neuer so strange vnto him and though there be no hope to bee recompenced by him vpon this ground a Christian will loue and relieue a poore Turke But setting aside this iust extension of Consanguinitie that wee are all made of one bloud we are all neighbours also in that wee are all made by one God and after one Image of that God whence ariseth another ground of loue similitude in our nature we all resemble God and in our originall we all come from God and hence comes increase of that interest which wee haue one in another the father thinkes the bond of his naturall affection towards his childe to bee strengthened if his childe be like vnto him especially if he be like in that which is the greatest honour of the father so doth a brother thinke of a brother that is like him and generally similitude is conceiued to giue vnto those men betwixt whom it is an interest each in the other therefore men cannot in reason acknowledge that reference vnto God wherein they all meet they cannot conceiue how they all partake of the same Image of God which is their greatest honour as they are men but withall they must confesse a mutuall interest which hereby they haue one in another Let vs passe on from the Humane to the Diuine Neighbourhood see what interest we find there The more grounds of Loue the more interest Now here is grace added to nature Children we are all of the same Father in Heauen and not by many Descents as in humane Consanguinitie we fetch our pedigree from Adam but immediatly for we are all made children by the same Baptisme so is our Consanguinitie collaterall in the first degree And can we then denie a mutuall interest that are Fratres Germani Brother-Germans Let vs looke vpon one another as wee are in Christ our Sauiour wee are incorporated into him and so members one of another and therefore we cannot haue lesse interest one in another then the Eye hath in the Eare or the Eare in the Hand or the Hand in the Foot each hath need of the other and they may claime right each in the others abilitie Like interest will arise out of our being Temples of the Holy Ghost the liuing stones that make vp that building doe mutually support themselues Et fortitudo omnium tota esb singulorum they are made mutually necessary by the manner of their compacting Neither haue we a religious interest only in those that are alreadie in the Church but also in those that may bee What interest in re wee haue of them that be within we haue of them that be without in spe they may be Christians and so become profitable helpes vnto vs in the mysticall bodie of Christ in regard of this hopefull interest may they iustly claime our Loue and our paines to worke their Conuersion The second degree of Diuine Neighbourhood is betweene vs and the Saints and Angels in the Church Triumphant who continuing still to be members of the Church must needs with all continue vnto vs the interest which we haue had in them Therefore the Angels call themselues our fellow seruants And it goeth inter piè credibilia Reuel vltâ— that the Saints doe pray for vs at least in generall The last degree is the neighbourhood with Christ I need not proue vnto you that we haue an interest in him and he in vs. Wee call him our Lord our Sauiour our Brother and hee as many wayes calleth vs his his Bodie his Spouse his Church these mutuall appropriations dâ—e necessarily inferre mutuall interest Thus haue wee found the extent of neighbourhood in euery part of this extent we haue found a ground of Loue and there is not a parcell of this ground which doth not concerne euery of vs a man would thinke that the case being such our owne propension would produce the dutie and that there needed no such Commandement as Thou shalt Loue. But yet the Commandement is no more then necessary for what degree of neighbourhood is there which is not infested with hatred Neighbours in place how doe they enuie Tradesmen in Townes and inhabitants in the Countrie if their Lands lie neare quarrell euery where and seeke to ruine and destroy not only to vexe and disquiet each other as if that which was instituted for succour and comfort did yeild the best opportunitie for malice and rage to worke on As for neighbourhood in bloud Rom 1. how soone did Cain make that vnnaturall reply euen to God himselfe Am I the keeper of my Brother C ham discouered his fathers nakednesse The Apostle doth tell vs of Infidels that were without naturall affection and euery smatterer in Histories can giue examples thereof and iustifie that Prouerbe Rara est concordia fratrum Come to the more remote Consanguinitie which is moreouer graced with the Image of God few haue taken notice thereof strangers haue beene thought a sit subiect to prey on and men haue shed their bloud without remorce Matth. 10.21 And fareth it better with Christians Doth not Christs prophesie proue true The brother shall deliuer vp the brether to death and the father the child and the children shall rise vp against their parents and cause them to be put to death I neede not instance in particular persons for what Nation is there round about vs wherein there are not many lamentable spectacles of Ciuill warres and vnchristian throat-cutting The world is euery where full of Nabals and Samaritans As for Infidels rob them and reproch them we doe but who doth labour their Conuersion and seeke of enemies to make them friends and of strangers to make them fellow-citizens with the Saints But it may bee we respect the Church Triumphant more No euen here also our vncharitablenesse appeares for we grieue the Angels which are witnesses of our carriage and liue cleane contrarie to the good examples which the blessed Saints haue left vnto vs. Finally the world is growne so profane as that men tread vnder their feet the Sonne of God they account the bloud of the Couenant wherewith they were sanctified an vnholy thing Who can make any better construction of those blasphemies which come from foule mouthes when they call the sacred wounds and bloud and bodie of Christ to witnesse their impurities Seeing then there is so little Charitie towards our Neighbour take neighbourhood howsoeuer you will you see there is great need of this Commandement Thou shalt loue thy Neighbour But what is it to loue Gal 6. Ephes 4 I might tell you in few words Let not eueryman seeke that which is his owne but that which is anothers I might branch it into these two points first a man must bee carefull to doe no hurt and secondly doe all the good he can for his Neighbour and in doing good he must be as kind in aduersitie to weepe with them that weepe Iames 5. 1. Iohn 3. as in prosperitie to reioyce with them that reioyce
and the order that we are to expect from Christ who commeth to set vs in frame and to vse the Apostles words Ephes 4. to set vs in ioynt that euery part of man should keepe his order and none in working exceed his measure It is one of the curses that God in Esay threatneth to the Kingdome of Israel that the vile person shall set himselfe against the honourable And it is no small curse in euery one of vs to haue the worser part command the better and command it will except Christ doe order except he doe vse his first royall endowment But as he vseth the first so must he vse the second also for as the Kingdome is out of order so is it weake also and the establishing presupposeth this weakenesse yea indeed weakenesse is the cause of disorder men fall to disorder through weaknesse The weakenesse of the ciuill State of Israel is cleare in the Storie for the Israelites were become enthralled to the Romanes and had no power to relieue themselues though they were exposed to all kinde of ignominie and cruelty as he that readeth Flauius Iosephus will confesse It was bad with them in the Assyrian captiuity but in the Romane much worse and it was this weakenesse that the Iewes thought their Messias should support who reiected Christ because hee came not into the World as a likely person to doe this to crush their enemies and to make them a mighty nation according to the Prophecies which not only affirme they should be so but set it out in diuers Similies as you may reade in Esay in Zacharie and in others that they should thresh all Nations as a heauy stone should grinde them should bee as a soporiforous cup and as fire working vpon stubble These places they vnderstood literally which indeed should haue been vnderstood spiritually Another weakenesse for they had another kinde of weakenesse was disability to doe well whereby they were carried captiues vnto sinne as St. Paul speaketh Rom. 7. and that was it which enfeebled them as God had threatned Deut. 28. and gaue their enemies power ouer them Christ came to remedy this weaknesse Esay 35. to strengthen these weake hands and feeble knees as you may perceiue in that excellent description thereof which Zacharie hath cap. 2. where God promiseth power to all the house of Israel and sheweth that the feeblest of them shall be like vnto Dauid and the house of Dauid like vnto the Angels St. Paul Ephes 6. describeth the armour wherewith wee are strengthened and telleth vs that it is The power of the Lord and cap. 3. he telleth vs that therewith we are strengthned in the inward man and to the Hebrewes cap. 11. telleth vs that by Faith many of weake became strong euen so strong that St. Paul saith of himselfe Phil. 4. Hee could doe all things through him that strengthned him which is Christ Finally this is the strength for which he so often prayeth when he prayeth for the Church it is the strength whereby we may be able to encounter our chiefe enemies which are ghostly and to performe the duties which concerne a Christian life The substance of our faculties was not abolished by sinne but the sinewes were enfeebled as wee hold in the question of Free-will Try it in the particulars and you may perceiue it Our vnderstanding had proportionable strength to the obiect thereof the truth of God to apprehend it and the will to the obiect thereof our soueraigne Good to embrace it so had all the affections the strength that was expedient for such attendance vpon the will to further our possession of the obiect thereof But now euery one of these is disabled by sinne and it is Christs grace that enableth them againe giuing vs such wisedome such holinesse such courage and desires as are expedient for a childe of God to bring him vnto and keepe him in enioying of his finall end And this power is that power by which wee must ouerthrow our enemies if they be irreconcileable as the diuell and his angels are we foile them when they can fasten no sinne vpon vs then we break the Serpents head when his craft cannot delude vs and his taile too when we continue starres in the firmament notwithstanding his violent striking at vs and though he roare like a Lion yet we continue stedfast in the faith whether both these be vsed immediately by himselfe or mediately by his instruments And if the enemies be reconcileable then the conquest of them by this power is not the foyling of their bodies or spoyling of their goods but the casting downe in them of all imaginations 2 Cor. 10. and euery high thing that exalteth it selfe against the knowledge of God and bringing into captiuity euery thought to the obedience of Christ And in this manner did the Apostles conquer and the Christians in the Primitiue Church taking-in all these holds that were possessed by Sathan and imposing the easie yoke of Christ vpon the wits and wils of all Nations And in this sense should the Iewes haue vnderstood the Prophets and made Dauids Kingdome a type not of historicall correspondencie but of mysticall presignificancy for other power they meant none none that should appeare in this world And the Popes of Rome are Iewish that herein stand for a temporall power ouer Kings direct or indirect whereby they may ouer-top the scepters and dispose of the crownes of Princes Christ left vnto his Church no other sword than that which commeth out of his mouth which elsewhere is called the breath of his mouth Heb. 4. and the Word of God which is sharper than any two-edged sword and workes in it by no other power as it is a Church though hee hath not abolished the ciuill sword nor rebated the edge thereof in peace or warre but strengthned it rather in proceeding vpon lawfull and legall grounds But the ciuill power is not to bee confounded with the power of the Gospell the power of the Church and the power of the Common-weale distant in toto genere and it is the power of the Church that is meant here that is the power which Christ established And marke it is not enough for Christ to order except he establish It was the case of Adam hee was well ordered but hee was not established and thereupon the good order became mutable and all the gifts of God be they not well rooted and founded in vs will come to nought and fall to disorder So that stability signifieth the preseruation of that good order which wisedome sets and is the principall blessing of the Gospell wherein standeth the prerogatiue of Adam regenerated aboue Adam created and it is that which Christ promiseth in the Gospell and for which the Apostles doe pray in their Epistles namely for prescruation and stedfastnesse in the truth and Christ in his prayer before his passion doth specifie it expresly If we consider the mutability of our nature which comming of
the heauiest Iudgement of God and some thing left to mitigate the extremitie of their paine not so in the Life to come of that time we may vse those words of the 68. Psalme Let God arise and his Enemies be scattered Let them also that hate him flie before him like as smoke vanisheth so shall he driue them away as Waxe melteth before the fire so shall the wicked perish at the presence of God In the Booke of Wisdome Chap. 5. this is amplified What hath Pride profited vs What good hath Riches with our vaunting brought vs All these things are passed away like a shaddow and as a Post that hasteth by he goes on resembling it to the way of a Ship of a Bird of an Arrow and concludes The Hope of the Vngodly is like Dust that is blowne away with the wind like a thinne froth that is driuen away with the storme like Smoake that is disperst with a Tempest the same we may reade Iob 18. As these wicked wayes perish Totally so doe they Finally also for destruction Nahum 1. â— as Nahum speaketh shall not arise the second time their perishing is eternall like that of the Deuill and his Angels who go into euer lasting fire And indeed these wayes are in this point opposed vnto the Righteous wayes Wisdome 3.4 Isal 139.24 for Righteousnesse as the Wiseman speaketh is full of immortalitie and the Psalmist calls it A way euerlasting each Bodie shall continue his state answerable to his Head as Christ so Christians as the Deuill so the wicked both shall bee lasting the one in Blisse the other in Paine But the word here vsed shall perish is worth the noting for Abad signifies Perdere and Perire and what is fitter for a destroying way then to be a way that shall be destroyed During this Life the wayes of the wicked are Viae Perdentes for they doe nothing but destroy either Gods good Creatures as the Epicure and Voluptuous or other men as the Couetous and the Oppressors yea their owne selues for they waste Gods Image in them and fight with their Lusts against their owne Soule they shew themselues to be the children of their Father which in the Reuelation is called Abaddon or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reuel 9.11 and what is fitter for him that is a Destroyer then to bee Destroyed and so to bee destroyed as they doe destroy not quoad Esse but quoad Bene esse Their Persons still continuing all their Comforts faile as they endeauoured to make all good Persons and things to be vncomfortable But as this Destruction is Opus Potentiae proceeds immediatly from Gods Power so is it guided per Sapientiam his wisdome hath a hand in it for as he doth blesse those whom he doth specially know so if hee destroy any it is because they are not within the compasse of his speciall knowledge And indeed so shall Christ say at the last Day Luke 13.23 Depart from me yee workers of iniquitie I know you not How can God bee ignorant and yet Iudge It is not meant simply of knowledge but of that speciall knowledge whereof you heard before and if you will haue it more plainly conceiue it in these foure Degrees First God knowes not the wayes of the wicked In se He finds no such thing in Himselfe and yet is his Nature the Exemplar of all good things Secondly He knowes them not Aâ—se No such Effects euer proceeded from his Spirit and yet Euery good and perfect gift commeth from aboue Iames 1.17 from the Father of Lights Thirdly He doth not know them Secundum Se as an Image of himselfe as all his Creatures are not only the little World was made after his Image Psal 19. but also The Heauens declare the Glory of God and the Firmament sheweth his handy worke and the Visible Creatures make knowne the Inuisible Creator Rom. 1 4. And lastly Hee doth not know them Secum Hee hath no such in his Retinue Psal 93.5 Holinesse beseemes his House for euer and they must bee sanctified that come neere him and be Holy as He is Holy and the wicked shall not stand in his sight Exod. 11 44. Well then When we behold the wicked on Earth prospering in their wicked wayes we see that euery one takes notice of them and euery bodie is readie to doe seruice to them and haply this may bleere our eyes and we may thinke better of their state then it deserues But as Christ when his Disciples shewed Him the goodly Fabricke of the Temple said vnto them Are these the things that you wonder at I tell you Luke 21. not a stone of these shall be left vpon a stone which shall not be destroyed So I tell you gaze not vpon such wayes dote not vpon them for God knoweth them but afarre off Psal 138. They are strangers vnto him and therefore tollentur impij ne videant Gloriam Dei they shall haue as little part in Gods Blessing as they haue in his speciall knowledge Lay both these works of prouidence together and then see the Truth of Maran-Atha in Saint Paul the Lord commeth 1. Cor. â—6 22. as Saint Iude translates it yea and Christ himselfe in Saint Iohn Reuel 22. Behold I come quickly and my Reward is with me to giue to euery man according to his workes What shall I then say to you but euen remember you of those words in the Prophet Ieremie chap. 6. Stand yee in the wayes and see and aske AN EXPOSITION Of the one and fiftieth PSALME THE TITLE To the chiefe Musician A Psalme of DAVID when NATHAN the Prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba I Haue ended the first PSALME wherein I opened vnto you the Couenant of God the Parts of it the Parties to it the Parts are a Vow and a Reward the Parties God and Man Man voweth his Seruice God promiseth a Reward an euerlasting Reward for a momentainie Seruice Behold a gracious an vndoubted Truth and yet doth it prognosticate little good to vs neither may we presume of any interest therein if wee trie our Case by our Liues For who is there amongst vs that tollerably performes his Vow And therefore which of vs can hopefully expect the Reward Surely all assurednesse of the latter is cleane taken away except we bee prouided of some remedie for our failing in the former Now God bee thanked there is one and you shall find it in this Psalme The Remedie is Repentance and this is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so Saint Irenie calleth it a Penitentiall Psalme Lib. 4. c. 45. There are seuen which we vulgarly call Deadly Sins we may call them also if not more fitly yet as truely Cardinall or Mother Sinnes for they are the nurseries of others For the recouerie out of these Sinnes Secund. Vsum Sarum the old Liturgies haue prescribed the vse of seuen speciall Psalmes they call them Penitentials amongst them this
then they would put it off and say it was but his priuate conceipt The like Stratagem doth the Church of Rome vse they publish their opinions by single men whom we haue refuted they tell vs they are not bound no not to the writings of Bellarmine himselfe As for the Pope he is carefull to resolue few doubts out of his Chaire And so they prouide that they will not be refuted no not when they are refuted But Chrysostome giueth them a good Item Leuis est consolatio si quis in seipso confusus est quod ab alijs ignoratur it is but a cold comfort for a man to set a good face vpon a businesse when the conscience is sensible of its owne confusion Although the Person were but one yet was he no ordinary one hee is set forth here two wayes first as very great in shew great for his learning for he was a Lawyer S. Marke calleth him a Scribe And here I must open one Antiquity more If we looke into the originall of the Iewes Religion which is Moses Law we shall find that God committed the teaching of his people vnto the Priests and Leuites Whereupon is grounded that saying of Mâ—lachi The Priests lips should preserue knowledge Chap. 2.7 and the people should aske the Law at his mouth And to that end were the Priests and Leuites not onely to minister in the Temple and teach in the Synagogues but to be of Councell also in the Synedrion at Ierusalem and in the inferiour Senates throughout the whole holy Land But when corruption had ouer-flowen the Church of the Iewes and the Priests and Leuites had degenerated then started vp certaine vsurpers that tooke vpon them the doctrinall part of their function Of whom Christ speaketh in the Gospell The Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses Chaire Matt. 23. Which two seemed to differ as Genebrard thinketh no otherwise then the Canonists and the Schoolemen in the Church of Rome Or to speake more properly to the Iewish aniquities the Scribe was a Textuarie and the Pharisee a Traditionarie Diuine Vnderstand me not exclusiuely for the Pharisee did allow the Text and the Scribe the Traditions but it should seeme they were not both alike studied in or zealous for them both Neither must you thinke that all Scribes were Vsurpers for if they were of the Tribe of Leuie as was Esdras their calling was lawfull But they did vsurpe Moses chaire if they were of any other tribe Much like vnto the orders of Fryers which started vp in the night as it were of Christendome and taking aduantage of the ignorance of ordinarie Pastors encroach't vpon their function and ingrost all Deuotion into their hands When you heare this questionist called a Lawyer you must vnderstand that he was by degree a Rabbin or a Doctor of the Law For there were Nouices which were brought vp at the Doctors feete as Paul at the feete of Gamaliel Yea they had Lay-followers as the Friers haue lay Dominicans lay Franciscans and lay Iesuites who hold it no small ghostly comfort to weare the badge of any of those Fraternities and to be partakers of their merits And the Fraternities doe gladly imbrace such followers they thriue not a little by their Almes and their countenance But such followers are called Disciples they haue not the honour to bee called Rabbins neither come they vnder the name of Lawyers or Scribes Whereupon it followeth that this man was great for his learning But this greatnesse was onely in shew for though they were accounted Doctors by their Nouices yet were they but ill seene in Gods Law Legis verba tenent hi Scribae saith Saint Ambrose vim ignorant they were readie at the Text but altogether ignorant of the sense like Anabaptists and Brownists Christ obserueth two notable defects in them the one was that they did reatch the Ceremoniall Law too farre and the other that they did shrincke the Morall Law too much So that their Key of knowledge did open the Kingdome of Heauen neither to themselues nor others Wherupon Saint Paul doth not without cause moue the question Where is the wise Where is the Scribe 1. Cor. â— Where is the Disputer of this world So wee may conclude of this Scribe that hee was great for learning but that greatnesse was onely in shew He was not great onely for learning hee was great for holinesse also for he was a Pharisee and Pharisees were Saints among the Iewes For they did supererogate liued not onely according to the written Law but according to the traditions also Whatsoeuer did concerne solemne prayers or religious worship was learned from them and they were a Law vnto the people Auiâ—â—â—â— 18 cap. 2. lib 17. cap. 13. â—â—de â—eâ—â— Iudâ—â—â—â— lib. 2 cap. cap 7. Flauius Iosephus saith that they had gotten such Authority by their holinesse that though they did oppose King or Priest yet the people would giue credit to them I wil not trouble you with particularizing their superstitions they were as apish as the Friars are And they were as great busie bodies as either the Iesuits or our precisians are But all this holinesse was but in shew if the things themselues did not speake it our Sauiour Christ in the Gospel doth paint out the vanity thereof Saint Paul after hee had beene a Pharisee and was become a Christian telleth vs that he accounted all his Pharisaisme was no better then losse and dung Phil 3. Heres 16. Epiphanius passeth a very true censure vpon it when he telleth vs that it was spontanea superflua Religio nothing but a packe of will-worship and that which setteth a man neuer a whit forward towards Heauen nay it set them backward rather Christ giueth the reason they made the commandements of God of none effect by their Traditions Mat. 15.6 or at least they leauened them So that when I say he was a great man whom they made their Champion I meane great in their eyes but not indeed or in Christs eyes What he was indeed and what he appeared to Christ is intimated by that which followeth he came with a sword in his heart hee was a Tempter what is that but a Diuell It is one of the Titles which Saint Paul giueth vnto him and all Tempters doe resemble him Tempters in that sense which is here meant for God is said to tempt not as ignorant of vs but to make vs to know and shew our selues and not with any ill meaning towards vs but intending our good But diuelish Temptation proceeds either from Infidelitie when it is bent against God and sheweth that wee doe not beleeue that which wee ought to acknowledge in God namely his Wisedome his Power his Holinesse c. so the Iewes are said to haue tempted God in the Wildernesse or else it proceeds from malice when it is bent againstman and seeketh some aduantage to worke his destruction The temptatation that in my Text is bent against Christ is
plaine hee was without the loue of his Neighbour because hee came to tempt Christ and therefore Christ striketh directly at his fault and sheweth him that there is a second Commandement beside the first euen such a one as without which the first cannot consist for there can bee no true Loue of God which is not accompanied with the loue of our Neighbour 1 Ioh. 4.20 Hee that loueth not his neighbour whom hee doth see how can hee loue God whom hee doth not see So that Christ doth answere not onely fully but abundantly The word Second doth moreouer teach vs that these Commandements are not Co-ordinata but Sub-ordinata the doe not goe hand in hand but one doth attend the other and there is good reason why because the one doth flow from the other To open this a little more fully This Commandement hath a secondarinesse in nature and a secondarinesse in worthinesse A secondarinesse in nature for wee cannot loue the fountaine of Loue but wee must loue the streames that flow from it the same nature that teacheth Children to loue their Parents teacheth them to loue one another Abraham thought so Gen. 3. when hee perswaded Lot not to contend vpon this ground for wee are Brethren and Moses vpon the same ground would haue reconciled two Israelites that were at variance when hee reproued him that was iniurious thus you are Brethren The secondarinesse is as plaine in the resemblance of the Body Acts â— for the members that are respectiue of the Head should not in reason bee ill affected betweene themselues the sense which they deriue from the Head maketh them effectually feeling of each others state and Christians cannot bee senslesse of any part which is in Christs body except they haue lost the sense of their coniunction with Christ their Head Finally the liuing stones that are in the Spirituall Temple doe as willingly embrace and hold fast each the other as they doe gladly entertaine the fountaine of their vnion which is the holy Ghost whatsoeuer motiue there is that perswadeth vs in the first place to loue the Lord our God doth perswade vs in the second place for to loue our Neighbour because our Neighbour and wee doe pertake thereof so that the loue of our Neighbour is a second Commandement to bee obeyed not arbitrarily but necessarily because the same nature teacheth vs in the second place to loue our neighbour which taught vs in the first place to loue God Another secondarinesse there is and that is of worthinesse for though our Neighbour deserue to bee beloued yet is his worthinesse but secondarie And why Such is his Goodnesse God is good a se his goodnesse springeth from himselfe but our Neighbours goodnesse is a Deo hee hath it from the gift of God God is good perse Goodnesse is his very nature but our neighbour is good only in Deo so farre as hee hath communion with God Finally God is good propter se there is no end of his goodnesse but his owne glory but our neighbours goodnesse is ad Deum it aymes at something beyond it selfe and that is at God and vnion with him So that this must passe for an vndoubted and grounded truth that as the reason why wee must loue our Neighbour must bee Goodnesse so that Goodnesse must bee conceiued to bee but in a secondary degree And as the effect doth respect his efficient so must the loue of our Neighbour respect the loue of God because no man can loue his neighbour orderly that doth not first loue God Yea as hee concludeth soundly that hath the principles whence his conclusion must issue euer in his eye and obserueth their direct influence into the Conclusion euen so a man can neuer erre in the loue of his neighbour that guideth himselfe by his loue of God for Quod primum est in vnoquoque genere est mensura reliquorum In a word wee must neuer loue our neighbour but in a double intention a primarie which looketh vpon God a secundarie which looketh vpon our Neighbour and beholdeth God in him This Rule is of speciall vse to make our loue regular whereof wee haue an excellent example in the Macedonians to whom Saint Paul beareth witnesse that they gaue themselues first to the Lord â— â—or 8 5. and then to the Apostles according to the will of God wee must not bee content to know this will doe our neighbour good but see that it agree with the first Table which doth qualifie the second It is true that as in naturall knowledge so also in the affection of Loue wee begin a prioribus sensui wee first apprehend the lineaments of a liuing body and then discerne therein the effects of a soule and last of all come to know the Soule it selfe euen so in the course of nature wee first take notice of our neighbour and the inducements to loue him then we apprehend some higher cause that worketh these inducements and last of all wee acknowledge that that cause is most louely whereupon Saint Austin Tract in Ioh. Diligendo proximum purgas oculum ad diligendum Deum But yet as in naturall knowledge when by going backward wee are come to that which is first in nature wee make that our guide to vnderstand distinctly what before we knew but confusedly euen so though the imperfect loue of our neighbour doth draw vs to a knowledge of our loue of God yet when wee haue attained that wee must take the true taste of our affections from thence and that must correct the corrupt relish which otherwise would be in our Loue for it fareth with our spirituall taste as it doth with our corporall if either bee possest with any quality whatsoeuer it receiueth will seeme answerable according to the Maxime in Philosophie Intus apparens excludit alienum Againe this order of first and second doth teach vs that wee must first giue to God and our Neighbour our Loue before any other gift for all other will easily follow if this goe before and they are all of no value if they flow not from this it is not possible we should doe any other seruice if wee yeeld not this and if it were possible yet wee should doe it in vaine Therefore wee must repute this first and second Commandement the foundations of pietie before wee set our selues to doe our dutie wee must loue God if we will serue him and if we will serue our Neghbour we must first loue him To conclude this point out of all which you haue heard you may learne the truth of that which Saint Austin hath Lib. 15. d. ciuit Dei câ—p 22. Ipse amor ordinatè amandus est Loue it selfe must be loued orderly and if Order bee requisite in the exercise of euery vertue much more in Charitie which is the root of vertues in somuch that where there is no Order there can bee no Charitie Austm ibid. because this Order is nothing else but that Quo
errours in Chronologie I will not trouble you with enumeration of them they that are learned may find them in the Chronologies the ignorant may find enough in the common Almanackes That which I will obserue vnto you is That our mercifull God hath so done his wonderfull workes that they ought to be had in remembrance and amongst other helpes of memorie God vseth this of Chronologie We should not thinke of these dates of times but we should refresh our memorie of that which was done at the beginning of that date God was pleased that the Israelites should so bee remembred of their deliuerance out of Egypt And the Church by whose ordinance the yeere of the Lord is so familiar in our tongues and in our pens would haue vs still thinke how much we are bound to God for the Incarnation of our Sauiour Iesus Christ Descend to smaller matters but yet of good regard when you find in your Almanacke the generall Earthquake the yeere eightie eight the Gun-pouder treason c. Consider with your selues that neither Gods iudgements nor his mercies ought to bee forgotten by vs. Yea this Chronologie must put vs in mind that neither our being nor our being that which we are be it good or bad was alwayes the same There was a time when it was otherwise with vs and the memorie thereof must not be buried in obliuion least we proue vnthankfull as certainely we will if we make not so good vse of the Chronologie And let this suffice concerning the first circumstance the circumstance of time the Beginning and Ending thereof Let vs now come to the second Circumstance of Place And here wee must first see Whence the Israelites came immediatly they departed from Rephidim a place of pressure and the last place where they conflicted with difficulties before they receiued the Law Exod. 17. Numb 33. There was no no water and there Amaleke set vpon them But God relieued them supplying them with water and giuing them victorie ouer their Enemies God did not giue them a Law before hee had giuen them good proofe of his gracious power hee made them feâ—â—e the extraordinary reliefe of his hand before hee spake vnto them with his voice thus dealt hee in deliuering of the old Testament And thus dealt Christ in deliuering of the New hee wrought miracles before hee preached Sermons And indeed this is a very likely way to preuaile with men to haue their reason first subdued before their faith bee informed When reason is first brought to confesse that which is done cannot be done but by a diuine power then will faith easily beleeue that what is spoken Iohn 3. is a diuine word Learne this of Nicodemus Master wee know that thou art a teacher come from God for no man could doe that which thou doest except God were with him Act 14 v. 16. So were the men of Lystra the jaylour and others brought to beleeue Another note is that there is great difference betweene Gods dealing with them before they came to Rephidim and when they came there For before they came there their deliuerance from their enemies was wrought by God without any concurrencie of theirs Exod. 14. v. 13. Feare you not saith Moses stand still and see the saluation of the Lord which hee will shew you to day But afterward when Amalek came and fought with Israel Exod. 17. v. 9. then Moses said vnto Ioshua Chuse vs out men and goe out fight with Amaleke c. I will pray Though God was pleased to deliuer them from their enemies yet not without their owne labour of body yea and deuotion of mind too after he had once set them free Therefore it was fit they should now haue a Law to guide them in their actions and in their deuotions and God giueth them one And vs whom preuenting grace doth first make Christians without any cooperation of ours afterward will God haue to be instruments to cooperate with him and that in this cooperation we follow his direction for hee loueth not wil-worship and therefore that wee may doe what pleaseth him in the seruice wherein hee vseth vs hee giueth vs for our Guide his sacred Law Thirdly whereas God first gaue them Victorie and Water at Rephidim and when they were free from bodily danger and prouided of food then God gaue them the Law We may here obserue Greg. Niss de vit mos p. 17â— that Homo supponitur in Christiano and our animall life must be prouided for that we may intend our spirituall Come we at length to the last Terme of this second Circumstance and that is the Place whether they came and where they setled This place was the wildernesse of Sinai they pitcht before that mount First the place was a wildernesse Philo Iudaeus inquires the reason De Deâ—â—log why God would giue his Law not in some Citie but in a vast Desert And though hee resolue modestly what is the true reason God onely knoweth yet doth he yeeld some likely reasons One is this because the worldly imployments of Citizens wherein their thoughts and desires are for the most part taken vp make all sinnes abound there both against the first and second Table and men so prepossest are not capable of good lawes Retirednesse from such imployments and solitarinesse which silence those clamorous and disturbing thoughts and affections open mens eares and hearts better to listen to God When wee are weaned from the world we are fitter to bee Gods Disciples to learne what he teacheth therefore God saith Ose 2. v. 14. ducam vos in solitudinem loquar ad Cor. This made many in the Primitiue Church to forsake Cities and the frequencies of people and in solitarie places to to giue themselues to spirituall contemplation Which custome degenerated long since into superstition whereof the Church of Rome hath too many spectacles in there Anchorites and Ermites mâ—ere hypocâ—ites which abuse the credulitie of the simple with their seeming holinesse A second reason which he giueth is that as Nauigators before they set to Sea are prouided of Tackling and other necessaries which they must vse at Sea so God was pleased to furnish the Israelites in their way with those Lawes which they were to make vse of when they came into the Holy-land You may if you please improue this reason mystically Canaan was a type of Heauen the wildernesse a type of the world which we must passe through the grace whereby we must liue in the world to come we must be furnisht with in this present world Glophy 〈◊〉 To leaue Philo Iudaeus take another from Cyrillus Alexandrinus Desertum typus Ecclesiae militantis a Desert is a type of the militant Church certainely this Desert was it did most liuely represent to the Israelites what they were by Nature and what they became by Grace This wildernesse was of it selfe a disconsolate place it had neither meate nor drinke for reasonable creatures yet did
armed men that are his deadly foes for a sinner is lesse sure of his life then the other And yet how many such desperate ones are there in the world that sleepe securely vpon the brinke of Hell Yea how many that inuring not themselues daily to reconcile themselues to God make a comfortlesse end and are taken before euer they haue thought of making their peace My exhortation is that we presume not so farre vpon Gods patience as to neglect this kind of repentance But this is not an euery dayes repentance It hath his times appointed by the Church if it be publike or if it bee priuate the times are assigned by a mans owne conscience There is another Repentance which attendeth Sanctification inioyned by the precept of the Law vnto Sanctification wee make way by Mortification and this is an euery dayes Repentance which doth not looke to the Act of sinne as the former but to the Habit. Were it possible that there were no Act of sinne committed then we should not need the first kind of Repentance but yet this second we should need because the best beare about them a habit of sinne Cecidimus super aceruum lapidum in luto Bern. Serm. de Coena Domini Saint Bernard setteth it thus before our eyes When Adam fell and when euerie one of vs doth fall be may be compared vnto a man that falleth not only into the mire but also vpon a heape of stones hee may quickly be washed but not so quickly healed there is great time spent therein euen the whole time of our life we must begin our Repentance at Baptisme which we must continue vntill our death As there bee many other reasons why the Church is compared to the Moone and Christ to the Sunne so one may bee The oddes betweene Iustification and Sanctification Iustification maketh Christs righteousnesse ours and it is from the first moment at the full not capable of any increase but Sanctification is Righteousnesse in vs which if it haue not his waines certainly it hath its waxings and will not be at the full till the day of our death This fruit is nothing else but the putting off the old man 〈◊〉 4 â—2 Gâ—â— 5 24. Rom. 6 6. the crucifying of the flesh with the lusts thereof the casting away of the sinne which cleaueth on so fast the abolishing of the whole bodie of sinne Hee that neglecteth this Rom 12.1 forgetteth that a Christian must offer vp his bodie a liuing sacrifice holy acceptable vnto God that the name of a Christian is the name of Iustice Goodnesse Sinceritie Chastitie Humilitie for what else are these but drops of that Oile wherewith hee is anointed I might amplifie this point Rom 8 22. but I hasten to that which followeth only obseruing that of Saint Paul Euery creature groaneth desiring the libertie of the Sonnes of God and therefore it is a shame for the sonnes of God not to beare a part in this mourning but to stand still as if they made no haste to Heauen and had no desire to be that whereunto they are called It was not so with Christians of old I report mee to the Character of the Church as Epiphanius calleth it and describeth it in the last Chapter of his third Booke but specially to Gregorie Nyssenes Oration of Baptisme where he bringeth in a baptized Christian thus resisting the temptations of the Deuill A vaunt thou wicked fiend I am dead and can a dead man be moued with those things which hee affected when he was aliue When I was aliue I could riot I couldlie c. can a dead man doe these things Certainly when wee looke vpon our selues and see how common sinnes are amongst vs the ranknesse the plentie of the fruit that we beare sheweth that the sinfull root is not dead in vs and the scarcitie of good fruit sheweth that the root of grace is not aliue So that our Abrenunciation was but in word that it was not indeed it appeareth by the raritie of our Mortification I conclude with the exhortation of Saint Paul Câ—â—os 3.5 Let vs therefore mortifie our mâ—mbers which are vpon the earth formication vncleanesse inordinate affection Rom 13.14 euill concupiscence and couetousnesse which is Idolatrie and let vs take no more care for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof You haue heard what is our worke There remaine two things yet The one is the Commandement to doe it the other is the degree in which wee must performe it Men doe not light a Candle to put it vnder a bushell neither doth God giue grace but for the vse But the phrase in English is scant it seemeth only to call for workeâ— in the sight of men but the Greeke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is of a larger extent and may reach those things which can bee discerned only by the sight of God And indeed the Fruits are inward or outward for there is a worke-house in the inward Closet of our heart where wee must fructifie and lay the foundation of those workes which wee doe in the outward man all our outward deeds should be but deeds of deeds the deeds outward haue no more value then they receiue from the inward Quâ—saluâ— mente peecat â—a 〈◊〉 venâ—â— in Ghâ—noam deâ—â—â—detur Tertullian Oâ—â—t de Baptismo But wee must not bee contented only with the inward wee must bring forth the outward also Hee that hath an inside for God and an outside for the Deuill may with his pardon be cast into Hell wee must therfore shew some outward euidence of the efficacie of grace Gregorie Nyssen setteth it forth excellently Come on you saith he which glorie in your Baptisme how shall it appeare that the mysticall grace hath altered you In your countenance there appeareth no change nor in your outward lineaments how then shall your friends perceiue that you are not the same I suppose no other way but by your manners they must shew that you are not what you were when you are tempted with the same sinnes whereunto before you were subiect and yet forbeare them It is reported of one of the worthiest of the Ancients that before his conuersion had kept companie with a strumpet when after his conuersion she came towards him he sted she calleth after him Whither flyest thou 〈…〉 2.10 It is 〈◊〉 his answere was But I am not I And indeed euerie one should say with Saint Paul I line yet not I now but Iesus Christ liueth in mee and let euery one that is in Iesus Christ become a new creature And so I come from the Commandement to the degree There must bee an answerablenesse betweene Gods worke and ours It is not enough to bring forth fruits they must be worthy of Repentance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith a learned Interpreter hath his name from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and is a Metaphor taken from ballances when one seale doth counterpoize another the Syriacke word seemeth to
true Oliue is the Iew and if the Gentile partake of the fatnesse thereof he must be grafted thereinto and become a Branch of that Oliue To the Ephesians more plainly more fully he maketh the receiuing of the Gentiles into the Church to bee an admission into the Couenant into the Common-wealth of Israel Ephes 3. a becomming one body with them But as the Gentile becommeth a Iew so is it not a Iew according to the flesh but according to the spirit A Sonne of Abraham he is but a spirituall Sonne the partition wall is taken downe yea the Arke it selfe is remoued Ieremy 3. and the Ceremonies which cloath the Religion of the Iewes cease they are not imposed vpon the Gentiles Yea the Iew himselfe becommeth a Gentile the Iew I say becommeth a Gentile carnally as the Gentile becommeth a Iew spiritually Of the ten Tribes it is most cleare that after their Captiuity they neuer returned and there is no such Nation to be heard of in the world they are mingled with other Nations and become Gentiles according to the flesh And as for the other two Tribes that made vp the Kingdome of Iuda many thousands of them were conuerted to the Christian Faith in the daies of the Apostles and yet there is not extant any Nationall Church of them neither was there long extant any they also are become Gentiles according to the flesh And God that buried the bodie of Moses so that it could not be found lest the Iewes should commit Idolatry with that body whereby God had wrought so great Miracles seemes also to haue as it were buried so many Iewes as became Christians by mingling them with the Gentiles lest that superstition which hath besotted the Gentiles to goe a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land should haue wrought more strongly in making them dote vpon that holy people But God hath turned all the world into a Canaan hath of all Nations compounded the Israel of God Of a truth saith St. Peter I see there is no respect of Persons with God but in euery Nation whosoeuer beleeueth and feareth God is accepted of him There is neyther Iew nor Gentile Graecian nor Barbarian bond nor free but all are one in Christ all are contained vnder this name Vs. In the Prophet vpon this ground Israel seemes to note the Gentiles Ezek. 37. when both Iuda and Israel are remembred to bee conuerted to God and the whole house of Iacob You see of what Nation the People is now see of what Condition Borne to Vs giuen to Vs. And who are we for whom God hath done this Gifts are bestowed vpon Persons eyther for their worth or for their need For their worth and so they are Munera honoraria they are presented in dutifull acknowledgement of their worth whether it be worth of vertue or worth of degree For their need and so they are Munera eleemosynaria conferred out of a pitifull compassion of others wants This gift is not of the first kinde it cannot be Honorarium There was no worth in vs which God should honour with this gift bestowed vpon vs. Our degree was of no regard our vertue of much Iesse the former was none in comparison and the later was none at all It must then be Munus eleemosynarium and indeed so it was the Scripture so speaketh of it Through the tender mercy of our God the day-spring from on high hath visited vs so saith Zacharie And St. Paul Tit. 3. After the kindnesse and loue of our Sauiour towards man appeared not by workes of righteousnesse which we haue done but of his mercy he saued vs. And indeed it was a worke of great mercy For whereas there is but duplex malum malum Poenae and malum Culpae a double euill of Sinne and Woe we were plunged deepe in both deep in Sin deepe in Woe To pity him that is deep in woe is not strange it seemeth to be the proper act of Mercy but pity towards Malefactors the Philosophers acknowledge none No man say they pitieth a Thiefe when he goeth to the Gallowes or a Murderer feeling the stroke of Iustice how much lesse would they pity them if the sinne were against themselues and that committed by a Vassall against his Lord a Vassall that had receiued much fauour against his Lord from whom he receiued it In such a case they acknowledge no pity Yet this is our case and we haue found pity so great pity that Christ was borne for Vs and Christ was giuen vnto Vs. So that of this pity as well Causa 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not onely the Cause but the Occasion must be found in God It is cleare that the proper Cause is the goodnesse of God and it is as cleare that the occasion also must bee fetched from him Were there onely malum Poenae in vs there might bee found in vs an Occasion of Mercie but seeing there is also malum Culpae there cannot but bee an Occasion of Iustice Our double Euill worketh a double Occasion and so maketh Mercie and Iustice as it were to striue in God And indeed both take their occasions Natus satisfied Iustice for a Person came forth that was able to giue full satisfaction vnto Iustice but Datus satisfied Mercy because this Person was freely bestowed vpon Vs. So that if we put Borne for Vs and Giuen to Vs together we see the sweet Harmony that is in the Quire of Gods Attributes None singeth alone they concent together yet so that some one doth most loudly speak the praise of God and in our case Mercy reioyceth ouer Iudgement For though our sinnes haue occasioned Iustice and therefore Christ was borne for Vs that he might satisfie that iustice that was too heauie for vs yet our Woe occasioned Mercy which gaue Christ vnto Vs that in our own Person we might enioy the Blessings of God We are borne for our selues that we may liue and haue all the comfort of our life present to come blessings which we wanted and by which when we receiue them our state is the better It is not so with Christ he was borne for others not for himselfe and giuen to others not to himselfe for what wanted he whereof he needed a supply Hee was in the forme of God and what good is there that is not in the Nature of God which is the ouerflowing Fountaine of all good Looke vpon the State of Christ this Point will appeare clearly No man will doubt but his Birth was for the good of others that considereth that his glory is not his owne but ours He sitteth indeed at the right hand of God and is lifted vp aboue all Angels and Arch-angels and euery Name that is named in Heauen and Earth in this World and that which is to come but what gaineth he by it who was from eternity most high in the glory of his Father Christ himselfe affirmeth it Iohn 17. Glorifie mee O Father with that glory
and giue the world a good testimonie that we are the subiects of the Prince of peace I will set God before mine eyes and I will try how mine eyes can behold God and if I finde that mine eye delights to behold him that his countenance puts gladnesse into my heart when I doe behold him I am sure we are at Peace For were wee not eyther I haue no eyes and doe not see him or when I doe I shall be confounded with the sight of him I will open mine eares and I will heare God in his Word and if when I heare him the Law of his mouth is sweeter vnto mee than hony and the hony combe I know we are at peace were we not I must needs be like Adam heare and fly And if in the dayes of my mortality I can attaine this Peace of Perfection I doubt not but in the dayes of my immortality I shall attaine vnto that higher peace the peace of Retribution all teares shall be wiped from mine eyes all sickenesse from my body all blindnesse from my vnderstanding all vntowardlinesse from my will This ciuill discord of the flesh and the spirit and that greater betweene my conscience and God how much more these lesser discords that are between me and other men shall fully cease and be abolished for euer the Prince of Peace shall consummate my peace And so haue you those two titles of Christ which shew that we must vnderstand spiritually those two former titles which you heard before doe royally belong vnto him I should now farther shew you that the Scripture giues Christ many names because one or few cannot fully expresse him or at least we cannot fully sound the depth of that name when it is giuen vnto him The name of Iesus is a rich name and so is the name of Christ the vsuall names by which our Sauiour was called but the riches of those names are vnfoulded vnto vs in these particular titles and wee must take these as Commentaries vpon those for as it is in the eleuenth of this Prophecie The spirit which rested vpon Christ was manifold how manifold the holy Ghost doth there describe in abstracto but here to like purpose he speaketh of Christ in concreto The time will not suffer me to parallel these and the like places this is our Rule That as our nature delights in variety so there is a variety in Christ to giue full content vnto our nature and wee must not lightly passe by any one of his titles seeing euery one of them promiseth so much good vnto vs. O Lord that being my Lord art pleased to be my Father such a Father as that I neede not feare that I shall euer be an Orphan and hast prouided me an inheritance that shal be as lasting as my selfe that when all other fayle mee shall bee enioyed by mee an inheritance most comfortable because therein consists my Perfection and thy Retribution the Retribution of glory wherewith thou dost crowne the Perfection of grace grant that I neuer want that piety which I owe vnto my Father that charity which I owe vnto my Brethren Let my heart goe where my best treasure is and let that peace which passeth all vnderstanding haue the vpper hand in me Let me feele it let me practise it so in heart that I may haue the fulnesse of both sense and practice of it in the Kingdome of Heauen Amen THE SIXTH SERMON Of the increase of his Gouernment and Peace there shall bee no end vpon the Throne of Dauid and vpon his Kingdome to order it and to establish it c. IN Christ whom the Prophet describeth here vnto vs I obserued a double excellencie one of his Person and another of his State The first I haue already handled I come now to the second the excellencie of the State Which stands in a boundlesse growth of the Kingdome and a constant policie of the King that is the effect wherof this is the cause But more particularly in the effect obserue that there is a growth the Prophet calleth it an increase a growth of the gouernment and a growth of the peace both partake of the same increase And the increase of both is boundlesse there is no end of it no bounds of place it ouerspreadeth all no bounds of time it endureth for euer the word beareth both Of this effect or boundlesse growth of the Kingdome the cause is the constant policie of the King Which consisteth in the exercise of his two roy all indowments of his wisedome Hee shall order and to order is nothing else but to employ that wisedome which Christ hath as a wonderfull Counsellour of his power He shall support and to support what is it but to employ his power the power that he hath as he is a mighty God hee employeth them both his wisedome his power But they may bee employed eyther well or ill according as the rule is by which they proceed Christ employeth them well his rule is good it is iudgement and iustice he cals all to an account and measures to all as they are found vpon their triall This is the policie And herein he is constant he continueth it without ceasing from henceforth euen for euer So that of the euerlasting effect there is an euerlasting cause You see what is the summe or substance of this second excellencie but that you may see it better let vs runne ouer the parts briefly and in their order And first we are to obserue how answerable the excellencie of the state is to the excellencie of the person one goeth not without the other Christus naturalis will haue Christum mysticum conformable vnto him the body to the head Where he vouchsafeth an vnion of persons he vouchsafeth a communion also in the dignity of the persons It appeares in the name he is called Christ which is annoynted with oyle of gladnesse and we are called Christians we partake of the same oyle His name is but an oyntment poured out as it is in the Canticles Cap. 1.3 poured out like that precious oyle vpon Aarons head which ranne downe to the skirts of his garment Cap. 60. All Christs garments and the Church in Esay is compared to a garment smell of Myrrhe Aloes and Cassia as it is Psalme 45. This is taught by diuers Similies Of the wiues communicating in her husbands honour and wealth The branches partaking of the fatnesse and sweetnesse of the roote The members deriuing of sense and motion from the head So that our King is not like the bramble that receiueth all good and yeelds none to the state but hee is like the Fig-tree the Vine the Oliue they that pertaine to him are all the better for him they are conformable to him if he haue an excellencie they shall haue one also A good patterne for mortall Kings and Gouernours who should herein imitate the King of Heauen that as when a man seeth an excellent work he ghesseth that the
in both kindes and the people as it was glorified because the concomitancy maketh them receiue both in one kinde Adde hereunto that they must mocke the people with vnconsecrated wine or beare them in hand that it is arbitrary in the Church whether they shall or shall not haue it Their other reasons are ridiculous certainly they agree not with the precept Doe this No more doth whatsoeuer they doe besides as their Reseruation their Circumgestation their Application of the Host vnto many vses whereunto God neuer ordained it But the most notorious corruption of these words is that they are made a part of the Priests Ordination as if they did giue him power to sacrifice both for quicke and dead For from these words doe they deriue that part of the Priesthood yea vpon these words they build the Masse also as if Hoc facite were as much as sacrifice and immolate Christ vnbloudily But I will not stand to refute them As the Pastors worke is enioyned in Hoc facite so is the Peoples also they must doe as the Disciples did take that which was distributed amongst them eate that which was consecrated for them and they must feed thereon with their bodies and with their soules Not only with their bodies as carnall Christians doe nor with their soules as the Papists teach their people to communicate mentally with the Priest as if a man were euer fit to communicate mentally when he is not fit to communicate corporally but we must communicate with both otherwise wee are not compleat guests of this entire Feast And though of the two better the body bee wanting than the soule because the grace that possesseth the soule will redound to the body but the food of the body cannot benefit the soule yet seeing the body and bloud of Christ is the fountaine of life spirituall to our soules immortall to our bodies our best course is to eate and drinke with both that we may liue and liue in both blessedly for euer As the People must doe this so they must take heed that beside this they doe not eyther superstitiously adore the Elements or Atheistically prophane them in swearing either by the heauenly or the earthly part of the Sacrament The last Note that I will giue is the Commemoration that is enioyned by the precept Doe this in remembrance St. Paul expounds the word thus Shew forth the Lords death And indeede the Sacrament is a liuely representation of the crucifying of Christ and but a Commemoration For the Popish Masse is refuted in this very word and St. Pauls phrase which shew that Christ is not crucified againe but the manner of his crucifying Sacramentally represented to vs and so the Fathers tooke it But as the Pastor must commemorate the sacrificing in his worke so must the People the sacrifice in taking and feeding thereupon as vpon the viaticum peregrinantium militantum Finally that which remembreth vs must be often frequented by vs so must this Sacrament Wherein it differs from Baptisme which cannot be reiterated this may yea it must The first Christians thought so who at first receiued it euery day they may make vs blush whose deuotion is now so cold But I end That death which Christ endured for vs and doth offer to vs wee must remember in such signes and apply to our selues by such meanes as he hath appointed if we meane to be benefited thereby MOst mercifull Sauiour that by thy powerfull word hast consecrated these holy Mysteries of thy most precious Body and Bloud broken and shed to be the vndoubted pledges of thy Gospell and euer-running Conduits of thy Grace curing the deadly wounds of all our sinnes and satisfying as many as thirst and hunger after righteousnesse grant that we neuer neglect to receiue and when we receiue may euer be prepared prepared both in body and soule so here by faith worthily to feed on thee as thou representest thy selfe veyled in thy Church Militant that we may hereafter fully enioy thee as thou presentest thy selfe vnueiled in the Church Triumphant And in acknowledgement of this present grace and that future glory let euery one of vs become a sanctified Eucharist that with soule and body wee may now and euer sing Glory be to thee O Lord O Lord our strength and our Redeemer Amen IHS THREE SERMONS PREACHED IN THE CATHEDRALL Church of Wells at the Feast of WHITSVNTIDE EPHES. 4. verse 7 8. But vnto euery one of vs is giuen grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ Wherefore he saith When he ascended vp c. to the 17. verse THe Apostle in former Chapters hath opened the mysteries of the Gospell but at this hee beginnes to deduce certaine rules of life which spring therefrom and hee doth specially recommend vnto the Ephesians three Christian Vertues Vnitie Pietie and Constancie he would haue them all agree in Gods truth and expresse that truth in their liues and not wauer in their liues for feare of the Crosse But more particularly touching Vnitie he tels them wherein it consists and wherefore it must be entertained Wherein it consists we learne in the verses that goe before but wherfore it must be entertained we are taught in these that now I haue read vnto you The Reasons are partly the meanes whereby and partly the end for which we receiue the gifts of God The meanes are two one Principall which is Christ the other Instrumentall which are his Ministers And the End is twofold first our Consummation in grace secondly our Preseruation from errour These bee the particulars which take vp so much of this Chapter as reacheth from the seuenth to the seuenteenth verse At this time sutably to the time I shall entreat only of the first of our meanes of Christ the principall meanes whereby we obtaine the blessings of God And here we are to see first What Christ doth then What right hee had to doe it What Christ doth is set downe three wayes but all yeelde but one sense first He giueth grace secondly He giueth gifts and thirdly He fils all things that is by him we haue Gods blessings But we may resolue them into two points the Gift and the Giuer the gift is grace and that grace hath power to fill and this is nothing but a description of the Holy Ghost which descended this day for he is the filling grace of God Of this gift the Giuer is Christ it is here called expresly his gift and he giues it discreetly because according to a measure and yet vniuersally not one of the Church which doth not partake it to euery one of vs is giuen grace This Christ doth and he doth no more than he may his right to doe it is gathered out of his Ascension which St. Paul describes to be a deserued Triumph The parts of a Triumph as they know which are read in stories were these two first the person of the Conquerour was carried in state and secondly the monuments of his
saith the Apostle that you are the Temple of God speaking of our whole person But lest question should be made of any part in the sixth Chapter he distinctly expresseth both Body and Soule He that is ioyned vnto the Lord is one Spirit with him that is cleere for our soule And lest we should vnder-value our worser part Know you not saith he that your bodyes are the Temples of the Holy Ghost So that no question can be made of either part of our person both are liuing stones 1 Pet. 2. and built vp into a Spirituall House And if we be Spirituall Houses then God is in vs of a truth 2 Cor. 6. for so the Apostle collecteth Ye are the Temples of the liuing God saith GOD and I will dwell in them and walke in them St Peter is not afraid to say 2 Pet. 1. We are made partakers of the Diuine nature and the Fathers that we are deified Although there be no personall vnion betweene vs and GOD as there is in CHRIST yet such a mysticall one there is that Philo Iudaeus his words are verie true Deus est animae bonorum incola malorum tantum accola though GODS generall influence be wanting to no Creature yet his gratious inhabitance is the prerogatiue of the Church And all they to whom GOD commeth so neere haue presently erected in them an Oracle and an Altar the Spirit by the Word reuealeth their eyes to see the maruailous things of GODS Law they are all 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They haue an vnction that teacheth them all things 1 Iohn 2. 1 Cor. 2. yea they haue the verie mind of Christ yea the same Spirit that erecteth the Oracle erects an Altar also an Altar of Incense in their hearts which sendeth forth Prayers intelligibiliter suaueolentes Spirituall but acceptable vnto GOD. as Origen answereth Celsu◠obiecting to the Christians that they had no Altars And how can we want an Altar of burnt sacrifice when our broken and contrite hearts offer vp our bodies a liuing sacrifice holy and acceptable to GOD which is our reasonable seruice of him This is enough to let you vnderstand that we are if we are Christians Houses of God answerable vnto Christ I would it were enough also to perswade vs so to esteeme our selues as such grace requireth at our hands for what an improuement is this to our persons and what a remembrance should this be to euerie one to keepe his Vessell in honour but more of that anon I must first speake a little of the description of the Market it is in my Text called an House of Merchandize GOD that made vs Men made vs also sociable and vsed our wants as a Whetstone to set an edge vpon that propension but we should liue together as Merchants ordered by commutatiue Iustice whose Standard is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it requireth that men barter vpon euen tearmes otherwise one man will deuour another and the Common weale cannot continue To preuent this mischiefe GOD hath appointed distributiue Iustice the vertue of the Magistrate who dispencing praemium poenam Reward and Punishment should set euerie man a thriuing but suffer no man to thriue to the preiudice of others The euill of the dayes wherein we liue doe giue me occasion to complaine not onely that there is varietie of corruption in Trades dangerous because some are ouer-thriuing but also of the decay of Trades no lesse dangerous because there are so many thousands that haue no meanes to thriue at all Gouernours giue order for Houses of Correction and no doubt but if they were better vsed vagrants might be restrayned thereby but there must be moreouer an increase of Trades that must employ the Common-people multiplying as they doe in this blessed time of peace while the Gentleman depopulates the Countrey and the Vsurer and Victualer are become the chiefe Trades-men of Incorporations what wonder if contrarie to GODS Law and the Kings the whole Land be filled with miserable poore There is no true at least no full remedy for this euill but they to whom the care of distributiue Iustice is committed must reuiue and quicken the Commutatiue and make our Land according vnto that good opportunitie which GOD hath giuen vs an House of Merchandize This by the way vpon occasion of the phrase where out you may gather that in the Market the world taketh vp most of our thoughts and our dealing there is for worldly things Hauing sufficiently opened the description of the Temple and the Market The difference betweene them is euident to a meane conceit he will easily apprehend that the one place is Heauenly the other Earthly the one for the Communion of Saints the other for the Common-weale in the one place we need be no more then Men in the other we must shew our selues to be the Children of God And is it not a great fault to confound these things which GOD hath so distinguished Surely it is and it was the Iewes fault CHRIST doth open it as he doth forbid it for if we may beleeue the Rabbines the Law was pronounced in the eares of Malefactors while stripes were layed vpon their backes and it is most likely that while CHRIST expelled the Merchants with his whip he spake these words vnto them Make not my Fathers House an house of Merchandize Let vs come then to this Prohibition The best places are subiect to abuse Heauen was and so was Paradise no wonder then if the Temple be And seeing abuse can be excluded no where we must be watchfull euerie-where yea the better a place is the more doth the Diuel solicit vs to abuse it because he will doe GOD the more despite and worke man the more mischiefe Therefore the better the place is the more circumspect must we be It is a soule fault to dishonour GOD any where but specially in his owne House In estimating our owne wrongs we aggrauate them by this circumstance Esay 26 Ier. 11. and shall we neglect it when we ponder the sinnes we commit against GOD Nay rather the greatnesse of our contempt ariseth with the greatnesse of his Maiestie which appeareth in that place and the more gratious he sheweth himselfe there the more gracelesse are we if we yeeld him not a due regard Now what doth that due regard require at our hands Surely that we bring not so much as the world into the Temple we may not doe legitima in illegitimo loco saith St Austin we may not doe lawfull things in a place appointed for better vses Caelum est Caelum ingrederis Nilus the Temple is Heauen as you are taught before when thou entrest the Temple thou must suppose thou art entering into the Kingdome of Heauen Now in Heauen there is neither eating nor drinking marrying nor giuing in marriage buying nor selling therefore we must neither thinke of nor meddle with these things while we enter into that place 1 Cor. 11 Haue you not