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A60177 Diverse select sermons upon severall texts of holy scripture preached by that reverend and faithfull servant of Jesus Christ, D. James Sibald ... Sibbald, James, 1590?-1650? 1658 (1658) Wing S3718; ESTC R33841 162,247 196

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them Of this Look DAVID Psal 104. saieth He looketh upon the earth and it trembleth He toutbeth the mountains and they smoke Secondly somtimes he looketh in Mercie and Favour of this DAVID speaketh Psal 25. Look upon mine affliction and my pain and for give all my sinnes And Psal 119. 132. Look upon me and be mercifull unto me as thou usest to do to them that love thy Name It was with this Look that he beheld S. Peter at this time as appeareth by the gracious mercifull effect thereof for it wakned him out of security and brought him to remembrance and consideration of that which he had done c. Here first observe the necessitie and power of Christs Grace The necessitie for till Christ looked upon Peter he neither remembred what he had done not considered the hynousnesse thereof The cock crew againe and againe and this should have been a memoriall of his fall and an admonition to repent but all this availed nothing till Christ looked upon him Likewise so powerfull was this Look that no sooner doeth Christ look upon him but he remembereth and considereth his heart melts and his eyes gush out with tuares They whom Christ looketh upon bewaile their sinnes sayeth S. AMBROSE as without it there is no saving good so where it is there is all good Whence was it that the blessed Virgine was the Mother of our LORD It was because God had Looked upon the low estate of his handmaid Whence is it that we enjoy any good in this life or in the life to come more then others it is because it pleased God to look upon us from eternitie with the eyes of his mercy Hence that prayer of the ancient Church Lord look upon me with these eyes wherewith thou looked upon Marie Magdalen in the banquet wherewith thou looked upon S. Peter in the hall and wherewith thou looked upon the thief upon the crosse Grant unto me that with Marie Magdalen I may perfectly love thee with Peter I may bitterly ●walle my sinnes and that with the thief I may see thee for ever Secondly we may observe here the readinesse and willingnesse of God to show mercie even to most grievous sinners Our Lord at this time was arreigned before his enemies bound buffered condemned or ready to be condemned On the other part S. Peter had forsaken him denied him that with Oaths curses yet forgetting the injuries done to him both by his enemies and by his own Apostle he remembereth him and looketh upon him and plucketh him out of the mouth of the Lyon who was ready to devoure him This and the like examples of mercie serve much to encourage and comfort distressed souls ready to despaire through the sight of their own sinnes S. AUGUSTINE in his 9. 10 sermons on the words of the Apostle 1. Tim. 1. 15. hath a sweet meditation to this purpose of the Mercie of God shewn to S. PAUL suppose saith he an excellent skilful physitian should come to a place where he is not known and having wrought a rare cure upon a man desperatly diseased would say to him whom he had cured go thy wayes now to other men who have the like disease show them what I have done unto thee Bid them be of good courage I am able and willing to cure them also If this man should come to a person so diseasea as he was looking for nothing but death and should say to him be of good courage I have seen the like disease and have had the like my self and have been cured by him who is willing to cure thee also and hath hiden me tell thee so much This could not be but matter of great comfort unto him Even so saieth he S. PAUL healed by the Great Physitian CHRIST JESVS saieth unto thee who are ready to despaire He that cured me sent me unto thee he said unto me go tell distressed foules what I have done to thee what I have cured in thee and how soon with one voycel called thee from heaven with another I did cast thee down with the third I raised thee up and with the fourth I healed perfected and crowned thee say unto thee sick cry unto them that are ready to despaire This is a true and faithfull saying that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners Why feare yee why doubt yee I am the chief of them and I obtained mercy for this effect that in me he might show forth all long suffering for a patern for them that should there after believe upō him to everlasting lif I was a persecuter and blasphemer I keeped the garments of them that stoned his first Martyre Steven I breathed nothing but surie and thirsted nothing but the blood of the Saints I was in a spirituall fr●necie and did strick my phisitian and yet he suffered me long and in end took away my disease Thus S. PAUL speaketh to us and so doeth S. Peter and many others which is matter as I said of unspeakable comfort This much for the cause of his repentance The repentance it self followeth And PETER called to minde the words of Jesus Being Looked upon by our LORD First he remembereth his words and no doubt considered and weighed his own sinne This remembring or calling to minde importeth that before he had forgotten or at least considered not Christ his Words It is strange that he should have forgotten him with whom he was so familiar who that night had washed his feet and from whom that night he had received the holy sacrament but such is the corruption of our nature that most quickly we forget GOD and his Word Hence we are compared to lacking vessels that rune out Hence the LORD Deut. 4. saieth ●kè heed to thy self and keep thy soul diligently lest thou forget the thing which thine eyes have seen and that they depart not from thy heart for ever And againe Deut. 8 Take heed to thy self that thou forget not the LORD thy GOD in not keeping his Commandements and judgements and statutes c. who would give himself to wickednes if he remembred and considered the Goodnes of God bestowed upon him and laid up for him if he remembred and considered the end for which God made and redeemed him even that he might serve him in holinesse and righteousnesse all the dayes of his life if he considered the filthinesse that is in sinne and the great evils that it bringeth upon the body and soul both here and hereafter It is most manifest that we forget or consider not these things when we give place to sinne This is the cause of our offending God and is in it self a great offence There is no moment wherein we taste not of the Mercies of God and therefore there is no moment wherein we should not remember him We should not breath oftener then we should remember him Wo to them that regard not to forget him the time shall come when
blessed as his Angels and as himself is This is our salvation and this is our last end the right way leading to it is to know GOD here to Love Him to Reverence Praise and Serve Him in holinesse without which none shall see His Face To help us forward to this end GOD hath made these inferiour creatures and hath given us the use of them They all proclaime to us the Perfection and Excellencie of their Maker and invite us to know and love Him in Whom these Perfections are infinitely greater then in them and who hath given them these Perfections more for our good then for theirs They are appointed as means to help us to serve our LORD to save out selves and that this might be done the more effectually and cheerfully He hath made so many so beautifull so admirable creatures serving not only for necessity but also for delight Hence the beauty of colours harmonie of sounds pleasantnesse of odours sweetnesse of meat and drinke softnesse of rayment plenty of fruits preciousnesse of gold silver and jewels c. All this I say is not that our hearts may go a whoring after these things but that by them we may be furthered toward our last end to wit GOD Himself This if we attaine unto happy are we We have obtained the true good in which there is no mixture of evil the perfect good in which there is no defect and in which is all perfection GOD is an Infinite Ocean of Goodnesse Able to satisfie our desires in all things In Him is infinite Light Beauty Truth Love Power Safety therefore in the possession of so infinite a good there is an unspeakable joy and perfect peace but on the contrary if we losse this true and last end we have lost all true good all joy all peace and in stead thereof incurre Damnation and Eternall Torment Hence followeth That if we would be truly wise and eschew this damnable folly we should take heed that our affection be not inordinate in any thing whether in our wealth or pleasure or health or life These things should be desired of us only so far forth as they are able to procure our salvation promove us in the way to our last end It is therfore neither health nor sicknes nor riches nor poverty nor honour nor dishonour that we should seek but that which is most fit to bring us to our true end so much of that as God knoweth to be expedient for true wisdome teacheth not to take more of the means then is convenient for the end Secondly Hence followeth that nothing in true wisdom should be extreamly shuned but that which is contrary to the obtaining of this our end That which directly crosseth it is neither sicknesse nor poverty nor basnes of birth nor disgrace nor rudnes of knowledge for a man may have all these and yet be saved but it is sinne By this directly we go out of the right way we deny GOD in effect and place our last end in some of the creatures and therefore S. PAUL sayeth That the belly of the glutton and the gold of the covetons is his GOD. So give a man all the world let the whol countrey think him the wisest man therin if he sin against God he is a foole if he have no other thing else yet if he serve him he is truly WISE Who is wise and he shall understand who is prudent and he shall know these things Hos 14. 9. But let us now come to the Sentence of GOD. This night c. He proveth his folly from the effect of it as if he would have said behold thy folly and imprudence thou thinkest to live many years to enjoy thy goods but thou shalt not live so much as to the morrow For this night c. This night This she weth that his consultation was in the night time the care of his riches bereaved him of sleep and made him anxiously to be thinking on them when he should have been at rest This is not one of the least evils of riches that the care to gather preserve and imploy them spend so much time unto us which is a thing most precious so that often they give us no leasure to naturall refreshment and farrelesse to do that which belongeth to the Service of our GOD salvation of our souls THEOPHYLAC addeth That it was sitly in the night that he had such thoughts for the desire of his riches had blinded him and had made him to be in a night of grosse darknes whence all his thoughts and consultations were but dreams of felicity Observe here how dreadfull is the Sentence of GOD against this man 1. His death is sudden even that same night It is a fearfull and dangerous thing to be taken away in a moment Iob 34. 20. To be snatched away suddenly there is none but would shune this and therefore it hath been one of the petitions of the christian Church in her service From sudden death LORD deliver us To die leasurely is more painfull indeed for the body somtimes then to be despatched suddenly but very advantagious for the soul It giveth a man time to call himself to just account of things past it giveth him leasure to censure unpartially the pleasures of sinne and vanities of this world to detaste them and to mourne for them and so to perfect repentance The Joyes of heaven have leasure also to present themselves unto our minde and thus a man by means of departing at leasure may exercise noble acts of faith love hope and patience By means of it he may also do great good to others It giveth him occasion to advise prudently of bestowing charity It giveth opportunity of giving instruction and comfort to others of prayer for them and in a word of teaching men how to die a right Thus Moses Josh●ah and David died and so all good men would wish to die but this was denied to this wretch he is snatched away suddenly even away that night Secondly He dies in his folly which was yet farre more fearfull If a man be in a right and wise course though death come suddenly yet it cannot prejudge his salvation but to be seized upon by death in the very hight of our folly is a very dreadfull thing The godly want not their own folly but they perceive and amend it in time This is the misery of the wicked that they perceive not their folly till they be taken in it and feele the smart of it by death and judgement This should teach us to pray to God to give us respet at death if it be his Will and howsoever that death take us not in the midst of our folly but that in respect of our prepared minds it never be sudden for this cause we should be ever on our guarde alwayes carefull to shune that folly which migh prejudge our souls if death should overtake