Hieroms complaint in his time Sola Ars Scripturarum Ars est omnium In no other Profession can any man set vp before he haue seru'd a set number of yeeres but in the knowing of the Lord euery man will bee a Doctor of the Chaire before euer he saw the Diuinity-Schoole We ought I confesse all to wish as Moses did Would God that all the Lords people were Prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit vpon them but let them bee enricht with Moses gifts too who was skilfull in all the learning of the Egyptians for otherwise although it were Moses charity to wish such a generall blessing 't was Gods wisdome not to grant it It is indeed true That to know the Lord and his saluation the Scripture affords light enough and Diuinity needs not to adde to her immortall beauty by any borrowed painting yet you shall see that when Saint Paul vndertooke to make the Corinthians know who was the Lord hee profest a wealthy variety of much other knowledge besides the Scripture and thankes God for it that hee spake with Tongues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more then all they did and able he was to cite their owne Poets among the then learned Athenians and to apply a Satyricall Verse out of Epimenides to reprehend the lying gluttonous and bestiall manners of the Cretians His powerfull language so rauish't the Lystrians in the 14. of the Acts that hee gain'd the repute of Mercury amongst them and questionlesse the sitting so long at the feet of Gamaliel made him vas electionis a vessell fit to hold that diuine Treasure which the Holy Ghost powr'd into him not that he or any other Messenger of God did euer vse to thrust themselues into a Wildernesse of Diuinity amongst Thornes and Bushes suffering euery Bramble to teare off part of that Golden Fleece which can neuer safely bee carried out of such Thickets Therefore the Psalmist tooke a direct Method in learning to know this Lord hee lookes vpon the booke of Experience which was the onely volume God himselfe open'd in Paradise written like the Booke in the Reuelation within and on the backside The Heauens declare the Glorie of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy workes and so out of euery Star could he take notes by which he might learne who was this Lord. Opus fecit quod opificem visibilitate sui manefestauit saith the Master out of St. Ambrose The inuisible workman may be known by his visible worke The beauty of Heauen The Glorie of the Starres an Ornament giuing light in the highest places of the Lord at the commandement of the Holy one they will stand in their order and neuer faint in their watches Thus the Sonne of Sirach would make the Vniuerse our Vniuersitie where we might perfect our soules in experimentall knowledge sufficient to vnderstand the power of Him that made all this All first of nothing Accedat quaecunque vis creatura et faciat tale Coelum et Terram dicam quia Deus est if these helps will not make vp our obseruation full Iob will direct vs to plainer Masters Interroga iumenta docebunt te Aske now the Beasts and they shall teach thee and the Fowles of the ayre and they shall tell thee or speake to the Earth and it shall teach thee and the Fishes of the Sea shall declare vnto thee Who knoweth not all these things that the hand of the Lord hath wrought this By the perpetuity of these creatures wee may know the eternitie of their Creator by their immensity his omnipotency by the ordering of them the wisdome of him Yet hath the Deuill so fascinated the eyes of many that in stead of knowing GOD by these his workes they haue mistaken many of his workes for their gods How commonly haue some esteem'd the strong man in the Firmament the Sun for the Sunnes Creator who could he haue spoken would haue answer'd them like the Angell in the Reuelation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 see thou doe it not for I am thy fellow-seruant and of thy Brethren Thus the willing yet impiously-deuout Heathen made their vnhappy Piety rather to be a crime then such blinded adoration to be esteem'd knowledge of this Lord. Where was that immortall Soule that Image of the sacred Trinity Where all the Faculties of that Soule Apprehension Iudgement and Discourse Nay where are they yet in the greatest and most parts of the world I desire not to dwell vpon so vnnecessarie a point as many may thinke the knowledge of God to be in this Sun-shine of the Gospell yet some I am sure that this day heare mee haue beene in parts and amongst people who can no more see this Lord then a blind man is able to discerne the Sunne at noone where amongst obseruing many Monsters in their Trauels the greatest Monster Sea or Earth affords is the ignorance of this Lord not yet knowne to the mightiest Monarkes vpon earth Let me beseech you who-euer you are that dedicate your selues to treade the vntrackt paths of the Sea and negotiate with remote Kingdomes either for the Gold of Ophir or the Spices of Arabia to carry with you along for Exchange if it be possible but not to forgoe it your selues this Merchandise sold at so low a rate now with vs The knowledge of this Lord. Let euery one of your liues be a Taper to the darkned vnderstandings of the Heathen by which they may at least see that you know the Lord for to you to you only doth he beare this loue of you onely hee hath this fatherly care that hee would bee knowne to bee the Lord of you his people for you shall know that I am the Lord O my people you are the persons to whom he would be knowne his people Did euer Father in more faire termes entertain the dearest Treasures of his bloud then God doth here his people A people who in the Chapter 〈◊〉 had awaken'd his vnwilling wrath himselfe saies of them When the house of Israel dwelt in their owne Land they defiled it by their owne wayes and by their doings wherefore I powred forth my fury vpon them And who would not haue still lookt for burning from his lips and Coales of fire from his nostrils yet he presently forgets to be angry scattered they were but they shall not straggle long as sheep without a Shepheard for he will againe be their Lord and they shall be his people His people by order of Creation all people are many blessings and benefits doe all Nations Kingdomes and people receiue from him But saith Bernard tanquam proprium eum habent singuli Electorum where he beares a selected and neere affection there he stiles himselfe and them by a more deare and peculiar Title O my people He spoke to them before in termes of strangenesse They defiled their own way effudi eos in Gentes I haue scatter'd them among
the Nations still in the third person as if they were Branches to be cut from the Stocke wherein they were ingrafted and henceforth to remaine Aliens to his fauour neuer to be acquainted with him or any thing of his but his Anger and punishments But his Anger endures but a while In his fauour is life so gracious a LORD hee had euer beene to them that hee could neuer forget that they were his people How like his owne people did he truely vse them when they were vnder Pharaohs bondage where euery lash that was giuen them seem'd to strike him and how did he double all those Stripes vpon Pharaohs backe How did he afterwards load them with Courtesies because they were his people How did hee feede them with foode from his Table such as they knew not neither did their Fathers know How did he bring them thorow the waters of the great Deepe and thorow the Red Sea as thorow a Wildernesse Yet was not Gratitude for all these fauours so truly planted in their deprau'd hearts but they made a Molten Calfe an Idolattrous Sharer in his honour If euer they were not to be accounted his people and their names neuer to bee registred more in his thoughts now was the time they should haue beene blotted out when such worms not worthy to crawle before his Throne should dare to vrge God himself with their vpbraiding murmurs yet euen then a word from his Seruant Moses mouth to put him in mind that they were his people easily reconciles him and hee shewes that hee had wrote them vpon the palmes of his hands and not forgot them when the Mother hath forgot her sucking Child Hee was euer wont to reioyce in the Title of being a Lord to his people for as if his Loue had shut vp all his Care for one Familie alone and onely they should partake of it hee calls himselfe the God of Abraham the God of Isaak and the God of Iacob as if hee meant onely to bee their Lord and they should onely be his people Some of his seruants haue desired to belong to him with the same singularity of dutie as hee hath own'd them with a singular affection The man after his owne heart expresses him in Attributes most pleasing to him Domine Deus meus O Lord my God The Disciple whose doubting faith hath made ours so strong that it ought not to doubt when the wounds in his side had assur'd him who hee was he cryes out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 My Lord and my God At the same time that happy sinner seekes this Lord with the same appropriating termes They haue taken away Dominum meum my Lord neither shame for his late reproachfull Death nor feare to belong to so contemn'd a Man as he was made her to let fall her Relation but still My Lord. Some of his then haue been willing to dwell vnder the shaddow of his wings as he was to entertaine them into his seruice and ready to acknowledge him for their Lord as he to call them his people His people we are all content to goe for whil'st he conferr's fauours vpon vs whil'st he opens vnto vs the windowes of Heauen and powres forth blessings that there is not roome inough to hold them But like peremptorie Minions who hauing long enioy'd the fauour of their Prince and finding themselues crost but in some one Suit they forget all the good turnes that were heap't vpon them before Antiquiora beneficia subuertit qui eadem posterioribus non cumulat none will any longer bee his people then his hand of bounty is open to them Not onely his people in generall but his chiefest Seruants haue vs'd him so his Psalmist his King whom he tooke from the Sheep-fold and preuenting him with all good things set vpon his head a Crowne of gold Then he would bee his seruant Then he awakes his Psaltery and Harpe and himselfe would awake right early Then hee summons the Heauens and the Heights the Angels and Hosts Dragons and Deepe all must helpe him to praise the Name of the Lord for himselfe was resolu'd to doe it for euer and euer Yet in another place hee sees but the wicked flourish he sees GOD as hee thinkes shew a little fauour to them that were not his owne people sees that they are not in trouble like other men nor plagu'd like other men forthwith all that God had done for him That he had so often heard him out of his Holy Hill that hee had beene his glorie and the lifter vp of his head yet hee tooke ill counsell in his soule daily and accuseth his carefull Lord of such peruerse forgetfulnesse as to be a continued Patron of Strangers who neuer acknowledg'd themselues his and to take no notice of his best and most obsequious seruants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Though wee may euery where find this Lord yet if we looke vpon him with carnall eyes we shall hardly discern him to be the Lord of his people but rather of the vngodly who oftentimes in farre more plenty enioy his outward bounties then his owne people His people must not looke to spread themselues and flourish like a greene Bay tree to swimme alwayes vpon smooth streames When Christ himselfe had once in his company his Apostles all the poore Familie that he had all his people the Winds and the Waters set vpon the Ship where he and his people were for had there beene a continuall calme they could not so certainely haue knowne him for their Lord who both then and since reads to all his people many Lectures of himselfe his Glory his Omnipotency But alas they rather pose vs then instruct vs by all them we only know that we can neuer sufficiently know him not the least handy-worke of his One Schoole onely GOD hath where most perfectly wee shall learne what he is That Schoole is the Graue to which heere hee sets his people where they shall truely know him to be the Lord by those acts of his power by opening Graues and bringing vp out of Graues This is one of the vnlikeliest places that euer man went to learne any knowledge in especially the knowledge of the Lord. The Psalmist tels GOD That was no place for him to be knowne in quoniam non est in morte qui memor sit tui In death there is no remembrance of thee and in the Graue who shall giue thee thanks He seconds it in the 30. Psalme verse 9. Quae vtilitas in sanguine meo What profit is there in my blood O Lord When I goe downe into the Pit shall the Dust praise thee shall it declare thy Truth Yes sure A blessed Apostle could well thinke of no other Librarie to studie for his chiefe Lesson in to know Iesus Christ and him crucified but the Graue His Bookes must be meditations of the Carkases laid in their Graues his fellow-students Wormes his writing-tables
know that I am the Lord. Secondly to whom To his owne people O my people Thirdly by what meanes by most powerfull deliuerance when I haue opened your graues and brought you vp out of your graues Gods care to be knowne first presents it selfe And you shall know that I am the Lord. Two things saith Lactantius GOD hath made man onely to be most desirous of Religionis sapientia Religion and wisdome the two onely Keyes to open that Well sealed vp The knowledge of the Lord. But the Author goes on sed homines ideo falluntur quòd aut Religionem suscipiunt omissâ sapientiâ aut sapientiae soli student omissâ Religione either men in the fury of Religion will breake vp the seales of Gods secrets and so rather discouer him then know him or else they will finde him in the Labyrinths of their subtill braines omitting the best Clue to guide them thorow Religion We may obserue how vnhappy the first intent to know GOD too neere was when He that was the subiect of the knowledge was not the Instructer Shee that was first caught by that golden hooke of knowledge would know God but it should be most ambitiously for shee would know her selfe to bee like Him in the knowledge of good and euill That wretched knowledge she quickly gain'd good she knew by its irrecouerable losse and euill shee knew not onely by knowing but being so her selfe and all because when shee first set her selfe to Schoole the Deuill was her Tutor Glorious apparition of knowledge which fier'd euen innocencie it selfe with a proud affection to it nor could euer since any Age auoyd the spices of that first disease of knowing But like ouer-fleet Hounds wee often out-runne the prey in the pursuite or else tyer'd and hungry fall vpon some dead carrion in the way and omit the Game Else how were it possible that Man who only hath that essentiall consequence of his Reason Capacity of Learning should all his time bee brought vp in a Schoole of knowledge and yet too often let the glasse of his dayes be runne out before hee knowes the Author he should studie Haue not the greatest Epicures of knowledge like children new set to Schoole turn'd from their lessons to looke on pictures in their bookes gazing vpon some hard trifle some vnnecessary subtilty and forgot so much as once to spell the Lord How great a part of this span-length of his daies doth the Grammaticall Criticke spend in finding out the construction of an obsolete word or the principall verbe in a worne-out Epitaph still ready to set out a new booke vpon an old Criticisme How will an Antiquarie search whole Libraries to light vpon an ancient Monument whilest the Chronicle of this LORD who is the Ancient of daies shall seldome be looked into We doe so wearie the faculties of our vnderstanding before-hand by ouer-practising that when wee come at the Race indeed where our knowledge should so runne that it might obtaine it giues ouer the course as out of breath before it haue begun I speake not but to honour learning and knowledge euen the first elements of the Arts they are like the Cryer in the Wildernesse before our Sauiour to prepare his way Nor I thinke ought any to be transported with the pangs of so indiscreet a zeale as to extinguish those first Lampes of knowledge polite and humane studies for though they doe not directly teach vs to know the Lord yet are they the fittest spectacles for vnripe yeeres and tender sights to put on who are not able to endure at the first vehemens sensibile so excelling an obiect as the Lord is God doth not vse now-a-dayes to rauish men extra corpus as Saint Hierome saith hee did this Prophet or as Saint Paul saith he doth not know whether it were 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whether within or without the body when hee was taken into the third Heauen God leades vs with a more apprehensiue and ordinary hand then either by taking vs vp or sending downe lights and visions from himselfe to make his Spirit to be at command to euery obstreperous vnletter'd Extemporist vt doceat antequam didicit who will vndertake to teach before himselfe hath learn'd and so it often falls out that whilest such are about to make knowne this knowledge of the Lord though their bodies bee confin'd within the compasse of the Pulpit yet is their straggling inuention faine to wander for matter as Saul did ouer Mount Gilboa and many other Mountaines to seeke his Fathers Asses and yet neuer found them It is the comparison of that Kingly Priest who was the late Reuerend Prelate of this Sea All Miracles wee know are ceas't and yet the greatest Miracle that euer God wrought vpon earth the Incarnation of his blessed Sonne excepted the effusion of his Spirit must still be so familiar with vs that the assiduity of hauing it hath brought it amongst too many into a cheape contempt I would not be mistaken for I speake with a reuerend estimation of mine owne and all Christian soules Preaching is an inestimable Iewell and if the Physician of the body is to bee honour'd then much more they that minister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 restoring Balsame to wounded soules That Angell of our Church reuerend Hooker et tanto nomini semper assurgo his name ought euer to bee mention'd with honour calls Sermons the Keyes to the Kingdome of Heauen Wings by which our soules soare to the heauenly Ierusalem O what a blessing is it frō heauen nay what proportion doth it hold with heauen to heare a Preachers tongue touch't by a Seraphim vtter in the Pulpit labour'd mature thoghts cloathing his sublime Theames in fit Apparell to be presented before that Person whom hee represents yet non tam loquitur fortia quà m viuit his life should be stronger speak more powerfully then his lines and euen then when his words reach as high as the Throne of God his heart should bee as low as the humble Publicans All Gods Prophets ought to be of Dauids mind to esteeme themselues Wormes and no men whilest their Audience are sweetly forc't to repute them little lesse then Cherubims What a blessed Martyrdome it were for any imploy'd in Gods Seruice to breathe forth his soule in sauing others soules Such a Preacher were like the good seruant in the Gospell who when the Lord comes he shall finde so doing That word so qualifies any extremitie that might haue been in his actions like Saint Pauls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so runne running hee obseru'd many perchance too fast therefore he assignes the modum debitum the true path in which wee should runne Men that will be either like him or like the good seruant so doing must not fall into any excesse and bee found ouer-doing which euen in this great businesse of knowing the Lord too many doe It was St.