WHē Ionas the Pro­phet of the Lorde (Right Honorable, The occa­sion & ar­gument of this Pro­phecie. Right worshipful, & wel-beloued in the best beloued Christ Iesus) had a long time in vaine preached and prophecied in Jsraells hee had an expresse charge giuen him [Page 2]from the highest, to goe and cry againg Niniveh the theife city of the Assiriās: that provoking them the gentiles to re­pentance, he might the rath r leane the obstinate Israelits inexcusable. But such was, either his wilful obstinacy that he would not, or his fraile imbecility that he did not regard his Lordes designe­ment: thinking with him selfe that his labour shoulde take little effect among strangers to God and himselfe, seeing it had done so small good on Jsraell his owne people. And therfore, in steed of going to Niniueh whither he was boūd, he shippeth himselfe for Tarshish, & cō ­mitteth himselfe vnto the sea, thinking thereby to fly from the presence of the Lord. But behold he that is the God as well of the sea as of the dry sand, sendes out his heraulds after him, a great wind, & a mighty tempest: who raised the sea, and rowled the waues, and rocked the ship, and so rowsed vp sleepy Ionas, that he finds no rest in the ship, the ship no safty in the waues, the waues no quiet [Page 3]in the sea the sea no calme in it selfe, vntill the marriners had throwne out Ionas to appease it. And yet see the providēce of a good God to a disobediēnt Prophet: though he is cast out, yet the Lord doth not cast him of: though the mariners by his owne appointment takes him vp, & throws him into the sea: yet a great fish by the Lordes appointment swallowes him vp, and castes him on the dry land. Beeing thus delivered out of the deepe by the mighty hand of God, he had the second time the same charge laid vpon him, ^b Arise & goe preach to Niniveh the great city. Ion. 32. Which the Prophet had no sooner hard, but behold his obediēce to the Lords call. ^c He arose, saith the text, and went to Niniveh, according to the word of the Lord. Yea to Niniveh as great and excellent city of 3. daies iour­ney, as the Prophet cals it. Yea he cryed against it, and said as before J read vn­to you. Yet forty daies & Niniveh shall be destroyed. So the people of Niniveh be­leeved God, & proclaimed a fast, and put [Page 4]on sackcloth, from the greatest of them vnto the least.

In which two verses, for my easier proceeding, and your better vnderstan­ding, may it please you to obserue, and consider with mee these tvvo general partes.

2. The gene­rall divisiō. two parts generall partes.

• 1. Ionas sermon to the Ni­nivites in these wordes, Yet forty daies & Niniveh shall be destroied.
• 2. The Ninivites repentāce in the next wordes, So the people of Niniveh beleeued God, and proclaimed a fast, &c.

The 1. setteth downe a message from the Lord to a great Citie. The 2. decla­reth the conversion of a great city vnto the Lord. In the 1. mercy & iudgment are preached by one, and that is Ionas. Jn the 2. faith & good works are practi­sed by many, & they are Ninivites. Be­hold in the one, the duty of all true Pro­phets, to declare vvith boldnesse the [Page 5]Lordes wil vnto his people. Behold in the other, the duty of al faithful people, to obey with alacritie the voice of the Lordes Prophets. The 1. general part containeth in it these.

2. par­ticular braun­ches.

• 1. The parience and long suf­fering of the Lord, in that hee did not presently destioy these Ninivites,
  The sub­division of the 1. into 2. mebers.
  but gaue thē a good space to repent. Yet 40. daies.
• 2. The iudgement and iustice of the Lord denoūcing destru­ction against thē, if in the time allotted they would not amēdt And Niniveh shall be destroied.

So that I may wel compare this ser­mon of Ionahs to Davids song Psal. 101.1. My song, saith David, shall bee of mer­cy and iudgement. For lo while he sayeth Yet 40. daies, there is a song of mercie. And Niniueh shal be destroted, there is a song of iudgement. Or to that Himera. river in Sicily, that parteth it selfe into two channels the one yeelding fresh vvater the other salt: for behold while he saith. [Page 6] Yet 40. daies, there is a streame of sweet water issuing frō the fountaine of Gods exceeding favour. And Niniveh shall be destroyed, there is an Ocean of bitter water running from the spring of Gods heauie displeasure. The 1. is a word of comfort to al dispaiting soules, Yet 40. daies. The 2. is a rod of correction to al presuming sinners, and Niniveh shall be destroyed. The one declareth vnto vs that God is a God of compassion, if wee wil repent, Yet 40. daies. The other that he is a God of iustice and severitie, if we stil provoke him, and Niniveh shall bee destroied. Yet 40. daies, & Niniveh shal be destroied. The 2. general part decla­reth the effecte, The subdi­visiō of the 2. into 4. circūstan­ces. vvhich this Sermon wrought in the Ninivits, or their repē ­tance, which is described by 4. circum­stances.

by 4. cir­cumstā ­ces.

• 1. By their faith which was not fruitlesse. So the people of Niniveh beleeved God.
• 2. By their fasting vvhich was not private, and proclai­med [Page 7]a fast.
• 3. By their attire which was not costlie, and put on sack­cloath.
• 4. By their number which were not few, from the grea­test vnto the least.

1. They beleeved God. There is faith the true cause of good works described. 2. They proclamed a fast. There is a good worke the effecte of a liuelie faith deci­phered. 3. They put on sackcloath. There is the garment of humility expressed. 4. From the greatest to the least. There is a mutual cōversion of al declared. 1. They beleeved God. Behold their heathenish infidelity is turned into religious pietie. 2. They proclaimed a fast. Behold their luxurious feasting is changed into mo­derate fasting. 3. They put on sackcloath. Behold their royal robes are cast avvay for simple rags. 4. From the greatest of them vnto the least. Behold the conside­ration of the sinnes of all hath wrought repentance in all. So the people of Nini­veh [Page 8]beleeved God and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least of them.

Thus you see (most deare & Christiā brethren) the summe & substance of that wherof at this time, by the assistāce of the Almighty, and your accustomed patience, I purpose to intreate evē the tenour of Ionas sermō to the Ninivits, and of the Ninivites repentance at Io­nas sermon. God grant J may speake of thē with the same spirit as Ionas did, & that all this great & Honorable assēblie may heare and receiue them with the like fruite as did these Ninivits. And so J come to the particular handling of the words themselves. Yet 40. daies.

Partis. 1 As Noahs doue came from the wa­ters of the floud, with an oliue braunch in her mouth. Gen. 8.11. Obser. 1 Even so this he a­venly doue (for so the name of Ionah in the Hebrew importeth, & S ^t. Ierome on the 1 of this prophecy & else-where so interpreteth it) cōmeth vnto these Ni­nivets, from the waters of the sea, wher­in [Page 9]a little before hee had beene almost drowned with an oliue braunch in his mouth, preaching mercy and peace vn­to them if they would repent, and turne from their wicked wayes. A singular ar­gument of Gods exceeding loue & fa­vour vnto this city Niniveh. For hee might presently haue sent his Angel frō heaven to haue destroyed it, as hee did the host of Senacharib. 2. Reg. 19.35. He might haue consumed it with fire and brimstone, as he did Sodome and Gomer. Gen. 19.24. He might haue spoiled it with the edge of the sword, as he did Ie­richo Ios. 6.21. Hee might haue laid it in the dust in the twinkling of an eie, as he hath done many, and as he is able to doe al the cities in the world. But behold the Lord is a pittifull God Psal. 86.15. He ta­keth a milder course with Niniveh. He sendeth his Prophet to her, and giueth her a day, and a day yea even forty daies togither, before he will powre downe the violl of his wrath, before he will ex­ecute his iudgments on her. And as a [Page 10]noble and worthy Emperour laying his sieg, and levying his army against some famous & renowned city: beholding in it the goodly buildings, the statly walls, the high ascending towers, the multi­tude of people, the numberlesse nūber of babes and sucklings; of infants & in­nocent persons: from a noble and heroï­cal dispositiō is moved with the bowels of compassion towards it & therfore in regard hereof doth not presently batter it downe & overthrow it, but first sends his herauld at armes to proclame a par­ly for certaine daies, and to offer peace vnto the same: right so doth the Lord of heavē & earth deale with Niniveh that famous and renowned citty. He saw the statelines of her buildings, her thousand & fiue hundred towers, Munster, Cosmo­graph. l. 5. cap. 61. Ion. 4. vers. vlt. her high & spa­tious walls, her multitude of citizens, her sixscore thousand infants and inno­cent persons, her head of cattell almost innumerable: all which did make the bowels of compassion to yerne within him, &, before he would overthrow, it [Page 11]to send his Prophet as an herauld at armes, to proclame a parly of forty daies and to offer her peace if shee would re­ceiue it. Famous is that of Scipio Africa­nus, that al things in warres ought to be assayed, before the sword be drawen. And as famous that of the good Emperour Theodosius, who, vntil tenne daies were past after he had besieged any citty, ne­ver offered violence to the inhabitants: saying and proclaiming every day, that those tenne daies he gaue them, to the end they should profit themselus by his clemēcy, before they should make proofe of his pow­er. But as far as light excelleth darke­nes, truth error, heaven earth: so farre, in pitty, mercy, and compassion, doth the Creator of all excell the best of all his creatures. Never was there any so pit­tifull, as he the God of pitty. Never any so merciful, as he the God of mercy. Ne­ver any so compassionate, as he the God of al compassion. O how often doth he perswade by promises, how often doth he allure hy rewards how often doth he [Page 12]intreate by favours how often doth he assay al faire meanes to convert a sinful soule, before he drawe out his sword of vengance against him? O when did hee spoile any country once, before he had spared it often? Whē did he overthrow any natiō in one day, which he had not most louingly wooed before many a day? When did yet any place feele the iudgmēts of his fury, that had not long before tasted the sweetnesse of his mer­cy? For this was the rule of Gods owne law, this was the decree of his heavenly will, that no citie should be destroyed, be­fore peace were offered vnto the same. as we read Deut. 20.10. And in the Gospel it was our Saviours cōmandemēt to his disciples, that into what house soever they did enter: they should begin the exordiū of their message with a pax vo­bis saying peace be vnto this house Luk. 10.5, and it is wel worth our observing, that vertues and miracles were first wrought in Corazin, and Beth saida, be­fore their woe was pronounced against [Page 13]them. Matth. 11.20. Yea the fig tree in the Gospell, although the Lord when he came and sought it, found no fruit therō, shall not be presently cut downe, but shall hane a yeare, & a yeare, & a yeare, to that, & shal be digged, & dunged, before it be destroyed Luk. 13.7.8. This also did the Lord of mercy do in the time of olde. He sent Noah to the men of the olde world a preacher of righteousnes. 2. Pet. 2.5. We sent Lot to those wicked So­domites in the spirit of meekenes to be­seech them not to do so wickedly. Gen. 19.7. He sent Moses & Aarō to the Aegyp­tian Exod. 5.1. He sent Prophets from time to time to the childrē of Jsrael. He sent Iohn Baptist, and our blessed Savi­our, & the holy Apostles, besides signes in the host of heavē, & tokens in the ele­mēts, to the people of Ierusalem, before they were destroied. And although that citty were growen to a full measure of iniquity, & to the very height of al man­ner of impiety, so that both the servants & sonne of God were slaine by thē, the [Page 14]Sabaoth of the Lord polluted, the san­ctuary of the Lord prophaned, the lawe of the Lorde despised, the testimony of the Lord neglected; yet see the infinite mercy & patience of a louing Lord be­hold, for a warning, ful forty yeares were allotted vnto her, before God sent vp Vespasian & Titus to sack-it. As Eusebi­us in the 3. lib. & 8 cap. of his Ecclesia­stical history reporteth. Before which time, how did the Saviour of the world call on her to repent, how did he weepe for her, how did he wooe her as the brid grome his spouse to turne vnto him, & to forsake her evil waies, how did he ma­nifest his loue & affection towards her? O Ierusalem Ierusalem thou that killest the Prophets and stonest them that are sent vnto thee, how often would I haue gathered thee togither, as the hengather­eth her chikens vnder her winges, & thou wouldest not. Mat. 23.37. J will not trou­ble you with many testimonies, and ex­amples out of the word of God, to con­firme the truth of this doctrine, being a [Page 15]point so manifest. Looke but into the 9. chap. of the booke of Nehemiah, and the most obstinate shall be constrained, wil he nil he, to confesse, that God is a God of much patience, and long suffe­ring. The whole chapter is spent in this argument, setting downe in order, the great benefits and blessings which the Lord in his mercy had bestowed vpō the children of Israel in times past, their vn­thankfulnes vnto the Lord for the same, and yet the exceeding patience & mer­cy of the Almighty extended towards them. For first, as we there may reade, Vid Ne­hem 9. reade the whole chapter. he considered their aflictions in Aegypt, and hard their crie by the red sea, he sa­ved thē in the deepe, and drowned their enemies in the mighty waters. He ledde thē in the day with the pillar of a cloud, and in the night with a pillar of fire to giue them light. He came downe vpon mount Sinai, & spake vnto them from heaven, & gaue them right iudgments, true lawes, & good commaundements. He gaue them bread from heaven for [Page 16]their hunger, and water out of the rock for their thirst; he fed them forty yeares in the wildernesse, they lacked nothing, their clothes waxed not olde, and their feete swelled not. He gaue them king­domes and people, hee multiplied their children as the starres of heauen, and brought them into a good land: where they possessed houses ful of goods, and did eare, and were filled, & became fat, and lived in pleasure through the Lords goodnes. But behold this people, whom the Lord had thus extraordinarily bles­sed aboue al the nation in the world be­came rebellious, & behaued themselues prowdly, and hardned their neckes, so that they harkened not to his comman­dements, nor remēbred the marvelous workes which he had done for them: & yet for al this the Lorde forsooke them not. They made them a molten calfe, & said, this is thy God, that brought thee out of the land of Aegypt, and cōmitted great blasphemies; & yet for al this the Lord forsooke them not. They were dis­obedient [Page 17]and rebelled against him, and cast his law behind their backes, & slue his Prophets sent to convert them: and yet for al this the Lord forsooke them not. They did evil before him, & sinned against his iudgments, and pulled away their shoulders, and were stiffnecked, & would not heare and yet for al this the Lord forsooke thē not, & yet for all this did he not consume thē, but forbare thē many yeares togither. O what a God of pittie, O what a Lord of mercy is this! abundant in goodnes, gracious, & full of cōpassion, of long suffering, slow to anger, and of great kindnes. Ioel. 2.13. Reser­ving mercy for thousands, forgiuing ini­quity, transgression, and sin Exod. 34.7. How truly might he say of this people, All the day long haue I stretched forth my hīd to a rebellious people, to a disobediēt gaine saying & vnbeleening people! Rom 10.21. How truly might he say that they had a long time grieued him, & yet he had waited that he might haue mercy on thē! Es. 30.18. How truly might be professe [Page 18]of himselfe, I desire not the death of a sin­ner, but that the vvicked turne from his way and liue. turne you, turne you frō your evill waies, for why will yee die ô yee house of Israell? Ezech. 33.1 [...]. What should I say more (beloved in Christ Jesus) God is the same God vnto vs al, as he was vn­to them: & there is not one to be found in this great Congregation, from the most auncient father to the youngest child, but in some measure hath had ex­periēce of these things. Every one hath felt in himself God to be a God of much mercy & expectation. For whē his An­gell had offended he stayed not at all for him, but threw him downe to hel. Whē Adam had transgressed he deferred not his punishment, but draue him straight way out of Paradise. But if we examine our selues we shal finde that he waiteth for every one of vs indeede, and forbea­reth vs some ten yeares, some twenty; some to 30. some to 40. some to olde age, some to dotage. Yea hee spareth vs al because he is the lover of soules as the [Page 19]Wisemā cals him. He is patiēt towards vs and would haue none to perish but al of vs to come to repentance. 2. Pet. 3.9. Hee maketh as though hee saw not our sinnes, because we should amend. VVisd. 11.20. He prolōgeth our daies, although we doe­vil against him an hūdred times. Eccles. 8.12. Let vs then be ware (beloved in the Lord) that we abuse not the patiēce and long suffering of so good a God, lest after so many sweet shewers of mercie, & pleasant calmes of cōfort, hee powre downe vpon vs the bitter stormes, and hote thunderbolts of his iudgement & indignation. And as the Prophet telleth Niniveh in this place: Yet forty daies & Niniveh shalbe destroied: So yet a little while, & if we will not repent and turne vnto him, behold a final destruction and overthrow shal over take vs. And so frō my first observatiō, the patience & long suffering of God, in that he did not pre­sently destroit Niniveh, but gaue it a good space to repēt, Yet 40. daies. I now come to the second note of my first ge­neral [Page 20]parte, which was the iustice and iudgment of the lord, denouncing de­structiō against it, if in the time allotted it did not amend, and Nintveh shall be destroyed.

And Niniveh shalbe destroied. Our Prophet doth not come onely with a song of Gods mercy to Niniveh, but al­so with a song of iudgment; intimating that if they will not imbrace the one, they shal vndoubtedly feele the other. For albeit, being a strāger to that place, a man of another country & kindred, & Niniveh large and spatious, and full no doubt of many barbarous & cruel peo­ple, he might in some sort (because hee was flesh and bloud) be discouraged to deale so roundly & plainely with them, as to denounce so heavy a iudgment on thē, for feare least they should haue kil­led him: yet behold the courage & au­dacity of a faithful Prophet, He prefer­reth the discharge of his duty before the safety of his life: and, hauing receiued this message from the Lord, he is not a­fraid [Page 21](although he were but one & that a stranger) to pronounce it in the midst of Niniveh, yea peradventure before the king and nobles of Niniveh (for so it is probable) although it declare no­lesse then Ninivehs over-throw & de­struction. Out of whose bold and faith­full course of proceeding, let mee, by your Honorable & Christian patience (most deare & blessed brethrē) giue this one note to my brethren and fellow-la­borers in the ministry: that, when they are to deliver their message from the Lord vnto his people, out of these and the like places, they be careful, A note for Mini­sters, from Ionas his bouldnes. by our Prophets example, to lift vp their voi­ces like trumpets, bouldly to reproue sinne & sinners, to tell the house of Iacob his iniquities, & Israell his transgres­sions. Let them not be terrified to de­clare Gods iudgmēts against the great­est, let them not be a fraid of the faces of men, for the Lord is vvith them. Ier. 1.8. They must with Amos preach the death of Ieroboam and captiuity of Israel evē [Page 22]at Bethel in the kings chappel and in the kings court although with Amos they be banished for it. Amos 7.12. They must with Michaiah prophecy the truth to Ahab, although with him they be ha­ted for it. 1. Reg. 22.8. They must vvith Zachary tell the people of Israel, that because they haue for saken the Lord, the Lord also hath for saken them, although by the commādement of the king with Zachary they be stoned for it 2. Chron. 24.21. They must with Iohn Baptist tell Herode that it is not lavvfull for him to have his brother Philips wife, though with him they be beheaded for it. Mat. 14.10. They must with Nathan tel David thou art the man 2. Sam. 12.7. They must with Eliah tel Ahab, it is thou and thy fathers house that trouble Israell. 1. Reg. 18.18. They must with Iehu tel Ie­hoshaphat, that for his wickednes the wrath of the Lord is vpon him 2. Chron. 19.2. They must with the Prophet tel A­masiah the king of Iuda, that for his sin God hath determined to destroye him. 2. [Page 23]Chron. 25.16. They must with Azariah the priest tel Vzziah the king, that for his trāsgression he shall haue none honour of the Lord. 2. Chron. 26.18. They must with Nehemiah rebuke the Princes and Rulers of Israel, for laying such heavy burthens vpon their brethren, Nehem. 5.7. Finally they must with Ionas in my text tel Niniveh, yea glorious & good­ly Niniveh, yea stout and stately Nini­veh, yea proud and populous Niniveh, that for her sinnes it shallbe quite defaced and overthrowen. Thus must the Mini­ster of God be bould to reproue sinne in the mightiest ones in the world, & with the spirit of courage and audacity beate downe whatsoever lifteth vp it selfea­gainst God.

Ispeake not this (beloued in Christ Iesus) to condemne al kind of milde and gentle persuasiō: and to vphold the botte and indiscreete reproovers of our time, Indiscreete reproovers not allow­ed. who are so fervent & forward in denoū ­cing iudgment against the least offen­ders, that with Iames and Iohn nothing [Page 24]wil contēt them, but only fire frō heauē to consume them Luk. 9.54. They are the of spring of cursed Cham, delighting in nothing so much, as to vncover the na­kednes of their fathers. They are, as Saint Bernard speaketh of such in his 78. Epi­stle, nō correpteres sed corrosores, not re­proovers but gnawers. Not vnlike the Cynicke Philosopher, who for his impu­dent taunts against all, was commonly called of all Convitiorum canis, the dog of reproches. For as those Indians hea­ded like dogs, in lieu of speech, vse to barke, as Pliny in his 7. lib. and 2. chap. writeth of thē: so these, in steed of spea­king to their brethren after the manner of men, vse to barke at them, after the fashiō of dogs. My speech doth not apo­logize or countenance any such, either dogged and in discreete raylers, or rude intemperate reproovers.

J rather aime at those in another ex­treame, who are so farre from being to forward in reproving of sinne, that they dare not take in their mouths but that [Page 25]cold rehrehension of olde Ely vnto his sonns, Do so no more my sons, do no more so. 1. Sam. 2.24. But as deceiptfull Em­bassadours, either for feare of punish­mēt, or for hope of gaine, they forbeare to deliver the Lords Embassage vnto his people: Soothing them in their sins and flattering them in their sollies, and furthering thē in their iniquities. Those are our temporizing preachers, our time seruing Prophets, our trēcher Chaplaines who, either to satisfy the lust of their humorous Lord, or to delight the itching eares of their vaine auditors, speake no­thing but placētia, court phrases, sweet and pleasing words: that sow pillowes vnder mens elbowes, and build vp their sinnes as a wall, and daub vp their filthy corruptions with the vntempered mor­ter of palpable adulatiō. Whom I may iustly brand with the same name as Crates the Thebane did those parasites, of his time whō hee called [...]: because, sitting at great mēs tables, they were ready with that cunning dis­sēbler [Page 26]in the comody to say, Ais, aio? ne­gas? nego. Whatsoever they affirmed they would affirme the same, and what­soever they denyed they would bee as ready to deny though never so vntruly. right so, beloved, I am afraid our church hath to many such fawning and flatte­ring Ministers: who sitting at noble mēs tables (if happely they be thervnto ad­mitted) for feare of displeasing, will say as they say: although their owne consci­ence I doubt not many times tels them they haue said amisse. Speaking good of e­vill, and evil of good, putting darkenesse for light, and light for darkenesse, bitter for sweet, and sweet for sower to vse the words of the Prophet Esa. 5.20. [...], Making marchan­dise of the vvord of God, as the Apostle speaketh 2. Cor. 2. vlt. and selling the cause of the Lord for a meales meat, or as the Prophet tels vs for handfulls of bar­ly and peeces of bread. Ezech. 13.19. J cā ­not more fitly resemble such false Pro­phets to any, then to that flattering and [Page 27]dissembling Priest of Iuppiter: who whē Alexander the great (as Plutarch in his life testifieth) came to the oracle, salu­ted him by the name of Iuppiters sonne, & all to get some great present & large-reward frō him: so they, to procure the sooner vnto themselues some promoti­on Ecclesiastical, wil make the Alexan­ders of the world beleeue, that they are Demy Gods or at the lestwise a degree a­boue the natural conditiō of the sonnes of men. They are fit chaplaines for such radies as the mother of Cyrus was, who, as Plutarch reporteth, cōmanded, that whosoever spake to the king, he should vse soft & silken words: for surely in their preaching and reaching before such great ons of the world, they vse noe o­ther but such soft phrases & silken spee­ches as shal befit their humours. And as the natural bistorian in his 2. lib. & 41. ca. of his history reporteth of the hearb called Heliotropium, that it regardeth & looketh towards the sunne: ever as hee goeth turning with him at all howers. [Page 28]yea even also when he is shadowed vn­der a cloude: so doe they, in the whole course of their ministery, regard & con­sider their Lords and Ladies humours, and thervnto do they apply themselves at all times, yea evē then also whē they are covered with the cloudes of many grosse and crying sinnes. So that I may truly say of such, as the Philosopher did of the like, who, as Nicephorus reporteth in the 10. lib. & 42. cap. of his Ecclesia­stical historie, comming into an Empe­rours court, & there seeing many sooth vp great men in their sins, said of them, purpurā ipsos magis quam Deum colere, that they did more reverence purple robes then God himselfe and J am per­swaded (beloved in Christ Jesus) that they who thus sooth vp the mighty po­tentants of the world in their transgre­ssions, quod purpuram ipsimagis quam de­um colant, that they more respecte the coūtenance of man, then the favour of the everliving God. For otherwise they would never, as many times they doe, [Page 29]conceale the councel & wil of God, to gaine a little commodity & preferment at the hands of a mortal man. And if it happen, (beloued) that these men come abroad at any time, to preach amonge the vulgar sorte in meaner places, they haue so vsed themselves to a smooth & pleasing vaine, that even then J may say of them, as Diogenes the Cynicke said of orators, as it is in the 9. lib. and 19. cap. Elian. de varia histor. that they are [...] the very slaues & vassals of the common people. For to win their least favours, they wil be favourable to their greatest sins. And as Pliny in his 5. lib. & 15. chap. saith that the river Iordan is a pleasant river, winding & turning in & out, seeking as it were for loue & favour, and applying it selfe to please the neigh­bour coūtries. So do these time-serving preachers turne & winde themselves in their sermons to the multitude: seeking rather to win their favours by flatering them in their sinnes, then to discharge their owne duties to God by revealing [Page 30]his wil vnto thē. But let these men con­sider howe much the Lorde is offended with such deceitful hādling of his word. Let them cōsider the grievous cōplaint of the Lord against such false Prophets, who healed the hurt of the daughter of his people with sweete wordes, saying peace, where there was no peace. Jer. 6.13. Let them cōsider how much he was moued with them that taught vanities, & spake the vision of their owne hearts, & not out of the mouth of the Lord. Saying to every one that vvalked after the stubbornes of his owne hart, no evil shal come vpon you, prophecying false dreames & causing the people of the Lord to erre by their lies and by their flatteries. Ier. 23. Finally let thē cōsider the severe iudgmēt of the Lord pronoūced against such faithlesse mes­sēgers in the same Prophet. Behold they that flatter the people in their sinnes, & sar that the sword & famine shal not bee in the land, by sword & famine shal these Prophets be consumed. Jer. 14.15.

Wherfore to conclude this point, let [Page 31]vs (beloved) I speake this to al my bre­thren and fellow-labourers in this holie busines, let vs I say, as trustie Embasa­dours, boldly deliuer our Lordes Em­bassage: not fearing him that can kill the body only, but him that can cast both body and soule into hell fire. Matt. 10.28. And yet let vs not seeke to gal & greeue the woūded conscience of our weake audi­tors, by to rash & indiscreete doubling & redoubling woes vpon them, alvvaies killing thē vvith the killing letter of the law. Let vs take heede least if we thus alwaies preach to others iudgmēt with­out mercy, wee our selues bee iudged of the Lord without mercy. Let vs rather by our Prophets example, keeping the golden meane, temper them both togi­ther. Let vs sometimes with the sweete balme of the Gospel bind vp the brokē harted: and yet sometimes also with the hard hāmer of the law bruze and breake downe the strength of impietie. Let vs sometimes as good chirurgions applie pleasant lenitines to supple: & yet some­times [Page 32]also sharpe corasines to exaspe­rate the festered woūds of our sicke pa­tients. Let vs somtimes like skilful Phy­sitions minister comfortable refections to cherish; & yet somtimes also sharpe and bitter potions to offend their distē ­pered stomacks. Let vs somtimes with that good Samaritane Luk. 10, with the oile of mercy cheere vp the fainting cō science of a poenitent Christian: & yet sometimes also with the wine of repre­hension rub vp the cōtagious maladies of hard harted worldlings. Let vs some­times with the sons of Iacob stand vpon the moūt Gerizzim to blesse, & yet sō ­times also vpon the moūt Eball to curse the Lords enemies Deut. 27.13. Let vs sometimes with S ^t. Paul Come in the spi­rit of meekenes to comfort: and yet some­tims also with the same Apostle with the rod of correction to controule 1. Cor. 4. 21. Let vs sometimes say with our mai­ster pax vobis, peace be vnto you Luk. 24.36. & yet sometimes also vae vobis, woe be vnto you. Matt. 23.13. Let vs some­times [Page 33]be like that soft voice wherin God came 1. Reg. 19.12. and yet sometimes also like Iohn Baptist the voices of criers or crying voices in the wildernes of this world Math. 3.3. Let vs sometimes bee like Barnabas sons of Consolatiō. Act. 4.36. and yet sometimes also like Iames & Iohn [...] the sons of thunder Mark. 3.17. Lastly let vs sometimes come with Ionas in my text with a sōge of mercy as in the first part of his sermō yet 40. daies: and yet sometimes also with a songe of iudgment as it followeth in the second and Niniveh shalbe destroied.

And Niniveh shalbe destroyed. And heerein a word before I proceede fur­ther: Let me remoue a stumbling blocke of offēce, which may arise to the weake out of these words: For wheras our Pro­phet here setteth downe, that after the space of 40. daies, Niniveh shoulde bee destroied, it is manifest in the last verse of this 3. chapter that God repented of this evil which he had purposed to do vn­to it, & he did it not. Quaestion Howe then is the [Page 34]councel of the Lord infallible, howe is the verity of his word immutable, howe are his decrees vnresistable, how is his iudgment here denoūced by Ionas ine­vitable? and Niniveh shalbe destroyed.

Opinion 1 For answere where vnto we must ob­serve, that some of the auncient fathers in the primitiue church haue bin of this opinion, that by Niniveh here is vnder­stood, the sin & iniquity of the people of Niniveh. As if the Prophet had said, Yet forty daies & Niniveh shal be destroied, that is, not the mē, the wals, & the buil­dings of Niniveh, but the sins & trans­gressiōs of Niniveh; the sinful city shal become an holy city, the idolatrous people a sāctified people, the height of their impietie shalbe destroied by the teares of their penitēcy. Thus shal sinful Nini­veh be quite defaced, thus shall vngod­ly Niniveh be overthrowne. Of this o­piniō was S ^r. Austen in his 21, lib. & 24. chapter de civitate dei. Where he saith thus. That God vseth to ouerthrow sin­ners two manner of waies. Either when [Page 35]he punisheth the men for sins cōmitted, as he did the Sodomites Gen. 19.25. or when he destroyeth the sins of mē through their vnfeined repentāce, as in these Ninivits. And in this sence, saith S ^r. Austen, is the word of the Lord true, that Niniveh in her people & buildings stood stil, but in her wicked waies and transgressions she was overthrowne.

But saving the iudgmēt of so learned a father (whom notwithstanding of alo­ther of the fathers generally for his in­terpretatiōs of the Scripture I hould to bee most worthy of reverence) I rather fasten vppon another interpretation of these wordes. 2. Opinion And that is that they are spoken by our Prophet with a conditiō implied in them, as if hee had saide: the Lord your God is a patient God, he will not woūd you before he warne you. Loe he giveth you yet 40 daies more to be­think your selues, if in this space you wil not turne vnto him, then assuredly you shalbe destroyed. And this I rather take to bee the Prophets meaning in this [Page 36]place: not onely for that the whole cur­rent of our latter & sounder interpreters doe agree here vnto, but also, because I know this manner of denouncing iudg­ment, is verie vsual vvith the spirite of God in holy scripture. Witnes that one place insteede of all, in the prophecie of Ieremy, I will speake (saith the Lord) sud­denly against a natiō, against a kingdom, to plucke it vp and to roote it out, and to destroy it. But if this nation against whō I haue pronounced, turne from their wic­kednes: I vvill repent of the plague that I thought to bring vpon them. Ier. 18.7.8. There you see, the condition is set down in expresse words. If they turne frō their wickednes I will repent. But elsewhere it is necessarily implyed and vnderstood as for example. When Abimelech the king of Gerar, had tooke vnto him Sara, the wife of Abrahā: God said vnto him, thou art but a dead mā because of the wo­man which thou haste taken. Genes. 20.3. Here the iudgement seemeth absolute. But this condition must needes bee vn­derstood, [Page 37]that he was but a dead man, if hee did not restore the woman without touching her bodie. For vvhen he had purged himselfe with an vpright minde, and innocent hand haue I done this: the Lorde forbare to execute this sentence on him. So likewise the Prophet Esaie biddeth Ezechiah from the Lorde. to set his house in order, for hee should die & not liue, Es. 38.1. What speech can be more absolute thē this? And yet we must needs confesse, that this condition is therein contained: thou shalt die, if thou ap­pease not the wrath of God by thy tears and vnfained repentance. For when he had once so done, the Lord removed a­way this iudgement, and added vnto his daies fifteene yeares, as it is in the same chapt. Agreeable to this is that of Da­vid, vvho when he had killed Vriah the Hittite, and taken his wife vnto himself: the Lord tolde him, that for this, the sword should neuer depart from his house 2. Sam. 12.10. A sentence without ex­ception: and yet when he confessed, that [Page 38]in this he had sinned against the Lorde (a condition no doubt in the former iudg­ment implyed) it was tould him by Na­than, that the Lord had put away his sin and he should not die: vers. 13. So in the words of my text, here is destructiō de­nounced by Ionas against Niniveh, yet 40 daies and Niniveh shall be destroyed. And yet, Niniveh repenting, the Lord withholdeth his iudgements from it: & therefore we must needes vnderstand a condition in the words: yet 40. daies and if Niniveh go on stil in her vvickednes, doubtlesse Niniveh for her wickednesse shal be destroyed. Having thus cleared this doubt, and made manifest the mea­ning of our Prophet: let vs now come to the next observatiō, which in the be­ginning was proposed out of these words and Niniveh shal be destroied.

Observat. 2 Jt is reported of Tamberlaine that mighty conqueror of his time, that whē he laid siege to any city: he displaied the first day his white flag before the same, as a tokē of his clemencie if they would [Page 39]yeeld vnto him: VVhich if they then re­fused, the next day he set vp his red flag, as threatning the shedding of their bloud, if they remained obstinat: wher­at if they were not moved, the third day he advanced his blacke flag, to signifie, that the dore of all pittie & compassion was now shut vp, and that nothing was to be expected, but vtter ruine and de­solation. The like course, in some pro­portion, doeth the Lorde of heaven and earth take with his citty Niniveh: he first displaieth his white flag of mercie, not for a day with Tamberlaine, but evē for 40, daies togither: whereat if they wil not yeeld, they shall beholde the red flag of his severity, nay the blacke flag of his irrevocable iudgement, denoun­cing their vtter overthrowe and destru­ction. For the saying is most true, Laesa patientia fit furor, the patience of the Lord too sarre provoked, is turned into fury. Seravenit, sed certa venit vindi­cta: it is long ere hee revenge himselfe on sinners, but hee paies thē with a wit­nes [Page 40]at the last. And howsoever the pu­nishment of malefactors come ate, yet in never misseth in the end. As the Plin. lib. 2. c. 7. hea­then man by the light of nature could tell vs. Lento graduad vindictam divi­na procedit ira. Tarditatem (que) iudicij gra­vitate pēsat saith Valerius Maximns lib. 1. another. God is said to haue leaden seete because hee com­meth slowly to execute vengance; but hands of iron because when he cōmeth he stricketh home. And by how much the longer he expecteth our amēdmēt, so much the more strictly hee will iudge vs if we do neglect. Experience teach­eth vs that the axe the higher it is lifted, the heavier it falleth. A stone the fur­ther it is cast vp into the aier falleth with greater force vpon the earth. Awa­ter course the more it is stopped, when it breaketh forth, runneth with greater violence: even so the longer the Lorde heareth & forbeareth to punish the sins of men, the heavier wil his punishment be in the end. And howsoever hee can bee content along season to haue pati­ence [Page 41]with them: yet at the last, as hee speaketh by the Prophet, he will over­turne, overturne, overturne, Ezech. 21.27. Where, by thrice repeating of the word, is vnderstood an absolute destru­ction and desolation indeed. Pliny in his 8. lib. and 7. cap. and Aristotle in 9. lib. & 46. cap. de natura animalium doe write of the elephant, that by nature he is very milde and gentle; and others say, that he suffereth many wrōgs of inferior beasts but beeing still provoked by them to wrath his fury is not pacified, vntil hee hath revenged himselfe to the ful. That which is said to be true of the creature, is in this sense most true of the creator of al things God himselfe. His very na­ture and essence is, to bee A God ful of compassion and mercy, flow to anger, and of great kindnes. Psal. 103.8. Hee sustei­neth many wrongs of the sons of men: being crushed with their sins, as a cart is laden with sheaues, to vse the words of the Prophet: wherwith if they stil con­tinue to load him, he wil ease himselfe of [Page 42]his burden, and cast it on the ground of confusion. And albeit, as the Psalmist speaketh, he be patient, and is prouoked e­very day: yet if a man will not turne, hee will whet his sword, he will bend his bow, & make it ready. Psa. 7.12. For it is most true which Gregory saith in his 33. book of morals and 15. chapter. Vt pius, ita iustus est conditor. As our maker is mer­ciful, so is he likewise iust. Gracious and righteous is the Lord, Psal. 25.8. gracious in the multitude of his mercies, & righ­teous in the severitie of his iudgements. Gracious to them that turne vnto him, righteous to them that cast him frō thē. The Lord is slow to anger, there is his pa­tience to penitent sinners: but he is great in power, & wil not surely cleere the wic­ked. Nahum. 1.3. there is his iudgement to impenitent reprobates. I haue a longe time holden my peace at your sins, I haue beene still, & restrained my selfe, there is his long suffering declared: but now will I cry like a traveiling woman, I wil de­stroy & devour at once. Es. 42.14. there [Page 43]is his heavy wrath described. The Al­mighty is a patiēt rewarder, there is mercy offered to him that wil receiue it: but he will not leaue the wicked vnpunished. Eccles. 5.4. there is iustice pronounced to him that wil neglect it.

Thus you see (most deare and Chri­stian brethren) that loue & wrath, pitty, and revenge, patience and iudgment, as the 2. daughters of the great king, goe hand in hand: his mercy & truth do meete togither, his righteousnes and peace doe kisse each other. Mercy going before with a pax vobis, peace vnto thē that accept it: iudgement following after with a vae vobis woe vnto them that refuse it, the one comming with an open bosome to receiue the penitēt: the other following with a drawn sword to devour the hard­harted. Mercy is first offered to leaue the wicked inexcusable: iudgmēt is last exe­cuted to destroy the wicked that are cul­pable. For this is the vsual course which God taketh with the sons of men: first to try them a good space by gentle forbea­ring, [Page 44]which if it draw them not vnto re­pentāce, then his arrowes of vengeance are readie prepared for destruction. So did he deale with the old world: hee spa­red it an hundred & twentie yeares, but when hee saw that the wickednes of man was great in the earth, & that al the ima­ginatiōs of the thoughts of his hart were onely evill continually. Gen. 6.5. Hee did by a mightie flowd destroy everie thing that was on the earth from man to beast. Gen. 7.23. So did hee deale with the fig. tree in the Gospel, he spared it 3. whole years togither, and suffered it to be dig­ged & dunged carefully: but continuing it selfe barren, & making also the groūd barren round about it, the Lorde wil no lōger beare with it, it must be destroied, it must be cut downe. Luk. 13.7. So did he deale with those Aegyptians of old, he sent Moses & Aaron to instruct them, who wrought diverse signes and mira­cles among them to win them to repen­tance: whereof when none could moue them, or pierce their hardned heartes, [Page 45]they vvere quite over-whelmed in the midst of the sea, Exod. 14.27. So did he deale with his owne cittie, hee sent Pro­phets & teachers early & late, to wooe her to Christ as the spouse to her bride­grome, he sent his owne sonne to winne her from her sin: but when shee woulde bee gathered by none of these, beholde her house vvas lefte vnto her desolate. Luk. 13.35. Finally so doeth hee deale with Niniveh in my text, he giveth her ful 40. daies for her probation and triall: wherein if shee forsake not her sinnefull waies, and turne vnto the Lord, there shal not a day or houre be further spent, vntill the iudgement of her overthrow be pronounced, and Niniveh shalbe destroyed.

Now the greatnes of this iudgment, is here further amplified, frō the place against which it is denounced, beeing Niniveh, no petty towne of the nati­ons, no obscure place of the worlde, no little village or hamlet of the East, no smal citty in Assyria, as Bethlem was in [Page 46] Iuda: but a greate and excellent city of three daies iourney, even then one of the greatest citties in the world. For as Dio­dorus Siculus in his 3. lib. and 1. cap. He­rodotus in his Clio and Strabo in the 16. of his Geography haue at large descri­bed, thi Niniveh was 400. and 80. fur­longs in circuit. wheras Babylon, which Aristotle in his politicks calleth rather [...] a country then a city, had almost fewer by one hundred. And some haue beene of opinion that afterwardes as it grew in wealth, so it was much more in­larged. Her wals were in height an hun­dred feete, in breadth sufficiently cape­able to receaue three carts on a row, in compasse 400. miles, adorned with a thousand & fiue hundred towers, wher­of the height of every on was two hun­dred feete a peece. The buildings of it very faire, beeing (as some haue noted) eight whole yeares a raysing vp, & not by fewer at once then tenne thousande workemen. The state of it very commē ­dable, beeing ruled by a king and his no­bles, [Page 47]Ion. 3.7. The people of it almost in­numerable, seeing there were six score thousand infāts, that could not discerne betweene their right hand and their left. Ion. 4.11. In a word if J name but Nini­veh I then name al, a beautiful & plea­sant city, as the Hebrew word whence it is deriued importeth. Not only a great citty as Moses calleth it, Gen. 10.12. but a great & excellent city, or a citty great vn­to God, as our Prophet calleth it, ô here­in is the iudgemēt aggravated! This ex­cellent and famous and renowned Ni­niveh, this large and spacious & popu­lous Niniveh, this faire and glorious & goodly Niniveh shalbe destroyed. Ni­niveh that imperial commaunder of all the Easterne partes, that lifted her head aboue the nations, that dwelt in confi­dence and said, I am and there is none besides me, Niniveh shalbe destroied. Niniveh in times past highly renown­ed, prowde of her wals and bul-warks, puft vp in the wealthines of her inhabi­tants, & the goodlines of her buildings, [Page 46] [...] [Page 47] [...] [Page 48] Niniveh shal be destroyed. Niniveh the mother city of Assyria, the Metro­polis of the Country, the golden heade of the picture, the glory of the earth, the seat of the Empire, the Lady of the East, the Queene of nations, the riches of the world, Niniueh shalbe destroied.

Obiection. But some man peradventure wil say, what sinnes hath Niniueh committed; how hath shee offended God: that shee so great and excellent, so famous & re­nowed citty, should haue so severe a iudgment, denounced against her from the Lord? Answere. For answere whervnto J must confesse that the sinnes, for which Ni­niveh is here so threatned, are not ex­pressed in my text, but else where set downe by the spirit of God. That this ci­ty was given to idolatry, it appeareth in the second booke of Kings where it is said that Senacherib was worshipping his false God, in the temple of Niniveh, whē his two sonnes slew him. 2. King. 19.37, And if yee looke but into the third chap. of the Prophecy of Nahum; you shall [Page 49]finde other sins of this cittie there rec­koned vp by the prophet. For he calleth it a mistresse of witchcrafts, a bloudy cit­ty, full of lies & robbery, from whence the pray departeth not. Vnto which sinnes, J may also adde the sinnes of infidelity, & gluttonie, and pride, which I doe the ra­ther iudge to be general faultes among them: because in their repentance (as a­none by Gods grace ye shall hear) men­tion is made of suppressing these sinnes, of suppressing their infidelitie, by belee­ving in God, of suppressing their glutto­ny by proclaiming a fast, of suppressing their pride by putting on sack-cloath frō the greatest vnto the least. But that one place is insteede of al the rest, to declare the sinne of Niniveh, it is in the begin­ning of this prophecie of Ionas: where it is said that the wickednes of this peo­ple vvas come vppe before the Lorde, where the name of VVickednes in the o­riginal (as the learned note) signifieth the greatest extremity that can be, and is not restrained to this or that sin one [Page 50]of a thousand, but is a most absolute, & all sufficient terme, to al manner of im­pietie.

Thus then you see (most deare and blessed brethren, beloued in the Lorde Iesus) that it is not for a smale thing, or matter of light momēt: but for many & most grievous sins, even the height of al impietie, for which Niniveh this nota­ble citty must be destroyed. For howso­ever her state was most powerfull, her gouernment most excellent, her wals most statelie, her towers most high, her citizens most wealthy, her name most renowned, her people almost innume­rable: yet nether the mightines of her state nor the excellencie of her gouern­mēt, nor the climing of her wals, nor the aspiring of her towers, nor the riches of her citizens, nor the honor of her name, nor the multitude of her people, if shee once giue over her selfe to sin; can make her secure from the wrath of God. For greatnes of sins wil shake the foundati­on of the greatest citties, and multitude [Page 51]of offences wil diminish and consume whole multituds of men. Iericho the ci­ty of palme-trees as she is called. Deut. 34.3. beeing withal a wicked and vncir­cūcised citty, idolatrous in the worship of God, and hostile to his people, had a lamentable ende. For loe the men of armes, at the Lords appointment, vtterly destroied al that was in it, both man & woman, young and olde, beasts and cattel, oxen & asses, with the edge of the sword, Ios. 6.21. Tyrus was rich with the seed of Nilus that brought her abundance, the haruest of the rivers were her revenews, and shee a mart of the nations, it was a glorious city, and her antiquity of anci­ent daies: shee crowned men and her mar­chants were Princes, & her chapmen the nobles of the world. Es. 23. Yet beholde the iudgmēts of the Lord, against that city for her sins, as it is in the same chapter: it was tould her, that her owne feete should lead her a far of to be a soiourner: for the Lorde of hostes had decreed it, to staine the pride of all glory, and to bring [Page 52]to contempt al the honorable in the earth. Nô was full of people, and lay in the ri­vers, and had the waters rounde about it: whose ditch was the sea, & her wall was from the sea yet, for her sins, was shee ca­ried away, and went into captivity: her young childrē were dashed in peeces at the head of the streets, and they cast lots for her noble men, and al her mighty men were boūd in chaines, Nahum. 3.10. Yea Baby­lon called a great citty as wel as Nini­veh, that said in her hart, I sit as Queene, I am no widdow, & shall see no mourning: by reasō of her iniquities hath her iudg­ment pronouned by the angel: It is fal­len, it is fallen, & is become the habitati­on of Divels and the hole of all foule spi­rites, and the cage of every vncleane and hateful bird. Revel. 18.2. Nay Ierusaleus though the perfection of beauty, and ioye of the whole earth, Lament. 2.15. Though shee were as deare vnto the LORDE as the signet on his right hand, and the onely spowse of the greate king of hea­ven: yet because shee became wanton, [Page 53]and played the harlot, and would not be reclaimed: shee was made a spectacle of vengance & iudgment to all the coasts of the earth & natiōs of the world. That sanctified city that chosen citty of the Lord, that citty built in vnity, the Queene & Empresse of the Provinces, was so de­faced, and leveled with the ground, that not one stone was left standing vpon an other, neither in their houses, wals, bul­warkes, turrets, nor in the altars, sanctu­ary, or temple, the old, the young, the matrones, the virgins, the infantes, the princes, the priests, the Prophets, & the Nazerites were al slaine, famished, fet­tered, scattered abroad, & vtterly con­sumed. For further knowledge of all which, J referre you to Iosephus de bello Iudaico where these things are largely set downe; and he that readeth that sto­ry with dry eies, I wil say that his hart is harder then the hardest adamant, and himselfe lesse compassionate then the most barbarous Scythian in the world. Si sit in viridi quid fiet in arido? If this [Page 54]be done in the greene tree, what shalbe done in the dry? Luk. 23.31. If the Lord dealt so severelye with the Iewes that were the natural branches: what will he doe vnto them that are but the wilde branches? Rom. 11.21. And if he brought so heavy a destruction vpon his own ci­ty for sin: then let not this famous citty of London flatter her selfe in her securi­ty: but let her, and all the citties of the world feare and tremble, least commit­ting the like sinnes, the Lord bring vpō thē the like iudgmēts. For as his mercy is comfortable: so is his iudgment ine­vitable, and they that wil not with Ni­niveh imbrace him in the on, in accep­ting the time of 40 daies, to their con­version; shal vndoubtedly feele him in the other, in receiuing a perpetual iudgment to their confusion. And so much be spoken concerning this second cir­cumstaunce, of the first general parte. which was Gods iudgment, denoun­cing destruction against Niniveh, if in the time allotted, she would not amend.

Now lett vs see, what further vse & applicatiō we may make of these things vnto our selves.

Jhad thought (Right Honorable, Application of the for­mer do­ctrines. right worshipfull & dearly beloued in Christ Iesus) when I first made choice of this text to haue applied this sermon of Io­nas to this renowned city of London be­ing the Metropolu of al England as Ni­niveh was of Assyria, because in my simple iudgment this argument heere handled may very wel befit this place & these times. But considering with my selfe that many of this greate assembly are inhabitants of other places of this land, I doe rather thinke it best to apply it to the people of England in general; that what is spoken of them, every man in particular may accompt as spokē vn­to himselfe. And here, beloued, to pro­ceede according to our Prophets me­thod. If ever there were nation or king­dome vnder the cope of heauē, to whō the Lord hath manifested himselfe to [Page 56]be a God of much patience & long suf­fering: surely ours is that nation, ours is that kingdome. How hath hee desired Englands salvation, Gods mer­cies to England. how hath he waited for her conversion, how hath he sought to win and wooe her to contrition? He hath sent her not one Ionas, one time, but many hundred Prophets and tea­chers, daily and howrely to call her to repentance. He hath giuen her not 40. daies as he did Niniveh, but full forty yeares and more to bethinke her selfe: vnder the peaceable governement of a most gracious soveraigne. Neuer did any father so long indure, the vntoward linesse of a wicked sonne, neuer did anie Prince so long suffer, the rebellions of a disloyall subiect, neuer did any Lorde so long forbear, the punishment of a neg­ligent servant, never did any husband so long sustaine the iniuries of a levvde-li­ving wise, as hee our gracious father, hath done vs prodigal sonnes, as he our heauenly king, hath done vs vnnarural subiects, as he our mightie Lorde, hath [Page 57]done vs carelesse servants, as he our lo­ving husbande, hath done vs faithlesse wines. His mercie & forbearance to the Israclits, was nothing, in respect of that he hath shewed to vs the people of Eng­land. He hath delivered vs from the spi­ritual darknesse of Aegypt, the palpable obscuritie of ignorance and superstitiō. He hath appointed vs his laws and ordi­nances, his statutes and his commande­ments. He hath given vs Manna from heaues, angels foode, the bread of our souls, the word of life, wher with he hath fed vs these manie yeares. But as the young hinds in Iob, beeing once growne sat with corne goe from their dams, and returne not to them againe. Iob. 39.7. So wee being fatted and replenished vvith these and a thousand the like vnspeake­able benefites and blessings forget and forsake the Lord of heauen. Witnes our vnthankefulnesse and disobedience, our grudging and murmuring against our maker. Witnes our cold zeale and luke­warmenes in our profession, witnes our [Page 58]backsliding from the truth, our neglect & contempt of the word of God. VVit­nes the burden of innumerable sins, vn­der which our land groaneth: enmity & dissention, fraud and dissimulation, co­vetousnes and oppression, pride & am­bition, adusterie and fornication, svvea­ring and forswearing, lying and stealing & the like, al which had long since pul­led downe the heavy wrath of God and his iust iudgements vpon vs: had not his mercy and loving kindnesse hindred the same. Let vs not (my deare brethren) to farre provoke this gracious and loving God, vvhom wee haue already grieued more then 40. yeares by our iniquities. You know that pride, & fulnes of bread, aboundance of idlenes, and no stretching forth of handes vnto the poore, vvere the very capital and head sinnes, which did even vvrest and wring from the Lorde, his heavie and fearefull iudgment on Sodome and Gomor. Ezech. 16.49. And yet who doeth not know, that all these sinnes, and infinite other, doe in as bad [Page 59]manner, and no lesse measure, reigne & revel in England what other sequele thē is to be feared, thē that the Lord should shower downe his plagues and iudge­ments vpon vs, in as great measure as e­ver he did vpon thē? For he is the same God now, as he was then, and his harted ro sin is stil the same. We read of three greivous punishments, which the Lord threatneth to bring vpon his people for their sinnes I wall consume them, saith he, by pestilence, by famine, and by the sword ser. 14:12. Beloued in Christ Ie­sus, Gods iudg­ments rust­ly to be ex­pected on England, if it doe not speedily re­pent. let not England slatter her selfe any longer with the Lords patience, for shee hath provoked him to long. Beholdnow the axe of this anger is put to the root of the tree, his fan is in his land to purge his flore, his fire is kindled, his bow is ready bent, the arrows of his vengance are ready drawn to the head, & the ful viols of his displeasure hangs over our heades ready, to power downe the like or grea­ter iudgments vpon vs: if wee speedely turn not vnto him, by a true & vnfained [Page 60]repērāce. The great plague in England 1593. See Stowes Cronicle. The yeares are not yet many, nor the time long, since the inscriptions on your dores without, were as evident testimonies of the destroying Angel of the Lord within: since the arrow that fli­eth by day, the pestilence that vvalketh in the darknesse & the plague that destroy­eth at noone day, devoured many thou­sands in this citty, & other places of this land. And had not Gods mercy bin the greater, in saying then to his Angel, as in like case we read he did: it is sufficient hould new thy hand 2. Sam. 24.16. A mā might haue wādred about our conntry, as Diogenes sometimes did about A­thens, with a candle and lanterne in his hād at noone-day: to seeke, I do not say, a good mā, but any mā at al, & not haue foūd him. The great dearth. 1597 The yeares are not yet many, nor the time longe, since the husband­mā, as the prophet spekaeth sowed much and brought in little, since the heavens o­ver vs stayed themselves frō dew, & the earth vnder vs brought not forth her fruites, since the staffe of our bread vvas [Page 61]broken. & cleanes of teeth foūdin alour villages, & want of victuals in alour cit­ties. And had not Gods mercy bin the greater then vnto vs in sending a plen­tiful increase: our skin had cleaved to our bones, & withered like a stock Lament. The Spa­nish fleete 1588. 4.8. Finally the yeares are not yet many, nor the time longe, since the sword of a forraine foe, hath bin shaken at our lād, threatning an overthrowe of the same: since tidings of warres, & rumors of ma­nifold troubls, haue bin sounded in our eares: to say nothing of our wicked at­tempts & divelish conspiracies of many of our vnnatural countri-men at home. But ô Lord as thou hast given but abad successe to such evil interprizes: so wee beseech thee stil to bring to nought the proiects & purposes of al such either for­raine adversaries that seeke our realmes destructiō, or trecherous Absolons that lift vp their handes, against their dread soveraigne, & thine anointed. Let vs not thinke (my deare brethren) that these iudgmēts of pestilence, of famine, & the [Page 62]sword, haue come vnto vs by chaunce, & so gon away againe: There is a God above, that in some measure hath made vs tast of them for our sins: whom if we stil provoke, by heaping sin vpō sin, assu redly he hath these, & greater plagues in store, to power down vpō vs. For the arme of the Lorde is not shortened: hee that hath striken vs once, can, & wil, for our sins, strike the secōd time. He that hath smot some few of our nation with the sword, can, & wil, for our disobedi­ence, if we repent not in time, with the sword againe, destroy many thousands and millions more. Hee that, with the plague of pestilēce, hath takē away here & there on, can, & wil, for our vnthāk­fulnes, if wee repent not in time, with the same, or a greater disease take away The la­mentable experience of this wee feele in this yeare 2603. whole multituds togither, nay devour whole citties, and towns, and leave our land as desolate as a wildernes. He that hath punished our bodis in the time of dearth for want of bread, can, & wil for our rebellion, if we repent not in time, [Page 63]suffer our soules to perish for wāt of spi­ritual comfort: yea he will bring on our land, as the Prophet speaketh, not a fa­mine of bread, but of hearing the word of the Lord, And wee shal wander from sea to sea, and from the North evē vnto the East shal wee runne to & fro, to seeke the word of the Lord, and shal not finde it. Amos 8.11 12. A heavy iudgment of al other (my deare brethren) & yet most vsual, where Gods word is contemned & set at naught. Great was the glory, & glorious the light, which the Church of God sometimes had in Asia the lesse, at what time the blessed Evāgelist S ^t. Iohn & Policarpus, & many other schollers of the Apostles floorished there. How fa­mous for the word preached were those citties of Graecia, florishing Churches of Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Co­losse, and Thessalonica, wherin S ^t. Paule preached, & planted so many holesome doctrines of the Christian faith: and to whō he wrote so many divine Epistles extant in our church to this day! But for [Page 64]the sinnes & iniquities, of the inhabitāta of those places, were not the bright shi­ning lamps of religion quite extingui­shed among them, was not the light of the Gospell quite taken from them and since removed into the West? Nay the citty Rome was once the mirrour of na­tions, the glory of the world, the wōder of the West, the sanctuary of religiō, the very habitation of true piety, when her faith was published throughout the whole worlde, Rom. 1.8. But when religious Rome once proved beastly Babylon, the holy cittie an harlot, when idolatrie and superstition began once to rule & raign in her: beholde her candlesticke was re­moved into the northerne parts, and a­mong the rest to vs of this land: where if wee giue it no better welcome & enter­tainment thē they did, how may we not iustly feare the like iudgement: least the Lord deprive vs of so great a blessing, & giue it to Tartarians and Moores wilde and savage people, that wil with greater alacrity receive it, & peradventure with [Page 65]greater fruit entertaine it, then we haue done.

Wherefore (my deare brethren) yet the word of the Lord is amongst vs, yet the Prophets are in Israel, yet the pearle is in our field, yet the sound of the Gos­pel is heard throughout our land: O thē let vs make more reckoning & account of it, then heretofore we haue done: lest this sunne be defaced, lest this light bee put out, least it be told vs, as it was tolde the Angell of the Church of Ephesus, that our candle sticke shalbe removed, Re­vel. 2.5. Least the Arke of God bee ta­ken from vs, as it was from the Israelits, 1. Sam. 4.12. Least as Paule and Barna­bas saide to the Iewes: to you is the worde of this salvation sent, but seeing yee put it from you, loe wee turne vnto the Gen­tiles, Act. 13.46. So the Lord say vnto England to thee ô England haue J given my worde but because thou hast cast it away from thee, & iudgest thy selfe vn­worthy of everlasting life, loe J will take it away, and giue it to a barbarous nati­on, [Page 66] that shal bring forth the frūits ther­of, Math. 21.43. Yet the Lord offereth his grace vnto vs: O then let vs accor­ding to S ^t. Augustines Councel in tract. 33. in Iohan. Vse it now if we wil vse it at all: Least the gate of mercy, which to day is open, to morrow be shut, and ne­ver opened againe vnto vs! Yet the mes­sengers & Ministers of God doe beseech vs for Christ his sake to be reconciled to him: O then let vs now become newe men in the Lord, least a heavier iudge­ment light vpon vs! Yet the daies of plē ty are amongst vs: O then let vs nowe with Ioseph lay vp in store, least wee die in the famine! Yet the season is calme & the weather faire: O then let vs nowe with Noah build vp an arke, least with the rest we perish in the flowde! Gen. 7.21. Yet the Angell tarieth at the gates of Sodome: O then let vs now with Lot departe thence, and hast away with the Angell, least with that wicked people wee be destroyed! Gen. 19.24. Yet the bridgroome taryeth and waiteth for vs [Page 67]O then let vs make hast to enter in with him to mariages solēnity: least with the foolish Virgins, we be repelled, with a non novi vos, I know you not! Mat. 25.12. Yet wisdome crieth in our streeres vs (que) quo? O how long wil yea love vani­ty? O then let vs nowe seeke vnto her, least, seeking hereafter, we seek in vain, and shee laugh at our destruction! Prou. 1.26. Yet the Lord setteth open his store­house of mercy: O then let vs now run to him for a blessing, least, comming too late with Esau, we finde none though we seeke it with teares! Heb. 12.17. Yet the Lord knocketh at the dore of our harts: O then let vs now open vnto him: least hee saie to vs as he did to Ierusalem, O that thou hadst knowne at the lest in this thy day the things that belonge vnto thy peace, but now they are hid frō thee! Luk. 19 42, Yet the Lord cryeth vnto vs to a mend: O then let vs, in this acceptable time of grace, harken vnto him, least he say of vs, as he did of a hard harted peo­ple: as I haue cryed to you, and you woulde [Page 68]not heare me, so a time shal come when ye shal cry vnto me, and I wil not he are you. Zach. 7.13. Yet the Lord calleth vs vnto him: O then let vs nowe come, least, if we come hereafter, it be too late: as Ioab came to Absolon, whē his barly fields were burnt. 2. Sam. 14.31. Yet the Lord wai­teth for our returne from Babylon: O thē let vs now returne vnto him, while wee haue time, least hereafter he say to vs as the Angel sware there shalbe no more time Revel. 10.6. Yet the Lord wooeth England & London, as he did Ephraim and Iuda: O England what shal I do vn­to thee, O London how shal I intreate thee? O then let vs imbrace the riches of his bountifullnesse, & his exceeding pa­tience: least wee heape vnto our selues wrath against the day of wrath, & of the declaration of the iust iudgment of God Rom. 2.5. Finally yet the Lord, by Ionas, cryeth in the streets of Niniveh, & ma­ny hundred Ionasses in the Citties and townes of England, yet 40. daies, and, if yee wil not repent, not only Niniveh [Page 69]but the rest of the land also shalbe quite defaced: O then let vs al, with Niniveh in my text, repent vs of our sinnes, be­leeue in God. proclaime a fast, and put on sackcloth, least this heavy iudgment denounced by our Prophet against Ni­niveh iustly fal on vs for our transgressi­ons. And so much concerning my first general part which was Ionas Sermon to the Ninivits with the application ther­of vnto our selues. Now followeth the consideration of the second parte in the next words, to wit the Ninivites repen­taunce; wherof a word or two and so I will commit you to God:

Heere is the fruite and effect which this Sermon wrought in the Ninivites, de­scribed as I toulde you before in these 4. circumstances, 1. By their faith, which was not fruitlesse soe the people of Nini­veh beleeued God 2. By their fasting, which was not private, and proclaimed a fast, 3, By their attire, which was not [Page 70]costly, and put on sackcloth, 4. By their number, which were not few, from the greatest to the least. The least of which 4 circumstāces, if I might dwel vpon thē, would require a longer time, then is al­lotted mee for the handling of them all. And J must confesse that my meditati­ons haue beene so farre inlarged in this second point, that (the time beeing al­most past and the weather so sodainely vnseasonable) I shall not now deliver, without offēding your patience, the on quarter of that which I had purposed. How be it because I perceiue no mā de­sirous to depart, but everie one willing to stay, and so settle himself vnto atten­tiō: J wil be bold to point at those foure observatiōs, which are included in this second part: breifly running them al o­ver, tanquam Canis in Nilo lambēs, pic­king here and there a litle, as may most befit this auditory and these times, lea­ving the consideration of the rest to e­very mans private meditation. Obser. 1.

That is, they did beleeue Ionas sermon to be as true, and the iudgment therein denounced to be as certaine, if they did not repent, as if God himselfe had spo­ken it vnto them. Thus faith commeth, by hearing, & hearing by the word of God, Rom. 10.17. A notable ground-worke & sure foundation of their repentaunce, quo sublato, omne quod super struitur de­struitur adificium. VVhich being taken away and remoued, in vaine and to no purpose do we build vp our selus in san­ctity of life, and sinceritie of conversati­on. For as the blessed Apostle speaketh, Hee that cōmeth to God must first beleeue that God is, Heb, 11.6. VVithout this faith it is vnpossible to please God, & what soe­ver is not of this faith is sin. Rom. 14.23. By how much the more it augmenteth the commendation of these Ninivites whose faith was the first stone in their spiritual building, their first step in their Christiā race, their first link in their gol­dē chaine of Christianity, the first signe of their new conversion, the first degree [Page 72]in their holy conversation, the first ron̄d in their Iacobs ladder, wher by they ascē ­ded vp into the presence of the Lorde a strāge & a wōderful matter, that is here said of this heathnish & idolatrous peo­ple of Niniveh, that they beleeved God. Where some thing was expected, there nothing is to be foūd, & where nothing was looked for, behold great aboūdāce: the fatted soile is become barrē, and the barten ground be areth much encrease, the natural oliue is withered away & the wild oliue is become fruitfull: the natu­ral vine hath no grapes, & the bastarde vine beareth many clusters. Credidit Ni niveh, & I sraell incredulus perseverat, credidit praputiū, et circūcisio manet in­fidelis, saith S. Ierome vpō this place. Io­nas had a long time preached to the Is­raelits, & loe Israel was not Israel but a disobediēt natiō. He preacheth but one sermō among these Ninivits, & he fin­deth more true Israelites among them thē in his own coūtrey: the circumcisiō skorneth, and the vncircumcision are [Page 73]made heires of the promises, the chil­dren prooue rebels, and the rebels are chaunged into children, the Iewes con­temne the worde, and the Gentiles em­brace it. The Israelits that were the elect of God, the sonnes of Abraham, the heires of the covenant remaine vnfaithful: and the Ninivites that were Gentiles in the flesh, that were called the vncircumcision, alients from the cōmon wealth of Israell, strangers from the covenant of promise, they are found faithful. So the people of Niniveh beiceved God.

Observ. 2 Novve because Faith without good vvorkes is but a dead faith, and the De­vils faith, as S ^t. Iames calleth it. Jac. 2. Faith in them (which if it be a true faith is never solitary in any) bringeth foorth the good worke of fasting. They proclai­med a fast. Faith leadeth the way as the mistresie, fasting a good worke is readie at hand, as the hand-maide. Faith as the foundation is first laide, fasting as the building is raised on it. Faith as the tree is first planted, fasting as the fruite [Page 74]groweth theron, faith goeth before as a cause of fasting, fasting followeth after as an effect of faith. And they proclai­med a fast. Not a contentious fast, as their was, who fasted to strife and de­bate Esa. 58.4. Not an Hypocriticall fast, as their was who disfigured their faces, that they might be seene of men to fast Mat. 6.16. Not a meritorious fast, as their was, who had thought, by this meanes to haue merited something at the hands of God Zach. 7.5. Not a super­stitious fast, as the fast of the Papists is, who hold it noe lesse then damnation, on certaine daies to cate the least bit of flesh: and yet at the same times they can be cōtent, to epicurize it with the swee­test wines, hottest spices, daintest fruits, that forraine countries, and most deli­cious fish, thet the farthest seas can af­ford-But the Fast of Niniveh was an orderly fast, it was a publike fast, it was an absolute fast, it was a religious fast. Orderly, because not seditiously vnder taken by the multitude, but designed and [Page 75]appointed by the King and his Nobles. Publike, because proclaimed to be kept, not of this or that family, but of everie thing that breatheth among them both man and beast. Absolute, because they did not, with the Carthusian monkes & others of the like sort, for beare flesh, & feede on dainty fish, and svvill in their booles of wine: but as it is in the 7. verse of this chapter, they were forbid to taste anie thing at all. Religious, because they were commanded in this their fast, to turne from their evill wares & from the wickednes of their hands. O what a wor­thy fast vvas this, O vvhat a singular meanes to appease the vvrath of God? Pliny in his 7. lib. and 2. chap. saith that fasting spittle is present death to serpēts. How true that is J know not. But of this I am sure and certaine, that such a faste as this, (so solemnely vndertaken, so sin­cerely performed,) cannot chuse but be a great meanes, to weaken the power of the great Dragon the olde Serpent, and quench al the fierie dartes of the Devill [Page 76]as Ardertes Diaboli fa­gictae ieiu­niotum fri­ [...]ore re­stringendae sunt. S ^t. Ierome speaketh. This is the foū ­dation of alother vertues as the same father Ad De­me triadem virginem calleth it. This is the destroyer of sinnes, as De Elia & ieiunio. Ambrose nameth it. This is the token of humility, and extinguisher of lusts, as Epist. 121. & ser. de ie­iuni [...]. Avgustine tearmeth it. This is the rooter out of all transgressions, as S ^t. Bernard vsually defineth it. This is the tamer of the flesh, as Gregory in ma­ny places describeth it. This is the expel­ler of temptations, as Tertullian com­mōly speaketh of it. This was the means which the Israelits vsed, whē they were distresled for the slaughter of their men by the Beniamites: they wept and fasted al the day vnto the evening Iudg. 20.26. this was the meanes which Iehoshophat vsed, whē his enimies came against him to battell: He proclaimed a fast through­out all Iudah 2. Chro. 20.3. This was the means which David vsed, whē his child was sicke, he fasted and lay al night vpon the earth. 2. Sam, 12.16. Finally this was the meanes which the Ninivites vsed in my text being terrified with the iudg­ment [Page 77]denoūced by the Prophet they be­leeued God, and proclaimed a fast.

Obser. 3 Now the 3 circumstāce, that setteth down what effect this sermon wrought in them, was their attire, which was not costly, they put on sackcloth. Ahabit very fit to expresle the humility of the mind, and well ioyned in this place to fasting. For these 2. are the weapons of repētanc as Saecus & ieiunium at ma sunt paenueti [...] auxilae peccatorum Hierom. S ^t. Ierome calleth them, And ther­fore the same father saith: consequenter ad ieiunium saccam copulant, vt inanis venter, & habitus luctuosus, ambitiosiùs dominum deprecentur. They adde vnto fasting homely attire, therby to further their praiers, and to make themselues more fit, to apply their suite vnto God. And wheras no doubte they had offen­ded God, both inwardly and outwardly: they doe herein shew the signes of their griefe, both within & without. Within, by debarring their belly, & stomackes, of their vsual substance, as they did by their absolute abstinence in their fast. Without, by making that fleshe which [Page 78]had taken delight before in bewty and bravery to be now basely, and vgly clo­thed, with no better a garment thē sim­ple sackcloth, wherin as Gregory in his 35. [...]moral noteth, is shewed a rough­nes & a pricking, even the compunctiō of our sins: And Tertulliā calleth it ma­roris insigne the very ensigne and badge of sorrow: because heretofore, in anci­ent time, they did vse to weare it vppon such occasions. Witnesle the Patriarke Iacob, who, vpon the newes of his sonne Iosephes death, is said to rent his clothes, to put sackcloth about his loines, & to sor­row for his sonne a long season. Gen. 37.34. Witnes Mordechai, who, whē the King had yeelded to the bloody request of Haman, for murdering all the Iewes, put on sackcloth & ashes, & cryed a great cry and a bitter, in the midst of the citty. Hest. 4.1. Witnes David, who, in sign of his sorrow for Abner, commaunded the people to rent their clothes, & to put on sackcloth. 2. Sam. 3.31. Witnes, in steed [...] wherof J speake, [Page 79]whose king rose vp from his throne, and laid his robe from him, & covered him­selfe with sackcloth, & sat in dust & ash­es, whose nobles followed him, wose Commons imitated thē; frō the high­est to the lowest, from the eldest to the youngest: frō the richest to the poorest, all were clade in sackcloth & base aray, as it followeth in the text, frō the great­est to the least.

Obser. 4 The last circumstance (for I cannot stand to amplifie any) wherin these Ni­nivets repentance is discribed, is taken from their nūber, which were not fewe, from the greatest vnto the least. For it is not one of a house, or some few of a fa­mily, or some of the better sorte of the people, that thus were ready to humble themselves before the Lord: but all in general, & every on in particular, from the eldest father, to the youngest suck­ling, from the greatest potentate to the meanest peysant, of what sex, estate, or conditiō soever they be, al are ready to further this holy duty. I might here iust­ly [Page 80]take occasion to speake of the duty of superiour magistrats, vvho may be here vnderstood by the greatest, as also of in­feriour subiectes, who are specified by the least: how they should, as at al times so especially in the times of common calamities, with a mutual consent, cast down themselues in a generall humilia­tion before the highest. But I can but point at this doctrine. Let it be sufficiēt for our instructiō, that seeing these Ni­nivits did so vniversally performe this, that without doubt, they shall rise vp in iudgmēt against vs at the last day, if we be defectiue heere in having the like oc­casiō. For in their holy exercises, behold a pleasant harmony & agreement, ma­ior aetas incipit, & vs (que) ad minorem per­venit, saith a good father. The elder fort begin, and the younger they followe af­ter; the superiours say to the inferiours, looke on mee and doe yee likewise. Iud. 7.17. And the inferiors answere the supe­riors, as the people did Ioshua, al that yee commaund vs vvee will doe Ios. 1.16. In [Page 81]a worde, as according to Philosophie in the natural bodie, the heart alone is not warme, but the heat thereof is a propa­gating heate, diffusing it selfe in an or­derly sort to the rest of the members, e­ven the hands and feet the most remote parts of the vvhole: so in the common­wealth of Niniveh, vvhich was abodie politicke, the Magistrates and gover­ners themselues were not only throughly warmed with the heate of devotion: but the common people also, and vul­gar sorte did participate of that quality: and as the precious ointment vpon A­rons head ran downe by his bearde, to the skirts of his cloathing, Psal. 133.2. So these notable effectes of beleeving God, and fasting, and putting on sackcloath, were deriued from the king to his coun­cell, and nobilitie, and from them to the meanest subiect. And as we read of the multitude of beleevers, that they were of one heart, and of one soule, Act. 4.32. So here was a general consent, amonge a greater number of new converts: there [Page 82]was but one heart, and one soule, one minde, and one meaning, one faith and one fast, one desire, and on attire, a­mong them al from the greatest to the least. O what a goodly sight was this? O howe was it possible but that such a general cry and consent as this soe vni­versal a humiliation, should be accepta­ble vnto the Lord? For if he hath promi­sed, that were two or three are gathered togither in his name, he wilbe in the midst of them, Math. 18.20. How much more the, when so many thousands of al estats conditions, assemble themselves in sa­sting, sackcloth, and praier, before their God in the great Congregation?

Thus you see (Right Honorable, Right worshipfull most deare and blessed bre­thren) what a plentiful harvest, cōmeth af a little seed sowen, what goodly rivers ishue from a little fountaine, what rare & singular effects, are wrought in these Ninivits, by a few words spoken by the Prophet Ionas. Shall I here commende the Prophets eloquēce, who, like a good [Page 83]oratour, did so rule and raigne in their minds, that as it was said of Hercules Cel­ticus, the eares of his auditors, were tied with a chaine, to the tip of his tongue? Or shall I attribute it to the soft, & gen­tle disposition of these Ninivites, vvho so easily yeelded at the soūd of the Pro­phets voice? I his one general doctrine ishu­eth from al the 4. parti­culars of this part. Or rather shal I not here admire, at the powerfull operatiō of the word of God, that beeing delivered by the voice of on man, and that a straun­ger, it should make so great a king, soe stately nobles, so rich citizens, so many thousand of barbarous & heathen peo­ple, to vaile bonnet, and to descende frō the throne of their pride, and to cast downe themselues, in fasting and sack­cloth before the Lord? Surely this is that word, which, like the snow & rayn never returneth voide, but prospereth in the thing wher vnto it is sent. Es. 55.11. This is that word, which is the power of God vnto salvation. Rom. 1.16. This is that word, that is like a fire & a hammer that breaketh the stone. Ier. 23 29. This [Page 84]is that word which is liuely and mighty in operation, sharper then any two edged sword, and entring thorough, even to the dividing a sunder of the soule & the spi­rite, and of the ioints, and of the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and in­tents of the hart Heb. 4.12. This is that worde, that is mightly through God, to cast downe houldes and to overthrow everie high thing, that is exalted against the knowledg of God, and to bring into capti­vity every thought, to the obedience of Christ 2. Cor: 10.5. Finally this is that worde, which made the disciples harts to burne within them, while they talked with Christ. Luk. 24.32. Which made Felix tremble, Act. 24.26. Which made the Iewes to be pricked in their hartes, Act. 2.37. Which made David con­fesse, he had sinned against the Lord, 2. Sam, 12.13. Which made the people pub­licans, and souldiers, aske Iohn Baptist, what they should doe. Luk. 3.14. Which made Ionas denounce destructiō to Ni­niveh, and Niniveh to repent, for feare [Page 85]of the destructiō denounced so the mes­sage of their overthrow, overthrew the message, the prophecy fell, and the citty fel not, be cause her fal was prophecied. O newe and admirable thinge, (saith S ^t. Chrysostome in his 5. Hom. ad populum Antiochenum) the denūciation of death, hath brought forth life, the sentence of the destruction, hath made a nullity in the sentēce: such is the vertue of Gods word, such is the authority of his everlasting truth.

And is this even so? Jsthe word of the spirite so mightye in operation, hath it wrought so strange effects, and brought forth such wonderful fruites, in ignorāt people, to whom the Lord sent but one Prophet, and that in so shorte a space? How great then shal our iudgment be of this land, to whome the Lord in mercy hath sēt so many Prophets, & teachers, these foure and forty yeares togither, to instruct vs, and to cal vs to repentance: and yet we lie stil frozen in the dregges of our iniquities? For if we doe but exa­mine [Page 86]our selues by these Ninivits, vve shall finde that our repentance cōmeth farre short of theirs. Doe we, in the first place, imitate the Ninivits faith in be­leeving of God? I know that many doe, & God forbid there shoulde bee anye in a Christian commō-wealth, either so wil­fully ignorant, as not to beleeue, or so maliciously obstinate, as not to confesse this truth: and yet there are not vvan­ting amongst vs, and they of great place also it is to bee feared, that saie vvith the foole in the Psalme, There is no God at all. Thou damned Atheist, whosoe­ver thou art, lifte vp thine eies vnto the heavens, & behold therein, the sun, the moone, and the stars, the wonderful works of God. Cast down thine eies vp­on the earth, and behold therein, trees, plāts, hearbs, flowers, beasts, & cattel: & in them cōfider not the power of nature as thou foolishlie callest it, but of the God of nature, which framed & fashio­ned all. Consider the ebbing & flowing of the sea, and the wonderfull workes of [Page 87]the highest in the deepe. Looke into thy selfe a little worlde, how art thou fashio­ned behinde and before, within & withe out, hovv wonderfully art thou made vvith varietie of faculties, distinction of members, proportion of body, to saie nothing of thy soule a heavenlie creature? And if al this, vvill not make thee confesse there is a God: yet knovve this, that the horrour of thy consci­ence, for this thy so greate blasphe­mie, shall make thee, vvhether thou wilt or no, acknowledge this truth. Or if thy conscience, bee seared with an hot yron in this world yet be thou well assu­red, that the vvorme of conscience, that never dyeth, in the worlde to come shal torment thee, in the lake that ever bur­neth, and in the fire that neuer goeth out.

Do we in the secōd place with these Ninivites betake our selues to fasting for our sinnes? What then is the cause, that there are so many amongst vs, who like those voluptuous Princes of Israell, [Page 88]doe stretch themselues vpon their beds of ivory, and cate the lambes of the flocke, & the calues out of the stal, delighting them selues in the sound of the violl, and other instruments of musicke that drinke wine in boles, and annoint themselves vvith sweet ointments, not remembring the af­flictiō of poore Ioseph. Amos 6.6. These are the Epicures of the world, who wil rather feasT luxuriouslie with drūkē Ho­lofernes then fast religiously with these godly Ninivites. These are they, whose God is their bellie, vvhose glory is their shame, whose only felicitie consisteth in delicate fare: being of his minde in the history Philoxe­nus apud A [...]ianum de vatia hist. lib. 10. cap 9. who said of his meate: that that was the sweetest which vvas the deerest. But as the historian there very wel coū ­celleth [...]. These examples must be remembred, not that any should follow & imitate them, but that every one shoulde abhorre and de­test them.

Thirdly do we imitate the Ninivites [Page 89]attire, in clothing our selues in sackcloth and course garments? Howe then com­meth it to passe, that the vgly and dete­stable monster pride, hath so over-run our land: that al estates, and degrees a­mōgst vs, are so tainted & infected with this blemish? Noble-men in the courte, Gentlemen in the country, serving men every where, vpstart Swaggerers & cut­ting Caveliers, who, when they haue no inward qualities to commend thē, they must haue the ivy bush of long haire to hang over their shoulders; not regar­ding S ^t. Paules reproofe. 1. Cor. 11.14. nor Absolons iudgement. 2. Sam. 18.9. These are our inventors of newe fashio­ned garments, our French, our Turkish, our Spanish, our Italian English-men. For a man may see a liuely resemblance of al these in their apparel: as if the va­nities of al nations, vvere little enough, to make vp the measure of an English­mans pride. Let them not thinke, that want of other matter, hath driven vs to tax these follies in thē. It is rather want [Page 90]of grace in them, that they will not a­mend. For if we should not cry out a­gainst these their foul, & filthy sins they would, on day, cry out before the tribu­nal seate of God, against them and vs. Good God, that the sonns of Adam, should so farre degenerate frō their fa­ther Adam! He good man wos content, with a garment of figg-tree leaues to hid bunakednes. Gen. 3 [...]. But we wil scarce be pleased with the ratest, and richest workmanhip, that art or nature can af­foord, to cover our sinful bodies. Nay as Plinie in his 5. lib. & first chapter noted the riott and excelle of his time: so may we iustly do the like of outs. Because forrests are sought out, farre and neere, for iuory and citron trees, and all the rocks of Gerulia are searched for shei­fishes, that yeeld the purple crimson colour, to make our apparell shew glori­ous. But ô folly and vanity of advanities saith the same another, euer to think, ōsi­dering our simple beginning, y ^t we were sent into the world, to line in pride, & to [Page 91]adorne & decke our carkesses in braverie, that are nought but clay & put refaction.

Finally do we with these Ninivites, in the last circumstance, generally turne vnto the Lord, & humble our selues be­fore him, frō the greatest vnto the least? what thē is the cause, that all of vs yong and old, high and low, haue so erred in our waies: everyone, turning into his own race, as the horse rusheth into the battle, to speake with the Prophet? Ier. 8.6. What is the cause, that, in this bright sunnshine of the Gospel, such palpable darkenesse of errour & ignorance, such reliques of superstitiō & idolatry, should remaine amongst vs? What is the cause that so many of vs, are meere tempori­zing newters, luke warme professors, nei­ther hote nor colde like them. Revel. 3.15. halting betweene two opinions, coldlie professing the Religion established, but in hart imbracing Papistical false-hood? What is the cause, that the Iesūites and Seminaries, finde such secret favour a­mōgst vs: who, like subtil deceavers, are [Page 92]at open warre on with another, but yet tyed to gither by the tasse like Sampsons Foxes with fire brandes to destroy our Church? What is the cause that, after the Gospel so long preached, holines of life is so little practised: that many come not at all to heare the worde of God or cōming, with the dease adder they stop their eares at the soūd therof or hearing it, bring not forth the fruits of repētāce: or repenting for a time, returne at lēght with the dog to his vomit, & the swine vnto her filth? Lastly what is the cause that our land is ful of adulterers, and be­cause of othes the land mourneth, to vse the Prophets words Ier. 23.10. that vsu­rye hath corrupted the rich cormorant, ambitiō the proud Prelate, covetousnes the greedy lawyer, disdaine the scornful courtier, deceit the cunning artificer, & the like. that all estates and degrees, are knowen by their several sinnes, as every gentleman by his several cognisance? Is this our vniversall conversion vnto the Lord? is this the fruite of the Gospel? are [Page 93]these the badges of our repētance? Are these the effects, I say not of one sermō as Ionas his was to Niniveh, but of so many thousand sermons, delivered frō time to time vnto vs? Never more prea­ching ne­ver lesse pra [...]ing. Beloved in Christ Iesus, I am verely perswaded, that the immortal seede of Gods word, was ne­ver more plentiful sowen since the A­postles time, then it hath bin amongest vs, these many yeares togitherithe Lord make vs thankfull for so great a blessing. And yet as Lictantius said, there vvas never lesse wisdome in Greece, then in the time of the 7. wise men: so I seare me it may be to truly said, there was ne­ver lesse piety in England, then in this long eontinuance of so many godly and zelous Pastors. Sodome & Gomer, Tire & Sidon, shal rise vp at the last day and cōdemn vs: for if halse so many lecturs, and sermons, & exhortations, & instru­ctions, had bin preached among them, as haue bin amonst vs, They had surely repēted in sackcloth & ashes. The Queene of the South, shall rise vp in iudgment, a­gainst [Page 94]vs at the last day for she came frō the vttermost part of the earth to heare the wisdōe of Salomō Mat. 12.42. But many of vs, refuse to step out of our dores, to heare the heauēly wisdōe of the true Salomō Christ Iesus, revealed in his hea­vēly word. The Publicans and souldiers, shal rise vp at the last day & cōdemn vs: for at the preaching of on Iohn Baptist, they were moued in their minds Luk. 3.14 But let al the Ministers & messengers of God, cry out til they be hoarce against our sins, & yet our harts ar nothing pricked, & yet our affectiōs are nothing stir­red vp. Those wicked Iewes, that crucifi­ed the Lord of life, shal rise vp at the last day & cōdemn vs; for they, at on sermō of S ^t. Peter, were cōverted to the num­ber of three thousand. Act. 2.41. But how many fermous shal a mā make a­mongst vs, before he convert on sinfull soule, before hee bring home one stray sheep to the sheepfold of Christ Iesus? The Ninivits as you haue hard, at one little sermō of a few words, delivered by [Page 95]one Ionas, repēted in sackcloth & ashes, from the greatest to the least, but wee haue hard, not in this place only, but in al the corners, & quarters of our lād, many hūdred Ionasses, yea many thousand pastors & prophets, & preachers of the word: & yet for al this, where is our faith in beleeving God? wher are the fasts we haue proclaimed? wher is the sackcloth we haue put on? wher are the superiors to designe? where ar the inferiors to put in practise these holy exercises? Lastly al the creaturs of God, shal rise vp at the last day & condēne vs: for they, in their several places, do in their kind, perform their duty to their creator, & are obedi­ent to his word: but we only, as the most vnreasonable, & insēsible of al other, cō ­tinue obstinat & rebellious stil. The hea­vēs declare the glory of God, the lights obey him with fear, the stars shin in their watch, the moone keeps her appointed seasō, the sū knows his going down, the waters fly at hi rebuke: the earth trem­bleth & the moūtains shak. The stork in [Page 96]the aier knoweth her appointed time, & the turtle, and the crane, and the swal­lowe obserue the time of their cōming: the oxe knoweth his owner, and the asse his maisters cribb: but wee onely, as the most vnreasonable, and insensible of al creatures continue obstinate & rebelli­ous stil. What should I saie more (belo­ved in Christ lesus) senselesse stones are more obediēt to Gods voice thē we are. Beholde Moses with his rod stroke the rocke but twice, and the vvaters gushed out abundantly. Num. 20.11. but though the God of Moses, strik our stony hatts, twice twenty times, with the hāmer of his word: yet, where is that penitent Pe­ter amongst vs, J say not, that vveopeth bitterly, but that sheddeth one teare, in remembrance of his transgressions? Be­hold the stony wals of Iericho, after God had summoned them by his Priests, soū ­ding their trumpets thrice, at the third found, fell flatte vpon the ground. Ios. 6.20. But we haue resisted, not the third, or the fourth, or the sift onely, but more [Page 97]the fiue hundred solemne summons, & several sounds: none of them could ever moue vs, none of them coulde once a­wake vs. Isidore in his 12. lib. and 2. cap. de brutis animalibus, reporteth of the yong Lions, that, after 3. daies, they are raised and rowsed, by the roaring of the olde: but the Lion of the tribe of Iudah Christ Iesus, by preaching of his word, hath roared, not 3. daies alone but more thē 43. yeares togither amōgst vs, & yet for al this we are not roused, and yet for al this we are not awaked. what? is not Christ the same Christ still? is not his Gospel as fruitful, is not his doctrine as effectual, is not his word as powerful now as ever it was? yes my deare bre­thren. But the fault is in vs. Our marble & flinty harts will not be softened, with the sweete shewers of Gods heavenlie word, cōfortably falling down vpō thē: our stiffe & yronsinewed necks, wil not bow with any yoke, either the sweete & easie voke of the Gospel. Mat. 11.30. or the heavy & vnsupportable yoke of the law. [Page 98]Act. 15.10. our faces are like whores for­heads, that wil not blush Ier. 3.3. our ears are so deafe, our eies so dry, our senses so dul, our wils so obstinat, our affectiōs so barren, our desires so cold: that neither the infamy and shame of the world can moue vs, nor al gētle admonitiōs allure vs, nor the terrible threatnings of Gods iudgments feare vs, nor the continuall preaching of al the creatures of God vn­der heavē perswade vs vnto repentice. Nay we are so soundly rocked and lulled a sleepe in the carelesse cradell of securi­ty, that neither the goulden bells of Aa­ron, nor the thundering trump of Esay, nor the well tuned cymballs of Dauid, nor the shril soūd of Gods word, cōtinu­ally ringing in our cares, cā once awake vs. Being herein like to those beares, of whō Selinus writeth, in his 39. chap. qui tam gravi semno premūtur, vt ne vulne­ribus quidem excitariqucant. who are so farre opprest with a heavy sleepe, that though they bee wounded, yet can they not be wakened. Or like those fishes of [Page 99]whō Aristotle in his 4. l. & 10. c. de hist. animaliū writeth: that they sleep so soūdly that, though they haue speares thrust into their sides, yet they stir not at all: so sense-lesse also are we in this our carnal securi­ty, that though the Embassadours of the King of heavē, as so many sons of thun­der, with Ionas in my text denoūce iudgment against vs, out of that word, which is sharper thē any two edged sword: yet for al this, we do not with these Ninivits yeeld & cast down our selves before the Lord: but rather like to the drūkard slee­ping in the top of the mast Pro 23. whē we are thus strikē we feel it not, whē we are thus beaten we awake not, when we are thus admonished we amend not.

Wherfore (most deare & blessed brethrē beloued in the bowels of Christ le­sus) to conclud al in a word, [...] as he said to the Angel of the church that is at Sardis: so giue me leave, I beseech yov, to say the same to every on of you, that hea­reth me this day. Remēber how you haue receaved &c. Rev. 33. Remēber that this [Page 100]day you haue hard of a message frō the Lord to a great citty, & of the conversi­on of a great citty vnto the Lord. Remē ber in the one Gods patiēce to Niniveh, in sparing it long Yet 40. daies: And yet his severe iudgmēt of destructiō, if she would not amend, and Niniveh shalbe destroyed: Remēber in the other the Nini vits turning vnto the Lord, begun with faith, cōtinued with fasting, declared in sackcloth, performed of al, frō the grea­test vnto the least. And remēber that the Lord hath sēt, the same messag this day to England, to Lōdon, nay to vs all, as he did to Niniveh: giving vs yet time to repent, if we wil accept him. O then let vs loue him in his mercy: threatning our o verthrow, if we do neglect him, ô thē let vs feare him in his iudgmēts, let vs now repēt, while we haue time, least hereaf­ter we would repent, whē we shal haue no time. Let vs now turn vnto the Lord, in beleeving on him, in pinching our bel­lies with fasting, in clothing our backes with sackcloth, and in a general humiliation [Page 101]of our selves before him, that so he may turne away his wrath, and heavie iudgmentes, from vs & from our lande. Let vs now open our eares, at the soūd of his word preached. That being ope­ned, we may heare it carefully, &, carefully hearing it, wee may conceiue it rightly, and, rightly conceiving it, wee may beleeue it faithfully, and, faithfully beleeving it, we may discerne it fruitful­ly, and, fruitfully discerning it, we may practise it effectually, & bring forth the fruits therof accordingly, therby grow­ing from strength to strength, from ver­tue to vertue, vntill at the last we become perfect men in Christ Iesus. That so be­ing nowe accepted as sonnes, into the kingdome of grace in this world, wee may heerafter bee receaved as heires, into the kingdome of glory, in the world to come. Which the Lord of his infinit mercy graunt vnto vs all, for his Deare Sonns sake Iesus Christ, to whom with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, three Persons, one eternall, everliving, and [Page 102]onely wise God, bee rendered and as­cribed all Honour, and Glorie, Povver and Praise, Might and Maiestie, Dig­nitie and Dominion, now and for ever­more. Amen.