This is not to be vnderstood of offence onely giuen to the Ministers of the Church but to signifie that a woman throwing off the vaile of modestie and token of subiection to her husband doth make euen the Angels of heauen witnesses of her dissolute contumacie The Angels are present with thee when all men on the earth are absent from thee I aske thee when thou pollutest the marriage bed attemptest an homicide plottest a treason forgest a vvriting wouldest thou then haue the Angels present with thee or absent from thee If thou desirest them present why dost thou offend them by thy turpitudes If absent thy protectors are gone and the diuels would easily confound thee Nonfacias coram Angelis Dei yea coram Deo Angelorum Do not that thing before the Angels of God yea before the GOD of Angels vvhich thou wouldest shame to doe in the sight and presence of an earthly man Yet let vs marke here by the way that albeit the Angels deserue our reuerence yet they desire not our adoration Indeed the euill Angels request it it was a speciall boone which the Diuell begd of Christ to fall downe worship him But the good refuse it See thou doe it not for I am thy fellow seruant saith the Angell to kneeling Iohn As we vsually come too short in our due reuerence to the Angels so the Papists goe too farre in vndue adoration They haue a set prayer for it Angele Dei Custos mei me tibi commissum lege superâ—…a semper rege custodi guberna This sacrilegious honour those holy spirits refuse they take no charge of such superstitious soules Accipiunt commissum non arripiâ—…nt inconcessum Honorandi non adorandi sunt Angeli Let them be honored but not adored Loue and reuerence the Angels onely worship God and Iesus Christ. 3. This declares to vs the excellent company that is in heauen Were the place lesse noble and maiesticall yet the company it affords is able to make the soule right blessed We are loth to leaue this earth for the societie of some friends in whom we delight yet wee are all subiect to mutuall dislikes Besides the meeting of those good friends againe in heauen there be also glorious Angels There is nothing in them but is amiable admirable nothing in possibilitie of changing our pleasures There thou shalt see and conuerse with those ancient Worthies Patriarchs Prophets Apostles Martyrs Confessors Fathers of the Primitiue times all of them out-shining the starres where our loue shall be as eternall as is our glory There wee shall liue familiarly in the sight of those Angels whom now we receiue good from and see not Yea there is the fountaine of all felicity that Sauiour of ours whose grace onely brings vs to the blessed vision of the whole Trinitie Neither can there be a higher happinesse then the eternall fruition of Iesus Christ. Let this teach vs all to blesse our God that hath thus aduanced vs. Man is corporeall dust O that this clay of ours should come to dwel with those incorporeal spirits We shal be as the Angels of God in heauen Sicut non ipsi like Angels though not Angels in nature Communicatione spei non speciei we haue now a communion of hope with them hereafter of glory To this place O thou Creator of men Angels bring vs through Iesus Christ. To the generall assembly and Church of the first borne which are written in Heauen Our Apostle hath spoken of the Churches glory typically and topically now he describes it materially First the Essence of it what it is The Church Secondly the Propertie of it what kind of Church it is Generall or Catholike Thirdly what are the parts of it of whom it consists Of the first borne written in Heauen The Church This word is taken in diuerse significations For the materiall Temple 1. Cor. 11. 18. When ye come together in the Church I heare there are diuisions among you For the faithfull domestikes of one Familie 1. Cor. 16. 19. Aquila and Priscilla salute you vvith the Church that is in their house For the professors of one Prouince The Church of Corinth of Ephesus c. For some famous company of Beleeuers gathered together in one place 1. Cor. 14. 4. He that prophecieth edifies the Church For an Ecclesiasticall Senate or Synode Mat. 18. 17. If he shall neglect to heare them Dic Ecclesiae tell it vnto the Church For the whole number of the Elect. Mat. 16. 18. Vpon this Rocke I will build my Church Acts 5. 11. Great feare came vpon all the Church 1. Tim. 3. 15. Which is the Church of the liuing GOD the pillar and ground of truth Here first let me premise three circumstances concerning the Church 1. Though it be a Generall Assembly yet it is but one There be threescore Queenes and fourescore Concubines and Virgins without number but my Doue my vndefiled is but one shee is the onely one of her Mother Indeed there be two parts of this One Church Triumphant in Heauen and Militant on Earth The Triumphant part is a company of Iustified spirits triumphing ouer the flesh vvorld and diuell spirits I say for bodies are not yet ascended They haue two happy priuiledges 1. To reioyce in the conquest ouer sinne and death the most righteous man liuing is in praelio in a continuall warfare But so are the other for Saint Iohn saith There was warre in Heauen This must be vnderstood of heauen on earth vvhere there is no truce with Satan Pax cum Deo bellum cum diabolo We haue peace with God but on this condition that warre with the diuell Therefore so runne the promises Uincenti dabitur To him that ouercomes shall be giuen Palmes to shew that they had been warriours are now conquerours 1. To praise God continually and to sing Amen Blessing and glory thankesgiuing and honour be vnto God for euer and euer The militant part is a company of men liuing vnder the crosse and desiring to be with Christ. They suffer and this is their way to glory through much tribulation entring into the kingdome of God They desire dissolution being willing rather to be absent from the body and to bee present with the Lord not simply and absolutely desiring death but first that they might leaue sinning and so cease to displease God and then to come neerer to their blessed Sauiour whose loue hath rauished their hearts Now this militant Church may haue many parts as the Ocean sea is but one yet distinguished according to the Regions vpon which it lies So there is the Spanish Ocean the English Ocean the German Ocean There is a Church in England a Church in France a Church in Germany yet there is but one militant Church Multa Ecclesiae vna Ecclesia saith S. Augustine One Sunne many beames one Kingdome many shires one tree many branches 2. We must note that Christ is the alone head of his
shall manumit and set free our soules from the prison of the body there shal be a second meeting Many haue come from east from west farre remote in place and haue met with Abraham and Isaac and the holy Patriarches which liued long before them in this world in the kingdome of heauen So already in Mount Sion are the Spirits of iust men made perfect The purer part is then glorified and meets with the triumphant Church in blisse This meeting exceeds the former in comfort 1. In respect that our miseries are past our conflict is ended teares are wiped from our eyes The very release from calamitie is not a litle felicitie So Austin meditates of this place negatiuely Non est ibi mors non luctus c. There is no death nor dearth no pining nor repining no sorrow nor sadnes neither teares nor feares defect nor lothing No glory is had on earth without grudging emulation in this place there is no enuie Non erit aliqua inuidia disparis claritatis quum regnabit in omnibus vnitas charitatis None sâ—…all malice anothers glorious clearnesse when in all shall be one gratious dearenesse God shall then giue rest to our desires In our first meeting we haue Desiderium quietis in this second Quietem desiderij Here we haue a desire of rest there we shall haue rest of desire 2. In regard that we shall see God behold him whose glory filleth all in all This is great happinesse for in his presence is the fullnesse of ioy at his right hand are pleasures for euer We shall not only meete with the spirits of iust men made perfect but also with him that made them iust and perfect Iesus the mediatour of the new couenant euen God himselfe 3 Our last meeting which is called the Generall assembly and Church of the first borne written in heauen is the great meeting at the end of the world When our re-vnited bodies soules shall possesse perfect glory and raigne with our Sauiour for euer When as no mountayne or rocke shall shelter the wicked from doome terrour so no corruption detayne one bone or dust of vs from glory We shal be caught vp together in the cloudes to meet the Lord in the ayre and so shall we be euer with the Lord. Who We. There is a time when the elect shall meete in one vniuersalitie Though now weare scattered all ouer the broad face of the earth dispersed and distressed yet we shall meet There is now a Communion of Saints 1. As of all the members with the Head all haue interest in Christ. For he is not a garden flower priuate to few but the Rose of Sharon and the Lillie of the valleys common to the reach of all faythfull hands So Iude calls this our common saluation 2. So of one member with another euen of the Church triumphant with this militant They sing Hosanna's for vs we Halleluia's for them they pray to God for vs we prayse God for them For the excellent graces they had on earth and for their present glory in heauen We meete now in our affections to solace one another and serue our God there is a mutuall sympathie betweene the parts If one member suffer all suffer with it But this meeting shal be voyd of passion and therfore needlesse of compassion though loue shall remaine for euer This Instruction is full of comfort We part here with our parents children kinred friends death breakes off our societie yet there shall be a day of meeting Comfort one another with these wordes Hast thou lost a wife brother child you shall one day meete though not with a carnall distinction of sexe or corrupt relation which earth afforded No man carries earth to heauen with him the same body but transfigured purified glorified There shall be loue hereafter not the offals of it A wife shall be knowne not as a wife there is no marriage but the Lambes Thou shalt reioyce in thy glorified brother not as thy brother according to the flesh but as glorified It is enough that this meeting shall affoord more ioy then we haue knowledge to expresse This giues thee consolation dying with griefe thou leauest those thou dearely louest Yet first thou art going to one whose loue is greater then Ionathans that gaue his life to redeeme thee And well pondering the matter thou art content to forsake all to desire a dissolution that thou mayest be with Christ. Yet this is not all thou shalt againe meet those whom thou now departest from and that with greater ioy then thou hast left in present sorow This comforts vs all if it be a pleasure for friends to meet on earth where Satan is still scattering his troubles of dissention what is it to meete in heauen where our peace is free from distraction from destruction where if there be any memorie of past things meminisse iunabit it shall rather delight vs to thinke of the miseries gone and without feare of returning It is some delight to the merchant to sitte by a quiet fire and discourse the escaped perills of wrackes and stormes Remoue then your eyes from this earth whether you be rich for whom it is more hard or poore for whom it is easier and know it is better liuing in heauen together then on earth together So then run your race that in the end you may meet with this blessed societie the Congregation of Saints in glory We yea All we In this world we must neuer looke to see an vniuersall Church but at that generall day we shall All meete In heauen there are none but good in hell none but bad on earth both good and bad mingled together I confesse that the Church militant is the Suburbes of heauen yea called the Kingdome of heauen because the King of heauen gouernes it by his celestiall lawes but still it is but heauen vpon earth In Gods floore there is chaffe mixed with the wheat in his field cockle with corne in his net rubbish with fish in his house vessells of wrath with those of honour The Church is like the moone somtimes increasing somtimes decreasing but when it is at the full not without some spottes Now this mixture of the vngodly is suffred for two causes either that themselues may be conuerted or that others by them may be excercised Omnis malus aut ideo viuit vt corrigatur aut ideo vt per illum bonus excerceatur 1. For their owne emendation that they may be conuerted to embrace that good which they haue hated So Saul a persecutor becomes Paul a professor Mary Magdalen turpissima meretrix fit sanctissima mulier a putrified sinner a purified Saint Zacheus that had made many rich men poore will now make many poore men rich when he had payed euery man his owne and that now he iudged their owne which he had fraudulently got from them Behold halfe my goods
A Crucifixe Ephe. 5. 2. He hath giuen himselfe for vs an offering The good Politician directed Math. 10. 16. Be wise as Serpents The way home Math. 2. 12. And being warned of God in a dreame Semper Idem Hebr. 13. 8. Iesus Christ the same yesterday Gods bounty Prou. 3. 16. Length of dayes is in her right hand The lost are found Luke 19. 10. For the Sonne of man is come to seeke A Generation of Serpents Psal. 58. 4. Their poyson is like the poyson of Serpents Heauen made sure Psal. 35. 3. Say vnto my soule I am thy saluation The Soules refuge 1. Pet. 4. 19. Let them that suffer according The end of the Contents THE HAPPINES OF THE CHVRCH HEBR. 12. Ver. 22. But ye are come vnto Mount Sion and to the Citie of the liuing GOD the heauenly Ierusalem and to an innumerable company of Angels 23. To the generall assembly and Church of the first borne which are written in heauen and to God the Iudge of all and to the spirits of iust men made perfect 24. And to Iesus the Mediator of the new Couenant and to the bloud of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel THEY that make comparisons alteram partem deprimunt vt res alterius emineant debase the one part that they may aduance the honour of the other Our Apostle abates the glory of the Law that he may giue more glory where it is more deserued to the Gospell For if the ministration of condemnation be glory much more doth the ministration of righteousnesse exceede in glory The summe of the comparison is spent in these three generalls 1. There were Omnia terrena et externa all things outward and sauouring of earth ver 18. A Mount that might still be touched c. Here all Interna et coelestia spirituall and heauenly 2. There are all Obscura et caliginosa darke and difficult Blacknesse darknes c. Here all Clara et illustria cleare and conspicuous therfore the Prophet called Christ Solem Iustitiae The Sun of Righteousnesse and Iohn Baptist stiled him That light which lightens euery one comming into the world 3. There all were Terribilia fearefull and amazing not onely to the people ver 19. who intreated that the Word should not bee spoken to them any more But euen to Moses ver 21. So terrible was the sight that Moses said I exceedingly feare and quake Here all Amabilia et laeta louely as Rachel delightfull as Musike the Gospel is called the Message of peace Our Apostle therefore preacheth a double quantity in the Gospell Magnitudinem Gloriae multitudinem gratiae the greatnes of Glory to worke in vs reuerence the multitude of Grace to worke in vs loue obedience The Law was giuen by Moses but Grace and Truth came by Christ Iesus The excellency of Christ aboue Moses is exemplified in the third Chapter of this Epistle Moses verily was faithfull in all Gods house as a seruant But Christ as a Sonne ouer his owne house c. To the words the parts are generally two the Accesse and the Obiect First for the Accesse Yee are come What on your own feet without a Guide No Accessistis hoc est fide Euangelica perducti estis Yee are come that is yee are brought by the faith of the Gospel There is one that brings you God euery person in the blessed Trinity It is Opus Patris No man can come except the Father draw him Opus Filij Draw me we will runne after thee Opus spiritus sancti Let thy good spirit lead me into the Land of righteousnes Man is by nature in Zedechias case blind and lame Blind Non inuenisset viam nisi via inuenisset eum vnlesse the vvay had found him he could neuer haue found the way Lame he may know that the Temple of heauen hath a beautiful gate Grace but cannot come thither till God brings him loo sen his stupified ioynts and put into his hand the Almes of mercy This done he may enter into the Temple walking and leaping and praising GOD. Thus first he giues the Soule eyes vnderstanding then feet gracious affections and now expects that he should come God hath not so done all for thee that thou shouldest doe nothing for thy selfe A Deo sine te factus à te fine Deo infectus A Christo sine te refectus non à te fine Christo nec à Christo sine te perfectus God did create thee without thy selfe thou didst lose thy selfe without God without thy selfe Christ did redeeme thee but neither thy selfe without Christ nor Christ without thy selfe shall perfect thee Potest Dominus inueniri adueniri non praeueniri There may be a finding of God a comming to God but no preuenting of God Haue faith Hee that commeth to God must belieue and that of thine owne for there is no comming on anothers foote Thus that we might come to Christ Christ came to vs. Non de coelo merita nostra sed peccata traxerunt Not our merits but our maladies drew that great Physician from heauen to vs. Yee are not comming but come it is rather a time perfectly past then expectantly future Which plainely demonstrates that this is a description of the Church in her militant estate so well as triumphant Indeed either hath a relation to other a communion to other and the inestimable priuiledges of them both are wrapped vp together The connexion of Glory to Grace is so infallible that they often change names Heauen is called the kingdome of Holinesse and Holinesse is called the kingdome of Heauen Yee are saued by hope and Hee that belieueth hath euerlasting life and is passed from death to life So sure as if they were already in Heauen So Paul Our conuersation is in heauen from vvhence wee looke for our Sauiour Iesus Christ. The obiect or place of our arriual is described by many excellent and honourable titles First it is called a Mount but is there so much happinesse in that Feriunt summos fulgura montes the highest Mountaines are most danger'd to the violences of Heauen ver 18. There was a Mount burning with fire This is no Mountaine of danger or terror but Sion safe pleasant delightfull Sion the ioy of the whole earth the beloued of GOD the Iohn that leaned on the bosome of Christ. The Lord loues the gates of Sion better then all the dwellings of Iacob But though a Mount though Mount Sion yet it might be a solitary and vnfrecuented Hill like that whereunto the Diuell tooke Christ and shewed him the kingdomes of the world vvhere a man can onely see glory not enioy it Or like that mount Nebo or top of Pisgah whereon Moses might onely stand and behold the Land of Canaan Not so but on this Mount there stands a City a populous Citie and full of buildings like that wherein Christ
Church and can haue no other partner to share with him in this dignity Iesus Christ is the corner stone in whom all the building fitly framed together growes vnto an holy Temple in the Lord. Hee doth not onely by his authority gouerne it but also by his grace quicken it so that wee liue not but Christ liueth in vs. Let vs hold the head from which all the body by ioynts and bands hauing nourishment ministred increaseth with the increase of God He requires no deputy he needs none For wheresoeuer you are gathered together in my name I am in the middest of you Now euery Commission ceaseth in the presence of him that giues it It is therefore as great arrogancy in the Pope to call himselfe Caput Ecclesiae Head of the Church as for a subiect to keepe himselfe in commission in the presence of the King But they distinguish of heads there is a Principall and a Ministeriall Head Christ is not so weake in himselfe or so respectlesse of vs as to need any Ministeriall head Indeed there be Heads Materialiter who are no other then principall members So Saul was called Head of the Tribes Psal. 18. 43. Thou hast made me the head of the heathen 2. Sam. 23. 8. The Tachmonite head of the Captaines Nehem. 11. 16. Iozabad head of the Leuites The eldest was called head of the familie Exod. 6. 14. These bee the heads of their fathers houses But there is a Head Formaliter to giue sense motion vertue gouernance this none but onely Christ. 3. Wee must know that there is no saluation out of this Church such as neuer become members of it must eternally perish they that are true members shall be saued If they had beene of vs they would haue continued with vs but they went out from vs that it might be manifest they were not of vs. Without are dogs and scorners c. All out of the Arke perished in the waters The Lord added to the Church daily such as should bee saued First because there is no meanes of saluation out of it no word to teach no Sacraments to confirm And especially because out of the Church there is no Christ and out of Christ no saluation Who haue not the Church their Mother cannot haue God their Father This teacheth vs to honour our Mother and like little children to hang at her brests for our sustenance Sucke and bee satisfied with the brests of her consolations milke out and bee delighted with the abundance of her glory Run not to strange nurses for poyson when you may haue pure milke of your owne mother Desire like babes that sincere milke of the Gospell that yee may grow by it Qualis nutritio talis complexio The complexion of your manners the disposition of your liues will witnesse whose children they are The generall assembly this is the property of the Church Generall It is Catholike in three respects of Time of Persons of Place 1. Of Time because the Church had a beeing in all ages euer since the Promise was giuen to our first Parents in Paradise If there had beene a time when no Church had beene on earth the world should haue then perished for it stands for the Elects sake 2. Of persons for it consists of all degrees and sorts of men rich and poore Princes and subiects bond and free There is no order nor state excluded if they exclude not themselues Christ is the Propitiation for our sinnes He may be so indeed for the sinnes of Iohn and the Disciples but how appeares it for mine yes not for our sinnes onely but for the sinnes of the wholeworld euery condition of beleeuers 3. Of Place it is gathered from all parts of the earth especially vnder the new Testament Wheresoeuer this Gospell shall bee preached in the whole world When Christ gaue his Apostles their Commission hee gaue also the whole world for their Parish Goe teach all nations and baptize c. Thus we see the property of this Church Catholike or Generall It is one but not tyed to one time nor one place nor one person it is Catholike to all times to all places to all persons Augustine sayes that the Donatists in his dayes would haue tyed the Church to Cartenna in Africa as the Papists in our dayes to Rome in Italy How is it then a Generall assembly Thus that Antichristian rabble which haue almost nothing in their mouthes but the Church the Church yet doe mostly infringe the liberties of the Church and hedge it in All of them haue made the Catholike Church to be nothing else but the Romane Church and some of them the Romane Church to be nothing else but the Pope So in effect Papa virtualiter est â—…ota Ecclesia say they The Anabaptists imagined a Church like the Ticke all body and no head the Papists haue made a Church like the Toadstoole all head and no body What a monster is their Pope that will bee all in all eye and tongue body and head taile too As Caligula tooke off the head of Iupiter and set on another of his owne so they haue smitten off Christs head and set on the Pope Let them take their imaginary head say we onely to Christ Whom haue we in heauen but thee and on earth none besides thee Our dependance be for euer on our Head the Lord Iesus Before I leaue this point I desire to expresse two things one for distinction the other for instruction First for distinction betwixt this Generall assembly and particular Churches then for instruction to shew who bee true members of this Catholike Church 1. The maine difference betweene them consists in this that the Catholike Church is alwaies inuisible the members thereof only knowne to God particular Churches are sometimes inuisible and lying hid other times manifest in the open profession of Christs name As the Moone is eft-soones ecclipsed or clouded and often shineth in the full 1. It lies hid through want of the word preached and publike administration of the Sacraments So it was in the dayes of Elias when hee wished to die I onely am left Strange Apostacie when so notable a Prophet could not discerne the Church yet vers 18. I haue left seuen thousand that neuer bowed their knees to Baal So it was in the raigne of Asa For a long season Israel hath bene without the true God without a teaching Priest and without the Law The Papists demand where our Church was before the daies of Luther we answer that an vniuersall Apostacie was ouer the face of the world the true Church was not then visible but the graine of trueth lay hid vnder a great heape of popish chaffe But this inuisibility doth not proue a nullitie They cannot impugne the antiquity of our Church vnlesse they conuince themselues For the Church of England holds no other doctrin then that the Church of Rome primarily did hold and that
childe their massacres They goe they run thy stride they ride ouer vs. The language of their lippes is that which Babylon spake concerning Ierusalem Downe with it downe with it euen to the ground Rase it rase it euen to the foundation thereof Desolation sits in their eyes and shootes out through those fiery windowes the burning glances of waste hauocke ruine till they turne a land into solitude into a Desart and habitation for their fellow-beasts and their worse selues O vnmercifull men that should be to men kinde as God but are more ragingly noxious then wolues They haue lost the nature let them also lose the name of men Uix repperit vnum Talibus è multis hominem consultus Apollo But it is euer true Optimi corruptio pessima The fairest flowers putrified stinke worse then weedes euen an Angell falling became a Deuill and man debauched striues to come as neere this Deuill as he can They should put their hands vnder our falling heads and lift vs vp but they kicke vs downe and ride ouer vs. Ouer our heads This notes their bloudinesse vnpacifiable but by our slaughters The pressing racking or breaking of our inferiour limbes contents not their malice they must wound the most sensible and vitall part our heads The Lord be blessed that hath now freed vs from these bloudie ridings and sent vs peace with Truth Yet can wee not be forgetful of the past calamities in this Land nor insensible of the present in other places The time vvas when the Bonners and butchers rode ouer the faces of Gods Saints and madefied the earth with their blouds euery drop whereof begot a new beleeuer When they martyred the liuing with the dead burnt the impotent wife with the husband who is content to die with him with whom she may not liue yea reioycing to go together to their Sauior When they threw the new-born yea scarce-borne infant dropping out of the mothers belly into the mothers flames whom if they had been Christians they would first haue Christned if not cherished This was a fiery zeale indeed set on flame with the fire of hell They loue fire still they were then for fagots they are now for powder If these be Catholikes there are no Canibals They were then mounted on horses of authority now they ride on the wings of policy Our comfort is that though all these whether persecutors of our faith or oppressors of our life ride ouer our particular heads yet we haue all one Head whom they cannot touch They may massacre this corporall life and spoyle the locall seate of it whether in head or heart but our spirituall life which lies and liues in our Head Iesus Christ they cannot reach No hellish stratagems nor combined outrages no humane powers nor diuellish principalities can touch that life for it is hid with Christ in God Indeed this Head doth not onely take their blowes as meant at him but he euen suffers with vs. Saul why persecutest thou me Saul strikes on earth Christ Iesus suffers in heauen There is more liuely sense in the Head then in other members of the body Let but the toe ake and the head manifests by the countenance a sensible greefe The body of the Church cannot suffer without the sense of our blessed Head Thus saith Paul The sufferings of Christ abound in vs. These afflictions are the showres that follow the great storme of his passion Wee fill vp that which is behinde of the affliction of Christ in our flesh Wee must be content for him as hee was for vs to weep and groane and bleed and dye that we may raigne If wee sow not in teares how shall we look to reape in ioy how shall we shine like starres in heauen if we go not through this fierie tryall or land at the hauen of blisse if wee passe not the waues of this troublesome water You see the Riders but you wil say What is this to vs we haue no such riders Yes many too many euen so many as we haue Oppressors eyther by tongue or hand Shall I name some of them The malicious slanderer is a perillous Rider and hee rides like death vpon a pale horse Enuie Thus were the Pharises mounted when they rode ouer Christ euen the Head of our heads If Iesus will not be a Pharise they will naile him to the Crosse. These venemous Cantharides light vpon Gods fairest flowers and striue either to blast them with their contumelious breaths or to tread them vnder their malicious feete The griping Vsurer is a pestilent Rider and hee is mounted on a heauy Iade Mammon or loue of money Euery step of this beast wounds to the heart and quasheth out the life-bloud O that this sordid beast of vsury with all his ponderous and vnweldy trappings bils obligations pawnes morgages were throwne into a fire temporall that the riders conuerted soule might bee saued from the fire eternall If any Alcibiades had authority and will to kindle such a fire in England as was once at Athens I beleeue that no teares would be shed to quench it but the musike of our peace would sound merrily to it and the rather because there would be no more grones to mollifie it The destructiue depopulator is another pestiferous Rider He is a light Horseman he can leape hedges and ditches and therefore makes them in the midst of plaine fields He loues to ride in his owne ground and for this purpose expelleth all neighbors Though Salomon sayes that the King is serued by the field that is tilled ye hee as if he were wiser then Salomon promiseth to serue him better with grasse Hee posteth after the poore and hunts them out of his Lordship He rides from towne to town from village to village from land to land from house to house à doloso fur to ad publicum latrocinium and neuer rests till he hath rid to the Deuill And there is a fourth Rider gallops after him amaine as if hee had sworne not to be hindmost the oppressing Landlord and hee rides vpon a horse that hath no pace but racking for that is the Masters delight racking of rents and he hath two Lacquays or Pages run by him Fines and Carriages Thus ascended attended twice a yeare at least he rides ouer the heads and hearts of the poore Tenants that they can no more grow in wealth then corne can that is scattered in the high way for they as that are continually ouer-ridden by their mercilesse Landlords Let these riders take heede lest the curses of the poore stumble their horses and breake their neckes The churlish Cormorant is a mischicuous Rider hee sits on a black Iade Couetousnesse and rides onely from market to market to buy vp graine when hee hath store to sell and so hatcheth vp dearth in a yere of plenty Our Land is too full of these riders they repine complaine of the vnseasonablenesse of the weather of the barrennesse
publishing of his benefite Mark 1. to the Leper See thou say nothing to any man of it But he went out and began to publish it much to blaze abroad the matter I know diuerse Diuines by curious distinctions haue gone about to excuse the matter by making this an admonitory not an obligatory precept But I subscribe to Caluin and Marlorat who taxe it for an offence and manifest breach of Christs commandement And Ierome on that place sayes that Non erat necesse vt sermone iactaret quod corpore praeferebat His tongue might be silent for his whole body was turned into a tongue to publish it The act was good but not good at that time Disobedient he was be it granted yet of all disobedient men commend me to him Let not then any politicke or sinister respects tye vp our tongues from blessing him that hath blessed vs. Suffocate not the fire of zeale in thy heart by silent lips lest it proue key-cold But say with our Prophet My foot standeth in an euen place in the congregations vvill I blesse the Lord. We perceiue now the motiue cause that brought Dauid into Gods house I would take leaue from hence in a word to instruct you with what minde you should come to this holy place We are in substance inheritors of the same faith which the Iewes held haue in stead of their Tabernacle Sanctuary Temple Churches places set apart for the Assembly of Gods Saints Wherein wee receiue diuine Mysteries and celebrate diuine Ministeries which are said by Damascen Plus participare operationis gratiae diuinae There is nothing lost by the Gospell which the Law afforded but rather all bettered It is obseruable that the building of that glorious Temple vvas the maturity and consummation of Gods mercy to the Iewes Infinite were his fauours betwixt their slauery in Egypt and their peace in Israel God did as it were attend vpon them to supply their wants They haue no guide why God himselfe is their guide and goes before them in a pillar of fire They haue no shelter the Lord spreads a cloud ouer them for a Canopy Are they at a stand and want way The Sea shall part and giue them passage whiles the diuided waters are as walls vnto them For sustenance they lacke bread heauen it selfe shall powre downe the food of Angels Haue they no meat to their bread A winde shall blow to them innumerable Quailes Bread and flesh is not enough without drinke behold a hard rocke smitten with a little vvand shall powre out abundance of water But what is all this if they yet in the wildernesse shall vvant apparell their garments shall not waxe olde on their backes Doe they besiege Iericho walls shall fall downe before them for want of engines hailestones shall braine their enemies Lampes and pitchers and dreames shall get them victorie The Sunne shall stand still in Gibeon and the Moone in the valley of Aialon to behold their conquests Lacke they yet a Land to inhabite the Lord will make good his promise against all difficulties and giue them a land that flowes with milke and honey But is all this yet short of our purpose and their chiefe blessednesse They want a House to celebrate his praise that hath done all this for them behold the Lord giueth them a goodly Temple neyther doth hee therein onely accept their offerings but he also giues them his Oracles euen vocall oracles between the Cherubins I might easily paralell England to Israel in the circumference of all these blessings but my center is their last and best and whereof they most boasted The Temple of the Lord and the Law of their God To answere these wee haue the Houses of God and the Gospell of Iesus Christ. We haue all though all in a new manner 2. Cor. 5. Old things are passed away behold all things are become new They had an Old Testament we haue the New Testament They had the Spirit wee haue a new Spirit They had Commandements we haue Nouum mandatum the New commandement They had an Inheritance Canaan we haue a new Inheritance promised Vids nouum coelum nouam terram I saw a new heauen and a new earth To conclude they had their Temple we haue our Churches to which as they were brought by their Sabbath so we by our Lords day wherein as they had their Sacraments so we haue our Sacraments Wee must therefore beare the like affection to ours as they did to that We haue greater cause There was the shadow heere is the substance there the figure here the truth there the sacrifices of beasts heere of the Lambe of God taking away the sinne of the vvorld I finde my selfe here occasioned to enter a great sea of discourse but you shall see I will make but a short cut of it It is Gods house you enter a house vvhere the Lord is present the place where his honour dwelleth Let this teach vs to come 1. With Reuerence Ye shall hallow my Sabbaths and reuerence my Sanctuary I am the Lord. The very mention of this Reuerence me thinkes should strike our hearts with our selfe-knowne guiltinesse How few looke to their feet before they enter these holy dores Eccl. 5. and so they offer the Sacrifice of imprudent and impudent fooles If they are to heare they regard Quis not Quid any thing is good that some man speakes the same in another triuiall If the man likes them not nor shall the Sermon Many thus contend like those two Germans in a Tauerne One said he was of Doctor Martins religion the other protested himselfe of Doctor Luthers religion and thus among their cups the litigation grew hote betweene them whereas indeed Martin and Luther was but one man Others when they come first into the Church they swappe downe on their seates clappe their hattes before their eyes and scarce bow their knees as if they came to blesse God not to intreat God to blesse them They vvould quake in the presence of an offended King who are thus impudent faced in the house of God But saith the Lord whose Throne is the heauen and the earth his footstoole I will looke to him that trembleth at my vvord So Iacob Gen. 28. was afraid and sayd Hovv fearefull is this place This is none other then the house of God and this is the gate of heauen Whereupon Bernard Terribilis planè locus c. A fearefull place indeed worthy of all reuerence which Saints inhabit holy Angels frequent and God himselfe graceth vvith his owne presence As the first Adam was placed in Paradise to keepe it so the second Adam is in the congregation of his Saints to preserue it Therefore enter not without Reuerence I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercies and in thy feare will I vvorship toward thy holy Temple 2. With Ioy. None but a free-will offering is welcome to
Now therefore Put on as the elect of God holy and beloued bowels of mercies kindnes humblenes of minde c. As you claime any portion in those gracious blessings Election Sanctification and the loue of God as you would haue the sweet testimonie of the Spirit that you are sealed vp to the day of Redemption Put on mercie kindnes meeknes long suffering let them be as robes to couer you all ouer Yea bowels of mercies let them be as tender and inward to you as your most vitall parts Lay forbearance and forgiuenes as deare friends in your bosomes Depart from iniquitie for the high way of the vpright is to depart from euill and he that keepth his way preserueth his soule And above all these things put on Charitie which is the bond of perfectnesse Walke in loue And as many as walke according to this rule peace be on them and mercie and vppon the Israell of God Amen LOVES COPIE OR The best Precedent of Charitie EPHE 5. 2. As Christ loued vs. WE distinguished the whole verse into a Canon and a Crucifixe The Canon consisted of a Precept and a Precedent Loue is the Subiect and it is both commanded and commended Commanded in the Charge which you haue heard Commended in the Example which you shall heare I determined my speach with the Precept Walke in loue The Precedent or Patterne remaines to be propounded and expounded As Christ loued vs. Every word is emphaticall and there be foure signifying foure seuerall natures Here 1 As is a word of 1 Qualitie 2 Christ 2 Maiestie 3 Loued 3 Mercie 4 Vs 4 Miserie Two of these words be Vincula or Media that ioyne and vnite other things Sicut and Dilexit As and Loued As directs our loue to God and Man by the exemplified rule of Christ louing vs. Walke in loue to others As Christ loued vs. Loued is that blessed reconciling nature whereby Gods good Greatnes descends to our bad basenesse and the Iust giues to the vniust Saluation For what other nature but Mercie could reconcile so high Maiestie and so low Miserie As According to Zanchius his obseruation on this place is a note of Qualitie not Equalitie of Similitude not of Comparison We must loue others As Christ loued vs As for the manner not for the measure His loue was strong as Death for to the death hee loued vs. It was a bright cleare fire many maters could not quench it yea water and bloud could not put it out God so loued the World so freely so fatherly so fully as no tongue can tell no heart thinke The loue of Christ passeth knowledge To thinke of equalling this loue would be an impossible presumption Our loue is inconstant weake a mingled and often a mangled loue mingled with selfe loue and mangled with the wounding affections of the world Our loue is faine his strong ours ficle his constant ours limited his infinite Yet wee must follow him so fast as we can and so farre as wee may Walking in loue as he loued vs. His Walking in loue was strange and admirable hee tooke large steps from heauen to earth and from earth to heauen As Bernard on that speech of the Church concerning her Beloued Behold hee commeth leaping vpon the mountaines skipping vpon the hils He leaps from heauen to the Virgins wombe from the wombe to a manger from the manger to Egypt from Egypt to Iudah from thence to the Temple from the Temple vp to the Crosse from the Crosse downe to the graue from the graue vp to the earth and from the earth vp to the highest glory And he shall yet haue another leap from the right hand of his Father to iudge quicke and dead These were great iumpes large paces of loue When he made but one stride from the clouds to the cradle and another from the Cradle to the crosse and a third from the crosse to the crowne To come from the bosome of his immortall father to the wombe of his mortall mother was a great step From the lowest hell or depth of his humiliation to the highest heauen or top of his exaltation was a large pace We cannot take such large steps nor make such strides These leaps are beyond our agilitie our abilitie Yet we must follow him in loue stepping so farre as we can and walking so fast as we may Follow we carefully and chearfully though non passibus aequis The Father that takes his yong son into the field with bowes shafts and bids him shoot after him doth not expect that the child should shoote so farre as he but so farre as he can Though we cannot reach Christs marke yet If there be a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath not according to that he hath not Now this particle As is not barely similitudinary but hath a greater latitude and serues To Confine the Measure of our Imitation Define Matter Refine Manner 1. This Sicut Confines Our imitation and limits it to that circumference which the present rule or compasse giues it We may not follow Christ in all things but in this thing Loue As he loued vs. Our imitation hath a limitation that it may not exorbitantly start out of the circle There are speciall workes which God reserues to himselfe and wherein he did neuer commaund or commend mans following but rather strikes it downe as presumption His Power his Maiestie his Wisedome his Myracles cannot without a contumacious ambition be aymed at When Lucifer aspired to be like God in Maiestie he was throwne out of heauen When Adam contended to be like God in knowledge he was cast out of Paradise When Nebuchadnezzar arrogated to be like God in Power he was expulsed his kingdome When Simon Magus mounted to be like God in working Miracles and to flie in the ayre he was hurld downe and broke his necke God must not be imitated in his Finger in his Arme in his Braine in his Face but in his Bowels Not in the Finger of his Myracles nor in the Arme of his Power nor in the Braine of his Wisedome nor in the Face of his Maiestie but in the Bowels of his Mercy Be ye mercifull as your heauenly Father is mercifull And sayth Paul Put on the Bowels of mercy as Christ put them on Forbeare forgiue Walke in Loue As hee loued vs. Neither Angell nor Man did euer or shall euer offend in coueting to be like God in Loue Grace Mercy Goodnes So that this Sicut excludes his Myracles and directs vs to his Morralls Walke in Loue 〈◊〉 c. 2. This Sicut Defines What our Loue should be As Christ was to vs. Now his loue to vs had an infinite extention and is past the skill of men or Angels to describe Yet because this is the perfect Copy of our imitation and the infallible Rule whereby we must square our Charitie I must according to my shallow power wade a litle
periudice But the poyson of the wicked dum alios inficit seipsos interficit Whilest it infects others kills themselues His owne iniquities shall take the wicked himselfe Their owne wickednesse like poyson hath in themselues these three direfull effects It makes them Swell Swill Burst 1. It makes them swell with pride and blowes vp the heart as a bladder with a quill Quis est Dauid Who is Dauid and who is the Sonne of Iesse Yea Quis est Dominus Who is the Almightie that wee should serue him Thus the Spider a poysonous vermine Climes vp to the roofe of the kings pallace If he be in prosperitie nothing can hold him to a man Be hee but a Thistle he sends to the king of Lebanon for his daughter to be his Sonnes wife Though he be but a dwarfe in comparison he would swell to a son of Anak Sinne hath puff'd him vp he forgets his maker The Lord hath fed him to the full he rebells against him We haue then good cause to pray with our Church In the time of our wealth good Lord deliuer vs. 2. It makes them swill the poyson of sinne is such a burning heate within them that they must still bee drinking And the deuill their Physician holds them to a dyet-drinke they shall not haue the water of the Sanctuary that would coole them but the harsh harish ill-brewd drinke of damnation They shall tast nothing but sinne more poyson still Which is so farre from quenching their thirst that it enflames it Totis exquirit in agris Quas modo poscit aquas sitiens in corde venenum So a man puts out the Lampe by powring in more oyle and extinguisheth the fire by laying on fewel This may for a small time allay the heate as cold drinke to a burning feuer So Ahabs feruor was a litle delayed with a draught of wine out of Naboths vinyard But Satan holds his guests to one kind of lycour and that 's ranke poyson the mudde of sinne and wickednesse He allowes them no other watring place but this Puddle-wharfe 3. It makes them burst here be the three sore effects of sinne in the soule as of poyson in the body Frst it makes a man swell then it makes him drinke lastly it it bursts him Iudas is houen with couetousnes hee drinkes the money of treason and then he bursts Rumpuntur viscera Iudae he burst out This is the catastrophe of a wicked life Then when lust hath conceiued it bringeth forth sinne and sinne when it is finished bringethforth forth death To others You see how fatall the poyson of the wicked is to themselues It doth not onely rumperese but corrumpere alios burst themselues but corrupt others It depriues their owne good it depraues others good The hurt is doth to others consists in Correptione Corruptione in outward harming in inward defiling them Outwardly Their Poyson breakes forth in the iniuries of all about them They spare neither forreiner nor neighbour There be litle snakes in Babilon that bite only forreiners and not inhabitants Pliny writes of Scorpions in the hill Caria that when they sting onely wound the naturall borne people of the Countrey but extraneos leuiter mordere but bite strangers gently or not at all These like fooles not onely strike them that are nearest but betweene their poyson in ruinam omnium to the ouerthrow of all Such a one cannot sleepe except he haue done mischiefe nay hee dyes if others doe not dye by him Et si non aliqua nocuâ—…sset mortuus esset A mans Land cannot scape the poyson of the depopulator nor his estate the poyson of the vsurer nor his children the rauisher nor his peace the contender nor his name the slanderer If their poyson cannot preuaile ad interitum hominis they will spend it ad interitum nominis If they cannot murder they will murmure They are the Deuills bandogs as one calls Parsons the Popes Cerbâ—…rus If they cannot come to bite they will barke If their sting cannot reach their mouth shall sputter out their venime Yea some of them doe not onely this mischiefe whiles they liue but etiam mortui euen dead As Herod that caused the noble Sonnes of the Iewes to be slaine post mortem suam after his death They write of some serpents that their poyson can doe no hurt except it bee shot from the liue bodies of them but these leaue behind them a still euill-working poyson As wee say of a charitable man that hee doth good after hee is dead his almes maintaine many poore soules on earth when his soule is in heauen Et quamvis ipse sepultus alit So these wicked sinne perpetually euen dead The incloser of commons sinneth after he is dead euen so long as the poore are depriued of that benefite He that hath robbed the Church of a tenth so leaues it to his heire sinnes after he is dead euen so long as God is made to loose his right Moriente serpente moritur venenum but here moriente homine viuit peccatum As one sayd of a Lawyer that resoluing not to be forgotten hee made his will so full of intricate quirkes that his executors if for nothing else yet for very vexation of law might haue cause to remember him Ieroboams sinne of Idolatrie out liued him The vniust decrees of a partiall Iudge may out liue him euen so long as the adiudged inheritance remaines with the wrongfull possessor The decrees of diuerse Popes as in curtalling the Sacrament forbidding marriage c. are their still liuing sinnes though themselues be dead and rotten Inwardly Their poyson doth most hurt by Infection their companie is as dangerous as the plague a man cannot come neere them but hee shall bee contaminated Like the weed called Gosses they make the ground barren wheresoeuer they grow Their Poyson is got Per Contactum Contractum Compactum Conspectum 1. By touching he that toucheth pitch shall be defiled It is dangerous to sport and dally with them dum ludunt laedunt He casteth firebrands and arrowes and death and sayth Am I not in sport As Solomon sayth Their very mercies are cruell so their very iest is killing earnest 2. By companying with them they hurt by sporting but worse by sorting Cast in thy lot among vs let vs all haue one purse They that will quarter themselues with the wicked must drinke of their poyson If you aske how happes it that their infection is not smâ—…lt Bernard answers Vbi omnes sâ—…rdent vnius minimè sentitur one is not smelt where all stinke 3. By Confederacie which is yet a higher degree of receiuing their poyson The first was alight dallying with their humours the next a societie with them in some drunken riots and disorders but this third is a conspiracie with them in their pernicious and deadly plotts Thus a Seminary comes from Rome and whistles together a number of traytors he brought poison
wicked will not grapple vpon equall termes they must haue either locall or ceremoniall aduantage But the godly are weake and poore and it is not hard to prey vpon prostrate fortunes A lowe hedge is soone troden downe and ouer a vvretch deiected on the base earth an insulting enemy may easily stride Whiles Dauid is downe or rather in him figured the Church the plowers may plow vpon his backe and make long their furrowes But what if they ride ouer our heads and wound our flesh let them not wound our patience Though we seale the bond of conscience vvith the bloud of innocence though we lose our liues let vs not lose our patience Lactantius sayes of the Philosophers that they had a sword and wanted a buckler but a buckler doth better become a Christian then a sword Let vs know Non nunc honoris nostri tempus esse sed doloris sed passionis that this is not the time of our ioy and honour but of our passion and sorow Therfore let vs with patience runne the race c. But leaue vvee our selues thus suffring and come to speake of that we must be content to feele the oppression of our enemies Wherein we will consider the Agents Actions The Agents Are Men. Thou hast caused men to ride c. Man is a sociable liuing creature and should conuerse with man in loue and tranquillity Man should be a supporter of man is he become an ouerthrower He should help and keep him vp doth he ride ouer him and tread him vnder foot O Apostacie not onely from diuinitie but euen from humanitie Quid homini inimicissimum Homo The greatest danger that befalls man comes whence it should least come from man himselfe Caetera animantia saith Plinie in suo genere probe degunt c. Lyons fight not vvith Lions Serpents spend not their venims on serpents but Man is the maine suborner of mischiefe to his ovvne kind It is reported of the Bees that â—…grotante vna lamentâ—…ntur omnes when one is sicke they all mourne And of Sheepe that if one of them be faint the rest of the flocke will stand betweene it and the Sunne till it be reuiued onely man to man is most pernicious Wee knowe that a bird yea a bird of rapine once fed a man in the Wildernesse that a beast yea a beast of fierce cruelty spared a man in his denne Whereupon saith a learned Father Ferae parcunt aues pascunt hommes saeuiunt The birds feed man and the beasts spare him but man rageth against him Wherefore I may well conclude with Salomon Prou. 17. Let a Bearerobbed of her whelps meet a man rather then a foole in his folly God hath hewne vs all out of one rock temperd all our bodies of one clay and spirited our soules of one breath Therefore saith Augustine Sith we proceed all out of one stock let vs all be of one mind Beasts molest not their owne kind and birds of a feather flie louingly together Not onely the blessed Angels of heauen agree in a mutuall harmonie but euen the very diuells of hell are not diuided lest they ruine their kingdome We haue one greater reason of vnitie and loue obserued then all the rest For whereas God made not all Angels of one Angell nor all beasts of the great Behemoth nor all fishes of the huge Leuiathan nor all birds of the maiesticall Eagle yet hee made all men of one Man Let vs then not iarre in the dispensation of our mindes that so agree in the composition of our natures You see how inhumane and vnnaturall it is for man to wrong man of his owne kinde and as it were of his owne kinne Thus for the Agents The Action Is amplified in diuers circumstances climbing vp by rough staires to a high transcendency of Oppression It ariseth thus In Riding Riding ouer vs. Riding ouer our Heads Driuing vs through fire and water 1. They ride What need they mount themselues vpon beasts that haue feete malicious enough to trample on vs They haue a Foote of Pride Psalm 36. from which Dauid prayed to bee deliuered A presumptuous heele which they dare lift vp against God and therefore a tyrannous toe to spurne deiected man They need not horses and mules that can kicke with the foote of a reuengefull malice 2. Ouer vs. The way is broad enough wherein they trauell for it is the Deuils roade they might well misse the poore there is roome enough besides they need not ride Ouer vs. It were more braue for them to iustle with champions that will not giue them the way wee neuer contend for their path they haue it without our enuie not without our pitie why should they ride Ouer vs 3. Ouer our heads Is it not contentment enough to their pride to ride to their malice to ride ouer vs but must they delight in bloudinesse to ride ouer our heads will not the breaking of our armes and legges and such inferiour limbes satisfie their indignation Is it not enough to wracke our strength to mocke our innocence to prey on our estates but must they thirst after our blouds and liues Quò tendit saua libido whither will their madnesse runne But we must not tie our selues to the latter Heere is a mysticall or metaphoricall gradation of their cruelty Their Riding Ouer vs Ouer our heads is Proud Malicious Bloudy Oppression They Ride This phrase describes a vice compounded of two damnable ingredients Pride and Tyrannie It was a part of Gods fearefull curse to rebellious recidiuation Deut. 28. that their enemies should ride and triumph ouer them and they should come downe very low vnder their feet It is deliuered for a notorious marke of the great Whore of Babylons pride that she rides vpon a scarlet-colou'rd Beast Saint Paul seemes to apply the same word to oppression 1. Thes. 4. That no man oppresse his brother The originall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to goe vpon him climbe on him or tread him vnder foote O blasphemous height of villany not onely by false slanders to betray a mans innocence nor to lay violent hands vpon his estate but to trip vp his heels with frauds or to lay him along with iniuries and then to trample on him And because the foote of man for that should bee soft and fauouring cannot dispatch him to mount vpon beasts wilde and fauage affections and to ride vpon him Ouer vs. This argues their malice It were a token of wilfull spight for a horseman in a great rode to refuse all way and to ride ouer a poore traueller Such is the implacable malice of these persecutors Esa. 59. Wasting and destruction are in their paths yea wasting and destruction are their paths They haue fierce lookes and truculent hearts their very breath is ruine and euery print of their foot vastation They neyther reuerence the aged nor pity the sucking infant Virgins cannot auoid their rapes nor women with
others vertues and good actions with praise It is the argument of a sullen and proud disposition not to commend them that do well Yet there is no ointment so sweet but there will bee some dead flies to corrupt it There bee certaine dogs that will barke at the Moone Critickes that spend the larger part of their time seeking knots in a bulrush The Snow is not so white but there is an Anaxagoras to make it blacke It was Gods commendation of Iob that there was none like him in the earth he had no fellow yet the deuill pickes quarrels and inuenteth slanders against him Traducers of their brethren I call not Damones but Damonis agunt I do not say they are deuils but they do the worke of deuils This mischiefe of deprauing hath also infected the Church Many a Preacher thinkes his owne glory eclipsed if the next Orbe be lightned with a brighter Starre Hence they fall to faulting and inueighing as if there were no way to build vp their owne credites but by the ruins of anothers disgrace God doth otherwise The Lord commended the vniust Steward because he had done wisely Though he had many faults yet Christ praiseth him for what was worthy praise his policy S. Paul found grosse errours in the Corinthians In this I praise you not that you come together not for the better but for the worse But wherein they did well he commends them ver 2. I praise you brethren that you remember me in all things Thus Ezekiel commends Daniel a Prophet of his owne time and thought it not any derogation from himselfe Behold Art thou wiser then Daniel As Salomon saith of beggers A poore man oppressing the poore is like a sweeping raine which leaueth no food behind it So a Minister disparaging a Minister is a breach whereby the deuill comes out and many soules go into hell Now to the words Arise go thy way thy faith hath made thee whole The verse may be distinguished into a Pasport and a Certificate Arise go thy way there is the Pasport Thy faith hath made thee whole there is the Certificate Hee giues him first a Dismission leaue to depart then a Testimonie or Assurance both to certifie the Church actually that he was cleansed of his leprosie but especially to certifie his owne conscience that he was conuerted and that the faith of his soule brought health to his body In the Pasport or Dismission there are two words considerable Surge and Vade Arise Goe Surge ad incipiendum vade ad perficiendum First let vs speake of them secundum sonum then secundum sensum First according to the Historie then according to Mysterie Allegories are tolerable when they be profitable Nor can it be much from the Text by occasion of those two words spoken to the eares of the Lepers body to instruct your soules how to Arise from the Seate of Custome the couch of sinne and to Goe on in the way of saluation Arise The Leper casts himselfe downe and Christ bids him arise Humility is the Gentleman Vsher to Glory God that sends away the rich empty from his gates loues to fill the hungry with good things The ayre passeth by the full vessell and onely filleth that is emptie This is the difference betweene the poore and beggers both agree in not hauing differ in crauing The proud are Pauperes Spiritus the humble are pauperes spiritu Blessed are not the poore spirits but the poore in spirit for theirs is the Kingdome of heauen Such as felt their wants sought and besought God for supply Euery Valley shall be filled and euery Mountaine be brought low The lowly minde shall be exalted the high-towring ambitious shall be throwne downe How should God say to the Marchant that glories in his wealth to the Vsurer that admireth his moneyes to the Gallant that wonders that his good cloathes do not preferre him Arise alas they are vp already they were neuer down A dwarfe in a great throng seeming low on his knees was bidden by the Prince to stand vp alas he was before at his highest God cannot be so mistaken as to encourage their standing vp who neuer yet had the manners to cast themselues downe Descendite vt ascendatis ad Deum cecidistis enim ascendendo contra euâ—… Descend that yee may rise vp to God for you haue fallen by rising vp against God He that is a Mountebanke must leuell himselfe euen with the ground if humblenesse hath once throwne him downe and brought him on his knees he shall heare the Patron and patterne of humblenesse comforting him with a Surge Arise The guest that sets himselfe downe at the lower end of the Table shall heare the Feast-maker kindly remoue him Friend sit vp higher If Hester fall at Asuerus feete hee will take her by the hand and bid her arise When Peter fell downe at Iesus knees saying Depart from me I am a sinfull man O Lord He presently was raised vp with Feare not from henceforth thou shalt catch men Zacheus is gotten vp on high to see Iesus see him hee may with his eye of flesh but he must descend that hee may see him with his eye of faith Come downe Zacheus this day is saluation come to thy house Descend to the ground that thou maist be raised aboue the clouds Pride euen in good things Non ditio sed perditio is no argument of possession but destruction The haughtie-minded lookes alwaies beyond the marke and offers to shoote further then hee lookes but euer falls two bowes short humility and discretion who is heard to say with Paul Quorum ego sum primus I am the chiefe of sinners such an humble confession scarce heard of But Christ had giuen him a Surge on his former humbling Arise and beare my name before Gentiles and Kings c. Let vs all thus cast our selues downe in humility that the Lord may say to vs in mercy Arise Gâ—…e This was the word of Dismission wherewith Christ sends him away Though he were healed therein had his hearts desire what could he expect more of Christ why is he not gone No he has not yet his Vade hee will not go till he is bidden Hee found such sweetnesse in the Lord Iesus that could you blame him though he were loth to depart From another mans house we say after some small tarrying Let vs saue our credites and go before we are bidden but from the Lord let vs not depart without a dismission The hearts of the people were so set on Christ that hee was faine to send them often away Mat. 14. 22. Hee sent the multitudes away Math. 15. 39. Hee sent the people away As Simeon that Swanne which sung his owne funerall Nunc dimittis Lord now thou lettest thy seruant depart in peace This makes to the shame of their faces that without other cause then of wearinesse waywardnesse or wantonnesse will not tarry for their
euery good and faithfull Seruant the vaile is taken away and Christ sayes enter thou into the ioy of the Lord. 2. By this meanes we haue in this world a free accesse to the Throne of grace by our prayers the vaile and separation of sinne and wrath is rent asunder by Christ and a cleare way made for our supplications The Propitiatory and Mercie-seate the Cherubims of glory shadowing it the very presence of God were within the Holyest and the people might not approach it but stood without a farre off Our Sauiour hath torne away this vaile and opened our petitions a free passage to the Seate of mercie in heauen Hauing such an high Priest ouer the house of God sayth Paul immediately after the clearing our way through the vaile Let vs draw neare with a true-heart in full assurance of faith c. Wee see howe farre our prerogatiue excelles that of the Iewes They were seruants we are sonnes and cry Abba Father they had Priests we are Priests they had a barre to vs that vaile is rent away Let vs therefore come boldly vnto the Throne of grace that we may obtaine mercie and find grace to helpe in time of neede This is singular comfort that poore subiects may bee sure of accesse to the King with their petitions yea more bee heard in all their desires yea most of all haue an Aduocate at the Kinges right hand to plead their cause But then remember the Psalmists caution If I regard wickednesse in my heart the Lord will not heare mee Let the seruants of Baal cry neuer so loudly if lewdly their prayers are not heard To the cryes of vnfaithfull sinners the vaile is vp still and like a thicke cloud reuerberates beats backe their orisons that they cannot ascend to the Throne of grace Onely faith makes a free passage and a cleare conscience hath a cleare voyce that can peirce heauen 3. The breaking downe of this vaile did make the Holyest and the other part of the temple all one Whereby was signified that of two was made one Iewes and Gentiles one Church He is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken downe the middle wall of partition betweene vs. So that now those the Iewes called dogges eat the bread of the children yea they are the children and Iaphet is perswaded to dwell in the tents of Sem. She is also Beloued that was hated euen the Church of the Gentiles is the Spouse of Christ. The vaile that hindred Paul cals the Law of commandements contained in ordinances this he abolished for to make in himselfe of twaine one new man Heauen gate is no wider open to a Iew then to a Grecian In Christ Iesus neither circumcision auaileth any thing nor vncircumcision but a new creature And as many as walke according to this rule peace be on them and mercie and vpon the Israel of God The Sum of the Gospell as of the world is not confined to lighten Iudea onely but shines vniuersally There is not one priuiledge wherein the Gentile hath not as franke a share as the Iew the sonnes of Hagar are adopted the sonnes of God and the free Ierusalem aboue is the mother of vs all All this did our blessed Sauiour worke for vs by renting the vaile That he might reconcile both vnto God in one body by the crosse hauing slaine the enmitie therby Oh then let vs keepe the vnitie of the Spirit in the bond of peace Christ hath made vs at one let vs not make our selues twaine The vaile is rent why set we vp new schismes in doctrine iarres in conuersation The bill of diuorcement is cancelled let vs loue our husband Christ and for his sake euery man his brother Let vs set vp no more vailes least we doe it with the curse of building more Iericho's There is no bond so sure as Religions no ligaments so strong as faith and a good conscience Wretched man that breakest these tâ—…es and rentest thy selfe from them to whome thou art by Christ vnited A mothers yea a Fathers blessing forsakes thee and thou buildest vp a new vaile which thou must looke for no more Christs to come rent asunder 4. The renting of the vaile teacheth vs that when men sinne rebelliously against God no prerogatiue shall doe them good The Temple was one of their principallest priuiledges their glory their crowne The Temple of the Lord the temple of the Lord. It was a figure of the Church militant as Solomon the builder was a figure of Christ. For this Temples sake God often spared them So Daniel prayes Cause thy face to shine vpon thy Sanctuary that is desolate Yet when they fall away from God and crucifie their Messias this prerogatiue helpes not For here Gods owne hand rents the vaile and after giues the whole fabricke a spoyle to the Gentiles If ye will not heare if ye will not lay it to heart I will send a curse vpon you I will curse your blessings yea I haue cursed them already because you doe not lay it to heart It lies in mans sinne to make God curse his very blessings and to punish the nocent in the innocent creatures We see the way how wee may loose Temples and peace and Gospell and all priuiledges by running the courses of disobedience Who can number the blessings we haue enioyed by the Gospell Let vs beware least our vngracious and vngratefull liues robbe vs not of that with all the appertinent comforts They that haue trauelled the Belgicke Prouinces can witnesse the miserable footsteps of warre and the tyrannie of desolation Churches and Cities haue no more monuments but the ruined foundations to testifie that they were Sin made way for bloud and massacre Idolatrie puld downe those wals which otherwise the most sacrilegious hand should haue forborne If there had beene no enemie to rase them they would haue falne alone rather then couered so blasphemous impietie vnder their guiltie roofes Peace is within our walles prosperitie within our palaces blessed for euer be our God of peace for it Yet we haue a subtle aduersarie Sacriledge that incroacheth sore vpon vs and hath taken many of Gods houses in possession We cannot say They haue burnt vp all the Synagogues in the land but they haue done very wickedly to the Lords Sanctuaries The wals stand and it is well if in many places they do so but there is not a Leuite to feede the people alas how can there when there is nothing left to feede a Leuite Couetousnes would do as much hurt with vs as warre hath done with our neighbours it would but I trust in the Lord Iesus it shall not Though they haue rent away Gods right Tithes and offrings they shall neuer rent away Gods Truth and Gospell rent themselues from it indeede they are likely to do 5. Lastly The Vaile was rent By renting the part God did threaten the subuersion of