respect accrues unto us by Christ to have the knowledge of God and of his Will and Counsel conveighed unto us how should we be thankful for him how readily should we accept of him being offered unto us yea readily should we part with all those things that are dearest to us so that we may enjoy him CHAP. XVIII Christ and a Worm SO doth the Prophet speak of himself Psal 22.6 August epist 49. ad Deo gâ—at 120. ad Honorat Ambros To. 3. Conc. ad pop Conc. 3. Hier. To. 4 Coment in Psal In loc as a Type of Christ I am a Worm and no man Saint Hierome Saint Ambrose and Saint Austin do joyntly and unanimously note two things in which this resemblance holds 1. In regard of the contemptiblenesse of this creature and the meanenesse of it no creature is more base and contemptible then a Worm every one is ready to tread upon it and to trample it under foot the poorest the youngest dare venture to offer wrong to it So was it with our blessed Saviour and therefore it is added in the forementioned scripture Psal 22.6 A reproach of men and despised of the people he submitted himself to so mean a condition that he was easily despised and reproached at all hands He became poor 2 Cor. 8.9 and who takes not liberty to despise the poor No wonder then that our Saviour met with so much scorn and so it s foretold of him by the Prophet Isa 53.3 He was despised and rejected of men And if we look into the Evangelical History we shall see it to have been so with him namely that he was coarsely used Luk. 2.7 when he was to be born no better place can be afforded him then the Stable and the Manger When he came to his Publick Life though he spake so Joh. 7.16 as never man spake and though in regard of his miracles they could say we never saw it so done in Israel And Mar. 2.12 He hath done all things well Mat. 7 37 6.3 Math. 13.35 Joh. 10.20 yet how scornfully did they use him In words Is not this the Carpenter and Is not this the Carpenters Son And thou art mad and hast a devil Joh. 7.20 Luk. 4.29 And no lesse in deeds they lead him to the brow of the hill thinking to cast him down head-long they cast stones at him But especially in the close of his Publike Life Joh. 8.59 Matth. 26.50 Joh. 18.20 Matth. 26.57 then they laid hands on him they bind him they hurry him about first they bring him to the High Priest and there they spit upon him they blindfold him Vers 67 68 and buffet him and then they say Prophesie to us who it is that smote thee they deliver him over to the Secular Power Matth. 27.2 Luk. 23.7 11 even to Pilate he sends him to Herod who mocks him and sends him back again to Pilate here the Jewes hire false Witnesses against Him they preferre a Murderer before him Matth. 27.21 the Souldiers plat a Crown of Thornes on his Head they put on him a Purple Robe Vers 29. and put into his hand a Reed and mockingly bow the knee to him and cry Hail King of the Jewes Vers 35. they strip him of his clothes and crucifie him between two Thieves Vers 38. And being upon the Cross Vers 39 40 c. Vers 44. they revile him and wagg their heads c. yea the very Thieves did cast the same in his teeth Justly therefore in this respect is he compared unto a Worm 2. In regard of the breeding of the Worm The Worm saies Saint Hierom which is bred in the Wood Vermis qui in ligno nascitur non habet patrem nisi matrem Christus ex maria natus est absque coitu viri To. 4. In loc Cur totius creaturae Dominus vermiculo se voluerit comparare Possumus hoc humilitati assignire sicut David publicem se memoravit Sed magis hoc accipiendum puto quod vermis nulla extrinsecus admixtione alieni corporis sed de sola pura terra procreatur ideo illum comparatum Domino quia ipse salvator ex sola pura Maria generatur To. 3. conc ad pop conc 3. hath no father but onely a mother so Christ was born of a Virgin without carnal copulation with a man Saint Ambrose moves the question Why the Lord of the whole World would compare himself to a Worm and he answers We may ascribe this to his humility as David called himself a Flea but I rather think it to be because the Worm is gendred of the sole and pure earth without the mixture of any other body therefore I think him to be compared to our Lord who also was born of a sole and pure Virgin Saint Austin in like manner saving that in the former of the places alledged he brings in this latter resemblance with a Fortasse an It may be And Fortasse etiam propter Virgineum partum ep 49. it may be because of his birth of a Virgin as doubting whether this were in that passage of the Psalmist intended As indeed he well might in regard of that which follows in that Verse A reproach of men and despised of the people which is added as an Exposition of the former clause in which he had said I am a Worm Howsoever it s a plain Article of our Christian Faith not to be denyed nor so much as questioned but to be firmly believed that Christ our Saviour was born of a Virgin In regard therefore of the first particular we have cause to meditate of the great Humiliation of our dear Saviour and consequently of his surpassing love to us in that he vouchsafed for our good to stoop so low not onely he becomes man but also a Worm It s an excellent and just meditation of Saint Bernard to this purpose O Vouchsafement to be justly admired Thou O admiranda dignatio Deus immensae gloriae vermis contemptibilis fieri non despexisti De pass Dom. that art the God of Infinite glory didst nor disdain to be made a contemptible Worm What Humiliation is comparable to this Jon. 3.6 It was a great humiliation of the King of Nineveh when rising from the Throne he sate in Ashes and putting off his Robe he covered himself with Sackcloth But it s nothing to this as there is no comparison between the humiliation of the one and of the other and between the persons humbled the one a King the other the King of Kings the one a weak creature the other the Infinite Creator how great then is that love which drew our Saviour to such abasement And now why should it trouble us if it doth so happen that we are in the world as Worms Every man takes liberty to trample upon us to insult over us to lade us with wrongs and injuries but be of good
of those Fundamental Truths concerning Christ which have been overthrown while those abominable Errors have been maintained Long may we tread in the steps of our Forefathers and imitate their zeal never giving way to any more moderate Opinion of such Errors as wrench this Foundation Long may we enjoying the Peace of the Gospel believe profess preach and write as we have means and opportunity against such Fundamental Errors and strive we for such strength of resolution as that we may willingly expose our selves to any hardship yea to the most cruel death rather then to give entertainment to any such Errors as are against this Foundation 2. I say If we agree in this Foundation though there be dissent in other things let us keep the Unity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace We are Brethren and hope to be saved all of us by the same Grace of the same Lord Jesus Christ why should we fall out one with another The excessive heat of Contention about Questions that is between the Calvinists and Lutherans is as great a Prejudice to our Cause and as great an Advantage to the common Enemy as can be given Let us then leave off such virulency and not suffer our Hearts any longer to be divided for such Differences among us but holding the Foundation let us give the right hand of Fellowship each to other and embrace one another as Brethren 7. Let us be highly thankful to God for the Revelation of the Doctrine of Christ for this as we have heard is the main Fundamental Doctrine of absolute necessity to be known and believed to Salvation how miserable should we have been without it but now our happinesse is great by means hereof therefore we have the greater and juster cause to be thankful to God for he hath in this regard preferred us before many Great and Potent Nations to which yet God hath given abundance of earthly blessings but we have cause to count them all dung and drosse in comparison of this excellent knowledge of Christ the means of which we enjoy Let us not fail to be thankful for this grace and let it be our care to walk worthy of and bring forth fruits answerable to it least it happen to us as our Saviour threatned against the Jewes Matth. 21.43 That the Kingdome of God be taken away from us and as against Capernaum that we be cast down to hell Matth. 11.23 as we have been lifted up to heaven 8. Lastly Christ being the onely Foundation of Salvation let us trust in him and build our hopes for Salvation upon him alone Trust in any other whether our selves or any man is to make flesh our arm Jer. 17.5 and they that do so are accursed Trusting in Christ we cannot miscarry nor shall our trust deceive us being built upon such a sure Foundation against which no opposition can prevail CHAP. V. Christ and a grain of Mastardseed Luk. 13.19 SAint Ambrose handling the Parable of the grain of Mustardseed doth directly apply it to Christ The Lord himself saies he is that grain of Mustardseed Ipse Dominus granum est synapis Seminatur in horto in horto enim captus est sepultus in horto crevit ubi etiam resurrexit arbor factus est Cant. 2.3 vis scire Christum granum seminatum Audi Joan. 12.24 Est autem granum tritici quia confirmat cor hominis granum synapis quia cor hominis accendit Sed si granum synapis Christus quomodo minimus est crescit Vis scire minimum Audi Isa 53.2 Vis scire maximum Audi Psal 45.2 Ille enim qui non habebat speciem aut decorem excellentior factus est Angelis ultra omnem gloriam prophetarum Semen est Christus minimum ex omnibus seminibus quia non venit in regno non in divitiis Subito autem velut arbor sublimem suae verticem potestatis effudit ut dicamus Cant. 2.3 sub cujus frondentibus ramis volucres coeli i. e. Sancti omnes requieverunt To. 4. In Luc. l. 7. he was sown in the garden for in a garden he was taken and buried and in a garden he grew where also he rose again and he became a tree Cant. 2.3 As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood so is my beloved among the Sons Desire you to know Christ a grain and sown Hear what our Saviour saies Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground it remains alone but if it dye it brings forth much fruit Joh. 12.24 But he is both a grain of wheat because he strengthens mans heart and a grain of Mustardseed because he heates the heart of man But if Christ be a grain of Mustardseed how is he the least and doth grow for so St. Mathew in laying down the same parable speaks of the Mustard-seed which saies he is the least of all seeds but when it s grown it s the greatest among herbs and becomes a tree Matth. 13.32 Would you know him to be the least hear the Prophet He hath no form nor comelinesse and when we shall see him there is no beauty that we should desire him Isa 53.2 Would you know him the greatest hear the Psalmist Psal 45.2 Thou art fairer then the children of men for he that had no form nor comelinesse is made more excellent then the Angels transcending the glory of the Prophets He is therefore the least of all the seeds because he came not in a Kingdome nor in riches but suddenly as a tree he sent out his branches that we might say as the Spouse Cant. 2.3 I sate under his shadow with great delight In whose branches the fowles of Heaven that is all the Saints lodged But the word Christ hath another acception namely not alone for Jesus our Redeemer but also for Christ mystical consisting of Christ the Head and the whole number of Christians as the Body and particular Christians as members in particular And so the word is used by the Apostle where he saies As the body is one and hath many members 1 Cor. 12.12 and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is Christ And so Christ is here put for the Church And so that Parable may be applyed and holds good The grain of Mustardseed is little of it self at the first but in time it grows to be the greatest of herbs so the Church was little at the first but by degrees it growes great in number at the first it was in the narrow bounds of a Family in the Family of Adam Seth c. of Noah Sem c. In familia of Abraham Isaac Jacob but afterwards it grew into a People but here first it was in the narrow bounds of the Israeliâ—ish Nation you onely saies God In pop Israel Am 3.2 Exod. 19.5 In. pop Catholico have I known of all the Families of the Earth And ye shall be
upon it but what is this our Saviours carnal hearers could object Vers 52. how can this man give us his flesh to eat But St. Austin well clears this doubt To eat Christ Credere est manducare ut quid paras dentem ventrem crede manducasti To. 9. in Joan. Evang. tract 25. is to believe in Christ saies he why doest thou prepare thy teeth and thy stomach believe and thou hast fed on him Finally hence see how it comes to passe that we labour under so many defects and how we may cure them whence comes it that even godly men many times are so uncomfortable and disconsolate whence is it that our love to God and our brethren is so cold whence is it that we are so indisposed to duties of obedience whence is it that we are so fearful and faint-hearted so afraid to confesse Christ before men especially in times of danger and persecution It is not that God hath been wanting to us in these respects for he hath given us his own Son to shed his blood for us thereby to obtain for us remission of sins and reconciliation with God wherein he hath given us a lively evidence of his unspeakable love to us and this as I have shewed before is of sufficient force to fence us against all these defects The fault is therefore in our selves because having the remedy in our hands we make not use of it we do not by faith drink of this wine the blood of Christ we do not stirre up the act of our faith to believe that Christ shed his precious blood for us we do not seriously and frequently upon all occasions meditate of his love to us manifested herein And now seing the cause of these defects we may see the course how to cure them let us not fail to take this course find we our selves disconsolate and uncomfortable let us apprehend the blood of Christ shed for us and now we shall see cause to be comforted in assurance that Gods justice is infinitely satisfied and pardon of sins procured for us how shall not this enable us to walk comfortably for the Psalmist can tell us Psal 32.1 that the man is blessed whose iniquities are forgiven and what hath power to comfort us if not to know that our estate is blessed find we our love to God and to our brethren cold let us remember the fervency of that love which God and Christ bear to us and now we shall see that nothing is more agreeable to sound reason then that we should answer the fervency of the love of God and of Christ to us with fervent love to God and to our brethren for their sake finde we our selves heavy and indisposed to duties of obedience let us quicken our selves to the performace of them by a serious consideration of the great love which Christ hath shewed to us not thinking it too much to shed his blood as a price of our redemption Finally do we finde our selves fearful and timerous affraid to suffer afflictions for the cause of Christ and in that respect affraid to confesse Christ before men when danger attends it let us have recourse to this remedy look we at our blessed Saviour suffering all kinds of indignities and at last laying down his life and shedding his precious blood for us think we What are we in comparison of Christ if the Lord hath done this for his servants yea for his enemies why should we think much to suffer any thing for him CHAP. II. Christ and a branch WE see Christ often in the old Testament set out by this name so speaks the Prophet Jeremiah Behold the dayes come saies the Lord Jer. 23.5 Ier. 33.15 that I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch And elsewhere In those dayes will I cause the branch of righteousnesse to grow up unto David Zechar. 3.8 So the Prophet Zechariah doth bring in God promising Zechar. 6.12 I will bring forth my servant the Branch And elsewhere Behold the man whose name is the Branch The Septuagint In Zach. 3.8 as Pemble observes renders the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there uses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And so Râ—bera would have that place Luk. 1.78 where Christ is called the day-spring to allude to that translation but the word saies he properly signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And Christ saies he is so called because out of the dry and with red stock of Davids family he sprang forth on a sudden as a branch or science out of a dry tree Though that family saies he was now obscure and all the glorious branches were cut off yet a remainder there was and sap enough therein which in due time should sprout forth into this most glorious and the last and greatest ornament of That Kingly Family or as Winckl man observes Germen dicitur quia ipse ex Maria Virgine tanquam surculus germinavit Ecclesia ejus etiam sub cruce germinat In Zechar. 3.8 Because Christ as a Branch sprung out from the Virgin Mary and his Church growes up even under the Cross Hence we may learn 1. That Christ is a true man for its certain that homo hominem generat A man begets a man the Father and the Son are both of the same nature But David was a man and from David did Christ issue and therefore he is oft in the Gospels called the Son of David Matth. 1.1 and by the Prophets the name of David is given to him Ezek. 34.24 as in that saying I the Lord will be their God and my servant David a Prince among them Act. 13.23 And so St. Paul sayes expressly of David Of this mans seed hath God raised up to Israel a Saviour Jesus therefore he is true man 2. See here the power of God in most unlikely times and by most unlikely and improbable means to bring his Purposes and Promises to pass Behold this famous Branch our Lord Jesus Christ is raised up to David when that Royal Family was most obscured and that by means of a poor Virgin So when the state of the Jewish Nation was brought so low that they seemed to be as so many dry bones in a valley and that they could say Our bones are dryed Ezek. 37.11 our Hope is lost and we are cut off for our part then God undertakes to open their Graves Verse 12 and to cause them to come up out of their Graves and to bring them into the Land of Israel Be not then disheartened when ye see the state of the Church hopeless and the Recovery of the Church to her pristine Glory almost impossible know That though with men it may be impossible Matth. 19.26 yet with God all things are possible Nothing hinders this great Work but our Sins intervening Gods Hand is not shortened that it cannot help says the Prophet Isai 59.1 2 but your sins have
corruption This difference the Apostle notes between Christ and David Act. 13.36 37 David having served his generation saies he after the will of God fell asleep and was laid to his Fathers and saw corruption but he whom God raised again saw no corruption St. Austin observes this difference between Christ and all Christians in general His flesh namely Christs Illius caro non vidit corruptionem nostra post corruptionem in fixe seculi induet incorruptionem In Joan. Evang. tract 84. saw no corruption our flesh after it hath been corrupted shall put on incorruption And again Christ rose by his own power for so he saies Destroy this Temple Joh. 2.19 and in three daies I will raise it up And this he spake Ver. 21. saies the Evangelist of the Temple of his body But our bodies shall be raised by the power of Christ and by vertue of the union that is between Christ and us And therefore the Apostle ascribes this great work to Christ who saies the Apostle shall change our vile bodies Phil. 3.21 and make them like unto his glori us body Gregory the great puts both these together Christ saies he was not raised as others are Non ut reliqui suscitatus est Christus nostra enim resurrectio in finem seculi dilata est illius autem die tertio celebratur Nos per illum resurgimus ipse autem per se In Job l. 24. c. 2. for our resurrection is deferred until the end of the world Christ rose on the third day we shall be raised by Christ he rose by his own power 8. As for the last resemblance between Christ and us It s true Christ overcoming sat with his father on his throne and we overcoming shall sit with Christ on his Throne but yet here is a great distance The victory of Christ over his and our enemies is of himself by his own power but our victory is of God through Christ We are more then conquerors Rom. 8.37 saies the Apostle through him that hath loved us And Blessed be God 1 Cor. 15.57 that hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ And the exaltation of Christ it agreeing to Christ in regard of his humane nature is of Christ himself together with the Father and the Holy Ghost according to that known saying The works of the Trinity towards the creature are undivided Opera Trinitatis ad extra sunt indivisa unitas essentiae cooperatio Elohim As there is one essence common to them all so there is a co-working of the three Persons But our Exaltation is from Christ as the Author of it To him that overcomes will I give to sit with me c. And Rev. 3.21 Rev. 2.10 Be thou faithful to the death and I will give thee the crown of life So that upon all these Particulars it's plain That it 's not without cause that the Church says of her Husband My welbeloved is white and ruddy Cant. 5.10 the chiefest among ten thousand upon which place Gregory the Great glosses well Candidus rubicundus quia nullum omnino peccatum faciens justitiae pulchritudinem ex integro tenuit tamen tanquam peccator esset ad mortis passionem accessit Ex millibus electus est quia ex totius generis humani massa nullus sine peccato reperitur ipse autem non solum sine peccato fuit sed peccatores sua justitia sanguine redemit To. 2. in Cant. 5.10 White and ruddy because having committed no sin he kept the beauty of Righteousness entire and yet as if he had been a sinner he came to the suffering of Death The chiefest among ten thousand because of all the whole mass of Mankinde there is none found without sin but he not onely was without sin but also redeemed sinners by his Righteousness and Blood And it 's an excellent passage that the same Father hath Wisdom that is Lumen Sapientia Joh. 8.12 Ego sum lux mundi Lumen servi sapientiae appellari solent Eph. 5.8 Est is lux in Domino Sed ille lumen illuminans Joan. 1.9 Erat lux vera quae illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum isti autem lumen illuminatum In Job lib. 19. cap. 33. 35. Nos etsi sancti efficimur non tamen sancti nascimur quia ipsa naturae corruptibilis conditione constringimur cum Propheta dicamus Psal 51.5 Ecce in iniquitatibus conceptus sum in peccato concepit me mater mea Christus autem solus veraciter sanctus natus est qui ut ipsam naturae corruptibilis conditionem vinceret ex commixtione carnalis copulae conceptus non est Christ is Light Joh. 8.12 I am the Light of the World And the Servants of Wisdom use to be called Light Eph. 5.8 Now ye are Light in the Lord but he is the enlightening Light Joh. 1.9 That was the true Light that lightens every man that comes into the World but they are enlightened Light And afterwards ' Though says he we are made holy yet we are not born holy for we are all bound together in the condition of corrupted Nature and may say with the Prophet Psa 51.5 Behold I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me But Christ alone was born truly holy who that he might overcome the condition of corrupt Nature was not conceived by carnal copulation but by the Holy Ghost I shall add but one thing more a passage out of Saint Chrysostom his gloss upon those words Hebr. 2. vers 11. He that sanctifies and they that are sanctified Qui sanctificat i. e. Christus qui sanctificantur i. e. nos Vide quantum intersit Ille sanctificat nos sanctificamur Ex uno scil Deo ex quo omnia ille quidem ex Patre tanquam verus proprius filius nos autem tanquam creatura i. e. ex nihilo In Hebr. Hom. 4. are both of one He that sanctifieth that is Christ and they that are sanctified that is We. See the difference Christ sanctifies we are sanctified Of one namely of God of whom are all things And he indeed of the Father as a true and proper Son We as a Creature that is out of nothing Now from this Parallel between Christ and Christians we may learn two things I. The excellent condition of all godly Christians that are Christians in good earnest and not onely in name and shew I justly add this last clause for Praeter nomen nihil many are Christians in name that have nothing besides the name and against such Justin Martyr hath a sad Passage If any says he are found not to live so as Christ hath taught 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Defens pro Christian ad Antonin Pium. it 's a certain argument that they are not Christians though with the Tongue they profess the Doctrine of Christ for Christ says
decree Justice See your great Honor arising from the Honor of your Husband See his great Love to you in raising you to so high Preferment II. See what comfort this point affords to all godly Christians the Members of the Church If he be our Husband and we his Spouse then doubt not but he will strictly perform to us all the loving Offices in a supereminent way which loving Husbands do and all Husbands are bound to perform to their Wives So that the comfort reaches far It 's comfort 1. Against bodily and spiritual wants be sure ye shall not want any thing that is for your good and conveniency either for Soul or Body The loving Husband readily says to his beloved Wife Thou shalt not want any thing so long as I have a peny So says Christ much more to his Church be of good chear then whatsoever the wants be under which ye lie do but by prayer acquaint Christ with them and he wants neither will nor power to supply them all not will for his love to you is transcendent not power for all things are in his hands to bestow 2. Against our Sins They are debts but repenting heartily of them be not afraid lest they should be layd to our charge our Husband will not fail to discharge them all for us and he having discharged them and satisfied Gods Justice for them doubt not but that though they be never so many and never so great they shall be remitted to you for Christs sake 3. Against the Distresses to which in this life we are subject either from Men or Devils The loving Husband if he be able will be sure to defend his beloved Wife from all wrongs much less shall ye sustain from any if Christ your Husband can do with all and what cause have we to doubt of his power for God the Father of Christ is greater then all Joh. 10.29 30 and he and his Father are one 4. Against all Enemies bodily or ghostly Ye are ready to think Our Enemies are great for power full of policy many for number how shall we an handful of impotent and silly men be able to stand against them but fear them not Our Enemies are Christs Enemies as the Wives Enemies are the Husbands Enemies and though they are more then our match yet they are far inferior unto him and therefore though we cannot yet he can both shield us against them Isai 10.12 and render unto them the fruits of their stout hearts and desperate malice 5. Against our ignorance and simplicity We are in some particular or other puzzled so that we know not what to do nor what course to take Yet be not disheartened the Husband that loves his Wife will be ready to direct and counsel his Wife so far as he is able Christ is such an Husband as wants neither will nor skill he can direct us for he is the Wisdom of the Father Col. 2.3 and in him are all the Treasures of Wisdom and Knowledg and there is no question but he will do it for besides that he exceeds in love to his Church Isai 9.6 it 's his Office to be a Counseller to the Church and to all godly Christians the Members of the Church onely seek his advice by prayer and search the Scriptures and doubt not but that thou shalt finde full direction as your occasions require 6. Against the base Opinion that the World hath of you They think of you as they of the Apostles as the filth of the World and the off-scouring of all things 1 Cor. 4.13 and your condition indeed in the World is mean and low in which regard men proudly overlook you So that ye may take up the complaint of the Psalmist We are exceedingly filled with contempt Psa 123.3 4 c. but be of good chear See the Honor that Christ hath put upon you while he becomes your Husband and hath made you his Spouse and there is not the meanest Christian how much soever he is undervalued but he hath a share in this Honor. 7. Against spiritual Desertions Good Husbands will not forsake their Wives no Husband should do it but ought to have one Bed and one Board with them then be sure that Christ will not depart from thee if he shall at any time seem to depart it 's for thy good and he will again return unto thee at the last and will shew thee his favor be comforted therefore Saint Bernard hath a sweet Passage to this purpose Ne timeas O Sponsa ne desperes si paulisper tibi subtrahit Sponsus faciem suam omnia ista tibi cooperantur in bonum de accessu de recessu lucrum acquiris tibi venit tibi recedit venit ad consolationem recedit ad cautelam ne magnitudo consolationis extollat te ne si semper apud te sit sponsus contemneres sodales hanc continuam visitationem non jam gratiae attribuas sed naturae Nimia familiaritas parit contemptum recedit ergo ne nimis assiduus contemnatur ut absens magis desideretur desideratus avidius quaeratur diu quaesitus gratius inveniatur Praeterea si nunquam deesset consolatio haec quae respectu futurae gloriae ex parte est putaremus forte hic habere civitatem manentem minus inquireremus futuram ne ergo exilium deputemus arrham pro precii summa venit Sponsus recedit nunc consolationem afferens nunc universum statum nostrum in infirmitatem commutans paulisper permittens nos gustare quam suavis sit antequam plene sentiamus se subtrahit De Scula claustr cap. 6. Fear not O Spouse says he despair not If for a little while thy Husband withdraws his face from thee all this works together for thy good both by his coming and by his departure thou art a Gainer He comes for thy good and he departs for thy good He comes for thy comfort and he departs for thy caution lest the greatness of the comfort should too much lift thee up lest if thy Husband should be alway with thee thou shouldst contemn thy Companions and shouldst now attribute this continued Visitation not to Grace but to Nature Too much Familiarity breeds Contempt He withdraws himself therefore lest being too constantly with us he should be contemned and that being absent he may be the more desired and that being desired he might be sought with more earnestness and that being long sought he may be found with more thankfulness Besides if we should never want this comfort which yet in respect of the future Glory is but something in part we would haply think to have here a continuing City and the less look for that which is to come Lest therefore we should mistake the place of our Exile for our Country the earnest Peny for full Payment our Husband comes and goes one while bringing comforts and another while turning our whole state into
Peter He went about all their Cities and Villages Matth. 9.35 saies St. Matthew teaching in their Synagogues and preaching the Gospel of the Kingdome and healing every sickness and every disease among the people Nor was there any sort of people which tasted not of his beneficency To the woman of Samaria that had scoffed at him Joh. 4.9 as being a Jew he gave a clear manifestation of himself as the Messiah I that speak unto thee am he Vers 26. saies our Saviour to her Matth. 15. The woman of Canaan by her importunity prevailes at last to have the devil cast out of her daughter Malchus that came among the rest to apprehend him having had his eare cut off by Peters sword had his ear cured by our Saviour Luk. 22.51 And when the Jewes had exercised the height of cruelty against him having nailed him to the Crosse he forbeares not then to act for them but making intercession for them saies Father forgive them they know not what they do Luk. 23.34 See here the horrid sin of the Jewes in plotting and acting against this our dear Saviour he to be so qualified in all respects as we have heard so useful to mankind so contented with his mean condition for our sakes so meek under all their acts of unkindenesse against him so innocent and harmlesse yea so beneficent notwithstanding all their unkindnesses against him and they to be carried with so much violence against him so that nothing will satisfie them but his blood what horrid inhumanitie is this As for our selves let us remember what Saint John saies 1 Joh. 2.6 He that saies he abides in him namely in Christ ought also himself so to walk even as he walked Let us therefore endeavour as in other particulars so in these to imitate Christ 1. As Christ was so let us study to be useful in our places unto those among whom we live in the employment of those abilities which we have received from God Rom. 12.13 1 Tim. 6.17 18. have we the wealth of the world let us distribute to the necessities of Saints being rich in the world be ye rich in good works and ready to distribute have ye wisdom be not backward to counsel and advise them that stand in need of your help in this kinde 1 Thes 5 11 Vers 14. Heb. 3.13 Psal 122.6 and according to the gifts that ye have received Edifie one another warn them that are unruly comfort the feeble minded c. Exhort one another daily If ye can do no more having yet the spirit of prayer Jam. 5.16 pray for the peace of Jerusalem yea pray ye one for another 2. As Christ was so let us be content with the meanest condition into which it shall please God our great shepheard to bring us if he will have us to be as poor as Job Psal 66. if he layes afflictions on our loynes if he gives men leave to ride over our heads if he shall cast us upon the bed of languishing be content with all God will have it so why should we not be content much more are we for the cause of Christ stript of our wealth cast into prisons laden with reproaches banisht out of our Countrey made a Prey to Sword to Fire to wilde beasts murmur not but be content It s for the honour of our Lord and Master who for our good and everlasting happinesse was content being God to become man being the Lord of all to become servant to all being to be the great Judge of the world to be arraigned at the barre of Humane judgment being the Prince of life to suffer death being the Lord of glory to be crucified being God blessed for ever to be made a curse Think seriously of this and then think what cause have we to be discontented with any the saddest condition the greatest degree of abasement into which we can be brought for his cause for what are we in comparison of him Learn we therefore with St. Paul how to be abased and how to abound both to be full and to be hungry Phil. 4.12 both to abound and to suffer need and as the Apostle exhorts us to be content with such things as we have Heb. 13.5 3. Let us be as he was meek in undergoing all unkind usage that we may meet withal at the hands of men though we be reproached reviled and slandered let us be as if we heard not though real injuries be offered to us let us be as if we felt them not let us not exercise nor meditate revenge It s the exhortation that the Apostles frequently give Rom. 12.19 1 Pet. 3.9 Avenge not your selves but give place unto wrath saies Saint Paul Not rendring evil for evil nor railing for railing saies Saint Peter Solomon in the Old Testament can give the same advise Say not thou I will recompense evil And again Prov. 20.22 Prov. 24.29 Say not thou I will do so to him as he hath done to me And we want not eminent examples of this meeknesse both in the Old Testament and in the New Of Moses it was said Numb 12.3 that he was very meek above all that were in the Earth Indeed if God and his honour be concerned Exod. 32. he can be hot to purpose God is dishonoured by the golden Calf and now see how he laies about him He is bringing in his hand the tables of the Covenant written with Gods own hand but upon the sight of their idolatry Vers 15 Vers 19 judging them unworthy of so rare a testimony of Gods love he casts them out of his hand Vers 20 and breaks them beneath the Mount As for the Calfe which they had made he burnt it in the fire Vers 20. and ground it to powder and strained it in the water and made the Israelites to drink of it He spares not Aaron but reproves him sharply what did this people to thee Vers 21. saies he that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them And proceeding further he armes the Levites against their brethren so that there fell of them three thousand men Vers 27 28 Thus hot he is in a businesse that concerned God but if the businesse concerns himself onely he is meek and calm to admiration Numb 12. 1 2 Vers 9 10 Vers 13. Aaron and Miriam speak against him because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married and he hears it and when God would not bear it but would have righted him and therefore had stricken her with Leprosie he intercedes with God for her The like we see to be the carrriage of David to Saul 1 Sam. 26.19 20 What wrong Saul had done to him ye may see by his expostulation with Saul and yet how meekly did David carry himself under all farre was he from revenge Twice he had opportunity to have cried quit with him 1 Sam. 24. 26. and
his company And what greater folly were there then cast away the Gold for some dross that is mixt with it Hear rather that excellent saying of Saint Austin The good are not to be forsaken for the bad that are among them Non propter malos boni deserendi sed propter bonos mali tolerandi sunt Tom. 2. Epist 48. but for the sake of the good the bad are to be tolerated And a little after he adds We suffer some evil men among us Nonnullos toleramus malos quos corrigere aut punire non possumus nec propter paleam relinquimus aream Domini nec propter pisces malos rumpimus retia Domini nec propter hoedos in fine segregandos deserimus gregem Domini nec propter vasa in contumeliam facta migramus de domo Domini Ibid. whom we can neither mend nor punish nor leave we the Lords floor for the chaff that is on it nor because of the evil fish that is in it do we break the Lords nets nor because of the Goats which shall be separated in the end do we forsake the Lords Flock nor because of the Vessels made to dishonor do we depart out of the Lords House Oh that men were of this modest temper and why should we not What though there be wicked men in the Church what hurt will that be to us We shall not answer for their sins nor fare the worse in this respect nor shall the Ordinances of God be the worse nor of less efficacy to us for the sake of the wicked that joyn with us in the use of them Vbicunque cum bonis mali fuerint bonis non obsunt sicut non obest palea frumento To. 7. part 1. contr epist Parmen l. 2. c. 2. It s a true saying of Saint Austin Wheresoever the bad are with the good they hurt not the good as the chaff hurts not the good grain And this he elsewhere clears in many instances Vbi erant Moyses Aaron ibi erant Sacrilegi murmurantes ubi erat Caiphas ibi Simeon Zacharias ubi Isaias Jeremias Ezechiel Daniel ibi sacerdotes populi mali ubi Saul ibi David sed sarcinam suam quisque portabat Ibid. c. 6. Where Moses and Aaron were there were Sacrilegious murmurers where Caiaphas was there were Simeon and Zacharias where Isaias Jeremy Ezechiel and Daniel were there were wicked Priests and People Where Saul was there was David but every one did bear his own burden And this doth the Apostle affirm in the general Every one shall bear his own burden Gal. 6.5 And with respect to the Ordinances of God we hear what the same Apostle saies 1 Cor. 11 2◠He that eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinkes judgement to himself Mark that to himself alone and not to others But will any of you yet for this cause leave the Church and depart from it ye may grieve the Church by your unkinde separation but the worst will be your own in the conclusion It s a terrible speech of Saint Austin but I fear it will in the close be found true by woful experience if they repent not Whosoever separates himself from the Catholick Church how praise-worthy soever he seems to himself to live Quisquis ab Ecclesia Catholica fuerit separatus quantumlibet laudabiliter vivere se existimet hoc solo scelere quod â Christi unitate disjunctus est non habebit vitam sed ira Dei manet super eum To. 2. epist 152. yet for this very sin that he is disjoyned from the unity of Christ he shall not have life but the wrath of God abides upon him Be exhorted therefore to take heed of such practise and to accept of Saint Austins advise Eia cives Hierusalem qui intra retia estis boni pisces estis tolerate malos retia nolite rumpere Cum illis eritis in mari non cum illis eritis in vasis To. 8. In Psal 65. for its consonant to Scripture O ye Citizens of Jerusalem who are within the nets and are good fishes endure the bad and break not the nets ye shall be with them in the Sea ye shall not be with them in the Vessels especially considering that as all they that were in the Ark were saved from perishing by the flood so they that remain in communion with the Church have hope of Salvation but as all that were out of the Ark perished so Salvation cannot upon any good ground be hoped for by them that are out of the Church 4. See what little cause we have to fear and what cause we have to be comforted against all persecutions raised against the Church for 1. As the Ark was still above the waters of the flood how high soever they did rise so let persecutions rise up to never so great an height and let Persecutors rage never so much against the Church yet the Church shall be still above them they may rage but not prevail against her 2. As the flood ceasing the Ark rested upon the Mountain of Ararat so persecution ceasing we shall have a rest in Gods Holy Hill having suffered we shall receive the promise of Eternal Life CHAP. II. The Church and the Tabernacle THe Tabernacle saies Ainsworth In Exod. 26. Exod. 26.1 which was for the Ark Table and Shewbread and Candlestick to be kept in was a figure of the Church wherein God doth dwell with his people and enlightens them with his Law and the seven Spirits that are before his Throne The Curtains were to be made of fine Linnen Vers 1. and Blue and Purple and Scarlet These Colours saies the same Author represented the blood of Christ and this fine Linnen his Justice and so the variety of Graces wherewith the Church is adorned and made glorious They were made with Cherubims signifying Vers 1. saies he heavenly affections in the Church and the Angels ministring to and about them The Curtains of the Tabernacle were coupled one to another This saies he Vers 3. notes the union of Persons and Graces in the Church by the Spirit in which respect it s called the unity of the Spirit for Eph. 4.3 Eph. 2.21 in Christ the whole building fitly coupled together growes into an holy Temple in the Lord. The Tabernacle was one and the Tent one Vers 6 11 As the golden Tachs clasped in the blew Loopes made the Ten Curtains one Tabernacle one Tent so by Love and Faith in Christ the Saints are fastened and builded together for an habitation of God by the Spirit Eph. 2.22 Over and above the foresaid Curtains Vers 7. there was a covering of Goates haire and another of Rams skins died red Vers 14. And these three kindes of Coverings served for the safety of the Tent and the things in it from the injuries of the weather and also by these Covers the people were kept from beholding the Holy Things in it