and the names of the Stars and Constellations and with flat Romances about the good Angels falling in love with mortal Creatures things most unworthy to be fathered upon Enoch that walked with God Therefore St. Jerom moderates the variance Non probavit librum totum Judas sed illud duntaxat testimonium St. Jude did patronize no more of that Book but that Prophesie which he copied out into his Epistle As St. Paul gave no divine authority to certain heathen Poets but only to those particular Verses which he borrowed To come to a point It sounds nearest to truth that Enoch was no such Prophet as left Canonical Records because Christ was wont to argue against the Jews from Moses and the Prophets allowing Moses for the most ancient Prophet that delivered Scripture to the Church by inspiration A late Capuchin Frier hath laboured to prove as he thinks solidly as I think very superficially that Monkish Fraternities and Covents were the first invention in the Church and in his sense to be a Prophet is all one as if Enoch had been of some Colledge or religious Order separated from the ordinary Sons of God Out of his own conjectures he doth erect two strict sodalities of Religion in those ancient days From Enos the Enoscaei such as professed silence from all talk and sequestration from all men And from Cainan the Cinaei or Kenites such as lived in a regular but an active Vocation More of this in due time but we read of no vow or affected institution of life into which the Patriarchs entred we read of some illuminated Prophets or Prophet among them and that was Enoch As he spake by the mouth of his holy Prophets which have been since the world began Luk. i. 70. 3. His next mark of glory follows That he was an example of repentance to all Generations They that are careful to expound these words in Ecclesiasticus accurately are divided in the sense Some have searched among the Rabbines for their opinions of this and one of them says that wickedness did abound in the Age of Enoch the foul crimes of Sorceries and Witchcrafts had begun to shew their blade and Lamech was the seventh from Adam in the Race of Cain a Bigamist and a Murderer His sins in all likelihood were scandalous and contagious at that time over a great part of the earth and for these iniquities the Lord drowned the third part of the habitable world in Enochs time and Enoch threatned an universal Deluge to all flesh if they did not repent which indeed came to pass so his Doctrine and Prophesies gave notice of Repentance to all Generations But Procopius says upon this Text and he had it from some Jewish Scribes that this holy man had been very incontinent and vicious before he begat Methusalah but after that he proved so relenting a Convert laid hold so fast on God because he knew what a misery it was to lose him that his few years of repentance did God more faithful service than almost a thousand years of innocence in the best of the Patriarchs Which aspersion upon this holy Saint since it hath no ground to build upon it is answered well enough by Cajetan Enoch is twice commended in this Chapter that he walked with God in this Text and within two Verses before it the ingemination of that puts it into more probability that he was a constant follower of good works from his youth up till the time that God translated him Leaving these far-fetch'd conjectures this is the most sutable exposition to the words as I apprehend repentance is often taken for all that sanctification and righteousness which is in man that is born and conceived in sin Acts v. 31. God hath exalted Christ to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins but God gives a new heart and a new spirit to Israel and new obedience when he gives them forgiveness of sins To repent is properly reverti à peccato to return from a sinful life but sometimes it is avertere à peccato to turn a side from the broad way which leadeth to perdition though the Child of God never went astray in it So Enoch having a corruptible body which pressed down the pious alacrity of the soul and doing those things by frailty sometimes which he ought not to have done his innocency and holiness is called repentance whereupon the Son of Syrach calls him an example of repentance to all Generations 4. To be a Prophet to be an example of repentance both of these gives us an introduction to understand this Phrase that he walked with God but the true key that opens it is the fourth thing Vpon the earth was no man created like Enoch says the Son of Syrach A Cedar among other fair trees a great Star among other lesser lights a most sanctified man among many just ones like the man in the Parable that was the truest servant to his Master exceeded him that gained but two Talents exceeded him that gained five Talents he made return of ten Talents to his Lord and bore the praise away from them all that had done very well before him upon the earth was no man created like Enoch We commend those from our lips that are inter non pessimè malos not so bad as the worst But God commends them from his mouth that are inter optimos praecipui the most excellent of them that are the best Reuben was kinder towards Joseph than the rest of his Brethren so Reuben tells them of it Gen. xlii 22. yet he was but unnatural Jehu was a truer worshipper of God than the Priests of Baal yet wanted much of sincerity Gamaliel was more favourable to the Apostles than the rest of the Judges yet he did them unjustice and was an unbelieving Pharisee The Kingdom of heaven is not to be look'd for upon assurance that there are greater sinners than you but hereby you shall try if the love of God be in you when you pant and strive with all your soul and with all your might that none may be better It is a pitiful and indeed a dishonourable praise to point out a man and say he is religious devout or conscionable as the world goes Hath God ever promised to take measure from that form as a bad world goes how he will give a man an heritage with the Angels in the world to come To be an Hercules among the Argonautes I mean the first Champion in the Lords cause in the first file a Peter among the Disciples Lovest thou me more than these An Elias among Prophets a Moses an Aaron among his Priests and Samuel among such as called upon his name an Enoch among the Patriarchs upon the earth was no man created like him this is the pitch we must desire to grow unto and not to say with the Proverb Occupet extremum scabies All is well if you be not the worst of a wicked company Whatsoever you know or hear of
faln into it for where almost shall you find that men had not rather themselves should overcome than a good cause Always more studious of victory than of truth When Christ askt the Pharisees whether the Baptism of John were from heaven or from men though they could not deny it was from God yet they would not say so that the quarrel between them and Jesus might be endless Timentes lapidationem sed Magis timentes veritatis confessionem says St. Austin they were afraid to be stoned of the people for their obstinacy but they were more afraid to confess the truth What a fond affected glory is this Men account it among the flowers of their reputation not to be conquered in an arguement though it be never so absurd Like the two Harlots before Solomon nothing in their pleadings but clamour and reiteration the one said Nay but the living child is mine and the dead is thine the other said Nay but the dead is thine and the living is mine This is it which hath pluckt the Church of Christ into so many Schisms and Heresies that proud wits when they are in the wrong will never sit down quiet as if they were convicted and which is the calamity that our sins have justly deserved the Church must stay for peace till Sophisters and contentious have nothing to say that is when they shall be brought before the Tribunal of God and have not one word to answer for the crime of their invincible obstinacy Of pertinacious busie-bodies that will not be convicted when their errors be made apparent there are many sorts How stiff we are in civil brabbles never condescending to pacification every corner of the Kingdom is full of examples Do you know what you mean by that common Proverb of violence You will not lose your will though it put you to cost Not lose it said you O that you knew what will this is that you stand upon and you would never keep it It is the fuel of all cruel provocation the Gum that stiffens your anger the infernal fury that makes deadly fewds the defiance of love and charity the cross-bar of brotherly agreement nay it is Satans best advantage to make you miserable like himself in everlasting fire Is this that will for whose sake you will spend your estate to maintain it Is it not enough to lose your soul but that you will pay costs for damnation The heathen Greek Authors were very tart in their Proverb when they spoke of them that contended only for contention sake 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that they strived for no more than the shadow of an Ass And Lucian who is a profest flouter says it is upon this occasion An Athenian was to ride to Delphos and hired an Ass to carry him In the heat of the day he reposed himself behind the Ass and made benefit of the shadow to keep his body from the Sun the Owner that went along to bring back the beast would not suffer it but demanded to sit in the shadow himself for he let out his Ass but not the shadow the Contention says Lucian went so far that it came into the Court. This is the Story somewhat light I confess but good enough to warn brabbling persons that they strive not about the shadow of an Ass Away with obstinacy therefore which is the endless repulse of godly Union and let truth prevail for what should prevail but that which is stronger than all things The greatest Learning in the world must be a slave to Faith and the greatest Majesty in the world must be a slave to Reason Plato writes to Dion the Ruler of Syracusa Pervicaciam tanquam solitudinis parentem fuge Fly obstinacy and wilfulness it will beget you a solitary melancholy life for all your friends will forsake you Creon in Sophocles would follow his own mind hearken to no admonition and so brought all to ruine Tiresias speaks to him not to be stiff and stubborn for it was ever the fore-runner of great calamity and hath these two similitudes First When a torrent of water breaks into a place the little Willows that bend 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are not removed they that will not give way are rooted out of their place 2. When the Pilot of a ship will not turn his sail to the winds nor observe how to let a turbulent wave pass by him he splits his vessel therefore the conclusion of the Point shall be with Solomon An haughty spirit goes before a fall and it savours much more of a Christian mildness to be easily drawn off from our own imaginations than to hold a stiff opinion in our teeth in despite as it were of all wise perswasions To be wedded to our own will and fancy is very bad in temporal affairs but an inflexible perverseness is ten times worse in spiritual purposes It was a just invective wherewith St. Stephen reviled the Jews Vncircumcised in hearts and ears you do always resist the Holy Ghost First the heart is uncircumcised full of swelling and pride Such a distempered heart pollutes the ear and will not hear of wholsom Doctrine and when the ear is not tractable to receive the truth then follows the resistance of the Holy Ghost The great opposers both of Law and Gospel in holy Scripture were Sorcerers men that were bewitched as St. Paul says of the Galathians that they would not obey the truth such as could not endure to hear there was any divine wisdom revealed from above which was above their own magical Philosophy and as some of our adversaries have said blasphemously that they had rather err in some things with their Pseudo-Catholick Church than be in the right Cause with the Reformed So those Magicians when their senses were convicted that the finger of God was with Moses and the Apostles yet had they rather err in their own hellish way than go uprightly in the way of God Simon the Sorcerer what did he see in Peters Apostleship to oppose it Elymas the Sorcerer what did he hear from Pauls mouth to contradict it Only they must not seem to be overcome lest their name should be diminished among such as admired them God did smite the Magicians of Pharaoh with blains for resisting the truth and yet you never read that they repented twice their skill prevailed to imitate Moses and to do wonders like unto his in the third Plague they failed and were not able to perform it Moses turned the waters into bloud they did the like Moses brought abundance of Frogs upon the Land the Magicians did so with their inchantments At the third time Moses smote the dust of the ground and made it become Lice over all the Land of Egypt at this the Magicians were at a gaze and could not perform it St. Austin notes upon it In signo tertio defecerunt fatentes sibi adversum esse spiritum sanctum They failed in the third sign as who should say the Holy Ghost the third
in Pompey's company I may say in a better capacity of truth that the three Disciples could not miss their Parents their Children their Friends their Possessions their Countrey no nor the whole World beneath if they could but reserve a Tabernacle in any secret place wherein they might enjoy our Lord Jesus Christ The Prophets who were preserv'd by Obadiah's favour were contented to live in a Cave where they might serve God without Idolatry and Peter would possess a new-found World not inhabited by evil men alter alteri magnum theatrum sumus a few good ones are enough to enjoy one another without a contagion of the multitude Alas when he would needs be making a place for Christ that he could devise no better Structure than a Tabernacle But will God indeed dwell on the earth says Solomon Behold the Heaven and Heaven of Heavens cannot contain thee how much less this House that I have builded Solomon thought so meanly of the goodliest Temple that ever was built for Gods honour what a Building was here then not worthy to be named Let us make three Tabernacles As he was laid in a Manger when he was born so he was never housed richly and sumptuously all the while he lived upon earth never till Joseph of Arimathaea composed his body decently in a fair Sepulcher which is not an excuse that we should make him vile houses now but a provocation to make him amends on our part for that contempt which was offered him when he lived in Judaea As for the instance of my Text that Peter offered him a Tabernacle made of a few sticks it is to be born with both because he knew not what he said and he was able to do no better True love is satisfied that all will be taken in good part which is well intended As Jacob set up a Stone and poured oil upon it and called it the House of God Gen. xxviii 18. what would you have him do that had no better at hand but where the Land abounds with costly and sumptuous materials can ye bestow them better than upon the Church of Christ Do you not perswade your self that there the Lord hath heard you often from Heaven and given you all manner of things that are good and can you suffer those walls to be unadorn'd where you have been prosperous or can any heart be so hardned to suffer that Table to be unfurnisht with Ornaments at which we have often been fed with the Bread of Life and the Cup of Benediction I charge not this place with any such neglect but I commend and pronounce them blessed especially who have been liberal that Gods honour might be set out among us in the beauty of holiness and I lament it where it is otherwise for it is a mournful sight me-thinks to see any place excel the Church in preeminence and magnificence not as if I thought the Lord did favour us for fair walls and roofs without a fair inside but first it signifies the almightiness of God when we honour him with the best and chiefest of all outward things and secondly it makes our zeal shine before men that we love our Heavenly Father better than all the wealth of the Earth and the Lord loveth a chearful giver The best Temples that we can dedicate to God are our sanctified Souls and Bodies and therefore St. Austin said alluding to this Text Qui Deo vult facere tabernacula praeparet ei penitralia cordis He that will make a Tabernacle for God let him prepare a clean heart this is well said if we play not the hypocrites with this figurative Religion If some men be incited to offer up the Sacrifice of Alms unto Christ they tell you spare them for that and they will offer up the Sacrifice of a contrite heart Are not these two ill divided bid them worship and fall down and kneel before the Lord our Maker that they hold superfluous for they will bend the knees of their heart Are not those two ill divided Charge the rich men of the World to repair Gods decayed Churches and make them beautiful that draws money from them too fast therefore they say we will build a Sanctuary to the Lord in our inward heart Be not deceived God cannot be mocked with these metaphorical excuses I had rather offer with St. Peter to build a Tabernacle unadvisedly where there was no cause than be backward to build a Tabernacle for the mighty Lord where there was a cause Because Moses and Elias had preached Christ unto the Disciples they would do something again to requite it not hear the word of God gratis as some do as if they would give no mony for it If you will give nothing for that precious gift which cometh from above take heed the Lord do not say to you at the last day What good service have you done in all your life that I should give any thing to you as some men have their customs not to give so undoubtedly God hath his custom not to reward As David said to Araunah The Lord forbid I should sacrifice unto him of that which cost me nothing so Peter would not hear a Sermon of Christ crucified and do no good thing for it faciamus c. These Tabernacles which he spake of being an allusion to the Church I find them agree very well in this that the Militant Church is but like a Tabernacle portable from one place to another to be taken down in one place and to be set up in another always removing As we see the Gospel began to shine most bright at first in the Eastern Countries and now it hath pleased God that in the most conspicuous purity it is carried into the West From Jerusalem it removed to Antioch from Antioch to divers places of Achaia in Greece further and further every Age till now that the multitude of the Isles do praise the Lord like a Militant Tabernacle or Pavilion pitcht where God pleaseth to fight against the Devil and his Angels and to win ground from him that would destroy the Earth Psal cxxviii 3. The Wife which is spoken of there and likned to a fruitful Vine is an Allegory of the Church Now the Church while it wanders upon earth is vitis in lateribus domus a fruitful Vine upon the walls of the House it stands without the doors of the Palace but when the Church shall be settled quietly in the upper Jerusalem it shall be vitis in penetralibus domus the Vine shall be translated into the midst of Paradice there it shall be a City abiding for ever and no longer a removing Tabernacle Now you have heard St. Peters zeal in the Fabrique which he moved to be built in the progress of this point you shall hear these Tabernacles of his were but wild Chimaera's or as we say Castles in the air for he took Mount Thabor as it was now adorn'd with glory for the Heaven which he desired to enjoy
loud voice Lazarus come forth AMong all the miracles that our Saviour wrought this suscitation of Lazarus or raising him up from the dead it was his true Benoni or Son of sorrow None came off with so much anxiety none cost him so dear in all the Gospel Twice he groaned in Spirit and once he wept his Passions were as variable as the life and death of Lazarus Look back to the fifteenth verse and you shall see it wrought comfortably I am glad for your sakes that Lazarus is dead Look unto the 35 verse and you shall see it wrought bitterly Jesus wept What alterations are there says St. Austin Gaudebat propter discipulos flebat propter Judeos horum fides confirmabatur horum incredulitas augebatur It joyed him for the Disciples sake that their faith would be confirmed and revived It grieved him for the Jews sake whose hearts were hardened The preparation then of this Miracle was not without sorrow but the event and sequel was worst of all For although the Counsel of the High Priests stomach'd at our Saviour long before yet they wisht his life no hurt till he had wrought this wonder which all the world were amazed at From that time Caiaphas began to talk like a Wizard That one man must die for the people and Christ must suffer Now you see good cause why our Lord might groan and weep Israel shall pass over into Canaan but Moses must die upon Mount Nebo the birth of Benjamin shall be Rachels funeral Lazarus shall be revived and Jesus crucified Yet I can tell you one thing Beloved how the Son of God shall neither groan nor weep for Lazarus but rejoyce in Spirit and be glad even at this day be glad as he stands at the right hand of God and it lies upon you to do it Did he then groan for the infidelity of the Pharisees Then sure he will now rejoyce if we believe in his works and have faith in the Resurrection Did he then weep because his own death was contrived for doing good Then he will now be comforted if you take heed that you do not again crucifie the Lord of life Tâ—llite lapidem as it is in verse 39 remove the stone the hardness of your heart and joy will follow in heaven for the conversion of a sinner Do you consider that the days past were a time of mourning and sad contrition Why here is a Text which was not preach'd without Christs mourning and lamentation Do you remember his Passion but the other day Why this is the Text which was an occasion to bring him to his Cross and Passion What do you meditate upon this day but our Saviours issuing out of the Grave Why here is Lazarus broke out of the Tomb Lazarus come forth Which words as I have read them rise up into two eminent heads like Tabor and Hermon You shall perceive that the business in my Text is a work of great dignity that is one part and a work of great Divinity that is the other part The dignity consists in these two Points 1. In that which Christ had spoken before when he had said thus And what was that He pray'd unto his Father wherefore it is dignum oratione a work worthy of a Prayer for the preparation 2. It is Dignum proclamatione it was cried with a loud voice and fit to be published to all the world The Divinity appears in these three circumstances 1. Exeat mortuus that a dead man is summoned to appear 2. Exeat Lazarus Lazarus after four days departure comes forth 3. Exeat ligatus one who was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths walks upon his feet O strange Divinity the Monuments which were shut did open for Christ did call who had the Key of David The dead who lay in silence could hear his tongue for it was the same voice which makes the Hinds bring forth young ones and called Adam from the dust of the earth The body which lay putrified four days gave no offence in the smell Christ was at hand who is a sweet savour for us unto God The feet which were bound with Grave-cloaths could walk before him for in him we live and move and have our being Was not this excellent work worthy of a Prayer So far we have gone this day in our morning Sacrifice Was it not worthy of the proclamation of a loud voice fit to be preached that the world may hear of it and believe and be saved And that is the business which doth now take up your attentions With these two circumstances of the Miracle I must first begin the preparation of our Saviours Prayer and the promulgation of his loud voice or preaching And when he had thus said c. That is when he had prayed unto the Father Dimidium facti qui benè caepit habet And he that begins his work with Prayer as Christ did hath half dispatch'd it Vox clamantis the voice of a Crier was the fore-runner of Christ when he came upon the earth Vox orantis the voice of Prayer must be the fore-runner of our necessities when we look for any thing from heaven As the people shouted when the foundation of the Temple was laid grace grace be unto the first stone of the building so let the foundation of every thing be laid with shouting and strong Ejaculations to our God that he may say upon the moving of the first stone Grace be to the building In Gen. xii Abraham removed three times to several quarters and still before he pitcht his Tent he built an Altar to Jehovah remove not stir not enter upon no new task before you have built an Altar 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says St. Chrysostom wheresoever you are pray and your own heart is a Temple or the Alter of Jehovah Religion is the Bow and the heart is the String but Prayer is that which bends the Bow Religion is unbent as it were and the Shafts cannot fly untill Prayer dispatch them Well might Peter who was prompt of tongue and ready to speak upon all occasions be counted a chief Apostle for Prayer which is the tongue of Religion and our Consciences Orator is the chief of all our vertues Debilem facito manu debilem coxâ pede no matter for infirmities in the feet for diseases in the hands so the dumb Devil be not in our tongues The penitent Thief had no hands to hold up they were nailed to the Cross no knees to bend for his legs were broken he had a tongue to say Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom and it did him service enough to open Paradise O the delusions of the Devil For all this that I have said you shall sooner make ignorants and vain people believe that Diseases are curable by unsignificant Charms by unhallowed mutterings than by godly Prayers As if the Devil could go further with Non-sense than a good Christian with Faith and Prayer One Talent in
faciem Because in this life we see darkly as in a glass but hereafter we shall see God face to face As concerning natural Causes and Effects says Aristotle we see into them but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 with Owles eyes by day that discern nothing clearly but as concerning the Mysteries of Godliness we look upon them as Moses did upon the Land of Canaan when Jordan was between we are in one Country and see afar off indistinctly the prospect of another As Rebecca took away her vail when Isaac came toward her that she might see his face so this vail shall be taken from the Church which is the Spouse of God when he draws near unto it Now Lazarus his Napkin is about our face O that thou wouldst rent away this vail O Lord that we might see thy glory Behold as the eyes of Servants look unto the hand of their Masters and as the eyes of a Maiden unto the hand of her Mistress even so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until he have mercy upon us AMEN THE FOURTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION JOHN XX. I. The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the Sepulcher and seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher THis is the day which the Lord hath made and thus begins the Gospel appointed for this great day of the Lord. A Gospel of which I may say it is full even to the brims of Divine Meditations For here are those two Christian Pillars that uphold the Church of God such as shall never be removed Fides Fidelis the faith of the Elect and relatively an elect Vessel that receiv'd the faith a principal Article of our Creed that Christ rose again the third day from the dead and a very illustrious instance of Mary Magdalene who was brought to believe in that Article 1. The Faith which must be believ'd to sanctifie our contemplations 2. The Faithful that did believe to bring us to a godly practice So the Spirit of God hath led Mary Magdalene to the Sepulcher to see that Christ was risen from the dead and the self-same Spirit hath led us to see the love and piety of Mary Magdalene And as this devout woman hath obtained a place of memorial for her name among the blessed of the New Testament because the example of her zeal did shine before us So our names shall find a place among those that are recorded in the Book of Life such honor shall they have that follow after My Text begins a story concerning that first witness to whom our Lord and Saviour's Resurrection was revealed Now upon so much of the Story as is recorded in this verse five things shall be handled First the Condition of that Witness before whom our Lord did first appear after he came out of the Grave Mary Magdalene 2. You may note the Constancy of her love that she remembred him after death and came unto his Sepulcher 3. It is to be ascribed to her Faith that she chose the right season the first day of the week 4. The Expedition which she made is a token of restless diligence that she came early when it was yet dark 5. An Accident of admiration encounters her that she seeth the stone taken away from the Sepulcher No Witness more classical for Gods use than Mary Magdalene a repentant Sinner No love more expressive than to shew affection even after death no season so fit to be watcht as the same which Christ foretold how the third day he would rise which fell out on the first day of the week no fruit that doth better become Faith and Love than vigilant diligence without sloth Repentance Love Faith Diligence shall ever be thus requited that God will shew them a sign from Heaven beyond their expectation The condition of the person is the first thing that we encounter Mary Magdalene cometh unto the Sepulcher She came not alone but other Associates did bear her company such as were devout women and loved our Lord. But our Evangelist knew a reason that she alone was worth the mentioning instead of all besides and upon her name only his Narration runs that Mary Magdalen came unto the Sepulcher The Scripture hath not forgot some of those that were her Associates in other Gospels St. Matthew says Mary Magdalen went forth as it began to dawn and the other Mary St. Mark names three Mary Magdalen and Mary the Mother of James and Salome St. Luke speaks of an indefinite number but every Divine Writer begins with Mary Magdalen she and Joanna and Mary the Mother of James and other Women that were with them But this Woman in my Text was more fervent and passionate in the cause she incited all the rest to go with her to the Sepulcher wherefore she is remembred by our Evangelist in a kind of singularity above all the rest John himself was the Disciple of Love and was careful to eternize her name in this story which did abound in Love above all her Fellows Some antient Writers knew not how so good a Work could be done wherein many religious Women conspired together without the most Blessed Mary the mother of our Lord. Rather than it should turn to her disesteem to stay behind Sedulius Nyssen and Nicephorus were willing I think to mistake that the Woman whom St. Matthew calls the other Mary was the Holy Virgin The disadvantages which this Opinion brings with it were not thought upon that another name should stand before hers to be past over with such an easie mention as the other Mary and not the mother of our Lord a thing which especially St. Luke useth not to forget And what an instance of moment were this that among all others our Lord did first appear to Mary Magdalen after he was risen from the dead Surely his mother had been partaker of that sweet Vision as soon as any if she had been in place to behold him Bernard invents a reason to satisfie himself though perhaps it will not satisfie all men why the Blessed Virgin did willingly absent herself from coming to the Sepulcher the first day of the Week because her Faith abounded more than all the rest She was constantly persuaded that Christ was risen upon the third day even as he had spoken before and she would not go to the Sepulcher to seek the living among the dead But if any man should cast a doubt that the Holy Scriptures would not have concealed such a superexcellent strain of Faith in the Blessed Virgin if she had believed the Mystery of the Resurrection when the Disciples and all other were mistaken besides that none of the Church did perfectly understand the Scriptures until the Holy Ghost fell down upon them at the Feast of Pentecost I say if any should cast in such a doubt I know not how it would be resolved I have no Warrant to affirm any thing in this point neither doth the Scripture
the Spirit of grace and strive to put off the incomprehensible work of God with a jest These men are full of new Wine So that as soon as God sent firy Tongues from heaven upon his Apostles the Devil likewise raised up firy Tongues from Hell and put them in the mouth of his Apostles Envy and despitefulness cares not what reproach it puts upon good men though there be neither sense nor probability to make it credible That is right 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word which is here used to vent any thing against the credit of holy persons whether it be right or wrong It was impossible they should perswade it in any one that they were overtaken with new Wine for there is no such liquor to be had in May not till September at the soonest But slanders use to rove at random And new wine say the Greeks will sooner intoxicate than old 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 But what sign was there to make the objection credible that the Apostles were drunken Did their tongues falter Were their eyes red Was the Gesture foolish I know no man but Carthusian who goes about to invent a sign which should put the Jews into that unlikely suspicion that as the face of Steven when he was full of the Holy Ghost did shine with brightness so the countenances of the Disciples had a splendour and ruddiness in them with the fire of the tongues which sate upon their heads which made the rash Gazers conceive that they were inflamed with drink As the countenances of many that are most sober being red with the heat of the Liver make the uncharitable surmise that they are intemperate so I remember a story that Cassius Bishop of Narnia was despised by King Toteila because he was high coloured whereas Cassius was most abstemious but high coloured by natural infirmity Another thing concurred that it was the Feast day of Pentecost wherein the Jews were wont to rejoyce yet it was not their wont to solemnize the day with Feasting till the morning Sacrifice was offered up and that time was not yet come Therefore St. Peter answers That these men were not drunken for it was but the third hour of the day They that are scandalous in the sin of drunkenness use not to be gone so soon They that are drunken are drunken in the night says St. Paul that is most usual Although some do spend the whole night in quaffing untill the morning In lucem semper Acerra bibit Some prevent the rising of the Sun and are scarce sober one hour of the day whose souls lie under the Prophets woe Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning to follow strong drink Isa v. 11. But Peter did not strive to make an invincible refutation of their slander because their scurrility was so improbable and ridiculous and a defence which is over-anxious makes a good cause suspicious Had the accusation been true it had deserved a scorn as Noah was derided when he was drunken The drunkard makes himself an Ape for Boys to sport with his brutishness a natural fool is not such an object for derision and laughter So that passively it is true what Solomon says Wine is a mocker Prov. xx 1. It exposeth it self to the flouting of vain persons here and shall reap the scorn of God hereafter But says St. Cyril the wickedness of man shall turn to the praise of God and this slander of the Jews shall expound some Prophesies of Scripture and the mystery of the Holy Ghost It is granted says the Father the Apostles on this day were full of new Wine Novum verè erat illud vinum novi Testamenti gratia that is it is the grace of the New Testament which makes glad the heart of man Inebriabuntur pinguedine domus â—uae the Vulgar Latine keeps that word Psal xxxvi 8. we read They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures And again Cant. v. 1. I have drunk my wine with my milk meaning both the comfort and the nourishment of the Gospel O friends drink yea drink abundantly O beloved To this pertains another Psalm of David xxv 5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies thou anointest my head with oyl my Cup runneth over Here is the oyl of the Spirit here is the Table of the Lord here is the Cup of Christs bloud an overflowing Cup sufficient to save a thousand worlds This Cup is that which ravisheth our Souls and carries up our Spirit to Heaven to partake of the body and bloud of Christ when we come to his holy Table this is Sobria ebrietas non madens vino sed ardens Deo This is a sober drunkenness an inflammation not with Wine but with the love of the Lord Jesus Happy were these Apostles that were drunken with drinking of him who says I am the Vine and ye are the branches But here is the difference between the meaning of these Scoffers and the meaning of those that make it an heavenly mystery he that is drunken with Wine looks like an incarnate Devil he that is drunken with the Spirit looks like an incarnate Angel I will stay a little while more not very long to shew how the mighty gifts poured out upon the Apostles on this day was a spiritual drunkenness First excess of Wine procures forgetfulness of things past so the Mission of the Holy Ghost made them that were converted to Christ forget the Ceremonial Law of Moses saving that little that was tolerated for a time to satisfie the weakness of the Jews it was laid aside as if it were quite dead and out of remembrance Thus St. Paul doth as it were make his Shears to pass between the Old and the New Law forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those things which are before Phil. iii. 13. Upon that accident that there wanted Wine at the Marriage in Cana the Gloss says Vetus legis vinum defecerat in nuptiis Ecclesiae none of the Wine of the Law remained at the Marriage of the Christian Church it was tilted and spent Secondly He that is giddy with wine makes no distinction of persons knows not his Friends from his Foes So he that is full of the Spirit renounceth all friendship affinity parentage in respect of the engagements of holiness and Religion Per calcatum perge patrem If thy Mother hold out her Breasts to entice thee from God if thy Father stop thy way shut thine eyes against the one tread upon the other make no respect of persons in that cause It is the praise and a most magnificent one which Moses gives to Levi Deut. xxxiii 9. Who said unto his Father and to his Mother I have not seen him neither did he acknowledge his brethren nor knew his own children Thus the mighty working of God works an extasie in his Servants that they care not for
against him Qui meretricibus voluptatibus inservit non liber est sed servus To be under pleasure is to be under tyranny and therefore the Statue of a Strumpet did better resemble servitude But happy are thy servants O Lord that stand before thee Deo parere libertas est you may think that Seneca had conferred with St. Paul when he learnt that Lesson that the service of God is perfect freedom who hath made us a Royal Priesthood and holy Nation Says Leo in the second Anniversary Sermon upon his own Assumption to the Papacy nothing so Kingly as a mind subject to God and Ruler of his own passions nothing so Priestly as to offer up the sacrifice of a pure conscience and the oblation of a broken heart There were ancient Ceremonies in Baptism as if the party to be baptized came to be inaugurated to a Kingdom when he professed himself a Disciple of the Gospel For it appears in some Rituals that they put a Crown of flowers upon the head of the Neophyte to which the Collect then used doth testifie We beseech thee O King of heaven for this dissoluble Crown to give him a Crown of justice and good works The same was figured by these Ceremonies in confirmation that is by the unction of their forehead and by the fascia which bound about their temples as a Diadem All these customs do border upon this phrase that our Jerusalem is every where in the Gospel called the Kingdom of heaven God is such a King whom none but Kings do serve none but Melchisedechs who are free from sin and at once both Servants of righteousness and Kings of righteousness Dignitate Domini honorata sit conditio servi He is so great a Lord that it is a Lordship nay a Kingdom to serve him In a word remember that our freedom is a strict obligation to all excellent vertue that being delivered from the hands of our enemies we may serve him without fear in righteousness and holiness all the days of our life Lord keep thy Jerusalem free from the bondage of sin that we may not be cast into the prison of utter darkness AMEN THE THIRD SERMON UPON GAL. iv 26. Jerusalem which is above is free which is the Mother of us all HAving drawn out the description of the Church in sundry lines of beauty that it is a Jerusalem a visible and glorious City for the external Communion a Jerusalem from above for her internal Graces a Jerusalem that is free for her Redemption through the bloud of Christ every man I suppose will attest thus unto it nihil addi potest huic bono nisi ut sit perpetuum O that it would last thus unto the worlds end by continual propagation for nothing can be added unto that which is so completely good but that it should be perpetual Lo I shall land you now upon that Shore and represent the Church unto you as a Mother that brings forth and is never barren whose fruitfulness continues her praise and happiness for ever she is the Mother of us all and of all those Generations after us that live by the faith of the Son of God as long as the World endures We are not in the condition of Xerxes who had as goodly a Train of Souldiers as ever marched into the Field but it drew tears from his eyes to think that in less than the space of an hundred years not one of all those thousands should remain alive They had not a Mother which brought forth uncessantly to repair their mortality That good which will not continue breeds great discomfort upon certain expectation of mutability But our Jerusalem shall never wain nor consume it is sown with the seeds of immortality If we were all included in one Isaac and he were slain upon the Altar for a Sacrifice yet Abraham were sure that God would restore him again being dead Jacob might faint and fear lest his Sons should miscarry one after another and he remain childless his despair was grounded upon the sadness of humane events if I be bereaved of my Children I am bereaved Gen. xliii 14. But the Church shall see her Childrens Children grow up by succession without end of dayes Christ should be put to death again and rise no more which is most impossible if she should quite disappear The root of the Tree of Life should die which cannot be imagined if her branches should all wither But this is a Lamp which is nourished with fresh oil from Heaven and shall never be put out it is the chiefest of all that is called good upon Earth and a constant perpetual good Therefore let the Children rise up and call this Mother blessed And as the Church hath taken upon it the proper name of Jerusalem yet without any Contract to the local and material building of Jerusalem so she hath taken up the appellation of a Mother yet without any respect to nature no way bending to natural causes or natural affections For not only our Parents in the flesh but the whole World hath quite lost us in this word As Moses remembred the great devotion of Levi that he said of his Father and Mother I have not seen them or I respect them not and of his Brethren I do not acknowledg them Deut. xxxiii 9. So by deriving our selves from this Mother we cast our fleshly Parentage aside and we say to her who did give us to suck from her Breasts as our Saviour did to the Blessed Virgin Mulier quid mihi tecum Woman what have I to do with thee Jerusalem is ours and we are hers Jerusalem which is above is free c. This remainder of the verse which is the dispatch of the whole Text requires our inspection into three particulars First To know our Mother that we may not be ignorant either of her fruitfulness or our own obedience He is a wise Son says Telemachus in Homer that knows his Father but he is a foolish Son that doth not know his Mother Secondly Note the unity and indivision of the Children of this Mother They are a cluster of Grapes hanging upon one Stalk a Brood of Chickens clockt under the wings of one Hen there is but one Steâ— and one Progeny one Nostrum in relation to this Parent Mater nostrum the Mother of us The third and last part puts us to observe that the note of Universality was large in Pauls days but now much more amplified than in those times mater nostrum omnium the Mother of us all First A Mother gives a being to those whom she brings forth and that which is brought forth owes a great duty to the Mother upon these two hinges this main part of the Text is turned the one is the Fruitfulness of the Mother the other is the Obedience of the Children And what being is that which Jerusalem above doth contribute unto us that she is called our Mother It challengeth no part in our specifical essence or the