the foundation of that spirituall building that new Ierusalem which came downe from heauen and is like vnto a Citie that is at vnitie within it selfe Thus you see there is much ground for a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Put me and that we should rather forsake nets ship with Iames Andrew yea the whole world our selues to boote then not to cleaue to him that is aeternum gaudium the fountaine of life the author of blessednesse the glorie of his Church the honour of Paradise the euerlasting ioy and great reward of men and of Angels that when the Prince of this world shall come we may take vp the words of our Sauiour Venit sed nihil inuenit Indeed he came but he found nothing in me Iohn 14. 30. Yet there be that do more affect 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 then 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nicephorous writeth in historie The image of Caesar more then of Christ That which theeues may steale and the moathes eate and the rust consume more then him that abides for euer Others like the Gergasens driue him out of their coasts and will not abide he should come neare their houses if once they see him in his distrest members whether blind or lame or sicke or naked they cry with those Diuels in the Gospell Quid tibi nobis fili Dauid What haue we to do with thee ô thou Sonne of Dauid dost thou come to vexe vs and trouble vs before the time Yet there he is and makes profession of it Esuriui it is I that was an hungrie and ye gaue me no meate it is I that was athirst and ye gaue me no drinke it is I that was naked and ye did not cloath me it is I that was in prison and ye did not visit me Here might I knocke at the consciences of many examine what it is they lay to heart Hath not pride shut Christ out of the heart of the vaineglorious Hath not pleasure shut Christ out of the heart of the voluptuous Hath not profit shut Christ out of the heart of the couetous Hath not strife and enuie and contention and diuision quite shut him out of the heart of the turbulent and seditious These are thy Gods ô Israel which lead thee backe into the darknesse of Aegypt Lares Penates those Idol gods that set vp altars in thy heart and rule in the temple of thy body So that Christ may stand at the doore and knocke till his head be full of dew and his lockes with the drops of the night there be few will let him enter crying as he doth in my Text or rather in the Gospell Volucres nidos vulpes foueas the birds haue their nests and the foxes their holes but the Sonne of man hath not whereon to lay his head Yet is there a double place due to him the one without the other within the one on the heart the other on the arme And so I passe from the ornament to the subiect from Christ Iesus the Bishop of our soules to our hearts the sea and palace of his residence Put me on thy heart and put me on thy arme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Nyssen writes in the life of Moses heart and arme are emblematicall the one of contemplation the other of action Both due to God and his seruice but first hee calls for the heart like wisedome in the Prouerbs My sonne giue me thy heart If our heart be the seate of loue what is God but loue If our heart be the keepers of our treasure What is God but our treasure he lay in the heart of the earth three dayes when he was abased but now he is exalted let him rest in the earth of our hearts from day to day and from generation to generation Though he be Lord of all and command euery part yet there would he set vp his throne and place the septer of his dominion as in the Metropolis of his Kingdome It is fitly resembled to a Castle which being taken and surprized the whole Citie is forced to yeeld the vnderstanding her intelligence the affections her counfellours the sences her watchmen the members her seruants Yet if the Lord do not keepe the Citie it is all in vaine and therefore saith the Euangelist Intrauit Iesus in Castellum The Lord went into the Castle or intrabit Iesus in Castellum the Lord shall go into the Castle that saluation may be our walls and praise our gates For if Satan get but footing all is lost Ierusalem will be as a heape of stones and the abomination of desolation will light vpon our Citie It was a controuersie betweene Plato and Galen whether the heart or the braine were the seat of life and motion but the Church resolueth determinately that our heart is the receptacle of heauenly grace and spirituall inspiration In the naturall man it liues first and dyes last in the spirituall man it liues first and dyes last Let the eye be darke how great is that darknesse let the heart be dead how great is that deadnesse a goodman bringeth forth good things out of the treasure of his heart an euill man bringeth forth euill things out of the treasure of his heart For as there is life in the heart so out of the heart proceedeth thefts and murders fornications and adulteries the 15. and the 19. of Mathew Be aduised then who it is you place there If Christ knocke let him not stay he alone is that fire which is able to soften thy heart though hard as iron or impenetrable as the adamant and make it like melting waxe in the midst of thy bowels He alone is that bread which is able to fill thy heart the seuerall Angels of that capacious Trigonum with the immensitie of his presence O let him not stand onely in thy forehead by show and profession but call him into thy heart by faith and prayer and deuout acknowledgement and religious inuocation else are ye like those that go into the Sunne not for heate or warmth but to be seene and to be admired shall he cry to these Vulnerasti cor meum thou hast wounded my heart thou hast wounded my heart with one of thine eyes and wilt not thou make answer Paratum est cor meum my heart is readie ô God my heart is ready O the true Isaac and beloued of his Father this is that deare and onely beloued sonne which he will haue thee offer Almes mercie repentance charitie instruction prophesie contrition humiliation or whatsoeuer we can performe without a heart is but as an offering without salt and makes but an hatefull and prodigious sacrifice If the Psalmists reioyce it is in the innocencie of heart If the Apostle exhort it is to simplicitie of heart If the Lord be pleased it is with vprightnesse of heart If the Law be ended and the Gospell established it is in loue from a pure heart and a good conscience The end of the Law is loue from a pure heart and a good conscience and faith vnfained I
remember God charged the Priest to sanctifie the breast of their shake offering as well as the shoulder of the heaue offering That we might see it is not so much the outward man as the inward wherein he delighteth neither is it enough to beare Christ in the head as Minerua did Iupiter vnlesse we beare him in the heart as Mary did our Sauiour Grauidare potuit grauare non potuit beatam virginem He might well fill her wombe with the glorie of his flesh he could not burden her with trouble of his presence How then will they satisfie this demaund that haue no heart vnto goodnesse The armie Philopoemen is likened vnto a man that hath legs feete but no belly because they wanted money which is the heart of warre so I feare in the Church militant there be diuerse that haue legs and feete but no bellie they haue the legges and the feete of outward conuersation but they want the heart and the belly of inward deuotion Non vitae sed famae negotiatores as Tertul. makes the charachter such as negotiate and trade more for a good name then for a good life for a good report then a good conscience If the Lord will be on the eare who so readie to attend his word and to call for a Sermon If the Lord will be on the tongue who so forward to confesse his name or to speake of Religion till they haue turned Sacramentum in sermonem as Saluianus speakes the sacred vse of his glorious name into vaine babling and the foolish contention of words and trifles But let him call for the heart they are quite blanke either it is losteth the cares of this world or sold to worke deceit and wickednesse Thus haue they a shew of godlinesse but denie the power thereof like fidlers that are more carefull in tuning their instruments then in tuning their liues their tongues are their instruments if they be in tune and the strings thereof well set to faire language and glozing hypocrisie all is well they haue done their parts and dutie I know not whether I may say they haue no heart or a double heart 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Hebricians vse to speake a heart and a heart one for Christ another for Belial one for God another for the Diuell Sure I am they are cardiaci and fall vnder the curse the wise man hath denounced Vae duplici cordi Woe to the double heart for the Lord will not part stakes with any neither hath righteousnesse any communication with vnrighteousnes They are not many hearts but one that he desireth howbeit the conditions thereof be diuerse For it must be a new heart and a cleane heart a sound heart and a broken heart renewed by his word clensed in his bloud sound by the truth of doctrine broken by the contrition of spirit else will he forsake the tabernacle of our body and abhorre both heart and arme which is the second receptacle of our Sauiour Put me vpon thy arme For though Loue precede Faith in order of perfection yet Faith precedes Loue in order of generation did the Prophet begin to speake before the heart waxt hot and the fire was kindled in his breast First beleeue with thy heart then confesse with thy mouth yet so that heart and mouth and hand and arme may go together Good workes ioyned to Faith are as a strong building on a good foundation the building of gold and siluer vpon that ground which is laid of old I meane Christ Iesus Mary had no sooner borne Christ in her wombe and presented him in the Temple but Simeon takes him in his armes and embraceth him ioyfully For we must not be ashamed of our profession but carrie the ensigne of our Sauiour openly before vs that so the vertue and the patience and the meeknesse and the obedience of Christ Iesus may be found in euery part but chiefly in our actions Christ on the heart is like seed on the earth Christ on the arme is like corne on the eare Christ on the heart like a tree planted by the riuers of water Christ on the arme like a tree bringing fruit in time of Autumne and therefore true Religion and vndefiled before God is practicall and operatiue in the workes of mercie To visit the fatherlesse and widowes in aduersitie and to keepe our selues vnspotted of the world If our lips drop hony by the preaching of his word and the sweetnesse of his doctrine it is good and commendable but if our hands drop myrh by the crucifying of him and the mortification of our earthly members by the obedience of Christ and the perfect imitation of Christian holinesse it is most comfortable and heauenly There be that follow the paths of Christ and to vse the words of Saluianus Patentiora faciunt Domini vestigia they make the footsteps of our Sauiour more plaine and easie by the example of their vertue and the euidence of their bountie These be they which beare him in their armes and carrie him as a lampe burning in their hands for the benefit of others Do men gather figs of thornes or grapes of thistles Ye shall know them by their fruite And as Christ said of himselfe interrogate opera aske my workes for they speake of me so may we say of them interrogate opera aske their workes for they speake of them looke not on the face regard not the voice they may haue the voice of Iacob but the hands of Esau enquire of their workes they beare witnesse of them and are the surest markes of euery Christian Auditur cum videtur saith Tertullian A good Philosopher is best heard when hee is seene and a true Christian best knowne by the glasse of his life and the president of his actions It is a good resemblance that ancient Father vsed in his Moralls Alis feriunt vbi opera ostendunt The works of the Saints are as the wings of the Cherubins that touch one another for as they smite one another by their wings so we excite one another by our workes and prouoke as it were to godlinesse of liuing remember then I beseech you the end of your vocation that ye are the workmanship of God created in Christ Iesus to good workes That he gaue his life for you to the end you might be a peculiar to himselfe zealous of good workes die vnto sinne liue vnto righteousnesse cast of the workes of darknesse put on the armour of light that ye may be worthy of the Gospell of Christ and the doctrine of our Sauiour in all things may be honoured Ye are they of whom the Apostle doth trauell in birth that Christ may be formed in you and you transformed into him as well in arme as in heart as well in body as in spirit O let it neuer be said of these blessed armes the armes of your workes as Milo said of his armes the armes of his flesh Hi
aspect of that face which the Angels desire to behold and that continually Whereupon saith Dauid Letificabis nos in lumine vultus tui Thou shalt make vs glad with the ioy of thy countenance And this is it which is termed Domini gaudium our masters ioy For indeed wee are all seruants of one master King and Priest sheepheard and flocke Prophet and Disciple Magistrate and subiect which made that great Emperour Constantine neuer writ to any Christian though neuer so meane but with this direction as Eusebius noteth ad fratrem conseruum to his brother and fellow seruant Worthy to bee obserued by such as are Grandes and Demigods vpon earth lest at any time they despise the humilitie of others low condition But I would not haue the name of master take vs from the ioy of our master that is it I would imprint into you that you may be receiued into it O that your hearts were fixt vpon it and that ye would seeke after the fountaine of eternall happinesse Then would yee fly your selues and abandon the corruption of humane infirmitie like that good man in Nazianzene 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that would not suffer the nobilitie of his soule to bee depraued with carnall filthines How doth it come to passe that so many are caught with vanitie led with curiositie taken with desire inflamed with pleasure wract with enuie defiled with luxurie poysoned with malice enraged with furie stung with serpents haunted with maladies troubled with cares vexed with heauinesse drowned and plunged in the sea and gulfe of inextricable miseries but onely for neglect of this ioy because they do not looke after their masters ioy and sing with the blessed Virgine My soule doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath reioyced in God my Sauiour God forbid we should forbid any to reioyce the Text perswades it the Lord commands it and my heart is enlarged towards you with ioy and gladnesse Laetemur iugiter modo innocentèr Let vs reioyce daily so it be without hurt in the Lord in our master Wee haue iust cause to feare that many preferre the ioy of the world before the ioy of the master mutable vanitie before true felicitie And yet let me do them no wrong they are very desirous of their masters ioy but who is their master Is not pride or couetousnesse or violence or extortion or some domineering habit of malitious wickednesse Lust calls to one and sayes I am thy master Reuenge to another and sayes I am thy master seuerall vices to seuerall humours with the like claime of subiection and obedience So that where God hath many seruants created vnto good workes the Diuell hath as many pensioners sold vnto euill workes Base slaues mercenary hirelings if not for pleasure at least for profit they come into the diuels ioy his baites and his contentments the Diuell comes into their ioy their soules and their consciences into some by a pot into others by a sop as hee did that accursed miscreant and Apostate Iudas but wee hope better things of you and such as doe accompanie saluation For mee thinkes yee are come alreadie into your masters ioy the Tabernacles of God the Courts of his Sanctuarie Where yee serue him with gladnesse and come before his presence with a song For if there were ioy in heauen for one sinner that repenteth what ioy shall there bee with the Lord of heauen for so many Christians that mooue toward his Courts and fly as the Doues to their windowes O how beautifull are your feete how aimiable are your doings How is the Lord pleased with your sacrifices and oblations whilst yee come from the East and stand in the gates of the daughter of Sion and open your treasure and present the Lord with the riches of your substance euen gold and myrhe and frankincense For this it is that hee doth open his bosome and stretch forth his armes and lift vp his voyce and extend the golden scepter of his louing kindnesse to the end yee may come to his royall Pallace saying to vs as the King did to Hester What is thy petition and what is thy request it shall be giuen thee to the halfe of my kingdome Come with mee from Lebanon euen with mee from Lebanon or rather as it is in my Text Intra in gaudium Domini tui Enter into thy masters ioy O let not the ioy of man draw vs from the ioy of God O let not the ioy of the creature draw vs from the ioy of the Creator O let not the ioy of the left hand draw vs from the ioy of the right hand O let not the ioy of things visible and temporall draw vs from the ioy of things inuisible and eternall Could the ioyfull sound of Amphions harpe raise stones to the fencing of Thebes And shall not the ioyfull cry of our Sauiours Spirit draw vs to the building of that heauenly Ierusalem Audite vocantem quia exaudit inuocantem saith Austin be not slow to here the Lord when hee calls vnto you because he is ready to heare you when you call vpon him Yee see the power of your vocation yee are called by our Sauiour yee see the nature of your inheritance it is ioy and gladnesse yee see the benefit of your seruice it is the ioy of your Lord and master as the Romanes painted the Graces so hath God planted his children Semper gaudentes semper ridentes they were euer laughing and these are euer lauding lauding and praising and singing and reioycing with ioy vnspeakable and glorious My prayer shall be with Moses Si inueni gratiam if I haue found grace in thy sight shew vs thy way if wee haue found grace in thy sight shew vs thy selfe and shew vs thy glorie bring vs vnto thy rest and take vs into thy ioy that Israel may bee truly Israel and see God that Israel may bee glad in him that made him and Sion may bee ioyfull in her King euen Iesus Christ thine onely ioy and our onely Sauiour to whom with the Father and the Spirit three persons and one God bee ascribed all power maiestie and dominion this day and for euer Amen Angelorum ANTIPHONIA The Angels Antheme BERN. Cant. Ser. 13. Tibi Domine gloria maneat illibata mecum bene agitur si pacem habuero LONDON Printed for ROBERT ALLOT THE SIXTH SERMON LVKE 2. 14. Glorie bee to God in the highest on earth peace good will towards men WHat Iob prophesied time hath verified that when the corner stone was layd the sonnes of God reioyced and the starres of the morning praised him together Christ our Sauiour is the stone of the corner that lyeth in the foundation of his Church the starres of the morning are the glorious Angels and Citizens of heauen that shine as Iasper about the throne of God and cry Hosanna in the highest Blessed is hee that cometh in the name of the Lord Hosanna in the highest whereupon saith Ambrose Laudatur in coelis
videtur in terris The shew and manifestation of his presence is in the earth but the celebritie and declaration of his glory is in the heauens For if the Psalmist would haue a trumpet blowne in the new moone Blow the trumpet in the new moone There is a trumpet of praise and glorie that must sound and bee lifted vp shall I say in the new Moone or rather in the feast of Tabernacles Whilst the Tabernacle of God is with man and to speake in the phrase of Nyssen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not Israel but the Lord of Israel dwelleth in a tent or a booth and is receiued into the darke mansion and earthly Tabernable of humane flesh and mortall corruption Yee haue a president from the Angels though hee were not a Sauiour to them but to vs. For he tooke not the Angels but the seede of Abraham Yet doe they begin the Antiphone and teach vs how to sing Though we may not compare with their knowledge and vnderstanding yet may wee emulate their pietie and deuotion My prayer shall be that which the Apostle vsed in the behalfe of the Romanes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the God of patience and consolation make yee like minded that with one mouth yee may praise God euen the Father of our Lord Iesus Christ saying and singing as it is in my Text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glorie to God in the highest on earth peace good will towards men That which I haue read vnto you is a sacred Hymne and diuine Embasie where there is discouered a threefold benefit of our Sauiours incarnation The first is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the loue and good will of him that dwelt in the bush Good will towards men The second 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 peace and reconciliation with God the Father On the earth peace The third is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 honour and glorie and that from the noblest creatures I meane the Angels that dwell in the height and sublimitie of eternall blessednesse Glorie to God in the highest on the earth peace good will towards men But that which ariseth most clearely from this fountaine is a blessing receiued and a blessing returned A blessing receiued and that is peace On the earth peace A blessing returned and that is Glorie Glorie to God on high In the first wee note the Motiue 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 diuine loue and spirituall adoption Good will towards men In the second wee note a circumstance 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 In the highest Either locall and so by the highest we vnderstand the heauens Or personall and so by the highest we vnderstand the Angels Glorie be to God on high on the earth peace c. Glorie bee to God on high For the heauens send downe and the clouds drop righteousnesse On the earth peace For saluation and Iustice are come forth it brings them forth together Good will towards men For we are satisfied with the abundance of his louing kindnesse Grace and Mercy compassion and bounty from God the Father and from our Lord Iesus Christ Who so great and eminent that he may not honour God it is the practise of the Angels Glorie to God in the highest Who so powerfull and magnificent that hee should not embrace peace it is the onely blessing on the earth On the earth peace Who so amiable and preualent that hee should not stand by this grace it is the onely stay of life and happinesse Towards men good will O the diuine maiestie of this heauenly Sacrament where hee that is despised of his owne is the attonement for his enemies hee that lyeth among the beasts is the securitie of man hee that cryeth in a stable is magnified in heauen and that by an host of spirituall souldiers saying and singing Glorie to God on high on earth peace good will towards men Yee haue now seene the notes of my song I shall resume them in their order though to vse the words of Iohn I am not worthie to vntie the latchet of his shooe Ligatura calceamenti ligatura mysterij saith Gregorie the latchet of his shooe is the mysterie of his birth For the brightnesse of the Godhead lyeth shadowed and shrouded vnder the veile and couer of his manhood diuinitie in humanitie power in infirmitie maiestie in humilitie immortalitie in frailtie life in death and Christ in the flesh O let not that be wanting in you towards me which abounds in God towards all I meane voluntas bona a good will and beneuolous disposition whilst I begin with my first note 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Glorie to God on high It is well the Angels set glorie before peace For there will be no peace with man if there be not glorie to the Lord it is one of those peculiars which he reserueth to himselfe the first is vengeance and therefore saith Moses Vengeance is mine and I will repay the second power and therefore saith the Euangelist The Lord hath giuen all power to his Sonne the last and chiefest is Glorie and therefore saith Esay I will not giue my glorie to another Indeed the Lord made all things for his glorie and if he be not glorified in their actions hee will bee glorified in their punishment by the seueritie of his iustice This made the Apostle to exclude euery creature from the fellowship hereof To the King euerlasting inuisible immortall and onely wise God bee honour and glory And the Psalmist is distinctly negatiue by a perfect abdication from himselfe and others Not vnto vs not vnto vs but to thy name be the glorie That wee may say vnto her as Ioseph vnto his Mistris My Lord hath committed all things vnto my hand and kept nothing from me but onely thee which art his wife How shall I do so great wickednesse and sinne against my Lord The Lord hath committed all things vnto our hands sent vs his Angels giuen his Sonne powred forth his Spirit multiplyed his graces and kept nothing from vs but this glorie which is espoused to him from euerlasting How shall wee do so great wickednesse as to sinne against the Lord and spoile him of his glorie Yet there is an inward glorie wherein wee may reioyce proceeding from a good conscience The holy Ghost bearing witnesse to our spirits that we are the Sonnes of God For glorie and honour and peace shall bee to euery soule that doth good to the Iew first and also the Grecian Yea and an outward glorie too so it bee limited within the bounds of pietie and charitie I meane the honour of God and the benefit of our neighbour In Deo secundum Deum propter Deum as the learned haue distinguisht First in Deo from God as the Author and fountaine then secundum Deum not after the will of man but after the will of God Last of all Propter Deum to the honour of God and the aduancement of his Gospell O gloriam licitam saith Tertulltan such Philotimie is very iustifiable and worthy of man the