in mā for whose benefit and comfort the workes and affaires of this world are in such wonderfull maner managed and ordered The Psalmist deliuereth fiue especiall examples of Gods prouidence V. 4. First of exiles and pilgrims when as they do wander in desertes and are in most extremities hungrie and thirstie and their souls fainting in them the Lord doth often heare them when they cry vnto him bring thē to a city where they may dwel The second example is of captiues who whē for their sinnes V. 10. they lye fast bound in miseries and irons if they earnestly cal for Gods merciful aide the Lord doth bring them out of darknes the shadow of death and breake their bands asunder V. 17. The third proofe of Gods prouident mercy is when foolish men are by some sicknes plagued for their iniquities whē their soule doth refuse all food and sustenance and that they are now at deathes dore if in their miserie they crie vnto the Lord the Lord doth send forth his word heale thē and deliuer them from the pit of corruption The fourth spectacle of Gods goodnesse is in ship-men V. 23. who goe downe into the Seas and occupy their busines in great waters when they are in most perill mounting vp to heauē and falling downe againe to hel when they stagger and be at their wits end if then they cry vnto the Lord in their troubles then sendeth hee a gracious calme and bringeth them to the hauē where they would bee The fift as it were a theater of Gods prouidence is in the altering and changing not onely of dumbe creatures bringing some times riuers into drie deserts V. 33. sometime drie groundes into springes or ponds of water sometimes making a fruitfull land barren for the wickednes of them that dwell therein and sometimes so blessing the land V. 40. that men may sowe and plant to yeeld thē fruites of encrease but also in altering the estates of men somtimes powring out contempt vpon princes and somtimes lifting vp the poor out of his miserie and making him housholds like a flocke of sheepe The Verse which now I haue chosen to intreate of is called versus amaebaeus a verse that doth answere by turnes because in the end of the foure first histories it is added still as a conclusion of the historie to shewe vnto vs what vse we must make of Gods gracious deliuerances not to passe by them as it were with closed eyes but to stirre vp both our selues and others to magnifie the name of God for these his vnspeakable mercies The Psalmist may seeme to direct this his Psalme only to a thankfulnes for corporall benefits but no doubt in the same he doth include also the spirituall blessings of God When he speaketh of the miseries of man hee sheweth the causes to be their sinnes as speaking of captiues lying in miserie and iron V. 11. hee saith it was because they rebelled against the worde of the Lord lightly regarded the counsell of the most high And after of sicknes foolish men are plagued saith he for their wickednes iniquities V. 17. And after of barrennes of soile A fruitfull lād saith he he maketh barrē V. 34. for the wickednes of them that dwell theerin As then hee noteth the cause of all calamities to be sinne So when he celebrateth God his gratious deliuerāce he doth vndoubtedly include the remouing of the cause as well as the effect doth exhort vs to praise God for the remission of our transgressions If the Israelites were bound to prayse God for their deliuerance frō the thraldom of Aegypt and generally all others which are the redeemed of the Lord as it is here said in the secōd verse whome he hath redeemed from the hands of the oppressors how much more ought they to bee thankfull which are deliuered from the tyranny of the diuell Rom. 16 2◠when the God of glorie and peace doth treade downe Satan vnder our feete If they did owe thanks which from wandering in the wildernes were broght to this happines to haue at the last cities to dwel in what thanks is required of vs who frō wandering in the by-pathes of sin and error are by our heauenly Iosua Christ Iesus broght home to be citizens with the Saints Ephe. 2.19 of the houshold of God in this life and heires by hope of the celestial Ierusalē in the world to come Apoc. 21.2 If prisoners giue al humble praise whē they are deliuered from their darkenes misery and irons how much more then ought we to be thankfull when by the glorious triūph of our Sauiour Christ Osea 13.14 1. Cor. 15.55 we are deliuered from the dungeon of the graue hell death damnatiō If they haue great cause of thākfulnes which haue escaped the dāgers of sicknes and infirmities then much more are they to be gratefull who by the heauenly Physitian our Lord Iesus are cleansed and cured of their sinnes which are indeed the originall causes of their diseases and maladies For this deliuerance doth the kingly Prophet Dauid Psal 103.3 first principally praise Gods holy name because hee forgaue all his sins and healed all his infirmities By temporal benefits the weaknes of our nature is taught to rise vp to the consideration of spirituall blessings and if we be not wilfully blind wee may easily and plainely conceiue that if corporall giftes are to be acknowledged to be the free blessings of God as we are taught to pray giue vs our daily bread then much more must wee confesse all spirituall benefits to bee the free gifts of God bestowed vpon vs by the mercy of God in through his sonne Christ Iesus If wee cannot merit things needefull for the body much lesse can we merit the ransoming of the soule If wee are bound to praise God for deliuerances appertaining to the bodie then by good reason as much as the soule is more precious then the bodie so much more ought we to be thankful for the soule then the bodie The Psalmist in this Amaebaean verse so often repeated in this Psalme doth vpon euery particular deliuerance frō either banishment or prison or sicknes or tempest still exhort the partie deliuered that hee will thereby rise vp to a generall consideration of the goodnesse of God of all his wonderfull works which he hath wrought for mankind In these two verses which I haue red vnto you there are two especiall things offered to our consideratiō The diuision of the text First for what we are to celebrate magnifie the name of God to wit for his goodnes for his wonderfull workes Secondly how we must shew our thankfulnes to wit first both before the Lord and before the childrē of men secondly by offering the sacrifice of thāksgiuing and telling forth his works with gladnes The goodnes of God as is taught by our Sauior is the first
are three kinds or sorts of soules and addeth presently the partition of Plato And againe plures sunt animae species et triplici sede collocatae there are three maners and formes of the soule and placed in three seuerall seates he citeth againe the diuision made by Plato Aristotle Vide Peucer Pag. 601. although in some places hee maketh but one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gouerning all yet when hee giueth to the vegetatiue sensitiue and rationall soule three seuerall times of beginning and seuerall efficient and materiall causes and seuerall maners of working Arist de generat animal lib 2. Cap. 3. he seemeth verie euidently to make three distinct sortes of animae For he teacheth plainely those anima or soules whose actions are corporall doe not come from outward but do growe in and with the bodie Nec simul fieri animatum et faetum It hath a vegetatiue force to growe in the wombe euen before it is endued with sense Ibid. But of the minde hee addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Onely the mind doth come from out ward and is only diuine For the powers and opeations of the bodie doe not communicate with the operations thereof Melanch de anima pag. 21 Melanchthon doth not condemne the arguments of Occam wherein hee endeuoured to demonstrate that the rationall and sensitiue soule are distinct things in man His reasons are because the rationall and sensitiue appetites are contrary one to another and it is vnpossible that in the selfe same indiuisible nature there should bee at the same time contrarie appetites Againe if man beget man it must needs be with life and sense It seemeth a grosse thing to imagine that other baser creatures should naturally procreate and bring forth issue of their owne kinde with life and sense and that man being so farre a more excellent creature should not in procreation yeeld so much as sense and life The reasons of theÌ„ which defend three seuerall kinds of soules in man Howsoeuer the rationall soule the vnderstanding and mind commeth not ex trâ—duce froÌ„ the seed of the parents but is inspired and giuen of God yet the vegetatiue and sensitiue power as he saith cannot but come by naturall propagation if in bruite beasts much more in man the more noble creature Moreouer after their opinion the rationall soule differeth from the other in continuance and eternitie For whereas she is immortall and perpetuall the others to wit the vegetatiue and the sensitiue as they haue their beginning with the bodie so haue they their end also For their actions are wholy organical neither haue they any power or beeing when the bodily instruments do fayle The sensitiue power is corporall and diuisible but the mind or soule is a spirit incorporall and therfore indiuisible and is indeed the only essentiall difference betwixt man and bruitish creatures Whiles she is vnited with the bodie she gouerneth all the powers of the bodie and imparteth her efficacy to euery part of it according as it is found capable thereof As the Sunne in the great world doth come to some partes with his beames and to other parts onely with his efficacie euen so in this microcosmus the little world man the diuine spirit the soule doth on some partes cast the beames of her light and impart vnto other the power of her quickening spirit and is indeed both the fountaine of life in this world to the body being made capable by the vegetatiue and sensitiue faculties the good temperatures of the first qualities and after this life when the vegetatiue and naturall forces shall cease the bodie being by glorification made eternally capable it shall minister to it a life that neuer shall haue end A man doth sustaine no iourney if at the same time wherein he expecteth the payment of a debt though the debt be not paid yet his comming for it doth by occasion sodainly yeeld him such preferment as whereby he shall neuer stand in neede of that debt so expected And euen so it is no abasing vnto maÌ„ not to haue that debt of nature sensitiue life which all liuing creatures haue when at the same time in stead of that which should haue come from parents God doth inspire a far better euen a liuing soule performing al a thousand times more then the other could haue done I therfore hold their opinion to be soundest Peucer de diuinat cap de physiog which do attribute vnto man but one soule comprehending and gouerning al the powers in man The vegetatiue and sensitiue faculties are but bodily temperatures or corporall agitations hauing their motions according to the good disposition of the instruments and also their continuance according to their continuance But the mouing spirit which moueth all and ruleth all and quickeneth all is that one soule of man Chrysost ad populum Antioch hom 19 of which Chrysostome speaketh omnia duplicia naturae nostrae dedit Deus binos oculos binas aures binas manus binos pedes animam autem vnam quam si perdiderîmus quid superest quorum in vita maneamus God hath giuen all other things double vnto vs that if one be hurt the other may stand vs instead eies eares hands feet double But he hath giuen vs but one soule which if we destroy what is there in the world whereby we may hope for any life Isidor in etymolog And Isidore anima dum viuificat corpus anima est dum vult animus est dum scit mens est dum recolit memoria est dum rectum indicat ratio est dum spirat spiritus est dum aliquid sentit sensus est The soule is one but is called by seuerall names according to her seuerall and manifold operations Vide Curaei Physic Some holding the opinion of Plato that there bee three distinct soules in man do conclude that to be the cause of apparitions of ghostes because Plato taught that the sensitiue soule doth remaine a while after death as a garment couering to the rationall But I omit that as a playne dreame Iohannes Philoponus Philopon Grammat a Grecian Philosopher and yet a christian said that he could not conceiue how the wicked should be punished after this life vnlesse the sensitiue soule doe continue No doubt as the souls of them which dying in the Lord are alreadie blessed and with Christ in Paridise beholding the Lambe Apoc. 22 5. howsoeuer they want the bodily eye and haue no light of the Sun but the Lord God is their light for euer so the rich glutton his soule Luk 1â— the souls of as many as are alreadie damned with him do endure the torments prepared for the diuell and his angels Howsoeuer the bodies being not yet raised vp they cannot be said to haue their corporal senses The maner of the ioies punishmeÌ„ts after this life for the arme of Gods mercy and the arme of his iustice are both
by them out of the Apostle to the Hebrewes all these dyed not receiuing the promises but saluted thē a far off The Apostle speaketh there of the posterity of Abrahā Heb 11.13 who liued a long time as Pilgrims in strange countries and did receiue and possesse that land flowing with milke and hony promised vnto Abraham that they might bee thereby taught to seeke a better country in heauen although they had the types and figures of Christ v. 40 yet they had not Christ in their time exhibited in the flesh because as hee saith after God had prouided a better thing for vs that they without vs shold not be made perfect if they had had the flourishing land of Canaan Christ also in their time come in the flesh then should they haue seemed to bee made perfect without vs. But God did prouide better for vs as hee gaue vnto them that glorious figure of our rest in Christ so in our time in this last age of the world hee did exhibite the truth euen the cōming of Christ himselfe to performe the worke of our redemption They say further that if the soules of the departed bee in heauen Act. 9.36.40 then S. Peter should seeme to doe wrong to that good and charitable Tabitha to raise her vp againe from death and so to bring her from a blessed life with God into a sea of all mischiefes but it is euidēt that the mercy of God is shewed not onely in time of glorification Phil. 2.25 but also in time of sanctification S. Paul accounteth that Epaphroditus did obtaine mercy when being sicke he was recouered againe And of himselfe he saith that life was to him a losse Phil. 1 22. ◠21 and death an aduantage yet is he cōtent to remain longer in this life so that Christ may be magnified in his body In that raysing vp of Tabitha God was glorified in the miracle the poore were benefited by the preseruing of so charitable a woman full of almes and good workes Tabitha her selfe had a larger time in this life to set forth the paise of God which was a thing that the saintes of God haue sought for with earnest praier Psal 6.4 psal 30.9 Esay 38.18 psal 88.11 psal 115.17 when the saints of God do pray in the scriptures for the lēgthning of their daies in this world do giue this the reason of their petition because the dead cānot praise God nor magnifie his name we must not imagine that they thought that their soules in death should perish or haue no power to praise God but their meaning was that the deade could not in this world by their good exāple draw others to magnifie God that publike glorifying of God to the edifying of their brethren was the thing which in desiring long life they principally respected but Dauid say they doth plainly affirme psal 146.4 that when mās breath goeth out he returneth to the earth then all his thoughts perish by those thougetes hee meaneth such imaginations deuises as they practised in this life and in an other place he saith The desires of the vngodly shall perish Esay Esay 33. the Lorde doth scatter the counsels of the Gentiles The Prophet Dauid whē he hath shewed the iudgements of God vpon the wicked Psal 49.14 that they lie in the graue death gnaweth vpon them he addeth in the next verse v. 15. but God shall deliuer my soule from the power of the graue for he shall receiue me And let this suffice against the opinion of the Catabaptists CHAP. XI Of the future aestate of the soule against the Romanistes THe Church of Rome is an other way iniurious to the soules of the departed they acknowledge that they liue after death but yet that there is no passage for them into ioy rest vntil such paines haue been suffered as their Purgatory doth require This assertion is so plentifully confuted by so many euident and plaine testimonies of the scripture set down in the beginning of the tenth chapter that I hope I shall not need to stand long vpon it There is none vnlesse hee bee wilfully obstinate but he must needs acknowledge that it is a doctrine wholy iniurious and repugnant to the mercy and iustice of God and doth blasphemously derogate frō the merite of Christ his passion It standeth best with the infinite mercy of God to grant a sound and perfect benefit as to forgiue the guilt of our sinnes so also to remit the punishment It can in no wise agree with the iustice of God to forgiue our debts in Christ yet to exact the penalties thereof And what is there that can more obscure and annihilate the most noble price of our redemption then to make it a ransome from the fault or blame and no ransome from punishment That which Christ bare vppon the Crosse is taken away from vs. Now he bare the punishment of our sins as S. Peter saith 1. Pet. 2.24 He bare our sins in his body vpon the tree and by his stripes we are healed It is therfore the stripe plague due for sin that is remoued frō vs the paines griefes which depend vpon sin for a wounde is not healed vntil the griefe thereof be mittigated or abolished Aug. de verbis domini super Lucam serm 37. very well saith S. August Christus suscipiendo poenā non suscipiendo culpā culpā deleuit poenam Christ by taking vppon him our punishmēt not taking vpō him our fault hath taken away both fault and punishment when sins are forgiuen there may yet some afflictions remain to the children of God as there did to Adam and Dauid 2. Sam. 12.14 and do daily to Gods elect but those afflictions are fatherly instructions corrections and trials of their faith they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 such as proceede from the loue of God Eph. 1.7 they are not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punishmentes of vengeance nor 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 punishments of ransom Al those tribulations which we suffer after remission of sinne are like Cicatrices signa vulneris curati non curandi they are as scarres rather signes of a wounde cured then of a wound to bee cured they differ as far frō punishments of vengeance as loue doth differ frō hatred for they proceed of loue Heb. 12.6 whō the Lord loueth hee doth correct and they differ as farre from punishments of ransome as East is from the West There is no ransome able to satisfie the iustice of God against sinne but onely the death and passion of Iesus Christ If any thing in man could haue satisfied for sinne the Sonne of God had not dyed The punishment of corrections and instructions haue their place then only when there is time of repentance and that is onely in this life as Saint Hierom noteth vppon these wordes of Esay seeke the Lord while he may
so there we shall see face to face and as here wee know in part so there we shall know euen as we are knowne It was well saide of an ancient Father In hac vita multa videmus quae non habemus Greg. 1 9. moral 2. in alia idem est videre quod habere In this life wee see many thinges which wee haue not in possession but in the life to come to see and to possesse are both one Aug. in psal 26 Augustine saith Quicquid praeter Deum est dulce non est quicquid mihi vult dare Dominus meus auferat totum se mihi det Whatsoeuer is besides God that cannot bee pleasant whatsoeuer God would bestow on mee let him take it away all and giue himselfe vnto mee In that enioying the presence of God in the life to come there is all sufficiency of delightes as is taught in the Reuelation of S. Iohn Reuel 21.22 That Citty hath no neede of the Sunne nor Moone to shine in it for the glory of God doth lighten it and the Lambe is the light thereof And there is also all continuance and eternity Reuel 21.4 as is saide in the same Prophesie There shall be no more death nor sorrow nor paine but the Lord shal wipe away all teares from our eyes vnto the which glorious and eternall rest 1. Pet. 2.24 the Lord Iesus who bare our sinnes in his body on the tree and is the shepheard and Bishoppe of our Soules bring both our bodies and soules happily and speedily Apoc. 22 20 euen so come Lord Iesus Now vnto the king euerlasting immortall inuisible 1. Tim. 1.17 vnto God onely wise be honor glory for euer and euer FINIS TWO SERMONS OF THE DVties of our thankefulnes towardes GOD Preached at Camerwell in Surrey the xxii of May 1603. BY SIMON HARVVARD And now by him published as not vnfit for this time wherein GOD hath so gratiously visited vs and so plentifully powred down his blessinges vpon vs. LONDON Imprinted by Iohn Windes 1604 TO THE RIGHT worshipfull Sir Edmond Bowyer Knight one of the King his Maiesties Iustices of Peace in the County of Surrey and to the vertuous Lady the Lady Katherine Bowyer his louing wife many ioyfull and happy yeares ALthough Right worshipful at my last being with you the principall cause why I chose that text of thanksgiuing being a part of the Psalm which was read in the church that Sabboth was to stir vp our mindes to render hearty prayse vnto God as well for the peaceable happy and ioyfull entrance of our most Gracious Soueraigne Lord the King his Maiesty into the possession of these his Realmes and dominions as also for the assured hope which wee may euery way conceiue of hauing the truth of the Gospel of Christ by his Graces religious care to bee most firmely established amongst vs and likewise to declare by that text what duties wee owe vnto the Almighty for these and all other his inestimable benefites yet seeing I doe now commit to Presse a little Treatise concerning the Soule and Spirit of Man and that it is for the giftes and graces of the soule for which wee are bound especially to render prayses vnto God I haue therefore thought it not impertinent to adde to the ende of my Description of the Soule those two Sermons which I lately preached at Camerwell as a fit conclusion of the Discourse before penned In setting them downe in writing I haue as neere as I could deliuered the very same which then I spake Onely I haue thought it best for the ease of the reader to place in the margent the places and verses of the textes and authorities which in the vttering of them I did thinke it more conuenient vsually to name that such as were present and stored with the Scriptures might the better make some profitable vse therof In the publishing of these Sermons I haue endeuoured according to the talent graunted to me generally to benefite my Countrey In consecrating them particularly as a small token of my dutifull affection towards your Worships my purpose only is to shewe some thankfull remembrance of your late sauour and kindnesse in affoording me your good assistāce concerning a motion made by my best wel-willers for the benefit of me mine The prayses and thanksgiuings which are due vnto God do nothing disanull that thākfulnes which we owe vnto men as instrumēts appointed of God for our good Nay rather by a humane gratitude as by a hād God doth leade vs to the performance of that which is due to his diuine Maiestie For very well may be framed of it the selfe same argument which the Apostle doth make concerning loue 1. Ioh. 4.20 He which is not thankfull to man whom he seeth how can he be thankfull to God whom he hath not seene It is recorded of Thales the Miletian one of the seuen wise men of Greece Stob. Serm. 78 that when studying Astronomy and looking vp towards the starres by for getting himselfe he fel into a ditch a foolish simple maid could tell him that it was a iust reward for such a one as would so contemplate vpon the heauens that he should in the meane time forget his owne feet To auoid the danger of this reproofe in the middest of these my meditations of our heauenly spiritual thankfulnes towards God I haue endeuoured somewhat to keepe my selfe from falling into the pit of humane ingratitude to present vnto you this little pledge of my dutifull remembrance which although being two Sermons they might well haue borne to either of you a seuerall Dedicatory yet for as much as they were both made at one time when I came to congratulate your worships for the late fauours worthily bestowed vpon your deserts and do both of them containe one matter being parts one of another and as it were not two but one bodie I doe here present them iointly vnto you nothing doubting but that you will yeeld the same approbation to them being Printed as you vouchsafed to giue vnto them when they were first before you vttered or as you haue vsually affoorded to such other Treatises as I haue heretofore published vnder your names God graunt your Worships long to remaine either a happie comfort to the other in this life and in the end accomplish your long felicitie with an eternall blisse in his kingdome From Tanridge this 31. of December 1603. Your Worships to be commaunded SIMON HARWARD THE FIRST SERMON of Thanksgiuing PSALME 107. V. 21. Let them celebrate before the Lord his goodnesse and his wonderfull workes before the children of men Ver 22. And sacrificing the sacrifice of prayse let them tell forth his doings with gladnesse THis most Diuine Psalme Right Worshipful and beloued doth very notably describe vnto vs the prouidence of God in the gouernment of the world and doth on the other side put vs in mind what thankfulnesse is required
fouÌ„taine of our saluatioÌ„ Ioh. 3.16 So God loued the world that he gaue his only begotten Son In the causes of our redeÌ„ptioÌ„ we must not begin at our selues or at our own merits nay we may not begin at the death and passion of Christ Iesus but wee must begin at the eternall loue of God who sent his onely begotten Sonne and therefore blesse that good God Ephe. 1.4 which hath chosen vs to bee saued before the foundatioÌ„ of the world was laid The goodnesse of God in our redemption appeared to be greater towardes mankind then it was to the very Angels When the Angels fel froÌ„ God they were neuer restored but as S. Iude sayth they are reserued in euerlasting chaines vnder darkenesse to the iudgement of the great day but when man was fallen Iude. v. 6. the Lord of his goodnes gaue a comfortable promise of the seede of the woman Gen. 3 15 which should bruse the power of Satan The Angels which continued stedfast do continually prayse God are ready to execute his will Psal 103.21 but of Gods goodnes they are yet ministring spirits to serue for their vse that shall bee heires of saluation Heb. 1.14 And therefore Dauid Psal 34.7 when hee hath said that the Angels of the Lord doe pitch round about theÌ„ that feare him he addeth in the next verse O tast see how good the Lord is blessed is the man that putteth his trust in him A blessing it is to bee guarded by meÌ„ a greater blessing to bee guarded by Princes but what exceeding fauour is this when God doth vouchsafe to guard vs with his holy and blessed Angels Though in some respects Dauid doth acknowledge man to bee somewhat inferior to the Angels yet in this he saith Psal â— 5 that God hath crowned man with glory and worship in that he hath made him an Emperour ouer all his works put all things in subiection vnder his feet not only the beastes of the field the foules of the aire whatsoeuer walketh through the pathes of the seas but as he saith before in the same Psalme euen the heauenly Creatures when I consider the heauens v. 3. the worke of thy fingers the moon the stars which thou hast ordained theÌ„ say I O Lord what is man that thou art so mindfull of him or the son of man that thou so regardest him This vse we must make of all Gods Creatures so to behold in theÌ„ the goodnes of God towards maÌ„kind that we be thereby stirred vp to prayse Gods holy name The horse mule can behold the heauens to bee high bright and lightsome The hog seeth the earth to be a place to walke vpon the so to feede vpon The Peacocke conceiueth a glorious shew in his variable coloured fethers many dumbe Creatures doe exceed man in the sharpenes of smelling when wee behold eyther the glistering azured skye or the beautifull flowers and fruites of the earth if we goe no further then seeing smelling and tasting theÌ„ are we no better then the brute vnreasonable creatures but we must in all those things go further we must behold therein the mighty power of God that wee may bee stirred vp to feare him and the infinite goodnes of God that we may learne to loue him and then are we endued with true spirituall wisedom as Dauid concludeth in the end of this psalme Psal 107.43 Who so is wise will consider and ponder these thinges he shall vnderstand the louing kindnes of the Lord. The goodnes of God doth many wayes shine out in the creation of man Hee made him as Zorastes said Pulcherrimum naturae spectaculum the most beautifull spectacle of nature not going groue-long towards the earth but with his face lifted vp to heauen to signifie that his mind should alwayes bee on heauenly things Hee gaue vnto him a soule endued with vnderstanding made after his own image He framed him to be as it were a little world and an abridgement of all his creatures whereupon some haue giuen him the name of Microcosmus some of Omnigena Creatura because he taketh part of al and containeth the principal parts of all Hee hath substance as haue stones life as haue plants sense as haue beastes and vnderstanding as haue angels When the Romane Pollio would haue drowned one of his slaues in a fury because hee had broken a fayre Christall glasse Augustus did well forbid him and said Homo cuiusuis conditionis si nulla alia ratione nisi quia est homo totius mundi vitris preciosior A man of any poor estate whatsoeuer if it be for no other cause but onely because he is a man is farre more pretious then all the glasses of the whole world but especially the goodnesse of God did appeare in the renewing of our hearts by his grace and holy word 1. Pet. 1.3 That doth S. Peter call the aboundant mercy of God Blessed be God the father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abouÌ„dant mercy hath begotten vs againe to a liuely hope by the resurrection of Christ Iesus That doth S. Bernard call a greater worke then the Creation of vs Bernard in Cantic or of the whole world When God made the world onely he spake the word and it was done Let there be a light Gen. 1.3.9 and there was light let the waters be gathered into one heape and they were gathered whereby was made the sea and the dry land was called earth Let there be two great lights in the firmament and there was straightway a Sunne to rule the night Bern. But quam multa dixit quà m multa fecit quà m multa perpâ—ssus est How many things hath God spoken how many things hath God done how many things hath he suffered to renew the heart of man If we should receiue the creatures ordained for the sustenance of our bodies and not be renewed and fed inwardly in our soules our estate were infinite thousand times worse then the estate of brute beasts For they are fed to perish temporally but we should be fed to perish eternally The seed of our new birth 1. Pet. 1.23 to wit the word of God is by an earnest acclamatioÌ„ pronounced by the Psalmist to be one of the greatest tokens of Gods fauour and goodnesse towards his elect For when he hath declared that God gaue his word vnto Iacob Psal 147.20 his statutes and ordinances vnto Israel he crieth out He hath not dealt so with euery nation neither haue other people the knowledge of his lawes There are two especiall properties which do greatly extoll and magnifie the goodnesse of God First that it is free not in respect of our deserts but in respect of Gods aboundant mercy Secondly that it is endlesse and perpetuall Esay 43.25 The freenesse thereof is set out by the Prophet I euen I am he that putteth away thine iniquities for mine owne
sake and will remember thy sinnes no more And againe a litle after Esay 48.9 V. 11. For mine owne sake I will be gracious for mine owne glory I wil refraine mine anger and will not destroy thee Propter me propter me faciam It is for my selfe and mine owne sake that I will do this for thee There was no cause in the Iewes that God should chuse them as elect vessels to cary the treasure of his word and to passe by so many other nations more rich and more populous Neither is there any cause in vs that we should haue the Gospell in peace and quietnesse preached vnto vs which blessing is denied to many mighty nations about vs. The cause is onely in the free goodnesse of God wherewith he embraceth his elect and chosen and therefore we may well say of our nations as Esay sayd of the Iewes of his time Isai 1â— If the Lord had not left vnto vs a remnant we had bene as Sodome and Gomorrha Such is our vnthankfulnesse for Gods manifold blessings such is our carelesnesse and dulnesse in prayer such is our disobedience and contempt of God his holy word that vnlesse there were a remnant of God his elect people amongst vs it could not haue bene but long before this time we should haue had the iudgement of Sodome and the cities adioyning in full measure powred vpon vs. But God hath a remnant of his elect amongst vs and in respect of his free loue towards them he doth still continue his goodnesse towards vs. God be eternally praysed for that remnant of his elect God graunt vs to be of that number God increase them daily God so continue and multiply them that the truth of his holy Gospell may still remaine to vs and to our posterity for euer A good hope we haue in the second property of Gods goodnesse to wit in the continuance and perpetuity thereof Saint Iames doth teach vs Iam. 1.13 that with the Lord there is no change nor shadow of change If we cast off the kindnesse of men we can yet haue no full assurance of the continuance of their benefits because the harts of men are variable Math. 21.8 They which this day doe cut downe bowes to strew in the way may to morow cry away with him and crucifie him But with God with whom there is no change nor shadow of mutability euery experience of Gods goodnesse is a sufficient argument of the perpetuity thereof as the king Prophet saith Psal 61.3 Thou Lord hast bene my refuge and strong tower against the enemy therefore I will dwell in thy tabernacle for euer and seeke my succor vnder the shadow of thy wings Whom God doth loue Iohn 13.2 Rom. 11.27 he doth loue to the end and the gifts and calling of God are without repentance It is his owne voice by the Prophet Isay 54.8 In a moment of time haue I hid my face from thee but in mine euerlasting mercy will I gather thee againe saith the Lord thy redeemer When Dauid doth in thankfulnesse of mind extoll the goodnesse of God Psal 136. he doth principally praise and magnifie the perpetuitie thereof And therefore in his Psalme of thanksgiuing as neuer sufficiently satisfied with the consideration thereof he doth still in euery verse repeate the mercie of God endureth for euer Many causes we giue for the abbridging and with-holding thereof but the Lord being patient long suffering Esay 30.18 doth still waite for our repentance Why will ye die O ye house of Israel Thus sayth the Lord I will not the death of a sinner Ezech. 18.31 but if he repent he shall liue We haue many wayes offended but God his goodnesse doth yet still enlarge it selfe towardes vs We are all as drie stubble yet the Lord doth not burne vs vp we are barren trees yet the Lord doth not cut vs downe we are all vnfruitfull ground yet the Lord doth make his Sunne to shine and raine to fall vpon vs. We haue often deserued Gods louing countenance to be turned from vs but we may thankfully say with the Prophet Misericordia est Domini Ierâ—m Iam. 3.22 quòd non consumimur It is the mercie of the Lord that we are not consumed This perpetuitie of God his goodnesse is our chiefest comfort in all afflictions and distresses For thereby though we be killed all the day long yet with the Apostle we are assured that neither life nor death nor principalitie nor power Rom. 8.38 nor any other thing shall separate vs from the loue of God in Christ Iesus Though God punish vs yet we doe chearefully with Iob blesse the name of God assuring our selues that whom the Lord doth loue he doth correct Hebr. 12. â— and scourgeth euery sonne whom hee doth receiue If we bee thankfull onely in prosperitie we loue not God but we loue the prosperity but herein appeareth the triall of our loue when we say with Iob Iob. 1â— 15 Although God kill me I will put my trust in him And doe with the Apostles reioyce that we bee accounted worthie to suffer any rebuke for the name of Christ Iesus Act. 5.41 It is good for me sayd Dauid that I haue bene afflicted that I might learne thy statutes Before I was afflicted Psal 119.71 67. I went astray but now O Lod I learne thy commaundements Psal 112.4 Vnto the godly saith Dauid there doth arise vp light in darknesse In the middest of all troubles they haue a sweete feeling of Gods goodnesse If sicknesse or any grieuous calamitie doe happen vnto the wicked all their ioy and comfort is vtterly driuen away The candle of the wicked as Salomon doth call it is soone put out Prou. 24.20 But the godly and faithfull though they be often ouer-whelmed with darknesse and misery yet their light doth still arise Ioh. 16.22 the sweete feeling of the mercie of God in Christ doth neuer depart from them They are assured that all things will worke for the best to them that loue God Rom. 8.28 they acknowledge that all their sorowes and sicknesses are nothing so great as their manifold follies and trespasses haue deserued and as the palme-tree the more waight is hanged vppon it the better it is sayd to prosper so the greater calamities they endure the more their faith doth flourish and the more zealous they are in prayer as the Psalmist here affirmeth Psal 107. Ve. 19. They crie vnto the Lord in their trouble and he deliuereth them out of their distresse O that men would therefore praise the Lord for his goodnes and declare his wonderfull workes before the children of men The second thing for which the Prophet doth here exhort vs to praise God is the effect of his goodnesse to wit his wonderfull deliuerances in the midst of all distresses Ve. 20. He sayth in the verse going before that God sendeth forth his word and healeth
for thou hast created al things by thy will they are haue bin created worthy is the Lambe that was killed Apoc. 5.12 to receiue power and riches wisedome and strength and honour and glory and praise Of which celestial thanksgiuing hee make vs al partakers that dyed for vs all euen that Lambe Christ Iesus to whome with the Father and the holy Ghost bee all glory Maiestie honour and praise now for euer Amen The End of the First Sermon THE SECOND SERmon of Thanksgiuing PSALME 107. V. 21. And sacrificing the sacrifice of prayse let them tell forth his doings with gladnesse COncening that which hath already beene spoken in the forenoone as well of the generall argument of the Psalme as also of the particular handling of the former part of my text I purpose not now right Worshipfull and beloued to make any repetition thereof partly because it was so lately vttered and partly because as some of you know I must of necessitie hasten to another place It remaineth onely now that I proceede somewhat further with the fruites and effects of thankfulnesse which then I began to speake of and to enterpret the verse following of our offering the sacrifice of praise and telling forth his workes with gladnesse The sacrifices which here the Psalmist speaketh of are not propitiatory but eucharisticall not for ransome of sinne but for rendering of thankes The propitiatorie sacrifices of the olde Testament Heb. 10.1.8 were types and shadowes of the passion of Christ The truth being come those shadowes are vanished away The last altar was the Crosse the last sacrifice was the bodie and bloud of Christ Heb. 7 17 and the last sacrificing priest was Christ Iesus himselfe a priest for euer after the order of Melchizedeck The order of Aaron had successours which did often offer sacrifices because they were vnperfect But the order of Melchizedeck is to haue no successour Christ offered a perfect sacrifice and therefore without any neede of repeating it he offered himselfe once for all Heb. 10.14 No mortall man nor yet any angel of God was fit to offer this sacrifice but onely Christ Iesus himselfe who was holy pure Heb 7.26 blamelesse and higher then the heauens he offered himselfe once for all Heb. 9.26 He ordained the sacrament of his bodie and bloud not to bee an altar 1 Cor 10.21 but a table not to offer but to receiue not to be a sacrifice 1 Cor 10 16 but a heauenly supper wherein our soules doe feede vpon the bodie and bloud of Christ and doe enioy a communion or common partaking thereof not to bee a propitiatory act but eucharisticall as that sacrament was called in the primitiue Church eucharistia a solemne and publike thankesgiuing vnto God for all the benefits which wee receiue in and through his Son Christ Iesus The sacrifice was offered by Christ himselfe It is sufficient for vs by faith to feede vpon it and thankfully to acknowledge that all is ours 1. Cor 3 â—2 as wee are Christs and Christ is Gods Phil 1 17 Without this faith all our thankesgiuings are but dead sacrifices as were the offerings of Kaine Gen. 4.3 who did offer to God as well as Abel but not with the faith of Abel Luk 1â— 11 And as were the speaches of the Pharisie Lord I thanke thee that I am not as other men when he sought more to exalt himselfe then to giue glorie and prayse vnto God Be there neuer so good a proportion of a body in the outward lineaments yet if the life be absent it is not a bodie but a carkase euen so be there neuer so good words in prayer and thanksgiuing yet if the soule bee absent for the life and soule of God his seruice is faith in the bloud of Christ then is our honouring of God but only a mere shadow ad carkase howsoeuer it do carry an outward shew of holines The good Christians of the primitiue Churches did not thinke it sufficient in God his great deliuerances to testifie their ioy with bonefires ringing of belles reuelings and belly-cheare but they shewed their thankfulnes by a general and solemne receiuing of that sacrament which they called Eucharistia the sacrament of thanksgiuing to wit Cyprian in serm de orat Dom. the Supper of the Lord by the often and zealous receiuing whereof they did both testifie their thankefulnesse vnto God and acknowledge also by whom they hoped that their prayers and prayses should be graciously receaued Apoc. 8.3.4 Christ onely it is that hath the golden censer to offer vp the prayers of the Saintes before the throne of God and with the smoake of the odours that is with the sweete sauour of his oblation the prayers of the Saintes go vp to the presence of God Dauid when hee hath called to mind the manifolde blessings of God Psal 116 13 can finde no other way to bee thankefull but onely by receiuing the cup of saluation and calling vpon the name of the Lorde V. 17 by paying his vowes vnto God and offering vnto God the sacrifice of thankesgiuing True thankefulnes requireth that our heart should loue God our lippes prayse God our bodie and soule obey God and our goods with all that we haue serue for the glorie and honour of God And each of those duties is accounted in the holy Scriptures to as it were a sacrifice offered to God For the hart the Lord saith by the wisedome of Salomon Prou. 23.26 My Sonne giue me thy hart and let thine eyes marke deligently my wayes The sacrifice of the Lord saith Dauid is a contrite spirit a contrite spirit and a broken heart Psal 51.19 â— O Lorde thou wilt not despise In the sacrifices of the olde Testament the Israelites did first behold the wrath of God against sinne that the rewarde of sinne was death for the Ramme Rom 6.23 Heyfer and such like being sacrificed did plainely shewe vnto them what they had deserued and thereby they conceiued a griefe for sinne and a loathing of sinne Secondly it was vnto them a liuely figure of the passion of Christ Ioh. 8.56 whereby they were stirred vp to loue the Lorde for his goodnesse and to reioyce in the beholding of the dayes of Christ And thirdly the sacrifice was as it were a vowe of amendment of life They vowed that as that beast was slaine vpon the altar so they would from thence foorth slay mortifie the wicked corruptions of their sinfull nature In which respect God doth call it a couenant Psal 50.5 when hee saith they make a couenant with mee by their sacrifice If these thinges to wit the griefe for sinne the loue of God and the full purpose to amend were wanting then was the sacrifice before God abhominable To him will I looke saith God euen to him that is poore and of a contrite spirite Isay 66.2 and that trembleth at my wordes