the things of this World are dumbe they know not the language of the lyar m Eph. 4.25 but their tongues are tipt with truth They are ignorant of the language of the black mouthed swearer but his communication n Mat 5.37 is yea yea and nay nay in a word hee knowes not the language of Babel but speakes the language of Canaan Now there is the sweetnes of Honey in godly discourses but the bitternes of Gall and Worm-wood in wicked words and although wicked men may happily thinke that they find sweetnes in them yet they are like the Bee though they bee Honey in the mouth yet they have a sting in the tayle They are like S. Iohns booke o Rev. 10.10 though in the mouth they bee sweet as Honey yet in the belly they are bitter for what Solomon said of a whorish woman p Prov. 5.4 so may I say of them though in the mouth it be sweet as an hony comb yet their end is bitter as Worm-wood Secondly the Church must also shew sweetnes in her works Ad praedicationem novae gratiae secuta est novitas vitae in his qui crediderunt qui conversationem suam inter gentes habentes bonam Christi erant bonus odor in om niloco saith S. Bernard q In Cantic Ser. 60. Newnes of life did follow the preaching of the new grace of the Gospell in them which did beleeve who having their conversation honest among the Gentiles were a sweet favour unto Christ in every place For Plantae quae benè olent bonam famam nomen pollicentur r Hier Card Sinines Somni li. 1. cap 30. those Flowers that smell sweetly do signify a good name and report Odor bonus est nomen bonum hoc de bono opere tanquam de flore odor procedit saith Saint Bern. ſ Vbi prius A sweet smell is a good report which proceedes from good workes even as sweetnes doth from the Flower The good works of the godly cast a sweet smell even to them that are without Bona quidem per se sunt aromata virtutum per se redolere videntur sed cumulatiore gratia flagrant cum de unctione spiritus suavitatis afperguntur odore t Gilleber in Cantic Ser. 33. The spices of vertues are good and smell sweet in themselves if in the heathen but they give the more fragrant smell when they are sprinkled with the odor of sweetnes by the anoynting of the spirit in the godly good works are an odour of a sweet smell unto men and a Sacrifice acceptable well pleasing unto God as the Apostle tells the Philippians u Phil. 4 18. concerning their charity The Prophet Hosea w Hos 14.7 speaking of the Church sayes it shall grow as the Vine the sent thereof shall bee as the Wine of Lebanon It is written x Daneus from Pliny lib. 14.7 of some Vines that in the time of their florishing they send forth so sweet a smell that not onely the Vine-yards themselves but the Countrey round about is refreshed with the sweet savour thereof so that if any Serpents bee neere they are driven away by the sweet smell of the Vines so the conversation of the godly is no lesse fragrant not only in themselves but also to all that are round about A good name is better then precious oyntment y Eccles 7.1 And the godly have their conversation so honest among the Gentiles z 1 Pet 2.12 that they may by their good workes which they behold glorify GOD in the day of visitation And their sweet conversation doth drive away Serpents whether we expound Serpents as S. Austin doth a In Psal 42. Serpentes vitia tua sunt The Serpents are thy sins then their works of light expell those workes of darknes or else as S. Bern. doth b De Pass Dom cap 45. Quid melius per Serpentes quam diabolicas suggestiones accipiamus What is better meant by Serpents then the suggestions of Satan which doe secretly creepe into the minds of men then if wee looke upon that brasen Serpent Christ Iesus which was lifted up upon the Crosse by the eye of a true and lively Faith working by love and sending forth the sweet savour of good works we shall bee c Ephe 6.16 able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked The smell of the Churches oyntments d Cant. 4.10 11. that is her graces is better then all spices and the smell of her garments is like the smell of Lebanon But when Isaac smelled the savour of Iacobs garments they were nor his owne for e Gen. 27.15 Rebeccah tooke goodly rayment of her elder Son Esau and put them on Iacob As hee was cloathed with the rayment of his elder brother which gave such a sweet smell so the Church is cloathed not with the garment of her owne righteousnes but shee puts on the glorious robe of her elder brother CHRIST IESVS by which she is made the sweet Rose of Sharon Thirdly as the Rose is dead in winter but shoots forth againe at the Spring so though the members of the Church ly a long time in the grave yet at the Spring of the resurrection they shal rise againe As long as the root is quick the branches will not die but flourish Christ is the root f Rev. 5.5 22.11 we are the branches g John 15.5 and our root did not rot in the ground but rose from the grave to certify us the branches of the resurrection As long as the head is above the water the body cannot bee drowned Christ is h 1 Cor. 11.3 Eph. 5.23 the head wee are i 1 Cor. 12.27 the body but Christ our head is risen from the dead and his members the Church shall assuredly rise from death to the Resurrection of life As Christ k Church Hom. of the Resurrection dyed not for himselfe no more did hee rise againe for himselfe but for us Quia tu Redemptor noster suscepit mortem ne mori timeremus ita ostendit resurrectionem ut nos resurgere posse confideremus for as our Redeemer dyed that wee should not be afrayd of death so he rose againe that we may bee sure of our Resurrection unto life GODS Covenant with his Church l Jerem. 31.33 I will be their GOD and they shall be my people m Pe kins on the Creed is an everlasting covenant to last for ever but if God should leave his people in the grave for ever how could they bee called the people of GOD for n Mat. 22.31 for GOD is not the GOD of the dead but of the living and therefore seeing Gods Covenant is everlasting to all the Faithfull must rise from the dead that God may alwayes bee said to bee their God and the godly be alwayes said to be his people It is an especiall part of Gods glory to shew forth his mercy on
were servants he dyed to restore immortality to mortall men And indeed Christs whole life whether you consider his Doctrine or his doings was healthfull and medicinable to us if we obey his precepts or imitate his patterne This Text hath been hitherto as a fruitfull Field wherein I have gathered some corne I shall now bind some profit of it up in sheaves that you may the better carry it away with you First therefore here we may see Christs love to us with astonishment and admiration What the Iewes said concerning Lazarus k John 11.36 when Christ raysed him from dead behold how he loved him so may we say behold how he loved us how deare and pretious our life hath been in his eyes may appeare by the greatnes of the price which hee payd for it even his owne life Quam indebita miseratio quam grata dilectio c. regem gloriae crucifigi pro despicatissimo vermiculo l Div. Bern. O how undeserved is that mercy how free is that love that the King of glory should be crucifyed for despicable Wormes It was a great love m Cowper on Rom. 8. that Abraham shewed to Lot in hazarding his owne life n Gen. 14.14 and the lives of his family to rescue him out of the hands of Chedorlaomer but not comparable that love which our kinsman the Lord Iesus hath shewed unto us who hath given his life to deliver us out of the hand of our enemyes It was a wonderfull great love that God would make man like himselfe and all things for man greater love that he himselfe would be made man but greatest of all that he would dy for his salvation Secondly let us consider the odiousnes of sinne with hatred and detestation Thousands of Rams o Micah 67. nor ten thousands of Rivers of Oyle could not make satisfaction for sinne neither could the fruit of our body make satisfaction for the sinne of our soule but the Son of God must needs dy for the sins of man If sinne cost Christ so deare doubtles it will cost us dearer except we repent Memoria ergo crucifixi in nobis crucifigat omne peccatum p Div. Bern. is an excellent counsaile and worthy our practice therefore let the remembrance of Christ crucified cause us to crucify all sin in us he stretched out his hands on the Crosse to embrace us and let not us stretch out our hands to wickednes to disgrace him he was crucifyed for us let not us crucify him againe by our sins but crucify our sins that caused him to be crucified Thirdly Christ is a patterne for our imitation and that in three things First we must imitate him in the sweetnes of our action especially in dong good Secondly in our resurrection which is twofold the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The one is a resurrection of the dead the other is a resurrection from the dead We must rise from the death of sinne to the life of grace if wee meane to rise from the death of the grave unto the life of glory But we must not rise as the Rose-tree doth at the spring to dy againe the next winter but with Christ he being raysed from the dead q Rom. 6 9. dyeth no more death hath no more dominion over him and we must so rise from the death of sin that we never commit the same sins againe Thirdly as Christ was conceived and borne for us so must we conceive and beare him in our hearts There is a threefold nativity of Christ Divine from his Father fleshly from his Mother and spirituall in the mind Ex patre nascitur semper de matre natus est semel in mente nascitur saepe saith Innocentius r Ser. 3. apud Barrad He is borne of his father alwayes he was borne of his Mother once and is borne in the mind often and we must endevour to keepe him there alwayes Forthly here is also matter of consolation and that in a double respect first as Christ is the Rose of the common Field and lyes open to all he refuseth none but those that refuse him Secondly because he is the Physitian of our Soules that is able to cure them hiding allour sins and healing all our Sores giving us spirituall health here and eternall health and happines hereafter Lastly as Elisha said to his servant concerning the good Shunamite ſ 2 Kings 4.13 She hath been carefull for us with all this care what is to be done for her so may I say to you concerning our Saviour he hath been thus carefull for us what shall we doe againe for him As he dranke to us in the cup of salvation so let us pledge him in the cup of thanksgiving as he gave himselfe a propitiatory sacrifice for us so let us give up our selves a gratulatory sacrifice of prayse and thankesgiving to him And let us fall downe with the t Revel 19 4. foure and twenty elders and the fowre beasts praysing GOD with our Church and saying Glory be to God on high and in earth peace good will toward men We prayse thee wee blesse thee we worship thee we glorify thee we give thankes unto thee O Lord God heavenly King for all thy blessings bestowed upon us for that thou hast sent thy Sonne Iesus Christ not only to live among men but to dy for men Grant O Lord that we may all be partakers of all the benefits of his passion And that for the same Iesus Christ his sake who as he died for sin so he ever lives to make intercession for sinnes To whom with thee and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory now and for ever Amen To the Right Honorable FERDINAND O Lord HASTINGS my very good Lord. WHAT Thucidides affirmes experience proves true 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that hearing is not lyable to any account but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whatsoever a man speakes but especially writes it layes him open to others censure unto which I have now exposed my selfe and crave your Lordships protection Your Honour must not expect any high straynes in this Sermon Haud facile emergunt quorum virtutibus obstat Res angusta domi As it is I desire your Lordships acceptance of it as an expression of some part of that duty and service I owe your Honor. The God of mercie poure downe his mercies on your Lordship your Honourable Lady and hopefull children Which shall alwaies be the praier of Your Lordships in all duty and service WILLIAM PARKS THE ROSE AND LILY. SOLOMONS SONG 2.1 I am the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of the vallyes WHat the Queene of Shebah told Solomon that a 1 Kings 10.6 7. though it were a true report which shee had heard of him yet the one halfe was not told her so may I say unto you concerning this Text though it bee a true report you have heard of him that is greater
thereof but not secundum efficientiam in regard of the efficiency thereof as being effectuall onely to the faithfull or elect of God so the Master of the Sentences i Lib. 3. distin 19. Nich. de Orbell com in Sent. though that distinction be exploded by many as well of the Church of Rome as of the Church of England which hold that onely to bee sufficient which is effectuall Illiricus k De Trop Schem Sacr. Litt. Trac 4. saies Christus actu passus est pro omnibus sed non actu salvantur aut omnibus actuejus passio prodest Christ suffered effectnally for all but his sufferings are not effectuall unto all others would have the word all to bee understood non de singulis generum sed de generibus singulorum and then it is taken distributive not Collective as Logicians speake l Arist 2. Pol. cap 2. distributively for all sorts and conditions of men high and low rich and poore Iew and Gentile not universally for every particular person so S. Augustine m De Correp Gra. Cosma in 1. Tim. Lastly suppose it bee understood de individuis omnibus as some n Arctius in 1 ad Tim cap. 2. of all particular persons God will have all to be saved conditionaliter if they will use and apply the meanes Christs bloud is like the poole of Bethesda o John 5.4 which was able to cure all manner of diseases but it cured none but those that did enter into it So though it be true which some p Clem. 5. apud Barradium affirme unam guttam sanguinis Christi pro redemptione totius humani generis suffecisse That one drop of Christs bloud was of sufficient vertue for the redemption of all mankind yet though it were all shed it is of no more vertue to him that will not lay hold upon it then a pardon would bee beneficiall to him that should either refuse or rend it The least drop of Christs bloud as hath been said in respect of the excellency of the person the innocency of the nature and the efficacy of the Câ—â—sse was sufficient to redeeme the World yet this excellent salve so soveraigne for all sores doth no more good to many then the most soveraigne Rose or Hearb of the Field can worke them health that will not apply it to their severall diseases Si quis non credit in Christum generali beneficio ipse se fraudat ut si quis clausis fenestris radios solis excludat saith S. Ambrose q Ser. 8. in Ps 118. If any believe not in Christ hee deprives himselfe of the benefit of his passion as if one by shutting the windowes should shut out the light of the Sun and therefore he that will not gather this Rose let him blame himselfe seeing hee is not inclosed in the garden but the Rose of the open Field Thirdly the Rose of the Field is for profit as well as pleasure it being healthfull for many Medicines as the Herbalists r Dodanaeus Lantgraoe have observed so Christ was profitable for us and healthfull unto us He was knowne in the old Testament by this name I am Å¿ Exod 3.14 leaving a blanke for us to write what we will and he will supply the rest I am your Saviour your Physitian your guide your gayne your all in all for so he is to them that love him Before Christs coming the whole World was weake and wicked sickly and sinfull The generall consumption of goodnes the Dropsie of covetousnes the Tympany of pride the Gout of idlenes the tertian of incontinency and the quotidian of Gluttony did shew that Adam was turned Enosh full of infirmity Neither had this infirmity seised partially on it but with Iob t Job 2.7 from the sole of the foot to the crowne of the head they are all v Psal 14.1 corrupt Nulla sanctitas nulla sanitas Nor was this malady but newly entred or continued onely twelve yeares as the w Lu. 8 43. issue of bloud had with the woman or thirty and eight yeeres as the mans infirmity x John 5.5 at the poole of Bethesdah but the World had lyen bedrid almost foure thousand yeeres given quite over by the Law unto death in this forlorne hope came the y John 11.25 resurrection the life the sole Saviour and great physitian of the world crying out for our comfort the world is not dead but sleepeth restoring health two wayes mediate and immediate First mediate by meanes not as once by clay and spittle Secondly z John 9.6 as he restored sight to the blind or as Isaiah to Hezekiab a 2 Kings 20.7 by a lump of dry Figgs nor as Elisha b 2 Kings 5.10 to Naaman by the waters of Iordan but a Samaritanes cure c Luke 10.34 Wine to search and Oyle to supple the Law being a corrosive to kill the dead flesh and the Gospella Cordiall to comfort the heart And this physick doth hee still administer by his instruments his Embassadors by them that plant in the Pulpit and water in the presse that plant in their Doctrine and water in their conversation by them that administer such physick as he doth direct and apply such salves as the word doth prescribe for the healing of sick soules Secondly Christ heals immediately bâ— himselfe pride was Adams bane Christ cured it by humility man surfeting feâ—â— by the forbidden Tree Christ fasting cured it by the cursed Tree Other Phyâ—sitians d Stella in Luc. 5. restore health by opening oâ—veynes by letting of bloud by giving oâ—â— Potions and by prescribing of dyet bâ—â— Christ this heavenly Physitian made himselfe the Physick to heale us e Staplet Prom. mor. Dom. inf oct nat Dom he took the bitter Potion f John 19.29 of vineger the deit 〈◊〉 fasting g Mat. 4 2. the bloud-letting in his Hands his Feete his Side his Head his Body Mirabile plane incomparabile genus medicinae propter quam medicus voluit aegroteâ—re aegrotos ipsos quibus salutis remediuâ— procuravit sua decrevit infirmitate curanâ—â— saith S. Aust. h De Sanctis Ser. 19. It was a wonderfull anâ— incomparable kind of physick for which the Physitian would bee sick and deteâ—mine to cure those sick persons to whoÌ„ he procures health by his owne infirmity Esse hominis filius voluit ut nos Dei filiâ—â— faceret humiliavit se ut populum qui priâ—â— jacebat erigeret vnlneratus est ut vulnera nostra sanaret servivit ut ad libertatem servientes extraheret mori sustinuit ut immortalitatem mortalibus exhiberet saith S. Cyprian i De opere Elemos pag. 3â—4 He would be made the son of man to make us the Sonnes of God he bumbled himselfe that hee might exalt the humble he was wounded that hee might heale our wounds he became a servant that he might set us at liberty that
he thought them not worth a carrying so Christ carryed all his goods about him so that when he died he needed no executors to prove his will for x John 19 23. the Souldiers parted his goods among them and hee had nothing for them to part but onely his garments Mat. 27.35 I have heared a story of Richard Nevile sometime Earle of Warwick how true it is I know not that when the people would have made him King hee refused that dignity saying that he had rather make Kings then be one but this I know he that y Psal 85.7 putteth downe one and setteth up another when the people would have made him King refused it Erat Rex qui timebat fieri Rex nec talis Rex qui ab hominibus fieret sed talis qui hominibus regnum daret saith Saint Augustine z In John â—ract 23. He was a King that feared to bee made a King not such a King that should be made by men but such a King as should give a Kingdome to men A King hee was indeed and acknowledged to bee so a Mat. 2.2 by the wise men at his birth Nathanel b John 1.44 and the whole multitude acknowledged him c Luke 19.38 to bee King in his Life at his death Pilate wrote him King of the Iewes d John 19 19.22 and would not alter that title and yet hee would not be made a King by the people lest e Calvin in Iohn 19. his spirituall Kingdome should have been at an end he refused to be made a King on earth for hee was already King of Heaven and earth Thirdly at his death he was so poore that he had neither Sepulchre nor winding sheet of hâ—s owne but f John 19.38.39 Ioseph and Nicodemus were faine to supply them Even the richest men and most puissant Monarchs have nothing at their deathes that they may properly call their owne but onely their Sepulchres We may say of them all as S. Austin g Ad fraâ—r in Erâ—â—o Ser. 48. speakes of Caesars Tombe Though hee were the feare of men and terror of Princes yet all his great riches his titles of Honour and Dignity his Crowne and Scepter Speare and Sword Omnia sibi pariter defecerunt quando defecit spiritus ejus reliquerunt eum captivatum in sepulchro trium brachiorum plenum foetore putredine All those things left him as they doe all men else when he was bereft of his soule and left him nothing but a Sepulchre of six cubits to conteyne him but Christ as he was without all earthly pompe in his life so at his death he had not so much as a Sepulchre or winding sheer of his owne untill they were given him In all which respects we may say of him with S. Augustine h De Catâ—châ—z râ—dibus Omnia bona terrena contempsit homo Christus ut nobis ea contemnenda monstraret The man Christ Iesus did contemne all earthly things to teach us also to doe the like It was a curse layd upon the Serpent in Paradise i Gen. 3.14 upon thy belly shalt thou goe and dust shalt thou eat all the dayes of thy life and therefore the seed of the woman k Ver. 15. being to break the head of the Serpent went not on his belly nor had his affections placed on the earth but was lifted sursum versus coelum upward toward Heaven therein resembling the Flower of the Lily of the Valleys Secondly folia liliorum non solum dilatantur ad latera sed etiam inferius declinant ad ima the Leaves of the Lily do not onely extend outward but bend downward so Christ extended his benefits farr off and even to his enemies The Apostle S. Paul tells the Gentiles l Eph. 2 13. that now in Christ Iesus yee who somtimes were farr off are made nigh by the bloud of Christ Christs benefits to us are like the oyntment m Psal 133.2 on Aarons head that ran downe on his beard and descended to the skirts of his garments they went downe to the lowest members of the Church When he was upon the earth hee shewed his love unto the poore in doing good to the Halt the Lame the Blind as it were so many cripples from severall Hospitalls Now love n Doctor Boys expo of the Creed is more shewed in deeds then in words but more in suffering then it is in doing so that the love of Christ was especially shewed unto us in dying for us As the Father shewed great love in giving his Sonne unto us so the son shewed like equall love in being so ready to suffer for us Greater o John 15 13. love hath no man then this that a man lay downe his life for his friends but Christ suffered for us dum inimici essemus p Rom. 5.8 10. while wee were sinners and enemies and gave himselfe to death for us while wee were q Eph 2.1 dead in trespasses and sins Wee read of some indeed that have been ready to dy for their friends as r Cicer. Offic. Damon for his Pithyas Pylades Å¿ Idâ—m de Amici for his Orestes of whom the Poet. t Ovid. Extitit hoc unum quod non convenerat illis Hic negat inque vicem pugnat uterque mori They never fell our about any thing but this which of them should first lay downe his life for the other And wee read of some that have dyed for others as S. Austine reports v De Civitate Dei li. 8. cap. 5 of Castor and Pollux the sons of Tyndarus that Pollux intreated to impart halfe his life on his brother And we read that Codrus did willingly w Iustin dy for his countrey And also it is reported x Iuvenall Subeuntem fata mariti Alcesten that Alcestes did undergo the destinies of her husband and by her death redeemed his life These shewed great loves in laying downe their lives but it was for them that loved them as much or had deserved so much at their hands But Christ layd downe his life for us not onely Sine nostris meritis sed cum nostris demeritis saith S. Bernard y In Cant. Ser. 15 when we deserved no love but when we deserved as much hatred from him as was due unto his enemies and extended the fruits of that love and the benefits of that passion to all that will lay hold upon them It is written of the Cherubins z 1 Kings 6.27 that they stretched out their wings ad parietes usque to the wall on each side full ten cubits so Christ being stretched forth upon the Crosse extended his benefits to the ends of the World hee stood open to receive all commers and spread forth the branches of his love unto all therein resembling the leaves of the Lilies of the Valleyes Thirdly the Lily Lactei floris herba unde nuncupata quasi
Schismatickes who at this day do walke in their steps accounting all reprobates but them of their owne tribe But he calls those sinners that feeling their sins acknowledge themselves to bee sinfull But as the Lily though it grow among Thorns yet it loseth none of the whitenesse of his colour or fragrancy of its smell so Christ though hee conversed among thorny sinners yet hee reteyned still his innocency neither did hee converse with them b Jansen Concor cap. 33. to confirme them in their sinnes but to convert them from them Though hee did goe upon c Prov. 6 28. coales yet was he not burnt Though hee touched pitch d Eccles 13.1 yet was hee not defiled with it though hee had fellowship with the proud yet was not hee like unto them though hee were conversant with thornie sinners yet was hee not infected with their sins that kept on still the white Robes of his innocency therein resembling the nature of the Lily of the Valleys And now I come to the limitation of his second attribute to the first subject of the Valleys I am the Rose of Sharon c. Christ is not e Doctor Dove in Loc. the lofty Cedar but the lowly Lily not of the high Mountaines but of the low valleys that is humility it selfe Suorum Deus altissimus fuorum Christus humillimus as God of all others is a patterne of Majesty so Christ of all others is a spectacle of humility Hee was an example of humility in these respects f August de Civ Dei li. 14. nascendo conversando praedicando miracula faciendo moriendo In his birth in his conversation in his preaching in his working of miracles and in his dying First in his birth Hee chose not his descent from the mighty Monarchs of Assyria Greece and Persia but of the contemptible and despised Iewes and among them hee chose not any rich Parents to bee borne of but a poore Virgin espoused to a poore Carpenter What greater abasement could there bee then that hee which thundred in the Cloudes should cry in the Cradle that hee should put off the glorious Robes of his immortalite and put on the base ragges of our mortality that hee which was cloathed with Majesty and honour should bee cloathed with swadling clowtes that hee that in Heaven was GOD not subject to his Father in earth should bee man subject to his Mother that Mary that was a sheepe should bring forth a Sheepherd that hee which was the Father of Mary should become the soone of Mary this mystery is so great and the humility so wonderfull that as Saint Bernard saith it g In vrgil Nativ is mirabiliter singulare singulariter mirabile wonderfully singular and singularly wonderfull There is so great humility in CHRISTS birth that S. Augustine saith h Ser. 18. Nat Omnis bujus nativitatis schola humilitatis est â—fficina the whole Schoole of Christs nativity is a shop of humility Secondly hee shewed his humility in his conversation because though hee did no sinne i Destruct viâ— yet hee tooke upon him the punishments for sinne most humbâ—y undertaking the infirmities of the body and defects of the soule that are not sinfull as to bee weary hungry sorrowfull c. And though he were Lord of all yet hee becomes servant to his owne Disciples and k John 13.5 washeth their feete telling them l Luke 22.27 that hee is among them as one that serveth Whence some m Barrad Stella conjecture that Christ did use to serve them being at meat Thirdly hee shewed his humility in his preaching because hee sought not his owne glory but the glory of him that sent him And hee tells his Disciples n John 14 10. The words that I speake unto you I speake not of my selfe And when hee chose his Disciples to preach unto the World hee chose not rich and learned men but poore simple silly Fisher-men Had Christ chosen such as Aristotle and Demosthenes to preach the Gospell they would have sayd they were so learned that they might easily convince they were so eloquence that they might easily perswade but hee chose unlearned Fisher-men to confound the learned Phylosophers that the glory might not be given to the meanes Forthly hee shewed his humility in his working of miracles because when hee did great miracles hee commands the parties on whom they were wrought not to divulge them When hee cured one of the leprosy o Mat. 8.4 and restored sight to the blind man p Marke 8 26. hee chargeth them to tell no man Mundavit leprosum Dominus jussit eum nulli hoc fateri hoc fateri docens quam esset alienus ab aura gloriae pompaque jactantiae saith Saint Chrysostome q Apud Barrad In doing those miracles which Christ would not have told he shewed how farre hee was from vayne glory and seeking prayse of men but in those miracles that hee would have to bee divulged hee shewes how free hee was in seeking glory to GOD for hee bidds the man that was freed from his legion of divells to shew r Luke 8.39 how great things not hee but God had done for him And all the time of his life wherein hee wrought his miracles hee went abour doing of them he rode not in any stately manner but went on foot neither do I read that hee did ride at all but once when hee rode upon an Asse s Mat. 21.25 into Hierusalem And when he sate Nunquam in sede nec in pulvinari sed in ipsa superficie terrae modo in montibus modo apud fontes sedet docet saith St. Chrysostome t Hom. 67. in Mat. Christ sate and taught not on any couch or chayre of state sometimes on the mountaines sometimes by the fountaines alwaies on the superficies of the earth Fiftly Christ shewed his humiltty in his dying It was great love and as great Humility for him to be cloathed with the vaile of our nature and to undertake the infirmities of our feeble nature yet it was greater love and humility too for him to be compassed with the shadow of death and to undergoe the penalty due to our sinfull nature What humilitie could bee greater then that the Lord of life should suffer a shamefull and ignominious death that hee that was gloria Angelorum should become opprobrium hominum he that was the glory of Angells should be made the u Psal 22 6. scorn of men and despised of the people Thus Christ knowing that humilitie did suite well with the head when the body was sicke with pride bowed w Psal 18.9 the heavens and came downe there was the humilitie of his Godhead not putting it off but clothing it with the raggs of flesh And from his birth to his buriall from the time of his being borne in another mans sâ—able untill the time of his being buâ—â—ed in another mans tombe he alwaies shewed the
was the Church and you shall see Cain persecuted Abel and o Gen. 4 8. Mat. 23.35 slew him Abraham was the father p Rom. 4.16 of the faithfull and yet in his family Ismael persecuted Isaack and mocked him q Gal. 4 30. Gen. 21.9 Israell was Gods peculiar people yet what did they suffer in the time of their foure hundred Yeares captivity in Aegypt under Pharaoh After they came out of Aegypt how were they afflicted by the Canaanites the Moabites the Ammonites the Philistines which were r Numb 33.55 as prickes in their eyes and thornes in their sides What cruell persecution did they suffer under Antiochus Epiphanes in whose time all were commanded Å¿ 2 Macab 6. to bee put to death that would not depart from the law of their God Descend downe to the time of the Gospell what exquisite torments have been inflicted upon many Myriads of Christians under the ten most bloody and grievous persecutions some being torne in peeces with wild beasts as Ignatius some broyled on the Gridiron as Lawrence some stoned to death as t Eusch Eccleâ— hist lib. 6. cap. 40. Metras others burned to death by a slow fire as Iulianus u Ibi lib. 8. cap. 39. of Cappadocia and the rest put to that accuratenesse of torments that wee may say of them as the Christians did certifie the Pope w Turk Hist. page 13. in their letters that they did every day suffer that which Christ their King suffered but once to bee dayly buffetted scourged peirced So that what would now be accounted cruelty was then accounted the Emperours clemency x Eus li. 8. cap. 12. When he commanded the right eye of the christians to be plucked out and the empty place seared and the left leg to bee cut off and the place seared and condemned them to the mine-pits And to shew that they did seeke rather jugulare animos quam corpora to slay their soules then their bodies they did put them to such lingring torments as if they meant to kill them often Morsque minus poenae quam mora mortis habet It is a greater payne to be long a dying then death it selfe yet I read that one Peter a Page to the Emperour refusing to sacrifice at Nicomedia was hoysed up y Idem ibi cap. 6. on high and his naked body scourged and his flesh rent in peeces with the lash of the whip and when the bones were bare they powred vineger mixed with salt into the wounds and bruised parts of his body and then hee was layed on a Gridiron with a slow fire under to consume him untill hee dyed Quis talia fando z Virgil. Temperet à lacrymis If it bee a griefe to us seriously to consider those torments what was it in them to endure them Not long after the tenth persecution ended the the heresy of Arrius a Perkins on Heb. 11. raised up by the divell brought as greivous persecutions on the Church as ever the Pagans did dying and colouring the Easterne churches with the bloud of GODS Saints for the space of fourscore yeares together Since that time what have some of the Romanists effected With what rage and malice fire and faggot have they proceeded against all those that professe not their errors What b Conr. Theodor. Dieter excommunications burnings killings hangings they have inflicted upon the true professours of the Gospell the massacre of Paris and the death of many thousands of Christians both in this Kingdome and others do sufficiently testify So that the Church did seeme to dwell like the man in the Gospell c Marke 5.3 among the tombs And Christianus d Luther loc Com. Tit. Calamit seemes to bee crucianus A christian may seeme to bee derived as well from Christs crosse as from Christ Sanguine fundata est Ecclesia sanguine crevit Sanguine succrevit sanguine finis erit The Church was begun with the blood of Abel strengthened by the bloud of the Prophets increased by the bloud of the Martyrs and all e 2 Tim. 3 12. that will live godly in Christ Iesus shall suffer persecution If any should aske the reason why the Church is subject to the prickles of persecution I answer it is both in respect of the godly and in respect of the wicked An iron being put into the fire and heat red hot is afterward layd on the anvill and then every blow struck upon it doth make it the fitter for use but it makes the instruments the Anvill and the Hammer the harder so Gods children being heat red hot as it were in the fire of persecution it makes them the better and the more plyable to gods service but it makes the wicked which are the instruments to bee the harder First then it is for the benefit of Gods children Candidior tribulationum aculeis efficieris f Angelomtin loc The Church is more white and beautifull by the prickles of persecution The Church is compared to the Moone g Sol. Song 6. Ecclesia sicut luna defectus habet ortus frequentes sed defectibus suis crevit his meruit ampliari dum persecutionibus minuitur martyrio coronatur saith S. Ambrose h Hexam li. 9. The Church like the Moone hath â—ifings and settings fulls and waynes but shee increaseth by her defects and deserves to be augmented while shee is lessened by persecution and crowned with Martyrdome We cannot bee crowned except wee fight neither can wee triumph except wee have got the victory when we fight and conquer then may tropheys bee set up In the shop of a Ieweller the Iewells would not bee so beautifull if there were no iron instrumens to furbish them Solomons Temple had never been so glorious if there had been no craggy stones to build it so Gods children would never be so beautifull in themselves nor so glorious in the fight of God if they had no persecution to try them When we sit by the waters of Babylon then wee remember thee i Psal 137.1 O Sion As the Prophet David sayes of himselfe k Psal 119 17. It is good for me that I have been afflicted so may many a member of the Church say it is good for mee that I have been persecuted Man saith one l Clem Alexand is like unto a vine now a vine as hee there speakes and we here know unlesse it be pruned it will streight way grow wilde so man if hee have no persecution no crosse layd upon him hee will bee ready to forget himselfe and to spurne against his maker Persecution then is like the wind which doth cleanse the good grayne though it blow cold like the fire which doth purify the good gold though it burne hot for the godly are bettered by it their knowledge is sounder then it was their faith stronger their humility lower their goodnes in generall is greater towards GOD towards their neighbours and towards themselves
reason of some bad They have a heat in them but it is a strange fire raked out of the embers of passion blowne with the bellowes of pride and selfe conceitednes and mayntained by the fewell of faction which makes them at first to be â—axardens and then draco volans Like humid bodyes facilè in alienis terminis difficultèr in suis continentur they first crosse the Church and then the seas first run out of reason and then out of the Church Cursed be such heat for it is cruell O my soule r Gen 49.6 come not thou into their secret be not thou united to their assembly When Lot and Abraham fell out Lot would needs part with him though he told them that they were brethren Å¿ Gen. 13.8 So those Separatists fall out with the Bishops of our Church and say as those in S. Austins time t Augustin in Psal 129. Seperemus nos let us goe out from among them And although wee say to them Servate pacem keepe the peace and love the unity of the Church yet they will goe out from us u Gen. 13.12 although I feare oftentimes with Lot v into Sodome when the other with Abraham may enter into the Land of Chanaan When Christ was upoÌ„ the earth was his head pricked with Thornes his body was scourged but w John 19.36 not a bone of him was broken so now he is in Heaven though his head be pricked with contentions although it might bee wished that it were not pricked at all yet let us not breake his bones We must not part Paul and Barnabas for x Acts 15 37. Markes sake as long as wee agree in fundamentall poynts of faith we must not goe out of the Church by reason of some errors or imperfections I wrote unto you saith the Apostle y 1 Cor. 5.9.10 not to keepe company with fornicators yet not altogether with the fornicators of this World or with the covetous or extortioners or idolators for then must yee needs goe out of the World Should Noah have forsaken the company of all wicked men he must have gone out of the World for the whole earth was corrupt and z Gen. 6.11 filled with cruelty save onely he and his family What S. Austin a Epist 48. determined against the Donathists may be urged against these men non propter malos boni deserendi sed propter boâ—ios malitolerandi We must not forsake the good for the bad but must tolerate the bad for the good The Tares must grow among the Wheat without a separation untill the Lord of the harvest make a seperation at the generall day of â—udgment and the Lily the Church must grow among Thornes But as the Lily among Thornes retaynes the whitenes and sweetnes so must the Church among thorny sinners and haereticall Christians retayne her innocency And this is b Angelom in locum no disprayse to the righteous but rather their prayse to be godly among the wicked and not to be infected with the thorny conversation of others but to shine as lights in darknes Non mediocris est titulus profecto virtutis inter pravos vivere bonum inter malignantes innocentiae retinere candorem magis autem si his qui oderunt pacem pacificum te praebeas amicum saith S. Bernard c In Cant. Ser. 48. It is no small vertue to be good among the evill to be innocent among the nocent and to be peaceable among the turbulent and contentious herein they are like the Lillies themselves which by their owne beauty adorne the Thornes by which they are pricked It is no great matter to seeme to bee good among the good and according to the Proverb Cum fueris Romae Romano vivere more When you are at Rome to doe as the Romans doe but the godly must reteyne their innocency in the midst of the tents of Kedar she must reteyne her whitenes for therein the Church resembles the Lily of the Vallies And so I come to the limitation of this second attribute to the second subject of the Vallies I am the rose of Sharon and the Lily of the Vallies The Church is the low Lilly of the low Vallies which may teach humility to all the members thereof Humility is the first step toward Heaven and I know not how they that misse that may ascend any higher How can any thinke to thrust into Heaven by that that made Satan be cast out pride was the divells ruine and can any thinke it should be his raysing And that we may practise humility wee may learne it d Destruct vitior from things without us from things we carry with us from things about us and from God above us First from things without us even from the earth it selfe from whence we came and whither we must for God tells Adam e Gen. 3.19 dust thou art and to dust thou shalt returne So that when thou seest the earth remember thy Sepulchre And what cause hast thou to be proud if thou consider that the earth which is now under thy feete shall shortly bee over above thy head Secondly we may learne humility from what we carry with us even from our selves if we consider our ingresse into the World our progresse in the World and our egresse out of the World First the ingresse of mans life is miserable he beginning his life with teares as bewayling the miseries of his succeeding ages Secondly the progresse of mans life is short and transitory but a f Psal 39.6 spannlong and as short as g Psal 90.9 a tale that is told Thirdly mans egresse is bitter and terrible and therefore death is sayd to be h Aristot 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the King i Job 18.14 of terrors And what cause then hath man to be proud when at his birth his conception is detestable in his life his conversation culpable and at his death his dissolution terrible Thirdly wee may learne humility from men about us when we consider that many of our brethren are poore or lame or blind or miserable and we are made of the same matter in the same mould and deserve it as well as they And therefore what cause hast thou to be proud thou being as subject to those calamities as they knowest not how soone thou mayst fall into them Lastly we may learne humility from God above us God retesisteth the proud k 1 Pet 5.5 but giveth grace to the humble The humble are in Gods eyes as Starres are in mans though they seeme little yet they are great Quanto quis humilior fuit de seipso tanto major erit in conspectu dei saith S. Austin l Ad fratr in Erem Ser. 7 how much the more humble a man is in his owne eyes so much the greater is he in the sight of God We bow our selves at the example of some great person or if we were to goe in at some low dore or if a sword hang over our heads and we under it But the sword of Gods wrath hangs over the proud and we are to enter in by the low dore Christ who hath left us an example of humility To behave our selves humbly est Christum scire imitari saith S. Bazil m De Abdicat rerum is to imitate Christ but to carry ones selfe proudly est Diabolo se similem praebere that is to be like the Divell And now I am sure thou hast no cause to bee proud except thou meanest to be conformable to the divell and abhominable to God To conclude without any further application because what hath beene spoken of this part hath for the most part beene by way of application Let every true Israelite fill his Omer with this spirituall Mannah Let every one take a posy of these Flowers home with him nay let him compose himselfe as it were posy of them And let us all shew that we have the sweetnes of the Rose and the whitenes of the Lily by innocency in ourselves and charity to others that Christ that feedeth n Sol. Song 6.3 among the Lillies may take delight in us and accept us for his Spouse to live with him for evermore Which God grant we may all doe for Iesus Christ his sake our onely Lord and Saviour To whom with thee O Father and thy blessed Spirit be ascribed all Honour and Glory might and Majesty now and for ever Amen FINIS Imprimatur hic liber cui titulas est The Rose and the Lily modò intra sex menses proximè sequentes typis mandetur Ex aedibus Fulham Iuly 11. 1638. Sa. Baker