Calling.

God calls,all

Gen. i.

of his endless mercy never cometh suddenly upon us to destroy us; but mercifully warns us, that we be not taken in our sins, and so perish: and ever he stirs up the sluggish, either by his Spirit, word, minister, or else his gentle correction, to call for his mercy.

And where he saith, "I will call a drought or the sword upon the earth, &c.," this kind of speaking is often used in the scripture, and betokeneth nothing but the power of God, that he is able to do it so easily, as to speak a word As soon as or call for it; and that as soon as he spake it, so soon it things obey. should be done, as when one of us cometh at another's calling. God doth all by his word: and to say a thing is to do it with him; and as soon as he saith the word, so soon it is done with him. Saying and doing are two divers things with us, and much pain we take to do a thing after it be spoken: but with God it is not so, but as the psalm saith, Psal. cxlviii. "He spake, and all things were made; he commanded and they were created." Moses speaketh more plainly in the making of the world, and saith: "God said, Let there be light made, and let there be made the sun and stars, beasts and fishes; and they were made straightways." So when Isai. v. [26.] God brought Nabuchodonozor to destroy Jerusalem and the country, he said he would call and hiss or whistle him from the north, and he should come: God called, and he came. So all other things, drought, hunger, plague, sword, do tarry and wait for God's calling; and as soon as he whistles, they come straight, and nothing dare or can withstand his calling, as David saith: "Fire, hail, snow, ice, and tempests which do his commandment." Seeing therefore his threatening is not to destroy, but to save and bring us to repentance, let us turn by time, that he be not weary of calling; and desire him not to order us according to his justice, but after his endless mercies: for else shall that be true of Salomon, "I called, and ye refused, and therefore I will laugh at your destruction," saith the Lord.

Prov. i.

The horribleness of

to build

And where God threatens to destroy wheat, wine, oil, this sin not all fruits of the earth, and labour of man, yea, man himself God's house and beast, for not building his house: let us consider the the plagues. horrible filthiness of this sin especially in not building his house, that it will not let any creature of God serve man,

is proved by

no creature

lingly serve

so long as he thus displeases God. This sin doth not only stop the fruits of the earth, but it flieth up to heaven, and locks it up, and so hardens the clouds that no rain nor dew can be wrung out to moisten the ground withal. Such is the just judgment of God, that where God of his mercy made all things in heaven and earth, sun, moon, stars, cattle, fish, fowl, corn, herbs and trees, to serve man, so that man would serve him, reverence, fear and worship him as his only Lord and God, Maker and Saviour; so when he did disobey him, and served God of his own devising, or brake his command- Through sin ments, he should have those creatures which God appointed would wilto serve him at the first, to disobey him, to rebel against man. him, and as it were to avenge God's quarrel upon that man which disobeyed the living God, their Lord and Master; and they would not willingly serve him, which would not willingly serve and obey their God and King. When Adam was in paradise, as long as he obeyed God, so long all creatures obeyed him, as appointed of God to be their lord and ruler, as the psalm saith, "Thou hast made all things subject under Psal. viii. his feet, sheep and oxen, and all beasts of the field, birds of the air, and fishes of the sea:" but so soon as he brake God's commandment, and eat of the fruit which God forbad him, all things began to disobey him, and as it were would avenge that disobedience done against God their maker.

The earth would not bring forth her good fruit willingly, but weeds, brambles, and briars: no kind of beasts would obey him, but waxed wild and rebelled against him. The tokens of this just punishment remains on us to this day, and shall to the world's end. The earth will bring forth no good fruit willingly, but with much labour, toiling, tilling, dunging, harrowing, sowing, &c.; as though it should say to man, I will not serve thee, nor yet willingly give thee any fruit at all. So neither horse, dog, ox, nor sheep, nor any other living thing, is tame at the first to obey man; but it must have many stripes, or it will be brought to any good order to serve him. And many beasts, as lions, bears, wolves, The disobebe so wild, that they will not serve man at all, but still creatures remain his continual enemies, always ready to devour him. member us As often as we see any of these fierce beasts, which are cruel, we should remember the first cause why they were

dience of

should re

of our fall

so and God's

anger to

so ward sin.

Rom. viii.

God's majesty is de

turned, and be so fierce against us; and we should then lament our sin, which was the only cause of this so great a plague and change. God hath left them amongst us to be our schoolmasters, that when we see and consider them to be so ready to take vengeance upon us for our disobedience to God, we should much more fear God himself, which is a more righteous judge, and both is able and will punish us more grievously than they do or can, if we repent not and ask mercy by time. These cruel beasts are set before us for examples of greater things; that as we fear to fall into the danger of these ravening beasts, so we should much more fear to fall into the hands of the almighty and living God, whose anger is a thousand times more grievous than the cruelness of any beast.

And it is not only with one creature or two, that they disdain to serve us willingly, but every one, as St Paul saith: "The creature is subject to vanity not willingly, but for his cause which hath made it subject under hope." Here we see that no creature would serve us willingly, but for God's cause who hath so pointed them to do. So that of themselves we can get no profit nor service of those that have no life without much labour, and taming them by strength and violence which have life: yet for the hope they both have to be delivered from this service, for the time they do obey us according to God's ordinance.

Also in the destruction of these his creatures, that they clared in his should not serve such evil men, God declares himself not

creatures,

and saints

do not rule them.

only to be the mighty Lord in making and creating them, but also a merciful God in blessing them with fruitful increase, when his people served him rightly; and also a righteous judge in taking them away for our sins, when they be not so plentiful as they have been to us. For as plenty of them is a token of his mercy and favour, and that it is he only which regards, loves, feeds, nourishes and increases the least creatures which he hath made; so the taking them away, or the barren unfruitfulness of them, is a sign of his anger and displeasure. It is not, as ye commonly say, St Anthony save my hog; St Loy, my horse; St Blase, my house; St Apollony help in the tooth-ache; St Roche for the plague, &c. but he that made all saves all, guides all, rules all,

feeds all, blesses all, and increases all; and takes them from
us at his will and pleasure, as Job saith: "The Lord gave Job i.
it, the Lord took it away, &c."

These were lessons that the heathen people, and we also, might and should have learned by the making and ruling of the world, that God did rule all things; and because they did not, they were justly punished. Shall then we christian men think God to be weary of ruling his creatures, and put them to some Romish saints' hands, that are more able and willing to rule them better than he can and will? If this were true, saints should be more merciful, able and willing to help, than God himself, which can do nothing but love, and hates nothing that he made: but so to think were most horrible blasphemy against his majesty; for he should be an evil Lord and master, if he so lightly regarded his servants, his creatures, that he would put them to other men's ruling. "God hath not left himself without witnesses," Acts xiv. saith St Luke, "giving rain and fruitful times." As these works were sufficient witnesses to the heathen of God's goodness, and that he ruled all, and that their just condemnation followed, if they did not believe; so is unseasonable weather, with taking away his fruits, just tokens of his anger for our sins. Therefore, where we have the same works sufficient witnesses unto us both of his anger and good will, and also his wonderful works written in the scriptures to teach us; what can we say for ourselves, if we do not worship him our only God, seeking help at his only hand, in whom only it is to be found and received? God doth not

only make all things, but ruleth them also according to his good will and pleasure: he is not weary of well doing, but guides even the least of his creatures. He makes grass to Psal. cxlvii. grow on the hills, and herbs to serve men: he giveth meat to the cattle and to the young ravens; yea, he feeds the birds of the air, which work not nor spin, sow nor mow, reap nor carry into the barns. And briefly to speak: "all Psal. cxlv. things doth look," saith David, "that thou shouldest give them meat in due season: if thou open thy hand and feed them, they are full of goodness; but if thou withdraw thy hand, they fall, vade away, perish and turn into earth, whereof they were made." Thus must all wheat, wine, oil, fruits of

& civ.

Isch.
Aenosch.

Adam.

None is excused

ing God's house.

the earth, and beasts perish for the sin of man, and not building God's house: but they prosper and increase to them which love him, maintain his true religion, and fear him.

The two last words, where he saith, Man and all handy labour shall be destroyed also, they be more notable in the Hebrew, than can be well expressed in one word in English. For where the Hebrew hath divers words to signify a man, as Isch, and those be noblemen; Aenosch, and they be so called of their sorrows and infirmities they be subject to; here is written Adam, which betokens the common sort of people. The word that here signifieth labour, betokens not every kind of labour, as that which is easy or for pleasure; but it signifies that labour, which the poor man doth until he be weary, even the vilest and sorest drudging labour. By from build- the which both we are taught, that God would not spare the simplest and basest man living; but as they had sinned in not building his house, so should they perish: lest they should think or say, We did not this fault, but our rulers; or, we were not able to take it in hand; or, if they had begun, we would have followed; or such like fond excuses. God requires his house to be builded, his word and religion to be kept and maintained, as well of the lowest as the highest; and they which do not, shall not escape unpunished. Therefore wicked is that saying under persecution, “Let the preacher stand to it; what doth it belong to me?" If the master must teach, ought not the scholar to learn? May the scholar deny or dissemble with God, and the master must not? What privilege has the scholar more to do evil, than the master? That is sin to the one and the other. "He that denies me afore men," says Christ, "I will deny him afore my Father."

Homo.

Jer. xxii.

Man hath this general name given him to be called Adam, of another Hebrew word that signifieth the earth, Adama; which word was placed afore, when he said he would destroy all that the earth bringeth forth: and in Latin man is also called Homo ex humo; which allusion and likeness in words we cannot well speak in English, but it is as much to say: Man is called earth, because he is made of earth, as Jeremy saith, "Earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord." And Abraham talking with the Angel of God, and demand