thou hast armed with thy power that with a watchfull and single eye they may obserue and represse with a seuere yet a tender hand all vnsound Beleeuers and inordinate liuers that Church and Common weale may blesse them as happy Supporters of this Christian State and themselues may with comfort make their last account to the vnpartiall ludge of quicke and dead and now and euer both of vs may giue glory vnto thee that art our most mighty and most mercifull Lord. Amen Blessed are they that keep iudgement and doe righteousnesse euermore Psalme 106. יהוה A SERMON PREACHED IN OXFORD AT AN ASSIZES 1613. PSAL. 75. Vers 2 3. When I shall receiue the Congregation I will iudge vprightly The earth and all the inhabitants are dissolued I beare vp the Pillars of it Selah THis Psalme was penned if not by surely in the name of some worthy Iudge the people blesse God for the comfort they receiued by him and hee promiseth to redresse the disorders of the people put both their speeches together and you haue a good Commentary vpon the title of this Psalme The title is Ne perdas or rather Non perdes the Hebrew Al-tasheth will beare both and it imports That a good Iudge yeelds the best hope that a disordered State may recouer although it be farre gone Who this Iudge is all are not agreed some ghesse at him by one part of the Psalme some by another and according to their different apprehension giue the Psalme some a mysticall some an historicall interpretation both may stand true as elsewhere so here But being to fit this present occasion my purpose is to passe by the mysticall and insist only vpon that sense which is historicall According to the history the person that speakes seemeth to bee the king of Israel and that king as it is most likely is king Dauid He speaks here first of his owne Tribunall the Tribunall of a king but because that was set at naught by many insolent ones hee calleth them to an higher Tribunall the Tribunall of God and telleth them that it is God which from time to time appoints those that shall iudge here on earth till by Christ he call that great Assizes and fit Iudge of all the world This is the effect of the whole Psalme my Text containes so much thereof as concernes the Tribunall of the king the Dignity the Necessity the Vtility thereof To vnfold it I beseech you to marke therein The person and His work the person is the king whose worke is to iudge I will iudge But of the iudgement wee are farther taught When it shall be executed and How The time is at an Assizes When I shall receiue the Congregation The manner is according to the law to try the vprightnesse of mens liues I will iudge vprightly and that of mens vprightnesse the word Mesharim reacheth so farre As if this were not enough here is a seuerall reason added to each of these branches a reason of calling an Assizes It is no more than needeth there is much amisse in the people The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolued And a reason there is why the king must iudge vprightly and of vprightnesse because if any goe awry if any swerue hee must set and keepe them strait so saith the king I beare vp the pillars of it These be the points that are to bee considered on this Text and that they are to be considered seriously you may gather by the last word Selah the character of a remarkable sentence it signifieth an extraordinary eleuation of the speakers voice which calleth for a more than ordinary attention of the hearers eare Consider then I beseech you in the feare of God the particulars that I shall deliuer thereon and God grant you a fruitfull vnderstanding of them all The first is the Person and this person is the King to Iudge is his work At Ierusalem are Thrones set for iudgement saith another Psalme and those thrones belong to the house of Dauid therefore in the Scripture is the kings throne called not onely the throne of Glory but of Iudgement also yea therefore of Glory because of Iudgement the Glory is giuen to countenance the Iudgement So that the plaintiffes speech was though not very courtly yet very true which hee vttered to a king denying him iustice Si non vis iudicare noli regnare implying that it is the proper worke of a king to be a Iudge And indeed God commits the power of iudgement immediately to the king and to that end setteth him vpon his owne Throne But you know what Iethro obserued to Moses Exod 18. and what Moses himselfe in his complaint to God confessed to be true A king in his owne person cannot beare all this burthen if he attempt it hee vainely tireth out both himselfe and his people wherefore it is Gods pleasure that so much as he cannot doe by himselfe he shall doe by his officers Whereupon ariseth a good distinction of a kings person It is either naturall or politique and vnder the politique are contained the Iudges This is cleare by Gods owne fact for when he called the 70. to bee assistants vnto Moses and to that end did qualifie them he saith not that hee will take of his owne spirit though that which hee tooke was the spirit of God but God is pleased to call that the spirit of Moses which he tooke and gaue to the 70. Numb 11. giuing vs to vnderstand that they were alwayes to bee reputed a part of Moses Yea and they communicate also in the same diuine title for I haue said yee are Gods containes not the peculiar title of a king it extends to euery Iudge as Moses teacheth in the Law if it be not plaine enough in that 82. Psalme So then when a king sendeth Iudges hee sendeth his owne eares to heare the complaints of his people his owne eyes to looke into their causes and his owne mouth to pronounce according to that which is heard and seen The person then in my Text though at first sight it seeme to bee onely the king yet now appeares to bee moreouer the Iudge and by I it is most plaine Honourable and Beloued that you are vnderstood The Vse of this point for the people is made by St. Peter 1. Pet. 2. Wee must be subiect to euery ordinance of man for the Lords sake whether it be vnto the King as supreame or to Gouernours sent from him such as are the Iudges the improuement of their persons must make them reuerend in our eyes But there is a Vse also which Honourable and Beloued must be made by you you may not mistake your eares your eyes your mouth you haue of two sorts priuate and publike the priuate you may vse about your domesticall affaires but to the Bench you may bring none but the publicke you must heare there with none but the kings eares and you know that a king is Abimelec my Father the king
Heauen In HABAKKVK the stones and timber of the King of Babylons house built with blood doe cry Finally Iames 5. in St IAMES the wages of the hireling kept from him doe cry and come into the eares of the Lord of Hosts Cap. 6. And as sinnes so iudgements haue a Voyce MICAH hath a notable place The voice of the Lord cryeth vnto the Citie the Man of Wisdome will see thy name heare ye the rod and who hath appointed it And the Lord is sayd to make his iudgement to be heard from Heauen When then GOD saith I was deafe and dumbe he meaneth that though the cry of the sin were loud yet he did not heare it he was deafe neither did they heare from him though there was iust cause he was dumbe In these two points stands the Patience of GOD. Where-hence we learne that when we are free from plagues we must not conclude that we are without sinnes crying sinnes The cause of our peace is often times not our owne innocencie but GODS patience it is not because our sinnes hold their tongues but GODS iudgments hold theirs notwithstanding our guilt he is silent And here appeareth a great difference between God and Men Men are as soone moued as they are prouoked few can hold their hands scarce any their tongues so sensible are we of wrongs and so reuengefull according to our power Not so GOD it is one of the characters of his Nature to be long suffering euen when he is grieuously offended he can hold his Tongue not onely his Hands Behold an euidence hereof in this Penitent whose incestuous life GOD hath forborne so many yeeres though he might haue rewarded him according to his deserts when he first fell into this foule offence yet hath GOD lent him many yeeres and expected his repentance But what vse doe men make of GODS patience Surely the Iewes did but verifie the old saying veterem ferendo iniuriam inuit as nouam the more GOD forbeares the worse we waxe GOD holds his peace that we might speake is deafe that we might heare Rom. c. 2. but enormous sinners make vse of neither they abuse the patience and long suffering of God and like IESABEL though GOD giue space to repent they repent not Reuel 2 21. We should heare our sinnes that GOD might not heare them we should heare them speaking to the eare of our Consciences whereinto if they did enter they would not ascend higher into the eares of GOD. And seeing GOD is dumbe that we might speake we should speake to GOD by repentance and then GOD would not speake vnto vs by vengance according to that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 11.31 If we did iudge our selues we should not be iudged of the Lord. But what doth the Iewe He grosly abuseth this patience of GOD in stead of so hearing and speaking he thinketh that God is like vnto himselfe Behold the world turned vpside downe GOD made man after his owne Image and see man would faine square GOD after his Image whereas the creature should resemble the Creator the Creator is drawne to resemble the creature An absurd conceit is it in reason how much more in Religion When 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is turned into 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Patterne into the Exemplification but yet might it be excused if so be man were vnderstood as he was made of GOD for we vse in Diuinitie out of the obseruation which we make in the nature of man to draw descriptions of the nature of GOD because whatsoeuer is in the effect is but much more emminently in the efficient so we talke of the Truth the Righteousnesse and Holinesse of GOD guessing at them by those sparkes of vertue which appeare in man But the conceit of these men is not so good for thus must the words be knit Thou thoughtest that I was like vnto thee which hast done these things and such a thee is a sinfull thee so that GOD is not onely resembled vnto man but vnto a sinfull man outragious blasphemie It was a great sinne which ADAM committed when he affected to be like vnto GOD though it were in an holy attribute the attribute of his Knowledge How fearefull a sin then is it not onely to debase GOD to be like vnto men but also to be like vnto him in a hellish Attribute the Attribute of sinne There are three steps of Atheisme Psal 94.7 It begins with Tush God doth not see and is there vnderstanding in the Highest It goeth on to Tush God doth not care Scilicet is superis labor est ea cura quietos solicitat The Lord will doe neither good nor euill as the Prophet speaketh It commeth at length to We account the proud blessed Malach. 3.15 and they that tempt God are exalted Of these Atheists the first turne God into an Idol giuing him eyes that see not and eares that heare not The second make him an idle or carelesse God as if he did onely looke on and leaue euerie man to shift for himselfe The last doe plainly turne God into the Diuel for their blasphemie is not onely priuatiue denying GOD to be what indeed he is but also positiue fastning vpon GOD what is cleane opposite to his Nature so that it is not without cause that our vulgar English hath Thou thoughtest wickedly for it is a most wicked thought We must then take heed how we entertaine sinne seeing we shall grow worse and worse by degrees There are inborne principles of honestie and pietie which are sensibly felt when we first fall to sinne the further we goe the lesse are they felt and when we grow senslesse of them then fall we to apologize for sin and there can be no stronger apologie then to make GOD our consort for it is a principle stampt in our nature That God is the soueraigne good whatsoeuer then is either from him or in him must needs be good so that if a wicked man can make GOD either the Author or Patterne of his sinne he need no sayrer colour nor stronger argument wherewith to resolue either himselfe or others that bitter is sweet darknesse light death life and good euill And the Diuel knoweth that we will sinne securely when we are resolued that by sinne we doe GOD good seruice he that reads the stories of the Heathen gods shall find that one of the greatest prouocations that the world hath had vnto sinne hath beene the worship of such gods as their owne Poets describe theirs to be stained with all kind of sinnes The Fathers that wrot against them IVSTIN MARTYR CLEMENS ALEXANDRINVS EVSEBIVS LACTANTINS ARNOBIVS and Saint AVSTIN insist much vpon this point when they defend Christian Religion against the Gentile And who can tell whether GOD in this place doth not taxe such Gentilisme in the Iew And intimate that their Idolatry was a cause of their impuritie for it is plaine in the Prophets that they worshipped Idols of all Nations You
our choyce that we pitch vpon a good guide wherein the Scripture bids vs take heed of two Rockes the one is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we must neither our selues forge a Religion neither receiue any that is forged by others for guiding of our conscience as we must not be without Law so must we take heed what Law we vse And indeed we may vse none safely but The Law of God in such cases Lanes 4.12 that of the Apostle is true There is but one Lawgiuer no Law but his bindes vnto that for performance whereof we may securely expect that he will performe what in the Couenant for his part hee hath promised vnto vs. Many commendations wee read in prophane Writers of the the Lawes of Solon Lycurgus Zaleuchus and others but these must all be as imperfect as the Law-giuers whether we respect the Precepts or the Sanctions none comprehending exactly the Dutie of Man and therefore not being able to set Man in the way to the attaining of his Soueraigne Good This is peculiar to the Law of God But what is meant by the Law of God Surely the Law deliuered by Moses whereof the Prophets were but Interpreters and their Interpretation shewes the largenesse of the Text namely That the Gospell is included in the Law for the Decalogue cloathed with the Ceremonies what is it but Implicitum Euangelium The substance of the Gospell which is Saluation by Repentance and Faith in Christ And so must we vnderstand not onely Moses his commendations of the Law Deut. 4. but King Dauids also Psal 19. and 119 the truth whereof cannot be acknowledged if the Law and the Gospell be taken Oppositè and not Compositè if we oppose the one to the other and doe not by the one put comfort into the other Certainely in this place we must so vnderstand the Law because it is made the Way to Blisse And marke that here One Law of God is opposed vnto the three degrees of Sinne The Counsell of the wicked The way of Sinners and The Seat of the Scorners one to three to giue vs to vnderstand that what those three promise is performed in this One no true Counsell but in this Law no good Course but that whereinto wee are set by this Law and if we will be Doctors and despise the folly of others we must sit in Moses Chaire we must professe no other but the Law of God And thus much of that Whereunto we must be dedicated Let vs uow see How Wee must first receiue it in the Inward Man the word vsed by the Psalmist is Chephetz which signifies Voluntatem and Voluptatem and notes where and what entertainment wee must first giue vnto The Law Where in our Will so we finde in the tenour of the Couenant This shall be my Couenant Iere. 31.33 which I will make with the House of Israel saith the Lord I will write my Lawes in their Hearts c. God will not haue a seruile Dedication hee will not bee serued by compulsion and therefore those that serue him are called Psal 110. A willing People Neither can the seruice be reasonable wherein the Will is wanting for the Actions are not counted ours wherein the Will hath no part seeing it is by vertue of the Will that a Man is Dominus actionum suarum a free Agent neither is any Action free but that which is done willingly though we cannot partake of the Law but by our Vnderstanding yet is the principall obiect of the Law our Will for Theologia is Scientia not Theoretica but Practica wee learne not the Law for to know it but to doe it Adde hereunto that Inclinatio voluntatis is Inclinatio totius suppositi it is not without cause that God requires the Will seeing the Will hath power to sway the whole Man especially if the Will be Chephetz ioyned with Delight for so God doth require the Heart hee will haue it seasoned with Loue Deut. 6.5 Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart and Loue is the fulfilling of the Law King Dauid opens this Delight 1. Tim. 1.5 Psal 19. when he tels vs that the Law was sweeter than Honey and the Honey-combe the meaning of it is we must not be mercenarie but the pleasure we take in it must-be the cause why we entertaine it And marke the phrase His delight is in the Law Multi habent Legem in Corde sed non Cor in Lege saith Hugo de S. Victore Many treasure vp the Law in their hearts that doe not solace their hearts in the Law they only know it these also delight in it Saint Austin obserues a Distinction betweene In Lege and Sub Lege Qui est in Lege secundum Legem agit He whose heart is in the Law followes the direction of the Law Qui est sub Lege à Lege agitur he whose heart is vnder the Law Rom. 7.22 entertaines it rather of constraint then with a willing minde but wee must Delight in the Law of God in the Inward man as the Apostle speaketh For as ground is fruitfull not by receiuing but by liking of the seed Euen so man becomes not Religious by knowing but by affecting of the Law Amor est virtus Vniens by Loue doth a man become one with the Law yea himselfe is turned into a liuing Law for men are alwayes busie about that wherein they take Delight and the Law being receiued into the inwaâ—d man will ouer-spread the whole man which is implyed in the next branch He meditates on that Law To Meditate on the Law is First to ruminate on the Scripture and sound the depth of it for the Law is deliuered in few words wherein there are contained great Riches of sense which by Meditation we must worke out Christ hath giuen vs a patterne Mat. 5. Where he vnwraps the sense of seuerall Commandements of Murder of Adulterie of Diuorce In the sixth of Saint Iohn how much matter doth he draw out of the Storie of Manna And what mysteries doth Saint Paul in the Epistle to the Hebrewes find in the Ceremonies of Moses This is the first branch of Meditating the vnfolding of the Riches of that sense which God hath treasured vp in his Law This is the worke of our vnderstanding But the vnderstanding doth but prepare matter for the Affections There is a second branch therefore of Meditating which is the seasoning of our Affections with that which we know And as the vnderstanding prepares matter for the Affections so what vse of our Affections but to quicken our Actions Therfore as a man which takes into his mouth a morsell of good meate chewes it and by chewing doth discouer the sweetnesse and kindly nourishment that is in it and hauing rellisht it swallowes it downe and by meane conueiances disperseth it into euerie part of his body that euery part may be made more vigorous and Actiue thereby So
so doth it heare and speake it performeth all its naturall actions And so doth it its Morall also more heauily in some then in other some by reason of the temper doth the body in morall actions follow the Soule but yet it followeth And this may be a good reason why God rememiâ—reth here the powers of our Soule and not the parts of our Body But there is a better and that is deliuered by S. Paul The Law is spirituall Christ layeth the ground of that God is a Spirit Ioh. 4. and hee that worshippeth him must worship him in spirit and in truth Now we are sure that there is no hypocrisie in our Charitie if the seate of it bee the powers of our Soule there may be if it bee the parts of our body witnesse the Pharisee to whom Christ not onely directs but fitteth his speech also who made some shew of Charitie to the world but his inwards were full of Hatred in the sight of God for hee was a Tempter And this doth Christ perstringe or strike at in pressing these words of the Law and shewes that God doth not esteeme the outward deede without the inward affection And the Lesson whch wee must all draw from the seate of Charity is this that our outwarid charitable conuersation must bee rooted in our like inward disposition I should now if time would giue leaue carry euery mans eye into his owne bosome there to take a view whether this vertue bee Catholique and Transcendent or no and if hee find any part vnpossest or not improued as farre as it should bee I should perswade him to see it presently amended Nay I should tell you from that which all the world seeth outwardly that few haue Charitie inwardly for if they had how could their eyes bee so full of Adulterie their eares so set open to entertaine slanders and vntruths their mouthes so ouer-flowe with blasphemie and ribaldrie their hands be so exercised with extortion and cruelty Certainely these things could not bee without if Charitie were within And if Charitie bee not a Catholique and Transcendent vertue in vs no hope that it is either Ordinate or Imperatiue these are perfections whereupon the other are raysed as on a foundation But I cannot stand to take this view and quicken your eare onely remember this that if Loue doe not Hatred will take vp this full Soule GOd that hath commanded this extent of Charitie giue vs eyes to see our want and grace whereby to supply the same that so this vertue may be excluded out of no power that hath right vnto them all and the parts of our Body may bee conformable to the powers of our Soule That so no power nor part may appeare deuoyd of Charitie whether in the eyes of God or man AMEN The fourth Sermon MATT. 22. VERSE 37. The Lord thy God THe Scripture that doth commaund Charitie doth withall teach Where it must be seated and vpon whom it must bee bestowed Where it must be seated you haue already heard you are next to heare vpon whom it must bee bestowed And here we find two kinds of persons both capable of our Charitie because they can returne Loue for Loue and it is the propertie of Loue to be mutuall Of these two persons the names are exprest the first is the Lord thy God the second is thy Neighbour But we must farther obserue What is included in these Names the Cause why they must be beloued and Who are excluded by them They are not capable of the Loue due to the Lord our God that come not vnder his name neither are they capable of the Loue due to our Neighbour that are not contained vnder his name Secondly though the Persons onely are named yet are there things also comprehended vnder the names euen such things as haue reference to the Persons and whatsoeuer things are opposite are excluded thereby Touching the first person onely shall I handle these points at this time First then of his name He is called the Lord our God euerie word hath some remarkable thing in it That which is here rendred Lord is in Moses Iehoua but the Septuagint partly because the Greeke tongue hath no Characters wherewith to expresse that word and partly because the signification of it cannot be fully exprest in any Language by any one word vse 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the fittest which they could light vpon the Euangelist doth follow them and so doe the vulgar translations But when you heare this word you must not vnderstand it in a popular but in a mysticall sense I will open the mystery vnto you It noteth then two things the one is absolute in God the other is relatiue to his creatures In God it noteth the prerogatiue of his nature which standeth in two things the singularitie and the eternitie thereof Touching the singularity When Moses asked God What is thy name Exod. 3 14. God answered him I am that I am The Scripture calleth him by diuers names sometimes True sometimes Iust sometimes Holy sometimes Mighty c. Wee must no otherwise conceiue of these Names then as being his very Nature Wee call him True and what is his Nature but Truth and Holinesse is his Nature whom wee call Holy the like must bee obserued in his other Attributes they are all his Nature and and therefore inseparable from him hee must cease to be before hee can cease to bee that which hee is properly called And herein hee differeth from his Creatures whose Vertues are a distinct thing from their Nature and therefore they may bee stript of them and yet continue themselues still a man may cease to be holy iust true and yet bee neuerthelesse a man The reason is plaine hee cannot say as God doth I am that I am his Attributes and his Nature are not all one But this singularitie of Gods Nature doth appeare specially in two compositions with the Attributes whereof none are capable but be The first of which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. looke whatsoeuer perfection hee hath hee hath it of himselfe and is not beholding to any other for it hee is his owne Originall and therefore his is the perfection it selfe he that is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Good of himselfe is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Goodnesse it selfe the like may you say of the rest of the Attributes The second Composition is with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all the treasures of wisedome are hid in him hee is Almighty Coloss 2 3. the fulnesse of all perfection is in him In regard of these Compositions it is Iude 15. that the Scripture vseth these Phrases God onely is wise Math. 19 17. 1 Timoth. 6 1â— there is none good but God God dwelleth in light which no man can attaine vnto And indeed no Creaâ—â—â—e hath any perfection which is not giuen it from aboue which commeth not downe from the Father of Lights and that perfection which
can that haue then to entertaine God Iohn 14. If any Man loue me saith Christ my Father will loue him and we will come vnto him and make our abode with him and where Gods and Christs abode is there is the Kingdome of Heauen euen righteousnesse peace and ioy of the Holy Ghost The third is the Soule and whether doth the desire thereof runne but vnto God Psal 84. and where will it rest but only in him My soule longeth euen fainteth for the Courts of the Lord my heart and my flesh crieth out for the liuing God Blessed are they that dwell in thy house The sensitiue Soule that is on attendant vpon the Will what greater happinesse can it haue then to feed vpon the crummes that fall from that Table where God suppeth in the reasonable soule of man whereat nothing is serued but the bread the water the fruit the foode of life The last abilitie is our Strength Psal 84. and Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee O Lord they goe from strength to strength but whither Ibid. That euery one may appeare before God in Sion Dauid therefore had rather be a doore keeper in Gods House then to dwell in the tents of vngodlinesse and he giueth the reason for God giueth good wages to his seruants Ibid. The Lord is a Sunne and a shield hee will giue grace and glorie and no good thing will he withhold from them that walke vprightly Yea whereas in the seruice of others we cannot vse our strength but we weare it out It is not so in the seruice of God hee satisfieth thy mouth with good things Psal 103. so that thy youth is renewed like the Eagles Euen the youthes shall faint and be wearie and the young men shall vtterly fall But they that wait vpon the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount vp their wings as Eagles they shall runne and not be wearie and they shall walke and not faint Isay 40. The longer a man serueth God the more able he will be to serue him So then that a man may loue himselfe he must loue God and hee that doth not loue God cannot Loue himselfe because by Loue he hath communion with God wherein standeth his happinesse and of this happinesse he doth defraud himselfe so farre as he commeth short in his Loue of God And indeed this is no small difference betweene God and the diuell The diuell in shew biddeth vs Loue our selues doe all for our selues and wee are so simple as to beleeue him and thinke that we doe so whereas the euent proues we doe all for him and to our owne ruine for he is the plaine Image of Vsurers who liue by the sweate of other mens browes and cunningly grow rich by vndoing others with a seeming reliefe But as for God his precepts bid vs renounce our selues giue our selues wholly vnto him but in the conclusion hee hath nothing we haue all According to the answere which the Father of the prodigall made to his murmuring eldest sonne who expostulated thus with him Loc these many yeeres doe I serue thee neither transgressed I at any time thy Commandements and yet thou neuer gauest me a Kid that I might make merrie with my friends Sonne said the Father thou art euer with me and all that I haue is thine Much more is this true of our heauenly Father who doth not desire to keepe vs busily and well employed for his owne thrift but for ours it is for our comfort and not for his owne Be not sad therefore O Christian Soule if he that made thee wholy will so wholy be beloued of thee as if he had left thee nothing wherewith to sollace by selfe for thou dost neuer loue thy selfe better neither euer shalt thou take greater content in thy selfe then when thou louest God with all thy heart with all thy soule with all thy mind and with all thy strength Thus at length we haue found out the second measure the measure of that Loue of our neighbour which is prescribed by Grace a man is here bid by louing God to loue himselfe that so louing himselfe he may know how to Loue his neighbour Because he that doth not Loue God cannot loue himselfe and so by consequent cannot Loue his neighbour Loue being so sanctified it is true which the Schooles haue Regula est prius regulato se prius quis diligere debet quam proximum Seeing then such is the Measure wherewith wee must Loue our selues we must keepe the Loue of our neighbour within the bounds of the Loue of God We must loue in him the loue of God if he haue it Psal 16. Mine eyes saith Dauid are vpon such as are faithfull in the land my delight is in thy Saints and such as excell in vertue and else-where describing a man that shall dwell in Gods Tabernacle and ascend into his holy Hill he saith Psal 15. that it is he in whose eyes a vile person is contemned but hee honoureth them that feare the Lord. When one told Christ that his mother and brethren stood without desiring to speake with him he answered and said to him that told it who is my mother And who are my brethren And stretch out his hand towards his Disciples saying Behold my mother and my brethren for whosoeuer shall doe the will of my father which is in Heauen he is my brother my sister and my mother If wee cannot loue our neighbour for that he is not yet seasoned with the Loue of God wee must loue him that hee may be so seasoned for so did Christ loue man not for that hee was but for that hee might bee the son of God Acts 28. and heyre of Heauen as himselfe was And Saint Paul when vpon a Sermon Agrippa told him thou hast almost perswaded me to bee a Christian I would saith hee that not onely thou but also all that heare me this day 1. Epistle 1. were both almost and altogether such as I am excepting these bonds And Saint Iohn That which wee haue seene and heard declare wee vnto you that ye also may haue fellowship with vs and our fellowship may be with the father and with his sonne Iesus Christ For this cause would not Saint Paul haue the beleiuing wife forsake the belieuing husband 1. Cor. 7. and Christ so loues his Spouse because all faire c. in the Canticles You see then that if we loue our neighbour wee must loue him propter Deum in regard of the loue of God And why because you must not loue your selues otherwise De Doct Christ lib. 1. cap. 22. Whereupon Saint Austin giueth this good note Siteipsum non propter teipsum diligere debes sed propter Deum non succenseat homo sieum diligas propter Deum If I make the loue of God the onely reason why I loue my neighbour my neighbour hath no cause to bee offended with me because I must make it
4. of Iohn the woman of Samaria alledgeth Our Fathers worshiped in this Mount in defence of Mount Garisim against Sion But this is but apish imitation on all hands and not the true vse that is to be made of Stories You haue heard their Desire and the Reason thereof which they are bold to vtter vnto Christ But they that are so bold to propose are not bold to resolue It was but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it was not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that was in them you may gather it by the voyce of Grace wherewith they correct the voyce of Nature There are but two meanes whereby men may accomplish an action Potentia and Potestas Ability and Authority they deny themselues both First Ability They will haue fire but it is from Heauen they will haue none but such as God can send and such workes of wonder they acknowledge to be his workes and though they be performed at the word of man yet he worketh by his owne finger and therefore it is not to be doubted but if he doe it it shal be well done and if it be not well he will not do it Neyther doe they onely deny that they haue Ability but Authority also which they referre to Christ Master wilt thou As the ability is Gods so they know that God worketh not but Mediante Christo and therefore haue they recourse vnto him Though they confesse whether their owne heart carried them yet they doubted of the goodnesse thereof as they had cause for immediately before they were chid because they forbid one to worke miracles that did not follow Christ that they did out of zeale as they did this they saw they erred there they thought they might erre heere also wherefore they come in with Lord wilt thou Iusta voluntas hominis quae ea tantum vult quae Deus vult eam velle iniusta vero quae vult illud quod Deus non vult eam velle And Saint Bernard Quid odit Serm de Resur aut punit Deus praeter propriam voluntatem cesset voluntas propria et Infernus non erit Wee may not take in hand corporall no nor spirituall weapons without this preface Lord wilt thou and wee must pray Psal 143. Teach me O Lord to doe thy will for thou art my God The two meanes whereby the Apostles qualifie their speech will teach vs to qualifie ours They put the Question to Christ and Christ shapeth them an Answere and his answere consisteth of a Reproofe of their zeale and Disproofe of their reason and he doth both in Words and Deeds First in Deeds He turned about His Obseruation will not hold that saith this phrase is neuer taken but in bonam partem it signifieth sometimes the euidence of Christs displeasure Christ as hee was truely man so was he herein like vnto him that those Obiects that wrought vpon his soule gaue some signification in his bodie of sorrow when he wept of exultation when he reioyced and of displeasure when he was wrath but his passions were free from Concupiscence wherewith ours are defiled our Passions are like water that hath a muddie residence which when it is stirred euery part groweth fowle with mudde but Christs like cleane water in a pure vessell which is neuer the fowler for the motion This being obserued Christs turning to them might well bee such as gaue notice that hee was offended with them Neither did he reproue them in Gesture only but in Words also his words commented on his gesture and they were words of reproofe verè diligit Christus suos sed seuere as well as he loueth them he spareth not to let them know their faults hee is farre from King Dauids indulgence of whom it is obserued that he neuer said to his sonne Adoniah Why doest thou so But Christ as when there is cause he comforts so when there is cause hee checkes also Neither must wee looke that the light of his countenance should alwayes shine vpon vs except there be in vs constant obedience But Reproofe without Disproofe is to hold the hand without mending the heart Christ intends the good of his whom he reproues and therefore disproues that which misled them that when they see their errour they may not only forbeare but also be willing so to doe when they see there is good reason why they should Christ then disproues their Reason their Reason was Elias did so therefore why not wee Christ telleth them the Example is ill applied You know not of what spirit you are And indeed Examples are tickle proofes and conclude nothing except both agree in the same common Rule or Principle Now that they neuer examined Christ therefore telleth them They know not of what spirit they are The spirit doth often signifie not only the Person of God and Diuell but also the motions that in vs are wrought by either of them so the first meaning of Christs words may bee You doe not obserue who stirreth you to this worke you thinke it is God but it is the Deuill Or if you will take the word Spirit only for an holy Spirit then Christs meaning is You doe not consider that euery ones temper must be sutable to his Calling Elias had one Calling you haue another Elias was to goe before Christ and turne the hearts of Fathers to their children that when Christ came he might not smite the earth with cursing and he went before in the person of Iohn Baptist who was a sower man But they as if Christ were to be Elias would haue him to breake forth in fierie wrath Which is the more blameable in them because when Christ sent them abroad he willed that if any Citie refuse to entertaine them they should only shake off the dust of their feet and leaue the rest of their punishment vnto Gods Iudgement who will in time handle them worse then the Apostles wished for it shall be easier for Sodome and Gomorra Matth. 5. which perished by fire then for that Citie And could they forget Christs Sermon which he made on the Mount wherein he willed them to loue their enemies to pray for them c. The reason whereof is because they know not how soone of wolues they may become sheepe The Samaritans whom they would haue consumed with fire were the first strangers that receiued the Gospel they were the first in the dayes of Christs flesh as appeareth in the storie Iohn 4. And after Christs Ascension they were the first likewise as appeares in the Acts. Chap. ◠It is for God who only knoweth who will conuert and who not to giue such doomes as Elias did and till his pleasure is knowne our vocation that are Christians especially if we be Christian Pastors is to incline rather to mercie then to iudgement and because these Adostles did not so Christ challengeth their zeale of ignorance Nescitis cuius spiritus Though the Passion came immediately from the heart and so was zelus amarus
one whose t Ma. â— 7. lips did preserue knowledge and men did seek the law at his mouth But it is required of a Bishop that hee should pascere cibo too as well as verbo and therefore Saint Paul among other things sayes hee should bee u â— Tim 3. giuen to hospitalitie So was this man in a very extraordinarie and remarkable degree For to omit his house-keeping first at Saint Crosse where hee made it his studie and profession to refresh the bowels of the poore not with drie Pensions as his Predecessors for the most part had done either for the sauing of trouble or charges or both but as became the honour of that place with constant solide and substantiall meales and then afterward at his Deanerie of Worcester where he entertained the better sort with that splen dour and the meaner with that bountie and munificence that the whole Countrie rings of it to this day to omit these J say the list of his ordinarie Family which he kept in diet after hee came to the Bishopricke of Bath and Welles did commonly consist of at least fiftie persons a great part whereof hee kept not so much for any state or attendance vpon his person as out of pure charitie in regard of their owne priuate needs Besides all which his gates were the daily refectorie of his poore neighbours and for superuenient strangers be was another h 1 Gen 18 5. Abraham a i Gen 19.3 Lot neuer suffering any man of fashion Schollers especially that came to him vpon businesse or otherwise to depart emptie away Now in this rankenesse of housekeeping I know it is a disease that commonly fals vpon great Families that they grow disorderly and riotous abusing oftentimes the bountie of a good Lord or Master to their owne hurt and the scandall of others Which fault lest any man should suspect to haue beene in his house I cannot but remember another vertue of his which Saint Paul commends also in a Bishop and that is the k 1 Tim. 3.4 ruling of his house well and hauing those that are vnder him in subiection with all grauitie Surely this man had so For notwithstanding his large allowances of all things fit for the entertainment of strangers you should see no footsteps of riot or excesse in his house No tipling or carowsing of healths no casting of the childrens bread vnto dogs not so much as any hawkes or hounds kept vnlesse it were l Hi sunt catuâ— quibus venor regnum Coelorü those wherewith hee hunted after the Kingdome of Heauen And the reason of all this J take to haue beene first his owne example who was indeed a patterne of sobrietie and of all good conuersation as Saint Paul wisheth m 1. Tim 4.12 Timothie to be then the choice of his seruants wherein he imitated Dauid Psal 101.8 and lastly his training them vp whom he entertained in true pietie and deuotion For besides his ordinary Chappell houres which he saw duely and by all frequented hee caused many of his household to assist euery morning at the sixe a clocke Prayers in the Cathedrall Church adioyning Hee neuer sate downe to his meales but he had according to the ancient fashion of Bishops a Chapter of the holy Bible read by one whom he kept for that purpose and lastly at the close of the night he called his whole Family into his ordinary dining roome and there in his owne person most deuoutly commended them by his prayers vnto Almightie God Which thing though it be no more then euery Christian housekeeper in his particular charge doth or should doe yet I account it the more memorable in a man of his place because the multitude and different qualitie of their attendants seemes ordinarily vnto such a sufficient pretence to remit that dutie to their Chaplaines if not to lay it quite aside Now as the Philosopher sayes that each priuate Family is the modell of a Common-wealth so may I say that each Christian Family is the modell of a Church and therefore no wonder if he that was so good at the ordering of the one proued no lesse excellent in the administration of the other The care of his Diocesse as it was of all other his greatest and that which most tooke him vp so did it bring forth in him fruits of exemplary diligence and such as deserue not to be concealed from the World For first whereas the foundation of all good order in a Church is the planting of an able and learned Ministery which thing appertaines to the care of the Bishop and hath euer beene accounted a chiefe o 〈◊〉 this Cauâ—â—ut I the 〈◊〉 creete that thou shouldst ordam Fliers c. Trus 1.5 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈…〉 75. Qâ—id facit excepâ—d erdination◠〈…〉 non â—aciat Hicâ—â—â— ad â—â—utgrâ—um branch of his supereminent power in the discharge hereof he was so carefull and precise that he neuer conferred holy Orders vpon any person whom he did not first examine strictly according to the Canons of the Church neither did hee trust herein any Chaplaine or other Deputie but himselfe personally performed the office for the satisfaction of his owne conscience as one that meant to giue an account to God for what hee did A worthy example doubtlesse which if it were imitated by all the rest of that Venerable ranke neither on the one side would they bee troubled with so many clamours of the Laitie against the vnsufficiencie of their Clergie nor on the other would they haue such cause as oftentimes they haue to p Maâ—â—ianies Bishop of the Noâ—tatians at Constantâ—â—â—â—â— hammâ— ordained â—abbatius a 〈◊〉 Priest 〈◊〉 him afterward to hee a turbulent man wished he had laid his hands on the briars rather then on such a maâ—â—â—â—ad See Secrat lib 〈…〉 1.20 beshrew their owne fingers for ordaining them who are no sooner put into the Ministerie but they become the ring-leaders of faction and schisme against that very authoritie which ordained them As he was thus prouident to plant a good Ministerie in his Diocesse so was hee no lesse carefull to cherish those who were alreadie planted His care of them all in generall was most tender and fatherlike The most eminent among them for Pietie and Learning he did not only vse most familiarly but studied to draw them nearest to himselfe by prouiding them of Prebends in his Church wherein it was his want of opportunitie rather then of desire and forwardnesse that he did no more And lastly to the weaker sort of them he spared not to giue his aduice and direction vpon all occasions how they might enable themselues for the better discharge of their calling to which purpose he had both intended and begun a plaine and familiar explanation of the Doctrine of the Church of England contained in the Catechisme and thirtie nine Articles which he meant to haue communicated to them for their proper vse and instruction but the
because in themselues they can find little true good And so haue you seene the Vngodly stript of all that is desireable in the Blessed Tree So that although with the Church of Laodicea they say that they are rich and increast with goods and haue neede of nothing Reuel 3.17 yet by by this time you see that they are wretched miserable poore blinde and naked And a man would thinke this were miserie enough so to be stript The Holy Ghost doth not leaue them so but as it tels vs that they are not what they seeme to be so doth it also tell vs that what they would not seeme to be that indeed they are and this it teacheth in another Similie He resembles them to Dust or to Chaffe driuen with the wind he doth not resemble them to Nothing for manet in ijs materia poenalis Sinne as the Schoole teach is Nothing but not simply Nothing it were happie for the wicked if as they were made at first of Nothing so sinne would bring them to nothing againe but sinne is such a nothing as euer cleaues vnto that which continueth Something it destroyes the Well-being but not the Being of a Creature For example by sinne our Vnderstanding doth not cease to be but to bee furnished with the true Light whereby we may see the way of Life and our Will loseth not her being but her holy power of choice as likewise our Affections are depriued of their true taste This which so remaynes being depraued with sinne doth Saint Hilarie fitly call Materiam paenalem it remaynes vnto our greater woe But to come to the Similie The Vngodly doe not thinke so well of themselues but the Holy Ghost thinketh as meanly it appeares by the Resemblance Dust or Chaffe things that are next to Nothing And indeed to set forth their vilenesse the Holy Ghost doth varie such kind of Resemblances sometimes by representing them by Scumme sometimes by Froth sometimes by Drosse sometimes calling them Vanitie yea Psal 62. casting them below Vanitie in the Scales if they bee both put they will ascend lighter then Vanitie The reason is because all imperfection that is in vnreasonable Creatures is but Malum Poenae and therefore must needs come short of Malum Culpae seeing the least Sinne is worse then the greatest Woe therefore the greatest Woe doth not sufficiently set forth the Euill of the least Sinne. We need not therefore wonder that the Holy Ghost doth vse so meane resemblances to set forth the Vngodly in whom there is so little worth But to come closer to it They are like Dust or Chaffe Puluis licet terra sit tamen terra esse desijt quia nihil habet solidi destitutus humore that which is Dust was Earth but by loosing his moysture it is no longer a part of the Earth and Chaffe was a part of the Eare of Corne though being thresht it continues no longer a part of the Eare take which Resemblance you will though the latter is thought best to expresse the Originall This you may gather That all the Vngodly haue their Originall in the Church though they doe not shew themselues to be of the Church The Husbandman carrieth out cleane Seed but when it growes into an Eare that Eare that beares the good graine beares also Chaffe Matti 13. Our Sauiour Christ vseth this Similie comparing the World to Gods Field his Word vnto Seed and himselfe vnto the Sower and surely God neuer sowed any of his heauenly Seed but the Eares did spring accompanied with Chaffe God sowed it in Adam of whom sprang Cain and Abel Cain plaine Chaffe Abel good Corne He sowed it in Noah of whom sprange Sem Cham and Iapheth Sem and Iapheth good Corne but C ham very Chaffe Hee sowed it in Abraham of whom sprang Ishmael and Isaac in Isaac of whom sprang Iacob and Esau from both came Chaffe as well as good Corne. And this Resemblance of Chaffe doth adde much to the Vngodlinesse of the Vngodly that being vouchsafed to be in the Church they haue so little Grace as not to be of the Church which agrees well vnto those persons which I told you before were meant here by Vngodly namely Counterfeit Christians But Chaffe hath two remarkable things in it Ariditatem and Sterilitatem which you may very fitly oppose to the double good of the blessed Tree the Drinesse is opposite to the Good that is done for the Tree and the Barrennesse to the good that comes of it Touching the Drinesse it is plaine to any one that beholds Chaffe for though while it was growing it had some sap yet being cut downe from the Root which did feed it and thresht from the Graine which might yeeld some moisture to it it must needs be drie And such is the condition of the Vngodly if they let goe their hold-fast which they haue on Christ by a true faith and lose themselues from that blessed Communion which they haue with Saints what sap of Grace can there be in them seeing these two are the only meanes of Grace and without these we may not expect any sap of Life Therefore Ieremie compareth the Wicked vnto the Heath in the Desart Ier. 17.6 and parched places in the Wildernesse in a Salt Land And if they bee subiect to Drinesse they must needs bee subiect to Barrennesse for who can expect fruit where there is no sap seeing sap is the cause of fruit and who can expect good workes where there is no Grace seeing it comes of Grace that man doth any thing that is good But the Vngodly are not only compared vnto Chaffe but vnto winnowed Chaffe The state of the Vngodly is but meane if they bee no better then Chaffe but their state is meaner if that Chaffe be winnowed It is some honour to the Chaffe that it cleaues to the Eare of Corne growing in the Field and in the threshing Floore lieth mingled with the graines but it loseth much though not of its substance which it neuer had yet of the countenance which it seemed to haue if once it come to be winnowed Those that are not of the Church acquire some estimation by being in the Church which they vtterly lose when they leaue that Communion But what is this Winnowing The Fathers obserue a double Winde that turmoyles the Vngodly There is ventus Vanitatis and Ventus Iudicij they are exposed to an Inward and to an Outward Wind the Inward Wind is the Wind of Vanitie that taketh them sometimes in the Head and as Saint Paul speaketh Ephes 4. They are carried about with euery Wind of Doctrine by the slight of man and as Saint Iames Iam. 1. they waue about and are vnstable in all their wayes Let a Theudas or a Iudas of Galilie come amongst the Iewes Let a Montanus or a Mahomet come amongst the Christians what a company will they draw after them vnlearned and vnstable soules how are they besotted with Nouelties how are they with
not vnsitly distinguish the Remedie as we did the Disease the broken bones were vnderstood Properly and Figuratiuely Properly for the languishing of the body Figuratiuely for the languishing of the soule this being the cause whereof that is the Effect or that being as it were the redundancy of this Seeing then the Medicine must be of the same extent with the disease we must finde in it a Comfort for the Soule and a Comfort for the Body the Comfort of the soule noted by Ioy and the Comfort of the body noted by Gladnesse so that the whole Comfort must make vp Iubilum which as Gregorie the great noteth in his Moralls is such a chearefulnesse as taking roote in the soule doth manifest it selfe in the body and the light of the Countenance doth argue the peace that is in the Conscience But Saint Austin vpon the Gospell of Saint Iohn hath taught vs to distinguish of Ioy there is Gandium veritatis and vanitatis a true and a false ioy Ioy of it selfe is nothing else but the Content that euery part of our body and power of our soule taketh in the obiect that was made for to please it as the Eye hath ioy in colours the Eare in sounds the Palate in meates c. if these bee proportioned to the temper of the sense so fareth it with the powers of our soule but sinne hath distempered vs within and without and we can rellish no better then we can discerne wee doe as ill rellish true Ioy and Sorrow as wee doe distinguish Good and Euill therefore that we mistake not our Cure we must take heed that we doe not mistake Ioy and Gladnesse Gaudium vanitatis for Gaudium veritatis false for true Ioy that you may distinguish the one from the other I will shew you three markes wherby they may be discerned true ioy is first purum it is affected with nothing but that which is good that which is euil should properly be the obiect of sorow therfore all that delight in drunkennesse adultery blasphemie or any other sinne though they seeme to haue Ioy yet indeed it is no true Ioy for it is 〈◊〉 7.6 Chap. 20.12 13 14. â—â—ke 6.25 but as the Crackling of thornes as Salomon speaketh or as Iob like poyson sweete in the mouth that killeth so soone as euer it commeth into the maw of such Christ saith in the Gospell Woe be to you that reioyce for you shall weepe The second marke of true Ioy is that it is Solidum it spendeth not it selfe vpon toyes but vpon that which is of worth Wee obserue it as a difference betweene children and those that are of riper eares that children value things as they affect those that are of riper discretion value them as they are a child will preferre an apple before a iewell and we sinile at it but how many of vs doe more glory in fantasticall fashions then we doe in the greatest vertues but we shall bee driuen in the end to write vpon them Vanity of vanity all is but vanity yea those toyes will helpe to breake our bones for they will proue vexation of spirit and why they want the second property of Ioy there is no solidnesse in them The third property of true Ioy is that it is perpetuum it resteth not vpon that which is transitory which may be taken from vs or we from it that is a deceitfull Ioy the rich man was told so Luk. 12.19 who said vnto his soule Soule be merry eate and drinke thou hast goods for many yeeres but hee heard Thou foole this night shall they take thy soule from thee and then whose shall these things be Luke 12.33 wherefore wee must prouide our selues bagges which waxe not old a treasure in Heauen that fadeth not where no thiefe approacheth neither moth corrupteth where such treasures are there let our hearts bee also But all this while I haue but distinguished true Ioy from false I haue not shewed you what this medicinall Ioy is Lib. 1. Cons Est gaudium saith Saint Austin quod non datur impijs sed ijs qui te gratis colunt there is a Ioy whereof the wicked neuer partake it belongeth only to them that are thy faithfull seruants and what is that horum gaudium tu ipse es they haue no Ioy but thee and they thinke their liues most blessed when they ioy in thee and for thee But how can a man that is a sinfull man come to haue God for his Ioy surely in Christ and by Christ so saith the Angel to the Shepheards Luke 2.10 11. Behold I bring you tidings of great Ioy which shall be vnto all people for vnto you is borne a Sauiour which is the Lord Christ. In the Prophet Esay Cap. 61.1 2 3. Christ speaketh thus The Spirit of the Lord is vpon me because hee hath anointed me to preach good tidings vnto the meeke hee hath sent mee to bind vp the broken hearted to proclaime liberty to the captiues to giue vnto them that mourne in Sion beauty for ashes the oyle of ioy for mourning c. Cap. 9.3 And elsewhere speaking of Christs birth They shall ioy before thee according to the ioy in haruest and as men reioyce when they diuide the spoile And indeed hee that knoweth the case of one hunger-starued and bound in fetters like a slaue cannot deny but the newes of liberty the newes of plenty must needs bee good newes ioyfull newes vnto him and such is the newes of Saluation by Christ when we heare Son be of good cheere Mat. 9.2 thy sins are forgiuen thee when Christs spirit beareth witnesse to our spirit that we are the children of God wee must needs embrace these blessings with exceeding Ioy as in Samaria there was great Ioy so will there be in any City where this Saluation commeth to sinfull men You haue heard what is the Disease and what is the Cure you must heare whence it commeth not from Earth but from Heauen It is vsuall with too many when the worme of Conscience biteth them and they smart from that inuisible sting to sort themselues with iouiall company by them to driue away melancholly and to charme this Serpent with variety of sensuall delights but little doe they thinke that these are Medici nihili Chap. 13.4 Physitians of no worth as Iob speaketh and that when they returne to themselues againe and looke againe into themselues they shall find that the worme hath crept in farther and biteth more smartly the sting gets faster hold and paineth more grieuously and no maruell for may a man expect to be cured by that which caused his disease or shall he not rather be the worse the more he applieth that Physicke Esay 45.7 Deut. 32.39 there is none but God that can create Light and darknesse Good and Euill that can wound and heale kill and make aliue againe therefore if in so desperate a case we desire to haue recouerie wee must
onely he would haue vs vse our tongues so well as that wee may be at the day of Iudgement praised by him Yea sâ—eing praysing is a delightfull employment God would thereby cheere vp our spirits with a sweete foretaste of that life which we shall leade in heauen for praysing is the Angels worke in the Church Militant we haue both praying and praysing but in the Church Triumphant there is onely praysing there is no praying at all that Eucharisticall sacrifice shall continue when all Propitiatories doe cease for praise is the euerlasting sacrifice of the New Testament and of that the saying is true Praise shall neuer depart from the mouth of a Christian Iewes and Christians haue both agreed to repeate daily this Text in their Liturgie out of that which you haue heard you may gather that it is not without cause that they haue so done Wee say it daily I pray God wee may haue learned this day to say it well hereafter so may we that now in Gods House on earth speake his praise sing for euer Halelu taâ— praise yee the Lord with the Saints in Heauen The words as I haue opened them are conceiued in a Prayer but as they are read in the I salter they represent a Prophecie the odds is not great because a good Prayer if it bee conceiued for spirituall grace is indeede a prophecie for he that disposeth to sue doth purpose to grant What shall we say then to these things But euen pray that seeing God hath the key of our Eares as well as of our Tongues and by the temper of our eares wee may guesse what will bee the temper of our tongues and he that hath a deligh to heare his dutie will haue a tongue readie to yeeld God his due and God will neuer open his tongue that suffers the Diuell to keepe the key of his eare Let vs I say pray that by being willingly deafe we doe not become vnwilling dumbe but that Christ by his Ephphata would rid vs of the spirit both deafe and dumbe that hauing heard these words as we ought we may vse our tongues as is meete That we may so doe let vs all ioyntly present our humble petitions vnto God in the words of my Text. O Lord open thou our Lippes and our mouthes shall shew forth thy praise Blessed are they O Lord that dwell in thy House Psal 8â— they shall alwayes bee praysing thee SELAH PSAL. 51. VERSE 16. For thou desirest not Sacrifice else would I giue it thou delightest not in burnt offering KIng Dauid in thankfulnesse for Gods mercie promiseth religiously to serue him but whereas Gods seruice is either Morall or Ceremoniall he voweth a Morall and not a Ceremoniall seruice Of this choice he yeeldeth a reason and that reason is Gods good pleasure he maketh Gods pleasure to set bounds vnto his Vow and is willing to enlarge or contract his Vow according to Gods pleasure To contract it as appeares in that which he speaketh of the Ceremoniall worship for he forbeares it and to enlarge it as appeares in that which he speaketh of the Morall for that is it which he obserueth as acceptable vnto God On this Verse which now I haue read wee shall heare of his conceipt concerning the Ceremoniall worship and what hee conceiueth of the Morall worship which is answerable thereunto when I open the next Verse I shall then shew vnto you The Ceremoniall worship is exprest in two words Sacrifice and Burnt offerings which words may betaken either in a large or in a restrained sense In a large so may you reduce vnto them all Ceremoniall worship in a restrained and so they comprehend the two offerings which the Law required for a Ceremoniall reconciliation of a sinner Take them which way you will my Text sets downe Gods disposition towards them and King Dauids conformitie to that disposition of God Gods disposition is twofold First he doth not desire them secondly he doth not delight in them before they are offered he doth not desire them neither doth hee delight in them when they are offered so must you in this place difference Gods Desire and his Delight To this disposition of God King Dauid doth conforme his seruice he professeth that hee would haue tendered these Ceremoniall offerings if God had affected them and onely because God did not affect them therefore he doth not tender them both these propositions are wrapt vp in these words Else would I giue it I would giue sacrifices and burnt offerings if thou didst desire them if thou didest delight in them but thou desirest not sacrifices thou delightest not in burnt offerings therefore doe not I presume to giue them to reconcile my selfe by them These be the Heads whereunto I purpose to referre whatsoeuer I shall deliuer in farther opening of this Text Now because you may mistake in your Deuotion as the Iewes did be perswaded in the feare of God to listen attentiuely to what shall be said that you may learne of King Dauid to passe a true iudgement vpon all Ceremoniall worship and vpon all corporall seruice Let vs come then to the particulars whereof the first is those words wherein the Ceremonies are exprest and they are two Sacrifice and Burnt offerings Which words may bee taken first in a large sense they may comprehend all kind of animat Offerings that were burnt vpon the Altar for of them some were Merocausta burnt but in a part the rest was the Priests portion alone or else he did share in it with him that presented the sacrifice Other Offerings were called Holocausta they were wholly burnt neither the Sacrificer nor the Offerer had any part therein God reserued it wholly to himselfe so that if wee thus farre enlarge these words they wrap in them all kinde of corporall Sacrifices Ruffinus and others giue them so wide a signification That signification is true but happily it is not so proper to this Text a more restrained sense may better fit this present Argument Obserue then that these wordes doe containe the two Offerings which God in Moses Law prescribed for the reconciliation of a sinner hee was required to bring one expiatory the Law calleth it a sinne-offering and that is it which is here as else-where meant by the generall name of Sacrifice another Dedicatory which was called an Holocaust and is here translated a burnt offering but you must vnderstand it burnt not in part but wholly therefore it is sometimes called a whole-burnt-offering These two Offerings went together in the ceremoniall reconciliation of a sinner we find it so in Leuit at the purifying of a woman after Child-birth Chap. 12. at the cleansing of a Leper Chap. 14. finally at the expiation of the Tabernacle or Temple and therein of the whole Church of Israel Chap 16. In all these places you shall find that they goe together But to looke a little farther into these Offerings there are two remarkable things in them 1. the Mystery and
by this Text yeeldeth him this glory hee need not if hee will be vnprouided of the best gift that can be giuen that is himselfe poore selfe if he haue grace to be as poore in spirit as hee is in purse and lament the want of grace asmuch as he doth his want of wealth Finally This Text is one of the Prefaces to our dayly Liturgie I would we did as often practise it as we doe repeate it Certainly there is great cause we should whether we respect sinne or woe whereof there was neuer more or any that deserued more humiliation The times deserue that euery day should bee a day of humiliation and that euery man should affiâ—â—t his soule the more wee know God requireth this seruice and the better wee see that he accepteth it the more forward should we bee to performe it ANd I pray God wee may haue so heard this Text opened that our hearts and Spirits may relent with it so shall we not be iudged of the Lord if we will iudge our selues Nay sowing in teares we shall reape in ioy AMEN PSAL. 51. VERSE 18. Doe good in thy good pleasure vnto Sion build thou the Walles of Ierusalem WHen I brake vp this Psalme I shewed that it consisteth of two Vowes made by King Dauid one for himselfe another for his Kingdome I haue ended the first that Vowe which concerneth the King I am now come vnto the second the Vow which he maketh for his Kingdome This second Vow as the first will be resolued into a Desire and a Promise Of the Promise in the next Verse the Desire is contained in this In opening of this Desire I will obserue first for whom it is conceiued secondly what it doth containe Those for whom it is conceiued are noted in these words Sion Ierusalem which made vp the mother Citie of the Kingdome of Israel an excellent type of the Church for these King Dauid maketh a suite and the suite for them is in effect the same which he made for himselfe He sueth that they may be restored into the state of grace that is the meaning of these words Doe well vnto Sion Secondly that being restored they may be preserued therein which he beggeth in these words Build vp the Walles of â—erusalem These be the blessings for which he sueth and hee sueth for them in a sense sutable to the places his suite is Mysticall But to whom is the suite made And for whose sake doth hee hope to speede Surely he sueth onely to God to him it is that hee saith Doe good build thou the walles and hee hopeth to speed onely for Gods sake therefore doth he adde in thy good pleasure Doe good in thy good pleasure and in thy good pleasure build thou the Walles of Ierusalem Lay together the parts of the Text and then you will see in it two remarkable vertues confidence in God and compassion towards the Church Confidence for in the beginning of the Psalme Dauid seemeth so deiected that he hath enough to doe to pray for himselfe hee so describeth his estate as if hee were not worthy to doe so much but towards the end of the Psalme he sheweth himselfe another man hee taketh heart and becommeth a suiâ—our for all Israel yea hee presumeth to begge for it the greatest blessing of God But he doth it out of another vertue also which shineth here the vertue of Compassion he is not contented to fare well himselfe he desireth the wel-fare of his whole Kingdome as hee made it obnoxious to Gods wrath so he holds himselfe bound to bee a mediatour for Gods fauour Such charitie in praying deserueth to be exemplarie wherefore let vs listen diligently to the vnfolding thereof that wee may learne to exemplifie it in our prayers The first thing that we must enter vpon are those for whom King Dâ—uid conceiueth this desire they are Sion and Ierusalem which words in the Scripture are taken sometimes historically sometimes mystically that is either they nore places in the holy land or else by those places represent vnto vs the Church of God Because the mysticall sense cannot bee concerued but by the correspondencie which it hath vnto the historicall I must first open the historicall that so I may the better guide your apprehension in the mysticall Before I doe this I must let you know that Sion and Ierusalem were two distinct places yet it is vsuall in the Scripture in naming either to meane both In the second Psalme I haue set my King vpon my holy hill of Sion Sion there comprehendeth Ierusalem for Dauid who is meant in that Text was King of both In the beginning of Ecclesiastes Solomon is said to haue beene King in Ierusalem we may not exclude Sion for he was King in that also This being briefely obserued I come now to the â—â—storie of these words Where first you must obserue that either of these places were hills of Sion the common attribute doth witnesse it for it is called Mount Sion and of Ierusalem it is as true Iosephus reporteth that it was built vpon the hill Acra the Psalmist beareth witnesse hereunto saying Psal 87. He hath laide his foundations in the holy mountaines and the common phrase of ascending to Ierusalem Secondly the whole tract of those hils was called the land of Moriah which is by interpretation the place where God appeareth or is conspicuous there God appeared vnto Abraham when hee was ready to offer Isaac there did he appeare vnto Dauid when the punishing Angell vpon Dauids Prayer was commanded to sheath his sword Finally there appeared the Sonne of God in our flesh when he wrought the redemption of man Thirdly those places were two seuerall Cities whereof one was in the lot of Beniamin the other was in the lot of Iudah Ierusalem that was in the lot of Beniamin was conquered by Iosua but Sion that was in the lot of Iudah continued in the possession of the Iebusites vntill the dayes of King Dauid he subdued them though he did not wholly extinguish them as appeareth by the storie of Araunah the Iebusite Dauid hauing gotten the possession of Sion ioyned it with a Wall to Ierusalem and so of two made one Citie one Citie of those which before were two and that of two seuerall nations Iebufites and Israelites of this vnion we must vnderstand these words in the Psalme Psal â—â— Ierusalem is a Citie that is compacted together in it selfe Fourthly Dauid hauing thus vnited the Cities translated thither the Arke and God there designed a place where the Temple should be built euen vpon a piece of ground that lay indifferently betweene the Tribes of Indah and Beniam in and so it became the fixed place where God chose to put his name and where hee vouchsafed to reside betweene the Cherubins it was Gods sedes Religionis the ordinarie place of Diuine worship to this the afore-named Psalme beareth witnesse Thither the Tribes euen the Tribes of Israel goe vp according
when two or three are gathered together in my name I am a mongst them Wee pray that wee may receiue grace and when wee haue receiued grace what temaineth but that we giue glorieâ— and wee shall giue glorie as we receiued grace imperfectly here on earth because our grace is imperfect but when our grace is perfect then shall wee giue glorie perfectly to God in the Kingdome of Heauen and of that glory which is giuen in the Church Triumphant doe many of the Fathers vnderstand this place Finally marke a blessed accord betweene Gods acceptance and mans thankfulnesse it is an vncomfortable thing to serue and not to be regarded but if any thing will encourage it is this Math. 25. that we shall heare Euge serue bone well done seruant faithfull and true enter into thy Masters ioy Wherefore let vs hearten our selues that God will accept and knowing that let vs doe our best to please I am come to the end of of my Text and withall to the end of the Psalme but God forbid your profit should end with my paines S. Austin thought that euery man should sing ouer this Psalme euery day and act a penitent as King Dauid did And indeed which of vs may presume better of himselfe then King Dauid had cause and who may not desire if he be so bad to speed as well as King Dauid did Hee began at Miserere fell as low in his humiliation as a mortall man can doe but you see how hee endeth his humiliation was not so low but his exaltation was as high and his ioy proued as great as euer his sorrow was It is a witty obseruation which Saint Ambrose hath hee maketh this Psalme a Psalme of Iubile hee gathers his note from the number In the Septuagint which most of the Ancients follow this is accounted the fiftieth Psalme therefore doth that Father parallel it to the fiftieth yeare The fiftieth yeare was the yeare of Iubile to the Israelites wherein all debts were released bondslaues were set at liberty and hee that had sold it was repossest againe of his Inheritance And doth not that befall a man spiritually if he be penitent which the Israelites enioyed corporally yea verily He that was by sinne a slaue vnto Sathan by repentance is mad a free-man of God vpon our repentance are all our debt-obligations cancelled which wee haue either inherited or contracted Finally it returnes vs againe to Paradise out of which wee were cast for sinne a blessed comfort of Repentance and therfore a blessed vse may we make of this Psalme the Contents whereof is this vertue of Repentance And what can I wish you yea and my selfe also but that from the misery of sinners wee may ascend to to the glory of Saints and WEe thy humble Seruants beseech thee our Lord Iesu Christ Hieroms Prayer that thou wilt be indulgent to our grieuous sinnes and grant that being humbled by true contrition of heart and hauing mortified all our corrupt lusts we may be prepared as an acceptable Holocaust vn to thee and with the Angels sing for euer Haleluiah Haleluiah So the Arabiâ— ends this Psalme Haleluiah in the Kingdome of Heauen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 NINE SERMONS On the two and twentith CHAPTER of the Gospell according to S. MATHEW The 34 35 36 37 38 39 40. VERSES BY The Right Reuerend Father in God ARTHVRE LAKE late Bishop of that See LONDON Printed by W. S. for Nathaniel Butter 1629. NINE SERMONS ON THE TWO AND TWENTITH Chapter of the Gospell according to Saint MATTHEW the 34 35 36 37 38 39 40. VERSES THE TEXT 34. But when the Pharisees had heard that Iesus had put the Sadduces to silence they were gathered together 35. Then one of them which was a Lawyer asked him a Question tempting him and saying 36. Master What is the great Commandement 37. Iesus said vnto him Thou shalt Loue the Lord thy God with all thy Heart and with all thy Soule and with all thy Minde c. The first Sermon NO sooner had I ended the Doctrine of Repentance which I set before you in the example of King Dauid but it came into my mind that the next way to perswade any man to follow it was to teach him how he might best bee acquainted with his owne state For though it be true that euery man that knoweth himselfe to bee guiltie doth not repent yet it is as true that no man doth repent except he know himselfe to bee guiltie Now the Apostles rule is Rom 7 verâ—â— Iam. 1. ver 23. that The knowledge of Sinne commeth by the Law the Law is a looking glasse wherein we may see what manner of Persons we are Whereupon I resolued to make the Law my next Text. Not that Law which was proper to the Iewes and was abolished by the Crosse of Christ the Ceremoniall and Politique But that Law which is common to all the World and shall neuer haue an end I meane the Morall Law which is contained in the ten Commandements And indeed they are the great store-house of cases of Conscience If euer a man be desirous to make a through inquirie into himselfe and giue vp against himselfe a true verdict they will set his Sinne most clearely before his eyes and lay it most powerfully to his charge They will But not so well except a man be first prepared you must first learne a lesson that containeth the Beginning and the Ending of the Decalogue and that is Charitie all the ten Commandements spring from this roote and this is the fruit that we must reape from them all they begin from and they end in Charitie this Charitie is the Argument of those words that now I haue read vnto you and the Text is nothing but a Preparatiue to the ten Commandements Let vs come then to it The whole doth containe a Conference betweene our Sauiour Christ and a Pharisee wherein it was to appeare whether of the two had more skill in Gods Law In breaking it vp I will consider the Occasion and the Argument The Occasion as giuen was Christs conquest of the Sadduces he had put them to silence as taken was the malice of the Pharisees they were so vexed therewith that they no sooner heard it but Conuenerunt they conspired to set vpon Christ this was the occasion Thus farre the Pharisee goeth I meane to goe no farther at this time in vnfolding the Text I will begin then with the occasion first as it was giuen Christ in a dispute had foyled the Sadduces the Text saith Hee had put the Sadduces to silence Here we must learne first what these Sadduces were they were a Sect sprung vp amongst the Iewes I will briefely relate their originall as the Hebrew storie hath it Antigonus Sochaeus not long after the dayes of Nehemiah was the chiefe Rabbin in the great Synagogue at Ierusalem Drusius de tribus sectis Iudaeorum who grauely instructing his Disciples is said amongst other words to
to encourage him For which is a second branch of his Clemencie he tels him that he is not farre from the Kingdome of God There are two things in the Law first the Depth and secondly the End of it both which the Pharisees misunderstood The Depth as it appeares Matth. 5. where Christ shewes how shallowly they did vnderstand it The End for that they so rested in the perfection of the Law that they litle thought of the reliefe which mans inability to perform the same was to receiue from the Gospell and therefore they stumbled at the doctrine of Christ who neuer meant to derogate ought from the Law considered in it selfe but to discouer mans weaknesse the conscience wherof should make him flie vnto the Gospell This Scribe seemes to haue had a reasonable vnderstanding of the Depth of the Law but hee was not come so farre as to haue an vnderstanding of the End thereof Notwithstanding because the knowledge of the Depth is a good step to the knowledge of the End therefore our Sauiour Christ tels him he is not farre from the Kingdome of God By the Kingdome of God or of Heauen the Scripture vsually vnderstands the Gospell that is the way vnto eternall blisse Now seeing Christ is the end of the Law and the Law is a Schoolemaster to bring vs vnto Christ he that doth well vnderstand the Law how the Morall exceeds the Ceremoniall and how much the Morall requireth at the hands of men as this Scribe did if he do but trie himselfe thereby he will see what need he hath of the Gospell and may be perswaded to embrace it Therefore doth Christ tell him that hee is not farre from the Kingdome of God Non abest procul abest tamen A man that is almost at the top of the water may aswell bee drowned as hee that lieth in the bottome therefore a man must not content himselfe to bee almost a Christian as Agrippa did he must be altogether if he meane to be saued Therefore Christ in these words wils the Scribe to build forward and to supply that which he wanted of the meanes to life Obserue here how Christ would not breake a bruised reed nor quench a smoking flaxe because of his ingenuitie hee handled him gently Teaching vs how odious vnto him a Romish butcherie is and that we in dealing with Aduersaries of the Truth must follow the Apostles rule In meeknesse instructing them that are contrarie minded 2 Tim. c. 2. if God at any time will giue them repentance vnto the knowledge of his truth Especially if we see them preferre the truth before their owne priuate affections and not resist the Holy Ghost What became of this Scribe the Scripture doth not teach vs it is not vnlikely but that afterward he beleeued in Christ and that his ingenuitie made good vse of Christs clemencie I haue opened vnto you the comfortable confusion of him that moued the question they that set him a worke also were confounded but their confusion was damnable For though their mouthes were stopped yet their heart was not stopped their heart was not changed they continued malicious still They asked him no more questions no more serpentine questions otherwise questions they did aske him but hauing by their perplexing temptations laboured in vaine for that still they had the worst Yea and which vexed them more Christ by answering them got honour amongst the people who wondred at his readinesse and wisdome Luke 13. they therefore gaue ouer playing the Serpents and turned Lions The next newes wee heare of them is that they contriue and compasse the death of Christ And this is the right Method of the world when disputations and bookes will not make good a bad cause nor beare out errour and falsehood then the sword is set a worke to doe what the tongue or pen cannot and the bloud of Gods seruants is spilt to satiat cruell minds This Age hath too lamentable proofe thereof all our neighbour countries be turned into shambles of the Church But wonder not at it for Venena inuidiae possunt superari sed difficulter quiescere Malice may be ouerawed but it will neuer bee idle if it may worke with opportunitie Therefore I told you that their confusion was Damnable Damnable seeing their reason was conuicted and yet they persecuted Christ I will dwell no longer vpon this point because I toucht it in part before in this and also in the first Sermon Onely obserue that which Saint Paul hath God maketh the wisedome of this world foolishnesse and taketh the craftie in their wilinesse so that we may say with him Where is the Scribe God puts into the mouthes of Christs aduersaries such an answere as that they confirme his Doctrine and Testimonium ab Aduersario validissimum Moreouer their answere cleares the innocencie of Christ when they were still confounded that sought to haue iust cause against him And no wonder for he that foyled the Father of temptations could not be foyled by any of his Children One point more and so I end It is a note of Saint Chrysostomes tentando Iudaei sibi acquisiuerunt confusionem nobis prouiderunt salutem the Temptations wherewith Christ was exercised by the Iewes occasioned him to deliuer many excellent lessons for the instruction of his Church So did God bring light out of darknesse and how many excellent tracts haue the Fathers written which had neuer come from them if their industrie had not beene whetted by the enemies of the truth And the same prouidence at this day sets the Orthodoxe a worke to looke more and more into the mysteries of the Kingdome of Heauen enabling them to stop the mouthes of gaine sayers and to bring their Charge forward to the measure of the age of a perfect man in Christ I conclude you haue heard of exemplarie discretion and confusion discretion of Christ confusion of Christs aduersaries You shall doe well to imitate Christs discretion learne of him to be not onely Innocent as Doues but wise as Serpents If our words be poudred with such salt they are most likely to yeeld grace vnto the hearers As for the confusion of Christs aduersaries let vs take heed of the damnable confusion that doth but helpe men forward to fill vp the measure of their sinnes in this world that they may haue the greater measure of plagues in the world to come But let vs set before vs the comfortable confusion let vs be euer ready to shew our ingenuitie that we may haue experience of Christ clemencie Onely let vs take care not onely to begin well but also to goe on not onely to come neere vnto but also to enter into the Kingdome of God that Christ which is as ready to encourage as to discerne our good disposition may establish vs in grace and crowne vs with glorie who onely can so worke vs readily to obey that he may blesse our endeauours and receiue vs in the end with those comfortable words
men It was grosse ignorance in the Iewes to thinke that the outward Character could denominate them without the inward and that they should goe for sonnes of Abraham who in Pietie were so vnlike Abraham Therefore Saint Iohn correcteth this ignorance of theirs and telleth them they are not worthy of so Honourable a title nay God himselfe doth vilisie them calling them sometimes Gentiles in generall sometimes descending to particulars Amos 9 are you not all as the children of Aâ—thiopia vnto me And as if that parentage were too good Thy natiuitie saith God is of the land of Canaan Ezech 16. thy father was an Amorite thy mother an Hittite yet this doth not villifie them enough the worst place of Canaan was Sodome and Gomorra thither doth God send them for their Pedigree Deut. 32. Finally after yee are past Sodome there remaineth nothing but Hell and so low doth Christ debase them Ioh. 8. You are of your father the Diuell euen you that say yee haue Abraham to your father I doe not wonder why Saint Paul after that he had reckoned vp all the parcels of his corporall Nobilitie concludeth I am not the better I am the worse for all this all this is but dung it recommendeth me nothing vnto God nay it may make me blush for that I haue no inward resemblance of him with whom I haue this outward alliance It were good our Nobilitie and Gentrie did learne this who haue nothing to shew that they are the of spring of such worthies as their fathers were but onely that which Tully yeeldeth to Piso a Genealogie or an earthly patrimonie Saint Chrysostome compareth such vnto froth and indeed generous liquor doth cast a froth which froth is insipid and hath nothing of that taste which is in the liquor euen so are they descended of their Parents but their Parents liue not in them and therefore all that they can boast of Ignabiliâ— nobilitas is but an ignoble Nobilitie as Theophylact speaketh it is not worth the standing vpon Malo Pater tibi sit Thersites dummodo tu sis Aeacidae similis Vulcaniaque arma capessas Quam te Thersitae similem producat Achilles The truth whereof Saint Chrysostome setteth before vs in an excellent Simile Behold saith he Gold commeth of the earth a precious mettall of a very base Element we esteeme the Gold we care not for the earth euen so Opaere imperfect in Matth. if a child be worthy it skilleth not how vnworthy his Parents were faithfull Abraham is not the worse because the child of idolatrous Sarah The similitude goeth on Siluer yeeldeth Tinne the better a worse mettall wee neglect the Tinne and keepe the Siluer so if a child be vnworthy what doth it auaile him to be of worthy Parents What is Ismael the better for being the sonne of Abraham If this rule haue exceptions as indeed it hath in worldly societies for many make Idols of rich Nabals Filâ— Deâ—nulla externa prarogatiua aesimâ—nâ—â—â— and knottie blockes yet to Godward the rule is true none can claime spirituall kindred with Abraham but they that are new Creatures dissimilitude of manners argueth Bastards and no Sonnes You haue heard the first branch of their Ignorance they maimed the truth The second is they misplaced it for they began their defence against the wrath to come at this claime We haue Abraham to our father The fathers note that this is preposterous dealing it is not enough for vs to take care that we partake as well of the substance as of the ceremonie in sacred things we must adde a second rule which is this As in knowing God so in knowing our state to Godward we must rise from the effects to the cause that so afterward we may from the cause conclude the effects the euidence is in the effects whereof the assurance is in the cause that wee are the children of God we see most cleerely in our vertues though the ground whereupon wee stand most assuredly is Gods couenant Wherefore the Couenant is not the first step where wee must begin our triall much lesse may wee begin at Predestination we must by degrees of reason read the gifts of God in our Faith Hope and Charitie to worke which the Word and Sacraments were ordained if wee find these they argue Gods loue to vs they prooue wee stand in good tearmes with him And when we haue thus argued from the effects we may safely make demonstrations from the cause and then it will bee a good plea if our Conscience doth question the certaintie of our saluation because the good that we would doe we cannot doe Rom. 7. to say with Saint Paul thankes be to God through Iesus Christ our Lord or that which is equiualent I haue Abraham to my father This plea was prouided to keepe vs in heart in that conflict Of this the Iewes were ignorant and therefore Saint Iohn correcteth this in them blameth them for putting in their claime to the Couenant before they had giuen some proofe of their vertue We are not ignorant of the Romish calumnies and of the distraction of our brethren in forraine parts about this doctrine happily some occasion hereof may be because some deliuer Theologie more Theoretically then practically It were to be wished that at least in so much as must come to the vulgar eye and eare this method were changed lest as it hath so it prooue dangerous to many though I dare say that if the parts of the doctrine publikely authorized by the Reformed Churches be charitably laid together and otherwise to construe the writing is against good manners by a rule in the Ciuill Law wee shall find nothing but that which may passe for sound and good But to leaue methods of Bookes and come to methods of our liues when I rip vp the Tracts of this Argument written by those that either would seeme to be or are indeed zealous of Pietie I find that mens liues opened both their mouthes and set both their Pens a writing therefore I thinke there can be no more compendious course to silence the slaunders of the one and reconcile the distractions of the other Mat. 5.16 then to Let our lights so shine before men that they may see our good workes and glorifie our father which is in heauen And thus much of S. Iohns answer to the first part of their errour the correcting of their Ignorance I come now to the second part their Arrogancie double arrogancie for first they appropriate Abrahams family to themselues As they thought themselues to be holy so did they think theÌ„selues to be the onely children of Abraham In their Synagogues it is one of those things for which they giue thanks vnto God that they are born Israelites not Goim Gentiles of whom they neuer speak but with great scorn Cyril Alexandrinus amplifieth this point vpon Osea cap. 9. The Israelites looking loftily and speaking bigge boasted we haue Abraham to our father he addeth
contented with so much as he doth reueale but we should spend all our time and paines in obedience and conforming our selues to Gods Law 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hâ—mil de Sement tom 1 Ioâ—l 2.23 Esay 61. Reuel 21 Gal. 5. Rom 6. Therefore doth Gods Law and a showre of raine come in Hebrew both from one root to signifie that wee should drinke it in as fruit trees doe raine to be the better for it In Ioâ—l it is plainly called the raine of righteousnesse and of raine Athanasius his obseruation is good though the substance of it be but one yet doth it yeild sustenance for diuers fruits Sure I am that the Scripture calleth vs Trees of Life Trees of Righteousnesse and we should bring forth fruits of the Spirit which is called the fruit of Sanctification haue a man neuer so much knowledge if hee goe no farther then knowledge hee can deserue no better a name then the Deuill hath who from his knowledge is called Daemon Nâ—mdicit Qui non seâ—it sed nonâ—â—cieâ—â— fructâ—m â—â—omâ—er enim oportet ferre 〈…〉 Nam cetheri â—â—serâ—cors fueris 〈◊〉 rapinâ—s sis dâ—dities â—on cris bonus but the Scripture denominateth a good man from his vertue Chasidh But there remayneth one note more which Theophylact maketh vpon this description Hee saith not euery tree which hath not borne but euery tree which is not bearing for wee must alwayes bee bearing fruit though the other day thou wert mercifull if to day thou be an extortioner thou shalt not goe for a good tree And God himselfe doth iustifie this doctrine telling vs that all the righteousnesse of an vnconstant good man shall be forgotten Those that be planted in the House of the Lord shall flourish in the Courts of our God 〈…〉 they shall still bring forth fruit in their old age they shall be sat and well liking The Tree described Psal 1. and Reuel 21. confirme this truth To shut vp this description of a member of the Church out of it we must learne these few Lessons First God expecteth to behold in vs rather our workes then his owne what we yeild then what wee receiue and our care must be rather to doe our duties then boast of our gifts seeing for those not these we are called to an account Secondly we must beare fruit according to our kind Men doe not gather Grapes of thornes nor figges of thistles it is vnnaturall for Vines to beare hawes or Figge-trees burres wee betray our selues rather to bee in then of the Church if we beare such fruit and though wee cannot bee challenged for being idle yet shall wee be for being ill imployed If to beare fruit were enough the case of the wicked would bee better then that of the godly for as wild trees commonly beare greater burthens then the grafted or planted you know Aesops reason for it so doe the wicked commonly abound in workes more then the good But God considereth not How many but How good yea the more of euill workes the worse so that when we come to cast vp our account wee must consider not so much the number as the qualitie of them remembring to write vpon the euill vanity of vanities all is but vanity and vexation of spirit for what fruite is there in those things whereof we shall be then ashamed wee must desire to beare that fruit which may abound to our accompt Philip. 4. And so haue I deliuered vnto you so much of my Text as concerneth the persons speaking of them so farre as I haue beene occasioned by their resemblances I come now to the Iudgement whereof wee must consider first the Cause where we shall see that God obserueth his owne Law and cutteth vp no tree in this siege that his vengeance layeth to his Church but such as are no fruit trees It is a clause in the couenant Deut. 2â— that as God maketh vs fruit trees so we should beare good fruits if we faile he is no longer tied to continue vs trees or performe vnto vs the blessing Sanction of his Law Deut. 28. his Iustice requireth that hee make good the second sanction which curseth sinners and come to eradication But to open this cause a little fuller wee must obserue that Gods dealing with men though it bee acted by his Power yet it is ordered by his Iustice neither doth he vse his power vntill he haue examined our deserts this is vndoubtedly true in plagues though not in blessings In blessing he preuenteth vs but he neuer striketh vntill he bee pronoked therefore the Scripture seldome mentioneth any iudgement of God but it prefaceth it with some cause thereof first giuen by man you may reade it in the doome of Adam the old World Sodome Gen. 3.6 1â— Chron. 2. and Israel In this place the not bearing of good fruit is expressed as the cause of the iudgement which followeth the not bearing I say of good fruit For whereas the Commandements of God are Affirmatiue or Negatiue The Affirmatiue are those for which our faculties were giuen vs the performing of the Negatiue are but with standings of such impediments as hinder vs therein Adde hereunto that the Affirmatiue is the measure of the Negatiue so that wee know not how farre we must withstand but by knowing how much we are bound to doe moreouer the Deuill that hee might haue vs at leasure to doe what wee should not maketh vs neglect to doe what we should Because then we should striue to the heighth of vertue for homo est animal officiosum man is made for vertuous action and his commendations is well doing and doing ill is but a necessarie consequent of not doing well as appeareth by the Parable of the vncleane spirit it is impossible for a man to be idle it would imply a contradiction to the definition of the soule therefore the transgression of the Affirmatiue Commandements are here called in question they are alleadged for the cause of Iudgement Si sterilitas in ignâ—m mittitur rapacitas quid meretur Fulgent Serm. de dispen Duplex fructus bonus Gratiae Poenitentiae Aust de Contritione cordis And if Omâ—ssions be so punished what is due to Commissions It is Fulgentius his collection If barrennesse burne in hell what shall wickednesse seele the deeper men goe in sinnes the greater is the account they haue to giue But lest men should not well conceiue this cause wee must learne of Saint Augustine that there is a double good fruit of Grace and of Repentance we should indeed principally take heed of Omissions and bee filled with the fruits of righteousnesse but if insteed of those good fruits we fall into sinnes of commission there is a second good worke wherewith we must relieue ourselues a worke of repentance in the defect of the first this second must succeed Though God might by the Law punish vs for want of the first yet from the Gospel wee haue this comfort that he
true Oliue is the Iew and if the Gentile partake of the fatnesse thereof he must be grafted thereinto and become a Branch of that Oliue To the Ephesians more plainly more fully he maketh the receiuing of the Gentiles into the Church to bee an admission into the Couenant into the Common-wealth of Israel Ephes 3. a becomming one body with them But as the Gentile becommeth a Iew so is it not a Iew according to the flesh but according to the spirit A Sonne of Abraham he is but a spirituall Sonne the partition wall is taken downe yea the Arke it selfe is remoued Ieremy 3. and the Ceremonies which cloath the Religion of the Iewes cease they are not imposed vpon the Gentiles Yea the Iew himselfe becommeth a Gentile the Iew I say becommeth a Gentile carnally as the Gentile becommeth a Iew spiritually Of the ten Tribes it is most cleare that after their Captiuity they neuer returned and there is no such Nation to be heard of in the world they are mingled with other Nations and become Gentiles according to the flesh And as for the other two Tribes that made vp the Kingdome of Iuda many thousands of them were conuerted to the Christian Faith in the daies of the Apostles and yet there is not extant any Nationall Church of them neither was there long extant any they also are become Gentiles according to the flesh And God that buried the bodie of Moses so that it could not be found lest the Iewes should commit Idolatry with that body whereby God had wrought so great Miracles seemes also to haue as it were buried so many Iewes as became Christians by mingling them with the Gentiles lest that superstition which hath besotted the Gentiles to goe a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land should haue wrought more strongly in making them dote vpon that holy people But God hath turned all the world into a Canaan hath of all Nations compounded the Israel of God Of a truth saith St. Peter I see there is no respect of Persons with God but in euery Nation whosoeuer beleeueth and feareth God is accepted of him There is neyther Iew nor Gentile Graecian nor Barbarian bond nor free but all are one in Christ all are contained vnder this name Vs. In the Prophet vpon this ground Israel seemes to note the Gentiles Ezek. 37. when both Iuda and Israel are remembred to bee conuerted to God and the whole house of Iacob You see of what Nation the People is now see of what Condition Borne to Vs giuen to Vs. And who are we for whom God hath done this Gifts are bestowed vpon Persons eyther for their worth or for their need For their worth and so they are Munera honoraria they are presented in dutifull acknowledgement of their worth whether it be worth of vertue or worth of degree For their need and so they are Munera eleemosynaria conferred out of a pitifull compassion of others wants This gift is not of the first kinde it cannot be Honorarium There was no worth in vs which God should honour with this gift bestowed vpon vs. Our degree was of no regard our vertue of much Iesse the former was none in comparison and the later was none at all It must then be Munus eleemosynarium and indeed so it was the Scripture so speaketh of it Through the tender mercy of our God the day-spring from on high hath visited vs so saith Zacharie And St. Paul Tit. 3. After the kindnesse and loue of our Sauiour towards man appeared not by workes of righteousnesse which we haue done but of his mercy he saued vs. And indeed it was a worke of great mercy For whereas there is but duplex malum malum Poenae and malum Culpae a double euill of Sinne and Woe we were plunged deepe in both deep in Sin deepe in Woe To pity him that is deep in woe is not strange it seemeth to be the proper act of Mercy but pity towards Malefactors the Philosophers acknowledge none No man say they pitieth a Thiefe when he goeth to the Gallowes or a Murderer feeling the stroke of Iustice how much lesse would they pity them if the sinne were against themselues and that committed by a Vassall against his Lord a Vassall that had receiued much fauour against his Lord from whom he receiued it In such a case they acknowledge no pity Yet this is our case and we haue found pity so great pity that Christ was borne for Vs and Christ was giuen vnto Vs. So that of this pity as well Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely the Cause but the Occasion must be found in God It is cleare that the proper Cause is the goodnesse of God and it is as cleare that the occasion also must bee fetched from him Were there onely malum Poenae in vs there might bee found in vs an Occasion of Mercie but seeing there is also malum Culpae there cannot but bee an Occasion of Iustice Our double Euill worketh a double Occasion and so maketh Mercie and Iustice as it were to striue in God And indeed both take their occasions Natus satisfied Iustice for a Person came forth that was able to giue full satisfaction vnto Iustice but Datus satisfied Mercy because this Person was freely bestowed vpon Vs. So that if we put Borne for Vs and Giuen to Vs together we see the sweet Harmony that is in the Quire of Gods Attributes None singeth alone they concent together yet so that some one doth most loudly speak the praise of God and in our case Mercy reioyceth ouer Iudgement For though our sinnes haue occasioned Iustice and therefore Christ was borne for Vs that he might satisfie that iustice that was too heauie for vs yet our Woe occasioned Mercy which gaue Christ vnto Vs that in our own Person we might enioy the Blessings of God We are borne for our selues that we may liue and haue all the comfort of our life present to come blessings which we wanted and by which when we receiue them our state is the better It is not so with Christ he was borne for others not for himselfe and giuen to others not to himselfe for what wanted he whereof he needed a supply Hee was in the forme of God and what good is there that is not in the Nature of God which is the ouerflowing Fountaine of all good Looke vpon the State of Christ this Point will appeare clearly No man will doubt but his Birth was for the good of others that considereth that his glory is not his owne but ours He sitteth indeed at the right hand of God and is lifted vp aboue all Angels and Arch-angels and euery Name that is named in Heauen and Earth in this World and that which is to come but what gaineth he by it who was from eternity most high in the glory of his Father Christ himselfe affirmeth it Iohn 17. Glorifie mee O Father with that glory
and giue the world a good testimonie that we are the subiects of the Prince of peace I will set God before mine eyes and I will try how mine eyes can behold God and if I finde that mine eye delights to behold him that his countenance puts gladnesse into my heart when I doe behold him I am sure we are at Peace For were wee not eyther I haue no eyes and doe not see him or when I doe I shall be confounded with the sight of him I will open mine eares and I will heare God in his Word and if when I heare him the Law of his mouth is sweeter vnto mee than hony and the hony combe I know we are at peace were we not I must needs be like Adam heare and fly And if in the dayes of my mortality I can attaine this Peace of Perfection I doubt not but in the dayes of my immortality I shall attaine vnto that higher peace the peace of Retribution all teares shall be wiped from mine eyes all sickenesse from my body all blindnesse from my vnderstanding all vntowardlinesse from my will This ciuill discord of the flesh and the spirit and that greater betweene my conscience and God how much more these lesser discords that are between me and other men shall fully cease and be abolished for euer the Prince of Peace shall consummate my peace And so haue you those two titles of Christ which shew that we must vnderstand spiritually those two former titles which you heard before doe royally belong vnto him I should now farther shew you that the Scripture giues Christ many names because one or few cannot fully expresse him or at least we cannot fully sound the depth of that name when it is giuen vnto him The name of Iesus is a rich name and so is the name of Christ the vsuall names by which our Sauiour was called but the riches of those names are vnfoulded vnto vs in these particular titles and wee must take these as Commentaries vpon those for as it is in the eleuenth of this Prophecie The spirit which rested vpon Christ was manifold how manifold the holy Ghost doth there describe in abstracto but here to like purpose he speaketh of Christ in concreto The time will not suffer me to parallel these and the like places this is our Rule That as our nature delights in variety so there is a variety in Christ to giue full content vnto our nature and wee must not lightly passe by any one of his titles seeing euery one of them promiseth so much good vnto vs. O Lord that being my Lord art pleased to be my Father such a Father as that I neede not feare that I shall euer be an Orphan and hast prouided me an inheritance that shal be as lasting as my selfe that when all other fayle mee shall bee enioyed by mee an inheritance most comfortable because therein consists my Perfection and thy Retribution the Retribution of glory wherewith thou dost crowne the Perfection of grace grant that I neuer want that piety which I owe vnto my Father that charity which I owe vnto my Brethren Let my heart goe where my best treasure is and let that peace which passeth all vnderstanding haue the vpper hand in me Let me feele it let me practise it so in heart that I may haue the fulnesse of both sense and practice of it in the Kingdome of Heauen Amen THE SIXTH SERMON Of the increase of his Gouernment and Peace there shall bee no end vpon the Throne of Dauid and vpon his Kingdome to order it and to establish it c. IN Christ whom the Prophet describeth here vnto vs I obserued a double excellencie one of his Person and another of his State The first I haue already handled I come now to the second the excellencie of the State Which stands in a boundlesse growth of the Kingdome and a constant policie of the King that is the effect wherof this is the cause But more particularly in the effect obserue that there is a growth the Prophet calleth it an increase a growth of the gouernment and a growth of the peace both partake of the same increase And the increase of both is boundlesse there is no end of it no bounds of place it ouerspreadeth all no bounds of time it endureth for euer the word beareth both Of this effect or boundlesse growth of the Kingdome the cause is the constant policie of the King Which consisteth in the exercise of his two roy all indowments of his wisedome Hee shall order and to order is nothing else but to employ that wisedome which Christ hath as a wonderfull Counsellour of his power He shall support and to support what is it but to employ his power the power that he hath as he is a mighty God hee employeth them both his wisedome his power But they may bee employed eyther well or ill according as the rule is by which they proceed Christ employeth them well his rule is good it is iudgement and iustice he cals all to an account and measures to all as they are found vpon their triall This is the policie And herein he is constant he continueth it without ceasing from henceforth euen for euer So that of the euerlasting effect there is an euerlasting cause You see what is the summe or substance of this second excellencie but that you may see it better let vs runne ouer the parts briefly and in their order And first we are to obserue how answerable the excellencie of the state is to the excellencie of the person one goeth not without the other Christus naturalis will haue Christum mysticum conformable vnto him the body to the head Where he vouchsafeth an vnion of persons he vouchsafeth a communion also in the dignity of the persons It appeares in the name he is called Christ which is annoynted with oyle of gladnesse and we are called Christians we partake of the same oyle His name is but an oyntment poured out as it is in the Canticles Cap. 1.3 poured out like that precious oyle vpon Aarons head which ranne downe to the skirts of his garment Cap. 60. All Christs garments and the Church in Esay is compared to a garment smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia as it is Psalme 45. This is taught by diuers Similies Of the wiues communicating in her husbands honour and wealth The branches partaking of the fatnesse and sweetnesse of the roote The members deriuing of sense and motion from the head So that our King is not like the bramble that receiueth all good and yeelds none to the state but hee is like the Fig-tree the Vine the Oliue they that pertaine to him are all the better for him they are conformable to him if he haue an excellencie they shall haue one also A good patterne for mortall Kings and Gouernours who should herein imitate the King of Heauen that as when a man seeth an excellent work he ghesseth that the
the naturall sense there is in the body but it is from the head intercept the insluence of the head and you extinguish the sense of the body And as it fareth with the body in regard of sense so doth it in regard of motion also The like appeares in the spirits that haue their original from the heart in the bloud that streameth from the veines In the great world you haue many like spectacles the Sun and the Light the Streames and the Fountaine the Rootes and the Trees euery one of these you may perceiue endure not if the effect be seuered from the cause How much lesse may wee expect any enduring in those spirituall effects did they not receiue continuance from this spirituall cause It is our comfort that considering there is a mutability in vs this mutability preuaileth not because of the Kings constant influence vpon vs. Wee sinne and recouer we are in danger and escape neyther our inward weakenesse nor our enemies outward mightinesse destroy Gods gifts in vs or so hinder their increase but that they become Catholick for all which we are beholding to the constant policie of the King who neuer faileth to support vs but continueth ours vnto the end But the Prophet speaketh of this policie as if it began when hee spake these words Christ was not borne till some hundreds of yeares after The answer is easie you had it before The efficacie of Christs birth wrought long before he was borne not only in the time of this Prophet but euen from the time of Adams fall A scruple there ariseth how these words can be true that our King shall so rule for euer seeing a time shall come as the Apostle teacheth 1 Cor. 15 when he shall giue vp his Kingdome to his Father The answer is if wee respect the Kingdome of Grace That as the effect shall not cease increasing till it become boundlesse that is haue attained all his parts and degrees so the cause shall worke till the consummation of that effect till all enemies be put downe and wee are throughly perfected And in this sense both cause and effect are termed endlesse because they shall continue till the worlds end If you extend it to the Kingdome of Glory it hath an eternity also though not of Restauration but of Conseruation though he shall cease restoring of vs further when we are fully restored yet shall hee neuer cease preseruing vs because wee can no longer be than wee are preserued You haue heard the constant Policie of the King wherein standeth the second branch of the Excellency of the State what remaineth but that if wee were affected with the growth and desired to bee partakers of it wee submit our selues vnto the cause thereof the Policie of the King that we yeeld our disorderly selues to be set in order by him and repose our weake selues to be supported on him who will prescribe no Lawes of order but those that spring from Iustice that spirituall Iustice which will abide the tryall at Gods barre and worke the highest kinde of righteousnesse in our liues Neyther doth he only prescribe it but possesse vs of it also and lest it should faile he supports it in vs his Iudgements are as watchfull ouer vs as his Iustice they rectifie vs when wee breake order and bridle vs that wee doe not breake it And this he doth vncessantly by bringing vs from growth to growth in the state of grace and prescruing vs in this growth in the state of glory Hee will bee vnto vs a lasting blessed cause that there may be in vs no end of that blessed effect O Lord I am out of order and I am very weake thon art that Counsellour that knowest how to set mee right againe and that Almighty God which onely canst sustaine me Lord rule me by thy lustice and by thy Iudgements bridle me that I may bee conformable to the holy members of thy Church and euer continue conformable vnto them Let thy worke neuer cease in mee so shall I neuer cease to bee thy Subiect if thy Policie faile me not I shall euery day grow on to the fulnesse ef grace and shall therehence proceede to the eternity of glory Which I beseech thee to grant vnto mee that art the fountaine both of Grace and Glory THE EIGHTH SERMON The zeale of the Lord of Hosts shall performe this THese are the last words of that Text whereof you haue heard often but haue not yet heard all The whole Text was diuided into a Doctrine and a Warrant The Doctrine deliuered the Substance and Excellency of Christs Person and State both which I haue at sundry times so far vnfolded as the time would giue leaue it were tedious now to repeat were it onely the heads whereof I haue distinctly spoken In stead of that repetition I only recommend vnto you the laying together the parts and therehence the gathering of a description of the Catholicke Church Which what is it but a Kingdome such as I haue described growing in grace without stint of Place or term of Time vnder and by meanes of such a Person as being God and Man is called to be the King thereof royally endowed with Wisedome and Power eternall to worke an eternall good both which he employes ordering and stablishing by Iustice and Iudgement the disorderly and feeble members of his Church and that without intermission vntill he hath brought them to the fulnesse both of grace and glory More than this in the nature of that Catholicke Church which we beleeue in the Creede there is not neyther is there any thing more that we would desire to bee therein So that we may take this Text as a full Commentary thereupon and to our comfort vnderstand the riches that are treasured vp in that Article But to leaue the Doctrine and come to the Warrant The Doctrine containeth a large Promise the Warrant sheweth that it shall be performed and sheweth this by renewing those impediments that may crosse the performance thereof The impediments that stay a man from being as good as his word are of two sorts they proceede ab extra or ab intra from without or from within From without wee may bee ouer-ruled from within wee may change our minde Neyther of these can hinder God hee cannot bee ouer-ruled for he is the Lord of Hosts hee cannot vary in himselfe because of the greatnesse of his loue which is termed zeale So that the remouall of these two impediments from God are the principall argument of these words Let vs looke into them That Gods Word shall stand That his Counsell is immutable yea That heauen and earth shall passe and yet his Word neuer passe are Maximes in the Scripture and therfore haue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 credibility enough in themselues but yet so farre doth the holy Ghost condescend to the weakenesse of our Faith as to point vnto these grounds which will content euen reason it selfe Reason when it questioneth the word of
their persons by famine and pestilence or onely in their possessions by blasting and mildew distempers of the Aire whose corruption breedeth also vermine to worke the same mischiefe Locusts and Caterpillers or ioyntly in their persons and possessions by the sword when the Enemie doth besiege them in the Land of their Cities Definitely thus is the heauy hand of God exprest It is exprest also indefinitely lest Israel should thinke that these bee all the instruments of Gods wrath Salomon addeth a more liberall phrase Whatsoeuer plague whatsoeuer sicknesse there may bee it may bee in the Land God hath many more waies to afflict Israel than are exprest This is Israels first case a bad one It hath another and a better When Israel doth vnderlye the heauy hand of God then must Israel haue recourse vnto the Throne of grace And here we will obserue first that God which sendeth calamities prouideth his Church of a remedie Secondly though the calamities bee many yet the remedie is but one the onely remedy of all calamities is penitent deuotion my text calleth it Prayer and Supplication Touching this deuotion we shall learne here the Performance and the Acceptance of it Vnto the Performance two Acts concurre one inward Penitents must know euery one the plague of his owne heart the other outward the Penitents deuotion must be attended with conuenient Ceremonies here are two specified the one of the hands they must bee strecht out the other of the eye that must looke towards the Temple of Salomon Thus must the deuotion be performed And it must be performed by euery Israelite in particular any man that will bee penitent must performe it so and all Israel must performe it so if they will be penitent the text is plaine for both The penitent Deuotion that is thus performed God will accept and touching his acceptance wee are here taught Wherein it consisteth and whereat it aymeth It consisteth in two things God will giue Accesse to penitent Prayers Then heare thou in Heauen the place of thy dwelling Secondly hee will giue redresse vnto the sufferings of the Penitent a redresse to the cause of them that is he will forgiue sinne a redresse to the effect of sinne that is Woe He will doe what they desire and giue ease to their paine But marke God dispenseth his double grace discreetly He will giue to men but according to their waies those waies not outward but inward He will giue according to their wayes whose heart he knoweth and this heart though vnknowne to all others cannot be hid from him He he only knoweth the hearts of all the children of men As God dispenseth discreetly so vniuersally He dispenseth vnicuique to euery man of eyther sort according to his wayes Well God doth accept penitent denotion But Whereat doth he ayme in this Acceptance Surely at the Amendment of Israel He doth it that Israel may feare him and be constant in this Amendment feare all the dayes that they liue And the place where they liue putteth a double Obligation vpon them first it is Ha Aretz Ha Adama a very eminent Land secondly their Tenure is francke Almoine Hee whom they must feare gaue it to their Fathers You see beloued that the particulars which I haue pointed out are many and they are pertinent yet feare not that I will be ouer long I remember the mortalitie of your hearing my speaking it shall therfore suffice that I moderately touch at them only God vouchsafe by them to touch vs all to the quicke Let vs then beginne with the Manner of the deliuerie My text is conceiued in the forme of a Prayer but in the next Chapter this Prayer is made a Promise So that I shall not mistake if I turne the words into seuerall Assertions and you shall lose nothing for in the Close I wil returne them into a Petition againe This is all I will say of the Manner of deliuerie In the Matter deliuered wee must first see Whom these words concerne and the Text telleth vs that they are the inhabitants of Canaan the children of Israel the people of God if I say no more this were enough to notifie them but it is expedient for my purpose that I moreouer dignifie them they were the peculiar of God Exod. 19. his Iewell of Men a royall Priesthood an holy Nation Rom. cap. 2. cap 9. trusted with Gods Oracles Depositaries of his Couenant they possessed the Arke and Christ according to the flesh was the off-spring of that Nation Ier. cap. 3. cap. 12. Ephes 2. you may finde more of their Honours in the New Testament and in the Old but these may suffice to shew how neare they came and how deare they were to God And yet may this people vnderlye the heauie hand of God Israel may be made as Egypt a Theater of Plagues the Paradise of God may become like Sodome and Gomorrah a monument of vengeance the Holy Ghost foretold it and the euent hath iustified it The Church hath no priueledge from Gods iudgements God spareth sinne in none Hee will visit it with scourges wheresoeuer hee findeth it Yea so farre is the Church from being priuiledged that it is though a strange one yet a prerogatiue of the Church to drinke first of the cup of Gods wrath Iudgement saith St. Peter cap. 4. v. 17. must beginne at Gods house God in the stripes of his children letteth the world see what it must expect And indeed the perswasion would not be forcible if the argument ranne thus God striketh his enemies therefore he will strike his friends who would be moued with it But if it runne thus He striketh his friends therefore he will not spare his enemies the Conclusion is vnauoydable What then is our Lesson Bee not high minded but feare Rom. 11. and Let him that standeth take heed lest he fad 1 Cor. 10. For he that falleth into sinne will fall vnder wrath the Israelites are to vs Types of morall correspondencies what befell them may befall vs. And it is happy that it may for nulla poena maxim a poena a man is neuer in worse case than when hee is most at ease such ease temporall is the harbinger of eternall paine neither doe men much intend their saluation who are not quickned thereunto by some temporall affliction A stray sheepe will neuer returne into the way except it bee forced by the shepheards staffe and God neglecteth them as bastards Heb. 12.8 who neuer feele that rod wherewith hee vseth to correct his children You see then that the Prerogatiue of the Church which I fore-specified is not onely an vndoubted Truth but whatsoeuer flesh and bloud may thinke to the contrary it is a great blessing it is a blessing that the Church may vnderlye the heauie hand of God it was Israels blessing and it is ours that wee may vnderlye Gods heauie hand May nay doe It cannot be doubted that wee may seeing it is euident that we
and so doe King Dauids Penitentialls God commands wicked seruants to bee beaten Deut. 28. I will conclude thi◠point with two short admonitions one out of the Prophet Heare the rod and who sends it Micah 6. the other is out of the Psalme As the eye of a seruant looketh to the hand of his master and the eye of a mayden to the hand of her mistresse euen so our eyes looke vnto the Lord our God vntill he haue mercie vpon vs Psal 123. Other ceremonies were vsed by Penitents in the Old Testament and in the New especially who were wont to humble themselues vsque ad inuidiam coeli as ancient Writers doe Hyperbolize but with no ill meaning they did so farre afflict themselues for sinne that the very Saints in Heauen might enuie their deepe Humiliation But tantae seneritati non sumus pares those patternes are too austere for these dissolute times onely let mee obserue this vnto you that Repentance must be an Holocaust all our inward our outward senses should concurre to testifie our godly sorrow for sinne wee should suffer not one of them to take rest themselues or giue rest to God By this you may perceiue that Penitentiall Deuotion is an excellent Vertue but not so common as the world thinketh The last thing that I noted vpon this Deuotion is that it must be performed by euery one in particular and by the whole Congregation in generall for the same remedy serueth both the publike must take the same course which euery priuate man doth and euery priuate man must take the same course that the publicke doth The reason is because the Church is corpus Homogeneum and therfore eadem est ratio partis totius in the peformance of those religious dueties no man must thinke himselfe too good to humble himselfe neyther must any man thinke himselfe vnworthy to appeare before the Throne of grace In our priuate occasions wee must come by our selues and wee must ioyne with the publicke when the publicke wounds call vs thereunto as now we do and we haue comfortable Precedents for that which we doe in the Prophet Ioel and Ionas Behold how good and ioyfull a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in vnitie can neuer be more comfortably sung than at these religious meetings when as one man with one voyce and heart we present our deuotions before God I doubt not but as hopefully as humbly It is true that God in Ezechiel cap. 14. threatneth that if Noah Daniel and Iob were in Ierusalem as I liue saith the Lord God they shall deliuer neyther sonne nor daughter they shall but deliuer their owne soules by their righteousnesse when I send but a pestilence into the land how much more when I send my foure plagues The like is threatned in Ieremy cap. 15. But we must obserue that then God was risen from the Mercy Seat and in punishment of their many contempts had giuen the Iewes ouer to their owne hearts Iust But God be thanked this Assembly sheweth that we haue not so far forsaken God neyther hath God who hath put these things into the mind of the King and State so forsaken vs but wee may hope for Acceptance Which is the next part of my text What Israel performeth that will God accept for hee is as mercifull as iust Blessed are they that mourne saith Christ for they shall bee comforted Matth. 5. for Christ came to heale those that were broken in heart Luke 4. You aske saith St. Iames cap. 4. and haue not hee addeth a reason because yee aske amisse but if you aske aright then Christs rule is true Aske and ye shall haue seeke and ye shall find knocke and it shall be opened vnto you Mat. 7. He that shall confesse to Gods name and turne from his sins shall finde Acceptance with God for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the teares of repentance are not only not displeasing but pleasing to God as incense But Gods acceptance consisteth of two Acts the first is God will giue accesse vnto their Prayers Heare in heauen his dwelling place The prayers were to be made towards the Arke but God heareth in Heauen And what is the cause of this change why God should not heare there whither we direct our prayers Surely we must ascend from the Type to the Truth that is but a manduction to this It was a maine errour of the Iewes to diuorce them and haue in most esteeme the least part rest in the Type passing ouer the Truth Heauen is the place of Gods habitation only because the place of his manifestation The Septuagint render the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a place fitted for God to distinguish it from the Church below which is but a place a fitting The Chaldee rendreth it domum Maiestatis a maiesticall house And surely the place of Gods dwelling is locus amplus et angustus a large a stately Palace adorned with holines glory And when wee thinke vpon God wee must not conceiue of his state by things below but by things aboue the earth is but as a point vnto the visible heauens much more in comparison of the Heauen of Heauens and they though they are the goodliest place created yet are they not a worthy habitation for the infinite maiestie of God onely he vouchsafeth there most to manifest himselfe The Church that is resembled to heauen and called Gods dwelling place must be remembred hereby that God must not dwell therein or in any member thereof angustè or sordidè We must inlarge our hearts to receiue God and purifie them that they may somewhat beseeme the Residentiary therein which is God Finally it is no small fauour that God doth vouchsafe to heare that beeing in heauen hee doth vouchsafe to heare vs that are on earth for sometimes hee hideth himselfe as it were with a Cloud Lam. 3. so that our prayers cannot haue accesse vnto him and our sinnes separate between him and vs and he is as if he heard not not that the eare of iealousie heareth not all things but he is not pleased to giue a gracious signification that hee doth heare But the spirituall clamor of the contrite expressed from the secret closet of the inward man hath the power of a loud voyce and piercing which can enter the heauens and approach acceptably vnto God God will not onely heare and giue accesse to the Prayers of the penitent but redresse their sufferings also Quando non geniculationibus nostris jeiunationibus etiam siccitates sunt depulsae saith Tertullian what calamitie was there euer which wee haue not diuerted by our penitent deuotion The Prayer of a righteous man auaileth much if it be feruent Iames 5. But God doth redresse the sufferings of Israel orderly first he redresseth the cause which is sinne and then the effect which is woe He will forgiue and then He will doe and giue neyther may a sinner looke for peace except he first speede of mercie
Adoption he was not carelesse of a holy life of the common Endowment not the grace of Edification the proper Endowment hee was no vnprofitable seruant neyther stood he in the market place idle when hee should labour in his Lords Vineyard Secondly vnto his vse of these gifts there concurred more workers than one Hee tels vs Who they were and What was eyther of their preheminence They were two Himselfe I laboured and Gods grace that laboured also with him Either of these workers had their preheminence St. Paul had He laboured more than all and that in either grace He striued to exceed all in holinesse of Life and in the painefulnesse of his Ministrie As St. Paul had a preheminence in working so had grace also it had a preheminence aboue St. Paules preheminence yea St. Paul doth confesse that hee doth owe all his preheminence in working to the preheminent working of Gods grace I laboured more than all yet not I but Gods grace that was in me When we haue thus considered the particular branches we shall point at two good obseruations that arise out of the whole bodie of the text they are St. Paules Sinceritie and his Modestie Sinceritie in giuing God his due glorie he ascribeth vnto God the originall the gifts the vse of whatsoeuer was good in him or was done well by him And there can be no greater Modestie vsed by a man in speaking of himselfe than St. Paul expressed here in his extenuating and correcting speeches He was a member of Christ a Minister of the Church he mentioneth neither he contenteth himselfe with this commendations I am that I am And for his vse of Gods gifts hee attributeth no more vnto himselfe than that which was next vnto nothing Gods grace bestowed on me was not in vaine so he extenuateth his worth And because hee was to say something more of himselfe to stoppe the mouthes of his maligners I laboured more than all he presently correcteth himselfe as if he had ouer-reached hee drownes all the conceit of his owne eminencie in the contemplation of the much greater preheminence of the grace of God I haue opened the contents of this Scripture which God willing I shall now farther vnfold and haue an eye in vnfolding of them vnto this present occasion And because they will concerne both Pastors and People I shall desire both to follow me with their religious attention First then wee are to see whence the Alteration of St. Paul did spring I might in a generalitie tell you it sprang from Heauen so we find in the Acts of the Apostles De grat 〈◊〉 arbitr cap. 5. and St. Austine hath obserued it And indeede it is no fruit that springeth from the earth the earth may make men of better become worse by reason of mans mutabilitie and the kingdome of darknesse but if of worse men become better the cause thereof must bee sought in heauen Especially if as St. Paul of wolues they become sheep of blasphemers beleeuers of persecuters preachers of the Faith But I told you this heauenly cause is powerfull and mercifull powerfull God is the Cause And the cause cannot be lesse than God for the Alteration is a Creation so it is called by St. Paul 2 Cor. 5. Euery one that is in Christ is a new Creature Now Creation as wee reade in the entrance of our Creede is a worke of an Almighty power And indeed it must bee so for it produceth things either ex non ente simpliciter out of nothing at all or else ex ente non disposito out of that which in nature hath no possibilitie to become that which it is made yea St. Paul meaning to shadow our new Creation by the old chooseth the branch wherein the subiect was so farre from being disposed that it was directly opposite to that which it was made God which commanded light to shine out of darkenesse is he which hath shined into our hearts to giue vs the light of the knowledge of God in the face of Iesus Christ 2 Cor. 4. St. Paul Rom. 11. vseth another similitude of graffing a branch of the wilde Oliue into the true but contrary to nature For nature aduiseth to set sweet graffs into sowre stocks and though it be naturall for the stocke to be vehiculum alimenti to conuey the nourishment to the graffe yet naturally virtus temperamenti the qualitie of the iuice is from the graffe not from the stocke But in our supernaturall graffing it is farre otherwise the branch of a wilde Oliue is made partaker not only of the roote but of the fatnesse also of the true Oliue Being then a worke so contrary to nature it must needs be a work of the God of nature And indeed we learne in St. Iohn cap. 1. that the Sonnes of God are borne not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God Hee of his owne will begetteth vs by the word of truth that we should be the first fruits of his Creatures Iames 1. As the Cause is most powerfull so is it also most mercifull for the Attribute that preuaileth with God in this worke is grace All good gifts before the fall vouchsafed Angels and men proceeded from his goodnes but after the fall his fauours are ascribed to his mercie which mercie the Scripture vsually vnderstandeth in the name of grace for mercie is nothing else but sauing grace Now grace then importeth free loue Tit. 2. for it excludeth all merit for Quis prior dedit Who euer preuented God in well doing that God should make him amends Grace giueth not merenti to one that deserueth rather it giueth immerenti to an vnworthy person to man polluted with his owne blood grace saith Thou shalt line Ezek. 16. Yea dat contraria merenti grace is indulgent euen before a man is penitent God setteth forth his loue in that when we were enemies Christ dyed for vs Rom. 5. And such was the grace that altered St. Paul as St. Austin obserues vt tam magna efficacissima vocatione conuerteretur Paulus gratia Dei erat sola quia eius merita erant magna sed mala St. Paul doth very iustly ascribe the change that was made in him to this powerfull and this mercifull Cause And seeing we are all by nature children of wrath we must all ascribe our Regeneration to the same Cause Tit. 3. It is worse deceipt than that of Alchemie for a creature to assume vnto himselfe the transforming of a sinner God only can change as earthly mettals so earthly men of vessels of dishonour make vessels of honour of vessels of wood make vessels of gold and of vessels of wrath make vessels of mercie Who is found of them that seek him not and manifested to them that enquire not after him Esay 65. This destroyes the errour of the Pelagians And let them that are receiued into grace remember to whom they are indebted for it it will make
in your priuate families to what end should a man giue instructions to his houshold if he neuer meant to take account of their conformitie thereto But all this is no more than a ciuill ground it deriues an Assizes only from the light of reason my text goeth farther it maketh it also a sacred Assembly Mogned signifieth such a one And indeede how can it be lesse doth not God stand in this Congregation and are not they that sit vpon the Bench called Gods Psalme 82. The Lawyers that plead at the Barre are euen in the entrance of the ciuill Law called Sacerdotes iustitiae they haue a kinde of Priesthood the Iurors and all persons of necessary seruice are bound Iuramento Dei with the Lords oath so the Scripture calleth it the worke as Salomon speaketh Prouerbs 21. is more than a sacrifice finally the place is Mogned a Synagogue a holy place I obserue this the rather because I would raise the estimation of that place to a higher rate than it commonly passeth at with the vulgar people The Iudge when he passeth from the Church to the Bench doth but passe from one sacred assembly to another only with this difference that sitting but as a sheepe in this fold in the other he sitteth as a shepheard Wherefore the Iudge when he sitteth there must remember the saying of Natianzene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Thou art the Image of God and they with whom thou dealest beare his image also if any staines haue blemished that image purge them but neuer forget so to deale with the people as those that beare Gods image The Lawyers must remember that the Iudges Bench is Gods Altar and being Priests thereat they may not sacrifice with eyther polluted tongues or hands The Iurors that haue bound themselues to God must deale as in his sight they must take heed of that wherewith they are too vsually charged that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 priuate men the common weale are not so much abused they are not abused so cunningly by any thing as by their oathes The words are significant giue me leaue to open them Sinnes are compared to debts he that breaketh a Law becommeth a debter thereby the Iudge commeth to enquire after those debts that satisfaction may bee made for priuate for publick wronges the Iurors are trusted with the relation and taxation of these debts they are to bring in who is in debt and how far and their oathes are credited herein but their oath is become a sophister and cunningly priuate wrongs at the one barre and publike at the other receiue an acquittance and yet the debter makes no paiment or surely no such payment as in equitie he should If their oath were Iuramentum diaboli their sophistrie were tolerable but I beseech them in the feare of God to consider that sinceritie is the attribute of the oath of God and let them take heed lest obliging themselues to God and doing seruice to the Diuel they descend not into hell when they hope to ascend to heauen Finally whereas the ground whereupon the Assembly standeth is holy ground let euerie man put off his shooes put off his corrupt affections so shall the worke be an acceptable a profitable sacrifice which may yeeld a sweet sauour vnto God and a sauour of rest vnto our whole Land it shall so be and it shall do so if the Iudge hauing called this assembly iudge according to the rule if hee iudge vprightly I come then from the time to the manner Some take the word Mesharim for a Nown some for an Aduerb wherupon arise two interpretations one respecting the person of the Iudge the other that whereupon the Iudge worketh If you respect the person of the Iudge then the words are I will iudge vprightly that is according to the Law Before you heard of a publicke standard whereat mens causes must be tryed the Iudge is not fabricator but adhibitor mensurae Iupiter ipse duas aequato examine lances Sustinet the King himselfe much more the Iudge is put in trust with it not to make it but to vse it and as St. Augustine speakes Non iudicat de legibus sed secundum leges he must not confound a Parliament with an Assizes That is the first thing that must be noted A second thing is that the word signifieth streight or right lines which is the proper attribute of a Law and you know that recta linea est brenissima inter eosdem terminos and if mens causes be iudged according to Law the handling of them must not take the next way about the proceeding must be as euen so speedy And yet which wee must note in the third place the straitnesse of the Law is not a mathematicall but a morall straitnesse It is not inflexible but it is so farre to be bent as the minde of the Law giuer did intend A Iudge must not insist vpon the words of a Law but put on the minde of a Law-maker and a Law-maker doth follow medium not arithmeticum but geâ—metricum not rei but rationis The circumstances of quid quantum cui quando Heb. 7. do varie the proceeding and yet the rule is still euen Prouided alwaies that the King and the Iudge bee as Melchisedeck 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so righteous a King and Iudge that he hath no consanguinity nor affinity but only the common weale If a Iudge follow such a rule hee then iudgeth vprightly But I told you though Mesharim may beevsed Aduerbially yet is it a Nown and so the Ancients did take it in this place as appeares by their translating it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 recta and I thinke it is most naturall here to referre it to that whereupon the Iudge worketh Hee calleth an Assembly to see what vprightnesse there is in mens carriage God as the Preacher speaketh made man straight the word is iashar that is set him in a straight way the holy Ghost doth much delight to resemble Lawes by waies and that resemblance is implied in this word but man being set so straight sought out many inuentions c. The Rule is as true in policie as in diuinitie S. Iohn Baptist the harbinger of Christ according to the Prophefie of Esay crying vnto the people to prepare Christs way and to make his path straight doth reduce all the obliquitie thereof vnto foure heads saying that euery hill must be brought low You shall finde some men through pride to swell like hils like mountaines lifting themselues aboue their ranke and vsurping more power than belongs vnto them such are the violent oppressors of the poore And I adde vnto them those that are mountainous also the supporters of the man of sin dwelling vpon the seuen hils who vsurped spirituall power of old but of late is grown more eager for a temporall hee hath many Proctors for both in this Land and they should all be brought low Besides these Mountaines you shall find Valleyes men that by base qualities fall below their
Good Lawes and good men are like vnto a Vine that beareth grapes yeelding pleasant liquour to cheere both GOD and men But a Vine must haue a prop or else it will fall to the ground and there all the grapes will rot Of the Lawes wee doe quickly perceiue that same of the Poet true Mores trahunt leges in potestatem sui euerie man would bee a Law vnto himselfe a Law of vnrighteousnesse and as for good men the better they are the worse they should fare they should not bee thought worthie to breathe but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it neuer appeares how powerfull a law is till a law is in the hands of a good Iudge then all stand in awe of it and good men if they haue a sunctuarie to betake themselues vnto and a good Iudge is such a sanctuarie dare boldly professe and practise goodnesse wherefore what in Aeschilus is said of Atlas 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that may bee affirmed of good Iudges on whose shoulders the Pillars of the Church and Common weale doe rest They beare them vp So we translate but the word is more significant it is borrowed from architecture and hath reference to Mesharim that is gone before a terme of the same art also and imports that a Iudge so soone as euer hee hath applyed his rule and findes a Pillar to incline he falleth to setting of it straight no lesse than a good surgeon must a good Iudge iustissimas facere luxationum compositiones neuer leaue mouing of the bone till hee hath set it in his iust place no more must a Iudge leaue reforming of a person till hee is come into good order No doubt but it will fall out that as in setting of a ioynt the patient will bee impatient so austere reformation will bee impugned with much murmuring for exitium suum mali pronâ cupiditate desiderant yet must you haue a Lions heart which is commended in a good Surgeon or Physitian and as Iulius Firmicus spake to Magistrates so doe I vnto you Subuenite miseris libertate pereuntibus melius est vt liberetis inuitos quà m vt volentibus concedatis exitium and you shall finde the saying of Salomon true in the end that hee that reproues a man shall finde more thankes at the last than hee that flattereth him with his lippes and they will say with Saint Bernard Homil. 55. in Cantic Bonum indicium quod me illi districto diuinoque subducit Wee haue good cause saith Saint Austine to thanke GOD that himselfe doth not strike so soone as wee sinne but expects our repentance and thereunto calleth vs by many meanes and no small one is the tribunall of the Iudge hee hath the rectifying of all crooked Pillars to set them straight yea and keepe them straight also the awe wherein they must stand of you must make euerie man carefull to keepe his place and if you faile wee haue iust cause to feare Ne collapsa ruant subductis tecta Columnis For if the light bee darkenesse how great is that darkenesse and if the salt bee vnsauorie wherewith shall it bee seasoned and what will become of the Common weale if our eyes see that which Salomons did vnder the Sunne The place of iudgement that wickednesse was there and the place of righteousnesse that iniquitie was there It is much euill that the State shall fare so ill but it is an euill that must bee feared by you for a Iudge is guiltie of whatsouer hee might and did not reforme and your account will bee the heauier the more you suffer to scape vnpunished Wherefore seeing GOD hath done you this honour to bee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for I told you that you are a part of the politique person of the King yea as CHRIST is lapis angularis the corner stone of the Church so you are also of the Common weale falsifie not your names faile not the Pillars beare out and vp both Lawes and good men deliuer him that suffereth wrong from the hand of the Oppressour and be not faint hearted when you sit in iudgement be as a Father vnto the fatherlesse and in stead of a Husband vnto their Mother so shall you bee the sonnes of the most high and he shall loue you more than your mother doth Eccles 4. The last point is that which calleth for your attention to euerie of these former points Selah I told you it is the character of a remarkeable sentence There bee diuerse coniectures at the meaning of this word but the likeliest is that which iudgeth of it by the matter whereunto the Holy Ghost commonly doth apply it Some take it intensiuely as if it did note a superlatiue degree some protensiuely as if it did note a perpetuitie of time I will ioyne both surely this sentence is such as you cannot thinke vpon it eyther too much or too long yea euerie branch of it deserues a constant deepe meditation Your person doth for it represents the King yea GOD himselfe and deserues not that a Selah your office you are the common measure of all mens causes and ouer-rule all mens partialitie deferues not that a Selah your assemblies are sacred many waies sacred how can you looke on them without a Selah and that which you enquire after in them what is it but vprightnesse how conformable they are in their liues vnto the Lawes surely that deserues a Selah but when you finde how much men haue gone astray and swarued from that euen rule that will raise your Selah to a higher pitch Finally the benefit expected from you to set right what is awry doth deserue the highest Selah there is not an ordinarie point in the text therefore must you entertaine it with more than an ordinarie regard I must end The summe of all is Iudges are sacred persons trusted with the allowed standard of the Common weale to call the people to it and by it to examine their liues that finding how farre they haue declined they may set and keep all vpright O Lord that hast vouchsafed this honour vnto men and art pleased that such trust should bee reposed in them giue them grace to tender their honour in beeing carefull of their charge Blesse this sacred Assembly that all triacts therein may passe now teach vs Surely first discreetly to distinguish times then to solemnize extraordinarie times religiously These two points are amplified throughout the whole Psalme but wee haue a good taste of them in those words that now I haue read vnto you Here we shall learne first to distinguish times All times are not alike there are nights aswell as there are dayes the time here remembred is a day a remarkable day it hath the two markes of a Festiuall set vpon it To the making of a Festiuall two things must concurre Operatio diuina Recognitio humana there must be some extraordinarie worke of God done thereon and man must make a speciall acknowledgement thereof Both these are euident in my text
then obedient subiects to their Prince By this that you haue heard wee may learne how to reckon dayes we must not put into our morall Kalender all times for Dayes wee must looke whether the Sunne be vp not the Sunne which runneth in the corporall Firmament but the Sunne of the Politicke or Ecclesiasticall State wee must see how much Light how much Heat is deriued into either of them how much the King doth aduance our temporall our eternall prosperitie so we must measure dayes And if we doe we shall find how much the world doth oftentimes mistak and wee shall find them children of the night which thinke themselues children of the day wee shall find that they are couered with grosse darknesse when they thinke they doe partake of the Light This is the case of the Turkish Monarchie if wee looke to a ciuill day and Kingdomes that are enthrawled to Antichrist if we looke to the spirituall day the time of neither of these Gouernments may properly be called a Day But when wee looke vpon a faire Sunshine day and see how welcome it is to the earth we must be put in minde thereby of Gods blessing vouchsafed vs and learne to illustrate our Metaphoricall by such a naturall day Certainly the time wherein wee now liue is a very cleere Day the Ciuill State hath long enioyed abundance of Peace and the Gospel hath free passage in the Church euery man sits quietly vnder his owne Vine and boldly doe wee assemble in this place to heare Gods Word these bee plaine euidences of a Day a double Day such a Day as few Nations haue enioyed for either the Sword rageth amongst them or the light of the Gospel hath not shined vnto them It is then worth the marking that our time is a Day But there is something more which I may not omit This Day began such a Day as our Chronicles for many generations doe not report the like When we reade the storie of Ioshua who commanded the Sunne to stand still and stretched forth one day to the length of two we all wonder and well we may for it was a great wonder to see two dayes come together and neuer a night betweene But had not we as great a wonder haue we not had so long a Day hath not our Metaphoricall matched that Naturall Yea it hath gone so farre beyond it as the Metaphoricall exceeds the Naturall reade our Chronicles and you shall find how seldome we haue had two such Dayes together as Queene Elizabeth hath made with King Iames immediatly succeeding both double Dayes Dayes of Church and Dayes of Common-Wealth Looke beyond Queene Maries time was at least a spirituall Night King Edwards time a short though a Spirituall and a Ciuill Day also King Henrie the Eighth his time was neither Night nor Day Henrie the Seuenth his time was a spirituall Night but a Ciuill Day Richard the thirds time was a Night both Spirituall and Ciuill if you goe yet more vpward you shall not find it much better only by comparing this you shall find how short their times come of ours to whom God hath vouchsafed this double Day wee may fitly call it duplex Festum such a Day must needs be a Festiuall Day a double Day a double Feast And indeed it hath set vpon it the markes of a Festiuall thereunto I told you must concurre two things First Operatio diuina Secondly Recognitio humana Gods worke and Mans acknowledgement Gods worke must goe before Deus fecit is the first character of an Holiday Why doth one day excell another saith the sonne of Syracke Chap. 33 Seeing the light of the dayes of the yeare commeth from the Sunne the knowledge of the Lord hath parted them asunder and hee hath by them disposed the solemne times and Feasts some of them hath hee chosen and sanctified and some of them hath hee put amongst the dayes to number But this is not all that is to be obserued in Gods making of the Day the Lord doth not only appoint such a time but doe something thereon for which it deferues such a title Obserue then that a time of aduersitie is called the day of the Lord but yet God is not said to make it a Day but rather he maketh that day a night one and the selfe same time is called in the Scripture both day and night In the fift of Amos Mich 3. Zeâ—â— â—â— we reade Is not the day of the Lord darknesse it is darknesse and there is no light in it Micah and Zephanie accord therewith A strange composition there is when the same time is called both Day and Night A Day it is called only in regard of the euidence all shall see plainly what it is and therefore it is called the Reuelation of the iust iudgement of God Gods iudgements are alwayes iust but they doe not alwayes appeare so to all but God hath appointed a time wherein he will so cleere it that the wicked themselues shall not bee able to denie it in regard of this euidence that time is called a Day But if you looke to the substance of things that doe befall them in that Day then sure it is not a day but a night they are dismall and dreapfull things either corporall or spirituall and in these two points standeth the substance of a metaphoricall Night A second reason why God is said to make the time a Day is because he is the sole cause thereof It is true that God createth darknesse and woe but he doth it not but as he is prouoked by man man doth sin if God send plagues but of light and prosperitie God is causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 also the occasion and the cause of blessednesse are both of God moued only by his owne goodnesse doth hee doe good vnto men especially the good of this double Day such as was the Day of Israel For if you looke vpon the people they were most sinfull if vpon the enemies of King Dauid they were most malicious and violent so that had not Gods goodnesse and his power the one past by the sinne the other represt the malice of King Dauids Aduersaries the Day could neuer haue dawned King Dauid had neuer sate vpon that Throne Well may God then bee tearmed the Authour of the worke which had so little probabilitie of being if you looke vpon all other things excepting God In a word the very phrase teacheth this lesson That when wee see alterations in the World we must no more doubt of the Author of the Metaphoricall then wee doe of the Naturall Day God is the Authour of both and of both with like facilitie Hee lighteth our candle and maketh our darknesse to be light Psal 18. Though we may not neglect second causes yet must we ascend as high as the first It was Heathenish Idolatrie when the Gentiles saw the benefits that came from the Sunne in lightning and warming the earth to make
of their profession GODS Name is blasphemed by it And lastly Iosu 7. vengeance by the sinne of one man commeth vpon a whole Church one ACHAN troubleth all Israel Ier. 9. These considerations should draw teares from euerie mans eyes it should make vs wish with IEREMIE that our heads were full of waters and our eyes a fountaine of teares Ps 11 9. Our eyes with DAVIDS should gush out with riuers because men keepe not Gods Lawes Neither should priuate men onely so lament but the whole Church also you haue a patterne in the storie of NABOTH 1 King 21. it was pretended that NABOTH blasphemed GOD and the King and thereupon the whole Citie proclaimed a Fast the like we read Esdras 9 and 10 of a publike lamentation for the sinne of some of the people These reasons and examples must worke in vs and force vs to weep for the grieuous sinne of a brother We must weepe yet here we must not stop not wèeping was the cause of the fault but it was not the fault of the Corinthians their fault was as St PAVL telleth them that they did not put away the incestuous person Christians as they must be sorrowfull to see grieuous offendors so must they be zealous for their chastisement if they haue sufficient power and faire proofe otherwise they make the sinne their owne But if so be the proofe be not full Ambr. or they haue no lawfull authoritie to chastife then it is sufficient for them to mourne I shall fall vpon this point againe when I come to the censure therefore I will say no more of it here Onely I must put you that are the Penitent in mind that if others must be so sorrowfull for you then must you be sorrowfull for your selfe and you must be as carefull to rid your selfe of sinne as we must be to rid the Church of a sinner But let vs come at length to the Censure St PAVL as I told you had a more quicke eare and a more feeling heart then the Corinthians had he proueth it true which else-where he affirmeth of himselfe Who is weake and I am not weake Who is offended and I burne not ◠Cor. 11. Yea he seemes to disproue the common Prouerbe Segnius irritant ammos dimissa per aures quam quae sunt oculis commissa fidelibus for what the Corinthians neglected hauing it in their eye with that he was much disquieted though he had notice of it onely by his eare and therefore doth he censure it as appeares in the last part of the Text where you shall see what the censure was and whereunto it serued The censure is Excommunication but it is exprest in verie high and fearfull termes it is called a deliuerie vnto Satan The words imply one thing and expresse another for Excommunication consisteth of two parts a priuatiue and a positiue the priuatiue is that which seperateth from the Communion of Saints and separation presupposeth a former Communion The Article of our Creed teacheth vs that there is a Communion of Saints there is an inward and an outward communion inward by Faith Hope and Charitie outward in the participation of sacred things in the visible assembly From the inward none is separated but by himselfe falling from his Faith Hope and Charitie and so depriuing himselfe of the bond of Vnion which is the Spirit of GOD. From the outward none should be separated except he first doth separate himselfe from the inward and doth also manifest that separation to the scandall of others and dishonor of Religion The man that goeth so farre in separating himselfe by sinne the CHVRCH must separate him by censure Iude 2 Thes 3. 1 Cor. 5. We must hate the garment spotted with the Flesh We must not keepe companie we must not eat with those that are inordinate we must not let the world thinke that Christianity doth allow of such sinnes The Aduersaries are apt enough to traduce vs without a cause how much more if there be a cause The impurities of old Heretickes were layd to the Christians in generall and now the Anabaptists and Familists are made our staines there may be some colour of casting such shame vpon vs if we endure such persons therefore we must put them away from amongst vs they must vndergoe the priuatiue part of Excommunication Besides this priuatiue part which is implyed in the censure because mentioned before there is a positiue part which is here exprest it is the deliuerie vnto Satan The phrase hath in it some thing proper to an Apostle and some thing common to all Bishops It was proper to the Apostles so to deliner vnto Satan as that he should haue power ouer the incestuous persons body to torment him and such power the Apostles not onely had but executed as appeares in the stories of ELYMAS ANANIAS and SAPHIRA They could strike men with death they could possesse them with as well as dispossesse them off foule Spirits And of this power doe many of the Fathers vnderstand these words and the like which we read 1 Tim. 1. But besides this power there is another common to all Bishops with the Apostles which is to expose the Soules of those which are obstinate sinners to the malice of the Prince of Darknesse by suspending them from the preseruatiue against it which is the visible Communion of Saints for the inuisible will not hold long if the visible be iustly with-held because extra Ecclesiam non est salus Satan raigneth and rageth in them and on them that are excluded from the Communion of Saints A word here to you the penitent consider with your selfe how bitter banishment it is to him that dwelleth in a goodly Countrey hath a good house faire possessions and those well stockt and stored yet he must part with all these And hereby guesse you at the euill of the priuatiue part of Excommunication for a Christian within the CHVRCH is in the Kingdome of Heauen he is of the Houshold of GOD he is Owner of those greene pastures and waters of comfort which are mentioned Psal 23. he is prouided plentifully of all ghostly food and rayment If the losse of those corporall things be grieuous how grieuous must the losse of these spirituall be And touching the positiue part of the Excommunication suppose that he that were banished were also put into the hands of a Tyrant and he that hated him should be made Lord ouer him should haue power to vse him as a Slaue and afflict him with tortures you would thinke his case much more miserable and yet is it not so miserable as his which is deliuered ouer to Satan vsed by him onely to serue filthy lusts and daily to breed new matter for the vexation of his owne Soule yet this was to be the case of this incestuous Corinthian And you deserue that it should haue been your case both of you being such impure persons to whom should you be committed but to
vntill the tenth Generation but against Incest he is more seuere Deut. 271 for he would not onely haue a generall curse pronounced against it whereunto he commanded all the people to say Amen but touching the Moabites and Ammonites the first spawne of Incest that we find in the Scripture though they were the posteritie of LOT whom GOD loued for AERAHAM's sake Deut 23. yet doth he command that they shall not enter into the Congregation of Israel for euer Israel is forbidden to seeke their peace at any time RVBEN is a second example marke what his owne Father IACOB said of him when he blest the Patriarkes Ruben thou art my first borne my might Gen. 49. the beginning of my strength the excellencie of digniâ—â—â— and the excellencie of power these were the preeminences of his birth-right but he forfeited them all for Incest as appeares in the verie next words of his Father Vnstable as water thou shalt not excell because thou wentest vp to thy Fathers bed then defiledst thou it He went vp into my couch A third example is ABSALON he abused his Fathers Concubines therefore he came to an infamous end he was hanged by the haire of his owne head he dyed childlesse and so his name did rot Leu. 8. The Land of Canaan spued out the old Inhabitants for Incest and GOD threatneth the destruction of Israel for that a man and his sonne would goe in to one maid Amos 2. By GODS Law no lesse then death was the punishment of Incest Leu. 10. The Lawes of the Land are more mercifull vnto you the Penitent that suffer you to breathe and leaue you to the censure of the CHVRCH But if you mind what you haue heard touching that censure and drinke in St AVSTINS conceipt therof you shall find cause enough to feare and freedome from death may seeme vnto you worse then death But yet your case is not desperate for there yet remaines one point in the Text which may yeeld a mitigation to your feares and a consolation to your Soule The censure is not mortall but medicinall as appeares in the end whereunto the censure serues Now a medicine you know doth first paine then it doth ease yea it doth therfore paine that it may ease so doth this ghostly censure it serues for the destruction of the flesh there is the paine but there followeth ease vpon it the spirit shaâ— be saued First of the paine As the flesh signifieth sometimes the substance sometimes the corruption of the outward man so may the destruction signifie either the mortalitie or the mortification thereof mortalitie if the censure proceed from the power which is proper to an Apostle but if it signifie the power which is common to Bishops with the Apostles it noteth mortification it signifieth the crucifying of the flesh with the lusts thereof the putting off the old man and the dying vnto sinne And indeed this we intend by our Ecclesiasticall censures We intend that you should root out the sinne for which you doe penance and so destroy your flesh This is painfull to flesh and blood but vt valeas multa dolenda feres you must brooke the paine that you may enioy the ease that followeth thereupon the spirit shall be saued The spirit noteth the soule or the grace thereof the sauing of the soule is the preseruing of grace therein if the soule loose grace it looseth it selfe in regard of all well-being and it were much better for it not to be at all then to be without grace so that the saluation of our spirit is no small part of our happinesse Which must the rather be esteemed because if our spirit fare well it will make euen the flesh that is destroyed in regard of the corruption to be farre better in regard of the substance for it shall be purged from dead works to serue the liuing GOD. But when shall we reape this easâ— out of paine In the day of our Lord Iesus Christ Though a peniten euen in this life shall find some case in his Conscience yet the full benefit of Ecclesiasticall censure is reserued to the day of the Lord because all this life we must be mortifying our flesh especially enormous sinners must be so imployed the greatest of their ease in this world must haue a mixture of paine but in the day of the Lord they shall haue ease without all delay But what day of the Lord is meant here Euerie mans particular day of death or the generall doomes day An account must be made at both and if we vse the Ecclesiasticall censure well we shall find that this Iudgment preuents that this temporall the eternall For as CHRIST at his first comming came not to destroy but to saue so his Ministers that dispense the Gospel vse their power not to destruction but to edification But I thinke the day of the Lord signifieth properly the last day CHRIST will publikely manifest before the CHVRCH tryumphant the effect of the Keyes which he hath committed to his Ministers to be exercised publikely in the CHVRCH militant he will then reueale how all stand bound in Heauen which were neuer loosed on Earth and all whom the CHVRCH hath loosed in Earth shall then appeare to be loosed in Heauen I end The successe which St PAVL had when he inflicted this sentence was that the Corinthians became verie sensible of their fault and the Incestuous person of his St PAVL himselfe doth witnesse this 2 Cor. 7. where he amplyfieth both their godly sorrowes and his congratulating indulgence towards them both Oh that like successe might blesse my paines that I may giue as good a testimonie to this Congregation for their hatred of sinne as St PAVL gaue to the Corinthians and to this Penitent the like mittigation of his Censure as St PAVL to that Incestuous person So may this penitentiall sheet of his be turned into a white robe of righteousnesse his teares into ioy and all we that are humbled for him in the Church militant be with him exalted in the Church tryumphant Amen A SERMON PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRAL CHVRCH OF WELS AT WHAT TIME TWO DID PENANCE FOR INCEST A MAN AND HIS WIVES DAVGHTER LEVIT 20. VERSE 14. Likewise if a man taketh a wife and her mother this is wickednesse they shall burne him and them with fire and there shall be no wickednesse amongst you NO sooner doe you heare this Text but I am ure you vnderstand this spectacle you vnderstand what sinners these persons are what doome this Law doth passe vpon them And indeed their sinne and Gods doome are the maine parts of my Text. But more distinctly In the sinne we must note first the fact then the haynousnesse thereof The fact is vnnaturall adulterie Adulterie because one man taketh more women then one that is plaine adulterie And this adulterie is vnnaturall because there is the neerest reference betweene the women the one a Mother the other her Daughter to take two
that remedy which he hath prouided for vs. And what is that By Faith to lay hold vpon CHRIST who to keepe off the curse from vs Gal 3. was pleased himselfe to become a curse You that are the Penitents shall doe well to make your benefit of this day of grace and so tremble at the consideration of that which you haue deserued as to shelter your selfes vnder the comfortable wings of your blessed Sauiour before the stroake of GODS vengeance light vpon you For as the word cursed doth import the merit of a sinner so doth it also his Iudgement if he continue irrepentant If repentance preuent not GOD will reward euerie man according as he deserues Rom. â— anguish tribulation and wrath shall be vpon euerie one that doth ill which CHRIST setteth forth in a liuely embleme when he cursed the Fig. tree in the Gospel Remember also that GODS curse is an vnresistable curse you may learne that of BALAAM Num. 22. he assured BALAK that none can alter it when it is gone out of GODS mouth and be you sure it is as vnchangable as it is intollerable There is much cursing in the world there be many whose mouthes are full of cursing and bitternrsse Ps 10. Iob 2. Some are so impious as to curse GOD himselfe as IOES wife would haue had her husband haue done and as that wicked one did Leuit. 24. and others mentioned Reuel 16. Some are so monstrous as to curse though not GOD yet men Cap. 3. euen with the same tongue where-with they blesse GOD St IAMES wisheth them to consider how much woâ—se they are then senselesse Creatures because out of the same Fountaine there commeth not sweet water and bitter also But of these curses we must hold these two rules to be true the one is SOLOMONS a causelesse curse shall not come Prou. 26. yea GOD will blesse them whom the vniust doth curse The second rule is that they that delight in cursing shall haue enough of it Ps 10 9. He that cloatheth himselfe with cursing as with a garment at shall run like water into his flesh and like oyle into his benes he shall be thorowly drencht with it But we must not conceiue so when a man is curst of GOD for as his curse commeth not without a cause so it will vndoubtedly sort its effect And though our cursing of him sheweth but our vneffectuall malice yet his cursing of vs will make vs see his effectuall Iustice Finally for these two causes are maledictions added to the transgressions of the Law First that we might acknowledge that it belongeth to GODS Iustice to see sinne punished Secondly that when we feele any calamities we may know from whom they come and why Hauing shewed you what the curse is that belongeth to your sinne you must now see by whom it must be pronounced and at the 14 verse we find that it was to be pronounced by the Leuites And indeed the act being not Politike but Ecclesiasticall as you may gather out of that which I haue obserued before the person must be suitable But whereas the name of Leuite comprehends the Priest also we must vnderstand here the Priest and not the ordinarie Leuite For vnto the Priest belonged the office of blessing and cursing in the Name of the Lord it is not for euerie one to intermeddle with that worke It is true Ecclesiasticall that if the oppressed curse the oppressor in the bitternesse of his Soule his prayer shall be heard of him that made him Math. â— But yet mens patience should be such as to blesse them of whom they are cursed and to doe good to them of whom they receiue hurt To curse GOD rather permits then commands them as he doth parents except they be led by the Spirit of Prophesie as NOAH and others for Prophets had this power by an extraordinarie vocation But the Priest onely hath it ordinarily by the power of his Orders as by the termes of blessing cursing planting building rooting vp destroying it is exprest in the Old Testament and it is expressed in the New by those of opening and shutting Heauen binding and loosing mens Soules remitting and retayning mens Sinnes in a word it is that which we call the Power of the Keyes So that the Minister doth no more then he hath good warrant for when he doth exercise this Iurisdiction and the people should feare it because he doth it in the Name of the Lord no lesse assured that GOD will confirme it then he is assured that GOD doth command him to doe it Although we doe not deny but our first intention should be to blesse Numb 6. and our power is giuen vs for edification and our desire is to be vnto you the sauor of life vnto life Yet when the peoples sinnes call for it importuning vs then we must come to the curse vse our weapons of destruction and be vnto the people the sauor of death vnto death For seeing we are not onely slow vnto obedience and need the spurres of GODS alluring blessings but also refractarie and inordinate we need the strong bridle of GODS curses to hold vs in when the World the Diuel and the Flesh carrie vs headlong vnto perdition Were it not so that men are headstrong to their own peril we shold not need to deliuer vnto them the terrors of the Law but onely the glad tydings of the Gospel but sinne sorceth vs to subordinate the curse to the blessing that by the terrors of the curse we may remoue from you the impediments of the blessing And happy shall you be if you make such a vse of it As the Priest is commanded to pronounce the curse so is he commanded to pronounce it with a lowd voyce he must not be afraid to vtter it and his voyce must be so lowd as that all Israel may heare the must not suffer any to be ignorant of it that which concernes all must be made knowne vnto all and the greater things are the more â—â—â—nestly they must be prest We cannot doe you greater wrong then conceale from you that which concernes you so neere and if we doe not worke powerfully into your Consciences the terror of this curse we should bring a curse vpon our selues Ser. 48.10 for cursed is he that doeth the worke of the Lord negligently But I hasten to the last point that will tell vs who is to approue this curse that is pronounced by the Priest and there we find that they are the people All the people shall say Amen Amen to the Curse If it were the blessing no doubt but all would say Amen but all must say Amen to the Curse also GOD will haue vs set our seale as well to his Iustice as to his Mercie and confesse that we subscribe to both We that is Prince Priest and People all must shew their loue vnto that which is good and detestation of that which is ill It is true
rules of life of which there are two sorts As there is the Heart of a naturall and the Heart of a Christian man so these rules are either Naturall or Supernaturall The Naturall are those which are inborne and ingrauen in the hearts of all men the reliques of that Image which in the Creation wee receiued from GOD these informe the naturall man though weakely of Pietie Equitie Sobrietie and concerning all these the very Heathen haue deliuered many memorable sentences But besides these a Christian hath other rules his Heart is new written with the Spirit of GOD Cap. 31. according to the promise made in Ieremie I will put my Lawes into their inward parts and in their Hearts will I write them and wee finde the performance thereof in the New Testament preached by St. Peter Act. 2. and St. Paul Corinth 3. and to the Hebr. cap. 8. Yea euery Christian man feeleth the trueth of it in his owne soule hee feeleth those Naturall Principles rectified by Grace and much higher superadded to them so that the Christian man discernes much better then a naturall man can what is good and euill This is the furniture of the Directory power The Conscience hath besides this a Iudicatorie power and there is furniture for that also which is nothing else but a skill how to trie mens liues by those former rules and doome them as it findeth them And this skill is aswell in the Conscience of a naturall man as of a Christian man though it be of much greater perfection in the latter then in the former But wee must know that it is not the hauing but the vsing of these rules is properly meant by our Conscience For as the Schooles note well Conscientia neque potentia naturalis neque habitus it is neither a natiue nor an acquired abilitie sed est Actus Conscience is a Worke and indeed it is a worke which my Text speaketh of and whereas Conscience hath two workes the one going before our morall works the other following after though for your better vnderstanding I will touch at the former yet keeping my selfe to my Text I will insist vpon the latter These principles then whether Naturall or Supernaturall were bestowed vpon vs perpetually to assist and guide vs in our wayes One of the Heathen well resembled Conscience to a Paedagogue Epictetu◠for as the Paedagogue by the appointment of parents is alwayes at hand with a childe to direct and restraine him who otherwise through impotency of affection would goe astray euen so is our Conscience appointed ouer vs to hold the raines to guide and hold in our wilde and headstrong nature And surely wee are bound to acknowledge the mercifulnesse of GOD manifested herein hee hath graciously prouided for the preuenting of sinne who is pleased not onely to giue vs a Law but also to place in vs a perpetuall remembrance thereof vnto vs. And the reason why men sinne must needes be either because they doe not consult or doe contemne this guide so that either their sinnes are wilfull if they contemne or their ignorance is affected if they neglect this preuenting meanes afforded of GOD. But I haue not now to doe with the Consciences worke of Direction that worke of hers that goeth before our worke but I haue to doe with the worke of Iudicature the worke that followeth our workes GOD hath left it in some sort in our power whether we will or will not make vse of the former worke of Conscience and some by his grace vse it some for want of grace vse it not but GOD hath appointed Conscience a second worke which it is not in any mans power to put off the worke of Iudicature wherein GOD doeth let vs see what it is to vse or not to vse the former worke And here we must marke that as the Law which is contained in the Directory work of Conscience hath two parts a Precept and a Sanction so the Iudicatorie worke of Conscience doeth two things it playeth the Iury to arraigne vs and the Iudge to doome vs. First it testifieth whether wee haue or haue not obserued the precepts of GOD. In that respect it is resembled to a Registrie or an exact Record exhibited at an Assizes if wee doe not take notice of the counsell which our Conscience giueth vs before hand wee shall finde that our Conscience taketh notice of all that is done by vs and will make a perfect presentment thereof it will truely relate how farre we haue or haue not suffered our selues to bee led by her aduice and we shall not be able to except against the Verdict of this Iury. As it maketh a true Presentment in regard of the Precept so doeth it pronounce a iust Doome in regard of the Sanction for it pronounceth what is our due and therein wee shall finde it a Iudge not onely putting vs in minde of life and death but also sentencing vs thereunto And indeed this is the last and the highest worke of Conscience and for this cause Nazianzene doeth fitly tearme it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an inward and vpright Tribunall But to open this Iudicatorie work of Conscience a little more fully we must obserue that she dealeth not alike with al because she findeth not all alike The Physicians acknowledge Corpus neutrum a body that is neither sicke nor whole but the Conscience doeth not acknowledge any neutrall man that is neither good nor bad Non liquets and speciall Verdicts are not knowne to the Conscience it findeth euery man either guiltie or not guiltie Secondly it confoundeth not Tares with Wheate nor Sheepe with Goates in the Presentment not in the Doome doeth it confound the right hand with the lest Hell and Heauen Death and Life It hath an accusing and excusing Voyce a condemning and an absoluing Voyce these two sorts of Voyces it hath and no more Finally we must expect no shift no delay in the worke of our Conscience whether it play the Iury or the Iudge But let vs take these workes a little a sunder And first see that which is against vs the Apostle vseth a significant word which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a compound word which sheweth that Conscience doeth first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 know throughly before it doeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 offer to condemne vs the very word importeth an orderly course of proceeding it doeth not goe against vs without a iust ground and so is free from the corruption which is in too many worldly Iudges that resolue vpon a mans execution before they haue heard his cause But our Conscience is priuie to all our doings an eye-witnesse of all that passeth from vs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it knoweth and proceedeth vpon certaine knowledge Yea it will present it so to the eyes of our soule that it will not suffer vs to be ignorant of that which it knoweth it will make vs Confitentes reos we shall plead guiltie against our owne selues And here
sinners euen such sinners of whom I am chiefe Now then J beseech thee let the power of my Lord be great according as thou hast spoken The Lord is slow to anger and of great mercie and forgiueth iniquitie and sinne Be mercifull J beseech thee to the impietie of thy seruant according to thy great mercie let the vngodlinesse of my heart of my mouth be blotted out of thy remembrance let it not bring vpon me the vengeance J deserue but create in me a new heart and touch my tongue with a cole from thine Altar that J which am vnworthy by reason of my scandalous crying sinne to meditate on or make mention of thy glorious Maiestie thy diuine Wisedome may haue a heart alwayes enditing good things and my blasphemous tongue may be turned into an instrument of thy glorie So shall my soule be filled as it were with marrow and fatnesse when J shall prayse thee with ioyfull lips and J shall sing forth thy wonderous mercie all the dayes of my life Heare me ô Father of mercie for giue me amend me and establish in me this holy purpose of my repentant heart to thy glorie and the comfort of enormous sinners for Jesus Christs sake by the powerfull operation of thy Holy Spirit Amen A SERMON PREACHED AT St ANDREWS IN WELLES A SCHISMATIQVE DOING PENANCE WHO HAD FOR MANY YEERES ESTRANGED HIMSELFE FROM THE COMMVNION OF OVR CHVRCH 1 CORINT 3.18 18 Let no man deceiue himselfe if any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him become a foole that he may be wise A Particular visible Church is built vpon two foundations Vnion and Communion a louing vnion of the faithfull and an holy communion in sacred things Both these must be preserued or else that Church will come to naught Now there were amongst the Corinthians that did vndermine these foundations some rent the vnion and the communion was corrupted by other-some St Paul wrot this Epistle to amend them both And marke what a distinct course he taketh He first setleth the vnion before he offereth to purge the communion And there is good reason why for though the louing vnion of the faithfull be vnprofitable if it be without a holy communion in sacred things yet is a holy communion in sacred things impossible if you take away the louing vnion of the faithfull Therefore lest St Paul should lose his labour in redressing of the communion he first taketh care of repayring the vnion The first thing then that in the Church of Corinth he reformes is Schisme and he spends well-nigh foure Chapters in reforming thereof in throughly searching into the disease and applying thereto a soueraigne remedy The words that now I haue read vnto you belong to the remedy and you shall find them to be a principall branch thereof Let vs come more closely to them Of medicinall remedies some are preseruatiue some are restoratiue The preseruatiue are for the sound the restoratiue are for the sicke You shall find them both in my Text and you shall find that they are Catholica remedia such remedies as doe or may concerne vs all The preseruatiue remedy is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 prouidence or the preuention of Schisme you haue it in these words Let no man deceiue himselfe The restoratiue is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 repentance or the recouering of a Schismatique it followeth in these words If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world let him be a foole that he may be wise But more distinctly In the preseruatiue we are to behold our naturall weakenesse and therefore to learne spirituall carefulnesse St Paul supposeth that we are prone to deceiue our selues and therefore aduiseth that no man should doe himselfe that wrong Let no man deceiue himselfe In the restoratiue we must behold first the distemper of a Schismatique and then the cure fitting to such a distemper The distemper is a carnall selfe-conceit a selfe-conceit for the man thinkes himselfe wise but the selfe-conceipt is but carnall as appeares by the limitation or extenuation rather that is added to his wisedome he is onely wise in this world Such is his distemper Whereof the first cure is an exalting humilitie The first branch is humilitie He must become a foole but he need not be disheartened there followeth an exaltation thereupon He becomes a foole that he may be wise These are the remedies And they are as I told you Catholica remedia such remedies as doe or may concerne vs all The preseruatiue doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Let no man deceiue himselfe The restoratiue may 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If any That which hath befalne this man may be the case of the best of vs all These are the particulars which GOD-willing I shall now enlarge and apply vnto this present occasion I pray GOD we may so doe it as that we all not this Penitent onely may be the better for it The first remedy is the preseruatiue and therein the first thing that I pointed out is our naturall weaknesse This St Paul supposeth we may gather it out of that which he aduiseth for in vaine were his aduise if there were not a truth in that which he supposeth but farre be it from vs to thinke that the Holy Ghost doth require any thing in vaine let it stand then for an vndoubted truth that we are prone by nature to deceiue our selues 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from whence the Verbe is deriued which is vsed by the Apostle signifieth a leauing of the right way which putteth vs in mind that in this world we are but way-faring men When we are admitted into the Church we are set in the path which will lead vs to our euerlasting home but when we are in it we may goe out of it It appeares too plainly in Adam and Eue and it is not to be expected that the children should be better then the parents especially seeing our restitution commeth short of that measure of grace which they had in their Creation It being true that we may the question is How it comes to passe that we doe goe out of the way and leaue the straight path wherein we are set the Scripture obserues two meanes the one without vs the other within vs that is the world this is concupiscence the world allures concupiscence inclines Adde hereunto a third that is the diuel he blancheth the world that it may allure more strongly and worketh concupiscence by perswasion that it may yeeld more readily and these betweene them consummate the deceipt whereby we are led out of the way But betweene these we must obserue a great difference that which worketh the deceipt from without is but an occasion that which worketh it from within is the true cause thereof the world the diuel Suadere possunt cogere non possunt they may sollicit powerfully but they cannot inforce vs vnwillingly to goe out of the way Physicall actions may be constrayned morall cannot I may haue
mine eyes forcibly layd open to see mine eares to heare and so the rest of my body may be constrayned to produce some worke but the powers of my reasonable soule can neuer be constrayned I cannot be constrayned to iudge otherwise then my vnderstanding leads me nor to chuse that which my will refuseth therefore our vnderstanding and our will must be actors principall actors in this deceipt And so St Iames telleth vs Cap. 1. 1 Iohn â— that He that is tempted is bayted and led aside by his owne concupiscence St Iohn insinuates as much when he telleth vs that All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life as if there were no deceipt in the world were it not that we did fasten our concupiscence vpon it Rom. 7. Finally St Paul telleth vs in his owne case Peccatum decepit me that which deceiued me was mine owne sinne And indeed he that first instilled sinne into vs gaue vs the seed of his owne sinne The Diuels sinne was selfe-deceipt for when he fell there was nothing besides himselfe that might deceiue him and that cunning Huntsman is not contented to make vs a prey except he take vs in the cords of our owne sinne except we follow the counsels of our owne hearts and doe that which is right in our owne eyes to disobey GOD and leaue the path of life It were easie to illustrate this in all sorts of sinnes but I will keepe my selfe to this present occasion to the sinne of Schisme The Diuel attempts two things against the truth of Religion the first is Priuation the second Deprauation a declining vnto the left-hand or to the right to the left-hand by making men Atheists to the right-hand by making them Separatists he would that all should be fooles and say in their hearts that there is no GOD or that GOD is without Prouidence that GOD knoweth not or eareth not for the things of this world And if he cannot so stifle Religion he endeauoureth for to leauen it whom he cannot draw to the left hand he will endeauour to draw to the right he will by corrupting of good principles maketh them fall vpon many vngodly conclusions and vse zeale for GOD to estrange themselues from GOD. Wofull experience hath the Church had of such Paralogismes in the Iewes who vpon this ground opposed CHRIST in the Gentiles that tooke this for a ground to quarrell with the Iewes and the Separatists of this latter age wherof we haue had more then a good many in this Countrey haue stumbled at this stone lest they should serue GOD amisse they haue refused to serue GOD at all Nazianzen in his time though in another case yet sauouring of this sinne cryed out 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Orat. 40. O vnwarie warinesse ô imposture of the wicked-one that turneth Pietie into Impietie and ouercommeth reason by reason Who can consider this and not acknowledge the weaknesse of our nature This weakenesse may be resolued into our ouer-easie beleeuing and rash dis-beleeuing ouer-easie beleeuing of seducing Imposters that labour to instill their fancies into vs and rash dis-beleeuing of those whom GOD hath lawfully placed to rule ouer vs both which a man shall easily obserue in all Schismatiques But to acknowledge our naturall weakenesse is not sufficient the Apostle aduiseth vs to beware of it and indeed therefore is our naturall weaknesse remembred that it might stirre vs vp vnto spirituall carefulnesse not to doe that which we are prone to doe Let no man deceiue himselfe We must take heed of the occasions that from without offer to deceiue vs of Wolues in Sheepes clothing of an Angel of darkenesse turning himselfe into an Angel of light Try the spirits at St Iohn yea Try all things as St Paul willeth vs. 1 Iohn 4 1 Thes 5. â—1 In Iob we haue a prettie resemblance of the eare to the tast as the one doth try the meates which we are to take into our bodyes so should the other the words which we are to receiue into our soules But in vaine shall we try them if we doe not try our selues first for we must try them by our iudgement by our will Verum est index sui obliqui a peruerse iudgement cannot discerne truth from falsehood neither can an vntoward will make a right choyse when Good and Euill are presented vnto it he cannot choose but be deceiued by others that is first deceiued in himselfe wherefore seeing our iudgement and our will must be the rule by which we must try others our first care must be to set them straight our vnderstanding must be a good Logician our will a good Moralist if either be defectiue we deceiue our selues and we are verie apt to be deceiued by others It is a miserable thing for a man to be deceiued by others Platâ— in Crâ—tilâ— but to be deceiued by himselfe is most miserable cum Impostor â—e minimum quidem decedat we shall euer carrie about vs the Deceiuer in our bosoms and he shall haue that credit with vs as that we shall neuer so much as suspect his deceipt yea Sathan and the World shall euer haue their Agent with vs and make vs assacinates to destroy our selues Adde hereunto that this kind of deceipt makes vs vncapable of wholesome counsell for if our ignorance be onely priuatiue seldome doe we obstinate our selues against good instructions but if our reasonable powers be depraued and possest with qualities opposite vnto those which we should receiue there is much lesse hope of our amendment Intus apparens excludit alienum Nazianz. orat 1. selfe-deceipt is most refractorie and most hardly will he be brought backe into the way that being deceiued of himselfe wittingly and willingly went out of the way whereof this Penitent may be a liuely example vnto vs. And let this suffice concerning the Preseruatiue I come vnto the Restoratiue remedy wherein we are first to see the distemper of a Schismatique I told you it was a carnall selfe-conceipt First a selfe-conceipt the Schismatique thinkes himselfe wise GOD that indowed vs with the faculties of sense and reason gaue these faculties a double abilitie a direct and a reflected The direct is that whereby they receiue their obiect the reflect is that whereby they iudge of that receipt I will make it plaine to you by an example first of sense and then of reason Mine eye seeth a colour for example Greene hauing seene it it passeth a iudgement vpon the sight and knowes that is greene which it doth see the like may be obserued in hearing smelling tasting and the rest of the senses In like manner is it in our soule The vnderstanding apprehends some truth and hauing apprehended it it passeth a iudgement vpon it and knoweth that that is truth which it hath apprehended The like may be said of Good But we must marke here a difference betweene sense and reason as