe. 6.10.  strong in the Lord and in the power of his might? to be constant Soldier, no fainthearted Coward? Such as be weak in faith cannot but fall, because like the 
o Dan. 7.  Bear in daniel's Vision, they stand only upon the one side, & but upon one Leg: 
p Cant. 5.15.  but such as be strong in faith, have legs like marble pillars set upon sockets of gold, permanent, firm & solid, and using them both they must needs stand.  
For the fourth, my Text saith; Hold, that thou hast. That is to say; persevere in faith and righteousness, and Use thy function without fear. This is the Pharaphrase of our saviours speech, the Scope whereof is to make the Angel of Philadelphia, like unto the 
q Pro. 30.28.  Spider in the Proverbs: of which Solomon saith: The Spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in King's palaces: so must he with constant faith and undaunted courage, the two hands of the soul, lay fast hold upon the Cross of Christ, and never let his Hold go.  
Hold that thou hast]: This Exhortation is an Antidote against the poison of Heretics, and a Shield to blunt the Sword of Tyrants: which two sorts of men in the primitive Church (like brethren in evil) were leagued and linked in conspiracy against Christ, and his Ministers: the One sort being Satan's Advocates, the other his Assascinates. heretics 
r Apoc. 9.3.  like the Locusts with Scorpion-like tails, did not only hurt Reprobates, with the deadly sting of their contagious error, but also endeavoured thereby to kill them which had the Seal of God on their foreheads. Tyrants, like the 
s Apoc. 12.  great red Dragon with seven heads and ten horns, never ceased to persecute the Spouse of Christ, and to make war with her seed; what by the Impostures of Heretics and the cruelty of Tyrants, many Christians were drawn to leave their Hold, and fall back from the Truth. Against these enemies of the Gospel of Christ, this good Angel of Philadelphia, had hitherto (according to his little strength) opposed himself; Now because he should not faint in the midst of his conflict, our Saviour encourageth him with this exhortation saying: Hold that thou hast, as if he should have said; Thou hast begun in the Spirit, end not thee in the flesh; as yet thou bearest the Image of God, then fashion not thyself according to the world, thine Alpha hath been Sincerity, then let not thy Omega be sensuality: without perseverance the best Professor is a branch cut from the Vine, he can bring forth no fruit; a painted Tomb full of rotten bones, and a fruitless figtree with goodly blossoms. Furthermore, Be of a stout and valiant courage in the managing of thine office: subdue fear, let not the rough hand and rugged face of Tyranny affright thee, or weaken thy resolution; the persecutor may destroy thy body, but he cannot kill thy soul: therefore be not dismayed, for he that looseth his life for my sake, shall find it again.  
As Christ writes to this worthy Angel, so in like manner he doth to the Angels of all Churches in the world; whether they be in the Eparchia, to wit, Archangels, or Monarches, or in the Mesarchia, namely, Cherubims and Seraphims, or Bishops: or in the Hyparchia, ministering spirits or Preachers of the Word; to every one of these particularly he saith; Hold that thou hast:] For never was there more need of Holding, then in this age. Indeed, in the primitive Church, 
Aug. in psal. 58.  I confess with Augustine, that the Devil was both Leo apart saeviens, & Draco occult insidians; by open and outrageous cruelty he showed himself a Lion, and by his secret poisoning of Religion a Dragon; yet his malicious power was kerbed, and 
t Apoc. 20.2.  he himself bound in chains for a thousand years, so that notwithstanding all his subtlety and cruelty, Truth like a palm-tree flourished, and Christ's Cross like Aaron's Rod did blossom, and bring forth much fruit: but now the old Serpent is let lose, and of late years hath acted both the Lion and the Dragon without restraint, both by policy and puissance, studying to extinguish the light of Truth: neither have his attempts been effectless, for what by magog's sword in the East, and God's usurped Keys in the West, he hath driven Truth like a Dove into the holes of the Rock, and banished Faith from amongst men.  
In the time of the Apostles, the 
u 2. Thes. 2. Iren. lib. 2. cap. 20.  Mystery of iniquity began to work, by the agency of Heretics, such as Simon Magus, the father of Deceivers, Menander, Cerinthus, Ebion, the Nicholaitans, and many other of the same counterfeit stamp; all which be returned to the bottomless pit from whence they came, and in their place succeed 
x Apo. 16.13.  Frogs, unclean Spirits, whom the Dragon, the Beast, and the false Prophet, have sent out of their mouths unto the kings of the earth, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. These are the croaking fry of jesuits, and Seminary Priests, which are sent from Rome to the Courts of Princes, to stir them up to make war against the true Professors of the Gospel: these are the Leprosy of the Church, and the bane of Christian Commonwealths; these are the trueborn sons of their father, the old Serpent; for as he in the subversion of mankind began with the woman and tempted her, so they insinuate themselves into our weaker vessels, and lead them captive to Babylon. For reformation whereof, I wish that that Edict were in force amongst us, which 
y Hest. 1.22.  Assueroh upon the contempt of Queen Vasti, made and proclaimed amongst the Medes and Persians: Namely, that every one should bear rule in his own house. In ancient time, Rome was honoured for a Goddess, and she had her Temple, and her sacrifice of Blood. So saith Prudentius: 
Delubrum Romae colitur, nam sanguine & ipsa 
Prud. lib. 1 Con. Sym.   
More Deae, nomenque loci seu numen habetur.   
And even so is she now Idolized by these Frogs, her Priests, whose oblations are ever bloody; if her Deity be offended, nothing can appease her wrath but death: How many of God's anointed Princes have these Idolatrous shavelings sacrificed upon her altar? and how many treasons did they broach to entrapped that Mirror of her Sex, England's Deborah, our deceased Sovereign? From whence came the saltpeter which made the Gunpowder? was it not brought from him who challengeth Peter's Chair, and should therefore like his pretended Praedecessour, be the 
z Mat. 5.13.  Salt of the earth; but he hath lost his savour, and therefore he is now good for nothing, but to be cast out, and trodden under the foot of men. Well, I may justly say of these Frogs, as the Greek Poet did of the people of Caria, Egypt, and Lydia.  
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〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
The Locusts which did pester the primitive Church, were venomous vermin, and did much hurt with their Lion-like teeth, and Scorpion-like tails; but these do quite outstrip and surpass them in mischief and cruelty.  
When that glorious Woman clothed with the Sun, and crowned with twelve Stars was in her travail, than the Beast with seven heads and ten horns stood before her, to devour her Child, when it should be brought forth: that is to say, the Romish Empire, did wholly oppose itself against the kingdom of Christ when it was first preached: witness the cruel Persecutions under Nero, Domitian, trajan, and the rest. 
a Dan. 7.7. Apoc. 13.11.  This Beast I confess was fearful, terrible and very strong; but nothing in comparison of the Beast with two horns like a Lamb, and whose speech is like the Dragon that is now come out of the earth, for he plays both the Tyrant and the impostor: he doth all that the first Beast could do, in shedding of blood; and moreover by signs and false miracles he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth.  
This is Antichrist, that Man of sin, that child of perdition, that Belial subject to no yoke, who according to the signification of his name, is both for & against Christ: who he is, 
●er. ep. 12.5.  & where he dwells S. Bernard tells us, saying; Bestia in Apocalypsi cui datum est os loquens blasphemias Petri cathedram occupat: the Beast in the Apocalypse, to which was given a mouth speaking blasphemies, doth occupy Peter's chair. jampridem Romae natus est Antichristus; Antichrist a good while since was borne at Rome, saith joachim the Abbot. This is he who calleth himself Christ's Vicar, and yet robs Christ of his honour; who is styled the Servant of Servants, and yet exalteth himself above all, that is called God: this is that purple Whore which maketh her Followers drunken with the Cup of her abominable Idolatry, and is drunk herself with the blood of Saints and Martyrs. In a word the Papacy, in which both the tyranny of the Roman Emperors, and the leaven of ancient Heretics concur and meet together: seeing than that Satan is unchained, seeing that these Frogs crawl in every corner of Christian Commonwealths, and seeing that this Beast doth continually bend his sharp horns against the true Professors of the Gospel, it doth nearly concern all good Angels, whether they be spiritual or temporal, To hold that they have, by persevering in true faith and righteousness, and by exercising their Functions without fear. Of all other Angels, antichrist's malice is most against Archangels, or Princes; his endeavour is to make them his Vassals, by treading upon their necks, and depriving them of their crowns: for who knoweth not how arrogantly he claimeth to be Lord of the whole earth, 
Gel. dist. 96.  and challengeth both an Ecclesiastic and civil Supremacy: doth it not then behove Princes to hold fast that they have? God grant then that true Faith may be their Shield, the Word their Sword, and the salvation of God their Helmet, that being thus armed they may be enabled to resist all the assaults of that blasphemous Antichristian horn. Let their Diadems, (O Lord) be like unto Aaron's Mitre, upon which these words were engraven; Holiness to the Lord: for Sincerity in Religion is the most steadfast prop of royal authority, and the most firm supporter of a throne, it is like the brazen Bulls, that held up the sacred Laver, or the ivory Lions of salomon's kingly Seat.  
[Behold, I come shortly: hold that thou hast, that no man take thy crown.]  
The Exhortation being finished, the Motives follow, which be these: First, Behold I come shortly; Secondly, that no man take thy crown.  
These two are of a contrary nature: the first is sweet, and flows with honey, the second is bitter, & full of gall; in the first the voice of Christ is like a sweet Cymbal; in the second like the sound of many waters; the first is a Motive of Comfort, promising aid & assistance, the second of Terror, threatening a degradation for want of perseverance: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: as it is in the Proverb, out of the mouth of Christ comes both hot and cold; a hot Cordial and a cold corrosive, such is his Rhetoric, if by fair promises he cannot persuade, his custom is by threatenings to Compel.  
Ecce venio citò. Behold I come shortly.] This Motive is a proclamation very short, but wondrous pithy and ponderous, wherein every word is remarkable.  
First Ecce, Behold. When the Prophet Isaiah speaks of the first coming of Christ; he gins his Prophecy with an Ecce, saying, 
b Esay. 7.14.  Ecce Virgo, &c: Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and she shall call his Name, Emmanuel. So in this Book, where there is any mention made of Christ's second coming, there is ever prefixed an Ecce: 
c Apoc. 22.12.  Behold I come shortly, and my reward is with me. Whereby we may conjecture that the holy Ghost would have us attentive, for he is about to proclaim some wonder. In his first coming there is, Ecce humilitatem; Behold his wonderful humility: but here in his second coming, there is Ecce gloriam, behold his admirable glory. Betwixt this and that Ecce, there is as great difference, as betwixt Tabor and calvary: the first of which saw his beautiful Transfiguration, the second his uncouth Deformation.  
Ecce, behold his humility: in his first coming, he was the 
d Cant. 2.1.  Lily of the Valleys, for his mother was a poor Virgin, his cradle a cratch, his followers fishers, his apparel a cote without seam, and his steed, an ass: but Ecce, behold his glory. In his second coming, he shall be the 
e Cant. 2.1.  Rose of the field, full of majesty, attired in glorious apparel, and girded about with strength; his attendants shall be Legions of Angels, his Court in the clouds, and his steed 
f Apoc. 19.11.  a white horse. Ecce: behold his humility, when he came first, 
g joh. 12.47.  it was to suffer for our sins, 
h Esa. 53.4.5.  to bear our infirmities, to carry our sorrows, to be wounded for our transgressions, to be broken for our iniquities, to make our peace with his own chastisements, and to heal us with his stripes: then was his head crowned with thorns, his ears filled with Crucifige and blasphemies; his eyes closed up with dim death, his face made blue with blows, his mouth made bitter with gall and vinegar, his hands and feet nailed to the Cross, and his whole body racked and tentared ad modum timpanicae pellis, like the head of a Timbrel or a Tabret. But ecce, behold his glory in his second coming, he shall 
i Esay 1.24.  ease himself of his adversaries, and avenge himself of his enemies, 
k Cant. 5.  his head shall be like fine gold, 
l Apoc. 19.12.  and upon it many crowns, his eyes like a flame of fire, his cheeks like beds of spices and sweet flowers, his lips like Lilies dropping down pure myrrh, his hands like rings of gold set with the chrysolite, his belly like white ivory covered with sapphires, his legs like marble pillars set on sockets of gold, and his countenance like Libanon, excellent as the Cedars. Oh, who then would not for a little time in this world hold fast and be constant, having such a Pattern and such a Patron.  
Ecce venio, Behold I come.] These words have a relish both of life and death, they be as sweet as honey, and as bitter as wormwood; they be restorative to the Elect, but poison to the reprobates: & therefore our Saviour speaks them to comfort the one, and terrify the other. To the wicked nothing is more irksome than the day of death, and the day of Doom. O mors quam amara, & c? O death how bitter is thy memory (saith the Wiseman) to him that putteth his trust in his possessions? And the Evangelist tells us, that at the last day 
m Apoc. 6.15.  the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men shall hide themselves in dens, and among the rocks of the Mountains, and shall say to the Mountains and fall on us, and hide us from the presence of him that sitteth on the Throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: but on the contrary part, Death to the righteous is ever welcome: For blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works follow them: and for the day of Doom, it is to them Mell in ore, melos in aure, jubilaeus in cord; the name of it is as honey, the mention of it melody, and the very thought of it a year of jubilee: wherefore the Saints departed cry Quousque Domine? How long Lord? Veni domine jesu, veni citò, saith john, Come Lord jesus, come quickly: to whom our Saviour makes this comfortable Reply; Ecce venio, behold I come. This Venio, I come: may well be compared to 
n 1. Sam. 16.  David's Harp, and 
o josuah 6.  joshua's Trumpet; the sweet warble of David's harp refreshed king Saul in his agony, and did drive away the evil spirit; the sound of joshua's Trumpet made the walls of jericho tremble, and leveled them with the ground: the like operation proceeds either from the hearing or reading of these two words; Ecce Venio, behold I come. Let one of the Elect hear them; imagine his shoulders be over loaden with the Cross, his head pricked with thorns, and his back embroidered with stripes, (as indeed in this world the righteous ever suffer affliction and persecution, which like evil spirits haunt and torment them) yet I say, let them but hear this ecce venio, and their countenances will be cheered, and their hearts comforted, so pleasant is the harmony of this heavenly Harp, But let a Reprobate either hear or read them: suppose 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as it is in the Proverb, he swim up to the very ears in rivers of gold, be crowned with Rose-buddes, and sleep upon a bed of ivory (as indeed the wicked in this life are ever most happy, free from Crosses, free from tribulations) yet I say, let them in the very surfeit of their pleasures; but hear this ecce venio, and like 
p 1. Sam. 1.37  Nabal, their hearts will die within them: and like 
q Dan. 5.6.  Balthasar at the sight of the hand-writing on the wall, the joints of their loins will be loosed, and their knees smite one against another, so fearful is the sound of this heavenly Trumpet.  
Ecce venio eitô, Behold I come quickly. The coming of Christ is both certain, sudden, and short: first, it is most certain, so we gather out of the word, Venio, I come: for our Saviour herein speaks of a future judgement, as if it were present. Secondly, it shall be sudden; for behold, I come, saith Christ, like a thief in the night. Thirdly, it shall be short: Behold I come shortly, though his coming be certain, yet the time when is uncertain: for it shall be sudden and short. I cannot then but condemn the boldness of them that dare assign the very year, month, and day of Christ's coming to judgement; considering that their assertion, is flat opposite and contrary to the Scripture, which saith; 
r Marc. 13.33.  that the hour and day of Christ's coming, is not known to the Angels, nor to the Son of Man, but to the Father only: and yet Cusanus like 
s Gen. 11.4.  Nimrod, to get him a name, hath built a Babel of mere conjectures: as first; his opinion is, that the world shall end between the year 1700. and 1734. because as Christ rose again in the four & thirtieth year of his age, so the Church of God shall rise at the latter day in the four and thirtieth jubilee, which make one thousand seven hundredth years. Secondly, as after the first Adam, in the four and thirtieth jubilee, there came a consumption of sin by Water, for the Flood was one thousand six hundred fifty six years after the Creation of the world: so in the four & thirtieth jubilee, after the second Adam, there shall be a final consumption of sin by fire. Other conjectures he hath, but being but conjectures, I let them pass, saying with Augustine; De salvatoris reditu, qui expectatur in fine, tempora dinumerare non audeo, 
Aug. in Epist. 28.  nec aliquem Prophetarum hac de re numerum annorum existimo praescivisse, etc. Of our saviours return, which is expected in the end, I dare not number the times, neither do I think that any of the Prophets knew the number of the years: but rather that to stand which the Lord saith: 
t Act. 1.7.  It is not for you to know the times and seasons, which the Father hath kept in his own power. The Lord to great purpose would have that day kept secret, that our hearts should be in continual expectation of it. 
Aug. in psal. 36. con. 1. Ser. 6. & 17.  Quid ad te (saith Augustine) quando venies? sic vine, quasi hodiè venturus sit, & non timebis cum venerit. What is it to thee when he cometh? so live as though he should come to day, and thou shalt not be afraid when he cometh. Remember thine end, and thou shalt never do amiss; the day of Death and the day of Doom are two Pole-starres, upon which we that be Pilgrims and travailers upon earth, must ever fix our eyes; joseph of Aramathia made his Sepulchre in his Garden; and the Egyptians in their banqueting houses had ever the picture of Death: so ought we in the midst of our worldly pleasures and delights continually to cast up our accounts, & daily to number our days. What know we when the Bridegroom will come? It behoveth us therefore like wise Virgins ever to have our Lamps full of Oil, and to be in readiness, to give attendance: For behold Christ will come certainly, suddenly, and shortly.  
Hold that thou hast, that no man take thy crown.] In speaking the first Motive, the face of Christ was to look upon like the 
u Apoc. 4.3.  Gasper-stone, which is green & beautiful: but in this he resembleth the 
x Apoc. 4.3.  Sardine, which is red and bloody, for there is Comfort, here is terror; there his 
y Cant. 5.16.  mouth was as sweet things, and he wholly delectable; here out of his mouth proceeds a 
z Apoc. 1.16.  sharp twoedged sword, and his countenance is very fearful.  
This word Corona, a Crown, hath in the Scriptures divers significations, sometimes it signifieth aeternal life: as in the second chapter of the Apocalypse: 
a Apo. 2.10.  Be faithful unto the death, and I will give thee the crown of life; & so the Papists understand this place, whereupon they gather that the Decrees of Election and Reprobation be changeable: for the Schoolmen teach, that the Number of the Elect and of the Reprobate, is certainly and unchangeably decreed and purposed of God in his aeternal counsel, so that it can neither be increased nor diminished, for he hath absolutely appointed how many shall be saved, and how many rejected: but yet they say, that he hath not certainly and unchangeably decreed what particular men shall make up, or be of this determined and purposed number; because that Men having as they say, Free-will, do sometimes departed from God, and sometimes return unto him. The first of these Numbers, they call the Formal number; which is certain; the latter they call the Material number, which is uncertain and changeable: so by their doctrine, he that is elect may finally be blotted out of the book of life, and become a Reprobate; and he that is a Reprobate may be made an elect this their Position they endeavour to prove, by this Text of Scripture amongst the rest: by which words they affirm that it is evident, that he which is elect to wear a Crown of life may lose it: and another which was not elect, may supply his place. But this their Collection is contrary to the intention and meaning of the Spirit of God that writ it, who is never in opposition to himself. 
b joh. 10.29.  My Father is greater than all, and no man is able to take them out of his hand, therefore our election is certain; For 
c jam. 1.17.  with God there is no variableness, neither shadowing by turning. Horum qui electi sunt, si quispiam perit, fallitur Deus, sed nemo eorum perit, quia non fallitur Deus, 
Aug. de cor. & gra. cap. 7. Aqui. part. 7. quest. 24. art. 3.  saith Augustine. Of the elect if any perish God is deceived; but none of them can perish, because God cannot be deceived. Likewise Aquinas saith, Simpliciter in libro vitae, scripti nunquam deleri possunt; simply they that are written in the book of life, can never be blotted out: of this Text of Scripture than we must seek for some other Exposition, for by it cannot be understood the Crown of aeternal life.  
Secondly, this word Corona, a crown, sometimes signifieth any faithful man, which by the ministery & preaching of the word is converted from Gentilism to Christianity. So S. Paul calls the Philippians, saying; 
d Philip. 4.1.  Therefore my brethren, beloved and longed for, my joy and my crown, so continue in the Lord ye beloved. Thirdly, it is the Badge or Cognisance of Authority, both Temporal and Spiritual; and so is it to be understood in this place: in which our Saviour exhorteth the Angel, or Bishop of Philadephia, to constancy in his Function, for fear an other be placed in his Office, and take the dignity of the Bishopric from him. By this threatened degradation may all Archangels and Angels learn to know, that Crowns be no perpetuities. If Solomon turn his heart from the Lord God of Israel, and build high places to Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, & Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon; God will surely rend his kingdom from him and give it unto his 
e 1. Reg. 11.11  servant: if Eli the high Priest will not chasten the wickedness of his sons, but suffer them to run into slander, and stay them not, 
f 1. Sam. 4.11.18.  he and they both shall go with blood to their graves, and the Priesthood be conferred upon an other.  
Therefore hold that you have, that no man take your Crowns.  
The second general part of my Text, is a Catalogue of the Rewards, that Christ promiseth to bestow on Conquerors; saying, Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the Name of my GOD, and the name of the City of my God, which is the new jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new Name.  
Him that overcometh, etc.] Reward makes men both valiant and venturous: 
g 1. Sam. 18.27  for a wife, David will fetch two hundredth foreskins of the Philistims; for gold the 
h 1. Reg. 9.28.  servants of Solomon, will tenni confidere ligno, hazard their lives in a ship, and sail to Ophir. Our Saviour therefore to stir up our courage, and put spirit in our faint hearts, doth as the Romans did: they had laws for the Triumphs of Generals, and diversities of crowns appointed for well deserving Martialists; and this was done in policy, to make their men of war stout and valiant: so Christ to encourage those that march under his Standard, the Cross, proclaimeth their Rewards: saying, 
i Apoc. 2.7.  To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life; which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.  

k Apoc. 2.13.  To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Manna that is hid, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.  
Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar in the Temple of my God, etc.] Oh then, who would not be a soldier in the Camp of Christ? preferring his thorny crown before a diadem of gold; his Cross before a chair of estate; his Whip before a Sceptre; his Reed before all temporal Royalty; his White coat before raiments of Needlework; his scoffs and taunts before worldly applause; his gall and vinegar before the rich Gluttons delicious fare; & his death before life; considering that Cum Domino judices venient qui nunc pro Domino iudicantur, (saith Augustine) They shall come with the Lord as judges, who are now judged for for the Lords cause.  
Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar.] A Pillar is the Emblem of three things, Remembrance, Pre-eminence and Continuance.  
First, it is the Register of Memory. God turned 
l Gen. 19.26.  Lot's wife into a pillar of Salt, because contrary to the commandment of the Angel, she looked back towards Sodom and Gomorrah: and Christ saith; Remember Lot's wife. The sight of this Salt pillar, was to make men remember the judgements of God, and to terrify them from backsliding and revolting. 
m 2. Sa. 18.18.  Absolom the son of David, in his life time did rear a Pillar: for he said; I have no son to keep my name in remembrance, and he called the Pillar after his own name. 
n 1. Macca. 13.27.28.  Simon made upon the Sepulchre of his father and his brethren a building, high to look unto of hewn stone behind and before; and set up seven Pillars upon it, one against another, for his father, his mother, and four brethren, and set arms upon the Pillars for a perpetual memory. For this cause the Egyptian kings made those stately Pyramids, and Obelisks, to perpetuate their memory. Hercules also erected two Pillars upon two Promontories, the one in Europe, the other in Africa, as monuments and records of his victories. And 
o Gel. lib. 10.  Artemisia, the Queen of Caria, made a Tomb for her husband Mansolus, reckoned amongst the wonders of the world; which was compassed about with thirty six Pillars, all which were to preserve his Name.  
Secondly, a Pillar sometimes signifieth Pre-eminence; as it is in the Epistle of S. Paul to the Galathians: 
p Galat. 2.9.  And when james and Cephas, and john, knew of the grace that was given unto me, which are counted to be Pillars; they gave to me, and to Barnabas the right hands of fellowship: that we should preach unto the Gentiles, and they unto the Circumcision. Dexteras Paulo & Barnaba societatis, sed Tito qui cum eis erat, 
jer. lib. 1. in Epist. ad Gala.  dexteras non dederunt; saith jerom. They gave the right hands of fellowship to Paul & Barnabas, but not to Titus who was with them, because he had not attained unto such measure of grace, as was requisite in the Governors of the Church. Out of this may be confuted our English Arians, which hold that all Ministers should be equal, and that a Bishop neither is nor aught to be superior to a Priest, neither that there is any difference at all betwixt them. 
q Hier. ad evang.  We know that Bishops and Priests in the Apostles time were all one; for those whom the Apostle calleth 
r Act. 20.17.  Elders or Presbyters, he nameth 
s Act. 20.28.  Bishops or Overseers. Likewise S. Peter exhorteth the Presbyters or Priests to feed the Flock, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. That is, overseeing, from whence the name of Episcopus or Bishop is derived: yet according to the names of honour, which the use or custom of the Church hath obtained: a Bishop is greater than a Priest, 
Ep. 19 ad. Hier.  saith S. Augustine, neither is it contrary to the Scripture, that there should be a Priority amongst Ministers, for even the Apostles though in respect of their Apostleship they were all one, yet there was a superiority and precedency amongst them: for the priority of speaking was given 
t Act. 1.15.  to Peter in the election of Mathias: 
u Act. 15.13.  the definitive sentence is pronounced by james: Paul is ordained the chief Apostle of the Uncircumcision, & Peter of the Circumcision; and among the Apostles themselves, 
x Gal. 2.9.  james, Cephas, & john are counted pillars, which is a title of Pre-eminence.  
Thirdly, a Pillar is the byeroglyphick of Continuance, God in sign of his everlasting essence, 
y Exod. 13.21.  went before the people of Israel by day in a Pillar of a cloud to lead them the way, and by night in a Pillar of fire to give them light, that they might go both by day and by night: Christ in token of his eternal Deity, is said in the Canticles of Solomon, to have 
z Cant. 5.15.  legs like Marble pillars, set on sockets of Gold. The Church of God, which by Solomon is called the 
a Pro. 9.1.  House of Wisdom, is said to be built upon seven pillars, that is to say it hath a firm & solid foundation; for numerus septenarius perfectionem significat, saith S. Augustine; the sevenfold number signifieth perfection: whereupon the Lamb of God, our Saviour, is said to have 
b Apoc. 4 ●.  seven horns & seven eyes; by which are intimated his absolute power, & perfect knowledge. In that Christ then saith; He will make him that overcometh a Pillar, you must note, that his Meaning is this: his perseverance in righteousness shall be had in everlasting remembrance: his glory shall be greater than of the ordinary sort of the elect, and his happiness in heaven shall abide and continue for ever: for he shall be made a Pillar in the Temple of God, and he shall go no more out. In these words our Saviour alludes unto the two 
c 1. Reg. 7.21.  Great brazen Pillars, which King Solomon made & set up in the Porch of the Temple; calling the name of the one jachin, & of the other Boaz: the first of which is by interpretation; He will establish: and the second signifieth strength: as if he should have said, God will perform his promise towards this house, and the power and glory of it shall continue for ever. And so will Christ deal with them that overcome, He will make them both jachin and Boaz: that is to say, according to his stable and firm promise, he will deliver them from the mouth of the Lions in this life, by breaking their jaw-bones; and in the world to come they shall for ever reign with the Lamb, and 
d Apoc. 14.4.  follow him whither soever he goeth, and never any more go out of the Temple. Hereby we may gather, that they which once have received a true lively faith, & are thereby justified before God, can never finally fall away, neither can that faith utterly perish or fail in them though it may for a time somewhat decay, & be impaired, yet shall it revive, & they be raised up again. The Papists impugn this doctrine, 
Bellar. lib. 3. de justi. cap. 14.  teaching that a man may fall away from the faith which he once truly had, & be deprived altogether of the state of grace; because God saith: 
e Ezech. 18.24  If the righteous man turn away from his righteousness, & commit iniquity, & do according to all the abominations, that the wicked man doth, shall be live? all his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned; but in his transgression that he hath committed, & in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Likewise S. Paul speaketh of some 
f Tim. 1.29.  That they had made ship-warck of their faith, upon which place the Rhemists conclude, that a man may fall from the faith which he once truly had; many other Texts of scripture they allege for the same purpose. As that out of S. Luke, 
g Luke 8.13.  They receive the word with joy, but they have no root, which for a while believe, but in the time of tentation go away. Out of S. Matthew; 
h Mat. 24.12.  the love of many shall wax cold. And out of the first Epistle to the Corinthians; 
i 1. Cor. 9.27.  I do chastise my body, lest when I have preached to others I should be a Reprobate. In making answer to these objections, let us but observe the true meaning of these words. Righteousness, Faith, Love, and Reprobate, and then this Gordian knot; will with ease be loosed. First, whereas the Prophet Ezechiel speaketh of the fall of a righteous man: you must note that he meaneth such righteous persons, as to the world's eye rather seem so to be, then be so indeed, & thus S. Luke teacheth us to expound it, who, where as other Evangelists writ thus, From him that hath not shall be taken away, even that which he hath; he saith, 
k Luke 8.18.  that which he seemed to have: God taketh away his grace from him that hath it not, but only seemeth to have it, and giveth still to him that hath: he than that is hypocritically righteous, we grant may fall away finally, but he that is truly righteous, and a Pillar in the Temple of God shall go no more out.  
Secondly, Faith is either Viva or Mortua, A lively or a dead faith; of the dead faith there may be made a shipwreck, it was judas his case: such a faith is a reed shaken with every blast of wind, it is a combustible substance like Timber, hay and stubble, the least flame of any fire will burn it: but the Lively faith which is ever accompanied with a good Conscience, like the Ship in which our Saviour slept, may be tossed and shaken with wind and waves, but never cast away, never swallowed up in any gulf, for it is a house built upon the rock, no tempestuous gust can overturn it. It is a well of living water springing up to everlasting life, he that drinks of it shall never thirst again: 
l joh. 5.24.  For he that believeth is already passed from death to life, he is made a Pillar in the house of God, and shall no more go out.  
Thirdly, as there is a dead faith, so there is a Counterfeit Love, the one being the root, the other the branch: therefore where there is such a faith, charity there must needs wax cold: 
m Cant. 8.7.  but true Love, by much water cannot be quenched, neither can the floods drown it. 
n 1 Cor. 13.8.  It doth never fall away: 
o Caus. 33. dist. 2. cap. 8.  In quocunque fuerit haec charitas, radix illi erit, arescere non potest, in whom soever this charity is, it shall be a root unto him, he cannot whither, but ever flourish like a green Olive tree in the court of God's Temple, never to be transplanted, never to go out any more.  
Fourthly, this word Reprobate, usually in the Scriptures, signifieth such a one as is 
p jud. vers. 4.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, before of old ordained to condemnation, & rejected or reproved of God. But sometimes it is taken in another sense, and is all one with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is it reproved, 
q 1. Cor. 9.27.  or reprobate to men, and so doth S. Paul use it, when he saith; I chastise my body, lest when I have preached to others, I should be a Reprobate. In this speech the Apostle doth not fear lest God should cast him away, or finally reject him▪ for he professeth the contrary, saying: 
r Rom. 8.38.39.  for I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor Angels, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ jesus our Lord. But his meaning is this, lest if he preached one thing and practised an other, he might be reproved and reproached of men. No, 
s Aug. de cor. & great. cap. 7.  he that is Elect, and whose faith worketh by love, either never falleth at all, or if he do, he is revived and raised up again before this life be ended: for he that is a Pillar in the Temple of God, shall go no more out.  
Him that overcometh will I make a Pillar etc.] Upon this Pillar, Christ promiseth to write three Names. The Name of God, the Name of new jerusalem, and his own new Name: And I will write upon him the Name of my God.  

t Pro. 22.1.  A good name saith Solomon, is to be chosen above great riches, it is better than a good ointment, it fatteth the bones: What honour was it for Moses to be called God's Servant? and for David to be adorned with this Title, a man after Gods own heart? Publius Scipio did reckon his name Africanus amongst his greatest glories. And Paulus Aemelius thought himself, well satisfied for his pains and service in the wars, because the Romans gave him the name of Macedonius. 
u Catal. glor. m●nd. part. 11. consid. 23.  Honour & decus est habere pulchrum nomen: saith Cassanaeus, it an honour and glory to have a fair name; and therefore Socrates wished that parents would give their 〈◊〉 significant and wel-sounding names. Such a name 〈◊〉 our Saviour promise to write upon them that per●●●●e in goodness, saying, I will write upon him the name of 〈◊〉 God. God hath divers names in the Scripture, some being derived from his substance, other from his properties: as he is a Being of himself, and an aeternal Essence, he is called jehova, of Haia, to Be: as he is mighty, El; as holy Cadoseh; as all-sufficient Schaddai: but his principal name is jehova: a name of such holiness, that the Chaldaeans (as Reuchlinus saith) to avoid profanation, would not write it, but expressed it in their Books by certain pricks; and the jews blinded with a superstitious conceit, in stead thereof used Tetragrammaton, Adonai, and Elohim; this name so holy shall be graven upon them that be pillars in God's Temple. Whereby Christ signifieth, that God will be their jehova, and they shall be his Israel: 
x Apoc. ●1. 7.  he will be their God, and they shall be his people. This name is 
y Apoc. 7.2.  that Seal wherewith the servants of God are marked in their foreheads, which who so hath, no hellish 
z Apoc. 9.4.  Locust can hurt him: this name is like the 
a Exod. 12.13.  strokes of blood upon the posts of the Israelites houses, no plague nor destruction shall light upon them that bear it: this name is like unto the 
b joshua 2.18.  Cord of red thread in Rahabs' window, it preserves them that have it from the Sword in the day of Vengeance. The Letters of his name jehova, are by the jewish Rabbins called, Literae flatus & literae quietis. Breathing & resting letters. Whereby thus much may be collected; First, as God is a spirit, so he is the sole Father and giver of life: he will raise up the Elect at the last day in incorruption, clothing them with immortality, and bestowing upon them life aeternal.  
Secondly, there is no way to find Rest but in God only, he is like Noah's Ark to the tired and wearied 
c Gen. 8.9.  Dove; he is that living stone upon which only 
d Gen. 28.11.  every elect jacob must lay his head and sleep: he is that 
e Heb. 13.10.  Altar under which the Saints departed repose themselves, resting from their labours, 
f Heb. 4.9.  and finding rest for their souls. And thus by the writing of the Name of God, three things by Christ are promised: a heavenly Inheritance, a life aeternal, and a rest everlasting.  
And the name of the City of my God which is the new jerusalem, which cometh down out of Heaven, from my God, etc.  
As it is an honour to have a good name, so it is a glory to be of a famous Nation, or a Citizen of a famous City. The 
g joh. 4.9.  woman of Samaria, wondered that Christ being a jew by birth, would ask drink of her being a Samaritan; for the jews meddled not with the Samaritans, holding them as ignoble, in comparison of themselves, and wicked people: as we may gather by their blasphemous speech to Christ; Say we not well, thou art a Samaritan and hast the devil? There is a great difference in the Excellency of Nations. Quaedam gentes (saith julius Maternus) ita a coelo formatae sunt ut propria sint morum unitate conspicuae. Some nations are so framed of heaven, that they may be known by the propriety of manners what countrymen they be. And this variety cometh from the diversity of Climates, 
Ptolo. 2. Quadripart: Livius. Apulei. jul. Maternus.  and the influence of the stars. The jews be naturally superstitious, the Egyptians learned, the Syrians covetous, the Sicilians acute, the Africans crafty, the Scythians cruel, the Grecians unconstant, the Italians generous, the Frenchmen rash, the Spaniards vainglorious, the 
h Tit. 1.12.  Cretians liars, evil beasts, slow bellies, the Germans and Brittanes valiant. These stamps of nature being considered we may conclude, that it is far more honourable for a man to be of one Nation or one City then another. Our Saviour Christ, then because he would demonstrate the Glory of the Elect: saith that he will write upon them the Name of the City of jerusalem: he will enfranchise and make them free of a famous City: but we must not look for this jerusalem in judaea; no, for of that City, not one stone is left upon another, but we must cast our eyes upwards, 
i Apoc. 21.2.  For it comes down from God, out of heaven, prepared as a Bride trimmed for her husband. The old jerusalem was a type of the Church militant, this New jerusalem is a figure of the Church triumphant: the Old was often besieged and sacked; a shadow of the afflictions of the Elect here upon earth; the New is said to be garnished with twelve several precious stones, 
k Apoc. 21.19.20.  the jasper, the sapphire, the Chalcedonie, the Emerald, the Sardonyx, the Sardius, the Chrysolite, the Beril, the Topaz, the Chrysoprasus, the jacinth, and the Amethyst: by which are signified the glorious endowments of the Elect in heaven. In the number of twelve, there be four Triplicities, and this City being foursquare, the precious stones like those in 
l Exod. 28.17.  Aaron's Breastplate, are set three & three in a square: by which four Triplicities, four things may be understood, which shall concur & meet together to make the Elect most glorious.  
The first, is the Glorification of the body; the qualify and state whereof may fitly be resembled by the three stones of the first Triplicity; namely the jasper, the sapphire, and the Chalcedonie. First, the jasper is green, and being worn dispelleth all Phantasms; and driveth away evil spirits, (saith Isodore:) the healthful state of our bodies after the resurrection, shall paralele this jasper, they shall be like green Olive trees, never withering, never fading; here while we live Diseases the Pursuivants of death, are ever like saul's evil spirits, at our elbows haunting us: David had the stone, for his reins chastened him in the night season; job his boils and botches; Miriam her leprosy, and even the most righteous have their infirmities: but at the last day our bodies shall be so changed that sickness shall exercise no tyranny over us. Secondly, the sapphire, is hard and blue, of the colour of heaven, it kills the Spider, and driveth away poisonous serpents: such like shall our bodies be, heavenly and beautiful, no deformity shall come near to blemish them; 
m Phil. 3.21.  for Christ shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working, whereby he is able even to subdue all things to himself. Thirdly, the Chalcedony is so hard that no tool of iron can grave it: even so, though now Satan works us like wax, and makes us receive his mark, by tempting and alluring us to give our members servants to uncleanness, yet than our bodies shall be purified; we shall tread upon the Lion and the Dragon: the devil shall have no more any power to make our bodies his Synagogue: for they shall be the aeternal Temples of the holy Ghost. The second thine is, the Sanctification of the Soul; the condition whereof we shall see in the three stones of the second Triplicity; to wit, the Emerald, the Sardonyx, & the Sardius. First, the Emerald is in colour green, delightsome to look on, and very sovereign against the falling Sickness: like unto this precious stone shall the souls of the Elect be made, all glorious within, and full of grace, being so confirmed in Righteousness, that whereas now the most just man hath the falling sickness seven times a day, than Sin shall have no more dominion over us. Secondly, the Sardonyx is of three colours, it is Niger in imo, candidus in medio, rubicundus in supremo; the lower part of it is black, the middle white, the top of it red: so our Souls shall be Nigrae in imo, black below, for they shall contemn the malicious designs and stratagems of the devil, and smile in scorn at the destruction of him and his angels. They shall be Candidae in medi●, white in the midst, being clothed like the Lilies of the field, in long white robes of righteousness; lastly, they shall be in Supremo rubicundae, Red above, that is to say all glorious, in regard of the golden crown of immortality. Thirdly, the Sardius is a red stone, and the virtue of it is, to drive away timorousness and fear; this shows our future boldness and confidence: here upon earth we work our salvation in fear and trembling; but hereafter we shall approach boldly unto the throne of God, with Palms in our hands in sign of victory, having washed our long white robes in the blood of the Lamb. The third thing is the consummation of Charity, the attributes whereof be three: for Charity must be pure, good and true: these three, are set forth, by three stones in the third Triplicity. First, the Chrysolite is of a golden colour; whereupon it hath that name, it sparkleth, and being laid before the fire, will quickly be inflamed & burn. This stone is an Emblem of our pure love towards God the Father; whose presence, when we behold him face to face, shall be so attractive, that our hearts shall be set on fire with his love. Secondly, the Berill is green, & hath power to procure Love; this stone is the Emblem of that good love, which shall be betwixt God the Son and us: who loved us first, and was incarnate, and we then shall love him most dearly, being incorporated and made fellow heirs with him. Thirdly, the Topaz is yellowish, resembling the Sunbeams, and it is an Emblem of our true love towards God the Holy Ghost, which like the beams of the Sun shall ever shine, and whose hear shall never be quenched, never extinguished. The fourth thing is the perfection of justice, expressed by the three stones in the fourth Triplicity. justitia est virtus, (saith Ambrose) suum cuique tribuens: justice is a virtue that gives every one his due: to every one of us that hath it, it imparts Continency; to our neighbour friendship; and to God honour. Which three are described by the Chrysoprasus, the jacinth, and the Amethyst. First, the Chrysoprasus in the night shines like fire, in the day like gold. In it behold our future perfection in Continency and Temperance, we are now frail and unstable; our passions and affections are ever changing; in the daytime of prosperity we shine like gold, we rejoice in the Lord, and magnify his holy Name; but in the Night of adversity, we are of 
n job. 2.9.  jobs wives mind, who counseled her husband to curse God and die. But in the world to come, we shall be Et ignei; & aurei, vel tanquam aurum probatum in igne: Like gold tried in the fire, purged of all our drossy passions and earthy affections. So absolutely Continent, that if we were liable to Crosses, yet should no Cross cross us. Secondly, the jacinth ever suits itself to the temperature of the Air; if the air be clear, it is bright; if the air be dim, it is dark. Such like hereafter shall our disposition be altogether harmonical: Might there be in Heaven 
o Eccle. 3.4.  a time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance, we should mourn with them that weep, and laugh with them that dance, such should be the Symphathie of the Elect. Here upon earth it is quite contrary, We weep with them that laugh, and laugh with them that weep; one envies at another's prosperity, and rejoiceth at another's misery and affliction.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, etc.  
Saith the Poet; One Tyler envies an other: One Carpenter another; one physician an other, one Beggar another: and one Courtier an other: but mark our alteration, the air at the last day shall be purged, and it will ever be fair and clear weather: all grudging and envy shall be banished, and we shall for ever be linked together in brotherly love and friendship. Thirdly, the Amethyst is of a purple colour, and sparkles like the fire: a fit figure of that due honour which the zealous Elect in heaven shall give to God for ever: whilst we are clothed with this flesh, even the most righteous man is lukewarm in God's service: but when this Corruption shall have put on incorruption, We shall stand up like fire, and our words shall burn like a Lamp, 
p Apoc. 19.1.  ever singing and saying; Hallelu-iah, Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power be to the Lord our God. And thus by the four Triplicities of precious stones, in the wall of the City of new jerusalem, whose name Christ here promiseth to write upon them that overcome; are signified the four heavenly endowments of the Elect: namely, the Glorification of the body, the Sanctification of the Soul, the Consummation of Charity, and the perfection of justice: all which proceed from 
q Rom. 9.16.  the free grace of God; no desert or merit in ourselves. And thus much may be proved, by the Coming down of this holy City out of heaven from God.  
And I will write upon him my new Name.] In the Epistle of Christ, to the Angel of the Church of Pergamus, He promiseth to give them that overcome a 
r Apoc. 2.17.  white stone, and in that stone a new name written: and here he saith, that he will write upon him that overcometh his own new name. In the first place he alludeth unto the custom of electing Magistrates, by white and black stones, shadowing in that figurative speech, the mystery of our Election, and the 
s Rom. 8.18. Bern. ser. 2. in die Penticost.  Seal of God's Spirit, whereby we both know and are assured of our Salvation. In the second place, he hath reference to an use which was amongst the Gentiles, of erecting Statues, Pillars, and Arches, in honour of their Men of valour and conquerors; upon which were engraven their worthy Exploits. Hereby declaring the great glory that shall be bestowed upon such as persevere in righteousness, defend the truth, and subdue fear. 
t Phil. 2.8.9.  Our Saviour, (saith Saint Paul) because he humbled himself and became obedient unto the death, even the death of the Cross; is highly exalted by GOD, and hath a name given him above every name. Hereby is signified, that God the Father hath given unto him 
u Dan. 7.14.  Dominion and Honour, and a Kingdom, that all people, Nations, and Languages should serve him.  
This Honourable and Glorious name will Christ write upon his servants, setting them at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all Principality, and Power and might, and Domination, and every name that is named in this World: Shall then such as be constant and courageous be made Pillars in God's house, having written upon them the Name of God, the Name of new jerusalem and Christ's new Name, titles aeternal and truly noble? O then who would not (by their godly life) show themselves to be ambitious of this glory? What a huge tower did Nimrod build to get him a name? Themistocles used to walk up and down solitarily in the night, and one ask him the cause, he answered; The Trophies and fame of Milciades awake me.  
Let then the glorious memory of David, Io●sh, Ezechiah, and josiah, stir up all earthly Archangels to walk before God with upright hearts. Let the fame of Augustine, Ambrose, Basile, Athanasius, and the rest of the ancient learned Bishops, move all our Cherubims and Seraphims terrestrial, to be industrious and painful in God's harvest. And lastly, let the Example of S. Paul, who was never idle in his ministery: being as jerom styles him; 
Higher ad Pammach.  Vas electionis, tuba evangelii, rugitus Leonis nostri▪ & flumen eloquentia Christianae: A chosen vessel, the trumpet of the Gospel, the roaring of our Lion, and stream of Christian eloquence, be a motive to persuade all Ministering Angels, in season and out of season, to preach the gladsome tidings of aeternal life; that all of them at the last may be made Pillars in the House of God the Father. To whom with the Son and the holy Spirit, be ascribed all honour and glory both now and evermore. Amen.   

The third Sermon. THE BANISHMENT OF DOGS.  Apoc. cap. 22. Vers. 15. 
For without shall be Dogs.  
THE four Ages of the World, and the four Monarchies of the Earth, are resembled by 
a Dan. 2.32.33.  four Metals; Gold, Silver, Brass, and Iron: the first Age and Monarchy were both Golden; the Second worse than the first, like Silver; the third Brazen; and the fourth Iron. 
b Eccles. 3.1.  Thus to all things, there is an appointed time, and a time to every purpose under Heaven; a time of dove-like innocency, and a time of Serpentlike subtlety; a time of secret cruelty, and a time of open Tyranny. Now as it hath been heretofore in the Ages, and Monarchies of the world, so likewise have we seen a change and alteration in the state of Christianity, of it there have been four several Ages: the first was the Lambe-age, in this lived 
c joh. 1.36.  Christ the Lamb of God, and the blessed 
d Apoc. 14.4.  Virgins that followed him whither soever he went, the holy Apostles and Disciples which were not defiled with women, but kept themselves chaste and clean, both from carnal contagion, and spiritual whoredom.  
The Second was the 
e 2. Thes. 2.7.  Foxe-age: when the mystery of iniquity began to work by the means and agency of Haeriticks, who like little 
f Cant. 2.15.  Foxes sought to destroy the Vine, which our Saviour had planted with his own right hand: Namely, Simon Magus, Cerinthus, Menander, the Nicolaitan●, and many other of the same Leaven: who though they did disagree in opinion amongst themselves, having like Samsons 
g judg. 15.4.  Foxes, their heads separated and disjoined, yet were they tied together by the Tails: for every ones aim and invention was with the firebrand of Error, to make havoc of Christ's harvest.  
The Third, was the Wolfe-age; our Saviour, did foresee this time, and therefore he saith to his Disciples, and in them to all true Believers. 
h Mat. 10.16.  Behold, I send you forth like Sheep among Wolves; these Wolves were cruel Tyrants, such as Nero, Caligula, Domitian and the rest of the Ethnic Emperors: all which were 
i Zeph. 3.3.  like Wolves in the Evening, that leave not the bones till the Morrow; being extreme ravenous and greedy of Christian blood.  
The Fourth is the Dog-age, and that is this wherein we live, and therefore my Text is suitable to the Time. The Astronomers call only those forty days the dogdays, wherein that Constellation, called the Dog, meeting with the Sun in our Meridian doubleth his heat; by whose influence, burning agues, frenzies, and such like hot diseases are bred in man's body: but I am of a contrary opinion, even every day is now a Dog-day: for that spiritual Dog the Devil, is continually in our Zenith, (being 
k Ephes. 2.2.  Prince of this world, that ruleth in the air & in the children of disobedience) and by his powerful temptations makes us even run mad with desire of Sinning; so that I may confidently say, that that curse is light upon us, which Moses proclaimed against the obstinate Israelites, saying; 
l Deu. 28.28.  The Lord shall smite thee with madness and with blindness, and with astonying of heart. I might I confess have done better to have chosen a Text more plausible, and of a sweeter relish in the ear; but in this service every man must do as the Israelites did in their Contributions to the building of the Tabernacle, 
m Exod. 35.23.  They that were rich brought Gold, Pearls, and precious stones, but the poorer sort a Ramskin or a little goats hair; so I, (for amongst these in respect of knowledge I will rank myself) for want of a better present will uncase a Dog, and offer up his skin, take it in good part it is the widows mite; let the greatness of my good will countervail the weakness of my performance; yet will I not leave my Text without an Apology, whereunto shall I compare it? It is like the Image of Selinus, which outwardly was only rough hewn, being neither curiously carved, nor gorgeously over-guilt, but there was a window in the breast thereof, which being opened, his golden heart might be discovered, & his rich entrails: so here: though the words be harsh and unsavoury, yet if you look into them with a spiritual eye you shall find Satan's subtleties disclosed, Sin unmasked, and Hell described.  For without shall be Dogs. 
These words are like the Angels great 
n Apo. 20.1.  Chain, wherein both the Devil and his followers are fast bound and fettered, the Links whereof be three, arising naturally out of the words of the Text.  

A Transformation, A Detestation, A Separation.  
First, a Transformation: for the wicked are here called by the name of a Beast.  
Secondly, a Detestation: for Reprobates are named Dogs.  
Thirdly, a Separation: for the righteous shall be within the City of God, but the ungodly shall be without.  

The Transformation.  
We read in the Scriptures of two kinds of Transformations; the first corporal, the second Spiritual: The Corporal is when the body is changed from his shape, putting on a new form: such was that of Lot's wife, who contrary to the commandment of the Angel, Looking back became a pillar of Salt. Aben Ezra flying from the letter of the Text, denieth this Transformation, thinking that she was only consumed with a fiery shower compounded of Salt and Sulphur; but not only the words avouch this Metamorphosis, but also 
o 

Thrag. in gen 19  
Hierosol. in gen 19  
Rab. in gen 19  
Kimbi. in gen 19   joseph. lib. 1. antiq. Vatablu●.  authority very authentic affirms the like. Such likewise for the time was that Transfiguration of Christ, 
p Luke 9.25.  The fashion of whose countenance as be prayed was changed, and his garment was white and glisteren.  
The Spiritual Transformation is, when the Will, the Mind, and the Understanding, are changed and corrupted: The first creature that was thus Transformed was the Devil, who was once 
q Esai. 14.12.  Lucifer, the son of the Morning: and an 
r Ezech. 28.14.  Anointed Cherub, walking in the midst of the stones of fire: that is, saith Gregory; In aliorum comparatione caeteris clarior fuit: In comparison he was more excellent than the rest of the heavenly Spirits, till Schism or Faction, including Pride, Malice, and Lying; cast him and his Adherents from heaven to Hell, and transformed him into a Lion, a Serpent, and a Dragon; for so is he styled in the Scriptures not that he bears the material form of any of these three Beasts: for being a Spirit he hath neither flesh nor bones, but because he resembleth them in quality & disposition; as the 
s Gen. 3.1.  Serpent he is subtle in his temptations: as the 
t 1. Pet. 5.8.  Lion he goeth up and down roaring and compassing the earth, seeking whom he may devour: and as the 
u Apoc. 12.9. And Caesar in Apoc cap. 12.  Dragon he is quick in sight, and is altogether delighted in Blood and slaughter: having thus by sin lost his first shape, his whole course was afterwards to procure some Associates in his Metamorphosis, therefore when God had created Man, according to his own Image in 
x Ephes 4.24.  righteousness and true holiness, he assailed the first woman He●ah, and by her as his instrument, the first Man Adam, tempting them both, and they both consented to eat of the forbidden fruit, misled and blinded by this bewitching bait of Ambition: 
y Gen. 3.5.  Eritis sicut Dij, You shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. Through this their disloyalty, and disobedience, that glorious Image wherewith God had decked man, was canceled and defaced, not only in themselves but in all their posterity; so saith the Apostle: 
z Rom. 5.12.  As by one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, so death entered upon all men, in that all men have sinned; by Original sin then, which is Corruption engendered in our first Conception, whereby every faculty both of body and soul is prone and disposed to iniquity, whole Mankind is transformed and changed from good to evil; we have lost our knowledge, our righteousness, and our immortality, and draw now nothing from the loins of our parents, but 
a 1. Cor. 2.14.  Ignorance, Impotency of mind; Vanity, and an inbred and natural inclination to conceive and devise such things as are evil: yet here is not the period and stint of Satan's malice; he knows that Man is deformed by Original sin, but Actual sin must absolutely transform him, therefore mark his Plot, and observe his Practice.  
As God observed a Method in Man's creation, so the Devil hath his passages and order in his transformation.  
God first said, 
b Gen. 1.26.  Let us make Man: the blessed Trinity went to council, and this Consultation proveth Man's excellency above all other creatures whatsoever, for in the rest God only had his Fiat, 
c Gen. 1.26.  Let there be light, and there was light; but in Man he had his Faciamus, Let us make man: as if he should have said, 
d Gen. 1.28.  The King of creatures, to rule over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of the heaven, and over every beast that moveth upon the earth: even so Satan on the contrary part consults, and taketh council with himself and his Angels of darkness in the unmasking and transforming of man: Let us change man (saith the Devil) and let us utterly deprive him of the remnant of God's Image: for hereby shall he be made like unto the beasts that perish. This is our adversaries plot, but the execution thereof is hindered, because he is not as God only is, the Searcher of our reins, and the Knower of our thoughts; wherefore he plays the Politician to discover our corrupt imagination and siftes us by the Concupiscence of the Eye, the concupiscence of the heart; and the pride of Life: 
e 1 joh. 2.16.  for these three are the Roots from which all other sins are branched and take their growth.  
If therefore the Devil spy either Man or Woman walk like the 
f Esay. 3.16.  daughters of Zion, with a wandering eye, he presently makes this position; Out of the abundance of the heart the eye looks and these glances are shafts drawn out of the Quiver of wantonness, wherefore forthwith he accommodates and applies himself herein to Man's corrupt appetite: 
g Numb. 25.  if he be a Zimri he will provide him a Cosbi; if a 
h judg. 16.1.9.  Samson a Dalilah; if a Herode an Herodias, who shall like 
i Gen. 39.7.  Potiphars' wife catch him by the garment; saying: Lie with me, sleep with me.  
Again, as the 
k judg. 12.6.  Ephramits were known from the Giliadites by the pronouncing of Shibboleth; and the Galilaeans from the jews, by their phrase and Idiom of speech: even so the devil by the tongue of Man descries the Concupiscence of the heart, and the Sin to which he is most devoted; wish but for nabaoth's vineyard as 
l 1 Reg. 21.2.  Ahab did; or but say with 
m Math. 26.15.  judas, What will you give? and he will say presently thou art covetous, thy very speech bewrays thee: then will he set up his two golden Calves, the world's Idol, Gold and Silver, and make proclamation; saying, These are thy gods in whom thou most trust, and Mammon is thy Mediator.  
Lastly, if the devil see an Ear like 
n Hosea. 12.1.  Ephraim's, fed with wind, Soothing and flattery, or do but discover the very feet to tread an elaborate and curious pace, as the women of Jerusalem did 
o Esay. 3.16.  who minced as they went and made a tonking with their feet, he forthwith apprehends an inclination to Pride (for these are but the instruments of a vainglorious mind:) whereupon be suits such persons with the attendants of flatterers; so he dealt with Ahab the king of Israel, preferring to his service 
p 1 Reg. 21.  Zedkiah the false prophet, whose words were ever plausible and pleasant; and so he did with Herod, to whom he put a troop of Parasites to puff him up with their acclamations, saying; 
q Act. 12.22.  the Voice of God and not of man; Flattery is Satan's trap for Potentates, the Page of great personages, and a disease that haunts Princes, it procures grace and countenance, but Truth is ever disgraced and frowned upon. Flattery is always well-liking like the fat Bulls of Basan, but Truth may be resembled by one of Pharaohs lean Kine, for it straves and pines away, and yet the one is strong and reigneth for evermore, the other is as Diogenianus saith; 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, of sweet but deadly wine: and a poison drunk in a Cup of Gold.  
Having thus sifted our nature, he turneth practitioner, saying as God said; Let us make man according to our own Image. Now when God made Man, he made him of the Dust of the ground, and breathed in his face the breath of life, and created him in his owns Image: so the devil when he transforms Man, useth our Adamah or Dust; that is, our old Man, or Natural corruption, making it the material or ground of our Transformation. Secondly, he breathes into Man not the breath of Life, but the breath of death, For the wages of sin is death: his breathing is his tempting, for thereby he enters into a Man, as he entered into judas, and before he can finish his malicious design, he breatheth four times.  
By the first breath, he withdraws the mind from God's service, to which it should be ever zealously devoted for so saith our Saviour; 
r Luke 10.27.  Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and all thy soul, and with all thy thought.  
By the second, he draws the evil thought of the heart to a Consent in sinning, by sweet baits and allurements, whereby the Will and the Affections are delighted, bewitched, and captivated.  
By the third Breathing, Sin is Conceived: so saith the Psalmist, 
s Psal. 7.14.  He shall travail with wickedness, he hath conceived mischief, and he shall bring forth a lie.  
And by the Fourth, Sin is borne; the birth of sin is, when by assistance both of the faculties of the Soul, and the powers of the body sin is committed: thus as by the breath of God, Man was made a living soul; so on the contrary part by the Breath of Satan, he becomes liable to everlasting perdition being separated from the presence of God, and the glory of his power. Furthermore, as God did adorn man in his Creation, with his own image, to wit, Divine wisdom, and perfect holiness: so the devil in Man's transformation, frameth him according to his own shape, which is directly contrary to that of God, for it consisteth in folly and vanity; hence it is, that all sinners are fools: 
t Psal. 14.1.  for they say in their heart there is no God, and in the whole course of their life, they are altogeher lighter than vanity itself.  
Lastly, though Man being Created was made a living Soul, and decked with Gods own Image, yet was it not complete and perfect till the woman also was created: So though by actual sin Satan hath transformed us, and cast us in his own mould, yet he is not satisfied, until he hath provided a Hevah to help us forward to destruction. When God made the first Woman, he took but one 
u Gen. 2.21.  Rib out of Adam's side, but the devil takes six, and of them maketh so many Women, all Sorceresses, set on by their Founder to bewitch man, and turn away his heart from God: these are 
x Eph. 4.17.18.19.  Vanity of mind; Darkness of Cogitation: Ignorance of God; Hardness of heart; Wantonness in uncleanness; and Greediness in sinning. Of these Six we may say as Adam said of Hevah: They are bone of our bones, and flesh of our flesh, for their Original is from our natural corruption: every one of these is like the 
y Apoc. 17.4.  Purple Whore, for with the cup of Sorcery they take away the heart of Man, and bereave it of understanding.  
The first two, namely, Vanity of mind, and Darkness of Cogitation, lead a sinner, 
z Prou. 7.22.  tanquam bovem ad lanienam, like an Ox to the slaughter: this is a strange Metamorphosis; that a Man should be turned into an Ox, yet so it is; for as the Ox thinks he goes to the Pasture, when he is led to the slaughter: so a sinner misled by the vanity of his mind, and having his Cogitation darkened, thinketh Satan to be an Angel of light, Sin most sweet and pleasant, and himself in the practice of it to be even in Paradise, when as poor Soul he is in the chambers of death.  
The second two, to wit, Ignorance of God, and Hardness of heart, work more powerfully, for when they have insinuated themselves and are grown familiar with a Man, they change him into the shape of a Horse, which as the Psalmist saith, must be holden in with bit and bridle: See here the effect of Custom in sinning 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Custom is the food of Sin, saith Chrisostome, and as S. Bernard saith; Ex ea fit quaedam peccandi necessitas, it produceth a necessity in sinning; for it cauterizeth and sears the Conscience, and takes away all sense and feeling.  
The two last are Sisters indeed in evil, outstripping the former in hellish charms and damnable witchcraft; Namely Wantonness in Uncleanness, and Greediness in Sinning; for when these have taken possession of a man's heart, then is his Transformation made absolute, even according to the devils own desire, for thereupon he is turned into a Dog, being given over to a reprobate sense, and therefore committing sin without all remorse.  
The Dog is the Emblem of two things, 
a pier. in Hyer.  Greediness, and Impudency, as appeareth in the Egyptian Hyeroglypheckes, and therefore the Spirit of God calling all Reprobates by the name of Dogs, intimateth unto us, these two infallible marks of Reprobation, Impudency, and Greediness in sinning.  
Of all creatures two are most impudent, the Dog and the Fly, and thereupon saith Pollux, the Grecians used the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, to signify Impudency: also amongst the Romans Cocytto the goddess of Impudency was painted with a dogges-head and a woman's body, whose Priests, called Baptae, in their sacrifices used most impudent gestures: like Goddess, like Priests, and like unto them be all reprobates, Dogs in disposition, having the brazen forehead of a harlot, which never blusheth at the foulest sin. 
b 2 Sam. 16.22.  Absalon was such a dog, who went into his father's Concubines in the sight of all Israel. 
c Pro. 7.18.  The harlot in the Proverbs was such a dog, who caught a young man in the open streets and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, Come let us take our fill of love, until the Morning, let us take our pleasure in dalliance, for mine husband is not at home, etc. Of such like dogs as these there is plenty, who are so far from confessing their sins with David, and weeping for them bitterly with Peter, that they will grin and bark against him that doth but unwittingly touch their ulcer. Their sin is like the disease called Noli me tangere, Touch me not; if it be handled though never so gently, they presently either dart against the Minister, the javelin of their malice, even bitter words; or else cry out in defence of their sins, as the 
d Act. 19.28.  Ephesians did for their Diana: in this case experience guides my tongue; for I have Preached to such dogs, as like the Priests of 
e 1 Sam. 5.5.  Dagon, have forborn & forsworn the treshold of God's Temple, because in that place the idol of their heart hath fallen before the Ark of God. Is not this impudency in sinning? is not this the brand of Reprobation? are not these dogs?  
Secondly, the dog is the emblem of Greediness, and therefore the holy Ghost calls all castaways dogs, because they be usually greedy of sinning. There is a disease (saith Galen) in the orifice of the stomach, called Bulimia or Bulimus, which procureth in him that is diseased, an unsatiable hunger, that never hath enough, and a greedy appetite, or desire of eating: such a greedy worm as this have all Reprobates in their souls, which makes their appetite quite contrary to that of the elect; for these hunger and thirst after righteousness, but the wicked thirst and hunger after sin. Thus doth Vanity of mind, and darkness of Cogitation, lead the sinner like an Ox to the slaughter: Ignorance of God, and Hardness of heart, make him obstinate; like unto a horse that must be holden in with bit and bridle; and Wantonness, or Impudency in Uncleanness, and Greediness in sinning, transform him into a dog; and therefore Saint Paul writing to the Ephesians, giveth an excellent caveat against these six Sorceresses, saying: 
This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in vanity of their mind,  
Having their cogitation darkened, and being strangers from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart.  
Which being past feeling, have given themselves unto wantonness, to work all uncleanness, even with greediness.    

For without shall be Dogs.  
The second general part, is a Detestation: for the wicked are here called dogs; which importeth Hatred and Baseness, as may appear by the use of this Title both in profane and divine writers. Odit cane peius, (saith the Poet) she hates him worse than a dog. Non eum salutat magis quam canem, (saith the servant in the Comedy) she gives him the entertainment of a dog. So likewise in the Scriptures, Goliath when he saw young David come against him, armed only with his staff, his sling, and five smooth stones in his bag or scrip, he said unto him; Am I a dog, that thou comest unto me with stones? When Isbosheth reproved Abner for going to Rispah, the Concubine of Saul, he was wroth, and said, 
g 2 Sam. 3.8.  Am I a dogges-head? The paraphrase then both of Goliahs' and Abners' words, is this: Am I so vile, so base, and so contemptible? So in these words Almighty God, to show and manifest his detestation and hatred of sin, calls all Reprobates dogs, saying; For without shall be dogs.  
In the Scriptures we read, that when God is provoked to anger, he declares by four several ways, how much he abhors and detests sin; namely, by strange signs, Allegories, Ironies, and Characters.  
First, by strange signs; to omit many other, there is one most remarkable in the Prophecy of Hoseah; where we find that God being greatly offended at the Israelites for their Idolatry, deciphers the foulness of their Sin by an uncouth sign: Go (saith he to the Prophet,) 
h Hos. 1.2.  Take unto thee a wife of Fornications, and children of Fornications. So Hoseah went and took Gomer the Daughter of Diblaim, and of her begot two Sons and a Daughter, which were thus named by God himself, Izreel, Lo-ruhamah and Loammi: S. Hierome, the Chaldie Paraphrase, Rabbi Kimhi, and Aben Ezrah, say that this was only a Vision, but the more ancient Hebrew Doctors affirm that it was a thing done indeed by the appointment of God, and therefore no sin in Hoseah: here than God by a very strange sign preacheth against the Idolatry of Israel, and proclaimeth vengeance against them for their sins, as may be showed out of the names of Hoseah's wife and his Children of Fornication.  
First, in that Hoseah marries the Harlot Gomer, which is by interpretation Corruption, the daughter of Diblaim, which signifies a cluster of Figs, hereby is taxed the spiritual Whoredom of Israel, which being corrupted by the Gentiles with a full consent had played the Harlot, for so saith God himself, 
i Hosea. 1.2.  The Land hath committed great whoredom departing from the Lord.  
Again, the name of Hoseah's first child is Izreel, which is dispersed; the second is Lo-ruhamah, which is, not obtaining mercy; and the third Loammi, that is, not my people. There three names are Signs of God's wrath, and Sermons of vengeance. The Israelites once God's inheritance must be carried away captives, and be dispersed over the face of the earth, because they were become like a Cluster of rotten Figs, corrupted with spiritual Fornication: and being dispersed, though they cry unto God for his aid, yet will he show them no mercy, nor ever acknowledge them to be his people: thus by a most strange Sign of Hoseah's marrying of a Harlot, and begetting children of Fornication, God declareth how much he detesteth sin.  
Secondly, by Allegories: an example hereof we have in the Prophecy of Ezekiel, where the Lord thus saith: 
k Ezech. 23.2.3.4.  Son of man, there were two women, the daughters of one Mother, and they committed Fornication in Egypt, they committed fornication in their youth, there were their breasts pressed, and there they bruised the teats of their Virginity, and the names of them were Aholah the Elder, and Aholibah her Sister, and they were mine, and they bare Sons and Daughters; thus were their names: Samaria is Aholah, and Jerusalem Aholibah, etc. In these words Allegorically God inveigheth most bitterly against the Idolatry of Samaria and Jerusalem, in that as a token of Detestation, he compares them to two Harlots being he most odious and loathsome of all creatures.  
Thirdly, by Ironies, or jesting and Taunting: a jest is God's Hierapicra, his bitter confection, his rod of Iron, his Sheephook called Bonds, his twoedged Sword, be most piercing reproof, and the best remedy to cure a desperate sore. Some Devils saith Psellus, are driven away by jesting, and Saules evil Spirit lest him at the sweet sound of David's Harp, and a Taunt is very forcible to make a man ashamed of his sin. When Adam and Hevah were fallen in Paradise, God said, 
l Gen. 3.22.  Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: here God derideth Adam's folly, because he was seduced by the woman. So likewise the Prophet Eliah mocketh the Priests of Baal; saying: 
m 1 Reg. 18.27  Cry loud, for he is a God, either he talketh, or pursueth his enemies, or is in his journey, or it may be that he sleepeth, and must be awaked: thus God to show his hatred of Sin laugheth (as the Wiseman saith) at the destruction of the wicked, and mocketh when their fear cometh.  
Fourthly, by Figures and Characters: Sin is most lively expressed by a foul Picture, and therefore God to set forth his own hatred, and to breed in us a loathing of it, useth sometimes Characters, whereof there be divers patterns and instances: as for example; 
n Prou. 30.14.  That generation, whose teeth are as swords, and their jaws as knives to eat up the afflicted out of the earth, and the poor from among men: I mean tyrannical oppressors, Procustes his progeny, Land-rackers, which measure their Tenants upon a Bed of Iron: cutting them shorter if they be too long, or have too much; and tentaring or stretching them out longer if they be too short; these Caterpillars I say, are by the Prophet Amos called Kine: 
o Amos. 4.1.  Hear this word (saith he) ye Kine of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, which oppress the poor and destroy the needy, and they say to their masters, bring and let us drink.  
Furthermore unjust judges, such as justify the wicked for reward, and condemn the innocent; such as crucify Christ in his members, and let the murderer and the robber Barabas lose, there are by the Prophet Zephaniah called 
p Zeph. 3.3.  Wolves, in regard of their cruel craftiness and crafty cruelty.  
Again, the greedy Miser and the luxurious Epicure are named 
q Prou. 30.15.  Horseleeches daughters, whose insatietie causeth their tongues to cry out continually give, give, because like hell mouth, and the barren womb, they two will never say, it is enough. I might insist in divers other particular Characters of this nature, but let this suffice, that the Spirit of God in these words calleth the whole fry of the wicked, dogs, to show how much they are abhorred, and how hateful they be in the sight of God.  
Though the Reprobates be generally termed Dogs, yet the Devil hath a selected number upon earth, which may well be called Satan's Kennel, and it consisteth of five forts of men, who as an argument of their detestable life are in the Scripture styled Dogs.  
The first is the Infidel or the Gentile: he is by our Saviour in his speech to the woman of Syrophaenissa called a Whelp, or a Dog, 
r Mark. 7.27.  It is not good (saith he) to take the children's bread and give it unto Whelps: see here what base account Christ makes of Infidels and unbelievers: he calls them Dogs, and well doth this name befit them; for like beasts they are without reason, else would they never forsake the Creator to worship the Creature. 
Athan. in erat. de Idolis. Lactant. lib. 2.. diu●inflic.  Ignorance of the true God, and Blindness of heart were in the Gentiles, the Nurses of Infidelity, and the Broachers of Idolatry, saith Athanasius and Lactantius: had there been in them but any spark of reason, they would never have committed so gross and palpable a sin, but they were without Understanding, mere Dogs; and therefore being strucken with a spiritual madness, they run headlong like the Swine of the Gergezens, into the main Ocean of all uncleanness, and filthiness of Fornication: some going a whoring after 
s Ezech. 8.5.  Baal, and Chemos, as the Moabites: some after 
t 1 Reg. 11.7.  Milcom and Moloch, as the Ammonites: others after 
u 1 Reg. 11.5.  Asteroth, Dagon, Meleketh or the Queen of heaven, Tamuz, 
x Leu. 18.21.  Beelzebub, and many others: nay further, what more pregnant demonstration can be made of the brutish dotage of Infidels, then to take a survey of the East and West Indians, 
y Munst. Cosm.  who at this day worship the Devil himself, represented by an Idol of a horrible and ugly shape.  
The second Dog, is the Contemner of the Gospel; 
z Matth. 7.6.  Give ye not (saith Christ) that which is holy unto dogs, neither cast you your pearls before swine, lest they tread them under their feet, and turning again all to rend you. Here our Saviour prohibiteth the preaching of the Gospel, to such as wilfully resist the Truth, and bark at the Ministers of the word: Such Dogs are Papists, who are not ashamed some of them blasphemously to call the holy word of God, a Nose of wax, 
Sil. Prior. in epit. resp. ad Luth. Tom. 1. cap. 7. Concil. Trid. ses. 4. pag. 11. & 12.  a dead Letter, an Incken Gospel, and a fable. Were they not Contemners of the Gospel of Christ, they would never vilify it so much, as to make it subject to the Pope's censure; who may, as they teach, chop and change the Scriptures at his pleasure, equalizing to them his own traditions and constitutions.  
These dogs, especially the jesuitical Bloodhounds, are as dangerous in the Church, and the commonwealth; as 
a judg. 15.5.  Sampsons' Foxes in the Corn fields of the Philistims; their barking bewrays that they are like 
b Act. 8.23.  Simon Magus, in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. But let us hear their mouths; 
Lib. jesuit. cui tit. Concertatio Eccl. catholica. joan. Mariana jesus. Toleta. de rege. lib. 1. c. 7. pag. 65. 67.  The Pope, say they, is Lord of the whole earth, and therefore it is in his power alone to advance or depose whom he will, be it Emperor, King, or other Potentate: It is lawful (say they) to murder a Prince that is a Lutheran or a Caluinist, either by sword or poison. Do not these Dogs make man admirable cry? but they would be trust up, because they haunt counter, contrary to the express commandment of God; who saith, 
c Rom. 13.1.  Let every soul be subject to the higher powers, for there is no power but of God: and in another place, Touch not mine Anointed; and yet there be some of these Romish Dogs, that can temporize, and cry Hail Caesar: but it is as Gregory Nazianzen saith, As if a man with one hand should scratch a King's head, and with the other strike him upon the cheek. There is no trust to be given unto them, because there never can be any perfect and true loyalty, where there is a difference in Religion: unus Rex, una lex; una fides; One King, one law, and me faith, is a 
d Eccles. 4.12.  threefold cord, which will not easily be broken: they then that profess another faith then we do, depending upon that man of sin, who challengeth power to absolve subjects from their allegiance to their Princes, though they live amongst us, yet are they not of us; they be but (as 
e Act. 26.28.  Paul was answered by King Agrippa) almost Christians: almost subjects: or like unto the Cofti in Aethiopia, which are both Baptized and Circumcised, being semi-Iewes, semi-Christians; so are they semi-English, and semi-Italians: from the Navel downward they are their Kings, but all upward is the Popes: to him being their holy Father, They give their hearts: well, Clemency is a Royal Virtue; but mark Plutarckes speech, It is not a fine shoe that will cure the gout, nor a gold ring the cramp, nor a crown the headache; nor is the biting of a mad dog stayed by gentle usage: to cure the stinging of the fiery Serpents, Moses by the appointment of God made a Serpent of brass, and set it up for a Sign; 
f Num. 21.9.  and when a Serpent had bitten a Man, than he looked to the Serpent of brass and lived: but to heal the wounds which the venomous Teeth of these mad dogs do make, no other remedy can be found, but to hang up the Dogs themselves.  
The third Dog, is the Schismatic; of him the Apostle giveth us a Caveat, saying, 
g Phil. 3.2.  Beware of dogs: beware of evil workers: beware of Concision. This Dog, though he be not altogether so dangerous as the Bloodhound of Babylon, yet is he wondrous troublesome. To him I may apply that speech of Seneca the Philosopher; 
Sen. de rem. fertu.  Quibusdam canibus hoc innatum est, ut non proferitate, sed pro consuetudine latrent; Some dogs have it by nature, to bark more for custom then cruelty: and so doth the Schismatic or Brownist, whose mouth fills the air only, little or nothing troubling the ears of wise men. And yet it is well that such Barkers as these, that open their mouths against thee grave Fathers of the Church, despising authority, and condemning the present discipline, should be muzzled; else would there be no peace in Zion, and the Church would be even rend asunder by that manyheaded Hydra, turbulent faction. 
h 1. Reg. 6.7.  When the Temple was built, there was neither heard Axe nor Hammer, nor any tool of iron in the house; so should Gods Church be free from tumultuous Schism. When Christ came into the world, the Choir of Angels sung, 
i Luk. 2.14.  Pax hominibus, Peace to men: and when after his resurrection he appeared to his Disciples, he said, 
k joh. 20.19.  Pax vobis, Peace be unto you; as than he is a Solomon, so would he have his subjects Shulamites; and as he is the King of Peace, so would he have us keep the King's Peace in the Church. 
l Cant. 3.9.10.  King Solomon made himself a Palace of the Trees of Libanon, he made the pillars thereof of silver, and the pavement of gold, the hangings thereof of purple, whose midst was paved with the love of the daughters of jerusalem: Like unto this Palace should the Church be; the silver pillars signify Ecclesiastical discipline; the golden pavement, pure doctrine; the purple hangings, regal protection; and the love of the daughters of jerusalem, peace and unity amongst professors. Now how can this peace be preserved, if Schism be not banished, and all gainsaying Corahs' put to silence. Of the Schismatical Dogs, I will say nothing, but as the ancient Fathers in like case spoke, and decreed in two several Counsels, 
m Conc. Gang. Cap. 6.  Si quis extra Ecclesiam privatim populos congregat, anathema sit; If any out of the Church do privately gather the people together, (as our Corner-preachers do in their Conventicles) let him be accursed. 
n Conc. Laodicen. can. 35.  Nam non oportet Christianos Ecclesiam Dei relinquere & in angulis Congregationes facere, For it is not meet that Christians should leave the Church of God, and make their Congregations in corners. And yet there be even in the most reformed Churches some dogs transported with Singularity, that make Concision, and cut and divide themselves, both in hearing of the word, and receiving of the Sacraments, from the rest of Christ's family; as though the Church were Baal's Temple, the Book of Common prayer a porteous, the manner of ministering the Sacraments superstitious, and the Ecclesiastical government Antichristian. 
Solin. cap. 40.  The Priests of Pergamus (saith Solinus) to keep Spiders out of the Temple of Apollo, hanged up in the same place the carcase of a Basilisk in a net of gold: Severity is of the same virtue that a Basilisk is, being used by such as are in Authority, it cleareth God's Church of all Schismatical dogs, whose chief delight is to trouble the peace of Zion.  
The fourth Dog, is the Apostata, or backslider: of whom Saint Peter speaketh; 
o 2. Pet. 2.22.  The dog is returned to his own vomit, and the Sow that was washed, so the wallowing in the mire. But here we must note, that all Apostates be not dogs, or Reprobates, but only such men as wilfully and willingly reject Faith, and do altogether alienate themselves from Christ, and set themselves against him: This is the Sin against the Holy Ghost, which God so punisheth, as it shall not be forgiven neither in this world, nor yet in the world to come. So says the Author to the Hebrews, 
p Heb. 6.4.5, 6.  It is impossible that they which were once lightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the holy Ghost, and have tasted of the good word of God, and of the powers of the world to come, if they fall away should be renewed again by repentance, seeing they crucify again to themselves the Son of God, and make a mock of him.  
Such a dog was julian, surnamed the Apostata, who being converted from Gentilism to Christianity, did afterward return to his Vomit, oppugning with his Pen that Truth which he had professed, and calling Christ in scorn the Galilaean. Peter denied Christ with his mouth, and many other in the time of Persecution have fallen as Marcellinus, who fearing death offered sacrifice to Idols; were these therefore dogs? No: for inwardly in their mind they renounced not Faith: if they had utterly forsaken the Faith; they had never repent; for Repentance is one of the fruits of Faith.  
The fift Dog is he whom the Prophet Isaiah calleth the blind, dumb and greedy Dog: saying; 
q Isa. 56.10.11  Their watchmen are all blind, they have no knowledge: They are all dumb Dogs: they cannot bark, they lie and sleep, and delight in sleeping, and these greedy dogs can never have enough, and these Shepherds cannot understand; for they all look to their own way, every one for his advantage, and for his own purpose. These dogs even with their breath blast God's Harvest, and pollute the Sanctuary: they be enemies of Christ's kingdom, and betrayers of men's souls. ᵇ It is written of josiah, 
r 2. Reg. 12.31  that he did not only destroy the Idols, and put down their Chemarims, but also having found out the Book of the Law, he caused it to be read unto the people by the Priests: out of whose example, all Princes are taught to take into their hands the Scourge of Christ, and to whip buyers and sellers out of the Temple: I mean such as having no worth to commend them, prefer themselves by simonical compacting, and sufferance of their beards and coats, like the 
s 2. Sam. 10.4.  Messengers of David to be half shaven, and cut short, by these greedy Ammonites, sacrilegious Patrons, who ever desire to retain and present to Ecclesiastical Benefices the cheapest Minister, one of 
t judg. 17.10.  Micahs Levites, that will be content to serve the Cure for ten shekels of silver by year, a suit of apparel, and his meat and his drink: hence it is, that so many dumb dogs are in the Church, men that were never brought up at the feet of any learned Gamaliel, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, as Pindarus calls such like, Hogheards not Shepherds, Asini coronati, as one of the Emperors styles them in his Letters to the King of France, Crowned Asses, unlearned and blind Guides, whose Ignorance is the cause that Bethel is turned to be a Bethanen, and the House of God, the house of iniquity: thus doth Almighty God in sign of detestation and hatred, call Infidels, Gospel-contemners, schismatics, Apostates, and unworthy Ministers; Dogs.   

For without shall be Dogs.  
The third general part is a Separation: the visible Church here upon earth is like unto 
u Gen. 25.23.  Rebeccaes womb, in which at one time were enclosed both jacob, whom God loved, and Esau, whom he hated: it is like unto a 
x Mat. 13.27.  Field, wherein grow both Wheat and tars: it is like unto the 
y Act. 10.12.  Sheet knit at the four corners, wherein were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the heaven: for in this life, the Elect and the Reprobates, are mixed together as the jews and jebusites in old Jerusalem: but it shall not be so at the last day, for when our Saviour comes to judgement, he shall like a Shepherd, separate the Sheep from the Goats: his Reapers shall gather the tars, and bind them in sheaves to burn them, but gather the Wheat into his barn: and the true Israelites that have done his Commandments shall have right in the tree of life, and enter in through the gates into the City: but without shall be Dogs, and Enchanters, and whoremongers, and murderers, and Idolaters, and whosoever loveth or maketh lies. This Separation shall be as the Springs of Lebanon to the righteous, but as the Waters of Marah to the ungodly; as sweet as honey and the honeycomb to the true believer, but as bitter as Gall and wormwood to the Infidel.  
In this world the commixion of the Good and the Evil, is evil for the Good, but good for the Evil: First, it is evil for the Good to live amongst, and converse with the wicked: for which cause David complaineth, saying, Woe is me, that I am constrained to dwell with Mesech, and to have my habitation amongst the Tents of Kedar: but on the contrary part it is good for the Evil, because the Evil by the Good are shielded from many plagues: if 
z Gen. 18.32.  ten righteous men had been found in Sodom, God would not have destroyed it for the tens sake, and one 
* Gen. 39.5.  joseph was the cause that the blessing of the Lord was upon the whole house of Potiphar.  
This life is a time of weeping and mourning to God's Children, but a time of laughing and dancing to the Sons of Beliall; the Righteous mourn to see the ungodly dance, and the Reprobate laugh to see the Elect weep: 
a Eccles. 3.1.  But as all things have their appointed time, and are subject to change and alteration, even so the estate of Men: for when that General Separation shall be made, than they that have sown it tears shall reap in joy; and to such whose Seed-time hath been Mirth, a harvest shall befall of weeping and gnashing of teeth. As one heaven cannot hold 
b Apo. 12.7.8.  Michael and the Dragon; nor one Temple 
c 1. Sam. 5.  God's Ark and D●●gon; nor one ground bear both the Oak and the Olive: no more shall the glorious City New Jerusalem contain both the Sheep and the Goats, the pure in heart, and the polluted in soul; no, no, Within only the Lamb shall be and the blessed Virgins his followers: but without shall be dogs. These two words Within and Without, are like Hercules Pillars, upon which was written Nil ultrà, Nothing further: for in them we see the end of all flesh: Within, shows the Map of heaven; Without declares the topography of hell: Within, promiseth life everlasting; Without threateneth death aeternal. 
d Exod. 28.30.  The two words urim and Thummim being by God's appointment written upon the breast of the High Priest were to put him in mind of Zeal and Knowledge, two essential and necessary virtues in the Ministers of God; so these two Within and Without being Characters of Separation, do intimate unto us the glorious Estate of the Righteous and the miserable Condition of the Wicked in the world to come.  
First, Within like a Remembrancer puts us in mind of that felicity which the Apostle calleth a Mystery, because 
e 1. Cor. 2.7.6  The things which eye hath not seen, neither ear hath heard, neither came into man's heart, are, which God hath prepared for them that love him: oh then thrice happy are the Elect, which shall be free Denizens in Paradise and coheir with Christ in his Kingdom, enjoying 
f john. 16.22.  a joy which none shall take from them; even the 
g Mat. 25.21.  joy of their Lord, being with him to behold his glory: whose presence shall be to them saith Austin, tanquam Cythara, Speculum, Balsamum, Mel & Flos: like a Harp for their hearing, like a Glass for their seeing, like Balm for their smelling, like Honey for their tasting, and like a Flower for their touching: the Meditation hereof worketh in the Regenerate strange effects. First, as the sweet sound of 
h 1. Sam. 16.13  David's Harp did drive away the Evil Spirit from King Saul, and as the 
i Exod. 15.25.  Wood which Moses cast into Marah, changed the bitterness of the Water into sweetness: so though the righteous be environed and encompassed with a thousand bitter afflictions in this life, and be even heavy loaden with crosses, laid on them by Satan and the world; yet when they cast up their eyes to heaven, the bright and glorious country of the soul, as Zoroastres calls it, then is their Wormwood turned into honey, and their grief of mind into gladness of heart, because they know that a time shall come, when the Saints that are now eclipsed by the shadow of adversity 
k Dan, 12.3.  shall shine like the Sun and the Stars of the Firmament, and they that now wear Sackcloth, with David; haircloth with Eliah; and garments of Camel's hair with john Baptist, shall be clothed with long white robes, made white in the blood of the Lamb. Secondly, as the sight of the blood of grapes, made the Elephants of King Antiochus fight more furiously: so even the very thought of heavenly joy stirs up the minds and the hearts of the Righteous, to fight a good fight, to run a good race, and to offer violence to the Kingdom of heaven, by taking pains to hear God's word preached in season, and out of season, by praying continually, by beating down the flesh and keeping it in subjection by Fasting and Abstinence, by sweeting blood and water, and watering their Couches with tears; had it not been for the remembrance of Chanaan, a land flowing with milk and honey; the barrenness of the Wilderness would have broken the hearts of the people of Israel: our life is a pilgrimage, and the World is a Wilderness, through it the way to the land of Promise is strait and hard to find. Is not this enough to daunt and dismay a Passenger? but hope of being at the last within the gates of the holy City, cheers up the Christian pilgrim, & arms him with patience against all dangers; and hope once to be separated from the society of dogs, causeth him to think Christ's yoke sweet, and his cross a tree of Life.  
Secondly, this word Without, points us to Hell, the habitation of Devils, the hold of all fowl spirits, and a cage of every unclean, and hateful bird; 
k Esay 30.33.  which of old is prepared for the wicked, and by Almighty God is made deep and large, the burning whereof is fire and much wood. As was the banishment of Adam and Hevah out of Paradise, such shall be the exile of Dogs: God to debar their re-entrance into the Garden of Eden, set the 
l Gen. 3.24.  Cherubims and the blade of a Sword shaken, to keep the way of the Tree of Life: our Saviour at the last day, shall be the anointed Cherub, to guard the gates of new Jerusalem; his fiery sword, shall be this Sentence; 
m Matth. 25.41  Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the Devil and his Angels. These words are, 
n Dan. 7.10.  that fiery stream issuing out of the throne of God, by the violent current whereof, the Wicked like the Swine of the Gergesens, shall be carried headlong into the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.  

o Dan. 5.  Three words, Mene, Tekel, and Vpharsin, written upon the plaster of the wall in Belshazzers Palace, foretold the ruin of himself, and his whole Monarchy; but here in this Scripture, one word, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, Without, supplies the place of these three: the interpretation of Mene, is, God hath numbered thy Kingdom, & finished it: of Tekel, Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found too light: and of Vpharsin, Thy Kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. All these significations, are included in this one word, Without; First, Without shall be dogs, that is, the Kingdom of the Wicked shall then be at an end, for the years of their reign is expired when Christ comes to judgement. Secondly, Without shall be dogs; that is, God will exercise upon them judgement in measure, and justice in weight. Thirdly, Without shall be dogs; that is, They shall not only be deprived of all earthly pleasures, but also be divided and separated from the sight of God's glorious Majesty, and from the fellowship of Saints and Angels.  
To be without Heaven, is to be within Hell. Hell then is the place appointed for the imprisonment of Dogs: but is there such a real place? Many heads have hammered many conceits: 
p Psal. 14.1.  The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God: the 
q Matth. 22.23  Sadduces held there were no Angels, and denied the Resurrection of the dead, & the Day of Doom: & there have been some Opinionists, which have affirmed Hell to be nothing else, but a bare Separation from God's presence, and the Sting or gnawing Worm of a Guilty Conscience. We must confess indeed, that these are very dreadful torments, wherewith the Wicked, even in this life, are grievously oppressed: as may appear in Cain and judas, both which before their death, were in this Hell; but yet all Hell is not contained herein: for these two are but branches of the Tree of Death. That there is such a real place, may be proved both by Scripture, Testimony of the Fathers, and pregnant reason.  
First, for Scripture: the Psalmist thus speaketh of ignorant and foolish worldlings, which think that their houses and habitations shall continue for ever, and call their Lands by their own names: 
t Psal. 49.15.   ones lischeol deponuntur, mors illos pascit, etc. Like sheep they lie in hell, Death devoureth them. Also it is written of 
s Num. 16.33.  Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, that they went down quick, Sche●lah ad infernum, to Hell. These words prove that Hell is not only a certain place, but also demonstrate where it is; namely below, in the Bowels of the earth. But to these places it is answered, that Scheol signifies the Grave: I know it doth; for the word bears three significations: sometimes by it is meant the Sepulchre: and so is it used by the Patriarch jacob, saying; 
t Gen. 37.35.  Surely I will go down (Scheolah) into the grave unto my son, mourning: sometimes metaphorically, it is put for the adversitses and afflictions of this life: so the Prophetical King David applies it saying; 
u 2. Sam. 22.6.  Cheble scheol sebabuns', The Sorrows or Snares of hell compassed me about, and overtook me. Sometimes it signifies Eternal destruction, and the real and certain place of the Damned: and so it is to be understood in those Texts of Scripture above named. For if by Scheol, wherein the ungodly like Sheep shall be devoured by death the Grave should only be understood; then should there be no difference betwixt the Righteous and the Wicked; for Death, & the Grave are common to them both: neither should the Psalmist speak of any extraordinary punishment, in saying, They shall lie in the grave. But if we observe the Text seriously, we shall find that David doth most directly point to Hell; as may appear out of the words following: 
x Psal. 49.13.  But God shall deliver my soul from the power of Scheol, or hell, for he will receive me. The same signification that Scheol hath in these words, it hath in the words going before; but here of necessity is meant the Place appointed for castaways, wherein both body and soul shall be tormented. Therefore in the former speech ( oves lischeol deponuntur mors illos depascis) (Like sheep they lie in hell, death devoureth them.) The spirit of God doth plainly describe hell to be a real place, and the Receptacle of Reprobates. Also whereas it is said, that they which perished in the gainsaying of Corah, went down quick into hell: Here-out we may gather, not only that there is such a certain place; but also that it is below, even in the nethermost parts of the earth. This is confirmed by the authority of Epiphanius, Hierom, and others; all which, 
Epiphan. in Anchorato: Hiero. in 4. cap. ep. ad Eph. Pagninus in gen. 37.  in that Text of Scripture, by Scheol, understand Hell. I might allege divers other testimonies out of the Scriptures; as that in Deuteronomie, 
y Deut. 32.22.  Fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn unto the bottom of hell. Also the Wiseman saith, 
z Prou. 15.24.  The way of life is on high to the prudent, to avoid from hell beneath: and in another place, 
a Prou. 9.18.  but he knoweth not, that the dead are there, and that her guests are (baamake scheol) in the depth of hell. All which places most evidently prove that there is such a Lake, such a Dungeon, and such a bottomless Pit. But let us descend to the Fathers, profane Writers, and Reason; though these to the Scriptures, are but like Zilpha and Billa, to Rachel and Leah, handmaides, or servants. First, Cyprian says it is a hollow vault in the earth, full of smoke and darkness: Tertullian calls hell a Treasury of hidden fire in the bowels of the earth: to Theophilact, it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a dark region under the earth: and of the same mind is Saint Hierom, and Saint Augustine, 
Aug. ep. 57 ad Darda.  and with them the profane Writers consent, Hesiod, Homer, and divers others; amongst whom, this is an article of their belief.  
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
As far as heaven is above the earth, so far is hell beneath.  
But leaving them, let us come to Reason. Who will deny that a Body can be but in a place? Seeing then that the Resurrection shall be both of Body and Soul, as well for the Reprobate as the Elect; and that the one sort of them must enter into a 
b Matth. 25.34  Kingdom prepared for them from the foundations of the world, and the other 
c Matth. 25.41  into eternal fire which is prepared for the Devil and his angels: must not both the Sheep and the Goats be in two distinct, several, and real places? it cannot be gainsaid: but what places be these? Some think that the Fruition, and the Want of God's presence and Glory is that Kingdom, and this Fire: if it were so, why should there be any general judgement? for in this Life the Elect enjoy Gods gracious aspect, which is Heaven upon Earth, and the Reprobates are deprived of it, which is a kind of Hell. This I confess is a heaven, and a hell for the Soul, but take away that Place which is called Coelum Coelorum, the hewn of heavens; and that Dungeon which is named Tenebrae exteriores, utter Darkness, and how shall the bodies of the Righteous 
d Dan. 12.3.  shine as the brightness of the Firmament; and the bodies of the wicked rise again to perpetual shame and contempt. My conclusion then is this: As God hath ordained some to be Vessels of honour, some of dishonour: so hath he prepared two several places for them, heaven and hell; the one above, the other beneath: betwixt which there is a 
e Luke. 16.26.  great gulf, so that they which would go from heaven to hell cannot, neither can they come from hell to heaven. That there shall be a corporal Ascension, and Descension into two distinct places, Eliah and Corah, are two figures; 
f 2 Reg. 2.11.  Eliah went up by a whirlwind into heaven, carried in a fiery Chariot, drawn by horses of fire: and 
g Num. 16.33.  Corah and his company went alive into hell: neither of these died, but were changed 
h 1 Cor. 15.52 , (as the living shall be at the last day) in a moment, and in the twinkling of an eye: and their bodies being corruptible did put on Incorruption; sharing betwixt them Life and Death eternal, both in body and Soul: and all this was done to teach us what shall become of our souls and bodies, at the general resurrection, and to inform us that as there is a Place above, Heaven for the Elect; so there is a Place beneath, hell, for the Reprobates. Here shall Dogs endure pains most bitter and eternal; namely, a fire unquenchable, and a worm that shall never cease gnawing: of this Fire the Body shall be the Fuel; and to this Worm, the Soul shall be food. Seeing then that there shall be a Separation, a within and a without; and that there is a heaven and a hell; joy eternal, and Torment everlasting, O let us continually meditate upon this Lake burning with fire and brimstone, the thought whereof, if all sparks of grace be not quenched in our hearts, will be like a Bridle to curb us, and keep us from sinning.  
Our Saviour to dissuade us from backsliding, bids us Remember Lot's wife: the Wiseman saith, Remember thine end, and thou shalt never do amiss: and so say I, Remember Hell; this Memento is like a jewel made of jacinthes, to which the Lapidaries attribute three excellent effects; namely to preserve a man from lightning, from the Pestilence, and to procure sleep: such like is the Remembrance of hell, in that it is an Antidote against the poison of sin, it saves the soul from that furnace of fire, where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth, and preserves it from those unspeakable plagues and torments, which God hath prepared for the Devil and his Angels: lastly, because he that ever thinks of Hell, will be afraid to commit sin, this Memento doth disburden the Conscience of all internal horror and Anguish; which like Saules evil Spirit do ever haunt the guilty mind, and consequently procureth spiritual peace and Rest to the Soul: This Peace he give us, who is the Prince of Peace, Christ jesus the righteous: to whom with the Father and the holy Spirit, be all honour, praise, power, glory and dominion both now and ever, Amen.    
FINIS.   

ERRATA.  

For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉  
For Arians. read Acrians  
For M●ced●nius. read Macedenious  
For Seli●●●. read Silence.