tree What life can he haue that is separate from Christ the fountaine of life Trees that are rooted vp for their barrennesse are not set againe and when doe we heareof an Apostata a second time incorporated into Christ The Iudgement is fearefull And yet as fearefull as it is our Husbandman doth denounce it vnto these Trees God doth denounce it against the Iewes Euerie tree shall be cut cut vp shal be cast into the fire Neither doth he onely denounce it but biddeth them also to looke for it speedily for Now is the Axe layed to the roote of the tree and vniuersally Euerie tree that beareth not good fruit c. You heare what particulars are remarkable in my Text whereof it remaineth that you now heare againe somewhat more fully as the time will permit But before I come to the particulars I must point at a stratageme of Sathans which he vseth to stay men from amending their liues It is impossible for a man in cold bloud to silence the accusing voice of conscience Acts 24.25 not to thinke on and thinking with Faelix not to tremble at the remembrance of the Iudgement day now left men should be reclaimed hereby he hath prouided Fig. leaues to couer their nakednesse and perswadeth them that if they be attired therewith they will not bee so cowardly as Adam was and flie from the fearefull presence of God he filleth their heads with the holinesse worthinesse of the ceremonies which they vse the parentage from whence they come and perswadeth that these are armour of proofe against the heauie stroake of Gods wrath they need no more but crie out The Temple of the Lord the Temple of the Lord Iere. cap. 7. and we haue Abraham to our father These words if they had no more to say for themselues but these words are able to stay the punishing Angell and sheath the sword of God certainely the Iewes put their trust in them and they were the rather induced so to doe because they seemed to haue a faire warrant for it God himselfe promiseth that in their greatest extremitie hee would remember Abraham â—â—uis 26. Isaac and Iacob and for their sakes relieue them And how often doth he diuert his wrath onely out of the remembrance of his owne Name by his Name meaning his visible residence in their Tabernacle and Temple which were built to put his Name there euen the Cloud that led them out of Egypt wherein resided the Angell of whom God said that his Name was in him Of this kind of Indulgence you haue a whole Chapter in Ezekiel Chap. 10. But they did not distinguish betweene temporall and eternall wrath It is true that the stroake that is but temporall is often kept off from the children in contemplation of their worthy Parents there are many examples in the Scripture but no example of any child that scaped eternall wrath out of Gods regard vnto his Parents There is an example to the contrarie for Christ setteth forth the rich Glutton in Hell torments who being there calleth Abraham his father and Abraham yeildeth him the name of a child and yet that childe of such a father did burne in Hell fire and not he alone for Christ saith that many shall come from the East and the West and sit downe with Abraham Isaac and Iacob in the Kingdome of Heauen Matth 8. and the children of the Kingdome shall be cast out into vtter darknesse yea they shall see Abraham Isaac and Iacob and all the Prophets in the Kingdome of God Luke 13. and themselues thrust out So farre is it off that gracelesse children should fare the better for their worthy Parents that God vseth to exaggerate their sinne by comparing them with their Parents as appeareth in the doome of Iehoiakim the sonne of Iosia who vnder the verie name of the sonne of Iosia for being so vnlike his father Ier. 22. is heauily doomed and in the same forme doth God proceed against the Leuites Mal. 2 If God were so much in loue with the children of Abraham and if they failed could not supply others haply he might tolerate them notwithstanding their vnto wardlinesse as many a naturall father beareth with an vnthriftie sonne and putteth not off his naturall affection towards him because if hee doe iustice vpon him and disinherit him it is not in his power to haue another But this is not Gods case you heard it proued at large in the censure of their first arrogancie therefore doth Saint Iohn beat them from this hold and make way in this Text to the terrour of God which he would haue timely to enter into their soules Blandimenta delinquentiae de patrum resumâ—sêrunt gratia Tertull de pudicitia And in them hee doth warne vs neuer to presume vpon like pretence they made a Parasite of Gods fauour to Abraham which was euer at their elbow to sooth them in their foulest sinnes but let no prerogatiue so blind vs as to make vs thinke that the Sermons of repentance doe not concerne vs and wee will neuer so thinke if we thinke as we ought vpon the particulars of this text let vs then come to them and begin with the Persons whereof the first is God God is here rather intimated then expressed yet so intimated that by resoluing of the words we shall easily perceiue him to bee here for if the axe must be laid to the root of the tree there must be some bodie to lay it and who is that but God none besides God can giue the stroke that is here threatned Men take their first rooting in God according to the maxime In him we liue moue and haue our being if naturall much more spirituall none then can root vs out of him except he haue power ouer him such power hath none besides himselfe others haue insolently threatned eradication to the Church as you may reade often in the Prophets but you may reade withall how the Holy Ghost doth scorne them and how vaine their attempts haue beene it is only for God to pronounce it sadly and effectually to performe it whereupon it followeth that the person here meant must needs be God And God is here compared to a Husbandman surueying his Orchard The Scripture that euery where speaketh of God doth more vsually teach vs what he is to vs then what hee is in himselfe and describeth him rather according to his Prouidence then his Essence because although the later would more affect our curiositie yet the former doth worke more vpon our conscience and it is our conscience whereat the Scripture doth aime it desireth rather to make vs good then wise which we shall be if we learne so to know God as we may best be brought to feare him a knowledge which I the more earnestly commend vnto you because this otherwise learned Age seemeth not so much as it should to be acquainted with it But that you may the better perceiue this
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
is the chiefest and to be vsed Contra Luxuriam which is not the least of those seuen Deaths Heads When we looke vpon the Deluge of Sinne wee find that all the fountaines of the deepe the bottomlesse Pit are broken open and the streames thereof drowne many Soules in perdition yet amongst them there is none more vniuersall none more preualent then is this Sinne of Luxurie Desire you a proofe You shall haue a short but yet a pregnant one Men are turned into Women and Women into Men. Anatomize that Carrion well may you find more certainely you can find nothing worse therein There is nothing worse then this preposterous Vnreasonablenesse and vnreasonable Preposterousnesse Well what then is the Remedie Surely I know none better then that old one practised by the Church and therefore haue I chosen to recommend vnto the World this Penitentiall and shall be glad if any that is bewitch with that pleasing poyson may bee cured hereby This Psalme was occasioned by a wanton Man and Woman and therefore the better fitting to our Wantons of both Sexes and I doubt not but the most monstrous Changeling if hee meditate sadly hereon may bee brought to change againe but for and to the better I meane hee may resolue to turne from his Sinne and turne vnto God To worke this shal be my endeauour and to this end will I bend the Exposition of this Psalme Let vs come then to it There are two meanes of Instruction Rules and Examples a Rule is more apt to make a man wise but to make a man good there is much more power in an Example an Example is not onely a quicker but also a more quickning course Of Examples some are onely reported some are represented also the force of a Report is very great yet comes it far short of that which proceedes from a Representation for wee are much more affected with that which wee see then that which we heare this was the ground of instituting Tragedies and Commedies or to speake more to our purpose of those seuere Penitentiall Formes practised in the Primitiue Church Now the Doctrine of Repentance is in this Penitentiall deliuered not in a Rule but in an Example in an Example not reported but represented Ambrose therefore a Latine Father cals it Monumentum A liuing Portraiture of a Penitent Chrysosome a Greeke Father cals it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A speaking Image it doth so eye vs that it cannot but affect vs affect vs not Sensually as dead Pictures doe but Morally as a reflecting Example that transformes into it selfe all those that doe discreetly behold it Certainly if any this kind of Instruction will worke vs and worke Repentance into vs. Touching then this Vertue of Repentance wee may learne heare Whence it springs and What it is The Fountaine of it is opened in the Title but the Nature of it is vnfolded in the whole Body of the Psalme The Title doth set before vs a Person and his State the Person is Dauid for this is a Psalme of Dauid But the words must bee resolued into more then appeare for Dauidis is as much as a Dauide and de Dauide Dauid was the Author and Dauid is the Argument of it with his owne Pensil doth he draw this Picture of himselfe He represents Himselfe two wayes Cadentem Resurgentem in the State of a Sinner and the state of a Penitent In the state of a Sinner he confesseth that he went went into Bath sheba in the state of a Penitent in the other words Where you haue the Meanes by which he was brought to Repentance and the Successe of those Meanes The Meanes are Nathan the Prophet Nathan King Dauids subiect but as a Prophet he was the Embassador of God the King of Heauen had his Leidger with that King on Earth Neither doth the holy Ghost only mention the Meanes but giues vs also to vnderstand the needefulnesse and the powerfulnesse thereof the needefulnesse in the word Venit Nathan came to Dauid Dauid neuer sought to Nathan we are as carelesse to returne as wee are gracelesse to goe from God it is needefull therefore that God seeke vs that wee may seeke to him otherwise we will not nay we cannot The Meanes is no lesse powerfull then needfull that is intimated by After that that is after he had committed his Sinne. Sinne doth not only wound to death but disenable also to rise there from for the holy Spirit of Discipline will flie deceipt Wisd 1.5 will not abide when vnrighteousnesse commeth That which we cannot doe lying in the dregs of sinne God doth supplie by the Ministrie of his Word the Ministerie of his Word is the Meanes to worke Repentance Reade this truth in the Successe of those Meanes The Successe was King Dauids speedie and sollemne Conuersion speedie no sooner did Nathan reproue him but he gaue glorie vnto God he acknowledged his sinne and penned this Psalme Neither was his Conuersion only speedie but solemne also hee deliuered this Psalme to the chiefe Musician he would haue it published in the Church the Church to be a witnesse vnto his Conuersion I haue broken vp the Title and poynted out the Particulars to the fuller vnfolding whereof let vs now so listen that we may by Gods grace be led onward some steps in our owne Repentance The first thing that offers it selfe is the Person One Person is both Authour and Argument of this Psalme and when we consider the Argument we may wounder at the Author wounder that there should bee found a man so humble as to record his owne so notable defects But yet such Ingenuitie though neuer so distastfull to flesh and blood hath beene found in manie worthie Children of God especially in those that haue beene chosen to be Penmen of the Scripture they report as sincerely their owne faults as their vertues no lesse Gods Reproofe of them then his Fauours towards them such Ingenuity wee finde here in King Dauid But it was not only in King Dauid Moses went herein before him so did Samuel also Saint Mathew followeth them so did Saint Paule none of these spared themselues neither were they ashamed to record the errors of their life to record them I say which is much more then only to acknowledge them though the acknowledgement be publike They obserue not amisse who herehence gather That the Scriptures are diuine because the Penmen thereof are so vnpartiall such dealing is vnlikelie to come from flesh and blood whereupon it followeth well that they wrote as they were moued by the Holy Ghost 1. Pet. 1.22 Our lesson is the Humilitie of a Publican sauoureth much more of Gods Spirit then the Pride of a Pharisee and if wee desire either to resemble these worthies in our Persons or that our words should bee conformable to the Holy Canon wee must indite no lesse Penetentials then Panegyricks and make Remembrances of our Sinnes aswell as of our Vertues Certainelie
our nature and so farre as it doth diminish it of something maketh it nothing for nothing can truly be sayd to be farther then it is partaker of God of the being which he giueth vnto it who only can say I am that I am Besides the Truth that is opposed to Vanity there is another which is opposed to Hypocrisie and that is the correspondency of our outward actions to our inward affections for as our outward affections must haue their stamp from God so must they endeauour to print their true stampe vpon our Actions for as the seede that is sowne in the ground beareth the like seede aboue ground and the fruit is not vnlike the Tree no more should it be in our moralities wee should not sustayne one person in our bosome and another in our countenance bee painted sepulchers full of dead mens bones we should be Iacobs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 plaine men Nathaniels without all guile Mat. 23.17 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Basil 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith Chrysostome the character of an honest man is to be single minded Gen. 25.27 single tongued he that hath a heart and a heart a tongue and a tongue hath not truth in his inward parts This being the nature of Sincerity if wee will try the world by it I thinke we may iustly breake out in to King Dauids complaint in another Psalme Helpe Lord there is not a godly man left Veraces defecêrunt a filijs hominum truth is perished from among the sons of men the periuries which are frequent at Assizes and Sessions Psal 12.1 the deceit of Citizens which haue denominated deceit it selfe for from them is astutia deriued quia nihil lucrantur nisi admodùm mentiuntur whose thrift is fitly called craft because did they not circumueÌ„r they would come short of much of their wealth As for Statesmen all Chronicles do witnesse that they vse the Foxes case more frequently then the Lions skin and Policie is one of the words that is degenerated from a laudable to an infamous signification and is become a Synonymon for Machiauelisme This is the cause that Leagues and Contracts though confirmed with neuer so religious bonds are rather snares whereby one State seeketh to intrap another then pledges of their mutuall security But the quintessence of all falshood is the Popish Aequiuocation and Mentall Reseruation then which the Diuell neuer hatched a more pestilent fraud to bane Societies and desame Christian Religion The reason of all these obliquities and aberrations from Truth is for that euery man squareth vnto himselfe a measure of his owne but that measure of Sincerity which here God hath squared out is euery where neglected The Papist hee maketh the Catholique cause his measure the Politician his Greatnesse the Citizen his wealth the Iurour the preseruing of his Customes or pleasuring his friends these and some such like to these cautions and conditions doth the world patch vnto Truth without which they will not entertayne it The way to reforme all is to trie our Sincerity by the rule here set down by truth in the inward parts first that Truth that is opposed vnto Vanitie for hereby must wee correct our inward affections reduce them to the temper which God first gaue them and keepe them within the bounds which Gods Law doth set vnto them and when we haue done this then must we come on to the Truth that is opposed to Hypocrisâ—y let our conuersation be the looking glasse of our affections and let not any thing appeare in the Outward man that is not in the inward so shall wee be sincere wee shall haue truth in our inward parts And let this suffice for the nature of Sincerity Such Sincerity is of great regard that appeareth first in the Affection wherewith it is entertained The Affection is Desire and Desire is a compound affection of Louing and wishing for wee cannot desire that which we doe not loue and what wee loue if wee want it for that wee wish so that Sincerity is a louely thing And indeed how can it choose but be louelie that holdeth together all Societies Domesticall Politicke Ecclesiasticall without which iealousies must needs arise and so destruction follow euery man commits himselfe securely to him in whom he suspecteth no guile as where he doth suspect it hee thinketh himselfe safest when he hath least to doe Secondly as it is louely where it is so where it is not there it is longed for for man being by nature sociable cannot but wish for that qualitie in euery man without which there can be no society therefore those whom otherwise wee hate because wee cannot but haue to doe with them wee wish them all this Vertue Truth in the inward parts which should make all sorts of persons carefull to nurture those that are committed to their charge Parents their Children Masters their Seruants Pastors their People Magistrates their Subiects in this Vertue and sharpely to correct their pronenesse to the contrary the World groaneth vnder the mischiefes of falshood yet as if it yeelded no mischiefe euery where may you find a Schoole thereof 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 euery such master breedeth such a scholar as maketh him a proofe that he hath profited in his Art But the Affection only doth not shew the regard it is improued much by the Person in whom this Affection is found I shewed you that Sincerity is louely and longed for but it skilleth much who the Person is that loueth it and longeth for it for our nature is corrupt and with our nature our affections wee mistake euill for good and we misplace our affections often vpon euill rather then good It is not so with God as hee is so he affecteth he is most Holy and such are his Desires also what he loueth is louely indeed because he cannot loue amisse and what he longeth for that we want because if we did not want it he could not long for it And indeed he must needs loue Sincerity because it is the Image of himselfe for he is Truth and there is nothing counterfeit either in him or from him yea his Truth is the ground of all our Faith our Hope our Charity were it not for that these could haue no ground Faith could haue no ground without his Truth in promising Hope could haue no ground without his Truth in performing Charity could haue no ground without his Truth in louing Therefore there is Truth in him and who what is in Him he loueth in others for euery thing delights in his like when God had made all things and beheld that they were good he presently kept a Sabaoth which importeth nothing else but the sweet content that he tooke in the worke of his owne hands If in all things specially in those that did best resemble him and he is resembled in nothing more then in diuine vertue so that Sincerity must needs bee exceeding louely in his Holy Eyes As it is louely so it
loue of God The abundance of their ioy and their deepe pouertie abounded to the riches of their liberalitie for to their power I beare them record saith Saint Paul and beyond their power were they willing of themselues such must be our disposition The rather because all diuision of our abilities is a plaine abandoning of the loue of God for no man can serue two masters as Christ telleth vs if he loue the one he will hate the other two loues if one be good and the other bad 〈◊〉 Medâ—tat cap. 5. cannot stand together Take an example or two The sonnes of God that is those that did loue God fell in loue with the daughters of men what issue had they Giants 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as fought against God The Samaritans worshipped both the God of Israel and the Assyrians Idols and they were the most deadly enemies of Ierusalem Neuer haue you seene an hereticke that is a person that professeth partly the truth and partly errour but he turneth a bloudy persecutor of the Truth and he that loueth God and the World out of his loue to the World will doe the greatest dishonour hee can to God This is the reason why God will haue All or None Ananias and Saphira were stricken with suddaine death for with-holding a part of that whole substance which they freely vowed to God and which had it not beene for their vow they might haue disposed at their pleasure And if the embeseling of so small a matter due vpon no other ground then vpon a free Vow receiued so heauâ—e a doome of how much sorer punishment shal we be worthy if we with-hold our better things which vpon a more necessarie vow are due vnto God As for the Remisnesse that also is followed with a curse for cursed is he that doth the worke of the Lord negligently Iere. 4â— 10 Reuel 3.16 and Christ will spue out of his mouth all those that are but luke warme that are neither hot nor cold God loueth none but zealously cheerefull Louers and lesse then an entire dedication of all our faculties will not please him But mistake not all other things besides God are not excluded from our Loue if they were how should we loue our Neighbour whom notwithstanding in this Text wee are commanded to loue Wherefore for the farther vnderstanding of this Intirenesse of our loue of God wee must not take other things Oppositè but Compositè we must exclude nothing from our loue that doth not enter into competition with God and oppose it selfe against the loue of God Secondly if there bee any thing that may be beloued ioyntly with God it must not be taken as Coordinatum but Subordinatum it must not share equally with God but keepe its distance and receiue our loue by a reflexion from God Excellent is that which Saint Austine hath to this purpose Totum quicquid aliud diligendum venerit in mentem illuc rapiatur quo totius dilectionis impetus currit and Minus te amat Domine qui tecum aliquid amat quod propter te non amat Thirdly vpon this Inequalitie must our loue ground an vnequall estimate of things and we must loue God aboue all appretiatiuè we must account all in comparison of God to be but as dung to be verie losse Finally according to the estimate must the heat of our affection bee wee must loue God aboue all intensiuè also wee must loue other things as fit to be vsed not fit to be enioyed yea we must vse all the world as if we vsed it not but we must loue God as him whome wee would not onely vse but enioy also yea so enioy that we may bee able to say with King Dauid Psal 73. Whom haue I in heauen but thee and there is none on earth that I desire with thee My flesh and my heart faileth but God is the strength of my heart and my portion for euer when wee attaine hereunto though wee loue other things beside God yet wee loue God as wee ought for we will as Salomon biddeth vs thinke vpon him in all our wayes But I may not forget that though I seeme to haue said much of our loue of God yet there is a limitation exprest in the Text though All bee required yet no other All then that which can bee performed by man for it is all thy heart thy minde thy strength c. wee may not expect that wee should bee able to loue God according to his owne worth but wee must loue him to the vttermost of our power Onely God can loue God as hee is worthie so the Father loueth the Sonne the Sonne the Father and the holy Ghost both but a finite creature can haue but a finite vertue which can beare no proportion vnto God who is infinite as also is his goodnesse which is all one with himselfe This serueth to checke all pride which thinketh that by louing it can demerit God well may hee vouchsafe to accept our poore endeauors but the best come short of deseruing ought at Gods hands especially when the heart minde c. though they bee called ours yet are they nothing but his gifts as before you haue heard and so are all their endowments namely this of Loue. And if wee cannot merit by loue much lesse can wee supererogate in louing for who can giue God more then is due that learneth by this Text that All is due vnto God Praetererogate haply we may in some indifferent thing which God leaueth to our choyce although that choyce also must bee guided by the generall end whereat all our actions must ayme and the abilitie which wee haue receiued of God whereof if we imploy not the one to the other well may God bee indulgent to our weaknesse in choosing certainly it deserueth no commendation But as for the Act of louing so farre is it off that wee can supererogate any thing that wee cannot so much as praetererogate a iot therein I haue opened the Measure wherewith wee must loue the Lord our God the perfection the degree thereof but I doubt I haue not done it so popularly and plainly as that euery one doth conceiue mee and can try his owne loue by that which hee hath heard and discerne when it is come to this straine I will therefore propose from the mouth of our Sauiour Christ certaine plaine Rules which are for the capacitie of the meanest hearer which if he apply vnto himselfe he may thereby guesse at the pitch of his loue The first is He that loueth father mother wife children c. Mat. 10. Mat. 19 20. Luc. 14.26 more then me is not worthy of me The second Hee that forsaketh not father mother wife children c. The third Hee that hateth not father mother wife children c. hee cannot be my Disciple There bee many things and persons as you heard before which we are allowed to loue but we must loue them onely vntill they come
preserued by that Kings daughter and bred as if hee had beene her sonne There was a mysterie in it God typed out in his person the condition of his people whose deliuerer he was then designed to be Hee was vnexpectedly to set them free when in their owne eyes their case was most desperate Neither was his person only typicall his qualities also were heroicall Acts 7.22 first his Intellectuall skilfull in all the learning of the Egyptians to say nothing of his fortie yeares contemplation in Midian of which Philo Iudaeus there are foure morall vertues which they call Cardinall he had them all in a high degree Prudence God gaue him the spirit of Policie Numb 11. as it appeares by the storie of the seuentie Elders to whom God gaue part of his Spirit when they were made his assistants in the gouernment Iustice the apologie which he maketh vpon the rebellion of Korah Dathan and Abiram witnesseth that I haue not taken one Asse from them Numb 10. neither haue I hurt one of them the Holy Ghost giueth him this testimonie Heb 3.2 that hee was faithfull in all Gods house Temperance how little was hee transported with the loue of profit Heb. 11. or pleasure that thought the rebuke of Christ greater riches then the treasures of Egypt and chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God then to enioy the pleasure of sinne for a season Fortitude no man can doubt of that who considereth that being a single man in shew a meane man hee should aduenture to goe to so mightie a King in so vnpleasing an errand not fearing the Kings wrath when hee had exasperated him nor desisting from vrging what hee had in charge though hee were threatned by him certainly God that sent him on that message indued him with an extraordinarie courage Besides these Morall he was renowmed for his Theologicall vertues his Faith and his Hope Saint Paul hath chronicled Heb. 11. and ranged him with the most famous Worthies And in Charitie hee did exceed them all hee is not only commended for the meekest man that liued Numb 12 3. but so indulgent were his bowels towards his vngracious charge that hee desired rather to be blotted out of Gods Booke of Life Exod 32 v. 3â— then they should be punisht as they deserued Finally no Nationall Gouernour of the Israelites besides Moses did euer communicate as a type in the threefold honour of Christ Moses was a Prophet Deut. 34. and there neuer liued such a Prophet as Moses was for his Bookes containe the foundation of all prophesie therefore doe the Fathers call him Oceanum Theologiae the great Sea of Diuinitie He was a Priest yea Sacerdos Sacerdotum Nazian hee did not only act the function but also consecrated Aaron and his sonnes therevnto Finally hee was a King a mightie King not only ruling the twelue Tribes but also conquering their enemies the Amalekites the Midianites the Ammonites the Bashanites but aboue all the Egyptians and also he sacred his successor Iosuah giuing him part of his glorie I haue insisted the longer in this delineation of Moses perfections to the end that you might perceiue that though God Almightie can compasse his will by the weakest of meanes yet he vseth to endow men proportionably to that wherein he meaneth to employ them he doth performe waightie workes by worthy men such a one was Abraham the Father of faithfull men Dauid the Father of faithfull Kings and our Moses called to be the Law giuer of Israel This Person so eminent a person went betweene the parties to the Couenant The Parties are two each called by two names The first is called the Lord God Lord that is the name of his nature Iehouah hee is of none and all things are of him God that is the name of the persons subsisting in the nature or in whom the nature doth subsist Elohim signifieth all three so that we haue here Trinitie in Vnitie and Vnitie in Trinitie euen the true God and such a one is he that is the first partie to the Couenant Neither is it enough to conceiue of God in grosse wee must so as it were resolue him We must behold God the Father that becommeth our Father God the Sonne that maketh vs sonnes and God the Holy Ghost that vouchsafeth vs to be his Temple all three persons act their part in the Couenant Notwithstanding all three concurre yet must wee take speciall notice of the second Person Verbum Dei as the Chalde Paraphrase calleth him here Esay 63 v 9. Mal 31. Acts 7. and throughout this Chapter The Angell of Gods presence the Angell of the Couenant that is Christ he was the Angell that conuersed with Israel in the Wildernesse And indeed it was hee that in this Couenant became the Bridegroome of the Church for the day of the Couenant was a wedding day as anon I shall shew you more at large The true knowledge of this first partie maketh much to the Dignitie the Commoditie the Constancie of the Couenant Dignitie for with whom can wee contract more honourably then with our Lord God The higher he is aboue vs the more honour in the contract is done vnto vs. And this Partie maketh the Contract as Profitable as it is honorable 〈◊〉 2. Ezâ—k 16. not only because he can doe vs good that is the Lord God but also because he will doe it because his contract maketh vp a marriage knot Finally a Couenant made with such a partie is a Couenant of salt Iames 1.17 an vncorruptible Couenant there is no variablenesse nor shadow of change with him and therefore in regard of him we need not feare any diuorce The second Partie is also set forth by two names the house of Iacob the children of Israel which yeild vs a Ciuill and a Mysticall Obseruation The Ciuill is in the first name therefore are they called the house of Iacob because they were his ofspring Reade Genesis the tenth and you shall finde that all Nations in the beginning of the World did this honour to their first Ancestours they were called by their name after this patterne were the Edomites Moabites Ammonites Ismaelites distinguished by the stocke from whence euery one sprang Conquests and Colonies haue long since altered this fashion neither can wee now tell the true originall of any Nation vnder the Sunne except that of the vagrant Iewes who by Gods special prouidence remaine yet vnconfounded with other Nations The mysticall obseruation is in the second name the same people are also called children of Israel Israel was a second name giuen to Iacob signifying that hee had preuailed with God and his Enemies should not preuaile against him Now because that blessing was to be not only Personall but Nationall his posteritie communicated in his second name and Iacob confirmed it vnto them in the benediction which he gaue to the twelue Patriarches In these two names then we are
of wrath Repentance should be vsed while we may sinne for then it will be fruitfull and medicinall because we leaue sinne before sinne leaueth vs but if we will then vse Repentance when we can sinne no more our Repentance will be vnfruitfull and only penall And indeed they which will not vse Repentance in this World fruitfully shall will they nill they repent in the World to come but it will be vnfruitfully they will not weepe here for their sinnes but in Hell they shall both weepe and gnash their teeth they will not here manicle and fetter their lusts but there they shall be bound both hands and feet they will not here purge their stubble and drosse with the fire of Gods Spirit therefore hereafter they shall burne and their drosse their chaffe shall be endlesse fuell of the flames of Hell O then let mee weepe let mee repent out of the loue and with the comfort of Iesus Christ that hereafter I be not driuen to repent out of feare and with the paine of the fire of Hell The conclusion of all is God by the sight of our euill moueth vs to a desire of our good when he preuenteth vs with his grace we must take care that we receiue not his grace in vaine and this shall we doe if we disparage not our heauenly Conuersion with an earthly Conuersation LOrd graft in thy Preachers such Charitie that they may aime wisely at their hearers good and increase in their hearers that desire of goodnesse and happinesse which may make them capable of wholsome counsell So shall the dew of Heauen worke fotnesse in the Earth and wee shall all grow in thy Church as trees loaden with abundance of fruit when wee sinne wee shall repent and we shall repent also that we may not sinne vntill the Haruest day come when thou shalt haue reaped all the fruits thou requirest of vs in this state of Grace and we shall begin to reape those fruits which thou hast premised vnto vs in the state of Glorie Amen The fourth Sermon LVKE 3. VERSE 8. And beginne not to say within your selues we haue Abraham to our father for I say vnto you that God is able of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham OF the remedy of their Heart which came to Saint Iohn Baptist I haue already spoken the next point is the remedy of their Heads which taketh vp the remainder of the Text. In applying this remedy the Baptist doth first open then correct their errour hee openeth it in their obiection and in his owne answere doth correct it their errour was this vaunt We haue Abraham to our Father this they obiected against the first part of Iohn Baptists Sermon But the words are ellipticall they include more then they expresse you may gather it out of the Baptists answere which is the rust measure of their obiection for what he correcteth in that they erred Now he correcteth in their obiection Ignorance and Arrogancie both double double Ignorance double Arrogancie double Ignorance for they first maine secondly misplace the truth They maime it in that not knowing how much was requisite to the making vp of a child of Abraham their words meant that they were wholly his whereas they were his but in part and that too the worst part Saint Iohn correcteth this he forbiddeth their claime say not we haue Abraham to our father you haue nothing in you worthy of so honorable a title As they did maime the truth through ignorance so did they also through ignorance misplace it they did misplace it in beginning their defence at this claime For although there bee comfort in being any wayes a child of Abraham yet the triall of our comfort must begin at our resemblance of not our allyance vnto Abraham therefore Saint Iohn that corrected their defect in matter correcteth also their defect in order Begin not to say let not this be the entrance to your Apologie Hauing thus corrected their Ignorance hee goeth on and correcteth their Arrogancie Arrogancie is the child of Ignorance of the good things which we thinke we haue the lesse we know the more we crake certainely the Iewes did they were doubly arrogant first they did appropriate Abrahams family vnto them selues As they thought them selues to bee wholy his so they thought none his but themselues onely they held all other Nations vile the Iewes onely to be noble And this first branch of Arrogancie sprang from the first branch of their Ignorance for indeed as they were children of Abraham so none were children but they Saint Iohn correcteth this Arrogancie and telleth them that there is no impediment in Gods power but Abraham may haue yea there is faire euidence in Gods Couenant that Abraham shall haue other children seeme they neuer so vnlikely to become children not onely besides them which is enough to take downe their pride but also which striketh them to the very heart insteed of them though they all faile this Saint â—ohn meaneth when he saith that God is able euen of these stones to raise vp children vnto Abraham The second branch of their Arrogancie is their scoffing at Gods Iudgements as if We haue Abraham to our father were armour of proofe against them and they needed no buckler but their pedigree This second Arrogancie springeth from their second Ignorance for where they begin their defence vpon that they stand and thinke their needeth no more prouision against the wrath to come so they put it off as if liued they neuer so inordinately it did nothing concerne them This Saint Iohn correcteth hee telleth them that they are not so in the Couenant but they may be cast out that they must haue some worth of their owne besides that of their fathers otherwise they must looke for and that shortly a totall a finall eradication Now is the Axe layed to the roote of the tree You see what particulars remaine vnhandled of these by Gods affistance and your Christian patience I will now touch at so many as the time will permit And first because no defect nor excesse and such are the Iewes Ignorance and Arrogance the on detracting from the other adding to the truth can bee knowne without the meane which is their measure in reference whereunto we iudge of them the truth of Abrahams fatherhood must first be opened and we must see what grace God vouchsafed him that thereby we may conceiue the vprightnesse of the Baptists censure I will not fall into the common place of Abrahams praise the large Texts which the Scripture doth yeeld thereof hath found most eloquent most aboundant commentaries there is scarse a Iew or Christian Greeke or Latine Father that doth not write of him and make a Panegyricke of his worth I will cull out of them so much as will illighten my text And the first thing that I obserue is that there were Patriarkes before him and Patriarkes that came after him yet none left behind them so honourable a name
that this Text may be applyed vnto Christians for euen of them also more then a good many arâ—â— â—nted with this Ignorance with this Arrogance they maime the truth in contenting themselues with outward Characters little caring for the inward which principally make a Christian and how many doe enter their names into Gods Book in Heauen before euer they looke whether they haue a counterpart thereof written by the finger of the Holy Ghost in their soules And what wonder if this Ignorance breed Arrogancie and they that think better of themselues then they should think worse then they should of others But let vs take care to be sure of our Resemblance before wee crake of our alliance let vs find in our selues Faith and Charitie Abrahams vertues and then hope well that wee are Abrahams children let vs so hope well of our selues that we despaire not of others Gods hands are not tyed his power hath no bounds they that seeme to be of least hope may proue more worthy then our selues But whether we looke vpon our selues or others if we find that of stones we are become the children of Abraham let vs magnisie God according to his mercie which we shall the better doe if wee call to mind what we were and what we are how senslesse we were how litle feeling we had of Gods either words or workes how brutishly wee adored the basest of the creatures Neither were wee only so senslesse but we were most worthlesse also poore soules indeed spirituall Lazars not worth the looking after but with contempt And as we had litle so it was litle wee could doe wee could doe no good either in glorifying God or edifying the Church or increasing our owne comfort wee were as barren to these things as very stones But see now these stones doe liue our hearts are sensible of the influence of Heauen and wee adore only him that liueth for euer hee with a liberall hand hath inriched vs and wee with a cheerefull heart fructifie vnto him wee cannot turne our eyes vpon our selues but wee behold his mercies and wee present before his sacred eyes our most humble duties Thus should we magnifie our God that hath done so great things for vs for vs I say that are the Ofspring of them that were sometimes very stones I end with Saint Bernards Caution Bernard de Scâ—la claust pag. 1253. God indeed can raise of stones children vnto Abraham as sometimes he did Saint Paul yet must we not tempt God and neglecting what is to be done on our part presume that Gods hand will worke all wee must reade the Scripture meditate therein Seeke knocke pray and then we shall find grace the windowes of Heauen will bee opened vnto vs and the hand of God will new mould vs he will mollifie whatsoeuer is stonie in vs and supply whatsoeuer worth we lacke what God can doe that he will doe if we be in any part stones hee will make vs euen in that part also Children of Abraham and if Children then Heires Heires annexed with Iesus Christ. GOd by his grace make vs all Abrahams Sonnes and giue vs all grace to walks Abrahams steps that wee may all finally meete in Abrahams besome Amen The fifth Sermon LVKE 3. VERSE 9. And now also is the Axe laide vnto the roote of the trees euerie tree therefore which bringeth not foorth good fruite is hewen downe and cast into the fire SAint Iohn Baptist preaching to the vnbeleeuing Iewes shewed them that they were sicke both at head and heart and therefore applied fit remedies to either part Hauing before in your hearing ended the first remedy that is applied to the Heart I began the last time I spake out of this place to intreat of the second remedy which is applied vnto their head Their head was sicke of Ignorance and Arrogancie both double I haue spoken of their Ignorance and the first branch of their Arrogancie their appropriating Abrahams family vnto themselues there remaineth yet one branch of the Text that which checketh their second pride their conumpt of God They did contemne God in that they set light by the Iudgements that were denounced from him marke their ground they thought they had such interest in Abraham that for his sake God would spare them and his wrath should neuer seize on them But they heare from the Baptist that they are not so in the Couenant but they may be blotted out and if they haue not some worth of their owne besides that of their Parent they must looke for an imminent totall finall eradication for Now is the Axe laide to the roote of the trees c. These words are a Parable and therefore they haue a Morall For a Parable is a Comparison of things spirituall vnto corporall wherein the things corporall and spirituall doe mutually giue light each vnto other the spirituall doe guide vs in the setting bounds vnto the corporall and the corporall doe helpe vs to vnderstand the secrets of the spirituall seeing then the spirituall is the key that must vnlocke the corporall sense we can say little to the corporall vntill we haue found out the spirituall But where shall we find it It is not here wee must looke it else where We haue it for a good part in Saint Iohn cap. 15. where Christ speaketh thus I am a Vine you are branches my father is an Husbandman Cap. â— euerie branch in me that beareth not fruit is taken away and cast into the fire Esay is more full and expresse to my Text The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel and Iuda is his pleasant plant hee looked for iudgement and behold oppression for righteousnesse and behold a crie therefore hath the Lord of Hâ—sts reuealed this in mine eare many houses shall be desolate faire â—nd goodly houses left without inhabitants yea hell hath enlarged it selfe the mouth thereof is opened without measure their glorie their multitude their pompe euerie one that reioyceth shall descend into it According to this MoÌ„rall if we breake vp the Parable wee must obserue the Persons therein contained and the Iudgement that is denounced the persons are two God compared to a husbandman surueying his Orchard the Iewes compared vnto Trees of the Orchard Trees planted therein to beare good fruites Of the Iudgement we haue here the Cause and the Parts The cause is the Iewes not liuing sutably to their incorporation which is represented by a Tree not bearing good fruites The parts are two first the Iewes are depriued of that blessed estate wherein they stood the Axe is put to the roote and by the roote they are cut vp so the Parable doth resemble it Secondly they are exposed to the miserie which they deserued they are cast into the fire A fruitlesse tree burning in the fire is the Embleme of a sinner tormented in hell If you lay these two parts together they are a totall a finall desolation for kill the roote kill the whole
me Christ in the Gospell Feare not little flocke it is your fathers pleasure to giue you a Kingdome Luke 12.32 As the Text doth amplifie the place from the meanenesse 1 Reg. 8. so doth it the gift from the greatnesse thereof I will fill fill this house with that glory The phrase is allusiue to Gods typicall presence in the former Temple for therein rested the Cloud and it filled all the house all that part of the house which was called the holy place When the second Temple was built there was no such thing God was pleased to reserue it for the truth that he that is the fulnesse of all should fill that Temple And indeede God was neuer more there than when hee was there in Christ if euer hee was then an Oracle to his Church I adde out of Ezechiel cap. 43.12 that by his presence omnis circuitus Templi was made sanctum sanctorum For ought we reade Christ neuer came into that place of the Temple which was called sanctum or sanctum sanctorum the holy place or holiest of holies but this he did being borne that holy thing Luke 1. Dan. 9. and anointed the most holy he made all places of the Temple where he came holy yea and most holy he filled them with the glory of his person and the glory of his function The truth I say filled euen the worst part of the Temple which the type did not But I shall meete with this point in the next Sermon wherefore I will dwell no longer now vpon it This historicall sense which I haue hitherto opened doth present vnto vs a mysticall which I may not neglect God doth not delight in materiall houses built with timber and stone the Temple was but a type of the Church Christs house are you saith St. Paul to the Hebrewes cap. 3. and to the Ephesians cap. 2. he tels vs of the foundation the corner stone Saint Peter 1 Epist 2. sheweth vs that we as liuing stones comming vnto the precious stone Christ make vp a house vnto God So that whatsoeuer blessing is contained in this text belongeth vnto vs and vnto the Temple but in reference vnto vs. A thing to be obserued because the world hath alwaies beene shallow-witted in looking into these intentions of God they haue rested on the types without due reflection vpon themselues whereas God therein would only helpe our memorie and condescend to our infirmitie and that vpon a Principle which preuaileth much with vs which is this Sense is the best informer of our reason and solliciter of our will And did wee make as good vse of it in things belonging to God and our soule as wee doe in things pertaining to the world and concerning our naturall life Christ should not haue beene occasioned to vtter that sentence The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light Well then let vs gather some few such morals as this text will yeelde The first is That where Christ commeth hee bringeth a blessing Iacob did so to Laban Ioseph to Pharaoh Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar There is not a good man that maketh not the place whither he commeth the better for him How much more the chiefe of Saints our Sauiour Christ the very type of him 1 Chro. 13. I meane the Arke made Obed Edoms house to prosper If the shadow wrought so much what good may we expect from the substance it selfe The second morall is That God in Christ taketh vpon him to bee the glorie of the house so that where Christ is there the glorie is The Church of Rome is plentifull in earthly ornaments of their Church and wee are carefull that the Word of God should dwell richly in ours it were well if both were ioyned together I wish we had more of their ornaments and they had more of Christs truth But if they must bee kept asunder through the malice of the Diuell our case is better that haue fewer ornaments and more truth than theirs that haue lesse truth and more ornament For CHRIST is properly the glory of a Church where hee is though it bee in the wildernesse there is glory and there is no glory where he is not though the temple be as goodly as Salomons The third is the particle this this house containes the comfort of poor soules For though in the sense of our meanenesse we haue all reason to say Lord I am not worthy that thou shouldest come vnder the roofe of my house yet saith the Lord Esay 66. Heauen is my throne and the Earth is my footestoole where is the house that yee build vnto me and where is the place of my rest hath not my hand made all these things saith the Lord But to this man will I looke euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my Word And it was the very life of Kings Dauids penitentiall prayer Psal 51. A broken and contrite heart O Lord wilt not thou despise Wherefore I conclude this point with the exhortation of St. Iames Let the brother of low degree reioyce in that he is exalted bee hee neuer so meane a house Christ will not disdaine euen in his glory to come vnto him he will come and bring his glory with him The fourth is That hee will not only bring his glory but fill that house But it is as the soule filleth the body euery part according to his proportion some part is filled as the head some as the hand some as the feete so that euery house may bee full and yet one house containe more than another As it is most behoofefull for vs so doth Christ dispence his grace vnto vs. But this filling may be vnderstood eyther inhaerenter or immanenter in Christ or transeunter and redundanter to vs that is eyther that he which commeth into the house is full of glory or else that the house whereinto hee commeth is by him transformed into glory Take a simile from the Sunne the beames of the Sunne doe fill the ayre and the firmament but you easily perceiue that they doe it in a different fashion they fill the ayre but so that the ayre altereth not in nature but continueth the same onely it is the place wherein the beames of the Sun do appeare But as for the firmament the Sunne sendeth his beames into that so that it maketh many a light body of it many a starre and St. Paul telleth vs 1 Cor. 15.41 that they differ each from the other in glory Christ doth fill our house both waies if you looke to our Iustification he brings glory to vs as the Sunne doth the light vnto the aire the brightnesse whereof doth grace the ayre yet it remaines inherently still in the beames and is not transfused into the substance of the ayre Euen so Christs righteousnesse passeth not out of his person and yet it is the ornament of our person it is inherent in him it is imputed to vs
possible eyther onely to Gods Power or also to his Will All things are possible to Gods Power that are not contrary to his Nature for he is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and all things are his host they subsist in him and therefore haue their strength from his influence Adde hereunto that in this very case God could absolutely forgiue all sinnes and abolish Hell being an absolute Lord. But Gods Power is moderated by his Will and when the Will hath set downe a resolution then the contrary is impossible not simply but because God cannot vary his iudgement So that here commeth in a second distinction of Possible and Impossible in regard of Gods Will. Now Christ doth not put in the condition in regard of Gods absolute Power but in regard of his limitted therefore in St. Luke he saith If thou wilt as if he did not desire it if Gods Will were against it if his Will made it impossible to his Power So then Christ doubteth not Gods Power but acknowledgeth that it is gouerned by his Will This Maxime if it were well heeded would determine many differences betweene vs and the Church of Rome who talke much of Possible by Gods Power when we speake onely of Possible according to Gods Will in the argument of Transubstantiation But I will not fall into a Controuersie Out of all that you haue heard putting the condition to the desire you may gather that the Voyce of Nature is but Veleitas a Wish though a reasonable Wish for Oratio est rationalis actio Christ could not conceiue his Wish in a prayer and not guide his prayer by reason the fore-taste of the Crosse did not so farre ouerwhelme him as that he knew not well what was vttered by him Though later Diuines as well Popish as our owne so amplifie Christs agonie that they seeme to conceiue otherwise yet seeing they doe absolutely free Christ from sinne they may not in charity be thought to detract any thing from the reasonable aduisednesse of Christ in speaking these words Christ was free in vttering the lawfull Voyce of Nature but lower he did not goe Yea when he came thither he soared higher and in the Will of Grace surmounted the Wish of Nature God is pleased that Christian men should be men but being men hee will haue them Christians also he doth not deny vs the Wishes of men but he will haue vs also haue the Will of Angells The Schooles distinguish between the superiour and inferiour reason not but that reason is one and the same but the obiects are not the same whereabouts reason is conuersant there are some that are called Rationes humanae such motiues as are presented by the nature of man some are called Rationes diuinae such motiues as are offered vnto vs from God Reason may bee an Aduocate for both so that in fauour of the lesser it doe not preiudice the greater and in this discretion consists the Will of Grace But more particularly Wee must obserue here a distinction of Wils and a submission of the inferiour to the superiour First for the distinction The Will of God is his Decree the Will of man is his Desire Gods Decree I must open a little farther as for mans Desire I neede not open it you haue heard enough in the Wish of Nature Gods Decree then is in the Acts called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Cap. 2.23 a determinate Will he doth nothing in time which before time he hath not determined especially in this great work of mans Redemption hee decreed how sinne should bee expiated and himselfe pacified how the Powers of darknesse should bee conquered and man restored how Mercy and Iustice should meete together all this commeth vnder the name of Gods Will. See then how hee doth cloath the Crosse with this sweete word thy Will not so much attentiue to his owne paine as to Gods good pleasure The Wills being thus discerned wee must now see how Christ doth submit his Will vnto his Fathers Not my Will but thine be done Wherein you must first obserue that Christ doth not desire death propter se sed propter aliud not for it selfe as if there were any thing desirable in it but onely to obey his Fathers Will. Secondly that to obey it he doth deny himselfe his owne life is not deare vnto him so hee may doe his Fathers Will. Iohn 18. Shall I not drinke the Cup saith he to S. Peter which my Father hath giuen mee and elsewhere Iohn 12. Father saue mee from this houre yet therefore did I come I came to do not mine own Will but his that sent mee Ioh. 6. And indeed to haue a Will subiect to none is the property of God men must imitate the Planets that go not their own motions otherwise than they are permitted per primum mobile so should all the motions of our soule conforme themselues to the good pleasure of God Christ in the Lords Prayer teacheth this by Rule but here hee teacheth it by Example We should be guided by the Rule and our neglect is inexcusable if we doe not follow it but our contempt is intolerable if wee be not moued by the Example Si Filius obediuit vt faceret voluntatem Patris quantò magis seruus De orat Dominic saith St. Cyprian it is intolerable insolencie for a seruant to be selfe-willed when a childe doth bend to the will of his father for man to bee headstrong when Christ is so pliable Intolerable insolency did I say nay grosse folly Tert. de Orat. cap. 4. for Vel eo nobis bene optamus cum dicimus fiat Voluntas tua quòd nihil sit melius Voluntate diuinâ Wee cannot wish better vnto our selues than to submit our selues vnto Gods Will for that there is no hurt that can be expected from his Will no not when he doth correct vs or lay the Crosse vpon vs for Christs Crosse on earth brought him to the throne of Heauen and our afflictions are not worthy of the Glory that shall be reuealed vpon vs. But from our owne will we can expect no good it can reach no farther than our vnderstanding which is but blinde and oftentimes it is ouerthwart when that seeth right And therefore as it is happy for the children of men that being of weake iudgements and of weaker affections haue parents to whose direction and correction they are obedient for their owne good euen so should the children of God thinke themselues happy that they haue a Father in Heauen that ordereth them better than they can order themselues to whom if they submit themselues they are sure they shall not miscarry But durus est hic sermo it is hard to worke this lesson into flesh and bloud into the voluptuous into the couetous into the ambitious into the prophane it is hard to make any wicked man to take this bridle Christ had so reuerent a respect vnto the sacred Will of God that he endured the sharpest
Soule and we serue euery one his seuerall Lusts so that though we consist of a Soule and a Body yet the Scripture calleth vs carnall as if so be we had no Spirits In our worldly state euerie man laboureth to range himselfe with the best and we account them base that being of noble blood affect not the companie of their equals but in our spirituall state we are not sensible hereof we are not ambitious but base euerie one stoopes below himself and loues to grouell rather then stand vpright we loue comming downe But this comming downe is not all the euill of our fall it is accompanied with a bruise our nature by it doth not onely become more base but more feeble also for euerie sinne giueth a wound it impayreth grace in euerie power our vnderstanding groweth more dimme our will more impotent and our affections lesse capable of controwle Sinnes are like rebels that not onely reuolt but also keep castle against their Soueraigne whence they are not easily remoued euerie mans experience yeelds profe hereof and warrants this truth that sin doth not onely disgrace but also disable a sinner But sinnes are not all equall and therefore produce not all equall effects the Stoicks paradoxe is long since condemned and whether we looke to that wherein we sinne our dutie to GOD or our Neighbor or that wherewith we sinne I meane the degrees of our wills that concurre in our acts we shall find great odds and confesse that one sinne is greater then another and that all fals are not alike whether we look to the disgrace of the person or the weakning of our nature Not to goe from my Text or rather from this present occasion Incontinencie hath diuers degrees Fornication Adulterie Incest all communicate in Incontinencie but so that Adulterie is worse then Fornication and Incest worse then Adulterie Fornication violateth the good order that should be betweene single persons through vnruly Lusts Adulterie addeth thereunto a confusion of Families and taketh away the distinction of Heires and Inheritance but Incest moreouer abolisheth the reuerence which is ingraued by nature to forbid that persons whom nature hath made so neere should one vncouer the others shame as speaketh the Law and not onely that but adds that for such incontinencie the Land did spue out the Canaanites Leuit. 18. So that when you come to consider your fall you must consider not onely the nature but also the degree of it and your repentance must be answerable vnto your fall looke how farre you haue debased your selfe so farre must you be humbled and be afflicted with sorrow as deeply as you haue wounded your selfe with sinne Thus much you are taught in that your sinne is a fall But it must farther be learned whence these fals come and we find in the Text the occasions and causes of them The occasions are implyed in the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifieth a stumbling at some thing that lyeth in our way we are apt to fall by nature because we are mutable but we doe not commonly fall except some occasion be giuen And the world is full of occasions The Diuell hath euerie where his stumbling blocks he knoweth whether our corrupt nature bendeth and worketh accordingly he hath a wedge of gold for couetous ACHAN a crowne for ambitious AESOLON a DINA for SHECHEM finally he knoweth what will worke our affections and our dispositions with that he plyeth and with that he wooeth our consent to sinne and these things the Scripture cals stumbling blocks and are the occasions of fals We all walke in the middest of them and are to take good heed vnto them but yet so that we doe not conceiue otherwise of them then they are strong motiues they are but they are but motiues perswade they may compell they cannot therefore they are not enough to giue a fall except the true cause be added to the occasion and we may not so dwell on the occasion as not to looke forward to the true cause we may otherwise blame others while we should be blaming of our selues and we are too apt to excuse our selues by making others guilty of our faults But we must passe on from the occasion to the cause and the cause will tell vs who doth most deserue the blame The cause appeareth in these words If a man be ouertaken whereon St HIEROME giueth a good note Praeuentio dici non potest cum quid praemeditatò fit so that this phrase importeth a difference of sinners whereof some fall through malice some through frailtie Through malice they fall in whom the principles of conscience are corrupt who wittingly and willingly commit sinne with greedinesse neither before the fact feeling any reluctancy neither after the fact conceiuing any sorrow Esay 5. these account euill good and good euill light darknesse and darknesse light sweet sower and sower sweet these are not within the compasse of my Text for they are not ouertaken This phrase reacheth onely those which sinne Dum aut latet veritas aut compellit infirmitas as BEDE speaketh either they are sophistically circumuented or vnawares transported and so take a fall We should weigh the validitie of the perswasions and bethinke our selues what we doe before we set our selues a doing we should enquire what GODS Law doth forbid or allow before we giue or withhold our assent But our affections vsually outstep our discretion and bring either false or rash intelligence whereupon we yeeld and slip verie often dum latet veritas for want of making diligentenquirie but more often dum vincit infirmitas while we are too indulgent to our affections And indeed howsoeuer in errors of Faith and mistakes of truth those that are without the Church or being within are not Orthodoxe Rom. 1. become vaine in their ratiocination as the Apostle speeketh and their ignorance is apparantly the child of negligence Yet in the default of manners and breach of the morall Law we haue little colour of ignorance all the blame lyeth vpon the impotencie of our affections the thiefe the drunkard the lyer the blasphemer all must yeeld that they knew what they should doe but obeyed their corrupt lusts in doing the contrarie And no other plea hath this incestuous person though her tongue should be silent yet her teares doe speake that this is her plea for the sacrifice of her broken and contrite heart sacrificed for that which she hath done testifieth that she knoweth well that she hath done amisse but did it being ouertaken for sorrow after a fact is the iudgement that the penitent passeth vpon his own fact in weeping for it she doth condemne it Our lesson is that we must be watchfull ouer occasions lest by them we become causes of our owne fall and if we sinne GOD grant vs grace to sorrow lest otherwise as we displease so we dispise GOD Such despisers are not to be accounted in the number of those that are ouertaken and so they
their loue is so intense and their care so prouident of and for each other and their children The third principle is Wedlocke is not onely such a couenant as springeth from reason and policie but also it is pactum Dei it is founded in Religion man and woman were at first matcht by GOD himselfe and he matcht them as his children bearing his Image finally Mal. 2.15 he matcht them that they might bring forth an holy seed such as might be of his Church and as the Parents consorts with Angels so much did Religion adde vnto Wedlocke before the fall But after the fall Christian Religion added much more whence ariseth a fourth principle by Regeneration euen our bodyes are made members of Christ and so become Temples of the Holy Ghost and therefore there is great reason we should keepe these vessels of ours in honor and in their coniunction haue a due regard of this their heauenly condition In these euident principles we may behold how farre GOD hath improued our bodyes which otherwise were made but of dust and for sinne deserued to become dust againe but we must cloath our flesh and blood with the fore-specified aduancements of it and by them measure the sinfulnesse of fornication And then you shall find first that it debaseth the bodyes of men and rangeth them with beasts for wherein is his body better then a beasts whose sensuall acts are not guided by reason Secondly It abolisheth the greatest ciuill proprietie that is in a state for wedlocke layeth the foundation of a state and giueth the first beginning to societie 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Thirdly it robbeth the fruit of our bodyes as much as lyeth in vs of the best birth-right which is to be the holy off spring of holy Parents which is the pledge of GODS couenant and the childrens hope that they haue a right thereto neither are we excused from this guilt though GOD in mercie doe otherwise prouide better for our children Finally It renteth vs from the body of Christ and dispossesseth vs of the Holy Ghost if not defacto at least merito it is more of GODS mercie then our desert if it proue not so seeing Christ abhorres all impuritie and the Holy Ghost will not abide the desiling of his Sanctuarie Rom. 1.24 Well therefore may fornication be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a dishonoring lust then which no other heapeth so many indignities vpon our bodyes and by consequence vpon vs. In regard hereof it is that St PAVL saith All other sinnes are without our bodyes but he that commits fornication sinneth against his owne body Fornication strippeth it of all the fore-named prerogatiues directly which no other sinne doth neither is their any carnall sinne more opposite to Reason Policie Religion This must you the Penitent marke and from this take the first measure of your sinne But my Text doth not onely speake of fornication in generall but of a degree thereof and that degree is Incest Though no coniunction is lawfull without marriage yet may not all persons be ioyned together in marriage Leuit. 18. GOD hath set downe certaine degrees both of Consanguinitie and Affinitie betweene which there may be no matches MOSES giueth the reason because there is a reuerence due vnto these persons and we passe the bownes of religious modestie if we match with them And indeed had not GOD imprinted this reuerence the necessarie cohabitation of Parents and Children Brethren and Sisters would yeeld too much opportunitie and be too strong an incentiue vnto this vnlawfull coniunction especially if you adde thereunto the authoritie which Parents haue naturally ouer their Children De Ciuit. Dei lib. 15. cap. 16. Saint AVSTIN yeeldeth another reason Habita est rectissima ratio charitatis we naturally loue our kin But GOD would haue charitie spread farther which would be kept within verie narrow boundes if we were not by this restraint put to make matches with more remote persons and forbidden to multiply the ground of loue in one the selfe same But amongst all these degrees which GOD hath forbidden they are principall which are in the right line the prohibition of them is the most ancient the most strict the most vniuersall First the most ancient for it began immediately vpon the Creation of the woman for hauing made a woman to ioyne with the man GOD gaue this rule Therefore shall a man forsake father and mother and be ioyned vnto his wife Gen. 2. It is true that we commonly vnderstand that Text of the neere coniunction of man and wife and that sense will well agree with it but the Caldy paraphrase addeth to our purpose that a man must forsake his fathers and his mothers bed St AVSTIN and others haue so vnderstood it as if it did forbid matches in the right line and I thinke the word therefore doth import as much for therefore did GOD create a woman to ioyne her to the man because he would not haue them couple which are procreated one from another Secondly It is the most strict prohibition for though GOD forbid as well the collaterall degrees as those that are in the right line yet hath he dispenced with the collaterall in two cases one of necessitie when there were none but ADAMS children brothers and sisters must needs match and then did GOD dispence with the first collaterall degree of consanguinitie The second case is a mysterie if a brother dyed without issue the next of kin was to rayse vp seed vnto the deceased brother and this was a dispensation in the first degree of Affinitie Such dispensations in collaterall degrees GOD hath granted but dispensations with persons in the right line he neuer granted any therefore I called it the most strict prohibition Thirdly It is the most vniuersall prohibition for that of collaterall degrees in GODS Law reacheth but vnto the second the Ciuill Law goeth a degree farther then GODS Law the Canon Law now reacheth to the fourth degree it hath forbidden to the seuenth and further no Law that is extant euer went in forbidding collaterall degrees But in forbidding those in the right line Diuine and Humane Ciuill and Canon Laws forbid them without any stint no degree be it neuer so remote can make the coniunction of such persons lawfull therefore they say truly that if ADAM did reuine againe he could ioyne with none of mankind except EVE reuiued againe no more could EVE except ADAM reuiued Whatsoeuer you haue heard of Consanguinitie is true also of Affinitie because by wedlocke man and wife become one flesh and so their parents their children their brethren their sisters are as neere to the one as to the other Affinitie maketh them as neere as if they were of one blood Take one rule more which commeth neere this Penitents case by analogie it is all one for a sonne to take his fathers wife as the Corinthian did and for a father to take his wiues daughter which you the