of all the Royal Order yet neither the hand of man nor the fury of Satan could do him hurt but immediatly the Angel c. Brethren you see my Text speaks of a smiting Angel An Angel smote the first-born of Pharaoh an Angel made an exceeding slaughter in the Host of Sennacharib An Angel brandished a Sword before David when seventy thousand died of the Pestilence Conceive not of these things as if an Angel had a Sword of Steel or offered any visible violence per contactum but as Abulensis says the Angel did apply some pestilent noisomness to the air which in a moment entred into their bowels and destroyed their Vitals Beloved the holy Angels seem as it were desirous and ambitious to avenge Gods glory against the pride of Herod Indeed there is so little zeal in his cause now adays so few do stir in it as if to this hour we left all to them and expected Angels Nay rather as if we thought of neither God nor Angel Where is the Courage of Phinehas Where is the Zeal of Elias Where is the Voice of John the Baptist Where is the Sword that is not lent in vain unto the Magistrate The lean Cattel it may be shall go to the Shambles but Amalek and the fat ones are your prey and your Sacrifice Ecquid tinnit Dolobella Then no man cuts him off though he give not God the glory The world is grown as unconscionable as that heathen man who said He had rather heaven should lose a Star from the Firmament than himself to lose an heifer from his flocks of Cattel So we are more tender of our own reputation than to maintain his glory by whom Kings reign and by whom we hope to reign as Kings in glory The Noble Descent of our Ancestors the Antiquity of our House the Dignity of our Place the Gravity of our Years Praecedere quatuor annis these are things that our bloud will rise at if they be called in question but the profanation of the name of Jesus the alienation of holy things the demolishment of Churches irreverent carriage at Divine Prayers and the holy Communions are as little our care as matters of Religion did pertain to Gallio I must again recall you to the practice of the Angels For when the Sadducees did so much dishonour them that they said there were no Angels at all yet we do not read in all the Scripture that these Angels did avenge themselves of the Sadducees in their own behalf but in another quarrel in Gods cause they are as quick and hot as a flaming fire Nay for fear lest some body should step in before them to do the deed as soon as ever the word was out of Herods mouth that he was magnified as a God immediatly he is apprehended And that is the third part Tantus tam repentè without pause without time of revocation immediately c. The Judgments of the Lord are so sudden so accustomed to tread upon the heels of sin that all the comparisons of nimble motion are borrowed to express it The Flying Arrow Psal xci The noysom Pestilence that cleaves to the flesh in a moment in the same place The coming of a Bridegroom whose longing desires use not to be tardy Mat. xxv The Thief in the night that gives no warning The gliding of the Lightning from the East unto the West The blast of a Trumpet The crowing of a Cock that breaks our sleep What can be said more that Gods Angel doth immediately strike the insolent Nazianzen speaking of those Scoffers that abused S. Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It is marvel that Thunderbolts are not stirring upon such a trespass St. Hierom in his Commentary upon the Prophet Habakkuk relates That Julian the Apostate reading this story of Herods downfall cavilled against the Christians for saying their God was patient and of long suffering Nihil iracundius nihil hoc furore praesentius says he ne modico spatio indignationem distulit Nothing more angry nothing more sudden he did not defer his indignation no not for an hour It is true indeed sin and death are Acus filum iniquity draws on judgment as the Needle draws the thread immediately after it For such as are vessels of dishonour when they first jussel against Gods Commandments they begin to crack in the very moment although they break not in pieces till the fulness of time when the Milstone shall fall upon them and grind them to powder In the day that thou eatest thou shalt die says God to Adam that is thou shalt grow mortal and decline every minute more and more to the grave But there is a chosen Generation yet let them not presume upon grace that shall be pardoned seventy seven times Whereupon says St. Austin Commemoratione hujus numeri omnia peccata sunt dimissa quando ipse per quem omnia peccata remissa sunt septuagessimâ septimâ generatione secundum Lucam natus est That is if sins be remitted seventy seven times to the Elect then all their sins shall be remitted for he in whom all sins are remitted Christ Jesus was born by a mystery in the seventy seventh Generation from God the Eternal Father according to St. Luke Immediately he was smitten in such Splendour of Attire in such Celebrity of Attendants before the face of Strangers among those who in their hearts were no better than his enemies never did he come out of that Chair of the Scorner from that Throne wherein he was Canonized till he was stript of all Dignity and deprived of that Title by the Angel of the Lord. Had he been struck with sickness in any other place I know how it would have been excused the fault would have been laid upon his long journey from Galilee to Cesarea perchance the Sidonians had been charged to poyson him such suspicions are very rife as if it were impossible for Princes to come to their end by natural infirmities but now no such rumour could be broached Immediately c. Beloved It is the most dreadful thing upon earth to be suddenly apprehended by judgment What will not our strict Reformers cavil at who demand to have the Prayer against sudden death to be put out of the Litany It is well if they themselves be so well prepared for the hour of Judgment come it never so unexpected Indeed it should be so But let the Christian whom I would instruct pray every Morning as if he should see the Sun rise no more Pray every Evening as if he should see the Sun set no more be ready to meet the Bridegroom at Midnight and yet despise not that Supplication From sudden death good Lord deliver us He that promiseth God repentance hereafter pays him in the mean time with iniquity Ab hôc loco hoc ipso tempore Deo servire statui it is St. Austins Meditation If your heart be touched at any Sermon do not consult with your Almanack what day will be most
goodness were remarkable for the quantity that he had an exceeding portion of the Spirit in which regard he was more than a Prophet for the time that he received it it was from the womb yea and in some signs before the womb had opened to bring him forth in which regard he was more than the child of any Prophet these two the Angel hath put together He shall be filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mothers womb This was inundatio spiritus the Spirit abounding in him as a River at high-water fills the banks but in the most probable opinion it was not emundatio spiritus it did not cleanse his soul from corruption in every part but it instructed him with vertue more than ordinary to do great works For God forbid but that a man may be said to be sanctified and to be full of the Holy Ghost although the infectious poyson of original sin do still remain in him Which original contagion raigns in the wicked is much abated and kept under in the Just was lessen'd by Gods especial favour more than usually in John but the malignity thereof is not quite taken away till our mortal have put on immortality The reason is very slender that the sin wherein his mother conceived him was taken away before he was born because he seemed to have a passion of faith before ever he saw the light when he leapt at the presence of our Saviour for that might be a transient passion and no doubt it was no more and nothing lets but sin may abide also where the Spirit of grace doth inhabit and continue That which is alledged to prove him to have some defilement like all the Sons of Adam is far more forcible namely where the Scripture says how all are conceived and born in sin Where it lets us know in another place how God hath concluded all under sin that he might have mercy upon all And St. Austin upholds this cause Nemo dici potest renatus nisi priùs sit natus Christ says Unless a man be born again he cannot be the child of God Surely common sense will lead us to this notion a man must be first born before he can be born again and if carnal birth go before Regeneration then no man can be cleansed from all sin before the birth of the womb Besides out of the same reason that St. Austin brings against the Pelagians to prove that the leprosie of Adams sin is in little Infants by the same I will prove it to be in John because the wages of sin is death Christ only excepted who took our sins upon him and the beheading of John is a remonstrance that the meritorious cause of death was in him I mean iniquity To give full measure to this Point and running over Mat. xi 11. Verely says Christ among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist yet he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he I leave the multipliciousness of Expositions upon that Text and betake me to St. Hieroms Aliud est coronam justitiae possidere aliud in acie pugnare The least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than John because he was in his race and did struggle against sin and Satan the least in the kingdom of heaven hath his Crown upon his head and is past the fear of tentation So I have shewn that John had some frailties of flesh and bloud in him wherefore most submissively he flies to the true Altar of mercy for a pardon I have need to be baptized of thee Let the Saints of God have their due honour but let the mercies of Christ and the benefit of his bloud shed upon the Cross be dilated to every one that dies in the Lord which was the reason why I prosecuted the last Point And it is according to the humility of John to set forth his low estate when men would exalt him For the more the Embassadors of the Jews did magnifie him with Art thou the Christ Art thou Elias The more did he abase himself saying There is one among you whose shooes latchet I am not worthy to unloose Displiciat sibi unusquisque in se ut totus in Deo placeat Be displeased every man with himself and God will be pleased with thee This was of all comforts most intimate to the Prophets soul that he saw his own need and knew the right way to call for succour And the less hope he had of himself the more hope he had of God O how his hope quickned and exulted when he saw his Redeemer at Jordan whom he had never seen before He saw such comfort coming down with him as the Angel brought to Peter when he was in hold now the prison doors are opened get thee loose from thy sins But what speak I of Angels They had been sent indeed upon messages of joy there had been Patriarchs there had been Prophets in the world these were like fair diamonds whose light sparkles in the eye but gives no warmth to that which is cold But as the Psalmist says Except the Lord build the house the labourers labour but in vain Except the Son of God had vouchsafed in his own person to build the Church we had never reapt the fruit of eternal life John Baptist was an Israelite yet he trusts not to the Seed of Abraham Born under the Law but he knew it were death to rely upon that killing Letter He was a Prophet sanctified from the womb he cares not for that For what had he which he had not received and could he boast then as if he had not received it Finally He was full of fasting austerity preaching all manner of works yet he relies not upon them for when we have done all we can we are but unprofitable servants These are the strongest stays of humane trust that can be built upon yet he flies from them all and runs to the all-sufficient merits of Christ for succour This was a right aim taken Ac si oculo rubricam dirigat uno this was a straight line drawn bringing his hope just upon the Lord and giver of life I have need to be baptized of thee The time hath stopt me from proceeding to the last part which shall be made the beginning of our business upon the next occasion To God the Father c. THE THIRD SERMON UPON THE Baptism of our Saviour MAT. iii. 14 15. And comest thou to me And Jesus answering said unto him Suffer it to be so now For thus it becommeth us to fulfil all righteousness IF ever such an Argument could be laid before man wherein it might become his wit to dispute it with God I think verily it fell out in this Story which I continue in that Text that I have read unto you I will not except that instance which is able to amaze any Reader when the Lord spake unto Abraham to take his only Son Isaac and
Supreme Magistrate of the Church to proclaime observations both for convenient seasons and for ordinary times of fasting I find indeed that one Aerius by name cried out for Christian liberty and pretended that Canonical Fasts were unjust thraldom but I find that the Church remitted none of her Discipline for all his clamour and he was counted but an Heretick for his labour But is it lawful not only to ordain a time of abstinence but also during that space to turn our ordinary food into another species and quality It is For that you may see what power the Church hath the first Canon that ever the Apostles made in the face of a publick Council was an ordination to inhibit the Brethren from meats offered to Idols and from bloud and from things strangled A temporary Canon it was to last for the space while the Jews took offence at the Gentiles converted unto the Faith but after the scandal was taken away the force of the Canon ceased witness one Text for all 1 Cor. viii 8. for in all appearance the worst of those meats forbidden was that which was offered to Idols yet St. Paul when he wrote that Epistle says it was lawful for a man to eat that meat offered to an Idol so he did not eat it with the conscience of an Idol Well then the Church did frame an injunction to make all men refrain from certain meats for a time As for this exception against some kind of diet for forty days which is called the quality of Fasting to say the troth the conscionable Writers of the Church of Rome will confess it is nothing less than a Fast properly taken Be it so that Flesh yields the most copious nourishment yet the greater sort of men are better pleased with the delicacies of Fish choice of Wines suckets and Electuaries it can be no Fast to replenish a mans self with these not only for necessity but even to flatter his Palate and to give his appetite satiety therefore even these things according to the intent of the Church should be taken with greater parsimony and abstinence than we do at other times And then I will shew it was impossible for the Church to take better care for the avoidance of gluttony than to appoint order for the quality of diet for no proportion can be set down in a general form and direction for the special quantity what every man should take for the space of forty days for a little pittance is a great meal to some queasie stomachs and a great allowance again would be too little to keep others in health who are of strong and sudden concoction Consider this reason and it will satisfie you for what cause your diet is moderated for forty days in the quality of our meat and not in the quantity Daniel fasted but half a Lent but three weeks and he inhibited himself for that space not to taste of Flesh or Wine In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks I eat no pleasant bread neither came Flesh or Wine into my mouth neither did I anoint my self at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled Dan. x. 2. Howsoever to close this Point obedience single by it self is better than fasting for fasting is reduced to the vertue of temperance obedience to the vertue of justice giving honour to whom honour belongeth and of all the cardinal vertues Justice is the fairest and the principal A lawful Constitution I have proved it but because many things are lawful which are not expedient it remains to be sifted and nothing remains but it whether it be a laudable appointment Certainly it is laudable in a very great degree both to rectifie our appetite in the concupiscible and in the irascible part In the concupiscible to abate our inclination toward the pleasure of our Palate and make us abstinent In the irascible to curb our lawless stubbornness and make us obedient Seneca an Heathen did perceive there was some defect in their Government that the people were not prohibited some kind of food for a time to make them know their subjection to the Magistrate Nullis animalibus nisi ex fastidio pax est says he The Creatures can never be at rest and quiet any time of the year when the Laws will have it so but when we loath them and we aim at temperance by our own palate and stomach not by the Law of the Magistrate Remember how directly you tread in the steps of Adam and follow the first sin that ever he committed if you set more by the pleasure of your Palate than by the duty of obedience St. Austin conceived this benefit would redound by that partial abstinence Qui ista vitamus quae aliquando licent imprimis peccata fugimus quae omnino non licent We that for a while deny our selves those things which are lawful will be the better prepared to shun iniquity which is altogether unlawful I omit one thing for in this copious subject I must make an Epitome not a full Treatise I omit I say the enumeration of all Political Emoluments those are in every mans tongue and knowledge to maintain Fishing to enrich the imployment of Mariners to inure us to hardness in the times of peace if Wars should exercise us abroad or at home to spare every young thing in the Spring of the year and to preserve the multiplication of the beasts of the field these things are commonly dictated from the bar of the Civil Governour But will you know the spiritual advantages Why we appease Gods wrath by humiliation and dejecting our selves for the sins of the whole year which we committed before It is a special time destined to sweep away the filth of the whole house for as in Moses Law Lev. xvi 30. All the people once a year did afflict themselves for expiation of their common sins so it is good to have a publick time allotted to deprecate the Divine Wrath that it may not fall upon the whole Nation Again all the Writers of all Ages cannot be deceived and all confess with one mouth that a moderation of diet especially continued for some considerable time of temperance must needs abate the violence of voluptuousness and luxury And because we see it in the examples of Peter and Daniel and many more in Scripture that Fasting doth elevate the mind and make it more capable of spiritual thoughts therefore it is well ordained that the most notable Fast in the year should go before the great Anniversary Communion of Easter I know some will say divers of the Reformed Churches have disused this ceremony to profess an abstinence in the quality of their meats for forty days They can best answer for themselves and do answer that their people if they retained that use would be seduced with Superstition But for our parts we have more cause to fear a pound of Gluttony than a dram of Superstition and more reason they should conform to us than we
lest he pluck the house about our ears Do we provoke the Lord to anger are we stronger then be O provoke him not lest he swear that ye shall not enter into his rest but with holy reverence and stedfast faith submit your selves to his revealed will Amen THE FOURTEENTH SERMON UPON Our Saviours Tentation MAT. iv 8. Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high Mountain and sheweth him all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them THe Scripture makes mention that there is a season at the return of the year when Kings go forth to battel This is not the time all men know it well enough quite contrary now it is usual that the wearied Souldier should draw himself out of the Field into Garrison But all times and seasons are alike unto our Adversary the Devil all the changes and quarters of the year will serve his turn to fight against us who walks about continually seeking whom he may devour Wherefore I bring him out before you to let you see how he laid about him in his last skirmish for this third is his last tentation As the Carthaginians in their third Punick War lost their City and Kingdom to the Romans and never bore Arms more so you shall see Satan so repulsed at this onset that he left the Field to the Conquerour and never after propounded any blasphemous tentation in a visible shape to the Son of God David was much imboldned to fight with Goliah and assured himself of Victory because he had grappled with two savage beasts and slain them both and thus spake chearfully to Saul Thy servant slew both the Lion and the Bear and this uncircumcised Philistin shall be as one of them So the first tentation was unto our Saviour like a ravenous gluttonous Bear Command that these stones be made bread The second was like a ramping and a roaring Lion all boldness and presumption Cast thy self down from a Pinacle of the Temple Now he that escaped both these out of the paw of the Lion and out of the paw of the Bear shall triumph most victoriously over this great Goliah in the last and most bewitching tentation which begins in this form Again the Devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him c. How divers is Satan from himself How unlike is this course to that which he took before Since Christ was so tender of his safety that he would not fall head-long the Tempter casts his Net on the other side of the Ship and promiseth as much as any man can wish in this world that loves himself The odds therefore are very great between the former motion Cast thy self down from a Pinacle of the Temple and between this motion Behold all the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them c. The one is Passio corruptiva make away your self utter ruine and corruption This is Passio perfectiva the perfection and solace both of the eye and the heart to see the pride of the earth and all the excellency of it as upon a Theater The ways indeed are divers but the malicious intention is the same or rather far greater in this which I will demonstrate piecemeal as I handle the several particulars of which these are to be considered in this present Verse 1. The importunity of Satan he is upon our Saviour again Again the Devil taketh him up 2. The variety of his shifts from the Pinacle of the Temple he taketh him up to an exceeding high Mountain 3. Note by what gate or passage he would enter his tentation by the eye Ostendit illi he shews a goodly object unto him 4. The dignity of the Object he shews him Kingdoms 5. For the amplitude and generality All the Kingdoms of the world 6. In their most amiable and desirable shape he shewed them in their glory All the Kingdoms of the world and the glory of them 7. Satan shewed himself to be an arch Juggler or Praestigiator as Artists call it for St Luke adds that he shew'd all this in a moment of time these are all distinctly to be handled and first of his importunity Again the Devil taketh him up c. A close Solicitor and a diligence worthy to be commended if it had been in a good cause But they that are in a wrong way are most zealous in their course and negotiate for hell more urgently than we do for heaven Many a soul is lost for want of teaching and instruction it is very dreadful to remember how God will require it at our hands but in this Satan triumphs that never any soul escap'd him for want of instance and prosecution And I hold it for a true Position that many times he is assiduous to subvert good men where there is no hope of speeding to provoke God to be angry with our lazy negligence upon the comparison I believe the Devil never thought to proceed so far as to a second tentation with our Saviour much less to a third but to get what he lookt for at the first motion yet since he found an hard match of it and was twice repulsed with such evidences of Scripture as could not be answered he redoubles his boldness and thinks in the end to weary out our Saviour as Dalilah did Samson with importunity St. Paul besought the Lord thrice that the Messenger of Satan might depart from him The one prayed often the other prick'd him often The evil Spirit vied it with the good Apostle the one exceeded in the number of devout Prayers the other was not one whit behind in the number of fleshly tentations St. Austin compared the Devil to a Mastive Dog Qui nec percussus ab hominis laceratione separatur Beat him thrust him away stave him off break his teeth in his head yet he flies upon you till he have torn and devoured you So this incensed Adversary never to be reconciled will not be quite driven from you with Vows with Fastings with Supplications but listens to hear you say as one discouraged with perplexity I am weary of my groaning untill this tyranny be overpass'd But that tyranny is uncessant the hatred of the Devil hath no stint expect it be ready for it and let it not sting your conscience with horrour if you find somewhat within you always warring against the Spirit tentations are not like some diseases which are not incident to a man above once in his life scape once and secure for ever but like hereditary infirmities which are ever recurring to torment the flesh A quotidian is more like to be cured if it be well look'd to than an Ague whose Paroxysms keep longer distance Nor shall the Tempter again or his importunities bow down our neck under the yoke of sin these quotidian fits shall not weaken the inward man if the fear of the Lord be ever in our heart and his name often between our lips to conjure down the Regiment of the Prince
unless they be equalized with God Then the Platonicks taught good divinity for they worshipped their Daemones or Angels not as the first causes of all things but as Spirits employed by the first Principle of the world If an Angel from heaven teach the same doctrine in his own case which Paul did surely two such Witnesses both in one tale cannot be refused The instance is more beaten than any high way Rev. xix 10. St. John certainly being even beside himself with the excellency of Revelation fell at an Angels feet to worship him who said unto him See thou do it not I leave it to your judgments if this be not a monstrous prevarication of Bellarmines That the Angel might have accepted that dutiful homage if he had pleased and did not make shy of it before Christ was incarnate but in honour of our Lords incarnation who took our nature upon him Angels from thenceforth will not be religiously worshipped by men Therefore we do what becomes us when we fall down to worship Angels and Angels do what becomes them when they refuse it thus He. But I beseech you if learned men may take such leave to interpret Scripture they may turn it to any thing Doth the Angel say any such thing to John that the times were altered human nature was now more precious than before and grown too good for such servile observance No but very plainly in the Text See thou do it not to me I am thy fellow-servant worship God Mark both his reasons first I am thy fellow-servant Fellow servants are to worship one Master together not one to worship the other Yes says the Adversary hereafter we shall worship together in the Church Triumphant and be stiled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Why we have the same excellency and beatitude which then shall be revealed in a lively faith and a steadfast hope And if they shall be less honoured of us hereafter than now the Angels should lose honour by our being exalted into heaven Nay rather their glory shall be increased to requite that sedulous care which they had over us here against the tyranny of the world and the devil I will wish no other Author but St. Austin to speak on my side says he Let us believe that the best Angels and most excellent ministring spirits do desire that we may worship one God together with them Honoramus eos charitate non servitute That is we love them for their good will we do not serve them Nec eis templa construimus they would not be so honoured of us for they know none better if we be holy we our selves are the Temples of the Holy Ghost This we have learnt out of the first reason what the Angel meant Fall not down before me I am thy fellow-servant Beside it is added Worship God Can any question be made but St. John would worship God Surely he was not to be taught that No but he was to be rouzed out of an extasie that God only is to be adored with a sanctified fear and no Creature It is easie to cast a scruple in any mans way so the Pontificians give us an objection to pick Josh v. 14. A man stood over against Joshuah with a drawn Sword Joshuah demands Art thou for us or for our Adversaries The supposed man replies Nay but a Captain of the Host of the Lord am I now come Then Joshuah fell on his face to the earth and did worship First the Antagonist presumes without all suspition of denial that Joshuah did worship the Angel But the Text says no more than as soon as he knew God had sent him a Captain from heaven he did worship But if it were Religious Worship it was done not to the Angel but unto Gods upon the coming of the Angel When such things come before us as are signs of Gods presence and grace of his mission and institution not of our own invention ware that it is good pious devotion to fall down and worship God when those things are before us As it is most laudable in us to kneel not to the outward Elements upon the Lords Table but unto God at the receiving of Christ in those Elements So Moses probably fell down at or before the burning bush where God spake When the fire came down from heaven to consume the Sacrafice it was a sign of the Lords special presence and the people fell down and worshipped 2. Chron. vii 3. Thus Joshuah seeing the Captain of Gods Host come to succour him fell down and praised the Lord. This answer I dare build upon yet if it were extorted that either Joshuah worshipped this Angel or Balaam that other Angel who bowed down his head and fell flat on his face Num. xxii 31. It is not or ever will be proved that these were religious Adorations but very great moral reverence done unto them more than to any men on earth according to their Coelestial and Supernatural excellency But Angels are not to be religiously worshipped in heaven why then on earth Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven and that is in this precept Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou serve Yet a few words before I end To adore the Eucharist the Reliques of Saints the Figure of the Cross or Images of Christ and his Servants departed is to commit Idolatry with inanimate things those being all alike in that I will keep that bundle of Tares for another occasion But the superstitious worshipping of Saints is so near of kin to that of Angels against which I concluded before that the same Notions I used before and a little added will clearly condemn it We must not think more divinely of a Creature than a Creature is capable And even in this we have cause to bless God that our Religion is repurged from most strong defilements that our common Prayers have none of those blasphemies which some chant over to the most glorious Virgin the Mother of our Lord. And all this happens that they impute more Divinity unto her then is competent to a Creature So the Heathenish Lycaonians saw that Paul and Barnabas were men but they thought some Divinity did inhabite them such as is in God Certainly so the good Centurion Cornelius was mistaken for he gave unto Peter both civil observance as unto a man But because the Lord did bid him send for Peter for his souls Salvation he thought there was a genious in him above a Creature Otherwise Peter had not corrected the reverence he did him with those words Stand up I my self also am a man Acts x. 26. His cogitation had apprehended some divineness in Peter which made him commit a religious prostration for which he was rebuked And indeed an opinion is bread in the superstitious touching the Saints departed that there is more Divineness in them than they can receive else they would not bow down themselves to the mention of their names and
put this authority in execution for as they came down from the Mountain he charged them they should tell no man the things they had seen till the Son of man were risen from the dead The usual stile of our Saviour to his Apostles was Ite praedicate Go and teach all Nations What you hear in secret go and preach on the house top What I tell you in darkness that speak ye in light Mat. x. 27. At this miracle quite contrary what is here revealed He is marvelous light that you must conceal in darkness First Let us make use of it in thesi to illustrate that saying of Solomons Eccl. iii. 7. There is a time to keep silence and a time to speak There is a ripe season for every thing and if you slip that or anticipate it you dim the grace of the matter be it never so good as we say by way of Proverb That an hasty birth brings forth blind whelps so a good Tale tumbled out before the time is ripe for it is ungrateful to the hearer Where controversies about some difficile Points of Divinity have rather begot rage in the minds of men than obedience and devotion it hath been the religious care of godly Magistrates in all Ages to interdict those disputes on all sides that peace might ensue and dissentions by little and little be forgotten When there hath been cause to make use of this policy in our own Church would you think that some would exclaim against it under this colour that it is a tyranny if truth have not liberty to publish it self at all times in season and out of season And yet such late Writers whose judgments if I should name them few I think would refuse subscribe to this Maxim Intempestiva confessio veritatis plus nocet quà m adificat A confession of truth out of time and season doth rather hurt than edifie I will draw home to the instance of my Text anon to prove this when I have laid a stronger foundation out of another Text Matth. xvi 20. Then charged he his Disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ This was a temporary Precept like that about the Transfiguration to conceal it till after the resurrection Why the confession which Peter made for all his fellow Disciples was very right that 's undeniable to know that he was the Messias the Saviour of the World was necessary to salvation that 's indubitable what was in it then that this should be kept close and not be divulged to every creature the reason follows because he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things of the Elders and High Priests and be killed and rise again the third day I prove it that this was the reason Luke ix 21. even in this very Chapter he straitly charged and commanded them to tell no man that he was the Christ of God saying the Son of man must suffer many things and be rejected and slain and rise again the third day yet I must drive on a question further Why should this Article of faith be supprest that he was Jesus Christ because of his ensuing Passion Why 1. you know many were scandalized to see him crucified who had been perswaded that he was the Son of God if he be the Son of God let him come down from the Cross Noluit ergo Christus quod se moriente paucis accidit omnibus accideret says St. Hierom therefore by concealing that doctrine Christ prevented that all should not fall from the faith through infirmity as some had done Before his glorification had made amends for the great humility of his Passion he knew it would rather lose him Disciples than gain him any to advance this Doctrine openly that he was the Eternal Son of God 2. Our Lord and Saviour did ever foresee and provide that he would commit nothing which might hinder his death and passion that his willingness to die for our sakes might appear the greater No doubt he could have manifested himself his Divinity his Innocency so openly that Pilat would have forborn to condemn him and the Jews to crucifie him But wo is us then where had been the ransom to redeem us from eternal damnation Therefore this mysterie was so attemper'd that some raies of his Divinity did appear sufficient to convert his Enemies if they would have learnt and therefore they are inexcusable but with that qualification and diminution that pestilent men were left in unbelief and did not assent that he was the beloved Son in whom the Father was well pleased For had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of life 1 Cor. ii 8. Thus I have sifted this Interdict of our Saviour that he bad his Disciples suppress that he was Jesus the Christ for a time that the light might break out more clearly after his Ascension when the clouds of his Humility and Passion were removed away I shall leave an Objection behind my back if I take not away one scruple what here Christ forbids Mat. x. 7. he commands for he sent his Apostles abroad and when ye go preach saying the Kingdom of God is at hand and what 's that but the Kingdom of the Son of God St. Hierom takes it away thus it seems to me not to be altogether the same thing to preach Christ and to preach Jesus Christ Christus commune dignitatis est nomen Jesus proprium nomen est Salvatoris as who should say Jesus our Saviour is the name of God Christ is his name of dignity as he is the great Prophet and the Messias of the World Therefore he sent his Disciples to preach the Kingdom of Grace which Christ had brought into the World but not evidently till after his Glorification that he was the Son of God coeternal with the Father therefore I have sufficiently ventilated this Cause how Truth is the rich Treasury which God hath given us it is not necessary to lay out all the stock at all times and occasions but as judgment and discretion will light the candle to let us see how much is fit to be brought forth to gain our Brother and to glorifie God Est fideli tuta silentio merces silence doth advantage more oftentimes for peace sake than free utterance Demosthenes and the other Orator Aeschines fell to boasting among themselves which of them had taken most at one time for a see to plead a Cause Aeschines named a great sum and too much perhaps for an honest man to take at once from a Client but Demosthenes slighted it and replied he had received twice as much at one time to hold his peace But from this variance of these large-bribed Orators I will give you this application When a discord is unfortunately raised between party and party among the Members of the same Church so that the factions grow stiff and rigid on both sides the best way is to command silence to all that the fire of strife and
Jordan his Disciples being with him What did this advantage them why Mors Lazari cum Lazaro discipulorum fides surgit cum sepulto says Chrysologus Lazarus was translated from death to life and this did increase the Disciples faith which lay half dead before 2. Martha sollicits for her Brother and 't is strange that Christ came to Bethany on purpose for Lazarus sake and yet spent more time with Martha than with them all The case is plain says Theophylact 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alas her belief was near unto death almost quite gone and Christ came especially to quicken her with his grace that was Martha's resurrection 3. Her Sister Mary was a woful woman and she falls down in compassion about out Saviours feet St. Austin takes her to be the very same Mary that was the publick sinner which washt his feet with her tears and wip'd them with the hairs of her head Luke 7. whereupon he infers Maria peccatrix magis resuscitabatur quà m Lazarus Mary the Sinner was more revived when she was made a penitent Saint than Lazarus was when he was made a living man that was Marries resurrection 4. Here were divers Jews that came to comfort the two Sisters they were witnesses of this work and did glorifie God and believe Christ thanked his Father for it Whereupon says St. Ambrose Non unum Lazarum sed fidem omnium suscitavit it was a Resurrection day not for Lazarus alone but for the faith of all the multitude that were present whether they were the Disciples or Martha or Mary or the multitude of the Jews they had not been as they were if Christ had not made one in every part of the Miracle wherefore let us make a difference between them that came to gaze and them that came to believe a Miracle from the twelfth of this Gospel and the ninth verse The Jews came not only for Jesus sake but to see Lazarus also We come not together this day so much to see Lazarus reviv'd as to see the strength of Jesus above the power of death I have entred once before into this verse and the former both which rise up into two eminent heads like Tabor and Hermon First it is a work of great Dignity that 's one part and a work of great Divinity that 's the other part The Dignity consists in these two points First in that which Christ had spoken before when he had thus said and what was that he prayed unto his Father wherefore it is dignum oratione a work worthy of a Prayer for the preparation Secondly it is dignum proclamatione it was cried with a loud voice and fit to be publisht to all the world The Divinity appears in these three Circumstances 1. Exeat mortuus that a dead man was summon'd to appear 2. Exeat quatriduanus Lazarus after four days departure comes forth 3. Exeat ligatus he that was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin he comes forth of the Monument O strange Divinity the Sepulchers which were shut did open for Christ did call who had the key of David the dead who lay in silence could hear his tongue for it was the same voice which makes the Hinds to bring forth young ones the Body which lay putrified four days gave no offence in the smel Christ was at hand who is a sweet favour for us unto God the feet which were bound with Grave-cloaths could walk before him for in him we live and move and have our being Was not this work worthy of a Prayer was it not worthy of a Proclamation so far I have gone already as likewise into the first Circumstance of the Divinity that a dead man was raised up As Aelian says of the Sybarites that they invite their Guests to a Feast a just year before the day of the Feast so long is it since I promised you the dispatch of this Text and now I am come to perform it you see what remains for this hours employment the two latter Circumstances Quatriduanus excitatur Lazarus is raised up after he had been four days in the Grave and 2 ligatus excitatur it was he that was bound hand and foot with Grave-cloaths and his face with a Napkin two strange parts of his resurrection not lightly to be passed over for to speak of a Miracle suddenly and in a word non dat lucem videntibus sed pavorem it is like lightning says one the flash that glides by of a sudden it may terrifie the eye but not enlighten it First of ille quatriduanus he came forth alive who had been four days asleep in the Monument It is hard to perswade death to part with any thing it hath gotten The Devil strove with the Angel about the Body of Moses think you that Death would not strive with Christ much more about the Soul of Lazarus what a Guest of four dayes continuance and let him go I may say to the Grave as the Prophet said to Ahab for letting Benhadad escape Why hast thou let a man go out of thy hand who was appointed to utter destruction Wherefore St. Chrysostom brings in Death to complain of this fact for a sore grievance on this wise Elias rais'd up a Child whose soul was departed for a time Elisha did as much likewise this I took for a violence done to nature 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but here 's a Conqueror that 's more violent than them both he takes a dead man out of my chaws who stinks and hath been four days in the Sepulcher The same Father replies again this is a small thing to raise up one from burial after four days do you complain of that what if he were putrified what if he were dry bones what if he were dust and clay yea what if that dust were converted into other creatures Adam shall be cloathed again with flesh Noah hath lived in two Worlds he shall live again in a third And according to the Basil Edition of the 72. Job was one of those that rose and appeared in the holy City unto many Matth. 27. Si attendamus quis fecit delectari debemus potiùs quà m mirari says St. Austin If we do but attend who it is that doth all these things we shall rather break out into a passion of Joy than into Admiration For Christ that died for us and rose again for our Justification he hath the Keys of Life and Death and therefore we shall not see corruption for ever Martha had a faith that God could raise up her Brother again and that He would do it if Christ would pray unto him I know even now whatsoever thou wilt ask of God God will give it thee O Woman says Chrysologus thou art yet but of little faith Judex ipse est quem tu postulas Advocatum Wouldest thou make Christ thine Advocate to plead thy Cause Nay Comfort is nearer at hand he is the Judge whom thou
not pity them that may foresee this and yet will be other mens instruments to facilitate their damnable projects I do not pity these Souldiers that would attend the High Priests service against the Lord and against his Christ and now are weary of their service they shook for fear and became as dead men Lastly to end all the wicked have fair warnings these fears and quiverings are good Tutors and admonitions when the house gives a crack before it falls the Inhabitants may shift for their lives and he that will not mend by terror and minacy let his end be misery A standing water that is never troubled hath no commotion in it must needs corrupt so an even fortune that is not acquainted with frowns and afrightments is most incommodious for a Christian but he that will make good use of fear though he shake and cannot stand he shall fall into the arms of mercy But these impious Watchmen were no longer mortified than the Angel lookt upon them There was no serious affection of sorrow in them Sicut mente alienati expavescunt ad momentum simul tamen obliviscuntur se timuisse As a phrentique is awed for a while with his Keeper but flies out into wild fits as soon as he turns his back so this Roman Garrison who may represent the whole condition of Reprobates a little terrified but never amended they had a qualm of guiltiness came over them but they did not search into the true cause and original and as soon as ever they had communicated with the High-Priests and Elders their impudence was encouraged their hands bribed and their tongues bought at a price to publish abroad the most wrongful the most sinful the most senseless forgery that ever was invented therefore since they were no better for that terror which a good Angel struck into them it is to be much presum'd that the Lord did turn them over to evil Angels to be tormented for ever Dearly beloved that which stands before us this day is not an Angel of the ordinary Hierarchy but the Angel of the Covenant Christ our Lord in the Sacrament of his blessed Body not cloathed gorgeously but in the poor Elements of Bread and Wine And let us come to these with joy and not with terror not as dead men unless it be unto sin and living unto God and yet bring store of fear and reverence with you The Greek Fathers call this Table 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the mysteries of dreadfulness lest we should not receive them in a clean vessel and with all due preparation O I beseech you remember you come to receive Christ who is risen and sitteth at the right hand of God wherefore come out of the Grave of your sins from your long accustomed crimes wherein you have been buried not four days with Lazarus but many years and then we shall encompass Christ in his glory with Troops of Angels for evermore AMEN THE SEVENTH SERMON UPON THE RESURRECTION MARK xvi 9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the Week he appeared first to Mary Magdalen out of whom he had cast seven Devils ALL that concerns this most Christian Festival may be referred to two words Christus resurrexit apparuit that Christ rose from the dead and that he appeared after he was risen That he rose from the dead on this day there were good tokens of it the earth trembled the Stone was rolled away the Monument was opened the Souldiers that kept watch upon the place were dismayed and fled away the body was not to be found in the Sepulcher and Angels of light heavenly Spirits that would consent to no fraud or sin ministred in the Grave where the body had lain Who were the Witnesses that could testifie to all this that it was very true A Catalogue of people some of one condition some of another The whole Corps du Guard of the Souldiers though they were corrupted to tell a lie the Women that brought sweet Odours and Spices to embalm him and lastly two of his own Disciples Peter and John who saw what God had done and returned from the Monument with some little faith but with great extasies of wonder and joy indeed with a concurrence of all these passions that no man can well tell what to call it See my Beloved here was the grand Article of Faith come now to the birth yet all this that was passed was not able to bring it forth It put Christ therefore I will not say to the trouble but to the exercise of five several Apparitions upon this day 1. He was seen of Mary Magdalen 2. Of Peter although we meet not with the manner how Peter saw him but the Apostle Paul says he was seen of Cephas then of the Twelve it was his happiness by himself alone to behold him alive again upon this day Luk. xxiv 34. The Lord is risen indeed and hath appeared unto Simon 3. He manifested himself to the cluster of those Women that came to anoint his body 4. He discovered himself to those two that were going to Emmaus 5. He came in the presence of all the Disciples at Evening when the doors were shut These were the Cinque Ports I may say of his sweet manifestation at this season And it falls out very well to my purpose that my Text says the first that saw him after his victory over death was Mary Magdalen For this will make even with Eve upon whose disobedience I have preach'd so often I have shewed unto you divers times how by a Woman came the first vengeance of death now I shall shew you if God please how by a woman came the first notice of the Resurrection from the dead and both hapned in a Garden In a Garden life was forfeited unto death And in a Garden life was recovered from death But death was threatned to Eve towards the darkness of the Evening he that conquered death made shew of his victory openly to this holy Woman early in the Morning And this is Davids Song accomplished Heaviness may endure for a night but joy cometh in the Morning The Text offers much to be spoken of I cannot reach at all but I will select so much only as will serve for the continuance of an hour First here are circumstances of time which shew a coherence between the Resurrection and Apparition of our Lord. The Apparition as well as the Resurrection was upon the same day On the first day of the Week and much about the same time of the day very early in the Morning Secondly The Apparition it self was made to Mary Magdalen who is described that she had the first fruits of Christs love for the present he appeared first c. And 2. she that was the object of his great mercy for the time past for it was she out of whom Christ had cast seven devils Unto these particulars are required your Attentiveness and my labour To begin then These great marvels hapned on
appointed Which is the fountain of all discontent not to stay Gods leisure and to complain of his Providence as if he had broke his day Such will fall into a passion as if they wanted ease and that the ground was not soft enough under their feet though the way should lead them to the Kingdom of Heaven But a true faith expects Gods leisure from day to day will neither faint nor fret that his suit hangs long in the Court of Requests Many sores will never be well healed unless they be long dressing and many deliverances will never be throughly perfect unless they be long settling and many mercies are like seed in the ground and will be long growing A second Instance of grudging is in the 5. verse Our soul loatheth this light bread Is that a fault in bread to be light see how they commend it in dispraising it I am sure they came lightly by it It fell like a hoar frost about their Tents they neither ploughed nor sowed nor reaped they did but stoop and gather it they lived as easily as young birds in the nest when the Dam puts meat into their mouths They did not see how God did take away the curse of Adam from them to eat bread in the sweat of their brows Let them look to this and make use of it that are of the best rank that God do not lay this sin to their charge on this wise you labour not at all yet you want not you have store enough and ease enough into the bargain yet never content They that work hard for one dayes food depend upon God and call upon him more than they that have before hand for a year nay sufficient for an age Now put both the exceptions of the Israelites together for their bones and their belly for their journey and their bread and you see a little painfulness was repined at as a great deal of misery and a great benefit slighted for but a little favour But was there so much evil in this sin to cause a flight of Serpents to fall upon the Camp I believe so and I will prove it First there are two sins so scandalous to the Jewish Nation that Philo conceals them nay Josephus out of more love to his Country then fidelity in History never remembers them those be the worshipping of the Golden Calf and this serpentine sin of murmuring at Salmonah Therefore this artifice of Josephus tells you that murmuring was one of the two sins of the first magnitude Secondly it is a filthy crime to obscure great benefits under a black cloud of unthankfulness They murmured at Moses whom no praises could sufficiently extol for his rare deservings He brought them out of Egypt and made them all free men that were slaves What recompence could they make him for their liberty They were beholding to him for one thing more which was greater than all the rest to uphold them in true Religion and the right Worship of God so that it was said of them and of no other Nation in the Earth Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God Deut. xii 2. In all things he ruled them with a faithful hand yet they were ever at this key O that it were otherwise that it were better thus and thus which were no better than Nebuchadonosor's Dreams he knew not himself what he had dreamt of when he was awake The use of it from their error is that we should sit down and count how many blessings we have received and be thankful rather than fret at a few imaginary inconveniences which I can puff away with a little breath as easily as a downy blow-ball O all ye works of the Lord which he hath wrought in England in less than two years praise him and magnify him for ever We have cause to frame a ditty balsamed all over with a perfume of thanksgiving for all things that God hath done for us from the center of the Earth to the top of Heaven Thirdly God hath laid a great burden upon the shoulders of the Ruler to provide for the safety of so many millions and what reward hath he in this World but acceptance and encouragement from his Lieges This was the comfort of David 2 Sam. iii. 36. Whatsoever the King did pleased the People But if so much merit meet with frowardness then says Moses I cannot bear your cumbrance burden and strife Deut. i. 12. And if they weary the good spirit of Moses doubtless they shall receive the recompence of their own bitter spirit Nay if the Ruler be not the better for your good word let him not be the worse for your undutiful language A reasonable thing as can be askt If you will not honour him do not murmur at him that 's the least that can be required and too little in conscience But we must get what we can from bad debtors To be short in this point if you speak evil of that which you are bound to praise if you fall foul on the ways of God because you will not wait his leisure if you pick quarrels at good things for which you are bound to give thanks I appeal not as I might to mans judgment to dry up the filth that runs from faction with the spunge of the Laws I refer them to God and to the Host of his venemous creatures which he will send to correct their poisonous tongues The sin is like to nothing more than an Asp or Viper no serpent so much a serpent as a murmuring spirit therefore such a punishment was a fit cover to clap upon such a sin The Lord sent serpents among them A Judgment 1. vile 2. painful 3. strong 4. incurable First a vile one to die serpent-bitten was inglorious to the warlike stomach of that People their sword could not help them and if they kept not in their Tents like Prisoners one of these Sergeants of God would shoot through the air and clap upon them Let no man say a woman slew me says Abimelech Judg ix 54. Let not the uncircumcised thrust me through says Saul 1 Sam. xxxi 4. But this was far below them both and most opprobrious to humane nature For as the Devil could not choose a viler creature wherein to tempt us so there is not a meaner on earth to chastise us They might be for ought we know created on purpose for this office of wrath as the Frogs and Locusts in Egypt or gathered from all quarters to fall thick upon their Camp as Quails were brought from all places to feed them there might be store of them in the Wilderness before now but never stirred up till now to do execution I define it not but which way soever they came they were never a whit the better It is a reproach upon man who had the dominion of the Creatures and saw them all put under his feet that every paultry worm is able to turn against him and bring him to the dust Marvel not
of the eighth the next immediately is the Plague of Frogs So is ours croaking in the dirty ditches of the Netherlands which by the Rod of Moses and the Prayer of Aaron will be sent away to remain only in their own River Ver. 9. And when they are remanded to their own sinks and Marshes God deliver us from the Plague of Locusts in the Apocalyps that overspread this Land Before I shut up the sorrows of Nehemiah I consider what will be said by some that we are in no distress as Jerusalem was no foreign Foe hath brought us under the malice of an unthankful stock of men hath not so much as shaken our welfare Our Walls are the same which the Oracle commended to the Athenians Walls of wood well-built Ships maintained and multiplied for the honour and safeguard of the Island The Gates of Jerusalem before they were burnt down were their Courts of Justice for their Elders sate in the Gate when they did right between party and party And such Gates we have standing inviolate in their ancient dignity and priviledge that the poor may not be oppressed by him that is too mighty for him O happy if we knew it and were thankful that our Walls of defence and fortitude and our Courts of Justice are unimpaired and flourish Yet for all this as Nehemiah heard words that astonished him so foul blasts and tempests beat sore upon our ears which if God help not may drive us upon the Rocks Where can you converse abroad and not hear such talk as may provoke a Godly man to fast and mourn and pray before the God of Heaven My ears are grated with our modern Scepticks disputants against the Creation of the world out of nothing against the sacred authority of the Scriptures against the immortality of the soul of man While such dispute it sharply the Devil sits in the Chair to moderate Such sawcy petulant pedling wits dishonour God and these triumphing days wherein we live Besides what filthy obscene language is in the tongues of our Gallants What customary swearing What little reverence to that holy Name which should not be prophaned in a syllable What harmony is so sweet as to have incorrupt Religion and nothing else maintained in this Nation so wonderfully cleansed now for the space of about one hundred and twenty years from absolute superstition If Popery then be slickt over with cunning words if such jet about in every corner as will extol that Babylonish trumpery and reproach our Reformation to our face will it not stir us up to a publick bewailment and mourning in the sight of God Put to these base detractions of right worthy Patriots who deserve all honour for the present and a glorious memory hereafter and heap up all with malignant whisperings ungrateful murmurings and the whole riff-raff of vain talk are not these fore runners of a likely woe if we do not seek our heavenly Father betimes If we do not keep in our evil tongues God will ring his judgments into our deaf ears And though our enemies have not a spark of goodness in them whereby they should deserve to be Lords over us yet there may be so much wickedness among us that it may be our punishment to be kept under by them I am not afraid of the puissance of other Kingdoms for any store of vertue that I can hear is among them the whole World is out of frame and set upon mischief But we may expect the heavy hand of the Lord among us where he hath sown so much pure Gospel and reapt so little obedience So I have passed over the first part of my Text the cause of Nehemiahs humiliation applied to our selves And it came to pass when I heard these words c. His humiliation shall now be offered to your instruction in five passes or degrees beginning with his posture of sorrow that he sate down I call it a posture of sorrow for so it is in this place In cases of great heaviness it doth not signifie to repose the body in a seat of ease but to sink down to the ground and to sit upon the earth His legs could not bear the weight of his sorrows and he cast himself upon the ground You shall have some Texts of Scripture to confirm it Job overladen with misery sate down among the ashes Chap. ii 8. The King of Ninivey in dread of Gods anger rose up from his Throne covered himself with Sackcloth and sate in ashes Jon. iii. 6. And when the evil day of Captivity was coming the Daughter of Sion sate upon the ground Lam. ii 10. So that in the first place you see Nehemiah began at the right end abasing himself to this vile Element upon which we tread and expounding the Lords word in his own practice Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return In the seasons of joy and prosperity it is hard to bring a man into a right meditation what he is Then his imaginations are upon a Pinacle or he is flying in the air I hope therefore you will take out this Lesson better a great deal upon this day of common affliction Now I trust you will perceive that this Tabernacle of flesh in all the spangles and trappings of pride is but a muckhill or such rubbish as we stop our nose at in the dung cart or at the best that which the cleanly will not endure in their Chambers dust Therefore affliction is most natural to us which brings us to our proper Center and makes us sit upon the earth As who should say we are but Worms creeping upon the ground enter not into judgment with thy servants who are nothing in thy sight O where can we find so fit a place to receive us considering the abundance of iniquity which is in us as the bare ground Is there any pure metal in us Are we not all dross And whither should that be cast but into the high ways Do we not dishonour the name of Christian and turn the grace of God to wanâ—onness And if the salt have lost his savour is it good for any thing but to be cast out and trodden under foot But alas we are ill prepared for this godly exercise of affliction There is no thought in this Age of sitting down upon the ground Our ears are deaf to our Saviours Lesson Luk. xiv 10. Go and sit down in the lowest room That is a Parable and we lust not to know the meaning David says Psal xl 2. Mine iniquities have taken hold upon me that I am not able to look up but our iniquities do take such hold upon us â—hat we do nothing but look up Was ever ambition so forward as in these times What striving what streining to come aloft Yet if aspiring after Promotion brought no other mischief but this one to the soul it were enough to condemn it that it carries a man into a strange Land quite into another Region far distant from humility or
viluerunt Lesser things are admired which happen rarely the greater works of God because they are frequent are heeded carelesly Say not now but ye see cause enough why Christ did actuate this Miracle of the loaves no oftner than twice he would not stretch his Creatures beyond their natural size to please their idle curiosity And yet I will tell you of a miraculous multiplication but I do not wish you to believe that is done toties quoties as they think fit that have the Relique in their custody It is the Cross on which our Saviour was crucified you must not question the Story but that Helen found it in an heap of rubbish at Jerusalem many did desire Chips of it out of their devotion and though innumerous slices of it were cut away yet it kept its just magnitude and never varied The thing was divulged by some but none of the famous Doctors one thousand three hundred years ago One of them that is said to write extemporary Catechisms when he was a young man compares the Cross which wasted not for all the shivers that were borrowed from it to these Loaves and Fishes Another says out of his credulous good meaning that it got this solidity because the bloud of him was spilt upon it who saw no corruption And to this hour say such as get their living by this craft this holy wood is not consumed though it be abundantly imparted Is this credible that Christ did dispense this power unto any to work a Miracle when they would as if there were an Office erected to do signs and wonders Qui Bavtum non odit he that hath so strong a stomach to disgest this let him swallow such an other that out of three or four nails that pierced our Saviours hands and feet the Friers can direct you to Churches and Religious Houses where an hundred instead of four are exposed to adoration What though the Beam of the Cross did not diminish for the portions cut away yet which way did the Nails increase Did one Nail spawn another as big as it self None is so frontless to defend it But to cut off further process upon the matter It is best to bind the Legend how the Cross and the Nails have multiplied into volumes and believe them together But the sure way is not to parallel the glorious works of our Master with such Apocryphal fictions There is a great difference between Juggling and Miracles Hitherto touching the Act of his power in producing this admired work go onward to the next Point and we shall encounter his goodness Our Saviour did not use to do tricks to shew his skill but that some might be the better for him therefore his power was joyned with Beneficence Vt potestas non terreat sed amorem excitet says St. Austin That he might not astonish them with his greatness but endear them with his liberality Leaf gold is drawn out a great way and then it is fit for nothing but Ostentation So the multiplying of the Loaves and Fishes had served barely for the pomp of the eye but that the wonderful encrease thereof concluded in a benefit And first I note though the love of Christ to mankind was excessive strong unto death yet going in the Tract of reason they had little cause to look for this at his hands Alas he had no home to entertain them no Revenues wherewith to feast them no Olive yards or Vineyards to bestow upon them Could five thousand look for a Supper of his bestowing For our sakes he became poor that we through his poverty might become rich that is says Nazianzen he put on the poverty of my wretched flesh that I might gain the riches of his glorious Divinity They that followed him had not their wages in Meats and Drinks in Silver and Gold but in Sanctity and Justification in peace of Conscience and in the earnest of the Spirit to be heirs of Salvation And he whose Profession it was to open the Treasures of Heaven to his Disciples and to possess naught of Earth no not so much as to set his foot upon doth he strain himself to give entertainment to so many in the Wilderness What was this but to yield as it were to the time to be beneficial to the Jews in a temporal way that by all means he might win their love He had fed their Spirit with the Word of life and satiated them one would think with the promise of eternal Joy and Immortality if they believed in his name but he knoweth whereof we are made he considereth the Worm in our corruptible appetite which is always craving He remembred that a little in hand goes a great way with them that cannot abide to have all their state in reversion therefore he distributed unto the necessity of their body though his Errand for which he came into the world was to be the Saver of Souls as you would say he stept a little out of his own way to bring them into the right way I cannot but revolve it in my fancy that the Jews were more transported with this curtesie of our Saviours than with all that had preceded Hereupon they cry out This is the Messias this is he that should come into the world Let us take him up and make him a King How ignorantly and unequally doth flesh and bloud set a price upon the works of God I durst almost say that this was one of the least good turns that ever he did them When a Miracle came off graciously indeed it had such a tang at the end of it as Son thy sins be forgiven thee or This day is Salvation come to thine house This had no such heavenly adjunct but was a frank Feast among a promiscuous company as his rain falls upon the just and unjust Well though the grudgings of this disease are become natural to us all to like the heavenly offices of the Gospel the better if Christ befriend us a little with these corruptible things yet carnal Companions are most odious to apprice things momentary before coelestial How much better doth Solomon distinguish Length of days meaning endless days are in his right hand and in his left hand riches and honour Wherefore David describes evil affected men that value earth before heaven that their right hand is a right hand of iniquity because they grasp transitory things in their right hand fixing their chiefest complacency in them which are favours of much later digress and to be received in the left And the same Metaphor is prosecuted in another sacred Song Cant. ii 6. His left hand is under my head and his right hand doth embrace me Sinistra capiti non praeponitur sed supponitur says Bernard The left hand which bestows Loaves and Fishes must be under our head not above it as if it were the top of our desires but the right hand should compass us about at the very heart To this Point but a word more Christ produced
upon their bare knees to procure them that happiness to be readmitted into the union of the body of Christ Rowl those words in your conscience which Christ spake to the Apostles Whatsoever ye bind on Earth shall be bound in Heaven and it would gripe you as if the knot were tied about your Heart to be shut out of the Fold of Christs Flock by the Sentence Ecclesiastical They that are set over your soul have not the use of the material Sword but the words of Discipline that proceed out of their mouth are sharper than any two-edged Sword Having in readiness to revenge all disobedience says St. Paul 2 Cor. x. 13. In promptu habentes What so ready upon all occasions as the Tongue If this Mother be offended by the impenitency and contumacy of her degenerous Sons she will suddenly smite them with such a wound as nothing can heal but her own forgiveness and the grace of God But a Mother is soon intreated if the Child seek her with tears and lowliness It is a gentle caution which Bernard gives to them that sway the authority in spiritual censures Discite subditorum matres vos esse non Dominos studete magis amari quà m metui si interdum severitate opus sit materna sit non tyrannica Let not your severity be tyrannical but with the compassion of a Mother Thirdly Forasmuch as the Church is our Mother we must carry that venerable duty towards her that great heed must be had to her determinations of Faith not as if it were the rule of truth that is the prerogative of Sacred Scripture but because it holds out the rule of truth and the Ministry thereof is the condition subordinate under God to find out truth My Son forsake not the teaching of thy Mother says Solomon Prov. vi 10. Means he our natural Parent only Nay says Mercer Potes ad Ecclesiam si velis referre You may refer it to the Church if you will And a good reason why that not only it may be but most aptly it should be applied to our mystical or spiritual Mother for the blessings reckoned up in that place to those that will be taught by the wisdom of their Mother are so many as they are not like to be the fruits of obedience to a natural mother only To make my self way the sooner out of this vast Point by distinctive conclusions First If we call that Jerusalem that Church our Mother which St. Paul doth here the most Primitive Church which includes the Apostles Evangelists it is bootless to dispute in a thing so evident that it is to explain the sense and decide the meaning of all Articles of Faith for the Apostles spake as God did give them utterance who is the Author of all hidden and heavenly truths and we are to rest in him as the fountain of all illumination Secondly Excluding the Apostles Evangelists and others conversant with them who were immediately inspired to know all truth which makes a perfect Christian in their own person take the Vniversal Church from their days unto this time and I conceive that the uniform practice and general judgment of all Gods servants that went before us is a certain and undoubted explication of all those Points contained in Scripture that concern our salvation We are taught in the Articles of our Creed that this Church is a witness which we ought to listen unto I believe the holy Catholick Church It hath the promise that the Gates of Hell shall not prevail against it Also Isa lix 21. This is my Covenant with them saith the Lord my Spirit which is upon thee and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth nor out of the mouth of thy Seed nor out of the mouth of thy Seeds Seed from henceforth and for ever This is a Promise that the Church dispersed in all places and continued in all times shall keep the trust of saving truth inviolably So Tertullian so Vincentius Lir. upon this subject Quod apud multos unum est non est erratum sed traditum says the former That which is uniformly taught by many much more by all is no lie but a truth delivered by that Church to which God hath entailed his blessing that it shall not forsake it I do not say yet that this Vniversal Church is absolutely free from error but from such error only as would shake the stability of faith Some things that may be unknown without prejudice were ever concealed But the whole Church that is and was is so free from error and ignorance that it knows and possesseth all the truth which Christ hath revealed The Churches are the Golden Candlesticks in the midst whereof the Son of God did walk Rev. i. 12. Thirdly take the Church for all those Christians that are now presently living in the world and among those there will ever be some whom God will preserve from pernicious Error yet those some are not necessarily and always such as are in place of Authority or palpably notorious that we may have recourse unto them In a populous Congregation I have heard a Psalm sung quite out of tune by the greater part and those few that sung tunably could not be heard for a long time till at last their good harmony gained a considerable number to listen unto them and to imitate them So false Doctrine may spread far and the soundest judgments be silenced in the Plurality of opposition If their tunable Notes beget good Musick in others it is the working of God which is stronger than the violence of men But from hence I collect that there is no man living nor any Society of men living which hath such indubitable authority from God that they may pronounce a judicial definitive Sentence to oblige and convince the Consciences of others in Controversies of Religion To relie upon one mans Oracle it were a ready way indeed if it were a certain But that man whom we mean is of such little credit with those that cry him up that he cannot make his Partisans submit unanimously to him in his own cause And for general Councils the great Army of Jesus Christ his pitch'd battel since the former may be corrected by the later and have been corrected their judgment is so awful as may quel the resistance of private men but not so irrefragable upon their decision as to tie their Conscience You will say then hath God provided no certain and external judicial authority to Umpire differences of Religion in this or that present Age I answer First he hath given the complete and perfect Rule of Faith in holy Scripture which hath spoken so plainly in things necessary to be believed that it needs no Gloss to make it plainer As Aristotle says That Laws which are penn'd with the best wisdom do leave but little to the will of the Expounder Secondly We are not Brutes that know not our right hand from