their Master liked it and to apply themselves to his resolution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as it is in Chrysostom They durst not trust saith he to their own opinion in a matter of so great concernment but referred all unto their Master Courage and zeal do never shew more amiably then when they are subordinate to good directions especially when they take direction from the right hand from their Master only not from the interest and passion of their fellow-servants Though it be imus colligimus in the plural number yet t is vis only in the singular One to command and many to obey makes the sweetest government 'T was prayse and commendation enough for them that they came fitted and prepared to pursue the action It was the Masters office to direct and theirs to execute Vobis arma animus mihi consilium virtutis vestrae regimen relinquite as he in Tacitus Nor were the two Brethren those Sonnes of Thunder which I spake of to be taught this lesson however they may seem transported with zeal or passion Though the Samaritans had incensed them in an high degree and that they long'd for nothing more then to inflict some grievous punishment upon them yet they submitted their affections to their Masters judgement They fell not presently on the affront to their imprecations nor called for fire from Heaven to consume them utterly as on the blasting of the breath of their displeasure As vehement as their zeal and displeasure was yet they proposed the business to their Master first It is not dicimus ut descendat ignis it is our pleasure to command that fire come down from Heaven to destroy these wretches but it is vis dicimus is it your pleasure that we shall Vis imus colligimus here vis dicimus there In both the Masters leave and liking is the thing most sought for And 't was no newes this in the Church of God that they who were in any publick place or Ministry should fit their zeal and courage to the will of God and to the guidance of such persons who under him and by his appointment had the chief ordering of the Church Isaâ—ah though both bold and zealous in the cause of God and that his lips were touched with a Coal from the Altar yet durst not meddle in Gods matters before he had both Mission and Commission too God had first said Vade dices huic populo Go and tell this people before he undertook the business or put himself upon the work of reformation And which is there of all the Prophets that went upon Gods errands without his consent and stood not more on dixit Dominus then on dicam populo I trow the times were then corrupt and the people sinful The whole contexture of their several Prophecies make that plain enough yet finde we none of them so hasty in rebuking either as not to take a speciall Warrant and Commission from the hand of God No imus colligimus in the dayes of old in point of extraordinary mission and employment but still there was a vis expressed some warrant looked for from the Lord to make way unto it So for the way of ordinary Reformation when the fabrick of the Church was out of order the whole worship of the Lord either defiled with superstitions or intermingled with Idolatries as it was too often did not Gods servants tarry and await his leisure till those who were supreme both in place and power were by him prompted and inflamed to a Reformation How many years had that whole people made an Idol of the Brazen Serpent and burnt incense to it before it was defaced by King Hezekiah How many more might it have longer stood undefaced untouched by any of the common people had not the King given order to demolish it How many Ages had the seduced Israelites adored before the Altar of Bethel before it was hewen down and cut in pieces by the good King Josiah Where can we finde that any of Gods faithful Servants any of those 7000 souls which had not bowed the knee to Baal did ever go about to destroy the same or that Elijah or Elisha two men as extraordinary for their Calling as their zeal and courage did excite them to it or told them it was lawful for them so to do without the Fiat of Authority to make good the work Where shall we read in the whole course and current of the Book of God that the common people in and by their own authority removed the high places or destroyed the Images or cut down the Groves those excellent Instruments of superstition and Idolatry that they appointed Fasts and ordained Festivals or that they did so much as attempt such matters without this vis the power and approbation of the supreme Magistrate This was the Doctrine and practise both of the former times so far forth as Gods Book directs us in the search thereof nor ever was it preached or printed till now of late that it should be otherwise or that the work of Reformation belonged unto the common people in what capacity soever they were clothed and vested Of late indeed I finde it to be so determined it being affirmed by Glesselius one of the Contra-Remonstrants of Roterdam that if the Prince and Clergy did neglect their duties in the reforming of the Church necesse esse tum id facere plebeios Israelitas that then it did belong to the common people And t is with a necesse if you mark it well they might not only do it but they must be doing Do it but how what in the way of treaty by mediation and petition and such humble meanes by which the dignity of the supreme Magistrate may be kept indemnified not so but even by force and violence licèt ad sanguinem usque pro eo pugnent even to the shedding of their own and their Brethrens blood In which it is most strange to see how soon this desperate Doctrine found as lewd an use how soon the people put in practise what the Preacher taught them but farre more strange to see and who can chuse but see it if he be not blinde how infinitely their Scholars in this Island both for the theory and the practise have out-gone their Masters And wonder t is in all this time they made it not an Article of their Christian Faith and put it not into the place of some one or other of the twelve which they think lesse necessary Here is a vis indeed they say true in that but no such vis as is intended in the Text. The servants of my Parable knew no other vis then that of Proposition only it being not their intent nor custom either to run before or against Authority And having made the Proposition they did with patience and humility attend the Answer of their Master which they were faithfully resolved to conform unto however it might crosse their own dear
SERMON I. At CHRIST-CHURCH Septemb. 26. 1643. MATTH 13. v. 28. part ult Vis imus colligimus ea The Servants said unto him Wilt thou that we go and gather them up TAm vari se gessit ut nec laudaturum magna nec vituperaturum mediocris materia deficeret It is affirmed by the Historian of Caius Caesar how he behaved himself in such different manner that there wanted not forcible reasons to condemn yet excuse sufficient to commend him The like may we affirm of our Servants here he that doth look upon them in their sleep and negligence and findes them ut dormirent homines cannot but think them accessary to so great a mischief as Satan brought upon the Church in sowing Tares The opportunity they gave him by their dull security or at the least their supine carelesness makes them parcel-guilty And he that undertakes to defend them in it will questionless as much betray his Client as they their Cause But look upon them when they were awakened when they had seen their own error and the Churches danger and then how many things are there worthy at once of our applause and imitation In servis habemus tam quod laudemus quà m quod imitemur as my Author hath it First their fidelity quòd accesserunt in that they came unto their Master made him acquainted with the accident and so prepared him for the Remedy Their coming was an Argument of their good intentions and that they had not willingly betrayed the trust reposed in them they did not fly on the discovery And next we have their care quòd quaesierunt that they could never be at quiet till they were satisfied in the Original and Instrument of so great a mischief till they had learnt the unde whence the tares should come And when their Master had informed them in the fecit hoc and told them that the Enemy had done it yet they stayed not here as if the question had been made out of curiosity more to inform their understandings then reform the matter They thought it did concern them to redeem the time because their former fact was evill And as the enemy had entred by their sloth and negligence and thereby took occasion to destroy Gods Harvest so they conceived it did belong to them especially to labour in the Reformation and to reduce Gods Field to its primitive lustre by their zeal and courage This was the thing most aimed at in the Accescerunt this the chief reason of their coming No sooner had they heard that the enemy did it and that this enemy was the Devil Diaboli calliditate factum esse as it is in Lyra but presently they make an offer of their service to redress the mischief and by their joynt endeavours to root out those â—ares by which Gods Field was so indangered The servants said unto him Vis imus colligimus ea Wilt thou that we go and gather them up This is the last part which the Servants have to act in this present Dialogue and in this part they give a fair expression of their zeal and wisdom He that will take their Picture right shall finde that it consisteth of these five Lineaments For first we have a noble courage vis imus Sir Wilt thou that we go and give the onset T is not the Devil whom we fear nor any of his wretched Instruments how great soever they may be both in power and malice Vis imus Say but the word only and thy servants go And next we finde an honest zeal to rectifie what was amisse in the Field of God Vis imus colligimus ea Is it your pleasure that those Tares shall be rooted up T is not the Tares we are in love with how fair soever to the eye how plausible soever they may seem in the opinion and esteem of seduced people Say thou but faciat is hoc and thy servants will do it In each we have their readiness and unanimity First imus colligimus we go and gather in the plural number then imus colligimus we go and gather in the present tense and last of all we have their temper and obedience guiding their counsels by their Masters will and governing their zeal by his direction Vis imus colligimus ea This we are ready to perform if you please to have it so if otherwise we neither are so in love with danger nor so ambitious of imployment as not to take your Warrant and Commission with us for our justification And therefore fiat voluntas tua not our will but thy will be done Vis imus colligimus ea Wilt thou that we go and gather them up These are the features which I am to draw though I confess with an ignorant and unskilful pencil leaving them to be better limmed and polished by your more seasonable meditations And first I am to lay before you their heroick courage vis imus wilt thou that we go Scientia parum est nisi accedat virtus Knowledge is little worth when it comes alone when it is neither joyned nor seconded with vertuous purposes Some desire knowledge only that they may be known and this is vanity some only for the thing it self to know and this is curiosity others that they may edifie therewith and this is charity This last kinde was the desire of knowledge which these servants brought when they repaired unto their Master with an unde haec They only laboured to discern whence the Tares should come that so they might bethink themselves of some present Remedy And having found out what they sought for a man would easily have thought they had found enough to save them any further trouble To tell them that the enemy was abroad and that by his false Arts and Practises he had sowen those Tares might well have been a Supersedeas to all further care for who would willingly provoke an enemy especially in matters which concern the publick when by declining of the business quitting an employment of such dangerous nature he may preserve himself both in peace and quietness But when this Enemy is discovered further to be an enemy of no common rank but even the very Prince of darkness qui tot Legionibus imperitat one that commands so many Legions I trow it were no part of wisdom to incur his anger when by a plausible and discreet connivence we may hold fair with him To go against an enemy of such power and quality were a desperate madness such as no man of ordinary brains would be guilty of when he may safely sit at home and take such fortune as the success and issue of affaires should offer yet such was the undaunted courage of the servants here that none of all these cautions or considerations could preponderate with them or hinder them from venturing in their Masters cause vis imus Wilt thou that we go And 't was no mean note of a noble
Fathers of the Primitive times grapling with Hereticks pleading the Churches cause in their Apologeticks refusing to comply with those impieties which were obtruded on them by the secular powers and sinally in going to the Scaffold with no lesse a bravery then if some Actor had been hired to mount the Theater would surely have conceived them to be men of courage and 't was no wonder if the Church did then thrive and flourish when men of courage had the conduct of her chief Affaires The like may be observed of the times succeeding though somewhat colder in their love to the Lord our Saviour as something further off from the dayes he lived in The renowned Athanasius would not stoop to Arius though patronized for a time by the famous Constantine nor yield a Temple to the Arians although required by Constantius to give way unto it St. Ambrose was resolved not to submit his judgement in a point of faith to the decisions and decrees of a Lay-Tribunal though nothing but apparent ruine was to be expected on his refusal of the same Non tanti est Ambrosius ut propter se deijciat sacerdotium And when he was commanded to desert his charge and leave it to Auxentius an Arian Heretick rather then to betray his trust he would lose his life Prius est ut animam mihi quà m fidem auferant An equal courage unto which we finde in Chrysostom contesting openly with Gainus who then commanded all both in Camp Counsel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 though he required but one Church only within the City wherein the Arians whom he favoured might have leave to meet Nor might these latter and degenerate Ages wanted examples of this kind Witness that stout and noble courage which appeared in Luther who being sent for unto Wormes by Charles the Emperor to render an account of his Faith and Doctrine and much disswaded by his Friends from that desperate journey returned this gallant and couragious Answer that go he would licèt contra se tot insurrecturi essent daemones quot in tectis aedium cernerentur tegulae though all the Houses in the Town were tiled with Devils It is a saying of Paterculus Eminentes viros magnis adjutoribus usos esse that the most eminent sort of men have commonly the ablest servants And it concerns them so to have they could not else go through with those great affaires which are incumbent on their places Josuah and Caleb Moses Ministers were they not men of faith and courage What notable exploit could Moses have atcheived against his Enemies or in the conduct of Gods People to the Land of Canaan if not so seconded and assisted And if we finde so many famous Victories obtained by David was it not that he was well served and followed by men of Valour and Renown his mighty men as they are called in holy Scripture Men of weak spirits are not fit for great undertakings as being neither constant to their principles nor resolute in their conclusions And therefore 't is to be observed in Almighty God that when he sent out any of his servants on some great design he used this Item most an end viriliter agite confortamini i. e. Be strong and of a good courage as the English reads it It seemes God doth not think himself well served when he findes it otherwise when those whom he employeth in his publick service had rather flie to Tarshish then go on to Ninive And being he is the Husbandman intended in the present Parable he could not chuse but take it kindly from his Servants that they expressed so great a courage as to make offer of their best endeavours for the promoting of his business vis imus Wilt thou that we go This sheweth that they were resolved upon the imus to go forth couragiously and not to sit down idly in a time of danger But to what end they would be going and what they did resolve to do when they were going forth that we shall finde in the Colligimus We had their courage in the imus their zeal comes next in the Colligimus vis imus colligimus ea Wilt â—hou that we go and gather them up my next particular Qui non zelat non amat Where there 's no zeal there is no love no sincere affection A truth so clear and evident in St. Austins time that it was grown into a Proverb however afterwards disputed amongst the Schoolmen In vain do they pretend to love who are not zealous in behalf of the thing beloved they love not God who are not zealous of his glory nor cordially affect the Church who have no zeal unto her peace K. David rightly understood the nature of it when he affirmed it of himself in regard of God Tabescere me fecit zelus meus My zeal hath even consumed me because mine enemies have forgotten thy words and in relation to Gods Church quoniam zelus domus tuae comedit me The â—eal of thiâ—e house hath eaten me This last kind of zeal I must needs say that either hath been much mistaken or not rightly practised the times being such wherein the zeal of some Reformers hath eaten up many of the Houses of Almighty God and doubtless will devoure the remnant of Gods dwelling-places if not stopped in time therefore to set the matter right that both the Text may be restrained to its proper meaning and zeal be regulated directed by the holy Text we will explain those words of David by these words of Austin What is the man saith he who is devouâ—ed or eaten by a zeal to the House of God Even he qui omnia quae fortè ibi videt perversa satagit emendare cupit corrigere who studieth to amend and rectifie whatever stands inneed of a Reformation the ordinary glosse makes the same glosse on it but with some little alteration of the words and Phrase Such was the zeal expressed by the Servants here No sooner had they seen the tares in fecissent fructum and by their Masters answer found from what seed they came but they were vehemently zealous to root them out They knew full well what mischief would ensue if it were not looked to both in relation to the Field in danger to be overgrown and mastered by them and to the Children of the Church who when they trusted to be fed with the bread of life might unawares be poysoned with the bread of wickedness In both respects no course more proper as they thought than ire colligere to go and gather them before they had destroyed the Wheat or by that Gods people This they resolved to do there 's no doubt of that Their imus colligimus make that plain enough but in what way they meant to do it hath been made a question Lyra conceives their purpose was to gather them to root them up in such a way as was peculiar to the Church
even in the middle of our sins and shall we wrest the Sword out of his hands to execute judgement on our selves Doth he expect the reformation and conversion of the sinner till the eleventh houre of the day and will not we tarry for him till the sixth or ninth Is God so patient towards the tares as to expect whether they will prove wheat or not to lay ne fortè as a barre in the way of those who came prepared to go and gather them up without more delay and are we men so inconsiderate of their case and our own condition as to be all for imus colligimus for ne fort◠nothing May we not say in this case with the great Apostle inexcusabilis es O homo Thou art inexcusable O man whosoever thou art that judgest another thou condemnest thy self or if thou wilt be judging take this rule along which the Apostle gives thee in another place Nolite judicare ante tempus Judge nothing before the time till the Lord cometh c. 1 Cor. 4. 4. Assuredly it argues little Christianity but farre lesse charity to condemn them to death whom God meanes to save to go about to cut them off and bring them unto execution whom God is purposed to reprieve to a further triall to cast them out of the house as Vessels of wrath who in due time though not so soon as thou expectest may be vessels of mercy Therefore take heed of imus colligimus be not too hasty and precipitate in acting thine own Counsels or in pursuit of those designes which thou hast in hand towards the reformation of the Church of God the extirpation of those tares which thou hast an eye on and by the which thou thinkest Gods Field to be so indangered but let ne forte hold the reines and make thee look with care and circumspection on the work before thee At least refer it all to Vis to the Masters pleasure and then proceed according unto his directions So doing thou shalt more promote thy Masters business then by following the devices and desires of thine own heart for so doing thou shalt be entertained in the Court of Heaven with Euge bone serve Well done thou good and faithful Servant enter into thy Masters joy Which Christian care and moderation God of his goodness grant us all that we may all be made partakers of the like reception in Gods glorious Kingdom Amen SERMON III. At CHRIST-CHURCH Jan. 5th 1644. MATTH 13. v. 30. Sinite utraque simul crescere usque ad messem Let both grow together till the Harvest QUantum inter opera divina humana interest tantum necesse est distare inter Dei hominisque sapientiam It was the observation of Lactantius an ancient Writer That look how great the difference was between the visible works of Almighty God and the poor undertakings of us mortall men so great or greater was the difference between his Heavenly Wisdom and our deepest Counsels Which rule if it be true as no doubt it is how infinitely short must we needes conceive that Solomons wisdom though the wisest of the Sonnes of Adam or Moses knowledge though well trained in all the learning of the Egyptians or the Prophetick spirits of Isaiah Daniel and the rest of the ancient Seers was of the wisdom knowledge foresight of Almighty God For alas what proportion hold the Worlds seven Wonders so celebrated in the Writings of the elder dayes or any of the most heroical achievements of the greatest Potentates with the Creation of the World nay with the composition of the meanest creature in which there is not any thing but what may breed both wonder and astonishment in the mightiest Monarch The wisdom of the wise is it not foolishness with God saith the great Apostle Doth not the same Apostle tell us that our knowledge is imperfect and our fore-sight blinde seeing no more then in Aenigmate through a dark Glasse or a broken Perspective We know saith he in part and in part we prophesie And if in part onely then is neither perfect A clearer instance of this truth we can hardly finde then in the process of this Parable comparing the advice of the Houshold-servants with the decree and finall resolution of their heavenly Master The servants thought there was no safer way to secure the Harvest then an eradication of those dangerous tares which had been sowen during their negligence and security by the crafty enemy To this end they made offer of their help and service vis imus colligimus ea Wilt thou that we go and gather them up v. 28. and they expected thanks at least for the proposition if not an approbation of their course and Counsel But contrary their Master seeing further then the servants could and being apprehensive of the dangers which might follow on it had their advice been entertained first countermands their offer with an absolute Negative Et ait Non but he said Nay he did not like of their intention the gathering of the tares in the way proposed would have procured more mischief to the Field of God then the tares themselves did seem to threaten And more then so he lets them see which all the wisdom of the world would have never thought of that the best way to save the Harvest and preserve the Wheat was to permit the tares and wheat to grow up together till they were ready for the Reapers and then to gather them and dispose them in their proper places according to the will and pleasure of the Lord their God This the coherence of the Text with the former passages this the Text it self Sinite utraque c. In these words we have these two general parts to be considered the sufferance of Almighty God and the season of it 2ly the condition of the Church and the causes of it the sufferance of Almighty God towards sinful man in the first word Sinite suffer them both to grow together the season of it in the last usque ad messem till the Harvest The condition of the Church represented to us in the intermixture of the Wheat and Tares both which are here permitted simul crescere to grow up together till the Harvest the causes of this intermixture not expressed in terminis but to be found if sought for without much adoe In the first generall we shall examine these three points 1. What is meant by messis the approching Harvest and the use thereof 2. What induces the Heavenly Husbandman to give so long a sinite to the Tares when meanes and opportunity was offered for their extirpation And 3. Whether the sinite of the Text delivered in the Imperative mood be so strong and binding that in no case the tares are to be rooted out till the Harvest come In the next generall we shall shew you 1. That the Church here militant is of such condition that good and bad the Orthodox Professor and the Heretick
respects of our English Puritans The like may be affirmed of Meletius also an Egyptian Bishop raising a long and tedious Schisme against the Patriarch of Alexandria to whom the Canons of the Church had made him subject The like of many of the African or Southern Prelates so wedded to the cause and faction of the ancient Donatists that they confined the whole Church intra partem Donati within the pale and limits of the faction of these Donatists only and in some points were not unlike the Anabaptists of these latter times drawing so many Disciples after them that in the end they grew a terror to the Orthodox party Assuredly the Church was most unhappy in these popular Prelates how fortunate soever they conceived themselves in the multitude of their Disciples in being countenanced and abetted by the common people And so she is in those who pursue their courses who being placed as Overseers in the Church of God do not alone neglect their duties in the attendite and the vigilate which are here prescribed but have their part in the exurgunt a principal and leading part in the rising up Great pity 't is that either they or any other of the flock of Christ that ought to speak peace to the Church should rise up against it and being risen up in so soul a manner should spend their tongues and talents to so lewd a purpose as speaking perverse things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to draw away much people after them and be the leaders of a party Yet this the humour and the aim of these rising men loquuntur perversa ut abducant discipulos post se my next particular and next in order to be handled David complains of a vexatious people in his dayes which used to say that with their tongues they would prevail and that they were the men which ought to speak without regard to any power that was above them Quis noster dominus est Who is Lord over us say they or shall command us not to speak when opportunity is given us to advance our selves and draw away Disciples after us Such lawless Tongues as these doth St. Paul here speak of who that they might be sure to possess the people cared not what they said whose actions they traduced whose good name they slandered or whose good meaning they perverted The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in the Original doth signifie perverse or froward as in the 17th of Matthew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 O faithlesse and perverse Generation And in the 2d to the Philippians 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the middle of a froward and perverse Generation This shewes us that these exurgentes are a perverse and froward people very hard to please and such as will take nothing in good part how real and sincere soever A sullen and unsociable race of men quorum superbiam frustra per obsequium modestiam effugeris whom when we strive to please we lose them being still further off the more sought after A stubborn and untractable Generation quos nunquam persuadebis etiamsi persuaseris that will adhere to the conclusion though they be beaten off the premises and will not yield to reason although vanquisht by it And yet this sad and froward humour would not hurt any but themselves did they keep it in but here is a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that brings all to nought This froward humour must be vented and break wind in speech and having broken out in speech is as full of frowardness as was the stomach whence it came The perverse humour which affects them would else eat them up and gnaw upon their entralls like Prometheus vulture This makes them seek out such as are like themselves or easily inclined to give eare unto them to whom they powre out their complaints and bemoan the times as if the Church were like to fall did not they support it St. Paul and they so equal in their jurisdiction that it is very hard to say which of them hath the greatest care of all the Churches Hence is it that they fill the heads of poor ignorant people with most groundless feares of innovation in Religion and changes in Gods publick worship the Church continually traduced as if she were unsound in her intentions towards Christ the Prelates generally accused as Factors for the mystical strumpet and the inferior Clergy which submit themselves to the Commands of their superiors in the Lord what are they counted but the wretched instruments to usher in those innovations which are so much feared And certainly this is perversa loqui in the proper sense in the true meaning of the word when men are grown to such a measure of perverseness that we pervert the words and purposes of all publick persons and wrest them to a meaning which they never dreamt of For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek is properly and truly to distort and wrest as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to wrest a matter from the truth in the famous Orator A thing not seldom used by these perverse speakers who to set off their projects and promote their cause not only wrest the words and actions of their innocent Brethren beyond their true intent and meaning but too too often wrest the Scripture even the most blessed Word of God to make it serviceable to their factious and seditious ends The Scribes and Pharisees of old when they watched our Saviour seeking occasion to betray him what did they else but wrest and pervert his actions reporting that he cast out Devils by the help of Devils that all his miracles were forged and his Doctrine false tending to introduce a new Religion and annul the old And what conceit you was their aim but to animate the people by those perverse speeches that in a zeal unto the preservation of Religion they might combine together with them unite themselves in some strict Covenant against the Lord and his anointed and cry out nolumus hunc regnare with the better stomach This is indeed the utmost mischief which 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 carries with it the word not onely signifying to distort or wrest but by so doing to seduce and pervert poor people Thus read we Luke 22. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 We found this fellow perverting our Nation and so of Elymas the Sorcerer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that that he endeavoured to pervert the Deputy and turn him from the faith of Christ This is the thing they aim at in their perverse speakings to captivate seduce and bewitch the people and make them fit for any mischievous attempt which they shall please to animate and excite them to We find in Ovid that when â—allas had commanded Cadmus to sowe Vipers teeth motae supponere terrae vipereos dentes as the Poet hath it there presently rose up an Army very well appointed crescitque seges clypeata virorum Nor have we reason to expect any better Harvest when these men sowe their Vipers Tongues
hath it The Wolf and other enemies of the flock know this well enough and indeed labour all they can to destroy these Mastives Which when they could not do by violence they treated with the sheep as the Fable hath it to deliver them up into their hands but mark what followed thereupon Oves presidio Canum destitutas laniant the doggs being gone they fell upon the sheep and worried them and brought them to a swift destruction Lastly He hath supplied his Church from time to time with faithful Pastors for the defence and custody thereof from the common enemy such as have evermore exposed their persons to apparent dangers their good names to the calumnies of malicious tongues their fortunes many times to apparent ruine all for the safety of the flock for the defence of Christs and the Churches cause Witness those many sufferings of the Apostles as St. Paul describes them reviled yet blessing persecuted yet still suffering defamed and yet intreating and in a word ut mundi purgamenta facti accounted as the filth of the world and the off-scouring of all things to this very day And more then so in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by their own Countreymen in perils by the Heathen in perils in the City in perils in the Wilderness in perils by Sea in perils amongst false Brethren And to make up the total summe of their afflictions in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft The Devil knew how much the safety of the Flock depended on the care and vigilancy of the Shepherd and therefore he aims most at them Percutiam Pastorem dispergam gregem is the best Text in his Divinity This he hath practised in all times and agâ—s upon the Prophets the Apostles Prelates Pastors the Shepherds of all ages many of all places some but upon none more visibly then our Saviour Christ who was not only il Pastor fido the faithful Shepherd whose eyes do neither sleep nor slumber that so his sheep might feed in safety on the Hills and Mountains but Pastor ille bonus the good Shepherd too even that good Shepherd of my Text. Not onely willing to expose his person to contempt aâ—d scorn as many of his followers since have done but also to lay down hisâ— life to save his sheep which never any did in this world but he And so I come unto the eminent piety of our Saviour in the discharge of this imployment being not only ille Pastor that Shepherd but ille bonus Pastor that good Shepherd also my last particular and now in order to be handled Ego sum Pastor ille bonus I am the good Shepherd And first this goodness of the Lord though indivisible in it self hath been divided by the Schoolmen with good propriety both of words and meaning into two kindes or species The first they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Original the other 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exemplified Illa in Deo existens haec in creatur is expressa the first existing solely on the Lord our God the other copied out and manifested in his creatures That which they call 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or original we may define to be an everlasting and unalterable quality in Almighty God qua modis omnibus summè bonus est whereby he is supremely and entirely good In which regard Plato hath said of God that he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 good only in and of himself 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the only saving good as others of the Heathen call'd him And he that knew him best our most gracious Saviour hath given this to us for a Maxime That there is none good but onely God So good that the most blessed Vision of the Almighty is the most excellent good the summum bonum which any of the Saints or Angels can aspire unto Philosophers may wrangle and dispute amongst themselves of mans chief felicity and may ascribe it if they please to pleasure or riches or as the wiser sort have done to the works of vertue But we that are the sheep of our Saviours Pasture look for this summum bonum only in the Lord our God and there we shall be sure to finde it The other kind of goodness call'd by the Schoolmen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or exemplified is that which God hath maniâ—ested on his creatures and imparted to them This they divide again into general and special that being extended unto all his Creatures this more particularly restrained to his chosen servants This generall goodness clearly manifested in the Creation of the World quid enim aliud est Mundus quam Deus explicatus said the old Philosopher and in preserving of the same created cloathing the Lillies and feeding the young Ravens when they call upon him making his Sun to shine as well upon the sinner as the righteous person and in a word opening his hand and filling all things living with his plentiousness In which respect David most truly tells us of him repleta est terra bonitate Domini the Earth is full of the goodness of the Lord. But that which most especially doth concern this business is his special goodness restrained unto his chosen servants to such as fear his name and observe his precepts The Lord is good to Israel saith the royal Psalmist his qui recto sunt corde even unto all such as are of a clean heart And the Book of Lamentations The Lord is good to them that wait for him to the soul that seeks him This goodness is manifested declared in delivering them from evil the evil both of sin and punishment and in accumulating on them his most sacred blessings both of grace and glory For if an earthly Father as our Saviour urgeth though full of evil in himself knoweth how to provide good things for his natural Children how much more shall our Father which is in Heaven bestow good things on those whom he hath adopted This is enough to make us sensible of Gods goodness to us And yet the way by which this goodness is procured for us is far more admirable the Lord not sparing his own Sonne but delivering him up for us all that with him he might also freely give us all things as St. Paul instructs us This is indeed the highest point of heavenly goodness And very hard it is to say whether deserve more of our admiration either that God the Father should appoint it so or God the Sonne considered in our flesh should act the Tragedy I shall no longer wonder at the strange Command which God once layd upon our Father Abraham Abraham take now thy Sonne thine only Sonne Isaac whom thou lovest and offer him for a burnt Offering to the Lord thy God Here finde we God the Father really performing what he imposed on Abraham tentandi causa only for triall of his faith and his obedience Nor shall I much admire at the zeal