unprofitable members, that did only hurt and corrupt the body. And in this realm of England good and godly laws have been divers times made, that no idle vagabonds and loitering runagates fhould be fuffered to go from town to town, from place to place, without punishment, which neither ferve God nor their prince, but devour the fweet fruits of other men's labour, being common liars, drunkards, fwearers, thieves, whoremafters, and murderers, refufing all honeft labour, and give themselves to nothing else but to invent and do mifchief, whereof they are more defirous and greedy than is any lion of his prey. To remedy this inconvenience, let all parents and others, which have the care and governance of youth, fo bring them up either in good learning, labour, or fome honest occupation or trade, whereby they may be able in time to come not only to fuftain themselves competently, but also to relieve and fupply the neceffity and want of others. And St. Paul faith, Let him that hath ftolen fieal no more, Ephef. iv. and he that hath deceived others, or ufed unlawful ways to get his living, leave off the fame, and labour rather, working with his hands that thing which is good; that he may have that which is neceffary for himself, and alfo be able to give unto others that ftand in need of his help. The prophet David thinketh him happy that liveth upon his labour, faying, When thou eateft the labours of thine hands, happy Pfal. art thou, and well is thee. This happiness or bleffing con- cxxviii. fifteth in these and fuch like points.

Firft, It is the gift of God, as Solomon faith, when one Ecclef. iii. eateth and drinkeih, and receiveth good of his labour. Secondly, when one liveth of his own labour, fo it be honeft and good, he liveth of it with a good confcience; and an upright confcience is a treafure ineftimable. Thirdly, he eateth his bread not with brawling and chiding, but with peace and quietnefs, when he quietly laboureth for the fame, according to St. Paul's admonition. Fourthly, he is no man's bondman for his meat fake, nor needeth not for that to hang upon the good will of other men; but fo liveth of his own, that he is able to give part to others. And, to conclude, the labouring man and his family, whilst they are bufily occupied in their labour, be free from many temptations and occafions of fin, which they that live in idlenefs are fubject unto. And here ought artificers and labouring men, who be at wages for their work and labour, to confider their confcience to God, and their duty to their neighbour, left they abuse their time in idlenefs, fo defrauding them which be at

charge

charge both with great wages, and dear commons. They be worse than idle men indeed, for that they seek to have wages for their loitering. It is lefs danger to God to be idle for no gain, than by idleness to win out of their neighbours' purfes wages for that which is not deserved. It is true, that Almighty God is angry with fuch as do defraud the hired man of his wages; the cry of that injury afcendeth up to God's ear for vengeance. And as true it is, that the hired man, who ufeth deceit in his ■ Theff, iv. labour, is a thief before God. Let no man, faith St. Paul to the Theffalonians, fubtilly beguile his brother, let him not defraud him in his bufinefs; for the Lord is a revenger of fuch deceits. Whereupon he that will have a good confcience to God; that labouring man, I fay, which dependeth wholly upon God's benediction, miniftering all things fufficient for his living, let him ufe his time in faithful labour, and when his labour by fickness or other misfortune doth ceafe, yet let him think for that in his health he served God and his neighbour truly, he fhall not want in time of neceffity. God upon refpect of his fidelity in health will recompenfe his indigence, to move the hearts of good men to relieve fuch decayed men in fickness. Where otherwife, whatsoever is gotten by idleness shall have no means to help in time of need.

Let the labouring man therefore eschew for his part this vice of idleness and deceit, remembering that St. Paul exhorteth every man to lay away all deceit, diffimulation, and lying, and to use truth and plainness to his neighbour, Ephef. iv. because, faith he, we be members together in one body, under ane head, Chrift our Saviour. And here might be charged the ferving-men of this realm, who spend their time in much idleness of life, nothing regarding the opportunity of their time, forgetting how fervice is no heritage, how age will creep upon them: where wifdom were they fhould expend their idle time in fome good bufiness, whereby they might increase in knowledge, and fo the more worthy to be ready for every man's fervice. It is a great rebuke to them, that they fudy not either to write fair, to keep a book of account, to ftudy the tongues, and fo to get wisdom and knowledge in fuch books and works, as be now plentifully set out in print of all manner of languages. Let young men confider the precious value of their time, and wafte it not in idlenefs, in jollity, in gaming, in banqueting, in ruffians' company. Youth is but vanity, and must be accounted for before God. How merry and glad foever thou be in thy youth, O young

man,

man, faith the Preacher, how glad foever thy heart be in Ecclef. xl. thy young days, how faft and freely foever thou follow the ways of thine own heart, and the luft of thine own eyes; yet be thou fure that God fhall bring thee into judgment for all these things. God of his mercy put it into the hearts and minds of all them that have the fword of punishment in their hands, or have families under their governance, to labour to redress this great enormity, of all fuch as live idly and unprofitably in the commonweal, to the great difhonour of God, and the grievous plague of his filly people. To leave fin unpunished, and to neglect the good bringing up of youth, is nothing else but to kindle the Lord's wrath against us, and to heap plagues upon our own heads. As long as the adulterous people were suffered to live licentiously without reformation, fo long did the plague continue and increase in Ifrael, as ye may fee in the book of Numbers.

But when due correction was done upon them, the Lord's anger was ftraightway pacified, and the plague ceafed. Let all officers therefore look ftraitly to their charge. Let all masters of households reform this abuse in their families; let them use the authority that God hath given them; let them not maintain vagabonds and idle perfons, but deliver the realm and their households from fuch noifome loiterers, that idleness, the mother of all mifchief, being clean taken away, Almighty God may turn his dreadful anger away from us, and confirm the covenant of peace upon us for ever, through the merits of Jefus Chrift, our only Lord and Saviour: to whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghoft, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen.

Num. xxv.

AN

AN

HOMILY

pentance is

fary.

OF

Repentance, and of true Reconciliation unto God.

THERE is nothing that the Holy Ghoft doth fo much labour in all the Scriptures to beat into men's heads, as repentance, amendment of life, and fpeedy returning unto the Lord God of Hofts. And no marvel why; for we do daily and hourly, by our wickedness and stubborn difobedience, horribly fall away from God, thereby purchafing unto ourselves (if he should deal with us according to his juftice) eternal damnation. So that no The doc doctrine is fo neceffary in the church of God, as is the trine of re- doctrine of repentance and amendment of life. And vemot necefrily the true preachers of the Gofpel of the kingdom of heaven, and of the glad and joyful tidings of falvation, have always in their godly fermons and preachings unto the people, joined thefe two together; I mean repentance and forgiveness of fins, even as our Saviour Jefus Chrift did Luke xxiv. appoint himself, faying, So it behoved Chrift to fuffer, and to rife again the third day; and that repentance and forgiveness of fins fhould be preached in his name among all nations. And therefore the holy Apoftle doth in the Acts speak after this manner: I have witnessed both to the Jews and to the Gentiles, the repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jefus Chrift. Did not John Baptist, Zacharias's fon, begin his miniftry with the doctrine of reMatt. iii. pentance, faying, Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand? The like doctrine did our Saviour Jefus Chrift preach himself, and commanded his Apostles to preach the fame.

Acts xx.

Matt. iv.

I might here allege very many places out of the Prophets, in the which this moft wholesome doctrine of repentance is very earnestly urged, as most needful for all degrees and orders of men: but one fhall be fufficient at this present time.

These

all muft

These are the words of Joel the Prophet: Therefore Joel ii. alfo now the Lord faith, Return unto me with all your heart, with fafting, weeping, and mourning. Rend your hearts, and not your clothes, and return unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, flow to anger, and of great compaffion, and ready to pardon wickedness. Whereby it is given us to understand, that we have here a perpetual A perpetual rule appointed unto us, which ought to be obferved and rule, which kept at all times, and that there is none other way, follow. whereby the wrath of God may be pacified, and his anger affuaged, that the fiercenefs of his fury, and the plagues or deftruction, which by his righteous judgment he had determined to bring upon us, may depart, be removed, and taken away. Where he faith, But now therefore, faith the Lord, return unto me: it is not without great importance, that the Prophet fpeaketh fo. For he had before set forth at large unto them the horrible vengeance of God, which no man was able to abide, and therefore he doth move them to repentance, to obtain mercy; as if he fhould fay, I will not have these things to be fo taken, as though there were no hope of grace left. For although ye do by your fins deferve to be utterly deftroyed, and God by his righteous judgments hath determined to bring no small destruction upon you, yet now that ye are in a manner on the very edge of the fword, if ye will speedily return unto him, he will moft gently and most mercifully receive you into favour again. Whereby we are admonished, that repentance is never too late, fo that it be true and earnest. For fith that God in the Scriptures will be called our Father, doubtless he doth follow the nature and property of gentle and merciful fathers, which feek nothing fo much, as the returning again, and amendment of their children, as Chrift doth abundantly teach in the parable of the Prodi- Luke xv. gal Son. Doth not the Lord himself fay by the Prophet, I will not the death of the wicked, but that he turn Ezek, xviii. from his wicked ways, and live? And in another place, Ifaiah i. If we confess our fins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our fins, and to make us clean from all wickedness. Which moft comfortable promifes are confirmed by many examples of the Scriptures. When the Jews did willingly receive and embrace the wholefome counfel of the Prophet Ifaiah, God by and by did reach his helping hand If. xxxvii. unto them, and by his angel did in one night flay the moft worthy and valiant foldiers of Sennacherib's camp. Whereunto may King Manaffes be added, who after all 2 Chron.

manner

1 John ii.

xxxiii.