Beelzebub signifies an idoll of flyes: because there was soe much bloud spilt in sacrifice before it that many flyes bred and lived upon it.
Christ confuted them by four reasons: 1. From autority; a maxime and rule in all policy, that a kingdome divided against itselfe cannot stand. 2. From example. By whom doe your children, his apostles and disciples he meanes, cast them out? Yf they doe it by the finger of God, then must I, except the same thing be not the same, yf other persons doe it. Atticus and Ru ... (idem non idem si non per eundem) unles they will allowe the thing and condemne the person. But he said, testes mei judices vestri. 3. From a similitude of a stronge and a stronger man, two warlike men, yf one keepe possession, he must be stronger that puts him out: soe he must be greater than the diuel that can cast him out. 4. From the contrary; the repugnancy betwixt Christ and the diuel.
He insisted most upon his first reason, of intestine discord: which he said is like a consumption; as yf the head should pull out the eye, or the mouth refuse to eate because the belly receives it, &c. This is that plague that Aegypt shall fight against Aegypt, brother against brother. In the fo. 114b.
27 Mar. 1603.11 of Zacharia there are two staves mentioned, the one of beauty, the other of bonds; it is a grevous plague which is there threatened, dissolvam germanitatem eorum, their brotherhood of Judah and Israel. Ephraim against Manasse and Manasse against Ephraim, two tribes of the same family: the incomparable miseryes of Jerusalem by intestine sedicion. Auxilia humana firma consensus facit. Agesilaus shewed his armed men, a mind in consent for defence of the city, and said, Hij sunt muri Spartæ, scutum hærens scuto, galeæ galea, atque viro vir. Friends at discord are most deadly enimyes, and those thinges which before were ligamenta amoris became then incitamenta furoris. The greatest wrongs are most eagerly pursued; such are commonly the causes for which frends fall out. Quasi musto inebrientur sanguine.
Even the diuel must have his due; it was commendable that a legion of them could dwell togither in one man without discord amongst themselves; scarse a few in one house but some jar betwixt them. Yet their concord was not ex amicitia, sed ex communi malitia, like Herod and Pilat. Aliquod bonum absque malo, sed nullum malum absque aliquo bono, even in the diuels their essence and their order is good.
There is a tyme to gather, said he, and a tyme to scatter, but he had scattered what he had scarce any tyme to gather; his comming up to this place being tanquam fungus e terra, an evening and a morning being the whole tyme allotted for meditacion, and disposicion.
Wee may not be unmindefull of our late Soverayne whom God hath called to his mercy, nor ought wee be unthankefull for our newe fo. 115.
27 Mar. 1603. suffected joy, by the suddein peaceable succession of our worthy king.
The finger of the Spirit directed the Churche, and the order of [the] Church leads me (said he) to the choise of this text, being the Gospell for this day. There are that have slandered, but they are Scribes and Pharisees; and that being the worst part of this text, he would passe over it. There were feares and foretellinges of miseries like to fall upon us at these times, but blessed be the God of peace, that hath settled peace amongst us. Blessed be the God of truth that his kingdome came unto us long since, and I hope shall continue even till the comming of Christ; and blessed be the father of lights, that wee see the truth, and be not scattered.
The miracle of dispossession. Wee have seene the exile of the diuel out of our country, his legends, his false miracles, exorcismes, superstitions, &c. and lett him goe walking through dry places, wee are watered with heavenly deawe, and wee hope he shall never returne againe; but the favour of God towards us shall be like the kindenes of Ruth, more at the latter end than it was at the beginning.
Our State hath sustayned some division of late. "I meane not," sayd he, "of the myndes of great nobles and counsellors, wherein to our good and comfort wee have found idem velle et idem nolle, but such a division as of the body and soule, of the vine and the branches, of the husband fo. 115b.
27 Mar. 1603.and the wife, of the head and the body. The prince and the land hath bin divided by hir death, a division without violence. This applying the axe to the roote made the tree bleed at the verry heart."
This Gospell makes mention of an excellent woman that sang not to hir selfe and hir muses, but went amongst the multitude, and blessed an other woman more excellent then hirselfe; yet soe blessed hir as a mother for hir babes sake. Soe there are two excellent women, one that bare Christ and an other that blessed Christ; to these may wee joyne a thrid that bare and blessed him both. Shee bare him in hir heart as a wombe, shee conceived him in fayth, shee brought him forth in aboundaunce of good workes, and nurst him with favors and protection: shee blessed him in the middest of a froward and wicked generacion, when the bulls of Bazan roared, and the unholie league, and bound themselves with oathes and cursings against the Lord and his annoynted. "And am I entred into hir prayses," said he; "and nowe is the tyme of prayse, for prayse none before their death; and then gratissima laudis actio cum nullus fingendi aut assentandi locus relinguitur. Yet such prayses are but like a messe of meate sett upon a dead mans grave which he cannot tast, or like a light behind a mans back which cannot him direct." He would say little, non quod ingratus, sed quod oppressus multitudine et magnitudine rerum dicendarum. Onely he would say that fo. 116.
27 Mar. 1603. hir government had bin soe clement, temperat and godly, that he may say sic imbuti sumus, non possumus nisi optimum ferre. Those which in Theodosius the Emperours tyme went to Rome called their travel felix peregrinatio, because they had seen Rome, they had seen Theodosius, they had seene Rome and Theodosius togither; soe have and may strangers that have bin to visit our kingdome thinke them selves happie that [they] had seene England and Queen Elizabeth, and England and Queene Elizabeth togither. But there are panegyricks provided for hir, faythfully registred, and as she merited. Shee was preteritis melior, better then those which went before hir, and may be a precedent to those that shall followe hir; the taking hir from us was a great division, but God hath sowed it up againe; it was a grevious sore, but God hath healed it; he hath given us a worthy successor, a sonne of the nobles; one that is fleshe of our fleshe. God seemes to say unto us, "Open thy mouth wide and I will fill it with aboundant blessing;" he may say as he did to his vine, "what should I have done that I have not done unto thee, O England?" Noe vacancy, noe interregnum, noe interruption of goverment, as in Rome an[d] other places, where in such tymes the prisons fly open, &c. but a quiet, a peaceable, and present succession of such a King, quem populus et proceres voce petebant; the best wished and the onely agreed upon. The Lord from his holy sanctuary blesse him in his throne! fo. 116b.
27 Mar. 1603.It was noe shame for Solomon to walke in the wayes of his father David; neither can it be a dishonour for our King to walke in the steps of his mother and predecessor. Lett the foster-sonne and sonnes sonne continue their glory, grace, and dignity, and never lett him want one of his seede to sit upon his seate.