[4.] xxxiii. and Aaron, two brethren, to be the chief rulers of the people, the one in religion, and the other in civil matters: to teach us, that these two kinds of rulers be lawful and necessary in a commonwealth, that they should love and stick together like brethren, and that the one with the word and the other with the sword should jointly build God's house, pull down antichrist the pope, and set up the kingdom of Christ. When the children of Israel had committed idolatry in Baal- Numb. xxv. peor, and fallen to adultery with the women of Moab, Moses in the name of God commands all the rulers of the people to be hanged on gallows against the sun, because they did not their duties in keeping the people from such mischief. To the preachers saith Ezekiel: "Thou son of man, I have Ezek. iii. made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: thou shalt hear words of my mouth, and shew them from me. If I say to the wicked, Thou wicked, thou shalt die the death, and thou wilt not speak to him that he may keep him from his wickedness, the wicked shall die in his wickedness, but I will require his blood of thy hands: but if he will not leave his wickedness when thou tellest him, he shall die in his wickedness, and thou hast saved thine own soul, because thou hast done thy duty in warning him." By these punishments we may see, that it is neither the duty of civil rulers, by what name soever they be called, to be negligent in their duty, or to set in an evil deputy for them to gather up the profits, that they may go hawk, or hunt, game, or keep whores; for God, that gave them that authority, will look for account for it of them: nor that it is lawful for bishop, dean, archdeacon, prebendary, or parson, to set in a parish priest to make conjured water, and serve the people in a strange tongue, which neither he nor they understand: for by these means the people be not amended. Hely, having complaints made to him of the unhappiness 18am. iv. of his children, fell and brake his neck, because he would not punish them; and they themselves were killed in battle, and the ark of God was taken by God's enemies: so shall the fathers of the people perish, if they punish not faults of the people. "He that desires a bishop's office," saith St Paul, “de- 1 Tim. iii. sires a good labour:" he calls it not a good lordship, nor :: idleness and wealth, but labour. What a man the labourer Ezek. xxxiv. should be, Ezekiel tells particularly, saying: "Woe to the shepherds of Israel, which feed themselves, and not my flock! ye have eaten the fat, and been clothed with the wool; but ye have not strengthened the weak, nor healed the sick, nor brought home the stray, nor sought the lost, but ye have ruled over them with sharpness." These be the duties of good shepherds and their labours, and not masking masses, mumming matins, and babble they know not what and he that either cannot or will not do these things, seeking his own ease and wealth, and not bring the people to God, is a thief and murderer. Also, the patron of a benefice or bishop, which admit any such as cannot do these duties to have cure of souls, are partakers of his wickedness; and, taker of the as much as in them lies, murder so many souls as perish this ways for want of wholesome doctrine. St Paul says to Timothy : Lay not thy hand rashly on any man, nor without good trial appoint him a minister, lest thou be partaker of other men's sins." We must neither do evil ourselves, nor consent to other to do it, but, as much as in us lies, stop it for both the doer and he which agrees to it Rom. i. [32.] are worthy death, as St Paul saith. But he that places an unworthy or unable minister wittingly in a benefice, consents to the evil which he doeth, because he might stop him from it if he would; and therefore is he worthy death also. To admit an unable minister is to be par evil that he doeth. 1 Tim. v. Matt. v. An unlearn ed minister 66 A tailor that is not cunning to make a gown may mend hose; a cobbler that cannot make shoes may mend them; a carpenter which is not cunning to make the house, yet may he square trees or fell them: but an unable priest to teach is good to nothing in that kind of life or ministery. "Ye are the salt of the earth," saith our Saviour Christ; "but if the salt have lost his saltness, wherewith shall it be salted? it is not good enough to be cast on the dunghill (for so it would do good in dunging the field); but it is meet for nothing but to be cast in ways to be trodden under our feet." So these priests, which have not the salt of God's word is not to be to season man's soul withal, are meet for nothing in that the minis kind of life, but to be put to some occupation which they can do, and get their living with the sweat of their face, suffered in tery. and not occupy a place among God's shepherds, seeing they be rather dumb and devouring dogs than good preachers. the Jews in gence. Are not we in England guilty of the like fault? When We are like God stirred up our kings as chief in the realm, and Thomas long negliCranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, with others, for matters in religion, to drive the buyers and sellers of masses, pardons, trentals, &c. out of God's house, which they had made a den of thieves, was not this in all our mouths: It is not yet time to build God's house, the people cannot bear it; we fear strange princes and rebellions?-as though God were content to suffer idolatry for a time, and would not or could not promote his own matters without our politic devices. And almost as many years have we lien loitering as these men did, and not builded God's house, but pulled it down; builded our own houses goodly without any stop or fear, where rebellion most should have been feared, because it was done oft with the injury of others, as by extreme raising of rents, taking great incomes and fines, &c., by these means seeking our own rest and profit. It wants not much. of so many years since king Henry began to espy the pope; and yet God's house is not built. What marvel is it then, if we have been thus grievously plagued for our negligence in thus doing, and that every one hath been sought out to death, that was judged to love God's word? When the good Ezra ii. king Cyrus had given free liberty to the Jews every one to go home that would, the most part had so well placed themselves in strange countries and waxed so wealthy, that they would not go home when they might to build God's house. What marvel was it then, if God, to punish this great wickedness, stirred up king Assuerus by the means of Ha- Esther iii. man, to make proclamation through all countries, that it should be lawful for any man to kill all the Jews he could, to take their goods, and order them at their pleasure; that if gentleness could not drive them home to serve God, yet sharpness should compel them to go build God's house? And hath it not been so in England taught, that all gospellers should be destroyed, and should not leave one man alive? And this thing God of love and mercy did unto us, that where we would not know him by gentleness, [The phrase used by the author is as in 1 Kings xxi. 21. En.] we should be compelled by the rod and sharpness to seek Poor The Text. v. 3. And the word of God was sent by the hand of Aggeus the prophet, saying: 4. Is it time for you that ye should dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? This is most worthy to be noted, that the prophet dare speak nothing of his own head, but always in the name of God, and as he received it of God's mouth; and for our example, most diligently it is to be followed, seeing he durst not so much as rebuke sin, but as God taught him. But of this enough is spoken afore in the first and second verses. is to be built own. This prophet, having a gentler spirit than many of the other prophets, doth not so sharply threaten utter destruction of them and their country for their disobedience; but chiefly sets before them their slothfulness towards the building of God's house, and their shameful and shameless scraping and scratching together of goods, their polling and pilling, their labour, diligence, and pains taken to build costly gorgeous houses for themselves: as though he would say, Is it not a shame for you to take so much labour and spend so much money in making yourselves ceiled and carved houses, and can find no time nor money to spend on God's God's house house? Do you love yourselves better than your God? before our Do ye set more by your own pleasure than God's honour? Will you first satisfy your own lusts, and then, when ye can find any leisure, peradventure God and his house shall have a piece bestowed on him? Is not this to set the cart before the horse? Ye should first serve God, seek his will, and after look to your own necessities, and not vain pleasures. The heathen poet could reprove this in heathen people, saying: "O citizens, citizens, is money to be sought first, and then virtue after riches1?"-as though he should say, Nay, not so. This is spoken to all: "First seek the Matt. vi. kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, and all other things necessary shall be given you." But was this so grievous a fault in God's sight, to build their own houses afore God's house, that they were so plagued for, as appears in the second verse following? Or was there not other as great sins as this amongst them? Yes, truly, there were other heinous sins amongst them, and which God abhors as well as this. They had gotten into their hands all the lands and goods of their poor brethren by usury; Usury unand not content with that, they had so handled the matter, that the poor sort had sold themselves, their wives and children, to be bondmen and slaves to the rich. usury was but little in comparison of ours, And yet their which we can lawful. more wisely and worldly, than wisely and godly, defend to be [O cives, cives! quærenda pecunia primum est, |