Austine telleth vs called Sacramentum fidei the Sacrament of Faith A little more distinctly now to open this Forme you must take notice of these vsefull Obseruations First to baptize in the Name of the Father Sonne and the holy Ghost doth signifie to doe it by their warrant and commission for as God only is the fountaine of grace so none can appoint the meanes of conueying grace but only God This checketh the presumption of the Bishop of Rome in multiplying Sacraments and we must be warned to do nothing in Gods seruice without his warrant Secondly to baptize in Nomine is to baptize in the person of the Trinitie a Minister is a publicke person whatsoeuer he doth in the Church he doth it in anothers Name the parts of his Ministrie being two to administer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to present the peoples deuotion to God or to minister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bring Gods message to the People hee should offer no other Prayers to God but such as the Church appointeth because he speaketh in her Name and so when he bringeth any thing from God he must remember that he doth represent his person to the Church This must warne vs to come with holinesse to performe sacred Acts because we sustaine the person of God the Leuites washt their hands and their feete and we must wash our selues in the blood of Christ Thirdly to baptize in nomine is to ascribe the efficacie of Baptisme to the Trinitie the Minister must remember himselfe to be onely an instrument as St. Peter confesseth when hee wrought the Miracle vpon the lame man Acts 3. Wee baptize with water but the gifts of the holy Ghost come from God Wherefore let vs giue the glory of whatsoeuer successe we haue in our Ministrie to the principall agent that is God Fourthly in Nomine Trinitatis is to baptize vnto their seruice and to dedicate vnto them the originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 notes as much And therfore the Ministration of Baptisme is accompanied with an Abrenunciation those that are baptised by themselues if they be of age or if children by their sureties renounce the Diuill and all his workes the pompes and vanities of the wicked world and all the sinfull lustes of the flesh then they deuote themselues vnto God to beleeue the Articles of the Creede and to liue according to the tenne Commandements To this end wee should baptize and we must put the people in minde of this morality and let not their thoughts dwell vpon the ceremonie as if when that were past all were done Finally inuocatur nomen Trinitatis super nos from the time that wee are baptized wee must acknowledge that the Lord is our God Hee hath made vs not wee our selues wee are his people and the sheepe of his Pasture or as the Apostle speaketh Wee are not our owne because wee are bought with a price wherefore we must glorifie God with our bodies and with our soules for they are his We that are Ministers then as we doe not baptize in our own name so must wee not denominate Disciples from our selues as the Corinthians some held of Paul some of Apollo some of Cephas we must teach them all to hold of the same Lord of him into whose Name they are baptized As the Baptizer so the Baptized should make vse of euery of these obseruations they must 1. beediscreet in not admitting more Sacraments than God sendeth 2. reuerence the Minister in regard of his person whom hee sustaines 3. giue the glory of the grace which they receiue vnto God 4. appropriate their seruice vnto him and 5. let him be their only Lord. One scruple there is about this Forme for in the Acts cap. 8. v. 16. it should seeme that some were baptized onely into Christ and some haue thought that the Apostles at pleasure did vary the Forme But the constant practice of the Church in all parts of the world retaining this Form permits vs not so to construe the words in the Acts The meaning seemeth rather to be this That those persons confessing their Faith in the Redemption wrought by Christ were baptised after the vsuall Forme Some difference there is also betweene the East and West Church for in the West Church the Minister speaketh thus to him that is baptized Ego baptizo te in the East Church thus Baptizetur iste but the difference is confest on both sides not to be materiall therefore I passe it ouer You see here none of those many Ceremonies which the Church hath multiplied whereof many are very ancient and might be continued if they had not beene corrupted by the Church of Rome especially Themselues hold them not to be of the essence but of the solemnitie of Baptisme they cannot they doe not deny but that wee keepe the essence intire of those things which belong to the solemnitie our Church hath retained so much as is thought fit for edification the rest it hath cut off not without cause and out of that libertie which euery Church hath in such things One thing I may not omit to remember you of that are to be ordered That these solemne words In the Name of the Father Son and holy Ghost are vsed in your Ordination and therefore what instructions I haue giuen vnto you vpon the Forme of Baptisme you may make vse of euery one of them when you meditate vpon your Ordination And I wish you so to doe Now lay together teach and baptize and then you see the Method of your Ministrie you must first catechise and bring your hearers to beleeue and then dedicate them vnto God because without faith it is impossible to please God Heb. 11. so St. Iohn baptized so baptized the Apostles and the rule is Non potest corpus Baptisma recipere sacramentale nisi Anima accipiat fidei veritatem Hieron and Baptisme saueth no man but Faith is that which maketh a man partaker of grace and this Faith doth not rest vpon the Water but vpon the Word Accedat Verbum ad Elementum fit Sacramentum non quia dicitur sed quia creditur But as Faith hath Necessitatem medij so Baptisme hath Necessitatem praecepti we may by no meanes neglect Baptisme if it may bee had and the contempt hazardeth saluation Except a man be borne againe of water and the holy Ghost bee cannot enter into the Kingdome of Heauen Iohn 3. But Faith in no case may be wanting Mistake not Tertullian and Nicetus vpon Nazianzen orat de Baptismo mis-construed these words and thought that Children except it were in extreame danger of death should not be baptized because they could not bee taught The Anabaptists out of this place and Marke 16. proue that no childe must bee baptized vntill he commeth to the yeares of discretion But they grosly mistake for Christ is here and in St. Marke to be vnderstood de adultis none without the Church were to be receiued in except they were first catechised and
that is consorts with Angels and wee were by times or by turnes to intend no lesse our Heauenly then our worldly vocation the things of a better no lesse then the things of this present life To take off our thoughts and desires our care and endeuour from this world and bestow them vpon the world to come from the earth place them vpon heauen is that that which the holy Ghost meaneth by Sanctifying of our persons And verily before the Fall no more was required thereunto then such a change of our employment but after the Fall more is made necessarie for sin cleaueth vnto our nature we are conceiued and borne therein Psal 51. Not only those that are without the Church whom Saint Paul describeth Rom. 1. but also those that are within the Church whom hee describeth in the third of that Epistle And this sinne doth defile vs read Esay the first Chapter and Ezech. 16 there you shall see how lothsome how vgly we are by reason of our sinne Esay 64. v. 6. All our righteousnesse as the Prophet speaketh is like a menstruous cloth Neither doth sinne only defile vs but by vs it defileth all other creatures Concupiscence is a contagious thing Contactu omnia foedo inquinat what it toucheth it staineth Titus 15. Vnto the impure saith the Apostle nothing is pure nothing is pure to a sinfull man because his mind and conscience is defiled So that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are synonyma Acts 10. the common thing or things vnseparated the things of this life that are not hallowed are all impure Wherefore to sanctifie now is not only to change our imployment but also to clense our selues from sinne and before we doe dedicate our selues vnto God wee must remoue not only our imployment from the world but also our corruption from our persons Corruption not only that which is inherent in vs but also that which by our meanes is adherent vnto our goods and to other creatures whereof we make any offering to God This which in grosse I haue said concerning Sanctification is distinctly taught in the rest of my text and the rest of my text is a faire Commentarie vpon this word for therein you shall see first the separation of sinne from them in the washing of their Garments Secondly the seperation of their employment from the world in not comming to their Wiues and last of all that which is the vp-shot of all their preparation to meete God Let vs looke into these points orderly First into the ceremoniall obseruance The Israelites were to wash their clothes God fitted his Law in the old Testament vnto the nonage of his Church so the time before Christs Incarnation is called by the Apostle Gal. 4. 1 Cor. 10. and all things came to his people in types and figures much of their Law was ceremonial But those ceremonies of Gods institution were as the fathers call them Sacramenta they were mysticall things they had an out-side and an in-side an out-side corporall an in-side spirituall wherein they differed from Heathenish and Pharisaicall ceremonies for example to instance in the ceremonie which we haue in hand The Heathen the Pharises had their washing Touching that of the Heathen we read in the prophane Authors and in the Gospell we read of that of the Pharises both of them had Lauacrum but not Mysterium the out-side but not the in-side of the washing their thoughts reached no farther then the Carnall worke ascribing to the Carnall worke a supernaturall power which the Poet taxeth in the Heathen Ah nimium faciles qui tristia Crimina coedis Tolli fluminea posse putatis aquâ And our Sauiour Christ taxeth it in the Pharisies who thought when they had washed their hands they were quit from their briberie Neither is the Romish sprinkling of Holy water much better whether wee looke to the consecration of it or the confidence that is put in it In the the consecration the Priest doth pray without a promise and as for the people they rest vpon Opus operatum the doing of a worke that hath no warrant and so trust in a lye Ceremonies of significancie the Church may institute but ceremonies of efficacie it cannot institute God onely who is the fountaine of grace can institute those Conduits by which hee will conuey them to vs. But to leaue these carnall ceremonies and come to the mysticall Saint Austin giueth this good rule to guide vs in vnderstanding them Epist 49. Quest vet Humana Consuetudo verbis Diuina potentia etiam rebus loquitur It is vsuall with men to expresse their meaning in words God hath moreouer another language sutable to his power hee speaketh by things by corporall things to let the Israelites vnderstand spirituall and their ceremonies were Symbola pietatis sensible Images as it were of their morall duetie But least we mistake we must obserue three differences betweene the cutside and inside of the ceremonies First the corporall part of it was to be considered not according vnto its owne nature but according to its reference not according to that which it was in it selfe but according vnto that whereunto it was ordained of God so Sacrifices were to be considered not as beasts or birds c. but as Types of Christ that was to die for the sinne of the world but the spirituall part of the ceremonie was to bee considered and esteemed according to its owne and absolute nature A second thing is that the Type containeth good or euill in regard onely of the Commandement which requireth the doing or the forbearing therof whereas otherwise the thing in it selfe is indifferent but the inward part of that ceremonie is commanded or forbidden because in its owne nature it is good or euill Thirdly man can onely performe the Corporall or outward part of the ceremonie the inward and spirituall can be done onely by the speciall grace of God and we may not ascribe vnto the Creature that which is in the power and gift onely of the Creatour These rules being considered in generall must also discreetly bee distinguished according to the maine parts of Religion which are two 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein God doth exhibite ought vnto vs and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that wherein wee doe present some thing vnto God The ceremonie wherewith we haue now to doe is of the later sort for washing our clothes is a part of mans sernice which he doth to God-ward In all the Purifications of Moses Law washing of Clothes was alwayes one as you may find in the Booke of Leuiticus where those Lawes are set together and the Iewes from this precept gather the practice of baptizing them whom they receiue into their Couenant and Church Neither was this an Introductorie Law of Moses but a declaratorie for we read of it in the story of Iacob when he did purge his family Gene. 35. one of the ceremonies practised was the shifting of Garments which
And wee must repute it a singular priuiledge of the children of God that they can subsist in such a place and such a presence The lesson wherewith I will conclude this point is that of the Apostle Philip. 2. â— 12. We must worke out our saluation in feare and trembling or if you will that of the Psalme Serue the Lord in feare Psal 2 ver 11. and reioyce before him with reuerence The Lord loueth in his children the mixture of feare and hope The argument of the I sraelites hope is that they set out from their Tents and came on to the place of their attendance and expecting of Gods descending on the Hill I will not here trouble you with the maner of their march After the Tabernacle was built God prescribed a manner what they did before the Iewes tell vs but in the silence of the holy Ghost we will not bee curious It is likely they came as Deut. 27. when the Couenant was as it were renewed In this mouing of God and Israel to the place of meeting I obserued the good manners of the Israelites and the benignitie of God First the good manners of the Israelites For if you marke the text they came first to their place before God came to his And it was fit it should be so for God being so much better then man it had beene insolent rudenesse for man not to waite for the comming of God I need not spend time to proue so common so knowne a moralitie at your ordinarie meetings if they be publike you practice the same I rather choose to note a mysterie enwrapt herein which is that although God preuenr vs in regard of our abilitie to come to him yet when wee are enabled he looketh that we should make vse of his grace and cooperate with him and not expect a second blessing before wee haue well husbanded the first and we should thinke it grace enough done vnto vs if hee then vouchsafe to answere our desires and crowne our endeauours I doe not here patronize Popish freewill for I speake not de libero but liberato arbitrio what our will can doe in entertaining the first grace is not the question but what it must doe after it hath receiued grace And therefore here also the Romanists come in vnseasonably with their obseruation The second thing that I obserued was Gods benignitie which appeareth in this that if man make towards him he will meete him halfe way God descended vpon the Hill after the children of Israel came out of their Tents towards the foote of the Hill Luke 15. Wee know the Parable of the prodigall childs father who descried his sonnes returning home a farre off and made haste to meete him It is a liuely picture of Gods benignitie and we cannot haue a better encouragement to seeke vnto him Put both these notes together and then obserue that if euer wee looke there should be any meeting betweene God and man man must rise aboue himselfe but God must fall below himselfe For we see here that the children of Israel came out of their Tents and moued towards the vpper ground giuing vs to vnderstand that Sursum corda Colos 3 we must set our affections on those things that are aboue Base thoughts and groueling that are sixed vpon things below and mind earthly things a naturall man that will continue himselfe and that cannot put himselfe off or soare aboue himselfe and haue his conuersation in heauen is not fit to giue meeting vnto God Againe if God should keepe at his owne pitch and fall not much below himselfe humble himselfe as the Psalme speaketh to regard those things that are below how should wee poore wretches be raysed out of the dust How should wee needie ones be lifted out of dung-hils How should we euer bee set with Princes and ranged with glorious Angels I come not home enough I told you before that this was Gods Parliamentarie meeting that it bare some image of his grand Assises It was more it was the great day of the espousals of Christ and his Church And did not the Kings sonne and heire the Sonne and heire of the King of heauen stoope very low when hee came to espouse himselfe vnto such base and sinfull persons Surely when we consider the exceeding hight of Gods estate and the lownesse of our owne of how little regard wee deserue to be and yet of how great regard we are wee haue good reason to thinke that Gods goodnesse maketh him as it were lay aside his maiestie and be vnlike himselfe that he may so farre like vs and linke vs so neere vnto him How then should we striue to ascend vnto him that doth thus vouchsafe to descend vnto vs You would think that by this time there is enough done to fit the meeting We haue purified the Israelites wee haue learned them modeâ—â—ie they haue beene humbled with feare and they haue gone out from themselues ascended aboue themselues and God hath fallen below himselfe there hath beene much done And yet there is one thing more to bee done there wanteth a Mediatour Galath 3.1.19 And so indeed the Apostle saith The Law was giuen by the hands of a Mediatour And we haue here a Typicall one and that is Moses these persons would neuer haue come together except hee had come betweene And we find here two Acts of his the first is that hee put them in heart when they quaked and led them the way towards the Mount neither would they euer haue aduentured had they wanted such a guide their feare would haue beene too strong for their hope Neither did Moses only put them in heart to goe on but also kept them in heart when they were come to their standing by his incouragement it was that they held out while the Articles of the Conenant were proclayming they had flowne off if he had not stood betweene God and them But this was but a typicall Mediatour the true is our Sauiour Christ it is by him Heb. 4. Rom. 5. Ioh 10. Ioh. 14. Reuel 3 7. Heb. 6. that with boldnesse we come to the Throne of Grace it is by him that we haue accesse vnto God Hee is the Doore the Way the Truth and the Life euen the true way vnto eternall life Hee hath the key openeth and no man shutteth shutteth and no man openeth neither doth any but he bring Children to God And whether he bringeth vs there hee keepeth vs wee are preserued in him and by him For as at first wee are accepted in Gods Beloued so by his perpetuall Propitiation and Intercession are wee continued in the loue of God hee standeth betweene God and vs couering our imperfections that they offend not God and tempering the dreadfulnesse of Gods maiestie with so much grace that the aspect thereof becommeth comfortable vnto vs. I will not fall into any long refutation of the Romish new coined Mediators they egregiously dishonour the Saints and Angels while
sit hominem scire arbitror neminem nisi forter cui spiritus diuinitus estenderet Austin de Ciuit. Des lib. 2. cap 16. Non quareâ—dum vbi Gebennae ignis situs sit sed magis quo pacto enitari possit Chrysost Hom. do prâ—mys sanct â—om 1. pag 443. Cyril Alexanâ—in p. 710. and worse Historiographie haue deliuered a great deale of vngrounded stuffe concerning the nature and place of this sire but wee shall doe well to follow the sobrietie of the Fathers Greeke and Latin Touching Hell fire what kind it is of and where in what region of the earth I thinke no man can tell except hee to whom God will bee pleased to reueale it saith Austine and Chrysostome We must not be curious to know where is the place of Hell fire but studie rather how is auoid it Only let vs learne of Nazianzen that there is a double vse of fire for therewith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 men are doomed 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or they are purified We haue not now to doe with the purgatiue but with the correctiue vse of fire and seeing that fire is the symbol of plagning we must from our fire learne two properties of fire it searcheth most and spareth least it leaueth no part vnseized vpon and looke whereon it seizeth it afflicteth to the vttermost which Nabuchadnezer knew that chose that wherewith to torment the seruants of God yea God himselfe doth shew who therewith destroyed Sodome and Gomorra certainly in the Valley of Hinnom it was so dreadfull that the Holy Ghost was pleased to vse it as a symbole of the tortures of Hell which leaue no part of the tormented vnpained and paineth euery part extreamely Only when we looke vpon our fire wee must obserue two differences betweene that and the fire of Hell First Hell fire goeth farre beyond it in degree well may the torments be like they are not equall Secondly they are vnlike in durance for ours consumeth and is consumed but Hell fire neither wasteth his fuell nor is wasted it selfe both are euerlasting so that let ours afflict neuer so painfully Sie perit â—t possit saepe perâ—â—e Horaque erit tant is vltima nulla malâ—â— it cannot afflict long but hee that is in Hell fire endureth an euerliuing death The tree that growes in the field growes for fuell and it is no wonder to see it proue so but a heauie thing it is for a tree to to become fuell that grew to beare fruit But in this case the case of a barren fruit tree is worse then a tree of the field because a tree of the field may bee cut downe not for fuell but for building but fruit trees are not fit for building and nature hath made this their ineptnesse a priuiledge against the Axe when for the building of stately Palaces the trees of the field goe downe they stand and are not cut downe vntill they giue ouer-bearing fruit and then they are cut downe only for fuell for they are good for nothing else Ezechiel hath a whole Chapter of it wherein as in a glasse wee may behold the condition of a sinner If you put these parts of the Iudgement together you may easily perceiue that they amount to a totall a finall eradication It is totall for if a tree bee cut vp by the roots there is no hope of the branches because the branches haue no life but deriuatiue from the root cut a tree as close to the root as you will Iob will tell you there remayneth still hope of him but it is past hope when the root is dead As the Iudgement is totall so it is finall Chap. â—4 we neuer heard of the second grasting of a tree certainly not of these trees The Parable of the foolish Virgins sheweth that there is no getting in when the doores be shut and that there is no passage from Hell to Heauen Mâ—t. 25. Lâ—â—e 17. Abraham telleth the rich Glutton burning in those flames But of this 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reprobation of and Bill of Diuorce giuen to to the Iewes I spake enough when I spake of that which they were willed to flie which in former words of this Sermon is called wrath to come wherefore I forbeare to enlarge this point any farther only wishing vncurable Impenitents herein to behold what a feare full thing it is to sall into the hands of the liuing God You haue heard of the persons and the Iudgement that the one of them doth denounce against the other But the Iudgement is not onely threatned but threatned that it shall come vppon them speedily and ouertake them vniuersally the speed is intimated in the first word Now now is the Axe laid to the roote of the tree all the words are present Now is put Now is cut which carrie with them an Emphasis and hasten the repentance of the hearer Before it was calied Wrath to come least therefore they should put it farre from them as the wicked in Amos and the bad seruant in the Gospel and grow Atheisticall scoffers as some doe in Esay and others 2. Peter 3 he is instant wiih them and proposeth this Iudgement as imminent But this seemeth to be a Paradox Iohn was the Harbinger of Christ and with Christ began the Kingdome of grace and how doth he then make it the time of Iudgement so terrible a Iudgement We must therefore obserue that God neuer did any publike remarkable good to magnifie his mercie but he did withall shew the world some notable spectacle of his wrath therein to magnifie his Iustice when Noah was saued the world was drowned and fiue Cities burnt when Lot was deliuered how were the Egyptians destroyed when Israel was set free And when the Gentiles were receiued into the Church what a desolation did hee bring vpon the Iewes God will haue feare and hope still to liue in the hearts of the sonnes of men Adde hereunto that Christs comming is the last offer of Grace both to Iewes and Gentiles he that refuseth now shall neuer speed marke this point pressed by the Apostles both to the Iewes and to the Gentiles This is the reason why the Baptist Christ his Apostles beginne their Preaching with Repent Aâ—â— 13 Acts 14 17. this is as the greatest so the last manuring the tree that proueth not now must needs downe needs into the fire But is not God alwayes putting the Axe to the tree yea verily he maketh daily spectacles of them but to whole Nations he putteth not the Axe euery day hee forbeareth them vntill they haue filled vp the measure of their sinne But if they abuse his patience and long-suffering whereby hee laboureth to draw them to Repentance then they shall find that they haue treasured vnto themselues wrath against the day of wrath Rom 2 the Axe shall goe vnto the root But in this Iam there are two other remarkable things the one is noted by Saint Ambrose Hine disce quà m Philanthroâ—os
they may be saued But if looking into our heart wee find sauing grace there for Gods Spirit doth witnesse vnto our spirit that wee are the children of God when we contemplate in our selues this second Act of Election we haue reason to thinke our Prerogatiue much more improued by how much an inward is better then an outward Iew the Circumcision of the spirit better then the Circumcision of the flesh to be baptized with the Spirit better then to be baptized with water to eate Panem Dominum eate the flesh and drinke the bloud of Christ better then to eate only and drinke only Sacramentall Bread and Wine finally to be a doer is better then to be a hearer of Gods Word The farther Christians goe beyond Christians in these gifts the better must they thinke their state and these spirituall differences betweene man and man better then whatsoeuer other differences there may be found betweene them Although the world vseth to bee little sensible of this greater good but most sensible of the lesser wealth honour c. wherein euerie man thinketh it a great matter to bee aduanced aboue his Neighbours When wee looke vpon the second word in the definition of the Church that is God wee see to whom wee are beholding for our aduancement and to whom wee must giue the glorie of it the glory of the first Act of Election Dauid concludes the remembrance thereof with Prayse yee the Lord Psal 147. And of the second Act also the glorie must be giuen vnto Him for so doe the Angels the Beasts the Elders c. after they haue mentioned it Reuel 5. Reuel 5. If the question be moued Quit te discreuit Who hath differenced thee our best answere will bee I thanke God through Iesus Christ our Lord and let him that glorieth glorie in the Lord. I told you I haue not to doe with the whole Church but with that part which is militant for such are the Elect which are on the Earth Heauen is the place for our Crowne Earth for our Crosse where Michael and the Dragon stroue there must their Angels striue also and the heele of the womans seed must bee bruised in the same place where it must breake the Serpents head The Fathers doe wittily obserue that the Church came out of Christs side when he died as Eue out of Adam when he slept Now out of Christs side when it was pierced issued Water and Bloud Monuments of our two Sacraments which remember vs that we must drinke of the same Cup whereof Christ dranke and be partakers of the same Baptisme wherewith he was baptized euery one must take vp his owne Crosse and follow his crucified Sauiour Saint Austine is resolute Ad Bonifacium Comitem Si Ecclesia vera est ipsa est quae persecutionem patitur we are bastards and no sonnes if wee suffer not for Christ and suffer we cannot but on earth for when wee part from the earth wee part from our enemies the Flesh the World and the Deuill flesh and bloud cannot enter into Heauen Satan is cast out thence and the world shall then bee vnto vs as if it were not therefore the Church Peregrinam agit in terris she is here a Pilgrim here she is like the desolate widdow here shee grieueth for the wickednesse of the world and because she is not alike wicked with them therefore doth the world implacably worke her woe Read this dayes Epistle Wisdome â— In this militancie of the Church the Elect of God become 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they find that they need and they seeke for helpe the word implieth asmuch The Church is compared vnto a Doue for her simplicitie and for her meeknesse shee is compared vnto a Lambe As a Doue she is nothing suspicious for Vt quisque est vir optimus ita difficillimè credit alios esse improbos Good men looke to find plaine dealing as themselues deale plainly As a Lambe the Church is as apt to be a prey as shee is not apt to prey vpon any shee is a fit subiect for the Shearer and the Slaughterer though it selfe be harmelesse and vsefull Looke vpon the enemies of the Church they are the Serpent and the Lion The Serpent is full of fraud fraud which circumuenteth our wits with sophistrie and transporteth our affections with vanitie coloured and blanched with a shew of Truth and Good The Lion is full of Crueltie and delighteth in bloud watchfull vpon all opportunities and neuer giuing ouer the least aduantage And the instruments of the Serpent and the Lion I meane wicked men are Serpentine and Lion-like deceitfully compassing their owne end and spending their power only in crueltie This hath beene the cariage of the enemies of the Church euer since God put enmitie betweene the seed of the woman and the seed of the Serpent But it was neuer more remarkable then in Popish Equiuocation and that which they call their Holy Inquisition the very markes of the Beast and by them they make their nearest approaches to that Father of Lâ—â—s and that ancient Murderer sure I am they haue cut the heart strings of all both Ciuill and Ecclesiasticall true Policie The Church being thus besteed when from her enemies she reflects her eyes vpon her selfe findeth her owne inabilite her need of succour and as the Apostles in their perill so she in hers cals for helpe Helpe Lord or else we perish so said they so saith shee And my text telleth vs that she hath recourse vnto God Psal 121. I lift mine eyes vnto the Hils saith Dauid from whence commeth my helpe Our helpe standeth in the Name of the Lord who hath made Heauen and Earth Psal 46. and God is our refuge and strength a very present helpe in trouble And see how full the helpe is He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High Psal 9â— shall abide vnder the shadow of the Almightie the whole Psalme is an excellent commendation of the Churches choice but specially that Verse Verse 13. Thou shalt tread vpon the Lion and the Adder the yong Lion and the Dragon shalt thou trample vnder feet though we be as simple as Doues yet God is able to make vs as wise as Serpents and hee will make vs confident as Lions though of our selues wee be as meeke as Lambes And why we haue a Serpent to oppose vnto a Serpent euen him that was figured by the Serpent whom Moses lifted vp Christ the wisdome of God him we haue to oppose to the groueling Serpent that feedeth vpon earth and earthly men If you be stung by this latter Serpent doe but looke to the former and you shall presently bee healed for hee is able to take that craftie one in his owne wilinesse Wee haue a Lion to oppose vnto a Lion the Lion of the Tribe of Iuda to the roaring Lion and out of the eater he can draw meate by death he ouercame him that had the power
Iewes were pricked at the heart when St. Peter preached vnto them Acts 2.37 and as perplexed in conscience cried out Men and Brethren what shall we doe before they receiued the comfort of the Gospell Saint Paul was stricken downe to the ground from Heauen before he was conuerted The Goaler came trembling to him and Silas Acts 16. Esay 67. before he was baptized It is a broken and contrite heart that must make vs capable of grace neyther will the filiall feare enter except way bee made by the seruile This may bee the reason why the holy Ghost by whose power the Apostles were to conuert the world Acts 2. Cap. 4. came vpon them at first in fire and with a mighty winde and a second time with an earth-quake which shaked all the house wherein they were It shewes how their Ministry should shake the hearts and consciences of the World for in omnes terras exiuit sonus eorum Besides this spirituall Luke 12. the Nations had a corporall shaking I came saith Christ to send a sword into the World No sooner had he begunne the Gospel but wee see how the Herodians the Sadducees the Pharisees bestirre themselues against him and against all the Apostles The Apostles intimate as much when in their prayer they repeat those words of the Psalme Psal 2. Acts 4.25 Why doe the Heathen so furiously rage together and the People imagine a vaine thing the Kings of the earth stand vp and the Rulers take counsell against the Lord and against his anointed And how furious was the Dragon against the Woman Reu. 12. because shee had borne a Man childe I will not trouble you to reckon vp the Heathenish or Hereticall Persecutions of the Primitiue Church Gen. 3. Ponam inimicitias I will put enmity betweene the Woman and the Serpent and betweene their seedes is the true ground of this shaking and it holdeth in all ages No sooner is the vanity of Oracles of Idols and of false worship discouered and deserted but the Diuell in reuenge of his quarrell will set Nation against Nation Family against Family Kindred against Kindred and a mans enemies shall be those of his owne houshold Wee haue wofull proofe of it in this age the bloody warres which haue beene and are in these westerne parts whence haue they sprung Gal. 3.1 but from Christs comming amongst vs in the truth of his Gospell which St. Paul to the the Galathians termeth a second forming of Christ in vs and as it were a crucifying of him before vs. But the enuious man that sowed tares cannot bee contented that hee should bee so ouer-topped with good eares of corne therefore there will follow a shaking I haue sufficiently shewed you that both Worlds were shaken but I may not forget a difference which is between their shaking though both are rowsed and giue their attendance at the first comming of Christ yet the great world doth it only effectu it serues to the honour thereof but not knowing what it doth But the little World attends also affectu it is sensible of that which it doth And indeed the shaking of the great World is only to worke a sensible shaking in the little World Which as it is wont to be wrought in other cases as when vpon the sight of Eclypses and blazing Starres men are affrighted and prognosticate vnto themselues Famines Pestilences Waâ—res Confusion of States which is likewise done by them vpon the sight of Earth-quakes So God would haue it also in this case he would that men should be obseruant and feeling of his extraordinary Workes wrought vpon the Heauens and the Earth in honour and testimony of his comming into the world who is the Sauiour of the world I haue done with the shaking I will onely giue you an obseruation or two vpon it and so passe on to the Time The first is St. Chrysostomes Hom. 14. in Mat. c. 14 Hom. 1. ad Rom. God when hee doth any great Worke in the world non solet subrepere stealeth not vpon the World but giueth signification before hand So did he before he brought on the Floud before hee deliuered his People out of Egypt before he gaue the Iewes ouer vnto the Babylonian captiuity We cannot reade those Stories but we must needes finde in them Gods palpable harbingers So that if men be surprised it is not because men are not forewarned but because they will take no warning The old World though the Arke was building before their face yet were they eating and drinking marrying and giuing in marriage till the floud came Though Moses told Pharaoh what euill God would bring vpon him yet did Pharaoh still harden his heart and the Iewes mocked the Prophets that early and late told them of their captiuity neyther would they beleeue it vntill they were past recouery 2 Cor. 4. 3. If our Gospell be hid saith St. Paul it is hid vnto those whose eyes the God of this world hath blinded that they should not beleeue Acts 26 2â— for as hee told Agrippa the things which they preached were not done in a corner As the corporall Sunne doth not rise without a dawning of the day so Christ came not into the world without some prognostication thereof Iewes and Gentiles that doe not beleeue are without all excuse because God hath so plainely shaken both the Worlds Neyther shall we haue ought to pleade for our selues if we neglect or forsake the Truth which God hath brought vnto vs because he hath accompanied it with so wonderfull deliuerances and comforts vs in honour of it with so many diuers blessings God hath vouchsafed many wayes to premonish vs let vs take heede that wee dis-regard him not The second Obseruation is this Mat. 5.18 No Creature can hinder the performance of Gods will Heauen and Earth shall passe rather than one iot of his word shall be vndone Wee neede not feare any opposition on the worlds part notwithstanding it is the common feare of worldly men because all the world is in Gods power hee can shake and shiuer it at his pleasure Of this God doth often put his People in minde by the Prophets and biddeth them bee bold thereupon And wee may say Si Deus nobiscum quis Rom. 8.31 yea and quid too contra nos Quid Is it the great World God can shake Heauen and Earth the Sea and the dry Land Quis Is it man God can shake him also hee can shake all Nations therefore we neede not feare what eyther World can doe vnto vs. And thus much of the manner of the Preparation I come now briefly to shew you the time thereof When a man heares of such great matters hee will be inquisitiue after this circumstance he will desire to know how often how soone And the holy Ghost doth here resolue both those questions How often Nazianz. orat 37. p. 607. â—rat 21. p. 388 if you aske he answers Yet
these prerogatiues and therfore it preacheth vnto vs that which Canaan preached to Israel Amendment of life and constancy therein The second Motiue which the place doth yeeld is the tenure thereof God saith Salomon gaue it to our fathers they held in franck Almoigne and God telleth vs in the Psalme that hee gaue it them to this end that they might keep his statutes and obserue his Lawes And should not men bee dutifull vnto God when God is so liberall vnto men Wee may thinke haply that this doth not concerne vs because we came otherwise by our Lands If we thinke so wee plod too much vpon the second causes but we must know that whether we come by them by purchase or by gift we are beholding vnto Gods blessings for the mony wherewith wee purchase and for their good will which bestow it on vs and the same God that could haue hindred vs of both can strip vs of both at his pleasure But to shut vp the matter of my Text. You see the end of Gods plagues and of his mercy They doe sollicit vs to returne in time This doth call vpon vs not to bee weary of well-doing Wherefore let vs entertaine Gods chastisements prudently let vs not contemne them because they are fearefull and the contempt of this temporall will but procure vs eternall wrath at least in this life God may rise from smaller vnto greater plagues Nor let vs despaire because God is mercifull yea he hath shewed a great deale of mercy in that multi corriguntur in paucis in presenting before vs some few mens harmes hee bids vs all beware and what should our praier be but Domine ne in supplicijs nostrie alios erudiamus Let not vs by thy heauy hand bee made examples to others cum liceat nobis aliorum cruciatibus emendari whereas if wee haue grace other mens corrections may be our instructions To you of this assembly let me say boldly That the greater we are in place and power the greater share should we haue in this worke of Repentance by our example we should teach the people compunction for sin correction of life the two most preuailing folliciters of Gods mercy and preseruers of a State God forbid that it should be with vs as it was with Israel Ier. 5. Amos 6. that God should find the great men more sons of Belial than the meaner sort it would be a shrewd prognostication of very euill dayes to come This day promiseth better things I pray God the continuance be answerable and that we repent not that wee haue resolued to repent but that euery day sinne may more and more dye in vs and grace liue more and more if we do so we may be sure that though for a time we sow in teares yet in due time wee shall reape in ioy Nothing remaineth now that I haue for your greater edifications opened and applied the pious assertions that are contained in my text but that wee should returne it againe into that forme wherein King Salomon conceiued it and make it our common petition vnto God LOrd there is great feare of a famine the pestilence hath entred already far vpon vs by the enemies of thy truth and our peace we are forced to prepare for war we knowing euery man the plague of his owne heart cast our selues downe before thy Throne of Mercy deprecating thy wrath and supplicating for grace beseeching thee to take off thy heauie hand from vs and fight for vs against our enemies because without thee vaine is all the strength of man Heare thou in heauen thy dwelling place forgiue do and giue to euery man of vs according to his waies Thou which only knowest the hearts of all men that we may fear thee all the dayes which we liue in this good Land which thou hast giuen to our fathers And bee vouch safed after this life to attend thy Throne with thy blessed Saints in the Kingdome of Heauen Amen יהוה TWO SERMONS PREACHED in WELLS at the Ordination of MINISTERS THE FIRST SERMON MATTH 28. Vers 18 19 20. All power is giuen vnto mee in Heauen and in Earth Goe ye therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Sonne and of the Holy Ghost Teaching them to obserue all things whatsoeuer I haue commanded you And lo I am with you alway euen vnto the end of the world Amen THese words contain one of the last solemne acts which our Sauiour Christ performed immediately before he ascended into Heauen and that was his sending of his Apostles to conuert the world In this act our Sauiour Christ doth informe them first of his owne right to send All power is giuen me both in Heauen and in Earth then of the errant whereupon they were to be sent Goe yee therefore and teach all Nations baptizing them c. But more distinctly About Christs right our first enquiry must be of what sort the power here mentioned is and wee shall finde that it is heauenly and my Text will teach vs that this heauenly power of Christ is lawfull because giuen vnto him and full because in it selfe vnlimited it is All power and extendeth to euery place it worketh both in Heauen and Earth Vpon this power of Christ is grounded the Apostles Embassage that must you gather out of the Illatiue Therefore In the Apostles embassage or errant we will consider their common charge and comfort In the charge we shall see 1. What they must doe they must Goe Ite 2. To whom they are sent and whereabout They are sent farre and wide Goe yee to all Nations That which they must doe is to winne them vnto Christ teach them or as the Originall hath it make them Disciples If they preuaile with any if any entertaine the Gospell then they are to consecrate their persons vnto God Baptize them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost and to worke their obedience wholly conformable to euery one of those precepts which themselues had receiued from Christ Teach them to doe all things whatsoeuer I haue commanded you This is their common charge Their common comfort standeth in the powerfull and perpetuall assistance of Christ Assistance He is with them and this presence is powerfull for he that is present is Ego I that haue all power both in Heauen and Earth and it is perpetuall Hee is with them alwayes vnto the worlds end Alwayes without intermission vnto the worlds end therefore not onely with their owne persons but also with their successors Vpon this common comfort they must all fixe their eyes Ecce Behold it and their faithfull prayer must hopefully expect it so much is meant by the close of all Amen These bee the particulars which offer themselues in this Text to our consideration I will God willing speake of so many of them as the time will permit Consider you what I say and the Lord giue you a right vnderstanding in
banes not of Learning only but of Religion also St. Paul is one worker but there is another also which is Gods grace God doth not endow vs and then leaue vs to our free will if hee did so our endowing grace would quickly perish or doe nothing therefore hee giues a second grace to the operant he addes a cooperant That must worke also The reason is euident whether you cast your eies vpon the common workes of pietie or else vpon the speciall workes of the Ministrie See it first in the speciall workes of Pietie If our vnderstanding and our heart be left in their pure naturals the one will neuer perceiue the other wil neuer sauour the things that are of God therefore must the one be lightned the other must bee purged by grace otherwise they will neuer comprehend their obiect they will neuer bee able to doe any supernaturall worke How much lesse will they bee able to doe it their naturals being corrupted as by sinne they are But before in the endowment we found a man indued with grace and here we finde mention made of grace againe wherefore wee must obserue that God vouchsafeth a man a double grace an habituall and an actuall a grace that giueth him abilitie and a grace that setteth his abilitie on worke Touching habituall grace that is true which St. Basil hath De Spiritu sancte c. 26. it is semper presens but not semper operans it may be in vs and yet be idle he expresseth it by a similitude of the eye sight wherewith a man may see oftner than he doth see De Natura gratia c. 26. St. Austin vseth that simile more fully to our purpose vt oculus corporis etiam plenissimè sanus nisi candore lucis adiutus non potest cernere c. as the sharpest eye-sight can discerne nothing except it haue the help of outward light no more can a man perfectly iustified liue well except he be holpen from aboue with the light of the eternall Iustice Neither is this cooperation of grace a transeunt but a permanent Act so the same Father teacheth Sicut Aer praesente lumine non factus est lucidus sed fit quia si factus esset non fieret sed etiam absente lumine lucidus maneret sic home Deo sibi praesente illuminatur absente autem continuo tenebratur Gods grace in man is like the light of the Ayre the one steeds our bodily eye so long as it is maintained by a perpetuall influence of the Sunne and the other steeds our soules so long as it is excited and helped by the holy spirit and grace will be as vnfruitfull without this helpe of the Spirit as the light of the ayre will be fading if you intercept the influence of the Sunne So that a mans soule must be like vnto the Land of Canaan vpon which the eyes of the Lord were from the beginning of the yeare to the ending to giue it the former and the later raine Deut. 11. our sufficiencie and our efficiencie must be both from God Neyther is this second grace needfull only for the work of Pietie but for the workes of the Ministrie also the Lampes that burne in the Temple must continually bee fedde with oyle St. Paul though hee calleth vs Labourers yet he calleth vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is another Labourer with vs. And indeed as Moses told God If thou wilt not goe with vs send vs not hence so vncomfortable were the worke of the Ministrie were it not for Christs promise Lo I am with you vntill the worlds end if he did not hold the starres in his hand they would quickly become wandring quickly become falling stars Besides our selues therfore we must acknowledge another Worker Hauing found the two workers wee must now see what was eyther of their preheminencie First the preheminencie of St. Paul He laboured more than all the word all must be vnderstood not collectiuely but distributiuely He was not so arrogant as to equall himselfe to the whole either Church or Ministrie but to any one he might wel equall himselfe he might well affirme that not any one did equall him in labour But it is a question whom he meaneth by All whether only false Apostles or also true There is no doubt but he went beyond all the false Apostles if he went beyond the true And he went beyond the true it is euident if you consider the circuit of his trauell which is described Rom. 15. and in the Acts especially if you adde that he planted Churches wheresoeuer he came and enlarged the Kingdome of Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as himselfe speaketh Adde hereunto his many Epistles sent to so many remote places and persons so profoundly opening the mysteries of saluation and resoluing the hardest knots thereof But aboue all things take notice of the two Supporters of his paines with which no man euer bore himselfe out more resolutely they are the prouerbiall Sustine Abstine How did he despise all profit all pleasure that would take no salary for his paines but laboured with his owne hands that hee might make the Gospell of Christ free that when he might lead about a Wife a Sister as Cephas and the other Apostles did made himselfe an Eunuch for the Kingdome of heauen You see what his Abstine was or despising of profit and pleasure As for his Sustine enduring of afflictions that was no lesse remarkeable reade but the eleuenth of the second to the Corinths there we finde them collected to our hands and what kinde of Affliction is there which wee doe not finde there if you reade it you will say he was a manifold Martyr I cannot dwell longer vpon this point only this I obserue though no man can suffer or abstaine more than he should or labour beyond his dutie supererrogations of any of those kindes are Popish dreames as they expound them yet may one man goe farre beyond another and some there are which are Miracula hominum they may rather be admired than imitated And such was St. Paul Neither was he such a Pastor only but such a Christian also and indeed his Sustine and Abstine must be referred to his grace of Adoption though they did attend his grace of Edification But if that will not suffice see how he did buffet his bodie and keep it vnder lest while he preached to others himselfe should become a reprobate 1 Cor. 9. when he was buffeted with the messenger of Sathan 2 Cor. 12. hee neuer left importuning Christ with his prayers till Christ answered him My grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakenesse his constant care was to keepe an inoffensiue conscience towards God and men Acts 26. But aboue all places reade and exemplifie those two memorable descriptions of a true religious heart striuing against sinne Rom. 7. and making towards heauen Phil. 3. you cannot better see his Pietie and learne to bring your owne to